Ghost Towning with Radio Canada’s Vincent Bonnay

An invite arrives to be part of a documentary film being shot by Radio Canada (French language arm of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and it’s on the subject of ghost towns*. With zero hesitation the answer yes comes quickly and enthusiastically. Shot by videojournalist Vincent Bonnay, we’ll be joining with few old friends with similar interests also appearing in the piece. There’s legend Johnnie Bachusky (and one hell of a handyman) and fellow abandoned-place explorers Cody Kap and Andy Bear. All are well known and respected in the field and together it’s a well rounded crew of interviewees.

A salary and backstage rider are negotiated and while they did not honour the no brown M&Ms request, we did get a buy-one-get-one coupon for Dollar Tree. By the numbers that made this the best paying gig of 2020!

The towns we’ll be filming in are both along the historic Red Coat trail and each has seen better days. There’s Orion, founded in the mid-1910s, concurrent with the arrival of the railway, and Nemiskam (sometimes Nemiscam) not far away and with a similar timeline. Both have a population present day that can be counted on one hand and our rag-tag group will simply chat with and be recorded by the filmmaker with each community a backdrop.

In addition a local celebrity will be good part of the production and we’re talking about Boyd Stevens of Stevens’ Hardware in Orion. He’s a real character and a famous fixture in town.

Even though most of his business burned down a few years back, he still came to work every day to dispense the occasional tank of gas. Most of his visitors, however, were curious explorers stopping by to chat and maybe snap a photo of him and his community. He laments not as many came post fire and missed the company. You’ll see we’re speaking in the past tense here and intel suggests Boyd retired after our visit. He’s been doing it since forever and I guess had to concede at some point it was time to call it day. So ends an era and if our readers have any updates, please drop them in the comments.

Interestingly Boyd recalled Team BIGDoer from our last visit to Orion some six years prior. That big schnoz must be unforgettable I guess. There’s still a general store in Orion, so there’s still signs of life.

The railway pulled out of Orion in the late 1990s (same stretch of track as Nemiskam) and there’s a few reminders scattered about the community speaking back to when the trains ran. Most notable is a former railway worker’s dwelling brought in from another town long ago. This: Section House.

We wander more and chat more and film more. While originally broadcast in French everything’s now been made available in English as well. Incidentally, Vincent’s project has won an award (linky-poo further down) and it’s well deserved in our humble opinion (and not because we’re in it). Having worked on a few documentary films before we know it’s no picnic and hard work and passion are a must. Both are in play here and that’s to be admired.

Nemiskam is home to much photographed school (every small town had one), one or two houses still occupied and remains of a old garage. The latter has since partially collapsed and may have even been torn down since. We’ve not been back, nor have we be able to connect with locals to confirm, but heard through the grapevine it’s either gone or soon to go bye-bye. Anyone in the know?

There’s a most interesting sign here (you can’t miss it) jokingly put in many years ago (decades ago actually!) at an empty lot (no shortage of them in Nemiskam). K-Mart’s coming! K-Mart’s COMING! Back when this glorious proclamation was made that firm still existed so was relevant then and while always chuckle-worthy it’s made doubly funny due to the failure of that chain (in Canada). This happened in the 1990s, though, and reminds us just how old the sign is. It gets funnier with age!

K-Mart, based on our own experience was always a disorganized mess and got crushed when Walmart came on the scene.

So Nemiskam’s still waiting…

There are no businesses in town and there haven’t been for a long time. Not even a Starbucks!

At this point Team BIGDoer had to leave the production for a scheduled date with another historic place nearby for a commissioned print piece (to be published 2022 we’re told). Ogilvie’s Wrentham. A final scene in Vincent’s movie was shot in a little cemetery maintained by Cody Kap (Masinasin, Alberta) and we’re sad we missed out.

When you get the chance, check out the links below over coffee. It’s time well wasted.

This write up should have been published last fall, but as many of you know, we had to take a few months here off due to budget shortfalls. It’s another Covid sob story and then when we came back were hopelessly behind. So it goes here.

When it comes to film projects like this, we’re impassioned participants even if not all that keen on being in front of the camera. Do I really sound like that? Anyway, it’s a good cause and so we do it for that.

*Here’s a little clarification of the term “ghost town” of which there’s oftentimes confusion. It does not necessarily means a place devoid of people (although it can) and usually instead one where there’s been an extreme loss of population and/or livelihood relative to long ago. So think a lot more “was” (people that came before) than “is” (those here now). That most of these forgotten places have residents means one should be mindful of their privacy and respectful of their community as a whole.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article!

Related to this post:
The Hidden Lives of Ghost Towns Vincent Bonnay CBC/Radio Canada.
It won an award:
Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada 2021 Prairie Region Digital Winners.
On YouTube:
This Alberta Ghost Town has no services, but still has guests and Why this Albertan decided to stay put in this prairie ghost town (Boyd, we believe, has since retired).

They’re saying…

”Great photos and research of abandoned buildings and sites” Micheal Laschowski.

More documentaries we’ve been part of…
The Soviet Threat – Canada’s response during the Cold War.
Forgotten Prairie – Small towns and those who called them home.

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: contact us!

Date of Adventure: July, 2020.
Location: Orion and Nemiskam, AB.
Article references and thanks: Vincent Bonnay of Radio Canada, Johnnie Bachusky, Cody Kap and Andy Bear.
Please show these little ghost towns and their residents respect

Orion

Filming with Radio Canada.

We’re at Stevens’ Hardware.

Th old timer is Boyd Stevens, Orion’s most famous resident.

During breaks in the action we wandered about.

Please be respectful of these little ghost towns.

A former CPR section house.

It’s the little details.

Are the Leafs on tonight?

The railway is long gone from town.

Leaded gas was last offered in the ’80s.

What treasure lie within?

Nemiskam

One of the last houses in town.

Talking about the places left behind.

Every small town once had a school.

Vincent Bonnay interviews Johnnie Bachusky.

An old business long closed.

Also along is our friend Cody Kap (centre).

Still waiting on it…