Saint Nickles
In a far off place in a cold cold land there lived a man called Mr. Mack. The place he lived in was called Kirkland Lake. Kirkland Lake was small as cities go, but it was big in heart. I think living in cold places makes people chip in to help each other. You know, like shoveling a neighbors walkway or bringing someone a nice warm cup of coffee. Sometimes it was helping boost a car or pulling them out of a snow bank.
Mind you, sometimes people were not so nice. That’s where Mr. Mack fits into our story. You see, Mr. Mack was kind of a sad case. He had once been a business man but he suffered a nervous breakdown. He had spent time in what everyone called “The Nut House” in North Bay. Now those were different times in the late 60s, we all didn’t know much about mental illness back then. You know how it is, people are afraid of what they don’t understand. Maybe we thought it was catching or something.
Mr. Mack used to walk up and down Government Rd West talking to himself. Not much of what he was saying could be understood. Some of us kids thought it was funny but for the most part we just ignored him. Mr. Mack would try to go into restaurants to have a cup of coffee but he would get kicked out. The owners didn’t want him disturbing their customers. Mind you, sometimes he did smell kinda bad. Still it was a sad state of affairs.
My parents owned a small diner called The Coffee Cup, it was located across the street from The Strand Theatre. My dad had a Barbershop at the back of the Diner. Sometimes dad would cut Mr. Mack’s hair. If Mr. Mack was smelling bad my dad would let him know. A few days later Mr. Mack would show up in fresh clothes and looking good. He was proud to show himself off. My parents always let him come in for Coffee and would give him one of the day old Donuts warmed up by the microwave. Mr. Mack was always appreciative.
One year my Dad gave Mr. Mack a Red Santa Suit. Mr. Mack wore it over his clothing. It also came with a white beard and a red hat with a Pom Pom. I still remember how proud Mr. Mack was to wear it. To my recollection I think that was the first time I witnessed Mr. Mack smile. His white hair went well with the colour of the beard. For the first time I noticed his blue eyes. They looked quite sparkly when he smiled.
A little ways up Government road was where the Royal Bank was located. Mr. Mack Sauntered up to the bank. In his hand he held his Blue Royal Bank bank book. I thought it was cool because it had a Gold Lion on the cover. A few minutes later, Mr. Mack came out of the bank with several rolls of nickels in his hand. He sat on the curb and thoughtfully removed the brown wrappers from each of the rolls of nickels. He then placed those nickels in the pockets of his Santa Suit. I have to say, I was quite curious what he was up to.
Mr. Mack proceeded to walk up and down Government Rd West and every time he saw a little kid he would hand them a nickel. Mr. Mack did this for the whole week leading up to Christmas Day. He made a lot of Kirkland Lake kids very happy. In those days a kid could get a lot of candies for a nickel. As a result of his kindness, he earned the name Saint Nickels. After that all the kids knew Mr. Mack and he always had a smile on his face when they said hi. Yes Kirkland Lake is a pretty special place. It’s full of characters, but most importantly it’s full of a lot of wonderful people. Merry Christmas Everyone. Blessings from my new home in Kelowna British Columbia Canada.
Author: Richard Lamoureux
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