Old Joe's Pond

Artist Matt McInnes’s sketch of Ed Prokop in his Providence Reds Uniform, from the American Hockey League of the late 1940s. (Drawing by and Courtesy of Matt McInnes, 2017)

A sketch by artist Matt McInnes depicting John Holota with the puck and in his 1951 Portland Eagles uniform from the Pacific Coast Hockey League. (Drawing by and Courtesy of Matt McInnes, 2017)

Illustration of hockey player, Johnny Holota. — Professional hockey player Johnny Holota learnt to skate on Old Joe’s Pond. (Source: <em>Brightside Reunion</em>, pg.12)

Laidlaw’s Pond and a teenage hockey player. — A young Brightsider on Laidlaw’s Pond. (Source: <em>Brightside Reunion</em>, pg. 9)

Man standing in font of garage with oil cans and Coca Cola vending machine on Gage north. — Kids used oil cans, such as those in this photo of this garage on Gage North, make themselves crude ice skates. (Courtesy of Marino Presutti and Brightside Memories FaceBook page)

Old Joe’s Pond lay at the tail end of what had once been Stipes Inlet a small remainder of alarger body of water that had been filled in. In contrast to Laidlaw’s Pond just west of it, withfew factories nearbyto dump toxins into it, Old Joe’s seemed less polluted. There turtles, frogs,and fish navigated its waters, and Brightsiders enjoyed it recreationally all year round.

Listen: Jumping Ponds Getting To School. Click the play circle below.

Listen: Washing Hands In Old Joes Pond. Click the play circle below.

Speaker 1:

When I went to Holy Rosary, there was me, Joe Savelli, uh, Pete Salari.

We’d go into school and to lunch you know.

And the nun would say, ‘show me your hands.’

Oh, you go home and tell your mother to wash your hands.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

So, coming back one day I said, this is crazy, what we’ll do; we’ll go to Old Joe’s - the pond - and wash our hands.

Speaker 2:

Our hands.

Speaker 1:

So, we used to play before, and our hands would be dirty, and we go to Old Joe’s and then we go back.

‘Well, that’s better, now you do that from now on.’

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, we’ll do it from now on.

[laughter]

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, we’d wash at Old Joe’s.

[chatter]

Old Joe’s.

[laughter]

It was clean there, the water they had weeds, they had mud turtles, and catfish…

Speaker 2:

Catfish.

Speaker 3:

But in winter it killed them all.

Listen: Homemade Skates. Click the play circle below.

Speaker 1:

Whitey Prokop?

Oh yeah, he played for Toronto.

Speaker 2:

Did you know these guys?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, he used to kick us off the ice because the big kids had nice skates.

We used to, when you bought oil, for your car, and you got a can like that, and we used to put them on the floor and bang, and the thing would curl up on your feet. Here right?

We used to roam the ice on them. We’d be on the ice, you know. And the big kids would chase you off.

Speaker 2:

Were these the big kids?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, these guys ruled. They were much older than us, eh.

Old Joe's Pond

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