| When is a Flag Pole not a Flag Pole?
When it is an R.C.M.P. radio transmitter tower. Have you ever seen a little boy able to resist climbing a tree ? A fence ? A jungle Jim ? Of course not ! It has something to do with the genes and chromosomes. FACT: Boys Climb !! Now at Feller we had a limited amount of "commercial" Jungle Jim stuff so being the inventive creatures Feller was unknowingly teaching us to be, we took to finding things to climb thereby to satisfy some primal urge buried deep within. Trees in the back woods were the main targets and their location happily coincided with the main Feller Smoking Area. The roof of the school was also a target of opportunity serving several roles. You could satisfy your climbing lust, your nicotine craving and for some, the traditional interpretation of lust ! There were some however for whom these rather mundane climbing adventures proved to be too normal and never let it be said that a Feller Fellow was normal! Just down from the school, towards St-Blaise, set back from the road somewhat was a radio tower. This belonged to the R.C.M.P. or so we were told and while I'm not the world's greatest judge of height I'd guesstimate it at probably 300 feet. NOW here was a challenge worthy of a Feller Fellow. So an appropriate "flag" was made from a bedsheet as I recall and in the dead of night the deed was done. The dead of night as you may have no doubt surmised was to have a reasonable chance of accomplishing the feat without being caught. It also served to prove ones daring and bravery. As I recall, the climb was made several times by various teams of people (somewhat similar to Everest being climbed repeatedly) and none were ever caught to the best of my knowledge. As the dawn revealed yet another "flag" flying from the tower, one really only had to look around the breakfast tables to spot the culprits. They were the ones with the smug self satisfied look on their faces. Pass the toast please. |