There is nothing like a high-school reunion to start stirring up old memories.

And truth be told, Dick Johnstone doesn’t need a whole lot of help in accessing those vivid visions of the past.

Set to celebrate his 86th birthday in the coming weeks, the eldest of five children in the family can recall, with near equal ease, times enjoyed in his youth, at Copper Cliff High (the prompt for the above-noted reunion), as well as his times spent in Walden, settling down for a 32 year career as a secondary school teacher at Lively District – home of the Hawks.

Raised in the mining town that was home to Inco and the community venues they built, Johnstone painted an engaging picture recently of the gathering spot for all the young Copper Cliff lads when came that time of year to lace up the skates.

“Stanley Stadium was the greatest place; it was beautiful,” said the father of three and former coach and administrator. “The people in Sudbury were jealous because we had artificial ice” (as did Falconbridge – prior to the construction of Sudbury Arena in 1952).

“We had four rows of seats, all the way around – and then you had the standing room at the top. We had only four dressing rooms and they were small.” And, as always, there is going to be some sort of reference to the snack bar. “They had the best fish and chips – with lots of vinegar,” said Johnstone with a laugh.

Part of the beauty of Copper Cliff, however, was that the mining giant provided for all seasons – with a little help. “In the summer, the Legion would start baseball: minor baseball and senior baseball and the Nickel Belt League,” said Johnstone, noting that it was only the latter that could utilize the diamond still bordered by Godfrey Drive and School Street.

“The rest of us played on Smelter Field, right behind the curling rink,” suggested Johnstone. “No grass, no nothing, just clay - and they never came to smooth it off. They did put a backstop up – four posts and some chicken wire. They made the lines, but only two or three times a year.”

A product of the Copper Cliff Athletic Association on the ice, the talented young centre would suit up with legendary coach Bert McClelland and the high-school Redmen. “Bert was such a great guy; just loved the game of hockey and taught us so much. We were on the ice quite a bit, but he didn’t just teach us on the ice.”

“If we weren’t practicing, Bert would have the hockey team in the drafting room after school, going over power plays and give and go’s.”

The hockey world of that era, however, wasn’t nearly as worldly as it is today. The recruitment of Johnstone to the Michigan State Spartans would come courtesy of some contacts back home – thank goodness, given the need for grads like Derio Nicoli to sell that next up and coming wave (Johnstone, Ed and Bruno Pollesel, Bepi Polano, etc...) on their new home away from home.

“When I went, I didn’t even know where Michigan State was,” said Johnstone. “I didn’t know what the NCAA was. We were from Copper Cliff and that’s what we knew.”

Thankfully, what he knew, just a few years later, was enough to lay the foundation of some three decades spent in education, the first two in Lansing (MI), the next two in Sault Ste Marie (Sir James Dunn), and in 1968, a return to the stomping grounds, accepting a job in physical education at Lively.

The timing was ideal.

The new (current) school would be built in 1970 with the T.M. Davies Community Centre (arena) following suit a couple of years later. “We (the hockey Hawks) played initially in Copper Cliff, and only as a junior team,” said Johnstone. “But when the arena got built, we moved in and became a powerhouse quick.”

“There were a lot of good (high-school) teams – but we were family. We were all at different schools, but we all got along.”

Apparently, the environment for coach Johnstone was not necessarily identical to the one that existed for player Johnstone. “The high school hockey then (when I played) was so good,” he said. “You had guys going right from high school to Junior A. We had good teams at Sudbury High and Sudbury Tech and Sacred Heart College.”

“We still bump into each other now and then, those of us that are left, and we share stories and laugh about how we hated each other.”

The construction of the new rink in Walden would also provide a genesis to another hockey movement, once again with Johnstone in the middle of the mix. “John Taylor and a few others came and got me to help start Walden Minor Hockey,” he recalled. “We were a rags to riches story.”

“We had 500 to 600 boys playing hockey in the first year or two. It was $25 per boy, $15 for the second boy, $10 for the third boy. After that, you didn’t pay – and there were a lot of big families in Lively.”

“If you didn’t have any equipment, the Lions (Club) would pick it up. The whole town would come together for hockey.”

And it wasn’t just for hockey apparently.

“There was nothing for the girls and we were hearing it from our wives,” said Johnstone. “So we backed the ringette: painted sticks, got equipment. We went for a couple of years and then the ladies got together and did a great job with it.”

Dick Johnstone would pretty much cap off his coaching career by serving as an assistant with Billy Harris and the Laurentian Voyageurs, though he would still pitch in from time to time at school, if needed.

And with that, a few more stories to add to the archives and revive when that inevitable high-school reunion comes back around, decades later.