Sgt. Maj. Fred Coates had only two reasons to visit Cochrane in July, 1985. And he’s the topic of this week’s local history feature.
Those reasons were to visit his daughter and son-in-law, Lise and Steve St. Steve, and to board the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee. The 68-year-old retired militia member was the Tourist of the Week in the July 3rd issue of the Northland Post.
Living in Gananoque, part of the reason he wanted to go to Moosonee is because he’d never been further north in Ontario than Cochrane.
Coates served in the militia between 1949 and 1964. He was retired from working for the Town of Gananoque for 33 years, 13 as town foreman.
On that same page of the newspaper was the weekly ad for the Empire Theatre. Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood Part Two was the offering, followed the next week by Roger Moore as James Bond in A View to a Kill.”
Our continued thanks to the Cochrane Public Library for access to its archives.
