The first memory I have of Christmas growing up in Sudbury was back in 1958 and my dad, who worked out at Creighton, had just come off an infamous 62-week INCO strike.
It was a hard strike with half the city out of work and consequently the other half also suffering as a result.
I was only four at the time, but that Christmas is burned in my memory, not because the cupboards were bare, but because to this day I remember it as the best Christmas ever.
I remember it well as my mom had won a turkey in a CKSO radio contest and my dad built me a toy replica of the White Rose gas station that stood at the end of our street in the West End.
We lived on Ethelbert Street and I have vivid memories of playing street hockey with my brother under the warm glow of the street lamps as the neighbours gathered in our apartment to share what goodies we all had.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Regent Theatre on Elm was home to the annual INCO children's party held every December, usually the Saturday before Christmas.
My dad worked for INCO underground at Creighton most of his life, so my brothers and I got to attend this annual event.
I remember every kid got a bag of candy, including those colourful hard ribbon candies that my mom never wanted any of us to have (cavities ran big in our family), so this was a big treat.
The afternoon party began with cartoons, sometimes up to 10 short Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse films, followed by two feature films like “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein” and “The Three Stooges in Outer Space”.
Sadly, the opulent Regent Theatre — with its massive main auditorium dominated by two enormous carved white winged horses embedded into the wall flanking the movie screen — closed in 1969.
In 1960, we moved to Northern Heights, just north of the Donovan, and by the time of my teenage years I was allowed to head downtown unaccompanied.
I loved going downtown anytime of the year, but the best time was at Christmas.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Christmas in downtown Sudbury was an exciting and vibrant place.
It wasn't just a destination to do a bit of shopping; it was for most of us coming into our teenage years, the place to hangout, to be seen, and of course, to shop.
Before the City Centre opened and before the New Sudbury Shopping Centre expanded, the downtown core was a very thrilling place to be, especially at Christmas.
Restaurants were packed, stores were filled, the streets were crowded and I also remember huge snow banks lining Durham Street.
In all the years I lived in Sudbury, every winter had an abundance of snow, starting usually early November and lasting all the way until April.
I now live in downtown Toronto and a white Christmas is a rare event, I can count on one hand the number of white Christmases we've had in the last 50 years.
I loved being a kid in Sudbury and as I got older, I treasured coming downtown on my own.
Coming in from the north end, I always had the same downtown walking route as I stepped off the Donovan bus at the corner of Beech and Elgin.
First thing I did was make a beeline for Prom Music to see what new records were in stock, then past the Plaza and Empire theatres to see what was playing, then to Elm and Elgin and the Zellers store downstairs to check out the toy and pet department.
After Zellers, I used to head over to the Richmond Room cafeteria in Kresge's store on Elm.
The Richmond Room was very much at the centre of the social scene for any teenager, especially on a Friday night as it was a 'must do' meeting place before heading out for a night of fun in the swingin' 1960s.
After entering Kresge's, the first thing you hit would be the cigarette counter, then the record department where everyone bought their latest Beatle records.
Then, as you made your way to the back of the store, you would pass through the greeting card section and then into the Richmond Room.
Not only did this great cafeteria cater to a younger coffee crowd, it also served a roast beef dinner daily.
The Richmond Room (named for the Richmond Room at Toronto's Kresge's store on Richmond Street) was a pretty high-end establishment for a Kresge store.
You would line up cafeteria-style with a tray at the kitchen counter, then pick-out a sandwich or hot food, a dessert and a drink then head into the restaurant proper.
The restaurant had red leatherette banquette seating around the edge plus table and chairs in the middle.
The Richmond Room was a great place to meet after school, or after a long day of shopping on a Saturday afternoon. They used to do up the Richmond Room for Christmas with glittering swag garland around the whole room, adding to the decorations the whole store would put out. It wasn't anything extravagant, just homey and quaint the way I like it.
From Kresge's, I would head over to Woolworths, crossing the zig-zag crosswalk at Elm and Durham underneath the giant Santa that hung over the corner.
This iconic Santa dominated the downtown core, and from the moment they started to raise it up over the intersection, you knew that Christmas had officially arrived.
I seem to recall before the giant Santa was there, four massive angels blowing horns once graced the corner, too.
You would enter Woolworth's through its main door at Durham and Elm and immediately to your right was the famous Woolworth bakery.
This bakery always displayed its Christmas goodies, cookies and fruitcakes in their front window alongside delicious displays of cookies, donuts, cakes and minced pies, all freshly baked that day in the store.
Next to the bakery was the sit-down cafeteria known for its fries with gravy and apple dumpling pie with ice-cream.
Across from Woolworths was the United Cigar Store, where not only could one get the latest “Time” magazine, but even a copy of Andy Warhol's “Interview” magazine, very hip for late 1960s in Sudbury.
Durham Street was always the busiest street in downtown Sudbury and the most decorated at Christmas.
Tuesday night was always my favourite night to go out at Christmas, as INCO employees got paid on Tuesdays so the stores stayed open late till 9 p.m. (consequently on Wednesdays the stores closed at noon).
From Woolworths, I would head over to the legendary La Fiamma Pizzeria on Durham just past Cedar Street. Situated in a dark basement, La Fiamma’s is, to this day, the best pizza I've ever had.
I always remember having to kick off the ice from my boots so as not to slip on the stairs.
From there, I would head into Murray's restaurant in the Coulson Hotel as I was always guaranteed to run into someone I knew for a quick catch-up.
Then from there into Eaton's across the street downstairs as they always had the coolest stuff with trinkets and home decor.
One Christmas, I got a job with the Salvation Army to ring the bells and collect money in the red kettles outside the old Eaton's Store.
I always remember standing on Durham Street, ringing those silver bells as the snow was falling and with all those people coming and going, it was in retrospect right out of the Christmas classic “A Miracle on 34th Street”.
Across from Eaton's was Richmond Furs, and I remember every Christmas they would display the latest in fur coats. In 1969, I recall a full-length chinchilla coat in the window at then the astronomical price of $18,000 (around $138,000 today).
Durham Street at Christmas had lights crisscrossing the street with illuminated angels and stars high above.
All the store windows along Durham had some sort of Christmas display and with the lights ablaze and with shoppers hurrying along, you couldn't help but feel the buzz that was Christmas.
I always ended my evening with a visit to Wolf’s Bookstore at the apex of Durham and Elgin and a visit with my best pal, Miriam Moses, who worked on the second floor.
Her dad, the eponymous Wolf, owned the store, and with our mutual love of art, theatre and history, the store it seemed was stocked to cater just to me.
After Wolf’s, I would board the bus back home, but not before I stepped into D&D Hobby shop on Cedar Street. Downstairs there, the greatest, most exciting creation stood — a model train set complete with mountains, a lake, trees, homes, stores and, of course, a replica 1956 Canadian Pacific train.
Across from D&D was the Manhattan Restaurant, a stunning art deco eatery that would not feel out of place in New York City.
I came to know this great restaurant during the last year of its life before it was remodeled into the Trevi Restaurant, an equally enjoyable bistro.
I always remember one Christmas I joined the choir at All Peoples United Church on Jean Street and one snowy night after a rehearsal, we all headed down to the Trevi for “the best meatball sandwiches in the North.”
It really is the little things in life that can stay with you forever.
But there was also a dark side to Sudbury at Christmas in the 1960s — people propping themselves up at some of the more seedy bars downtown, like the Ramsey or Frontenac Hotels. People fallen on hard times, drinking the night away, escaping the reality of their lives, made all the more intense with the snow falling, stores decorated and families heading home with their brightly wrapped treasures.
I will always remember being asked by a school friend if I would go with her to the Frontenac to pick up her mother, who was so drunk she couldn't make it home on her own. It was the first time I ever entered the infamous hotel.
We picked up her mother, who was one of the most wonderful and loving people I ever knew, even when she had a drink or two, then we took her home through the snow and bright lights.
Sadly, this scene was played many times throughout the Christmas season in Sudbury.
December in downtown Sudbury in the 1960s and 1970s was a bustling destination, a happening place to meet your friends after school and do some shopping.
Maybe it's a longing for a youth that in reality wasn't all that quixotic but it's how I remember it.
When I think of Christmases' past especially during these trying times I think back to growing up in Sudbury and taking my jaunts downtown with its bright lights, its people, its stores and all the excitement this season could offer.
Since 2020, former Sudbury resident Bruce Bell has written a series of columns for Sudbury.com, sharing his memories of Sudbury, particularly the downtown, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For more of his tales, type “Bruce Bell” into the search bar at Sudbury.com.
