The Vancoughnett family smiled for the reporter's camera capturing a happy moment in their brand new home in Lively, Ont., in the summer of 1951.
Lively was officially incorporated Jan. 1, 1953, but many families, such as the Vancoughnetts, moved in as soon as they could.
The daily newspaper reported the family of six had been living in a three-bedroom apartment in Creighton Mine.
Now Wallace Vancoughnett, a miner at Creighton Mine, his wife, Edith, and children Alvina, Barbara, Judy and Douglas, were renting a spacious one-and-half storey home on a 60-by-110 foot lot. They paid their landlord, Inco, $45 each month.
It is “a 100 per cent improvement (from) living like sardines sideways in a can,” Wallace told the newspaper.
The new home had a hot air furnace, hardwood floors, all modern facilities, insulated walls and ceilings.
The Vancoughnett children would soon have a nice playground and attend a modern public school. Dad was looking forward to a new garage that would cost an additional $3 per month in rent.
In the 1950s, Inco bought farm property and spent more than $3 million to develop a new company town about six kilometres from Creighton Mine. The initial plan called for 450 homes.
Inco named Lively after Charlie Lively, a respected veteran mine supervisor.
The April 13 Memory Lane article about Lively got lots of feedback from people who were interested to learn how it got its name.
Scott Turnbull of Sault Ste. Marie noted he attended R.L Beattie Public School, but had no idea who the school was named after. Beattie was a vice-president of Inco in the 1950s when Lively was built.
One former Lively resident wrote on Facebook the town as "never lively, just nice and peaceful."
Lively grew and prospered in the 1950s as did families like the Vancoughnetts. Walter and Edith had three more children after moving into their new home. The family of nine was featured in the December 1956 edition of "The Inco Triangle."
When the new library opened in 1961, it was not out of the ordinary for as many as 400 children to visit on a Saturday. About 3,000 books each month were checked out by enthusiastic readers.
Leonard Turner, who was mayor of Lively from 1958 to 1972, and library board chair Nick Sajatovic welcomed the community at the opening celebration.
In the spring of 1961, golf course architect Howard Watson of Montreal visited the new Lively Golf Course.
The nine-hole golf course “is as attractive as any par three layout I've seen in Florida," he told "The Triangle" (June 1961).
Walton inspected the nine-hole layout with Carl Vanstone, the Idylewylde course pro, who said he was equally impressed.
The property was made available by Inco, and the company 's agricultural department assisted with the project.
The Triangle reported "the course was developed for the enjoyment of the families of the community, said athletic association president Jim Dewey, "particularly those who have never had an opportunity to play the game before, and that very definitely includes the women and children. Many of our members have put in a lot of time and hard work."
A few years later, the company monthly magazine reported in November 1967, "Most golfers feel they're fully equipped for the course with spiked shoes, a bag of clubs, and a good supply of balls. Not so the Lively Golf Club.
"Some of the boys there have done as much swinging with an axe or a shovel this season as they have with their drivers. And the results? Next year, when the grass has grown in, their attractive nine-hole par 27 course will have grown to a par 34, after a bush-clearing program to lengthen several of the fairways."
In August 1970 a tornado destroyed golf course buildings, equipment and mature trees. The club membership repaired the damage, planted trees donated by Inco, and 250 members each put in $100 each to assist in the building of a new clubhouse off Sixth Avenue
At about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20, 1970, winds up to 332 km/h cut through Lively before moving on to Sudbury.
At the time the media reported 160 km/h winds, but in its 1972 report, Environment Canada classified the event as a F3 level tornado with wind speeds of 254-332 km/h. Readers shared their memories of that day in this story.
Lively was declared a disaster area. Hundreds of Inco employees and men working for area contracting companies laboured through most of the night to clean up debris. Police and volunteers directed traffic or stood on guard duty.
Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer in Greater Sudbury. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
Sources
The Sudbury Star, Lively Townsite Grows, Aug. 26, 1951
