Valerie Blab
vaughnblab@hotmail.com

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The old water tower on Forestry Road was a familiar landmark on RedLake’s horizon since it was erected to serve the Gold Shore Mine whose first shaft was sunk in 1936.  Meeting its demise in 2005 when it was taken down and dismantled; the water tower vastly outlasted the mine which closed in 1938 after only two years of operation.  The archives tell us that one miner commented that “there wasn’t enough ore to fill your pipe!”

The graffiti adorning its rotund belly was a testament to the ghosts of graduations past and attested to coming-of-age rituals and adventures of daring of several generations of Red Lake teenagers.  One such once-upon-a-time teenager who had ventured inside the “belly of the beast” claimed that the echo quality inside the drum was quite wonderful to experience!

 I know that having walked by it hundreds of times myself, I share the sense of nostalgia and loss felt by many residents who miss the familiar silhouette on Forestry Road of the Old Water Tower.