The uniforms for the Ocean Wave company in Carleton Place will soon be completed and served out to the members. The uniform is similar to that worn by the Almonte firemen. The shirts, which are being manufactured by P. Galvin & Son are made of fine red Chambly flannel, with black facings of farmer’s satin, and collars of the same material.
The pants which are black have a red stripe down the side of those
belonging to the officers. The caps are manufactured from black broadcloth, with a peak and a gold band. The belts, which being made by A. Waugh, our harness maker,
are of fine heavy morocco leather, with red binding and “Ocean Wave,” the
name of the Company, painted on them plain white letters.
It was in 1875 when the Town’s present Fire Company replaced earlier, and temporary groups, as this community’s fire fighting organization.
An attempt to form a Carleton Place Fire Company is of record as early as 1853, when the community had a population of five hundred. It was about 1868-1869 when the Company purchased a hand-pumper that required 40 men to work it. In order to give this unit a fair trial, the Renfrew Fire Brigade was invited to town.
They were a large, fine looking and proud, body of men. The trial took place on Central Bridge and as the men forced the breaks to cry of “heave her down”, and as the great stream rose towards the sky and dam, the late James Murphy exclaimed with great rapture: “The Ocean Wave”.
On that day, so well remembered, the Ocean Wave Fire Company was christened.
The hand-engine thus gave way to the steamer and the “sir John” was purchased. Later, yet another steamer was added to the Company’s fire fighting arsenal. With a first-class water works system, and with Mort Brown’s & Hawthorne Factory’s auxiliary power, we stood second to none as a well-equipped town.
As the great steamers and hand-pumpers started to disappear, the Town purchased its first motorized fire truck. This truck was a Reo Speedwagon and was equipped with a specialized tank that used a chemical mix to develop the required pressure.
The year was 1923, and since then, many fine trucks, some of which have been retired, have served this community faithfully. The Reo remains in the new Fire Hall, in full and proud working order. She has been honourably retired from active service and is now used for historic reference and parade duty.
The first Fire Hall was across from the present day Maple Leaf Dairy and this property was rented for $7.00 per month, for the period from 1st of December to the 1st of April. In 1902, the Company moved from Bridge Street to Mill Street and took up station in the Town Hall. The Company remained there until 1978, when a larger facility was built, further down Mill Street. In April of 1995, the Ocean Wave Company moved to its present site on Coleman Street.
Ocean Wave Fire Company is second to none, with only the best equipment, Officers and Firefighters, all who are volunteers, proudly and faithfully serving the community.
These comments were taken from the readers of Tales of Carleton Place on Facebook- Respects made to the family and friends of the late great Morley Black.
We call various people heroes – and firefighters don’t consider themselves heroes – but if you look at their job description, they are. Their job is to straight up save people. Firefighters go where they’re needed, sometimes ignoring the dangers even when no one is inside a burning building to be saved. Morley Black was one of them and today we mourn the loss of another Carleton Place heroe. Linda Seccaspina
From the Tales of Carleton Place
Norma Jackson Deepest sympathy to the family
Ted Hurdis He will certainly be missed. I was thinking today when we would go over to the hydro office beside Carambeck school to pay the hydro bill. It was always fun when Morley was there to have a chat or tell a joke.
Susan Mary Risk Sincere sympathy to the Black family. I always chatted with Morley when I went up to pay the Hydro bill. He originally ran an actual Hydro turbine for Carleton Place, and it was because this still existed as a backup to Town Hall that I was able to enjoy Hydro in my apartment for the two weeks Ontario was crippled for energy due to a massive ice storm. I always enjoyed Morleys’ personality, even though he seemed fairly conservative. That’s because he was a friendly man with a big heart. 💕
Jane McIntosh Churchill My most heartfelt condolences to the Black family. I always enjoyed seeing and speaking with Morley. Such a nice, friendly man. 🌹
Deb Bigras Morley was a great man!!! My greatest sympathies to the Black Family.
Judy White Sorry for your loss. Morley was a great person and will be missed by all.
Ray Paquette A former neighbour on Herriott Street many years ago. My sympathies to the Black family… 😥
Margaret Martin So sorry to hear this sad news, my condolence to Morley’s family & friends.
AJ Shayla Sheppard My condolences 😦
Carol McDonald Our condolences to family and friends , he will be missed.
Lorena Turgeon So sorry to hear of Morley’s passing.
Lenore Gibson So very sorry to hear of Morley’s passing. He was a true gentleman.
Lesley Leigh Hurdis My condolences
Heather Leary So sorry for your loss . Truly was a great guy
Maureen Evans Our sincere sympathy to the Black Family!
Tim McIntyre Heartfelt prayers to all the Black family! I met Morley in the late 70’s and I was honoured when he asked me to be his assistant coach with the Midget rep team. We also coached the OVS summer minor midgets. Many great trips through the valley and a couple to Boston His big heart and great sense of humour will be greatly missed. Proud to have called you a friend. RIP Mo!!
Lynda Humfryes-McKimm A true gentleman. Condolences to the family. 😢
Dyann Hamilton So very sorry for your loss…condolences to the Black family…bless you all 🤗🙏🏻😥
Debbie McRae So sorry for your loss. Condolences to the family! 😥
Photo- Rod Black
Marilyn White Condolences to the family.
Jane Carnegie So sorry for your loss….Morley was a great lad that did alot for CP!!
Bob White Morley Black will be missed by this Community. Spent many years around Morley at the Hockey Rink When he was coaching, My condolences to the Black Family
Bill Brown Rest easy Mo. – A wonderful selfless gentleman who gave to his community. A warm and engaging sense of humour. A family friend.
As my hockey coach I can still hear him telling me “ Brownie – two hands on the sick – your out there flailing that thing with one hand like your Florence Nightingale”. Ah fond memories Margaret Partridge I was so sad to hear of Morley’s passing. My sympathy to your whole family and extended family. We go way back, as you know! I will always remember your dad’s cheeky smile, which I think you inherited, Rod! Remember the months of the broken leg and trying to teach the impossible one!😊 Your Dad was a tremendous, well-respected fireman. I also remember his years with Linda-we were high school classmates and friends. My thoughts are with you.❤️😢
Sylvia Giles So sorry!! He was a lovely man! Condolences to the Black family!!
Rita Regimbal Brennen Condolences from the Brennens
Diane Rintoul Sorry to hear about the passing of Morley. He was a great guy.
Margaret McNeely Remember Morley when we each lived on Coleman’s Island in Almonte many years ago and when we met he always called me Toshie!
Ruth Drummond Was like the older brother I never had.
Fran Hurdis I remember making mud pies using his mother’s eggs when we lived on the island. Needless to say we got in trouble for the eggs.
Cathy Paterson RIP
Theresa Porteous Such a nice man condolences to the family
Mark Lynch My condolences to the family
Judy Churchward My condolences!
MBeth Thompson Our deepest sympathies to the family.
Reggie Gagnon RIP
Nancy C Sonnenburg Condolences from our family to yours, Morley was a wonderful man and will be missed.
Martin McNabb Our deepest sympathies to the family
Rhonda McRae Landriault Oh no. Rip Morley a great man
Roger Rattray My Condolences Rod .
Linda Ann Schmidt I’m so sorry for your loss. My condolences to the Black family.
Sandra Rattray My condolences to
the Black family from Sandra and Pete Rattray
Gary Mclellan Morley was a good fellow. I was in the same class at CPHS. So sorry to hear about his passing
Tim Campbell My condolences to the Black family.
Ralph Shaw Really great guy gone He and Corky Reynolds were two of the first guys to take me under their wing when I came to Carleton Place
More Morley Black Memories–Logan Trafford— Cheryl Claire Deforge said–he was 1 in a million..loved it when he was coaching hockey..boy his voice could be heard all over the arena..
Hi Linda
I stumbled upon this post and since it is the 40th anniversary of this team/picture, I thought I’d add a bit more insight and perhaps you would consider re-posting it.
this picture would have been taken near the end of the exhibition season in 1978. There are about 1/2 dozen people in it who didn’t actually end up playing on the team that year. The final roster team eventually went on to win the league championship for the very first time. That picture is in the trophy case at the Arena.
There’s a couple of possibilities for a couple of players, but here’s the identity of most of the people.
L-R for each row:
Row 1 (G) ???, Geoff Herbst, Bill Grease (Coach), Rusty Knight, ****Morley Black (Asst Coach), Ken Code, Garth Sculley
2nd Row Gary Raycroft ?, Martin Puckett, Pat Emon, Steve Bryce, Pat Domenico (traded mid-season), Don Vaughn, ???, Marty Sheehan, Steve Baird, Peter McGregor
Back Row – ???, Logan Trafford, Doug Riopelle, Brian Graham, Bruce McBrian, Dave Mills, Mike Bertrand (traded mid-season), Gerry Barber, John Hogg (G)
The 1981 Carleton Place Kings followed a familiar story line; struggling at the start of the season; but came together for the second half after a couple of minor adjustments. The Kings were having some problems on the blueline with the graduation of several players the season before, and it wasn’t until Griese and his assistant Morley Black discovered that Jimmy Ward had played some defence before the team solidified. “We put Steve with his brother Andy and Terry Mast, and moved Jimmy Ward back to defence,” said Griese. “It was about Steve’s fourth year with us. Ali that time he was playing defence with us. We moved him up to left wing, and all of a sudden they had a leader on their line. He was a good defenceman, but he was just a little too small. Everything seemed to fall into place after that.
Griese credits his former goalie John Hogg for his selfless dedication that season as the team’s goalie coach. “John had graduated; and at the start of the season, I looked up in the stands, and there’s John and his parents at the game. John was a real fans’ delight; everybody loved John. So I asked him to help out and he said sure. He never got paid either, he attended all of the practices and games.” Griese noted that one of the consistencies in his ten years as coach of the Kings was the solid netminding.. “John used to really come out of the net,” recalled Griese fondly. “I’d almost have a heart attack; but he was a good skater, and he never once gave up a bad goal doing it. He used to catch lots of teams changing on the fly.” Hogg would tutor his students well, and both Phil Powers and Glen Guenette performed admirably in leading Carleton Place to its second division title in three years.
Crowd support was at its peak in those days. “I would venture to say about 5700 people lived in town and more than 800 were in the arena every Friday night. The fans were great. The players just fed off of the crowd.” Fan support throughout the Valley up until the mid 198Os was stellar. “We beat out Arnprior On St. Patrick’s Day in Arnprior” said Griese. “They had 2,800 people in there with that darn steel floor. What a racket.
Another key to the season was Morley Black’s knowledge of Dave Ellet and what he could bring to the team, even at the tender age of 16. “Morley; he wanted to sign him after the first practice. He hadn’t really done much, but Morley was doing most of the scouting at the time, and he knew what he could do. Morley said “You sign him; you sign him now.” Ellet went on to Bowling Green University and a 16-year career as a steady NHL defenceman. “It wasn’t very long that he developed,” said Griese. “You just didn’t have to tell him a helluva lot. He was just like Donnie Vaughan; open the door and let him go. You could see at that age that he knew the game so well. He could play in his own end and he could play without the puck”. Led by Gary Raycroft and Steve McTierman offensively, Carleton Place finished in second place during the regular season, and then swept Richmond in four games in the first round of the playoffs.
Cork Reynolds on the left and Dave Brown on the right. Jaime Black holding the hose 1970s
On Tuesday night I stood in front of Alan Barker’s funeral home watching our local area firemen in awe. Fire Dept. Representatives had all come to attend local Carleton Place resident and fireman Ab Hurdis’s wake. Standing on that step I almost broke out in tears. I personally feel I owe the Ocean Wave Fire Dept. a lot, and so does the rest of the town of Carleton Place. Who else would come running at a moments notice when something happens to us, or our homes, if we didn’t have them?
It was a cold January day in 1995, and the kids were flooding the rink outside when I noticed our German Shepherd, Snoopy racing in from the greenhouse with a huge plume of black smoke trailing him. If there is an emergency, I am not the one to send to an EMT unit as I panic easily. I screamed for someone to call 911, and we simply thought a hose spraying a steady stream of water into the basement window was enough to contain the fire.
Within five minutes the basement was engulfed with flames and I attempted to go into the greenhouse to save the birds and ferret. Smoke quickly turns into a blackness that cannot be measured on a colour chart, and within seconds I was trapped. An Ocean Wave fireman pulled me out of that room as I could no longer find my way out.
My sons and I were sent over to a neighbour’s home while we watched the firemen try to save our house. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t, and the kids kept asking me if everything was going to be alright. In my irrational mind I thought things would return to normal once the fire trucks were gone and life would go back to the way it was.
The fight for our home was not over for another 18 hours. The firemen left at about 5 pm overwhelmed with the intensity of the smoke and one ended up in the hospital. They had done their best and thought the fire had been put to rest, but my husband Angelo and his father sat guard all night watching for hot spots. Sure enough at 1 am a wall in the living room went up in flames. Had they not been there the house would have been a total loss.
The next day the kids and I returned to our home and I knew then and there that everything was not going to be alright. The living room hardwood floor was swollen with water and raised in many places. The charred Christmas tree and all its decorations stood against silent black walls. I stood there and realized there was a long road ahead of us, and my tears began. But my family was alive, and that was thanks to the Ocean Wave Fire Dept.
The Carleton Place firemen had given us a couple of boxes that were decorated like Christmas presents. They had not wanted the kids to be upset, so they had wrapped up the perished pets as gifts. Since it was in the dead of winter I could not bury them, so I made a tiny raft and sent them down the Mississippi river.
No matter what has been done to your home, once it has been touched by fire it will never be the same. It seems to lose the original soul in the belly of its interior, and because of the destruction many pieces of emotions are lost and will never come back. But loss of life is far worse than a building or an inner soul needing to be renovated.
Firefighters are some of the most selfless people you will ever encounter. These volunteers sometimes ignore the dangers even when no one is inside a burning building to be saved. Like Ted Hurdis said about the late Ab Hurdis: “Ab wasn’t very big, but if you ever saw him coming out of a burning house you would swear he was 7 feet tall”!
Firefighters are essential to the safety and security of our local communities. We owe it to these men, and this week we lost 40-year-old volunteer fireman Ab Hurdis. Like a home rises out of the ashes, sometimes so do firemen. Last night I saw my son’s childhood friend Troy Hurdis standing in that line of firemen in dress uniform. Troy is now also part of the Carleton Place Ocean Wave Fire Dept. I know Ab and all the generation of Hurdis’s that were in the fire dept. were looking down on Troy and smiling– I know I was. We are truly blessed to have the Ocean Wave Fire Dept.
Retired-Ocean Wave Fire Company
(Carleton Place Fire Dept.)
with 40 years service and Carleton Place Hydro
with 19 years service.
Suddenly at home in Carleton Place, Ontario on Sunday, August 23, 2015, in his 78th year.
Beloved husband of Fran (nee Southwell) for 53 years. Dear father of Bill (Bev), Brent (Dawna) and Blair (Carolee). Loved grandpa and great-grandpa. Dear brother of Wilma Boughner (Richard). Predeceased by sisters Lois and Heather and brother Morley.
Family and friends may visit the family at the
Alan R. Barker Funeral Home, 19 McArthur Avenue, Carleton Place
on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.
Funeral service will be held in the chapel on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Interment to follow at St. James Anglican Cemetery.
Donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated by the family.
Ab taught me how to swim , fish, drive a boat , hunt and many other of lifes task. Ab wasn’t very big but if you ever saw him coming out of a burning house you would swear he was 7 feet tall !! Seventy eight years way to go Ab you beat the odds big time..–Ted Hurdis
Buy Linda Secaspina’s Books— Flashbacks of Little Miss Flash Cadilac– Tilting the Kilt-Vintage Whispers of Carleton Place and 4 others on Amazon or Amazon Canada or Wisteria at 62 Bridge Street in Carleton Place
From the: “You are Never too Old to Stop Complaining and Learn Something Series”
Last Thursday evening I watched Carleton Place’s Ocean Wave Fire Company roar down Lake Avenue to yet another ‘practice burn’ at the empty green house on Beckwith Street. I shook my head, as this was the day after the deadly New Jersey Boardwalk fire and I thought having a ‘burn house’ so close to the downtown was incredibly stupid. In fact, when they rushed back at 5 am for another crack at the house I was ready to walk down to the fire station on Coleman Street and give them a piece of my mind.
After a few days I cooled down and wondered why a fire department that has been in Carleton Place since 1875 could be so careless. It turns out the stupidity was on my part. Apparently these 24 dedicated volunteers and 2 full-time fire prevention officers know what they are doing. It is imperative for a fire department to be able to practice and train on life-saving techniques before you have to implement them. Some municipalities have ‘burn towers’, but for anything approaching reality, you need an actual house which is formally called a ‘live burn.”
In some cities it is considered too dangerous to be done on purpose. Some fire departments fill their burn house with smoke and old furniture and practice all the other techniques – rescue searches, breaching walls/ceilings, saving their own, ventilation and salvage and overhaul. Basically, they trash the place. Our local fire department gets to practice on a real structure, the neighborhood gets a show and the homeowner saves on demolition and hauling charges if they donate their home.
A house burn is absolutely the best possible training a fireman can get. They will torch a room, put it out, lather-rinse-repeat until they run out of rooms like they are doing on Beckwith Street. Did you know today’s homesburn 8 times faster because of new construction materials, especially engineered wood? Thirty years ago a family had approximately 8 minutes to exit their home – today it’s 2 minutes.
I also found out that our grandparents were a lot “greener” than today. Recently the Underwriter’s Laboratories of Canada did testing on home furnishings and found out that today’s average-sized room furnished with modern products can become engulfed in flames in 3 minutes, compared to 30 minutes 50 years ago.
So after my research I had to agree that having a ‘burn house’ is important to Carleton Place. Better to practice on an empty house than one filled with sleeping parents and a scared child hiding under the bed.
lindaseccaspina 