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Log Drive
  1957 Black & white. 30 min.
NFB film by Raymond Garceau.
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  from the NFB:
Using words and music this 1957 film brings to the screen a great seasonal event of the Québec spruce forest--the log drive. Ballad singer Félix Leclerc (born in La Tuque) comments musically on this annual spectacle. Water-borne, the vast aggregation of logs moves downstream, spurred by dynamite and sharp-tipped cant hooks, tossed and twirled by the boots of leaping men. NFB

Le chansonnier Félix Leclerc raconte, dans une langue savoureuse, cette aventure fantastique que vivent, chaque année, les draveurs de la vallée de l'Outaouais. Perche ou bâton de dynamite au bout des bras, ils font franchir aux billots, deux cents milles de rivières, de chutes et de lacs. Un métier dur, impitoyable, rempli de poésie. ONF

"Log Drive" opens with life in the winter logging camp as young men fell trees and start the logs down from the forest. The camp boss, Euclid Teauvette, makes sure all goes smoothly as we follow the logs journey downstream through rapids, over hydro dams and into Lac Guerin, where Russel boats help move the wood through slower waters. Narration and songs explain the seasonal process of the drive and subsequent cleanup around Buckingham QC.

 

For more Russel exhibits visit Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum 1165 1st Ave West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8
(519) 371-3333     http://marinerail.com