aerial photos

Bill Gallinger

Bill Gallinger grew up in Moulinette, Ontario.





“When the cofferdam was blown up, the people around on that day, they all thought that this water was coming in just in 5 minutes.

But like I was saying a while ago, very, very slow. Three days and three nights.

And I was standing right at the edge of it, at the point when it was at Steve’s Hill, just out here. And I was, oh, 6 years old. Very slow, very slow.

I would almost say that you could hardly see it rising.”




Bill Gallinger’s Voice

Joint interview David Hill and Bill Gallinger, Interview Audio Excerpts, Lost Villages Historical Society, LVHS Schoolhouse, Long Sault, Ontario. August 22, 2013




It took three days and three nights for the water to flood. You could hardly see it rising.

Going to Sheek’s Island and confusing ‘rapids’ with ‘rabbits’ as a child.

My dad was the first to get a TV. The whole community would crowd into the living room.

We played lots of games. Wrestling.

Video



Video Excerpt: Joint interview David Hill and Bill Gallinger, Lost Villages Historical Society, LVHS Schoolhouse, Long Sault, Ontario. August 22, 2013



In this part of a joint interview with his childhood friend David Hill, Bill Gallinger remembers how when the cofferdam was blown up, you could hardly see the water rising.

July 1, 1958 was a huge day in the St Lawrence Valley. People assembled in their thousands from near and far to watch the explosion of the cofferdam that finally released the much anticipated flooding. People expected something dramatic - perhaps a tidal wave of water - instead it took 4 days to flood the area.

Bio

Bill Gallinger grew up in Moulinette, Ontario.

He now lives in Long Sault, Ontario.