Cowboy Of The Road: True Stories of His Survival

By Valerie M Pontbriand and Marcel Pontbriand

Childhood or wildhood?

This collection of stories begins with a young boy whose cleverness, ability, and determination are more in line with an adult rather than the curious-minded six-year-old that we are introduced to in the first story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LaBleuePlume
• Release date: Feb 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087949734

Book preview

Cowboy

of the Road

True Stories of his Survival

By Valerie & Marcel

Pontbriand

Copyright MMXX

Valerie M. Pontbriand & Marcel

Pontbriand

Dedication

To my dear husband Marcel, for

your integrity and truthfulness.

With love

And to Marcel’s sister Lise, for

sharing with us these authentic

photographies.

A special thank you to Lazz, a dear

friend who helped us with

proofreading this book.

About the Author

How well do you really know your spouse?

To be in love with Marcel Pontbriand is bliss and wanting to know more about the man I have been married to for two decades became my personal mission. Not for spite or to uncover dirt, but to better realize, understand, and appreciate what it took to mold my husband Marcel into the businessman, father, husband, and good-hearted human being that he has become.

Marcel and I married in the years 2000. Even before we were married it was obvious that our minds and hearts complimented each other. We are like two inter-locking puzzle pieces that together we have been fortunate enough to really enjoy life, each other, and share our success with others morally, financially, and lovingly.

Please let me be clear. These are not just stories about my husband’s rise to prosperity, but an inside look into what an individual can do with persistence and determination.

I hope you enjoy reading about my husband Marcel Pontbriand’s life stories as much as I enjoyed listening to him tell them to me first-hand. I’ve written these stories in a very informal and conversational style so that you can get a better feel of his memories, words, and emotions.

Introduction

Childhood or wildhood? This collection of stories begins with a young boy whose cleverness, ability, and determination are more in line with an adult rather than the curious-minded six year old that we are introduced to in the first story.

Normal was never to be a part of Marcel Pontbriand’s life. Orphaned at the tender young age of 14 and with only pennies to his name, you’ll read about how he took to the ice roads of Canada and met with fear, tragedy, and obstacles that only few could even imagine.

Challenge, defeat, and the curses of Mother Nature would forge the young Marcel into a focused dreamer who would plan, re-examine his situation, and promise himself a better life, all the while pledging to help others along the way.

Just like the highways of Canada and the U.S.A., it’s never a straight path to meet a timeline and a destination.

These stories will take you on an adventure of one man’s life that was intertwined with controversy, crime, and corruption.

It’s been a truckin’ hard life for Marcel Pontbriand, a life that he would not change in the least, because it molded him into what he became to be called; Cowboy of the Road

He has driven more than 5 million miles behind the wheel of his Peterbilt rig. So, let us begin this incredible collection of true tales right now!

Disclaimer

Due to the sensitivity of some of these stories and for legal liability reasons, some of the names, locations, and details have been altered. My intention has never been to embarrass, humiliate, slander, or harm anyone in any way in any of my writings.

Table of Contents

Dedication

About the Author

Introduction

1. The Name is Pontbriand; Marcel Pontbriand

2. Marcel; Master of Mischief

3. DEATH STOP

4. Family Tragedy

5. Building a Nest Egg

6. Ice Road Rookie

7. Cigarette Life Saver

8. Leaving Canada for the First Time

9. Smart and Slippery

10. Dreamers and Doers

11. Money from Falling Trees

12. Contract Corruption

13. Promise to Pay You Back

14. Looking Behind the Trucking Business Curtain

15. Union Intimidation

16. Business Acumen

17. Target of a Scheme

18. Canada One Tech Nightmare Continues

19. The Quebec Web

20. Neighborhood Awakening

21. Faulty Canadian Connection

22. Business Hurdles

More Books by the Author

1. The Name is Pontbriand; Marcel Pontbriand

The year was 1965 and Marcel was a bright-eyed, curious-minded six year old.

School was a two mile walk one way and for little legs, it was an exhausting chore making the four mile round trip each weekday.

Marcel’s mother, who comes from an Irish background, had five children with her first husband and following a divorce she married the man who would become Marcel’s father. The marriage would create an additional eight children.

Marcel was in second grade and each student had their name on a plate on the front of the desk so that the teacher could easily identify each student and of them knew exactly where they were supposed to sit.

Marcel had a problem with his name plate and it would upset him on a daily basis because his name plate read; Marcel Fontaine. The little six year old was very bold for his age and would repeatedly tear off the Fontaine portion of the name plate and write; Pontbriand.

Determined to make his point as clearly as possible, Marcel asked his mother for his birth certificate. Being very busy giving her attention to Marcel’s siblings, she opened a drawer of a dresser, pulled it out and handed to Marcel.

The next day Marcel arrived at school and once again removed the Fontaine portion of his name plate and wrote; Pontbriand and laid his birth certificate on his desk, making it very clear to anyone who looked at his desk would discover that the birth certificate was proof that Marcel’s sir name was in fact; Pontbriand.

This was a mighty move for the little six year old.

Marcel’s teacher’s name was Mrs. Gisele Goulet and that morning she snatched up the birth certificate and headed directly to the office of the principal of the school, Mr. Poudrette.

The principal examined the birth certificate and realized that it was authentic. He promptly left his office during the school day and proceeded to the home of Marcel’s family with his head full of questions.

While the children remained in school, the principal had a long visit with Marcel’s mother.

Hours later when the Pontbriand children and the Fontaine children returned home from school they could hear the loud voices of their parents as they got in the vicinity of the house.

Marcel’s parents were arguing very loudly and upon entering the house it was obvious that this was a serious parental fight. The kitchen table was upside down, chairs were being flung and almost on cue, as Marcel showed his face, Marcel’s mother pointed at the little boy and shouted, This is your entire fault!

Marcel was immediately sent to his room, but he had no idea why.

Common at the time was Society’s view that divorce was a terrible label for someone to carry, unlike today, where divorce is maybe too common.

When it was time for Marcel to attend school, his mother registered Marcel as Marcel Fontaine and this is where it gets interesting.

Marcel’s father fathered three boys before Marcel was born, but at the time of birth, all three boys were registered for their birth certificate as Denis, Claude, and Guy Fontaine.

What a can of worms Marcel had opened in October of 1966.

The reason she so easily gave Marcel his birth certificate was because she thought it showed Marcel with the last name of Fontaine. However, Marcel was the first child of their marriage to have his birth certificate reflect the family name; Pontbriand.

This was upsetting to Marcel’s three older brothers.

They were, by blood, Pontbriands but each of their birth certificates showed their last names as Fontaine.

All of this was done to avoid the shame and discomfort of Marcel’s mother having to explain her divorce. Again, times and mores were different back in the ‘60s.

What’s a family to do? The solution was easy but was a bit awkward as you can imagine.

The end result and solution to this debacle was to spend the money and have Marcel’s father adopt the

first three boys so that he could legally change their sir names to Pontbriand. It’s odd when you have to adopt your own children.

This was done in 1975 and it was all because of a little six year old who wanted his school desk name tag to read Pontbriand, not Fontaine.

Despite all the argument and discomfort with the situation, Marcel’s father was happy that the truth was finally seeing the light of day.

All children tease, especially among siblings, and Marcel took a certain devilish pride in telling his three older brothers that he was the first Pontbriand and they were the last of the Fontaines.

One of the clues as to Marcel’s father’s pride and joy concerning Marcel’s actions in October was a big surprise for Marcel on his birthday in December of 1966.

The seven year old Marcel received every little boys dream; a blue Mustang bicycle, complete with a banana seat, sissy bar, fast-back high handlebars, extended front fork and sporting a twenty inch rim and tire in the front and a twenty-four inch rim and tire in the back; giving it a racy-raked look.

There’s a lot of joy for a kid to get a new bicycle as a birthday gift, but in Canada, it’s a little frustrating not being able to ride a new birthday bike when the ground is covered in snow.

Marcel was an innovative seven year old. In one of the out buildings at Marcel’s home, Marcel began to

transform his new bicycle by replacing the front wheel with one of his older sister’s skis. When his sister discovered what had happened to one of her skis, she was not happy.

Using some wire, Marcel fashioned some snow studs for the rear tire to gain traction and fastened, to the best of his ability, his older sister’s ski to the front fork.

Now that the modifications were complete, Marcel rode his bike to school one snowy day, but things didn’t go as planned for Marcel. Marcel fell a number of times due to the bike’s lack of stability and one fall resulted in Marcel dislocating his left shoulder.

Marcel’s father came to the rescue and was shocked at what Marcel had done to his new birthday bicycle.

Marcel was a seven year old full of stubborn determination and decided to make some more modifications to his snow bike.

Running the idea of needing more stability around and around in his head, Marcel removed the mirror supports from one of the old trucks in the yard and attached them to the bike’s fork and wood ski.

It was a successful modification and Marcel enjoyed a unique mode of winter transportation.

Marcel’s father witnessed the success his young son’s determination had produced and just beamed with pride.

One of Marcel’s younger sisters enjoyed the benefit of being driven to school on her older brother’s modified snow bike.

The snow bike was just the beginning of showing how Marcel’s mechanical ability was developing.

The family had a small tractor with a trailer attached that was used to gather firewood on the property in the winter. Marcel suggested to his father that if he could get the hood of one of the early Ford Falcons it could be flipped over and the trailer mounted on it and it could be maneuvered much easier than the tires and wheels bounding along on the winter terrain.

Marcel’s father gave it some thought and based on the success of the snow bike that his son had perfected, he gave it a go. It worked perfectly! The curved nose of the Ford Falcon hood worked as a toboggan.

Marcel’s older sister is probably still searching for her missing ski. At the time, Marcel’s father tried to calm her by telling her that Marcel would let her ride the snow bike but, of course, Marcel would have never let that happen.

One day, while riding his bike to school, Marcel noticed that a bolt had fallen out of the bike’s front assembly.

Lucky for Marcel, he had his bicycle’s universal wrench with him. He made the decision to remove the bolts from his desk at school, because he figured that they would be perfect for the repair.

After the morning session, Marcel and his classmates would transition from the regular classes to the afternoon Catholic session.

Unfortunately, the next student to sit