It’s a dog’s life: The tale of Nipper the Aviator’s dog

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, September 4, 2025

It’s likely inappropriate to say that we are having an "Indian Summer," but it puts me in mind of an encounter I had years ago.  

Back in the day, I had a super fun moment when I was surprised by an Indigenous customer. He walked in the door of the video store, stuck out his hand, and said, "pay me.”

I looked at him blankly. He said, again, “Pay me. We are having an Indian summer, pay me!”  What a great laugh we had together..

The evenings in September are cool and still long, so there is an opportunity to get out on Tyhee Lake. The dragon boat pulls off at 7 p.m., Mondays and Thursdays.  Bring a good-fitting life jacket. They have the paddles.

Seniors are cooking up great lunches. The lunch is $15 this year. It’s helpful to bring the right change to keep the line flowing smoothly. Kirk Mendel has put out the September Newsletter with an events calendar. The third Saturday of the month is one of my favourites ….a pancake breakfast.

In a previous issue of The Interior News our editor celebrated the life of his dog, Lady MacBeth. She travelled all the provinces with him. A bond that will always hold dear in his memory.

Bill Lolpaschuk had such a great bond with his dog Nipper..

A book worth reading is They Call Me Lopey, is a memoir written by legendary commercial bush pilot William Lopaschuk. He had taken to the skies, mainly commercially, with as many as 2,500 take-offs and landings and in as many as 60 different aircraft. He and his wife Toni moved to the Bulkley Valley in 1967.

However, amid all his adventures, it is Bill's adventures with his dog Nipper that will be a chapter to remember.

Bill got Nipper in Vernon when the puppy was just a few days old. He put him in his pocket and fed him every two hours. As Nipper, half-collie and half-shepherd grew, so did the adventures. Nipper adapted to the life of an aviator’s dog and flew all over the province with him. 

When Bill got a new assignment, and while he and Toni looked for a new place to live, Bill had to leave Nipper in Vernon with his parents.

Nipper disappeared from Vernon.

Nipper walked 700 miles and crossed three major rivers and returned to Burns Lake. Bill wasn’t there. 

A building contractor fostered Nipper for two years and it was, by perhaps divine intervention, that with a pounding heart, and shaky legs, Bill saw Nipper again. He was on the shore of Pinchi Lake. The two never again parted company.

They Call Me Lopey: A Saga of Wilderness Flying is published by Creekstone Press. 

If you have items of interest for this column please email sonja.lester.b.c@gmail.com or call 250-847-4414.