Real people quietly living t THIRTY YEARS ago it was not only a revolutionary idea, it was practically meaningless. That a town would want to throw up barriers, would actively militate against growth in population and consequent wealth, who could credit it? And yet there was my otherwise rational cousin saying ex- actly that about his home town. **We have to study how we are going to keep people from settling in the Kelowna area. If we don’t, it’s going to be ruined.”’ Now, too iate, of course, what he feared is the fact. The charm- ing small town he grew up in and made his hfe and living in has been transmogrified. The shoulders of the local hills, the fertiics benches, the orchard land, are scaled over with brand new roofs; the simple smat) “downtown”? he knew is no longer recognizable, and _ traffic chokes al! avenues. Cities don’t work well for the very young or the very old. As we elders retire we mostly yearn to simplify our lives. NEWS photo Mike Wekofioid THE NEWLY-launched seniors’ one-ste> information line is a new service, from North Shore Com- munity Services (NSCS), that will offer ceniors one phone number (983-3303) for information on all of the community services that cater to thern. Helping with last week's launch were NSCS’s Lorna . Boodie Amott, Tricia Andrew, Ruby Vanziftie, Irene Lyttle (of Lions Gate Hospital), Peggy Greig and Barbara McBride. New line offers one-stop AS THE population of seniors on the North Shore continues to grow, so too are the many com- munity agencies expanding to meet the needs of this growing segment of society. However, as new services evolve, it can sometimes be dif- ficult to identify the availability of various resources offered by local organizations. In order to meet this challenge, a mew Seniors’ One-Stop Infor- mation Line has been launched. The telephone number is 983-3303 and is in effect weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The information line, which is funded by a $51,500 grant from the B.C. Ministry of Health, con- tinuing care division, is part of a new program designed to deveiop partnerships between jocal conti- nuing care offices and service groups. lt represents new and innovative ways to deliver health care services to British Columbians and is part of the provincial government’s commitment to encourage a greater move towards com- munity-based services. The community partnership in- volves North Shore Community Services Society (NSCSS), Capilano Community Services, Lionsview Seniors’ Planning Society, North Shore Home Sup- port Services, Lions Gate Hospital and the North Shore Services to Seniors Network. Seniors themselves also play a Noted researcher to speak at upcoming arthritis forum DOCTOR IAN K.Y. Tsang, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Colum- bia, will be one of 10 panel members at an arthritis forum ia Lions Gate Hospital gymnasium, Tuesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. Dr. Tsang, a rheumatologist, in cooperation with Dr. Peter Wing, an orthopaedic surgeon, and a research team, conducted an ex- periment on the recent space shut- He mission, which carried Cana- dian doctor Roberta Bondar. The research sought insights in- to the physiology of the spinal cord as well as the causes of back pain. Astronauts in space experi- ence back pain and a height in- crease of some 7.5 centimetres, which may have implications for earthbound people with arthritis. Back pain affects four out of five people at some point in their lives and is second only to the common cold as a cause of absence from wotk. When it comes to investigating back pain, few people are better equipped than rheumatologists, with their knowledge of disability, pain, limitation of function and the structure of the spine. From the space shuttle experi- ment, Dr. Tsang and his research associates are hoping to gain new insights into ankylosing spon- dylitis, osteoarthritis, and other conditions that affect the spine. “Dr. Tsang recently addressed the White Rock branch of the Ar- thritis Society, and the reports were wildly enthusiastic,’’ said Stewart McGill, president of the North Shore branch. ““And we are honored that he is to be a member of our panel of 10 professionals at the arthritis forum on Tuesday.”’ key role in identifying the needs of their community on the North Shore, says Caroline Jackson, publicist for the NSCSS. “*For example, the seniors advi- sory committee of the NSCSS guides the direction cf services of- fered to seniors by the agency and will give invaluable input to the new Seniors’ One-Stop Informa- tion Line.”’ TRANSMISSION & MUFFLER LTD. 860 W. 15th Street, North Vancouver Sunday, May 17, 1992 ~ North Shore News - 19 So we head for the [sland or for the Okanagan or for the Sunshine Coast, thinking that once there we can return to, or, perhaps for the first time in our lives discover, real people quictly living their real lives. And it's cheaper. But of course by swarming into Parksville and Naramata and Chase the newcomers destroy the very thing they long for — the small town with simple virtues, neighborliness, trust and security retreats when the acres sprout rows of condominiums. The plain little village is no longer adequate to serve all these newcomers. The merchants are too few, giant stores move in. The hospital, if there is one, is too small for what's about to be ex- pected of it. Fancy recreational facilities attach to and sophisticate a place that hadn’‘t prepared itself for its role as a retirement heaven. There’s a simplistic residue in our minds of the towns of our past, of a slower pace, a greater emphasis on the individual, a chance to be a recognized con- tributer. We recall our mothers going to tea-parties and discussing books and art and the new choir-master. There’d be softball games after early supper, and ccl- lections for the Elks’ Christmas tree. Walking through town to the post office you’d meet and grect at least haif of the inhabitants and see for yourself that the world was stable and good and people pro- perly concerned that it stayed that way. There-may be such, somewhere, still, 1 grew up in that sort of place, where doors were never locked, where kids came home after school and filled the wood- box and pulled the carrots for dinner and did their homework at the kitchen table. Weekends we’d walk down to the Fraser and swim in the eddies, or, winter taking over. ski out to Moore’s meadow with a cold tunch. And everybody in town knew what everybody else was up to. Because of that fact, small towns are a lot more critical of conduct. One is under constant scrutiny, friendly though it may be, and therefore standards of dress and performance have to be of a much higher order than when one is living in massive anonymity heir real lives THE VINTAGE YEARS amongs: city folk. Everyone knows everyone — had you forgotten that part? — and consequently everyone talks about everyone. Social demands, in the broad sense as well as the personal, can be very onerous. To wit, there was a piece in the Monday paper reporting a star- tling shortage in psychiatric ser- vices in my home town of Prince George. By the end of this month all but two of such practitioners will have left that town, and half-a-dozen local GPs are being recruited as temporary stand-ins. In Prince George? The hospital says a force of at least 10 shrinks is needed to keep the community up to snuff. What’s happened to local initia- tive? Why, when I was growing up the place was rich with what was charitably called colorful characters. They were cherished for the flavor they bestowed on the town. As well, the total popu- lation of 3,000 souls enjoyed all of 13 beer-parlors, which were judged capable of taking care of any minor aberrators. But every one of what my mother called ‘‘non-conformists,”’ and amongst whom she numbered herself, contributed to the diverse fruits of a backwater town. Obviously the town is fuil of ci- ty people fleeing to the backwoods, not fully prepared for life as it is lived in the boonies. Pick your own small town carefully, my friends — I’d sug- gest you make sure there is need neither for television saucers nor psychiatrists before you take the 984-9581 *) (Across from Dave Buck Ford) May not be combined with any other offer, expires June15/92 *Most cars & light trucks