4 - Sunday, November 1,

AS I was helping my eight-
year-old son into his tuxedo,
he asked me: ‘‘What’s mar-
riage really all about?”’

A father only gets one chance in
a lifetime, per kid at any rate, to
answer a question like that.

The boy, Willy, was going to be
a ring-bearer at his Mom’s sister’s
wedding. Jt was the first time he
had ever worn a tux. After we had
the whole outfit assembled, the
bow-tie on straight, I jed him to
the full-length mirror so he could
see himself.

He was so delighted with what
he saw, tears came to his eyes.

“TF can’t believe this is happen-
ing, Dad. Me. Getting to be a
ring-bearer at. Sandy and Dave's
wedding, and wearing this. Wow!”

A wedding, he knew, was a Big
Deal. Spell that: B-I-G!

“Getting married goes back to
when people lived in caves,’* I ex-
plained, while brushing his hair.

“You'd have all these different
families killing each other, but
then a boy from one family would
marry a girl from another family,
and they’d all stop fighting. It was
an early way of making peace.”’

Hardly a Spenglerian summary
of history, but the drift was there.

So off we went to the wedding in
a stately old lodge overlooking the
Fraser Valley. There was a huge,
beamed dining room with a
fireplace and lots of room .to
dance.

All Sandy’s family was clustered
together around the tables on one
side of the dance floor. All Dave's
family and friends were clustered
you know where.

Presented by Bob Warkentin

1987 - North Shore News

It was quite an amazing sight, |
seflected, as my wife and J and our
two kids scrambled in at the last
minute, bringing food and pres-
ents, and seeing the two camps.

It was a very Canadian scene.
Sandy’s roots go back five genera-
tions on the West Coast, so her
clan is next to native. Dave just
moved out here a decade or so
ago, so his tribe was mainly from
Down East. Some were actual
Maritimers. You don’t see that
many of those out here.

Maybe it was because the old
mansion was so medieval, and
maybe it had something to do with
my sisters-in-law, as bridesmaids,
being dressed in 18th-century
ballroom gowns, but this huddl-
ing-apart of the tribes struck me as
terrific source material for an an-
thropologist.

Primitive? Maybe more than
primitive. We are talking herd im-
pulse here.

Such impulses are stronger, if
anything, among children than
adults, I also noticed.

Our little girl, Emily, was so ex-
cited at the thought of seeing her
cousins, that she had even forgot-
ten to complain about not stopping
at McDonald’s,

So far as the kids were concern-
ed, the party was in full swing in-
stantly.

The ceremony was to be held
outside on a Japanese-style bridge
over a pond. Everybody had to
assemble, contain their ner-
vousness, and try not to show their
impatience as delay followed delay
into much later in the afternoon.

The light faded several tines,
bul came out unwaveringly as the

Good humor is one of the best arlicles of dress I can hi ‘ear in society.

it ig always better to hope than to despair.

--Wm, M. Thackeray

--Goethe’

wh

The foolish person seeks happiness in the distance; the wise per--

son grows it under his feet.

«

~dames Oppenheim -

*

There are two things to aim for in fife: First, get what you want;

after that, enjoy it.

--Logan P. Smith

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NORTH VANCOUVER
986-4291

September 18. 1987
Don Forster Mens Wear Lid
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ceremony began. [t terrific
theatre.

Sandy’s flowing white gown was
attended by numerous sweet little
nieces. Dave looked magnificent.
Their images were reflected like a

fairy tale illustration in the pond.

was

The god of special lighting effects
smiled that day.

Ten thousand formal wedding
party pictures were then taken. At
feast 10,000. Thirst occurred.
There was stuff to drink, but no
corkscrew or cups. .

It looked bad for a moment
there when the best man disap-
peared in search of plastic cups
and the speeches had to be
delayed, which meant that the
food, ready to be served, was star-
ting to get cold. I actually witness-
ed tension.

Back in the kitchen, chaos,
panic, confusion, even some mor-
tal angst had been happening all
afternoon.

But when the feast came, it was
epic. The champagne corks pop-

teen really know how to
read? ae bon ur child read for

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THE FIRST STEP: An Ap-
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Then based on the test results, we

“Sailor a reading program to meet

his/her needs.

ped. There was the chomping of
many human jaws. The sloshing of
mucho vino. Lots of laughing.
And then, of course, music and
dance.

Just about everybody danced
with everybody clse.

It wasn't too long before a new-
comer looking .down from the
rafters would have been hard-
pressed to distinguish which in-
dividuals belonged to which tribe.

I realized, almost with a tear in
my eye myself, that Canada had
just been stitched a bit more
together than it was before. Look
at those tribes from East and West
making peace!

-A boy from one tribe, a girl
from another...Is that romantic or
what? Luck, guys!

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201 1217 LONSDALE AVE., N.V. 985-6811

(LIONS GATE

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Lies.

He 8 a ar

For 23 years the Lions Gate Medical
Research Foundation has been funding useful
and important medical research projects on
the North Shore by North Shore physicians
and health care workers!!

We are asking --u to ioin us in these
worthwhile endeavours by
* making a tax- deductable donation of
$2, $10, $100, or whatever you can, &/or
¢ volunteering: to donate some time, &/or
* becoming a member of the Foundation
(see application form below) _

More Information? Cali Kathy Hunter
988- 3131, local 201

Attention: Kathy Hunter « c/o Lions Gate Hospital

15th Street at St. Georges, North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 2L7

AS

S
T enclose my donafici of $........0.. Mail estate planning information?
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Cl

§ thought 1 appropriate to keep you abreast of Out frst
H season selling Ihe Tilley Product
Both our fr and our customers are must happy with
the performance of all Tiley tems
There was however one instance where the dese 10
wear Tilley got out of hang As you can see by the
photos. a thet durng ihe dark of might. smashed one ot
our large display windows ana adsconded with a
§ complete Tey ouitt
With the arrival of ine oobce who surveyed the: mess
came the statement “one thing for sure, was that the
culpnt had excelent taste”

NAIe.....scccceecsesseeccsscsssacecessacsecescarsesseees MOGIeSS..cscsscreesseseescessseesscssessssaeesssessascaresassete
Postal Code.

Dave Richardson

Barbara Tilley
1559 Pemberton Ave..
North Vancouver

980-2631

Drop in, Phone or Write.
New Hours:
Mon-Sat. 10-5;

Open Fri. til 7 1078 Marine Drive, North ‘Vancouver

mit: orfe per customer. Good until November.30th, 1987. Minimum $5.00:
ETE Te YC ELECT rr

Reba baicpaeteeth ebb se ht es