Sunday, January 20, 1991 - North Shore News - #7 History isn’t all that long ago WE’RE HISTORY, know, you and I. you We're those skinny kids at the beach, our funny-locking bathing suits plastered wet on our tum- mies. We're the school-marm, hair carefully rolled, bell in hand, standing in the doorway of the one-roomed school. We're the self-conscious young man in the flat cap at the wheel of the Reo truck in front of Paine's Hard- ware in 1919. We're the past, and when we've packed up and left by the rear ex- it, what will happen to all our memories? I fear the world will just be one big computer chip. You want recall? You scroll up. So we've got a responsibility. All those happenings and all those people who turned the crank are in our hearts and minds. We can’t just ignore them. Now you can tell right off that I've been hanging out with the old-timers again, can’t you? Only this time it was with a chap and his tape-recorder, chock-full of the years that lie shimmering behind us. Seniors’ sports programs offered THE NORTH Shore Neighbour- hood House is running outdoor recreation programs for seniors January through March. Active programs include cross- country skiing at Hollyburn Ridge and Manning Park on Jan. 25 and Feb. 15. The program is an introduction to the stride and glide world of skiing. Organizers say, ‘‘it’s never too late to learn and enjoy the out- doors’? and are encouraging seniors to participate. All trips are scheduled to depart North Shore Neighbourhood House at 10 a.m. and return by 3 “m. The cost is 35 and includes trail fees and transpurtation. Pre-register at the North Shore Neighbourhood House, 225 East 2nd St., North Van. For more in- formation call Roy Jantzen at 987-8138. Rob Gibbs is the man with the time-machine. He was City Clerk in North Vancouver for the years between 1943 and 1972. Not a tocal boy — few were, in those days. He'd grown up in Penticton and had been clerk in that town, too. He’s retired now, but like Bill Baker at the archives he’s got an abiding interest in people and theie works. Nearly 30 years with city coun- cil’s ever-changing movers and shakers gave him lots of opportu- nity for observation and assess- ment. He made several tapes of the ones he found most interest- ing, which is our great good for- tune. When Ron took on the city job, both North Vancouver municipalities were on the rocks, under the direction of commis- sioners. The city recovered first, and in 1944 returned to the mayor-and-council format. Amongst the first elected to coun- cil was Sam Walker, and I've had the pleasure of several hours of Sam’s reminiscences, some really interesting stuff that gives us a deeper perspective on our present .ommunity. 3am, of course, had to have a .aape. His reports of his adoles- cence and young manhood spent in the raw milieu of early Van- couver, put into my mind the im- age of a charming giant, a bold chap with swash and buckles. After all, he’d been so disap- pointed when his Mom wouldn’t lei him go off to the Boer War — he was still in his teens — that he SKL-IN, SKI-OUT < COMPLETELY FURNISHED ar © WHISTLER RESORT AND SUPPORT THE cae BIZ CKCOMB SKICLUB ha is same, 000 brood new Conde is boing given away Felievery @th!”’ Only 8000 tickets being sold - $100 each PHONE IN YOUR ORDER TODAY! 687-8537 or 938-9075 ISA AND MASTER CARD LOTTERY LICENSE wae GLADLY ACCEPTED No. 764728 BRAKE & ‘MUFFLER SPECIAL, . SPECIAL WITH COUPON Four Wheel Brake Package. (Includes machining of 2 5 rotors & 2 drums, heavy pads " Graks job includes machine we 2 sotors, 2 drums, heavy duty brake is & shoes. Repack Wheel Bearings. OIL GHANGE: SPECIAL +16” (most cars) $5.00 off with Coupon on of change, filter oe lube & 10 pt. safety CHECK. Includes paris & labor. Reg. $21 95 : “NORTH ‘VANCOUVER, 728 MARINE DR. ° _ Across. from Pacific H & shoes). Metallic pads extra. ONLY, $98.88 Reg. $138.95 TUNE UP-SPECIAL TCYLINDER | E CYLINDER] 8 CALENDER, Reg $6395 | Reg $6895} Reg. § sgges | s5795 | s¢ 28 with coupon, most cars, includes parts & jabouy MUFFLER SPECIAL | CLUTCH SPECIAL S4g° G5 BEARING & DISC INSTALLED INCLUDED MOST CARS | MOST CARS Eleanor Godiey THE VINTAGE YEARS trumped her by heading for the Klondike with the other gold- fevered men. He walked out on the baker to whom he was apprenticed and made his way down to the Van- couver wharf with his pack on his back and boarded the Princess May for Skagway and the gold fields. He got as close to gold as the Pelley River stampede, but found baking for the miners and the wood-camps a more reliable source of income. He was getting $10 a day, while $15 a week was the going wage back home. But swash and buckle weren’t really his line, after all. And he wasn’t a charming giant; he was rather stubby, in fact, and ordi- “My counselor : was y chere for me every step of the way. Karen Nowak lost 103 Ibs. nary, and just plain sensible. This break-out with the gold- seekers was his big gesture. Plain old homesickness brought him back to his same old baker- boss, and he met a lovely girl with whom he began to share some of the exciting action over on the North Shore. Both of them loved dancing at Pete Larsen’s hotel, and also on the roof-garden atop the Palace (we know it as the Olympic). There were a number of private clubs, where liquor was available on Sunday, and the butchers’ pic- nics were famous for the barbecues that would draw a cou- ple of hundred young people, plus their chaperones. There was a fair beach at the foot of St. Patrick's, and lots of people camped in tents both sides of lower Lonsdale. Their camps turned into cot- tages, eventually, so that the whole summer could be spent swimming and sunning and danc- ing. There was horse-racing on Se- cond Street in 1909 and 710, and carnivals were a regular event on Esplanade. In 1910 Sunday baseball was started on the B.C. Electric park at 23rd and Lons- dale, where the recreation centre is today, and people came by the hundreds, in autos, trams, and a cloud of dust, to watch the three ball games that preceded the police closure. So Sam and the pretty girl who was now his pretty wife, built their house and opened his bakery in this newly thriving ‘“‘Ambitious | CALL TODAY | North Vancouver Port Coquitlam © Richmond — Burnaby Surrey Vancouver 985-1888 942-6644 271-2127 4444849 599-9339 733-3077 Senice fee © Jenny's Cusine additional © Maier credit cards accepted ¢ Open Saturdays and evenings * Maratcnance Products optional ¢ 1990 forinns Craig Intemational City,"” and as soon as the oppor- tunity presented itself, Sam ran for alderman and was clected. He served year after year, doing whatever he could to help the community thrive, not making any waves, growing prize chrysanthe- mums end being a good citizen. No more swash, no more buckles, just applying his cooper- ation and enthusiasm wherever they were needed. He was 90 years old when he made the first of the tapes, and his memory for names and dates was quick and sharp. He was quite sure of himself. Still, | had to ask myself, why did Ron ad- mire him so? Except for that Klondike fling, his whole life had been quite pedestrian. And the answer lay in a story he told me of his own young days, when, in 1937, when everything was grim with the Depression, Ron Gibbs defied his cir- cumstances, too. He borrowed $100 from his in- surance policy, a wildly reckless and ominous thing to do, accord- ing to his Mum, and bought a return ticket to Hawaii. He sailed out of Vancouver on an Australian-registered ship, and spent his improbable holiday in the Moana Hotel on the beach in Honolulu. His room cost him two-fifty a night, and we're talk- ing $2.50. While he was there, he saw Buddy Rogers, Mary Pickford and Amelia Earhart on the street! Ever after, like Sam, he was content with what life requires of him. “From the very start, 1 was im- pressed with Jenny Craig. My counselor was encouraging and supportive. And the classes, well, they were just a kick. In- formative, energetic and fun. If | had to pick just one great thing about Jenny Craig, Fd be at a loss. Beeause the best thing about Jenny Craig is everything.’