22 - North Shove News - Sunday, September 3, 2000

HARBOUR
CENTRE

Yall Program for Adults 35
& Better
Maris September 1

REGISTER SEPT. 5
Arts & Crafts

* Bazaar Group

« Calligraphy

« Copper Enamcling

* Creative Crufts

* Dressmaking

¢ Knitting & Crocheting
* Oi Painting

¢ On-Loom Weaving

¢ Paper Tole

¢ Pottery

* Quilting

* Stuined Glass

¢ Fole Painting - beginners
_¢ Wood Carving

° Woodworking - Beg,

» Sik Painting

Educational
Opportunities

¢ Computer Club

« Computer Instruction
Computers for
Grandparents
Writing with Computers
Searching the Family Tree
-Tips and Tricks for Windows

_. Email & Intermet

* Creative Writing

* Discussion Group

. French :

Poetry Reading

* Stamp Club
Weight Loss Group *
* Book of the Month

“ Physical Activities
Carpet Bowling -

“Heath Lectures

-"Hands On” Neck Massage
Table Tennis
Tai Chi.

Daytime Dance Classes.
Drama -The Reactors
Harmonica

Oct FAduitt Guardianship-
Representation Agreeme

EMILY Gardner’s
strength of character
and determination have
been the cornerstones
of her achievements.

This remarkable lady
opened her heart and her
home to children others
could not care for, did not
want or just simply aban-
doned.

In earlier times, her mar-
tied life was not easy. She suf-
fered hardships and foneli-
ness, but also learned to trust
in herself, her judgements
and her capabilities, Here is a
woman who thought out
solutions to her problems,
made decisions and acted
upon them. The world for
many children, now grown;
of course, is a better place
because of Emily Gardner.

One of seven siblings,
Emily was born on Feb. 25,
1919 at Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Her family lived in
Transconia, just outside of
Winnipeg, in the last house at
the edge of town, next to
what was referred to as hobo
jungle.

Her father worked in the
CNR Shop in Transconia.

She hada happy childhood.

“The hobos riding the
railroad cars would get off
the trains and do any type of
work you might have, for a
sandwich and a hot drink,”
she recalls. :

Remembering another
story, Emily recalls; “When I
was about nine or 10, a man
by the name of Nelson stran-
gled tvo women in

Three’ ‘to five- years after

menopause, bone loss in

women can be five.to ten

times greater than men. This

is due to’ estrogen deficiency.
: By the age of 65, the average -
man still has 91% of his bone

mass, but the average women -
has only about 74%, Not fair,

is it? .

To avoid bone loss, women must
ensure -: adequate ~ calcium -
intakes thug their lives
- and do weight-bearing exercises
“routinely three or four. times a:

week, These actions will help
- Slow bone loss...

ey Free Parkin :
: Free Delivery for Pharmacy
. - Prescriptions -

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=) 1401 Se. Georges <0.

285- 8771

Winnipeg. Afraid he might
come to our house, my
mother nailed down the coal
chute and all lower windows
of our home.”

The so-called Nelson
Strangler was finally caught
hiding under the platform at
the CNR siding at Dugald.
He had climbed through the
train’s bathroom window.

Emily was educated in
Transconia, and after finish-
ing school at age 17, she
married David Gardner in
1934. The young couple
moved to Winnipeg fora
time, but David wanted to
move back to his hometown
of Rapid Cir. So in 1939 the
young couple left their com-
fortable lifestyle in Winnipeg
and started fife in Rapid City,
with a population of less than
500 adventurous souls.

When they first arrived in
Rapid Ciry, they stayed for +
time with David’s uncle Boo,
a bachelor in his 70s. But
with Emily expecting again,
they decided to get a | place of
their own.

Places to live were hard to
find, but they finally rented

from the town council, for $5

per month, a skating room
shack made with nwo- by-
four-foot boards, with two
small windows and one door.
It had no insulation, no cup-
boards — nothing. It was just
a bare, poorly built shack.

“Imagine. No hot or cold
water, no indoor plumbing,
no electricity, no facilities
whatsoever,” says Emily. “We
hauled our drinking and
cooking water from a well,
bur got our bathing-and
washing water from the
river.”

Yo do laundry, Emily used
a large square tub with a
metal scrub board and heated
the water on the home-made
stove. David had built the
stove out of an oil drum and
sat it in a bed of sand. He
built a fence, an enclosure,
around it to keep’ the chil-
dren from getting burned.
They finally purchased the
shack from the town council
for $150.

-On Jan. 4, 1940 David
and a friend moved the shack
toa lot on Uncle Bob's prop-
erty. They did this by using a

——- SENIORS ——

ised many

NEWS phote Julie Iverson
IN the 1950s, Emily Gardner was a foster mom, caring

for 54 children over a 10-year period. |

team of nwo horses and
rollers.

In May the same year,
David enlisted in the Princess
Patricia Canadian Light
Infantry, and left for overseas
on July 15.

Christmas that year, Emily
and her children came to
Vancouver to spend the holi-
day season with her parents.
They stayed three’ months
and Emily decided to move
to the coast. But first, she
had to return to Rapid City

"and fix up the old shack mak-

ing it presentable enough to
rent. This was not an easy"
task for a woman alone with
a family, but Emily was no
shrinking violet. She put ply-
wood on the walls and used
wood chips for insulation,
then made one end of the
shack into two bedrooms,
and the other end into a
kitchen and a dining area.

The attached wood shed at
the back she turned into a
cupboard for supplies. She
constructed a patio out of
bricks and made a walkway:
out front. Her flower and) ~
vegetable gardens were also-
out front. :
She reflects: “I had the -

first outhouse in Rapid City

—a double seater.”
When the renovations ©
were finished, Emily rented

“the place — furnished — to -

another soldier’s wife. And 50”
in 1943, Emily and her chil-

“dren packed their bags'and

moved to Vancouver... ‘

Now back at the Coast,
Emily found work as a rivet .
passer with the North

Vancouver Ship Repairs. “She” nee
; picked as a heritag ‘hous

also did volunteer work for -°
the war effort, so was eligible”
to rent, and- move into, her’
present home on May 15,

“1945. Her mother moved i in. :

with her to look‘after.the ~
children while Emily worked.”
David returned home.

.. from the war in the falt of
"1945. In.1947, David and:
‘Emily bought the house’. ;

Emily had rented. She has :

B lived in this home for 55.

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‘Stong' 's Express will deliver your’.

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AVAILABLE MONDAY TO FRIDAY EXCEPT HOLIDAYS 7
. ORDERS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:00 AM-.. . ~
~ AND WILL BE DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING DAY -
’ SATURDAY DELIVERIES ARE AVAILASLE BUT’

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OAM FRIDAY. |

years.
Suddenly, in 1963, :
Emily’s world rollapazd: Her
beloved David died suddenly.
“witha massive heat‘attack,
leaving her with five small

Our complete family
support service can-

- of care for your loved Ine.
Personal’ support, °.

: homemaking or nursing :

- enjoys baking,
:*: ily sewing and, of courses’
a ing ‘for her flower. i

children under the age of 10.

Emily had stepped work
when David returned atter
the war, bur now it was back
to the workforce for her. This
time, she did catering for pri- ©
vate parties and for banquets
at hotels and the Eagles -
Club. A bit later, she worked
as cashier for the North
Shore Winter Club for several
years. She also worked as a
nanny for various people
while they were on holidays.

In 1948, Emily’s home
became a foster-care home
for children ranging from *
infants to age 12 or 13.
During a 10-year period,
Emily cared for 54 foster
children.

One of the babies had
been abandoned at the PNE
in 1949. He just recently «-
died in April due to medical
reasons.

Through the years she:
would take the children on'a
lot of picnics, swimming and
outdoor events. They would’
picnic at Spanisiy Banks, and_
other neat places, but thei
favourite picnic spot was Por!
Moody Park.’

She has just finished mem:
oirs, Book of Memories for My
Fa mily, so the younger. one:
coming up will know their:

- family history and what life:

was like way back when.

Emily's advice to young”:
married couples is: “Never go
to sleep ona quarrel, Also,

_pay a fot of attention to your

children because they grow, “g
up very fast.”
Six out of eight hildren’

- of her own are living, and she

has 28 grandchildren and 1

* great-grandchildren. Emily

lost a daughter at age 39 |

.- ffom cancer, and one son was
:killed in a a vehicle accident.

-Her home has been

joing the

den.
niderstandal

‘appreciative meniand ‘women

when they needed 3
to love'and care fe ‘them

‘might make an ‘intevestisig:
profile, send your iden to Vik
c/o North Sh