32 - Sunday, September 19, 1993 - North Shore News The Highlands are a great place for bringing up Eleanor alone - WHEN WE moved into Capilano Highlands in the summer of ’48, it was for me the beginning of my growing up. Ke a ar a a THE VINTAGE YEARS . | was already 31 years ‘old, a wife for five of those, mother of a three-year-old child. — But.for the first time in my life I was in the position of controlling my own decisions _. and movements, without ~. well-meaning family members, ‘in-laws or outlaws, steering me in this or that direction. - The place was just too dog- .gone remote, you see, 100 bushy, with rotten roads and _ an absolute dearth of refine- ments to tempt anyone, even. those bent on bringing up Eleanor. . The dense growth, no visible neighbors, old logging roads sheltering the huckleberry ___. bushes, Mr.’and Mrs. Kennedy still working on their farm- -place, all of it baffled visitors. . .*. But to the child and me it. was a special world for roam- ing. \ That first winter brought snow that came up to her waist, and ugt.another foot- “ print to be seen! “Tt was a kind of pioncering, - learning to cope with -Mumberless power outages, water-pump failures, no buses ‘for doing the daily provision- ‘ing down at the S&S store. . And the few other settlers sprinkled on the hillside needed connections just as much as I did. All these memories have been excited into tife the last week or so because I’ve been reading Janet Morris’ book, Journey of a Family. It’s the story of the birth and coming to majority of St. Catherine’s church, in the CARSON GRAHAM S.T.A. HANDSWORTH W.V.SS. SENTINEL SEYCOVE WINDSOR SUTHERLAND COLLINGWOOD Call now to register Highlands, and the ‘‘family’’ is the handful of Anglicans into whose care the establish- ment of the church was first given, and about the years of struggling to arrive at the stat- ure it has now achieved. The site for it, just above Ridgewood at Emerald, had been acquired in 1948 by St. John’s of North Vancouver. Lots were going for as low as $475 and upwards to $900, and the plan was to start with a basic hall and grow into a proper church building and rectory. But the population was in- creasing so quickly that: waiting just wasn’t on. The first formal service, conducted from an improvised, ’ Jog altar for a congregation of 50 souls seated on other handy logs, made that evident. Some sort of gathering place was needed now, to accommo- date people during the coming winter. Come fall, ‘the shack”* had |. taken temporary shape, and as I said, the winter that year was. a lulu. An oil heater was still another year away, and they’d suffer two more before the shack could finally be aban- doned. Meanwhile, it acted as the Sunday school early Sunday morning, and church later for the grownups. There were monthly fund- raising events, usually in someone’s home, advertised on tree trunks and by vigorous members who cycled around the hilly area selling tickets to bake sales and fashion shows and tea parties. ' It was a true exercise in community, those early days in the Highlands. For people like myself, from a small town, it was life as she is lived, but for many who . ’ migrated across from the city, it was their first experience in that kind of exercise of the common weal. Neighbors really needed each other; most of the settlers were young family types, anda teenager was a rarity. So we ‘‘sat’’ for each other, shared our recipes and our books and our talents, and felt immensely unfettered. Even as the lots continued to fill in, the bonds we’d made out of need for each other persisted. And expanded. The Sunday School at St. Catherine’s exploded out of the shack into neighboring basements, and in no time the - two-three teachers had leapt to 13, engaging 189 children! Archdeacon Greig wasn’t too happy, though; in his 1953 ” assessment he stated frankly that weekend gardening and weekend sport were interfering something awful with weekend worship. Christmas service had brought out 220 people, but spurts, he noted, wouldn't build a strong parish. Everyone knows the desired parish strength has now been achieved and recognized. Their handsome church is a reality. The bank balance that stood at $72.86 in 1949 has been . significantly plumped up,:s0: that their programs for . outreach and improvements: can readily be financed. ; St. Catherine’s has become one of the basic foundations - of Highlands life. I’ve lived all over this shore since 1963, when the child went into university and I foresook housewifery to be my husband’s “‘office.”’ . But whenever 1 am in that area | am deeply pleased with how the Highlands turned out,. especially because of the many trees they’ve succored and the general air of a desirable suburban lifestyle. ‘It was a great place to: grow up in. x. 5 DAYS ONLY? 2 DAYS ONL SEPL22829 "Children veer 10 eat free when ied by an adult, Offer valid items onl Plecse note: } child per ‘edu. eccompan SEPT. 20/93 SEPT. 20/93 OCT. 05/93 SEPT, 21/93 SEPT. 21/03 OCT. 06/93 OCT. 06/93 OCT. 19/93 OCT. 19/93 NOV. 16/93 NOV. 16/93 NOV. 30/93 NOV. 15/93 NOV. 15/93 NOV. 29/93 NOV. 29/93 DEC. 13/93 DEC, 07/93 Ee REGISTRATION AND STARTING DATES ROOM 209 @ 3:20 ROOM 202 @ 3:05 ROOM 219 @ 3:20 ROOM 236 @ 3:15 ROOM 300 @ 3:00 ROOM 212 @3:15 ROOM 211 @3:30 ROOM 304 @ 3:15 ROOM 207 @ 3:20 988-1138 922-0466 Pees | Friday, October Ist at 7: Oopmi in the Orpheum Theatre, Sergiu Comissiona, Conductor: - Your chance to hear the incredible YoYo Ma, one of the great cellists ofall time. - The evening includes Elgar's exquisite Cello Concerto in E ininorand Tehaikovsky's Andante Cantabile for Cello and Orchestra. Call TicketMaster at 280-4444 for tickets. . For information on the Gala at the Dr, Sun Yat-Sen Garden call 684-0100, Sponsored by Susan Clark Gallery of Gem Art, Inc. _ Vancouver Symphony Orehestra. ONCE Is NEVER E ay ae Clue #1: It’s 14 minutes from Lynn Valley. Clue #2: It’s 7 minutes from Upper Lonsdale. Clue #3: It’s 3 minutes from Ambleside. Caulfeild Village Mall Merchants. Upper Levels Highway, Exit #4 before Horseshoe Bay. “‘CAULFEILD: VILLAGE MALE