Pyeng t ho vee ‘ 20 - Sunday, May 5, 1996 — North Shore News The Last of the Real Eleanor Godley _— vintage years IT’S PRETTY stunning, I agree, when you first think about it, but the fact is that you and J, in our 70s and 80s and 90s, we are the Last of the Real People. I know, it sounds like the title for a B-grade movie, but think about it with me fora bit. You and I, when. we were born, led lives that were car- bon copies of our parents’, and the lives of their parents, comme to that. We did for ourselves, We hauled pails of water, either out of a cistern or out of a nearby creek; we dug our potatoes from the plants in our gardens; we washed our clothes by boiling them, then wringing them out by hand. It was back-breaking work, but PETER A. SPECK: The West Vancouver Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter A. Speck as Vire Chairman of the Foundation. A Mr. Speck iy President and Publisher of North Shore Free BM Press Lid. Recognized for his fais industry experience, Mr. Speck BE has served on the boards of B.C. Band Yukon Community Newspapers Association, Pacific Bas Press Lid. and Suburban pee’ Newspapers of America. He is oe currently a member of the ms Executive and Operating (>) Committees of Lower Mainland Publishing Ltd. First a resident aes of West Vancouver in 1944, and BEE again since 1976, Mr. Speck is a BS director with several North be Shore community agencies cluding Family Services of the North Shore. As a member of the West Vancouver Foundation, Dyes he will serve concurrently as Age Board Vice Chairman, and ® Chairman of the Public Relations Committee. Foundation is a community- based, non profit society which mes encourages, accepts and holds eee charitable contributions in a perpetual capital fund. Income from the invested capital is used to support local initiatives in the fields of health, recreation, social par! services, education, the arts, F and the environment. Donors May support the general fund, specify an area of interest, or establish a named community award or scholarship. The Foundation also accepts contributions which may be designated wholly or in part to Ra a local project or program. my they did smell lovely when they were brought in from the clothes-line. We picked wild berries for dessert and for jam and there was moose meat on the table taking tums with one of the chickens from the chicken- run out back. Our mother made our bread as well as our cakes and we used live horse power for our outings. We bottled our own beer and picked the dan- delion heads for our own wine. We wrote letters, not hasty-notes to thank you or invite you, but letters, which needed a four-cent stamp, in which we described what we were going to pickle or pre- serve and how many pairs of socks we'd knitted. We had no telephone for our communications —~ I was 15 before one was installed in our kitchen, the crank-up kind. We used treadle sewing- machines (at least other peo- ple did; I could never coordi- nate movement of my feet with movement of my hands and arms, though | did turn out to be a passable fox-trot- ter later on in life), We swept the floors before washing then on our hands and knees. When we reached school age we were as mice for the first four of five years, asking permission (o speak by putting a hand in the air, I see the school rooms of today on ful store in the East. Eaton's catalogue had everything,from the violins my sister and | practiced on to our winter coats and long johns and shoes and lumber- jack socks and the harness for the animals and the buffalo rug for the cutter. All of it came to us via the railroad. 66 Sure there were things seriously lacking in those simpler times, in the areas of medicine and transportation and communication. Acquiring them was the price we paid, | guess, 99 TV and see children sprawled on the floor doing their color- ing and talking their heads off. Can't believe it. Money was scarcely visi- ble. A nickel was a fortune. Except for what the general store carried in the way of foodstuffs, our supplies came via railway from the wonder- That catalogue was one of our favorite reading materials and it served us faithfully even to its expiration in the out-house. For those like my husband who lived in the city life was hot so benighted, of course. They had street-cars and cor- ner stores and libraries and Peop parks, They could go to the movies, the postman came to their very door, twice a day, and they had electric light and swimming pools, Radio evened things up a little bit for us, though it was only useful after dark in the North, when “Good Evening” would bring us up to date in his patriarchal tones. Now I have just read in the paper that the world’s latest marvel is brought to us by IBM, bless their tite car- tridges -— they have perfected a speech technology that lets you dictale to your home computer, Really. No buttons to push, you tell it, it acts. Stop the world, it's time for us to get off, eh? We can only say, we've had the best part, you and I. Sure there were things seriously lacking in those sirapler times, in the areas of medicine and transportation and cornmmunication. Acquiring them was the price we paid. 1 guess. They always told us “You can't have everything.” Stephen Wong Pharmacist CAPSULE COMMENTS ‘The most popular form of calcium is calcium carbonate, Some people have trouble absorbing this form on an empry stomach. But taken with a meal, the calcium is absorbed by everyone with equal efficiency. When taking calcium supplements, take smaller amounts more often through the day sather than a large amount all at once, You will absorb more calcium and decrease the chance of constipation. For sound advice about prescription and non-prescription medications, you can trust the pharmacists az Davies Pharmacy, DAVIES PHARMACY E1401 St. Georges 985-8771 With help from the following donors within our community the Cenotaph Enhancement Project has been successfully completed. Our communities Thank You! International Paper Industry Anderson, Wilfred & Gwen Davy, Roy Dean, Stella Jo Mussatto, Darrell Royal Canadian Legion@#118 Arla NV. High School Class of '45 Reunion Sargent, Scotiabank Scott, Robert & Barbara Seaspan Intemational Sharp, Barbara Sharpe, Nell Sevata Pian VR-379 140 Ease Keith Rd. Svgar Bowl Holdings Tomlinson, Neil & Amelia VanCity Credit Union Wahlgren, Vincent & Ruth Webb, Antherry & Yoskyl Witham, Hazel Zoltan Kuun & Associates van elegaisy oF