JULY 2009
Vancouver’s 50+ Active Lifestyle Magazine
ON YOUR MARK
Ella Lee
Foodies Explore the Fraser Valley
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Hollyburn House 604-922-7616 2095 Marine Dr., West Vancouver
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Our residences offer a range of retirement living options to suit your unique tastes and needs. At Revera, your options may be endless, but your choice is easy.
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APRIL 2009 APRIL 2009
GARDENING TIPS FOR APRIL (POST GARDENING TIPS FORWINTER) APRIL (POST WINTER) Herbal Remedies For Anxiety Herbal Remedies For Anxiety
����������������� ����������������� Newsletter for Senior Living Readers Newsletter for Senior Living Readers Designed to Inspire, Entertain and Inform.
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Peace of mind, comfort and security are just part of daily life at Sunnyside Manor – your private apartment, nutritious meals, weekly housekeeping and caring staff available 24 hours a day.
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My intention is to live forever. So far, so good! My intention is to live forever. So far, so good!
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This will be something inspirational, like the Tiger TITLEblurb on the Business Newsletter. Blah, Woods This will be something inspirational, likelife. the ITiger Blah, blah....And that’s how I look at my will Woods the Business Newsletter. Blah, I be betterblurb as a on golfer, I will be better as a person, Blah, blah....And that’s how I look at my life. I will will be better as a father, I will be a better husband, as aas golfer, I willThat’s be better a person, I I be willbetter be better a friend. the as beauty of tomorrow. There will be better as a father, I will be a better husband, is no such thing as a setback. The lessons I learn today I will apI will be betterand as a friend. That’s the beauty of tomorrow. There ply tomorrow, I will be better.” is no suchWoods thing as a setback. The lessons I learn today I will ap-Tiger ply tomorrow, and I will be better.” -Tiger Woods
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JULY 2009
MAGAZINE
(Vancouver & Lower Mainland) is published by Stratis Publishing. Other publications by Stratis Publishing:
• Senior Living (Vancouver Island) • Senior Lifestyle: A Housing Guide for Vancouver Island
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES 4 Summer Breeze
Publisher
Barbara Risto
Track and field competitor Ella Lee runs for fun, fitness, friendship – and more than a few medals.
Editor
Bobbie Jo Reid editor@seniorlivingmag.com
8 The Busy Shell Busey
Though he’s been thriving in the building industry for more than 40 years, Shell would rather be fishing.
Proofreader
Allyson Mantle Advertising Manager
12 Guerrilla Gardeners Unite!
Barry Risto 250-479-4705 Toll Free 1-877-479-4705 sales@seniorlivingmag.com
Community gardens are sprouting all over the Lower Mainland, but not quickly enough for some urban dwellers.
Ad Sales Staff
16 Foodies Go Nuts in the Fraser Valley
RaeLeigh Buchanan 250-479-4705 Ann Lester 250-390-1805 Mathieu Powell 250-589-7801 Senior Living Box 153, 1581-H Hillside Ave., Victoria BC V8T 2C1
31 BBB Scam Alert
COLUMNS 2 The Family Caregiver by Barbara Small
by Doreen Barber
11 Forever Young by William Thomas
20 Simply Red
Well-known Vancouver disc jockey Red Robinson reflects on the glory days of radio.
Phone 250-479-4705 Toll-free 1-877-479-4705 Fax 250-479-4808 E-mail office@seniorlivingmag.com Website www.seniorlivingmag.com
28 Crossword
7 Between Friends
Travelling close to home can be a delicious learning experience.
Contact Information – Head Office
27 Classifieds
23 Home Port
Exploring the North Arm of the Fraser by sailboat.
26 How I Became a Frog
29 Ask Goldie
by Goldie Carlow
32 Reflections: Then & Now by Gipp Forster
Writer Nadine Jones rallies a community – and becomes an amphibian.
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Cover Photo: Gold-medal track and field athlete Ella Lee at the start line. Story page 4. Photo: Kevin McKay
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1
THE FAMILY CAREGIVER
I
n Canada, there are over eight million family caregivers. Are you one? Perhaps you found it difficult to answer this question because you are not sure what family caregivers are or what they do. Perhaps you never realized the information provided in this monthly column applies to you and your situation. One of the challenges we experience at the Family Caregivers’ Network is creating awareness and having people self-identify as family caregivers, thereby understanding that the services and programs we offer would be useful to them. So, are you a family caregiver? Family caregivers provide care and support to family members, friends or neighbours who are chronically ill, frail, elderly or disabled. The person they care for might be an elderly parent, a chronically ill spouse or an adult disabled child. The care recipient may either live in his own home, with the caregiver, or in a care facility. A family caregiver is sometimes also referred to as an unpaid caregiver or informal caregiver. Family caregivers provide care for a variety of reasons. It may be out of
Are You a Family Caregiver?
love and caring, a sense of duty, obligation, guilt or because there doesn’t seem to be anyone else available. The support provided can range from simply driving the person to a doctor’s appointment, picking up groceries or the other extreme of providing one-on-one personal care 24-hours per day, seven days per week. The assistance that family caregivers provide can include: • Personal care: Assistance with bathing, dressing, toileting, medications, helping the person in and out of bed or communicating with healthcare workers on his behalf. • Household tasks: Paying bills, shopping, cooking, laundry, cleaning or gardening. • Companionship: Accompanying someone to a doctor’s appointment or sitting in on an appointment, going to church with them, reading, playing cards, going to the park or simply keeping them company and providing emotional support. • Legal and Financial: Managing household paperwork, managing finances or, depending on the person’s cognitive condition, the caregiver may have Power of Attorney to make deci-
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Information and access to a variety of businesses and organizations whose appreciated customers include the 50+ consumer. 2
sions on behalf of that person. Self-identifying as a family caregiver is one of the first steps toward recognizing the demands and responsibilities that the role entails, asking for and receiving help and accessing information and services that can help alleviate some of the burden. Once you recognize that you are a family caregiver, you will realize that you are not alone – one in four Canadians are in the same situation as you. The Victoria-based Family Caregivers’ Network, and similar organizations in the Vancouver area, can provide programs and services that can assist you, including telephone and in-person support, a resource lending library, support groups, educational workshops and a comprehensive website. Call the Family Caregivers’ Network at 250-384-0408 or visit www. familycaregiversnetwork.org for more information, including referral to resources in your own community. Your local health authority can also provide support and assistance through their Home and Community Care programs. Call 1-888-533-2273 or visit www.viha.ca/hcc/ to access SL these services. Next month: How to Support the Person Caring for You
R LIVING T SENIO CONTAC
ALL
[CLICK
BY BARBARA SMALL
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
Barbara Small is the Program Development Coordinator for Family Caregivers’ Network Society located in Victoria, BC. www.familycaregiversnetwork.org
BC EDITION
Published by Senior Living
JANUARY 2009
14.95 Buy it now! �
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To Move or Not to Move? A Helpful Guide for Seniors Considering Their Residential Options
If you are a senior who has been wondering lately whether you should consider moving - either because you find the maintenance of your current home more difficult due to diminishing ability or energy, or you simply want a lifestyle that allows you more freedom and less responsibility - then this is the book that can help you ask the right questions and find the solution that is right for you. • What residential options are available? • Define your current situation - What residential option is right for you? • How to research and assess Independent and Assisted Living residences. • What do Independent, Assisted Living and Complex Care facilities have to offer? • How much does it cost to live in an Assisted Living residence? What subsidies are available? • Thinking of moving in with family members? Questions to consider before making your decision. • Are there any other residential options besides Independent, Assisted Living and Complex Care facilities? • If you choose to stay in your own home, what are your options and what should you plan for? • Who can help you decide what you can or cannot afford? • Funding sources available to seniors - tax deductions, housing subsidies, home care subsidies, equipment loan programs, renovation grants, etc. • Selling your home - how to find the right realtor or relocation services to assist your move. • Downsizing - Where do you start? How do you proceed? • Adapting your home to meet your mobility needs - tips and suggestions • Hiring home care services; do it yourself or hire an agency? • Legal matters - how to make sure you receive the care you desire should you not be able to communicate due to some incapacitating condition • AND MUCH MORE Advice from professionals who are experts in the area of assisting seniors with their relocation
questions and concerns. A handy reference guide for seniors and their families wrestling with the issues around whether relocation is the best option. This 128-page book provides helpful, easy to read information and suggestions to help seniors and their families understand the decisions they need to make.
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Shipping rates apply to British Columbia addresses ONLY. To have book mailed to addresses outside of BC, please call Senior Living 250-479-4705 for shipping costs. Please allow 2 weeks for shipping.
JULY 2009
3
Summer Breeze
D
uring the first week of September 1995, Ella Lee walked onto the track area of the BC Senior Games in Oliver, and wondered what she was doing there. She knew she was entering some races in a track meet; it’s just that, at 57, she had never competed in one before. “This was my very first ever experience at a track meet,” she laughs. “I was so green, I didn’t even know that there were such a thing as running cleats. I just used my runners and ran in them. I hadn’t even done any track training prior to the meet. I met the coach for the first time up there. I was very fortunate that our zone co-ordinator, Rod Palmer, and his wife Margaret were watching for me. They took me in their hands and made sure I knew what to do and where to go.” Ella’s first foray into the world of track and field was a successful one. She was entered in the 55-60-year-old age category, the youngest group in the Seniors Games, up against the best 4
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
STORY AND PHOTOS BY KEVIN MCKAY
female runners at the meet. Before trying her hand at track and field, Ella had played softball for many years, both as a young girl and then later as an adult. She claims this helped her decide which events to enter. “I knew from my years of playing ball that I could run from home plate to first, as well as all around the bases fast. This helped me to decide to concentrate on the shorter races in track. I signed up for the 100-metre and the 200-metre races. I got a silver in the 100-metre, and won the gold in the 200-metre, while wearing runners.” This led to even more success. “Rod asked me if I would help the girls run a relay race. I said to him, ‘Sure. Just tell me what do I do.’ We entered in the 4 x 100-metre race and I ran lead. We won the gold medal, and this same group of four women won about three or four gold medals together over the next few years.” Ella competed again in 1996 at the Senior Games in Kamloops and, again,
did very well. At least this time, she had cleats! From there, she decided to go on and compete at the first-ever Canada Senior Games held that September in Regina. Despite the fact she was still a very inexperienced runner, Ella did herself proud. “I ran very well and managed to win two silver medals in the 100 and the 200 metres, only losing to a woman from Alberta,” she recalls. “When it came time for the relays, there were only four of us there from B.C. including my husband Art. Even though he did not run track, he was a good sport and agreed to join us to form a four-person team for the mixed 4 x 100 metre relay. Despite our lack of training, we won a silver in that race as well. Those games were an awesome experience. Everything was so well done. It was funny, the banquet was held in a funeral home and we were all joking that they certainly knew where to put the seniors!” Ella and Art took advantage of this trip to Saskatchewan to visit Ella’s roots. They drove the two hours
to the old family farm. Ella and her seven brothers and sisters grew up on the farmstead. And like most farming youngsters from the Prairies, Ella had her share of chores and work to do on her parents’ grain farm. She remembers they grew wheat, flax and barley, and had some cattle and pigs. “We were up early and had to do all our chores before we went to school,” says Ella. “I had to feed the pigs every morning and often fed the chickens as well. We also had chores to do in the house, cleaning, and everyone pitched in at meal time.” In those days, Ella and her siblings walked to and from school every day until winter hit. When the conditions got too tough, her father would give them all a ride to school on a horse-driven sleigh. She claims to have picked up some very important lessons from her parents. “I saw how hard they worked. None of us will ever have to work as hard as they did. My Dad taught me that if you are going to do a job, do it right or don’t do it at all, while my mother always told us not to leave the house looking like we came out of the washer. To this day, I still iron my clothes.” Though she considered herself an average student, Ella admits to enjoying her physical education classes, which led to her love of sports. “I used to wish we had gymnastics at our school,” she says, “but we didn’t, so I played fastball in the summer and, in the winter, I curled. I enjoyed these sports right up to the time I left high school.” By the time that happened, Ella had worked a couple of part-time jobs at a grocery store and a theatre. The experience she gained handling the cash made finding a job in a bank easy when she finished school and moved to the big city of Regina. Her long banking career took her and her first husband to places like Regina, Swift Current and Winnipeg before they eventually wound up in the Lower Mainland in 1973. Ella’s first husband passed away in 1984 and, by 1986, her son had grown up, so when a friend asked her if she
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“When I broke my arm while shopping in Seattle, I thought things couldn’t get any worse. Then I got the $10,000 hospital bill.” – L. Wilson, Vancouver, B.C.
Don’t get caught spending more than you planned. Before your next quick trip to the United States, protect yourself with BCAA’s travel medical insurance. It could be the best bargain you find. For more information, call 310-2345, visit bcaa.com/travelinsurance or stop by your nearest BCAA office. Insurance is sold through BCAA Insurance Agency. Insurance is administered by North American Air Travel Insurance Agents Ltd., d.b.a. Travel Underwriters, a licensed insurance broker. 11th Floor, 6081 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC Canada V6Y 2B2. Insurance is underwritten by Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance and Financial Services Inc. and certain Lloyd’s Underwriters, severally and not jointly.
JULY 2009
5
While competing in slo-pitch during her first BC Seniors Games, in 1994, in Prince Rupert, Ella started paying attention to track and field and decided she would give it a try the next year. She did, and by the time her third Senior Games came around in 1997, Ella got to compete close to home during the New Westminster Games. She remembers those games fondly because, “Helen Sparkes, who was the Mayor of New Westminster, at the time, ran with us and we won gold in the 4 x 100-metre relay.” A couple of years after that, Ella started training for track on a more regular basis following the formation of the Tri City Greyhounds Track Team. They practise up to three times a week, allowing Ella and the other 40-plus members to train with others close to their own age group. “It motivates me to see these people who don’t do anything,” she says. “If you try, you can at least do something. We have to count our blessings. A lot of people our age can’t do it or never could.” Now, after years of winning medals in many track meets, including a silver medal in the javelin during the 2000 Senior Games in Kelowna, Ella is most proud of a record she achieved last summer. At the BC Masters Track and Field competition held in Surrey in June, Ella and her three teammates set a Canadian record in the 4 x 100-metre relay for senior women 70 and up. Like in most of her relay races, Ella ran lead, getting her team off to a flying start. “I like running lead,” she says. “I feel comfortable doing that because I know Ella Lee displays when I have to pass the baton. That was some of her such an incredible feat because that team medals. had never even practised together before that meet.” wanted to join a slo-pitch softball team, Ella was delighted to So, what is next for this amazing woman say yes after 30 years away from playing sports. still setting records at age 70? “Definitely, sports is a very im“I tried it, I liked it and I have been playing ever since,” portant part of my life. I love all the social benefits to it. With she says. “When I started playing, there was this teammate our running club we just have a hoot,” says Ella. “We go for of mine named Art Lee. We started dating and got married food after a meet and have a big wind up event at the end of in 1993. We have played ball together for over 20 years now, the year. For me, it’s as much about spending time with the and we never fight about it.” people as it is about the sport itself. Every year, I tell myself Although she has played a lot of ball for many teams over that this is it: I’m going to quit, and then I just keep on going. the years, Ella claims her career highlight was playing for a With ball, I want to quit when I become a hindrance to my women’s team that went on a trip down south in 2005. That team. With track, I will probably go on a little longer – as long team entered a tournament in Las Vegas and won the silver as I can run a decent time for my age.” medal before moving on to the prestigious World Masters It doesn’t sound like these cleats will be hung up any SL Tournament in Utah, where her team won the bronze medal. time soon. 6
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
Between Friends Communication “The problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.” –George Bernard Shaw.
BY DOREEN BARBER
A
Words hold power to either build up or tear down on s a society, we are individualistic, for the most part, and do not care much for debate or con- the most personal level. Meaningful dialogue can deeply empower us; build reflict. It is safer to only share closely held beliefs with family and close friends. Discussing topics of inter- spect, trust, and self-esteem. est with like-minded people makes us feel comfortable and “Flatter me, and I may not listen to you accepted. When there is contention, the situation becomes Criticize me, and I may not hear you. stressful. Even close friends shy away from topics that may Encourage me, and I’ll never forget you.” result in an argument. As a result, what could be an oppor–Author Unknown tunity for an exchange of ideas is lost. Communication is a skill in which Positive dialogue affords an opvoice intonation, body language, portunity to explore new ideas and Words hold power to gesture and speech all play a part. for our hearts to grasp and hold on The gist of what is being said can be to new sources of purpose and coneither build up or tear crafted to the framework of personal nection with others, which results down on the most concept and understanding. in personal growth. Our intellect Men and women often perceive searches for new data while our personal level. words in dissimilar ways. Steve Harhearts seek and grasp onto sources vey wrote a book entitled, Act Like of inner strength, well-being, and a Lady Think Like a Man. He recawareness. ognizes disconnects and miscommunication between the Good communication is an art; it requires focus and a sexes and writes to bridge that gap in a humorous manner. willingness to risk rejection and misunderstanding. There is, however, great reward if heard, and understanding an“Communication leads to community, that is, to underother’s point of view. standing, intimacy and mutual valuing.” –Rollo May Without the element of mutual respect, our conversations can best be described as a speech or report that rarely has any shared benefit.
“Communication works for those who work at it.” –John Powell SL
When you love your own home, why move? As we age, one of the most common problems preventing us from remaining in our own home is the inability to bathe independently and safely. Safety Bath Inc. recognizes that your needs are changing and has designed several walk in bathtub models to enable you to enjoy the independence to which you have become accustomed.
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7
The Busy Shell Busey
S
hell Busey’s solution for slowing down may be to toss his hat into B.C.’s political ring again. “I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe that’s my ‘out’; my way out of the office I go to seven days a week,” says Shell. Being one of Canada’s favourite home handyman for 45 years has kept Shell very busy. For 25 of those years, he has been the voice and face Canadians have relied on for home repair and renovation advice, on such radio shows 88
SENIOR SENIOR LIVING LIVING VANCOUVER VANCOUVER && LOWER LOWER MAINLAND MAINLAND
Shell shows off the catch day inin Ucluelet. The author withofhisthe llamas Ecuador.
as Home Discovery and Home Ideas, and on TV’s Home Check program. Shell made a quick venture into politics, serving two terms as Alderman for the municipality of Delta in the late ’80s. In 1989, he stepped out of politics to become the spokesperson for BC Hydro’s Power Smart Program. “One of the stipulations of accepting the position was that I would have to resign from being Alderman because of the conflict of interest,” he says. “But I have looked very seriously at going back into local politics. It would be my
Photo: Mike Marriott
BY TRACEY BLOCK
out, because I would never be able to disappear entirely. People would still catch me in the street.” Acquiring his wealth of knowledge about the home improvement industry began when Shell was young. Born in Owen Sound, Ontario, Shell says his father was the helpful local carpenter. “If someone needed a new porch, he would build it for them,” says Shell. “And I would go and help Dad, so I was gaining my experience from him as well.” From an early age, Shell knew what
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he did and didn’t want to do when he grew up. “I was always one who wanted to help people,” says Shell. “I wasn’t a bad student. I was just really more interested in working with my hands than working in physics, or typing or any of that. I was more of the ‘shops’ sort of guy.” Shell credits his high school guidance teacher for encouraging his career. “The guidance teacher, back in those days, would see your interests, work with you and try to groom those interests,” says Shell. “Woodworking was one of mine and auto mechanics was another one.” Educated in a vocational school, at age 18, Shell was offered a job at a local Beaver Lumber store, beginning a relationship that would last more than 15 years and take him to several cities across Ontario. “During that same year, I married my wife, Frankie,” says Shell. “She’s always been the administrator and accountant for us. She controls the purse strings.” Shell and Frankie had two daughters during his busy time transferring around Ontario, from 1968 to 1974 – one was born in Sault Ste. Marie and one in Windsor. In 1974, Shell moved to B.C. to supervise the opening of a group of Saveway stores, an arm of Beaver Lumber. In 1976, he was offered the opportunity to move his family to Whitehorse to assist in establishing the first Yukonbased Beaver Lumber franchise. “When they told me it was in Whitehorse, I said, ‘You mean White Rock, don’t you?’” says Shell. It didn’t take long before he and his young family realized the north was not the best place for them. “It got to the point where it was going to be [inconvenient] to bring two young girls up in a northern community,” says Shell. “Once they’d finish their secondary schooling, they’d have to [move away] for college or university.” Shell decided to turn the store over to a franchisee and brought his family back to the B.C. coast.
JULY 2009
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After leaving Beaver Lumber, Shell ner to help lessen the workload. Shell thinks his audiences often and his wife bought a Windsor Plywood franchise in North Delta and later don’t realize he is a senior himself. “I opened their own niche store, Ye Olde have many people phone me up on the Hardware Store, in Surrey. In 1983, af- radio program and say, ‘I don’t have ter being a guest on Raif Mair’s radio a lot of money. I’m a senior,’” says program, Shell began hosting his own Shell. “And I’ll say, ‘Well, join the home improvement radio show on Vancouver’s CJOR. For over a decade, from Shell says his busy schedule 1990 to 2000, Shell hosted the Home Ideas Show on radio stalimits his fishing to twice a tion CKNW, sponsored by BC year and this season’s trip is Hydro. In 2000, it became the Home Discovery Show, sponvery dear to his heart. sored by Cloverdale Paint. When he’s not giving advice to listeners over the airwaves, Shell is busy managing the House- club. So am I.’ A lot of people haven’t Smart Referral Network, a one-stop seen my face, because the program is home improvement referral program broadcast from here right across westhe initiated 12 years ago. ern Canada.” “The radio experience brought so Even though he’s been a household many people calling in for referrals,” name for years, Shell thinks people says Shell. “I still return 30 to 40 calls would be surprised to know how ima day after the radio show is over.” portant family is to him. “My wife and At 66, Shell talks about slowing I are married 44 years and she has aldown from his five days a week in the ways been my mentor,” he says. office and two days on-air. In his spare time, Shell would rather “It becomes more difficult to cope be fishing, preferably on the west coast with some of the things people expect of Vancouver Island or up in the Queen of you,” he says. Six years ago, Shell Charlotte Islands. “When I go fishing, hired “a very well-educated young I go from 5 a.m. until dark,” he says. man” as his general manager and partShell says his busy schedule limits
E T I S WEB
his fishing to twice a year and this season’s trip is very dear to his heart. “I’ll be taking my oldest grandson, who’s eight, with me for the first time.” When the time comes for his two grandsons to choose a career, Shell says he won’t push them to follow in his footsteps. “I’ll certainly never suggest they get into the building industry,” he says. “My mom and dad didn’t decide to put me into it. That was something I wanted to do.” Becoming a senior wasn’t difficult for Shell, who says he faces life as it unfolds. “We have not created decision-makers below us, in the next [generation],” he says. “Just because we are in that senior age doesn’t mean we no longer make the decisions. We are the leaders of our own destiny and if there’s something to be done, we have to make those choices.” Looking back at almost half a century in the home improvement industry, Shell is happy with the choices he’s made. “I could have done something else,” he says, “but I’ve just had a great time doing what I’m doing and making a SL living at it.”
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SENIOR SENIOR LIVING LIVING VANCOUVER VANCOUVER && LOWER LOWER MAINLAND MAINLAND
FOREVER BY WILLIAM THOMAS
Aging is wonderful – if you’re Jake
“H
e aches in the places where he used to play, he wanders into crowds when I tell him to ‘stay!’ but I love him like a brother. And no other dog’ll do.” Nearing the end of a road that’s been both joyful and long, it’s official – my dog Jake has become a Leonard Cohen song. Nobody asks how I am, but wherever I go the question is: “How’s Jake?” Answer: “Wonderful.” Born January 1, 1992, the handsomest half Border Collie/Australian Shepherd in the world is now 17 years old and soldiering on with dignity. He’s slow to get up, but quick to his food bowl. He sleeps a lot better now that he can’t hear and he’s playful as a puppy but not nearly as spry. He stands up in bed first thing in the morning. Down the ramp he bounds and out the door to do his business like there’s no business like show business – a tinkle here, a poop there and like a puppy he’s off and running in all directions. And I’m laughing as he picks up speed to impress me. Staring at his breakfast from the patio, he threatens to come through the screen if I don’t open the door already. I work at a long oak table while he naps at my feet until – what’s this? It’s walk time. Trail? Beach? Okay both. My mid-morning breakfast is his treat time: I get two pieces of toast with peanut butter and he gets one, which he takes to his favourite shady spot to munch and crunch. The half-day hikes are now one-hour
walks pleasantly interrupted by plunges into the water. Not so steady as he once was, yesterday a wave wiped him out; it broadsided him. He rolled out of the shallow water onto the beach. Up he got, shook himself off and toddled down the beach with that distinctive spring in his step. This dog is wonderful! Swimming done, I carry him up the 10 beach stairs and place him on the lawn. His embarrassed look from having to be carried disappears as he inhales the freshly cut grass and decides to roll around in it. But first, he has to get down. Whereas before he would just keel over sideways, he now sits and gradually extends his front paws forward until he looks like he’s leading a yoga class. Then he rolls to one side with enough torque to get on his back. Then it’s wiggle time - doing the horizontal twist with moans of pleasure amid a flurry of grass clippings. Now the getting-up part; he used to spring to his feet and shake all in one motion but now he rocks side to side and when the momentum’s good, he thrusts his back paws into the lawn to get back to that sitting position. The front legs inch backward to the body, the back legs go into full thrust mode and damned if he isn’t up on all fours and shaking off water, grass and self-doubt. He smiles, wants to play. He’s wonderful. Playtime is kind of an animated cartoon version of what it once was. All I had to do was give him the evil eye and approach him with menacing gestures and Jake would tear around the backyard in big circles, growling and bark-
ing. Now, he instinctively tries to mimic his youth but winds up, not so much circling as turning around in a circle. But he growls in jest and still does an awkward turn or two. His supper, which is exactly like his breakfast, comes at precisely 6:20 p.m. If it’s not down on his mat before then, the bowl is dropped at my feet. Jake’s heart is strong, the spirit is supreme, the pride manifest in a tail held high. It’s those once-powerful back legs that are now bent on betrayal. Two measurements I find incalculable – the number of days we have left and the amount of sheer, simple joy this dog has brought me. Some time after the headlines of the evening news, the head in my lap tells me it’s time for bed. Off goes the TV, on goes the reading lamp and Jake wanders down the hall, in the opposite direction of the bedroom. He used to walk up the ramp and into the bed but, these days, the runway starts in the bathroom. I can hear him coming as he hits top speed at the bedroom door. I’m propped up against the headboard with a book and four crossed fingers – please let him hit the ramp fair and square and – “Yes!” He’s up, he’s proud, he’s down beside me with all four paws in the air. Goodnight sweet prince. Hopefully tomorrow is another day. Jake? He’s SL wonderful! William Thomas is the author of nine books of humour including Margaret and Me about his wee Irish mother. www.williamthomas.ca JULY 2009
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Guerrilla Gardeners Unite! BY BEV YAWORSKI
E
Gardener Doug Reynolds examines the grape harvest.
Photo: Bev Yaworski
nthusiastic gardeners are preparing their gardens for a new growing season. In 2006, Vancouver City Councillors challenged the Greater Vancouver Regional community to create more food-producing gardens by asking them to establish 2010 new garden plots in the city by January 2010, as an Olympic legacy. How are the 2010 targets being met? Vancouver Council and their Greener City Action Team decided to dig up part of the lawn at City Hall for a community garden. Community gardens are sprouting all over the Lower Mainland, but not quickly enough for some urban dwellers. Waiting lists are long – some are two years old. The demand for community gardens has never been greater, but land is scarce. More people are searching than there is land available. Some gardeners are so desperate, they set up an online Guerrilla Gardening Group to advocate for more community gardens – like an online matching service for frustrated gardeners! One of their goals is “to playfully vandalize the city with nature!” According to their website http://commgardens.meetup.com/56/, “guerrilla gardeners sometimes, late at night, geared up with gardening gloves, watering cans, compost, plants and seeds will sow a new vegetable patch or flowering garden in vacant lots, boulevards or derelict sites.” To date, Vancouver has about 27 “official” community gardens, with approx12
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
Photo: Claud ette
Poirier
imately 1,300 individual garden plots. These gardens are usually located on public parkland, but organized through neighbourhood volunteer groups. Ironically, in Richmond, a large community garden and waterwise compost demonstration garden was lost when the new Olympic Richmond Skating Oval took over the site. It was eventually relocated to a less central location. Currently, there are only three community gardens in Richmond, with 172 individual plots that are all reserved for 2009, according to Richmond city staff. Delta also had commu-
Urban garden Bev Yaworski ers Arron Madd and hu.
nity garden plots that were lost adjacent to a seniors’ centre, but never replaced at that convenient central location for seniors. A few spots were placed at the Tsawwassen Kinsmen Retirement Centre. Community groups, like Delta Earthwise Society, have taken up the challenge and partnered with a private Tsawwassen landowner to offer garden plots. City Farmer, a non-profit society, has also helped people set up food gardens through programs such as “Sharing Backyards in Greater Vancouver.” If a person has a garden and wants to share it with someone, or if vice versa, visit www.sharingbackyards.com, where a map of both those looking for space to garden, and those offering space is available. Gardening brings people of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences together to create green places in their neighborhoods. Growing veggies, herbs, flowers and fruit provides healthy organic food along with exercise, relaxation and sunshine. New friendships are formed while sharing the latest “green” gardening techniques. For maturing baby boomers, creating accessible gardens with raised beds, vertical gardens, modified tools and wheelchair accessible pathways can easily accommodate changing physical abilities. Garden plot fees average $15 to $40 per year. Many offer open house events, including plant sales, workshops, seed exchanges and potluck dinners. Local enthusiasm is overwhelming, but land supply does not meet demand. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “No occupation is as delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. I am still devoted to the garden. But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.” SL For more info on community gardens contact:www.cityfarmer.org For great seniors’ gardening tips, visit: www.greenweb.com.au/garden/ html/seniors_garden.html JULY 2009
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Senior Living Vancouver & Lower Mainland Distribution Locations
ABBOTSFORD DOWNTOWN BUSINESS ASSOC ABBOTSFORD REC CENTRE ABC RESTAURANT - MARSHALL FV REGONAL LIBRARY GREYHOUND BUS STN IGA MEDICHAIR MSA GENERAL HOSPITAL PEOPLES DRUG MART SEVEN OAKS MALL SHARES SHOPPERS DRUG MART TRIANGLE COMMUNITY CENTRE ZELLERS BURNABY ABC RESTAURANT AMICA @ RIDEAU MANOR BOB PRITTIE PUBLIC LIBRARY BONSOR COMMUNITY CENTRE BREAD GARDEN BRENTWOOD SKY TRAIN STN BURNABY GENERAL HOSPITAL CAMERON RECREATION CENTRE CANADA WAY LODGE CHOICES MARKET IN THE PARK CONFED COMM CNTR FOR 55+ EASTBURN COMMUNITY CENTRE EDMONDS COMM CENTER FOR 55+ EDMONDS PUBLIC LIBRARY EDMONDS SKYTRAIN STN EILEEN DAILEY FITNESS CENTRE GILMORE SKYTRAIN STATION HILTON HOTEL HOLDOM SKYTRAIN STATION IGA INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL HEALTH & VACCINATION CLINIC KENSINGTON ARENA LANCASTER MEDICAL LAKE CITY SKYTRAIN STATION LOUGHEED SKYTRAIN STN MCGILL PUBLIC LIBRARY MEDICHAIR METROTOWN BUS LOOP MULBERRY SENIOR’S RESIDENCE NORBURN MED CENTRE OLD ORCHARD MEDICAL CLINIC PATTERSON SKYTRAIN STN PRODUCTION WAY SKYTRAIN STN REGENCY MEDICAL SUPPLIES ROYAL OAK SKY TRAIN STN. SAFEWAY SPERLING SKY TRAIN STN. SFU LIBRARY SPERLING SKYTRAIN STATION STATION SQUARE MEDICAL CLINIC TIM HORTON’S WILLINGDON COMMUNITY CENTRE
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COQUITLAM BREAD GARDEN CHIMO POOL & SOCIAL REC CENTRE COQUITLAM CITY CENTRE LIBRARY COQUITLAM LIBRARY DOGWOOD PAVILION DUFFERIN SENIORS CENTRE GLEN PINE PAVILION MEDICHAIR POIRIER COMMUNITY CENTRE PARK & RIDE RESIDENCES AT BELVEDERE SHOPPERS DRUG MART SUPER VALU DELTA DELTA HOSPITAL GEORGE MACKIE LIBRARY INSIDE RACK - RICKY’S KENNEDY SENIOR’S REC CENTRE KINSMEN ASSISTED LIVING LADNER COMM CENTRE LADNER PIONEER LIBRARY LADNER PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT MCKEE SENIORS RECREATION CENTRE NORTH DELTA REC CENTRE NURSE NEXT DOOR PINEWOOD LEISURE REC CENTRE SOUTH DELTA LIBRARY SOUTH DELTA RECREATION CENTRE SUN GOD RECREATION CENTRE THE WATERFORD WINSKILL AQUATIC CENTRE FORT LANGLEY FORT LANGLEY LIBRARY IGA LANGLEY ALDERGROVE MALL BROOKSWOOD LIBRARY DOUGLAS REC CENTRE HARRISON LANDING LANGLEY LIBRARY LANGLEY SENIORS CENTRE LANGLEY SENIORS VILLAGE LIFEMARK HEALTH CENTRE MAGNOLIA GARDENS MARKET PLACE IGA MAIN SPOT NEWS THE RENAISSANCE RETIREMENT RESORT TIMMS COMMUNITY CENTRE WALNUT GROVE COMM CENTRE WALNUT GROVE LIBRARY MAPLE RIDGE MAPLE RIDGE HOSPITAL MAPLE RIDGE LEISURE CENTRE MAPLE RIDGE LIBRARY NEW WESTMINSTER 22ND ST SKYTRAIN STN BRAID SKYTRAIN STATION CARE POINT MEDICAL CENTRE
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CENTENNIAL COMMUNITY CENTER CNTR OF INTEGRATION FOR AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS CENTURY HOUSE COLUMBIA ST STN EDWARD JONES HYACK HOUSE NEW WESTMINISTER QUAY NEW WESTMINSTER LIBRARY NEW WESTMINSTER SKY TRAIN STN QUEENBOROUGH COMMUNITY CENTER ROYAL COLUMBIAN HOSPITAL
MINORU ARENA MINORU SENIORS CENTRE RICHMOND ADDICTION SERVICES RICHMOND CENTRE FOR DISABILITY SEAFAIR MEDICAL CLINIC SHOPPERS DRUG MART SOUTH ARM COMMUNITY CENTRE STEVESTON COMMUNITY CENTRE THOMPSON COMMUNITY CENTRE VOLUNTEER RICHMOND INFO SERV WEST RICHMOND COMMUNITY CTR
NORTH VANCOUVER CAPILANO LIBRARY CHURCHILL HOUSE EVERGREEN HOUSING ADMINISTRATION KIWANIS LYNN MANOR KIWANIS TOWERS LION’S GATE HOSPITAL LONSDALE QUAY LONSDALE QUAY BUS LOOP LYNN VALLEY MEDICAL CLINIC MEDICAL CLINIC - 1940 LONSDALE AVE MOUNT SEYMOUR MEDICAL CLINIC NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY RESOURCES NORTH SHORE NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE NORTH VANCOUVER CITY LIBRARY NUTRITION HOUSE PARKGATE LIBRARY PEMBERTON & MARINE MEDICAL CLINIC QUEENSDALE MARKET SILVER HARBOUR MANOR SUPER VALU THE SUMMERHILL WAL MART WESTVIEW MEDICAL CLINIC
SURREY AQUATIC CENTRE ARBOURSIDE COURT BUENA VISTA LIBRARY BUY RITE FOODS CHOICES MARKET CLOVERDALE LIBRARY CLOVERDALE REC CENTRE FLEETWOOD COMMUNITY CENTRE FLEETWOOD LIBRARY GATEWAY SKYTRAIN STN GUILDFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY GUILDFORD SENIORS VILLAGE IMPERIAL PLACE KENT SENIOR ACTIVITY CENTRE KING GEORGE SKYTRAIN STN KIWANIS PARK PLACE LIFEMARK PHYSIOTHERAPY MEDICHAIR NEWTON ARENA NEWTON GENERAL STORE NEWTON LIBRARY NEWTON WAVE POOL N SURREY REC CENTRE OCEAN PARK LIBRARY PEACE ARCH MEMORAIL HOSPITAL PHARMASAVE 10654 KING GEORGE PHARMASAVE 9558 - 120TH ST PHARMASAVE 15280 - 101ST AVE ROSEMARY HEIGHTS SENIORS VILL SAVE ON SCOOTERS SCOTT RD SKYTRAIN STN (N) SCOTT RD SKYTRAIN STN (S) SEMIAHMOO PUBLIC LIBRARY SHOPPERS DRUG MART SHOPPERS HOME HEALTH SOUTH SURREY ARENA SOUTH SURREY INDOOR POOL SOUTH SURREY REC CENTRE STRAWBERRY HILL LIBRARY SUNRISE PAVILLION SURREY GARDENS / SURREY VILL SURREY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SURREY CENTRAL SKYTRAIN STN THE CHEMISTS PHARMACY TOM BINNIE PARK COMM CENTRE WESTMINSTER HOUSE WHALLEY LIBRARY WHITE ROCK/ S SURREY PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT
PITT MEADOWS PITT MEADOWS LIBRARY PITT MEADOWS REC CENTRE SHOPPER DRUG MART PORT COQUITLAM AMICA AT MAYFAIR TERRY FOX LIBRARY WILSON REC CENTRE PORT MOODY EAGLE RIDGE HOSPITAL PORT MOODY COMM SERVICES PORT MOODY LIBRARY PORT MOODY SOCIAL REC CENTRE RICHMOND BRIGHOUSE LIBRARY BUS STOP - 6390 #3 RD CAMBIE COMMUNITY CENTRE CAMBIE PUBLIC LIBRARY GARDEN CITY MED CLINIC HAMILTON COMMUNITY CENTRE IRONWOOD LIBRARY LANG CENTRE MINORU AQUATIC CENTRE
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MAINLAND DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONS - CONTINUED VANCOUVER 1 KINGSWAY LIBRARY 29TH AVE SKY TRAIN STN 411 SENIOR’S CENTRE AMICA AT ARBUTUS MANOR ARBUTUS MALL BARCLAY MANOR BC WOMENS HOSPITAL BREAD GARDEN BRITANNIA ARENA / LIBRARY BROADWAY & BURRARD WALK IN BROCK HOUSE SOCIETY BURRARD SKYTRAIN BUS STOP - 750 BROADWAY CAPERS - 2285 4TH AVE CAPERS - 1675 ROBSON ST CAPERS MARKET CARE MEDICAL CENTRE CENTRAL MARKET - 830 THURLOW CHAMPLAIN HEIGHTS COMM CNTR CHAMPLAIN HEIGHTS LIBRARY CHOICES MARKET - 1202 RICHARDS CHOICES MARKET - 3493 CAMBIE ST CHOICES MARKET - 2627 16 AVE CITY SQUARE FAMILY PRACTICE COLLINGWOOD HOUSE COLLINGWOOD LIBRARY CROFTEN MANOR DENMAN COMMUNITY CTR DENMAN MALL DIAMOND HEALTH CARE CENTRE DOCTOR’S OFFICE 777 W BROADWAY DOUGLAS PARK COMM CENTRE DUNBAR COMMUNITY CENTRE DUNBAR PUBLIC LIBRARY FALSE CREEK COMMUNITY CENTRE FIREHALL LIBRARY FRASERVIEW LIBRARY
FROG HOLLOW NEIGHBORHOOD GF STRONG REHABILITATION CTR GRANDVIEW TOWERS GRANVILLE ISLAND MARKET GRANVILLE MEDICAL CLINIC HASTINGS COMMUNITY CENTRE HASTINGS PUBLIC LIBRARY HOME INSTEAD - VAN, NORTHSHORE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE JOE FORTES LIBRARY JOYCE SKYTRAIN STN KENSINGTON COMMUNITY CENTRE KENSINGTON LIBRARY KERRISDALE ARENA KERRISDALE SENIORS CENTRE KERRISDALE LIBRARY KHATSALANO MED CLINIC KILLARNEY COMMUNITY CENTRE KILLARNEY MARKET KITSILANO NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE KITSILANO PUBLIC LIBRARY KIWASSA NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE LIFEMARK HEALTH CENTRE LIFEMARK PHYSIOTHERAPY LITTLE MOUNTAIN NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE LONDON DRUGS - 1187 ROBSON MAIN ENTRANCE RACK MAIN ST SKYTRAIN STN MAPLE MEDICAL CLINIC MARPOLE COMMUNITY CENTRE MARPOLE LIBRARY MEDICAL CLINIC - 1280 GRANVILLE MERCATO MALL MID-MAIN COMM HEALTH CENTRE MT PLEASANT COMMUNITY CENTRE MT PLEASANT NGHBRHD HOUSE NANAIMO SKY TRAIN STN OAKRIDGE LIBRARY
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OAKRIDGE SENIOR’S CENTRE O’KEEFE SENIOR LIVING APT PARKVIEW TERRACE PHARMASAVE 595 BURRARD PLATINUM CARE RAYCAM COMMUNITY CENTRE RENFREW COMMUNITY CENTRE RENFREW PUBLIC LIBRARY RENFREW SKY TRAIN STN RICHMOND/VAN HEALTH UNIT RILEY PARK COMMUNITY CENTRE RILEY PARK LIBRARY ROUNDHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTRE ROYAL CENTRE MEDICAL RUPERT SKYTRAIN STN SHANNON OAKS SHOPPERS DRUG MART SIDNEY MANOR SINCLAIR CENTRE SORRENTO MARKET STADIUM SKYTRAIN STN S GRANVILLE PARK LODGE S GRANVILLE SENIOR’S CENTRE SOUTH HILL LIBRARY SOUTHVIEW HEIGHTS AND TERRACE ST PAUL HOSPITAL STRATHCONA COMMUNITY CENTRE STRATHCONA LIBRARY THUNDERBIRD COMMUNITY CENTRE TROUT LAKE COMMUNITY CENTRE UBC HOSPITAL VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY VGH EMERGENCY WATERFRONT SKY TRAIN STN WEST END AQUATIC CENTRE WEST END SENIORS NETWORK WEST POINT GREY PUBLIC LIBRARY YMCA COMMUNITY SERVICES
WEST VANCOUVER AMICA AT WEST VANCOUVER BUS STOP 2002 PARK ROYAL BUS STOP 2051 PARK ROYAL CAPERS - 2496 MARINE GLENEAGLES COMMUNITY CENTRE HOLLYBURN HOUSE SUPER VALU WEST VAN MEMORIAL LIBRARY WEST VANCOUVER COMM CENTRE WHITE ROCK HOME INSTEAD PACIFIC CARLTON SUNNYSIDE MANOR THE PENINSULA RESORT RETIREMENT LIVING
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Foodies Go Nuts in the Fraser Valley STORY AND PHOTOS BY RICK AND CHRIS MILLIKAN
S
kyrocketing travel expenses encourage avid adventurers like us to explore closer to home. So hearing of farming tours less than two hours from Vancouver, we investigate rural life around Agassiz-Harrison, browsing and nibbling our way through several glorious days; but first a detour into Harrison’s renowned World Championship of Sand Sculptures. Sculptor Mark Chapman escorts us around splendid creations rising along the beach. “These aren’t just sandcastles,” he grins. “The world’s best sculptors create these figures; the medium happens to be sand!” Outlining technical aspects of this gritty art, Green Lake
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Mark shows us his sketchbook, and lets us handle his unusual tools. Sixty masterpieces encircle the lagoon: abstracts, Stephen Hawking, ancient Chinese warlords, drama and drag queens among undersea visions, fairytale palaces and grizzled prospectors with ornery mules. Exiting this outdoor exhibition, we notice artists spraying their gigantic works, preserving them for public enjoyment. And this explains how May’s Tournament of Champions sand sculptures gloriously remain on the other side of the lagoon. Then, at Farm House Natural Cheeses in neighbouring Agassiz, Debra acquaints us with farm life, “Our
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
whole family is involved in this work, from twice daily milkings, barn chores and fieldwork; I hand-make our natural cheeses.” Lively lady goats greet us bleating, sniffing inquisitively and even wanting to nibble our shirts. Over in the nursery, young kids of various sizes and ages eagerly approach us, anxious to lick salt from outstretched hands. And backstopped by majestic mountains, contented dairy cows feast on abundant green pastures. “Our cows and goats produce creamy milk used in cheeses made right here,” Debra says. “And we raise our own animal feed, my husband’s out
haymaking right now. To make great cheese, you need good milk!” This cheese-making process can be watched through a viewing window nearby; precisely blended fresh Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Holstein milk creates popular artisan cheeses. Inside the bustling shop, many buy cultured butter, crème fraîche and bottled goat’s milk. Sampling Cheddar, Gouda, Brie, Camembert, famous Castle Blue and several varieties of goat cheese, we purchase our personal favourites. A few kilometres away, we look at turn-of-the-century country life at Kilby Historic Site. Leading us toward some early gas pumps, a guide in period costume comments, “Mr. Kilby actually sold gasoline from here until 1977.” As she strolls up the weathered boardwalk she adds, “Harrison Mills was on a flood plain at the junction of Harrison and Fraser Rivers, so carpenters raised the buildings and constructed elevated walkways like this to connect the once-thriving community of
5,000 people.” She points to the rail line from the old store’s veranda, “Once part of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s cross-Canada system, passengers stopped here until 1958.” Stepping inside, we see a fully stocked merchandise gallery dating back to the 1920s. “Thomas and Eliza Kilby opened this magnificent general store in 1906; their son Acton and wife Jessie operated it until 1977,” smiles our guide. “At that time, general stores were fundamental to rural communities; places to shop, exchange news, and gossip.” The family lived in the back; their pantry, kitchen and dining area now restored. Up narrow, creaking stairs, we discover hotel rooms from 1908. I whisper, “They’re so tiny, sparingly furnished, not like our spacious suite at Harrison’s historic Resort!” The animals, outbuildings and heritage gardens are reminiscent of the original homestead. Here, we sight a cocky Tom turkey strutting snowy feathers and wagging his scarlet wattle, and a loudly complaining gaggle of white geese. The 4H club now stocks it with animals like this for visitors to feed, pet and learn about farm life. Such
Taste testers.
livestock provided food and income to the Fraser Valley’s early settlers. Savouring wedges of sweet homemade pie in the teashop, we’re told the flavourful apples come from the family’s orchard, planted in 1926. In the gift shop, a former home to workhorses, we reminisce over yo-yos and other handmade wooden toys, ultimately purchasing locally made jams and jellies. Returning to Harrison Resort, we leave worldly cares behind with heavenly massages in Healing Springs Spa: shiatsu for hubby, reflexology for me. Scrumptious Copper Room dinners highlighting fresh local ingredients complete our day. Popping in at the Back Porch next morning, proprietors Dan and Lynda share their unique approach to country living: in Lynda’s pottery studio, striking blue and green stoneware fuse beauty and function while at Dan’s roastery, burlap sacks of organically grown coffee beans await daily flame roasting in his antique roaster, circa 1919. Flamboyant flowers and garden curiosities adorn the yard; weathered outbuildings display antiques and col-
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Harrison San d Sculptures lectables. Russian and Music garlic grows in a huge family garden, just two of 25 varieties seasonally property available. Jet-black, feather-legged heritage hens cluck for owned by the Bouchards grain; goats graze in lush meadows. since 1902. “Great-grandpa was a winemaker; Grandma, Stowing aromatic fresh-roasted Country Coyote, Rustic a cheese maker. Our ancestors cleared the hillside, plantRooster and Mellow Moose coffees, we head for Limbert ing fruit, vegetables, walnut and chestnut trees, which still Mountain Farm where owners Claude and Trudie welcome stand. Great-grandpa’s grapes produced the valley’s finest us with icy lavender lemonade. wines, still used for wines and juice. Today, we live in As we walk, Trudie familiarizes us with the heritage their 1912 farmhouse, and for 30 years have organically grown crops in much the same way they did then.” Wandering extensive hillside gardens, we touch and sniff herbs of every description. “We cultivate, harvest JANUARY 2009 VANCOUVER ISLAND and process over 75 varieties of fresh herbs, and heirloom tomatoes,” Trudie beams. “Here, we live our beliefs and, three years ago, turned our lifestyle into a business.” In the heritage-style barn, we find Claude decked out Up-to-date listings of senior housing facilities in a spotless white chef’s uniform, preparing a tearoom throughout Vancouver Island, including lunch: blueberry balsamic cocktails to start, followed by Independent/Supportive Living, Assisted Living crisp salads with yellow pear and red heirloom tomatoes, and Complex Care. purple dragon carrots, mixed greens, red pepper – infused This guide is an indispensable resource to: with Trudie’s organic herbs -and savoury pesto crostini; • seniors looking for alternative housing after that, melt-in-your-mouth beef chana masala over • seniors moving to Vancouver Island from other parts quinoa. From behind the counter of his sparkling comof BC or out of province • children of seniors who are assisting their parent to mercial kitchen, Claude grins, “Our food is the freshest select a housing option of seasonal produce, gathered locally. Everything’s from • professionals who work with seniors or their families scratch, never the same menu twice!” Blackberry-peach • businesses that provide services to seniors pie polishes off our spectacular meal. Listings include addresses and contact information, housing costs, Over in the country store, their Simply Fine Foods line number of units in the housing complex, hospitality services, includes teas, pickles and vinegars; we add herbal chocolate optional home care services, amenities and security features. and jars of basil pesto to booty already stowed in our trunk. Our agri-explorations wrap up on the edge of Agassiz TO ORDER a copy... at Canadian Hazelnut, where a sign inside the shop says: Please mail a cheque for $5.25 ($5 plus GST), along with your name, “Welcome to the Nuthouse!” Going nutty over cinnamon, phone number and address, to Senior Living, 153, 1581-H Hillside Ave., coconut, sugared and barbecue-flavoured hazelnut samples, Victoria BC V8T 2C1. We will mail you a copy of this resourceful housowner Pentii grins, “We’re all about hazelnuts here. My ing guide upon receipt of payment. family grows, processes and sells exclusive nut products:
Housing Guide for Seniors
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fresh, roasted, candied, chocolate bark; organic and conventional nuts, flour, protein powder and hazelnut oils.” He shows us the gigantic roaster, cold-press and storage areas. Pentii’s 60 acres grow over 10,000 trees. Out in the shady orchard, he points out blossoms bursting with large brown nuts. “They’ll soon mature and fall; then we’ll power rake them from the ground. Agassiz is the centre of Canada’s hazelnut production; we plan to market more to Canadians, who consume over five million pounds annually.” Passion for family farming is alive and well in the Fraser Valley, a whole different world offering visitors a rich mix of things to see, do, smell and taste. Inspired to increase support of these small producers in nearby communities, we drive homeward munching cranberry spice hazelnuts – and contemplate those specialty goodies SL stashed in our trunk.
WHEN YOU GO:
Reflection��s,��������
st Foods
and Other Breakfa
Limited Edition
Limited Edition!! A collection of Gipp Forster’s published columns in Senior Living magazine, with other unpublished writings thrown in for good measure. A unique blend of humor and nostalgia, Gipp’s writings touch your heart in such an irresistible way, you will want to buy not only a copy for yourself, but as a wonderful gift for friends and family members. 128 pages Softcover • Published by Senior Living
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• Tourism Harrison – www.tourismharri son.com • Harrison Hot Sprin gs Resort & Spa – www.harri sonresort.com • Farm House N atural Cheeses – www.farmhouseche eses.com • Kilby Historic Si te – www.kilby.ca • Limbert Mountai n Farm – www.limbertmount ainfarm.com • Canadian Haz elnut – e-mail Canadianhazelnut@ telus.ca
Reflections, Rejections, and Other Breakfast Foods
JULY 2009
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SIMPLY RED
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SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
Photo: Kevin McKay
H
istory was made on August 31, 1957 when Elvis Presley stepped onto the Empire Stadium stage to perform a rock ‘n’ roll show in Vancouver. Not only was it his first and only live show in Vancouver, it was the last time Elvis would ever grace a stage outside of the U.S. The Master of Ceremonies that evening was Vancouver disc jockey Red Robinson. Then a very young man himself, Red remembers: “It was a glorious night. What a feeling to stand on that stage. I’ve never forgotten it. Imagine a kid at 20 years old, and there are 26,000 people out there. This was all new and for the first time. To experience it, stepping out there, the crowd yelling, ‘We want Elvis!’” The people got what they wanted. Pandemonium reigned during the brief performance and subsequent escape by Elvis. But before he did, Red Robinson spent some quality time with the King. “He was a good guy,” recalls Red. “He was 22 and I was 20. We spent an hour in the dressing room alone just talking about cars and women and cars and women and movies and the music scene. And out of it I found out Elvis loved different singers. Who would think he loved Mario Lanza? But he did. You can hear it in songs like ‘Surrender’ and ‘It’s Now or Never’. In the rhythm and blues, he loved Clyde McPhatter and Roy Hamilton. Their BY KEVIN MCKAY roots were in gospel and that’s what Elvis was. All he ever wanted to do was the gospel music.” one who brought Elvis to Vancouver. He would write letters The next day, Red made a huge mistake, one he would to Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager, but Red claims the renever repeat in his more than 50 years on the radio. “Earlier plies he received all said that Elvis would not be coming up to in the day, before the show, I went downtown to meet him. I Vancouver. “A man called Zollie Volchuk in Seattle brought went on the air the next day, after he left town, and told my Elvis in along with Hugh Pickett,” says Red. “The word from listeners that I even got to go up to his room. He stayed in Colonel Parker was that Red Robinson is going to emcee that Room 1226 in the Georgia Hotel. [Listeners] even climbed show because I went after him and supported him.” up the hotel fire escape to steal souvenirs. Our station manHow was this young disc jockey fortunate enough to put ager wound up paying a large bill.” himself in such a position at such a young age? It wasn’t on Red claims that, contrary to popular belief, he was not the purpose, at least, at first. Though he was born in Comox,
March 30, 1937 and lived for a few years in Fanny Bay, Red grew up and went to school in Vancouver. He attended King Edward High School, where Jack Cullen and Jack Wasserman were students 15 years earlier. While going to school, Red dreamed of becoming an illustrator and took art courses to help prepare him for that career. Along the way, he became sidetracked and never went back. “I was a great radio listener. I phoned one afternoon to a teen show when Jimmy Stewart, the actor, was in town. So, I phoned the radio show and said to the host, Al Jordan, ‘Ah, this is Jimmy Stewart’ impersonating the actor. The next day Jack Wasserman wrote in his column that it was very nice of Jimmy Stewart to call the kids’ show!” “I phoned back a few days later as a character actor called Peter Lorre and impersonated him. Al Jordan asked me if I had called as Jimmy Stewart, and when I told him I had, he invited me down. I went, and they made me a regular part of the show.” After several months of this, Al Jordan took a job at a radio station in Hamilton and Red continued to work with Al’s replacement. He lasted about three months and the station was considering cancelling the show when the replacement didn’t show up for work one day. “So they said, ‘Red, you take over the show,’” he recalls. “I was still going to high school, so the principal had to give me a slip to get out early because I had no car. They gave the show to me November 12, 1954.” Fortunately, Red knew what the kids wanted – rhythm and blues. He took over the show and started bringing in his own records; something he claims was common practice at the time. To say he was a smash success would be an understatement. “By the spring of 1955, the show was sold out, and radio in those days was desperate because nobody was buying ads,” says Red. “Nobody was going to the movies, either. By 1956, I had a rating, they call it a share, that you would never hear of today, of 54, which means of all the radios on in Vancouver, 54 per cent of them were listening to my show.” Since Red worked with a live audience, after a period of time, kids were lining up for blocks to get in. “The police got worried, so I went to the station manager and suggested I take the show to the Kitsilano Showboat,” says Red. “I promoted the Friday show starting on a Monday, just me playing records. Ten thousand kids showed up. That’s when my career and rock ‘n’ roll were cemented. Right there. It was massive. It was an amazing time.” Red claims that rock ‘n’ roll saved both the radio and movie industries. “The movie industry was on the ropes, radio was on the ropes, because of television,” he says. “All of the old radio shows like Jack Benny and Dragnet went to television, leaving a void in radio. Radio was really in trouble and couldn’t even give away air time. The golden era of radio had ended. You’ve got movies dying; you’ve got radio dying and along comes rock ‘n’ roll at the con-
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Aug 9 - 12 Days Marvel at our majestic Canadian Rockies as you stop to appreciate them in all their splendor on this tour. Highlights include a 90 minute tour of Maligne Lake, (rated one of the top ten by National Geographic), Oh Canada Eh! Dinner show, Wells Gray Nat’l Park, West Edmonton Mall, Columbia Ice Fields Tour, Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. Learn all about the Canadian oil industry while touring the tar sands in Fort McMurray Alberta. $2135 PP plus GST Dble Occ. 15 meals.
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JULY 2009
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fluence of a youth generation that had money. When I started my show, I was told the kids have no money. I said, ‘You’re wrong’. I was going to a school where the parking lot for the students is bigger than the teachers’.” At the time, everybody was working. Kids had money and we were a large group. When the entertainment industry discovered that, Hollywood noticed rock ‘n’ roll. “They saw the crowds that turned out for Rebel Without A Cause with
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James Dean in 1954,” says Red. “Then came Blackboard Jungle with the theme song ‘Rock Around the Clock’ and it just took off. It was an amazing moment in history. The youth generation was an explosion we’d not seen the likes of before.” Both rock ‘n’ roll and the radio industry needed each other, and Red was one of the pioneers, bringing it to the youth of the day. He claims it was a west coast phenomenon, spreading up to Vancouver from Los Angeles and Seattle, and he laughs when he hears that a radio station in Toronto claims they were the first to play rock ‘n’ roll in Canada in 1957. “I was on the air in 1955 as a disc jockey 55 hours a week playing rock ‘n’ roll!” says Red. Red is quick to give credit to Alan Freed, the Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey who would invite both black and white kids to the same show that also featured white and black acts sharing the same stage starting in 1952. “This was unheard of!” recalls Red. “This disturbed the traditional record companies greatly. America was a divided country. Alan created a furor but we didn’t care. The kids took people at face value. It just happened that all the roots of [the music] were black or country.” In 1962, Red interviewed Ray Charles and wondered why Ray’s best-selling album was a country record. Ray told Red if Elvis and other white singers hadn’t made money by singing black music, he would have been restricted to black radio stations. Ray never would have made the kind of money he did, or enjoyed the kind of fame he did. “Elvis was the catalyst. He had it all. He was probably the handsomest man I ever saw in my life,” says Red. “He had charisma. His stage presence was unbelievable. But what blew me away, as opposed to today, he had talent. He was a great guy, very down to earth.” Red has had an extremely successful career and he is still working as a disc jockey today, though not
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
for nearly as many hours as he did when he was young. The industry has changed. When CJOR gave him his first radio show, disc jockeys sank or swam on their own. “A disc jockey could bring his own music in and create a rating,” says Red. “If you got ratings, the money followed. If you failed, you were on the street. It’s no different than for a performer. I liked living on the edge like that. I always have.” In 1957, CKWX went after Red and wanted him to do afternoon and evening shows. What motivated him to move was not the money, though it was good. It was the lure of 50,000 watts, making them the most powerful station west of Winnipeg and north of Portland. “I could carry my message to more people.” Born Robert Robinson, named after a recently deceased uncle, Red did have fiery orange hair as a young man, though that is not where his name came from. “I was sitting in a study hall at King Edward School,” he recalls. “I had all my dreams and vision. I don’t want to go on as Robert Robinson. It didn’t hit me. Could I do Rusty? No. And then I thought, ‘What about Red? Like Red Robin. Like a red robin flying in. It will catch on.’ And so, when I went on the air I called myself Red Robinson.” For more than half a century, Red Robinson has been spinning records at various radio stations, almost exclusively in Vancouver, hosting television shows, interviewing musicians, introducing musical acts to appreciative audiences and working in the advertising and marketing business. At 72, some might fade out of the spotlight, but not Red. “It’s been a great ride,” he says, “and I’m still doing it, not for money but because SL I love it.” Catch The Red Rock Diner on the air every Sunday, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. on 104.9 Clear FM. Red will also host a Beatles tribute band at the PNE on Saturday, August 22.
HOME PORT STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARY ANNE HAJER
O
ur home port is a marina on the North Arm of the Fraser, so the first and last hours of every trip we take are spent on the river. When we chug downstream in our boat at a speed of six or seven knots (10 km/ hour), the shoreline looks very different than it does from the windows of a car racing along the road at 50 or 60 km/h. Much of what we see is invisible from land. And because rivers are always in a state of flux, we never make the same journey twice. The Fraser is a working river, full of both commercial and pleasure boat traffic and, as soon as we leave our marina, we are alert to potential hazards. The North Arm is too shallow to accommodate ocean-going freighters, but it is a principal route for tugboats pulling barges and log booms upstream and down. The barges might be loaded with rail cars or other types of general cargo, but most heading downstream are full of wood chips from the sawmills located in Richmond, New Westminster and further upriver. They are being transported to the few pulp and paper mills still op-
erating on the coast – Campbell River, perhaps, or maybe Crofton on Vancouver Island. We often see them moored along the banks, waiting to be joined together in a train up to four barges long and pulled across the Strait. While some of the log booms are small enough to be handled by one tug, others are up to half a kilometre long and require the combined efforts of a number of tugs to keep them moving. One or two do the pulling, while several others ride herd like cowboys, making sure the boom stays together and nudging it along from the rear and the side. The tugboat captains take advantage of the tides when timing their trips, and we have learned to do the same. A strong spring tide can add or subtract two or three knots to our speed, depending on which way we travel. We have learned from experience to always return to our marina on a rising tide. Because barges and log booms are not easily manoeuvrable, we know we must stay out of their way. But they are not the only hazards on the waterway. We must be constantly on the lookout for floating debris, particularly logs and
deadheads, that might seriously damage, or even sink, our craft. Deadheads are especially frightening because they are so hard to see. They are water-soaked logs that float along perpendicularly with just one end occasionally breaking the water’s surface to alert us to their presence. They have been known to punch holes into the hulls of luckless pleasure boats, a fate we will do our utmost to avoid. Experience has also taught us to keep a constant eye on our depth sounder when we are on the river. The Fraser carries millions of tons of sand, silt and clay downstream every year. It deposits much of this material on the riverbed and on the ocean floor near the mouth of the estuary. The result is a constantly shifting river bottom and a huge expanse of tidal flats that stretch for miles out into the Strait of Georgia. It is easy for a boater, unfamiliar with the river, to stray out of the dredged channel and run aground, and that is exactly what we did early in our boating career. We were heading upriver one morning and unwittingly wandered into the shallow area along the north JULY 2009
23
bank. Suddenly, we realized that we were no longer moving and that our keel was buried in the soft, sandy bottom. To make matters worse, the tide was falling. This meant that if we remained stuck, we would have to wait close to 12 hours until the water rose again to a high enough level to float us free. As luck would have it, a log salvager in the area, a dead ringer for Relic of the old Beachcombers TV series, noticed our predicament and pulled us free in time. We don’t know his name, but his boat was called Buckshot. We are still grateful he spared us the embarrassment and inconvenience of spending a whole day high and dry at the river’s edge, objects of pity and derision to all passersby. This summer will be our tenth boating season and, by now, we are quite comfortable on the river. We remain aware of potential dangers, but are confident in our ability to avoid them. We can relax and enjoy the trip and the many points of interest along the way. For centuries, even millennia, people have lived, worked and played on the Fraser River and along its banks, but history is a work in progress. Even in the short decade since we began travelling the river, there have been changes. For example, for the past four years, the first thing we check out after leaving our marina is the Canada Line bridge that is being built across the Fraser’s Middle Arm, a waterway that separates Lulu Island and Sea Island. We can see the rapid transit bridge as we cross the entrance to the Middle Arm, and know from news reports that it is close to completion. Perhaps when we return from our final boat trip late this summer, it will be in operation. The northeast part of Sea Island and the area now called Marpole directly across the river was once known as Eburne. Harry Eburne was one of Richmond’s early pioneers, involved in farming and business ventures both in Richmond and Vancouver. At one time, a busy little community bearing his name existed on Sea Island, boasting a post office/general store, a butcher shop, a blacksmith and a Presbyterian church. On the Vancouver side, the Eburne Sawmill operated for years just west of where a cement plant stands today. A swing bridge connected Eburne and Marpole, but it was demolished after the Oak Street Bridge opened in 1957. Eburne has vanished, its land and buildings expropriated by the airport. For a while a building occupied by the North Fraser Port Authority sat on the site of the old Grauer’s store in Eburne. Its mandate was to oversee operations on the North and Middle Arms of the Fraser. As we were returning to our marina one day, a loud voice startled us by roaring through a loudspeaker mounted on the 24
SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
NFPA building, “Slow down! Reduce your wake!” At first, we thought they were speaking to us, but realized that this couldn’t be the case as our boat cannot travel fast enough to create a noticeable wake. Then we saw a speeding powerboat with a huge roostertail of water behind it, the operator oblivious to the discomfort his wake was causing other boaters, not to mention the damage it was doing to the foreshore. Unfortunately, he probably couldn’t hear the message over the thunder of his engine. No one remains to scold errant boaters, however, because on January 1, 2008, the North Fraser Port Authority amalgamated with the Vancouver Port Authority and the Fraser River Port Authority to form the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, with offices in Canada Place. As we continue downriver, we come to McDonald Beach Regional Park on Sea Island. This is an off-leash area for dogs, and we can hear them barking before we see them. Professional dog sitters bring their charges here for fun and exercise, and some of the packs include six to eight dogs of all sizes, shapes, colours and temperaments. Their joy is contagious, and while I watch them race around and play, my own spirits lift. On the north shore, we can see the Marine Drive Golf Course, the first of four courses that border the river’s edge. Nearby, lies the McCleery Golf Course, while the Point Grey Golf Course and the Musqueam Golf Course lie farther west. Between the McCleery and Point Grey Courses is a strip of land that was once the site of the B.C. Forest Service Shipyard and Maintenance Depot. Boats belonging to the provincial forest ministry, which were used to monitor the activities of the coastal forest industry, were repaired and serviced here. An informational plaque tells us that many of the ministry’s boats were built in this shipyard, in operation from 1941 to 1981. It was the last one on the coast to construct wooden
boats, some of which are now privately owned and prized for their uniqueness. Nothing remains of the B.C. Forest Service buildings. They have all been razed, and the site has been divided into large waterfront lots that will soon sport luxury homes. Just west of this area is the site of the old Celtic Cannery that opened in 1897, the heyday of the salmon canning industry on the Fraser. After merging with B.C. Packers in 1902, the cannery continued to operate until 1917, after which it was used as a fish camp and then a shipyard. The aging buildings that still stand have been used in a variety of ways over the years, and the old dock in front of them is slowly deteriorating. In contrast, Deering Island, which was once part of this site, is now covered with upscale homes enjoying a million-dollar view of the river and airport. They were under construction when we first travelled the river, looking raw and somewhat ugly in their bare newness. Since then, the landscaping has matured, and they are now quite attractive. As we continue down river, Iona Island slips past on our port. A wastewater treatment plant is located here, as well as a regional park popular with birdwatchers and cyclists. The North Arm Jetty, under construction from 1914-17 and lengthened further in 1935, extends out from the island, past Sturgeon Banks and into the Strait of Georgia. It acts as a breakwater, calming the water on its north side, and making possible the Point Grey Booming Grounds, where acres of log booms are moored en route to sawmills farther inland. The booming grounds are further protected by another breakwater extending out from Point Grey, and, tucked between this wall and the log booms, is a little anchorage known as Coward’s Cove. If the wind is kicking up in the Strait and waves are too big for comfort, boats can hunker down here until the weather calms down. It’s a lovely spot, with views into Howe Sound to the north, Mount Baker to the south and Vancouver Island to the west. There is much to see: boats entering and leaving the river, planes taking off and landing at YVR, and a plethora of birds – eagles, herons, gulls, crows and others – all searching for dinner in the river and near the shore. Seals raise their wedgeshaped heads near our hull to gaze at us with friendly, soulful eyes. Sometimes our nights are disturbed by the plaintive cries of their babies left alone on the booms or rocks while the mothers search for food. It’s amazing how much their call sounds like a child crying, “Mom! Mom!” Coward’s Cove is a great destination for a day trip, but a heads-up is in order for newcomers. The first time we dropped our hook in that peaceful spot, we were startled to realize that many of the other boaters, as well as the hikers on the breakwater, were not wearing any clothes! Further investigation revealed that Wreck Beach, the Lower Mainland’s only nude beach, lay on the other side of the jetty. Nudity is optional there, however, and while we have visited the beach several times to stretch our legs, we haven’t gone native – yet! SL
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JULY 2009
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How I Became a Frog BY NADINE JONES
M
y parents were temporarily living in Seattle, Washington when I was born; six weeks later, they returned to Canada. The official at the border knew my father and said, “Is this the new baby, Bert?” I guess my dad answered in the affirmative and nobody bothered to register me in Canada. When I started school in Victoria, I had to adopt the Welsh nationality of my father, although I had never set foot in Wales. “Canadians” didn’t exist until 1947. So, prior to that date, all Canadian schoolchildren were the nationality of their fathers. When I applied for my first passport in l960, I discovered I was an American (even though I had married a Canadian and voted in Canada). So, with many letters from my parents and friends verifying they had known me from birth and, indeed, I had lived in Canada all my life, I became a Canadian through domicile. I received a numbered Certificate of Citizenship and became official. In 1970, we moved to northern B.C., and I had the good fortune to meet a wonderful First Nations lady named Agnes APRIL 2009 APRIL 2009
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����������������� ����������������� Newsletter for Senior Living Readers Newsletter for Senior Living Readers Designed to Inspire, Entertain and Inform.
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����������� Dear Readers, ����������� WEBSITE EXPANSION
My intention is to live forever. So far, so good! My intention is to live forever. So far, so good!
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This month you will see some interWEBSITE EXPANSION esting INTERACTIVE additions to This month you will see some interour website. We will be adding an esting INTERACTIVE additions EVENTS section, where the com-to our website. Weinformation will be adding an munity can post about EVENTS section, where upcoming events. We will the alsocombe munity can post information about adding a “social” component called upcoming events. Wevisitors will alsocan be “SPEAK OUT” where adding a “social” component called post articles and comments. “SPEAK OUT” where visitors can articles and to comments. Apost FRESH LOOK our Readers Newsletter. Tell us what you think... A FRESH LOOK to our Readers Newsletter. Tell us what you think...
This will be something inspirational, like the Tiger TITLEblurb on the Business Newsletter. Blah, Woods This will be something inspirational, likelife. the ITiger Blah, blah....And that’s how I look at my will Woods the Business Newsletter. Blah, I be betterblurb as a on golfer, I will be better as a person, Blah, my life. I will will be blah....And better as a that’s father,how I willI look be a at better husband, as aas golfer, I willThat’s be better a person, I I be willbetter be better a friend. the as beauty of tomorrow. There better asas a father, I willThe be alessons better husband, iswill nobe such thing a setback. I learn today I will apI will be better as a friend. That’s the beauty of tomorrow. There ply tomorrow, and I will be better.” is no suchWoods thing as a setback. The lessons I learn today I will ap-Tiger ply tomorrow, and I will be better.” -Tiger Woods
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Each month, we emailTITLE signed-up members our latest Another inspiring blurb....personal growth, etc. you think of the story of David and Goliath, newsle�er containing:“IfTITLE Another inspiring blurb....personal growth, etc. Goliath is the problem you have currently in front
youon thinksuccessful of the story ofone David and Goliath, • inspiring ar�cles re�rement of“Ifyou. David needed only slingshot and Goliath the problem in front felled hisisproblem. Thenyou he have got tocurrently go onto other ASK A PROFESSIONAL New articles posted this month: of you. David only each one slingshot • seasonal recipes • computer, gardening travel �ps problems. The needed point is that one and of usand needs felled his problem. Then he got to go onto other to focus that magnifying glass of attention on one Article 1 by Advertiser A month: New articles posted this • a new Sudoku puzzle month problems. Thesolve pointit,every isthen that go each onenext of usthing.” needs specific thing, to the Article 2 by Advertiser B to focus that magnifying glass of attention on one Article 1 by Advertiser A - Mark Victor Hansen Article 3 by • Advertiser C updates on changes to our magazine or website specific thing, solve it, then go to the next thing.” Article 2 by Advertiser B Article 4 by Advertiser D - Mark Hansen Article 3 by Advertiser • surveys toCsecure your input • contests toVictor enter for prizes Article 4 by Advertiser D YOUR HEALTH - Herbal Remedies For Anxiety And • lists of our most recent Stress senior-focused adver�sers WELCOME NEW ADVERTISERES YOUR HEALTH - Herbal Remedies For Anxiety And This has something on wellness, health, may be pharma• lists ofnew our mostto recent advice ar�cles on our website. Stress WELCOME NEW ADVERTISERES We welcome these businesses ceuticals, cosmetics, herbal options, etc. Put article on This has something on wellness, health, may be pharmaSenior Living. It’s because of their supwebsitewebsites to track We welcome these new businesses to • access to interes�ng port that we can bring you this magaceuticals, cosmetics, and herbal online options, etc.videos Put article on
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[READ MORE] Senior Living. It’sWe because of their supzine every month. encourage you, website to track portreader, that we bringknow you this magathe tocan let them through [READ MORE] zine every month.ofWe encourage HOME REPAIRS (POST-WINTER) YOUR patronage their business you, that the appreciate reader, to let them We will do a section that’s related to home renovations, you them asknow well. through HOME REPAIRS (POST-WINTER) YOUR patronage of their business that repairs, etc. Handyman tips, etc. We will put these articles Advertiser A We will do a section that’s related to home renovations, you appreciate them as well. on our website to track them. Advertiser B repairs, etc. Handyman tips, etc. We will put these articles Advertiser A [READ MORE] Advertiser C on our website to track them. Advertiser B Advertiser D [READ MORE] Advertiser C HOW&FULL IS YOUR LIFE? SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER LOWER MAINLAND Advertiser D This is an inspirational, motivational article designed to be
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FREE LAUGHS LAUGHS Can write aFREE joke here.
HOW FULL IS YOUR LIFE? uplifting but thoughtful at the same time. We will put this This is an inspirational, motivational article designed to be article on our website to track it. uplifting but thoughtful at the same time. We will put this [READ MORE]
Agnes Sutton
Sutton. She lived in a small village called Meanskinisht or “Cedarvale” (the English name), on the bank of the Skeena River. Agnes was in her mid-80s, at that time, but as a girl had been seconded by an Anglican clergyman who was proselytizing the Native population. “He meant well,” said Agnes who washed, ironed, cleaned, fetched and carried for the man of God from dawn to dark for no money. She held no grudge. Agnes was a member of the Quakers, the Society of Friends, and took her religion very seriously. She was always ready to give her time and nurture anyone in need. In the late 1970s, Agnes was admitted to the hospital in Terrace, B.C. with pneumonia. Her doctor, our family friend, phoned me and said Agnes was well enough to be discharged, but it was winter and he knew she only had an outhouse and no running water in her immaculately clean home. At that time, Iona Campagnolo was the MP for the Skeena Riding. I approached Iona and told her of Agnes’ plight, and asked if she could help. Iona, who knew and admired Agnes as one of her constituents, said that she couldn’t aid anyone individually, but if I could arrange an event of some kind, she would happily attend as the Guest of Honour. The WATER FOR AGNES SUTTON fundraising dinner was born. It is amazing how people come together to support a worthy cause. I found that Agnes was loved up and down the Skeena River. Although never a mother herself, she fostered over 40 children. She had a huge vegetable garden from which she supplied neighbours with food. She was a wonderful teacher and she taught me many things, including how to gut a salmon, although she was a little piqued when I was squeamish. “Gumshiwa,” she would say disparagingly as she took the knife from
me and showed me, yet again, how to do the job. Gumshiwa was the word for white people in her language of Ghetíksan, which, according to Agnes, meant, “bleached driftwood.” WATER FOR AGNES SUTTON became the social event of that year. Totem Press in Terrace printed the invitations, with a dripping water faucet on the front, for free. The clergyman of the Anglican Church in Cedarvale offered us the use of the church basement for our dinner. The women of the village prepared enough food for an army. The Co-op store in Terrace supplied all the necessary water pipes. The School District gave permission for water to be taken from their own source. The police chief of Terrace came to collect and protect the monetary offerings placed by guests in a traditional “Bent Box.” (Bent boxes were fashioned from one piece of cedar and originally used to transport oolichan grease from the coast to the Northern Interior over the “grease trails,” for trade with inland people). Anyone who thought they were someone vied for an invitation. Altogether, over 100 guests from near and far attended. Iona kept to her promise and attended as the Guest of Honour. Enough money was raised to not only install running water, but also build a whole bathroom in Agnes’ home, with dollars to spare. Since Agnes’ smokehouse had been destroyed by fire, when I told her we had enough money left over to rebuild her smokehouse, she was overjoyed! She said, “Indian don’t always have toilet, but Indian always have smokehouse.” After Iona had spoken eloquently that night, Agnes stood up and thanked everyone and then she turned to me and thanked me personally. She then bestowed on me the honour of adopting me into her tribe. Agnes was a Frog. She presented me with a lovely silver bracelet with a frog motif on the outside and my Indian name inscribed on the inside, Al-U Gueff Sa Ya, which means “To Walk in Open Places Without Fear.” And that’s how I became a Frog. SL
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Mind GAMES
Crossword PUZZLE Across 1. Majestic 6. Female monster 10. Obligation 12. Society 14. Admixtures 16. Ten Commandments mountain 17. Frequently 20. Antiaircraft cannon (3-3) 22. Groups 23. Strews 25. Orchids from Europe, Africa and Asia 27. Net 28. Depart 29. Affliction 31. Cloying 34. Person who lives near another 36. Airborne soldiers 38. Pilsner
39. Strips 41. Electric generator 44. Material in the form of a pipe 46. Chinese zither 47. Exclamation of exultation 50. Disavowal 52. TV statuette 53. Moist 55. Critique 57. Gender 58. Demo (3-2) 59. Laxatives 61. Work units 62. Male or female name 63. Name of God 64. Scoffs
Down 1. Objects 2. Extinct flightless bird
3. Poor quality writing 4. Arctic dwelling 5. Chews noisily 7. Protection 8. Strength 9. Roofing stone 11. Signal horn 13. Expel from the legal profession 15. Light reddish brown 18. Cunning 19. Insignificant fellows 21. Innumerable 24. British royal dynasty 26. Soaked 30. From what place 32. Lofty 33. Talk incoherently (Austr.) 35. German composer 37. Fish nets 39. Draw idly 40. Whine 42. Imitate 43. Chalcedonies 45. Edmund Pendleton ------, US general 48. Hirsute 49. The end 51. Red 54. Exclamation of mild contempt 56. Earnings 60. A vessel
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SENIOR LIVING VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
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ings with your wife and that was a sensible approach, although she was not ready to do so. You did not comment on family illness or problems, so I assume her BY GOLDIE CARLOW, M.ED visits are purely social and prompted by a desire Dear Goldie: to be there. In all fairness to your wife, I hope you can help me in this un- she may not be doing this intentionally. comfortable situation. Families are important to mothers and My wife and I are in our early 70s she probably finds that time with them and have been very happy during our passes quickly. 30 years together. We did not have a One suggestion, accompany her on family, but she has a daughter and son the visits. You stated that you “all get from her previous marriage and three along well,” but you seem to remain an grandchildren as well. We all get along outsider. Make an effort to join her and well and visit often. be more social with her dependants. If My problem concerns the time my you do not take action and become inwife spends with family at her ex’s volved in their lives, you and your wife home. At first, it was only occasional may drift apart. visits but, over the last six months, it has been at least three days a week. I Dear Goldie: have brought up the subject, and she I am finally getting up my courage says I am being selfish and want to to write you. My life has become undeny her time with her family. This is happy and I need help. not true. I am a 65-year-old widow without I feel spending so much time at her children. My husband and I were active first husband’s home is inappropriate, in the business world until his death and our marriage is suffering. five years ago. In the following year, I What can you suggest? –N.W. became involved with a man who had been a former partner and close friend Dear N.W.: of many years. He was kind and helpI am sorry you are upset about your ful when my husband was ill and at the marital situation. time of his death. I was not well off fiYou have tried to discuss your feel- nancially and really cared for him, so I did not hesitate when he asked me to move in with him. Senior Peer Counselling Centres Well, this man has turned out to be (Lower Mainland) a cad and a thief. I have learned that he New Westminster 604-519-1064 has another lady friend whom he has North Vancouver 604-987-8138 been with daily, and he has been living Burnaby 604-291-2258 Richmond 604-279-7034 on money that my husband left for my Vancouver West End 604-669-7339 care. I have never seen any of it. NeedCoquitlam – Tri-Cities 604-945-4480 less to say, our relationship has ended. Vancouver Westside 604-736-3588 I feel ashamed that I was so naive, and angry that my husband was fooled Goldie Carlow is a retired registered also. I have enough for food and rent but nurse, clinical counsellor and senior peer counselling trainer. Send letters to little else. Life has no enjoyment now. –B.C. Senior Living, Box 153, 1581-H Hillside Ave., Victoria, BC V8T 2C1.
Goldie
Dear B.C.: I am sorry to hear about your plight. Do not feel ashamed of your story. You are not the first person to fall prey to another person’s scam, or to use poor judgment during a vulnerable time. We trust people. Because you were a businesswoman in the past, you expected respect and fair treatment. You have been treated badly, but the culprit does not deserve another thought from you! Get your former “business head” working again. First off, you must obtain legal help to regain the money stolen from you. Your husband was a businessman and would surely have left legal arrangements to protect you. Life is not over. Renew and keep in touch with former friends because old friends also understand. As your situation improves, and it will, you will also make new friends. Get in touch with your lawyer imSL mediately and start living again.
choose peace
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MY PATCHWORK LIFE
TO MOVE OR NOT TO MOVE?
A Helpful Residential Options Guide for Seniors
If you are a senior who has been wondering lately whether you should consider moving - then this is the book that can help you ask the right questions and find the solution that is right for you. Maybe you find the maintenance of your current home more difficult due to diminishing ability or energy, or you simply want a lifestyle that allows you more freedom and less responsibility. A handy reference guide for seniors and their families wrestling with the issues around whether relocation is the best option. Helpful, easy to read information and suggestions to help you understand the decisions that need to be made and some of the solutions possible. Published by Senior Living. 128 pages.
by Patricia O’Connor
After training as a fashion model in Dublin Patricia O’Connor travelled Europe and the US, working for many top designers, then several years as a popular TV presenter, followed by a career as a stockbroker and real estate agent.182 pages.
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MORNING LIGHT - Triumph at Sea & Tragedy on Everest by Margaret Griffiths
In the spring of 1982, 68-yearold George Griffiths sailed solo from Britain to Barbados, where he was met by his two sons.Six months later, Blair was dead, crushed by a six-storey wall of ice. In 1985, George Griffiths trekked with his grandson to Everest Base Camp, where he found peace. Published 2008 by Rocky Mountain Books. 288 pages. Hardcover.
Price $29.95
REFLECTIONS, REJECTIONS AND OTHER BREAKFAST FOODS by Gipp Forster
A collection of Gipp Forster’s published columns in Senior Living magazine, with other unpublished writings thrown in for good measure.
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RED TOMATOES by Les MacNeill
In 2001, a brutal attack while sailing the South Pacific, left Les MacNeill with 8 skull fractures, severe brain trauma, and a ruptured eye. Although not expected to live, he wrote this story of the trip, his recovery, and how he lives with his injuries. 100 pages. Price $14.95
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THE SPOILS OF ANGEL’S WAR by Dave Sheed
EMBRACE THE JOURNEY - A Care Giver’s Story by Valerie Green
The very personal story of her own journey as a care giver to her elderly parents. Relevant for numerous adult children who are faced with a similar challenge. 96 pages.
Price $14.95
IDENTITY THEFT: In Your Good Name by George Greenwood
One in four Canadians has been directly affected or knows someone who has been a victim of identity theft. The best prevention is to be aware of the problem and how it is carried out. 173 pages. Price $26.95
THE SEARCH FOR JACQUELINE
By Patricia O’Connor
The search for the truth behind the reported death of the mother of top model Annie O’Hanlon. Annie receives an urgent call from journalist Dermot Moore who believes her mother Jacqueline is still alive.
Price $23.95
NUDE ON A FENCE by Eliza Hemingway
Fourteen short stories about people in compromising situations similar to being caught nude on a fence. Some are humorous, others poignant. 269 pages.
Price $17.95
The story unfolds in England at the beginning of WWII. Angela Gibson, affectionately known as Angel, finds out that it isn’t always the plans that we make for our life, sometimes it’s the plans that life makes for us that determines the course of our life. 144 pages.
Price $20.00
NATURE’S BOUNTY: Why certain foods are so good for you by Dr. Bala Naidoo
Reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes and obesity by choosing your food carefully. 176 pages.
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NATURE’S BOUNTY: More about foods for a longer and healthier life by Dr. Bala Naidoo
By choosing your food properly, you can reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes and obesity. 168 pages.
Price $21.95
GIPP FORSTER’S COLLECTED RAMBLINGS by Gipp Forster
A collage of over 150 anecdotes and insightful ruminations on life’s experiences, first aired on C-FAX radio, now provided in print format for your reading enjoyment. 188 pages.
Price $10.00
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BY LYNDA PASACRETA
Beware of Door-to-Door Magazine Sales Scams
B
etter Business Bureau Other victims allege that the sales rep sure sales tactics. If you are interested (BBB) warns that decep- used high pressure or misrepresenta- in a subscription, but need some time tive door-to-door magazine tive sales tactics and that “students” to decide, ask the sales representative sales crews are hitting the pavement lied about living in the neighbourhood to return later. Do some comparisonshopping and research first to see if the and looking to earn a quick buck. or attending the nearby school. Many magazine publishing compaCustomers aren’t the only victims subscription offer is legitimate and of nies employ crews of high school and of this scam. Unscrupulous employers any real value. college-age people who are trying to have been known to dupe young sales• Always research the magazine earn money over the summer. These people into fraudulently misrepresent- publishing company with your Better crews are sent to communities to knock ing themselves and the subscription Business Bureau (mbc.bbb.org) before on doors and sell magazine filling out a cheque for a magsubscriptions. While there azine subscription. are many legitimate door-toWhile there are many legitimate • Never write a cheque didoor magazine sellers and rectly to a sales rep. companies, it is important to door-to-door magazine sellers • Get a copy of the subbe aware that there are also and companies, it is important scription order and a receipt. scammers on the prowl. Make sure there is contact Door-to-door magazine to be aware that there are also information for the company crews often claim in their scammers on the prowl. included. sales pitch that they live in or near your neighbourhood and • Know your cancellation that by purchasing a magarights. In direct (door-to-door) zine subscription through them, you sales package. In some cases, young sales over $50, you have a 10-day right will a) help them to get their lives back sales crews have been forced to work to cancel. If you decide to cancel, mail on track, b) raise money on behalf of long hours, endure substandard living a notice of cancellation to the supplier a charity, c) raise money to pay for conditions and had their wages with- within 10 days by registered mail. This school or d) fund a school trip. held. 10-day “cooling off period” does not In many instances, these claims are BBB offers the following tips to apply to purchases or service contracts true, but in the case where a scammer avoid being scammed by a door-to- concluded at a place of business. is at work, the sales representative door magazine sales rep: Victims of fraudulent magazine may be working to dupe you out of • If someone arrives at your door sales can file a complaint with their hundreds of dollars in fake magazine offering you a magazine subscription Better Business Bureau. SL subscriptions, usually paid for via a ask him or her questions like: Where personal cheque written directly to the are you from? Who do you work for? sales rep. How are you paid? How did you get Lynda Pasacreta is President of the In reports recently received by the involved with the magazine company? Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C. BBB, customers allege that door-to- Use common sense and listen to your Contact the BBB to check a company report or Buyers’ Tip before you purchase door magazine sales reps took their gut instinct. or invest. www.bbbvan.org or 604-682cheque for an annual subscription, but • Don’t fall victim to high-pres- 2711. To contact Lynda Pasacreta, e-mail that their magazines never arrived. her at president@bbbvan.org JULY 2009
31
Reflections THEN & NOW
I
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Photo: Krystle Wiseman
BY GIPP FORSTER
Cars without wheels that hover But, all in all, I wouldn’t trade today t’s difficult, if not impossible, for above the ground and travel at incredfor yesterday. Who wants to trade expeour grandchildren to comprehend that when their grandmother and ible speeds without sound, fueled by rience for foolishness? Man’s ingenuity I were their age, we didn’t have televi- the sun? Vapour-type machines that can and inventive mentality today staggers sion, cellphones, microwave ovens or transport a body or bodies from Point the imagination of what we thought and computers. We didn’t have ballpoint A to Point Z in a matter of seconds? A comprehended when we were young pens or power lawnmowers. They look time when supersonic jets are referred – in the days when all things seemed far at us as if we may be just teasing them to as antiquated objects from the past? simpler and more worthwhile. Our grandchildren don’t understand with wild and impossible stories. Like Or will that be their grandchildren when they become grandparents? our sighs and the occasional misty-eyed senility has begun to practise on the All is relative to the time, I guess. memory. But one day they will: when playing field of our brain. If I had told my grandparents that in their grandchildren look at them in disThey don’t know what a straight razor is, or a razor strop! They look blank 40 or 50 years, phones would be carried belief when they tell them of days long ago. We are old to them now but, when you mention a chenille one day, they may sigh and say, bedspread or oil cloth stretched “Oh, to be 60 again!” across a kitchen table. I couldn’t comprehend my At one time, I counted my They say, “yeah, right!” grandparents telling me that silver dollar collection and/or when you tell them you got my comic book collection or my only one gift at Christmas. when they were young, they Disney collection. Now, I count They laugh when we say we didn’t have telephones, radios my collected years. Some used to sat and watched the radio. covet my collections, but no one It’s all relative, I guess. and, in many cases, electricity! seems to covet my collection of I couldn’t comprehend my years – especially those who have grandparents telling me that when they were young, they didn’t have around in pockets and computers would fewer than me. It is far more rewarding telephones, radios and, in many cases, give instant information on any given and valuable than my other collections! electricity! They talked of coal oil lamps subject, they probably would have It is filled with on-the-wall telephones, and singing around a piano – and the wanted to have me examined to see if ice boxes, running boards on cars, mail delivery twice a day and milk in glass family all taking part in games and con- my brain was intact. When I was young, I never thought bottles. versation. They talked of privation and Value, I suppose, is not always in struggle, hardship and challenge. And I’d be old! Forty or 50 were old to me I guess their grandparents before them then. Now look at me: 70+ years and the eye of the beholder, but often only spoke of settling and planting and turn- still waiting to get old – looking back in the eyes of the beholden. Today is a ing the ground in search of a home; of to when I refused to look ahead. Now, I little bit fast for me, and I’m a little too consider 40 or 50 to be young and 125 slow for it! toil and sweat to make ends meet. A young person said to me recently, As I look back on the rolling hills to be old! Times and thoughts sure change “You mean you don’t even know how to of accumulated years, I can’t help but wonder what our grandkids will tell when you’ve been there and done that! use a computer?” There’s things I’d like to go back and And I, in turn, said to him, “You mean their grandchildren when they come face to face with their many yesterdays do: throw a forward pass, tread water to tell me you don’t even know what an and ever fewer tomorrows. What will for an hour, run the 100-yard dash in 30 Underwood typewriter is?” All things even themselves out – they see and shake their heads at with seconds – things I didn’t, or couldn’t, SL do the first time around. sooner or later! wonder? 32
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