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An old volunteer-built fire hall in remote east Highlands faces its final years of service to the community. News, Page A3
Canadian and Romanian U-20 national rugby squad will be tested on Saturday. Sports, Page A20
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Friday, March 9, 2012
Last of the old soldiers Jack Stevens recalls living at Fort Rodd Hill in its heyday
West Shore eyed as testing ground to help kids removed from home
Kyle Wells News staff
Kyle Wells Visitors from all over the world visit Fort Rodd Hill every year, but for one man, that walk through the gates is a trip back in time. The sound of the guns, the smell of coffee brewing in the fort’s canteen and the view over the mouth of Esquimalt Harbour through young eyes come flooding back to Jack Stevens whenever he visits the fort. At 94 years of age his visits are becoming less frequent, but with more than 85 years of history with the historic site, they are always an event. The Sidney resident came to the fort with his daughters on Monday to visit his favourite spots and share a few stories. Stevens was about seven years old the first time he came to Fort Rodd Hill in 1925 with his father, Henry, who as a bombardier with the Royal Canadian Artillery, was dispatched to the fort during summers for training camps. As a boy Stevens would spend part of his summers in camp with his family at the fort. His father helped operate the original six-inch artillery guns that were the centrepiece of the fort when it was constructed by the British in the late 19th century. Stevens himself ended up serving at the fort during the Second World War, when he
News staff
aggression, the British would once a year raise the red flag on the fort to warn boaters and then fire a shot without a round. “There’s always that dwindling band of guys who were here from the prewar years and it just gets smaller and smaller every year,” King said. “We’re losing the personal connection for sure. You can read in history books which battles were fought and what happened but you’re losing that personal touch, those stories that Jack tells.”
A pilot project to help West Shore children under the care of courts is seeking support from local governments and agencies to get off the ground. Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, or CASA for Children, is a program that matches trained volunteers with kids who have been removed from their homes and placed into foster care. The volunteer spends time with the child throughout his or her dealings with the court process and advises the court on how to best serve the needs of that child. Georgia Peters, a retired crown youth prosecutor, chairs the organization, which spawned from a Leadership Victoria program. In her 40 years in the justice system, she saw the shortcomings in the system’s dealings with youth. Decisions are often made where to place a child with little knowledge of what that child really needs or wants, she said. “It’s heartbreaking and the remedy is doable, we just have to pay attention,” Peters said. “It’s about ... taking time to listen to these children, asking them what they want.” Peters approached Colwood council at its Feb. 27 meeting to introduce the concept and make council aware that organizers will be looking for funding. She will be making similar presentations with Metchosin and Langford. The goal for Canada’s first CASA pilot program is to work with 20 children from the West Shore area and assess the outcomes after two years.
PLEASE SEE: Soldier’s memories, Page A4
PLEASE SEE: Program a first, Page A13
Kyle Wells/News staff
Jack Stevens, 94, has been coming to Fort Rodd Hill since 1925, first as a child, later as a soldier and now as an honoured guest.
“There’s always that dwindling band of guys who were here from the prewar years and it just gets smaller and smaller every year.” –Dave King Fort Rodd Hill
served as a battery sergeant major of the Royal Canadian Artillery’s 27th Light Antiaircraft Battery. He joined in 1939 at the out-
break of the war and spent three years at Fort Rodd Hill helping protect the strategically important entrance of Esquimalt Harbour. “There’s nothing like the army, there really isn’t. I can’t say enough about it,” Stevens said. “I love the army, it was great.” Dave King, manager of the Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site, said Stevens is one of the last living people to have heard those original guns fire, as they were decommissioned and ultimately melted down for the metal during the Second World War. Although never fired in
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