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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2014
MLA lends voice to rally for farmland BY
SANDOR GYARMATI
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
PHOTO BY
GORD GOBLE
Pat, 87, and Buck, 99, who have known each other for more than six decades, were brought together by family after they both lost their spouses.
Never too old for love Widow, 87, and widower, 99, have been inseperable since first date four years ago BY
JESSICA KERR
jkerr@delta-optimist.com
One couple is proving that it’s never too late in life to find love. Pat, 87, and Buck, 99, had their first date four years ago and have been inseparable ever since. “Isn’t she beautiful?” Buck asks, gazing into Pat’s eyes, a smile spreading across his face. “I love girls and this one especially.” They have only been an item for the last four years, however the two have known each other for more than six decades. They have shared cousins through marriage and have been friends throughout the decades. Pat, who married into one of South Delta’s prominent pioneering families, moved to Ladner from the Sea Island area of Richmond, where she was born and raised, in 1951. Buck is a life-long Richmond resident, born right on the north arm of
the Fraser River, he says, and his family had a longstanding farm where the Mayfair Lakes golf course now stands. Both married and the two families — Pat has six children and Buck five — were friends. Buck regularly joined Pat’s husband and other local men to play poker and Pat’s family PHOTO BY GORD GOBLE regularly swam in Buck’s Buck is a romantic who enjoys reading pool. poetry to Pat. Both lost their spouse in the 1990s — Buck’s happened on April 25, 2010. wife died in 1996 while Pat’s Buck’s family arranged for husband died in 1999. The two the couple to have dinner on the families remained close and over river along with some members the years the children began to of their families. conspire to bring the widow and The pair hasn’t looked back widower together. since. “It’s something that’s kind of Buck still lives in Richmond been in the background since but spends the better part of his 2008,” says Pat’s daughter, weeks in Ladner with Pat. Burnie Smith. And with 100 Valentine’s The first date was in the works Days under his belt, Buck is still for almost two years before it a romantic. He enjoys reading
poetry to Pat and often spontaneously breaks into song, singing a few lines to his love. “I like to be with this lady here,” Buck says as they sit hand-in-hand in their Ladner kitchen. “He meets everybody,” Pat says. “He’s the most friendly person in the world.” Pat says she loves Buck’s smile and sense of humour, both of which make frequent appearances. And the pair share of love of film, frequently passing the time together on the couch watching movies. Anything old, they say, but favourites include Gone With the Wind as well as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma. Flipping through a scrapbook of photos from an Alaskan cruise the couple took last year with most of Pat’s family, Smith says they are happy the two have found love.
The provincial government should keep its hands off the Agricultural Land Commission, says Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington, who spoke at a farmland preservation rally on the lawn of the B.C. legislature Monday. Organized by the Farmland Protection Coalition, about 1,000 people attended the event calling on Victoria not to weaken the commission and Agricultural Land Reserve. In an interview this week following the rally, Huntington told the Optimist she Vicki spoke about Huntington the imporDelta South MLA tance of agricultural land to Delta’s economy and the heritage of the community, noting any core review that could dissolve or change the structure of the ALC wasn’t in Delta’s best interests, nor supported by the people of B.C. “Even through it (ALR) was a public policy decision that created a lot of heartache at the time, over the years it’s become one of the finest policy decisions ever made in British Columbia and that it is considered a treasure,” she said. “I said to the crowd we need to tell the government to keep its cotton-picking hands off the ALC,” added the second-term independent MLA. Also speaking at the rally was longtime Richmond city council member Harold Steves, one of the original founders of the ALR and recognized as its biggest champion today. He told the Optimist the public should keep a close eye on what comes from the province’s core review in case the government quietly tries to soften the ALC.