Page 6 Cassiar Courier May 1987

Se te
Cassiar Country &

This issue of the Courier presents a “Northern”
family - Eldon, Phyllis, David, Jason and Debbie Hardy.

Eldon Hardy was born in Peterborough, On-
tario and raised on a dairy farm in Marmora, thirty
miles away. The farm was host to a herd of Holstein
cows, but Eldon didn’t want to be a farmer!

Bethleham Steel owned and operated an iron
ore mine at Marmora, so Eldon had some familiarity:
with the industry before heading for work in Alaska.
in 1967. ‘With six others I flew to Whitehorse look-;
ing for jobs on the pipeline. We ran out of money.
in Whitehorse - so we never made Alaska!’ says Eldon.;

Some of Eldons travelling companions went to work:
at Ross River while he stayed and found a job at White-.
horse Copper. “In 1971, I finished work and applied for,
:work in Cassiar, a day later they phoned me and I.
jwent. At the time I was going to stay for six months!”’:
\(Famous last words!)

Eldon is presently a loader operator, but he
has been a shovel oiler, shovel operator, training foreman
and crane operator.

“When I arrived in Cassiar,” says Eldon, “there
was literally nothing from Tagish on up!”

Eldons greatest love after his family is sports,
especially softball. He has pitched for the Yukon since
1967 and his nickname is “Legendary.” “Last year
in Whitehorse,” recalls Eldon, “a young player on the
team approached me and asked how long I had been
playing with the Yukon. I asked him why? He replied
that his grandfather had told stories about him, his father
had played ball with and against him, and now he (the
kid) was playing with him. I looked at the kid and
without batting a lash told him I’d played since base-
balls were square. The kid laughed and said baseballs
were never square - I said that they had been and had

just gotten rounder as time went by!“

Eldon has been part of the All Star Team out
of the Yukon for years. He has pitched in seven Nation-
al A Championships from Nova Scotia right across Can-
ada, and has been in at least five or more Western B
competitions. His proudest moment was to be with the
Cassiar team when they won the right to go to Edmonton
for the Western B’s.

’

THE HARDY’S - }
Relaxing while.on holidays in Ontario.

Eldon also plays hockey in Cassiar. His posi-
tion on the Men’s Senior Team as right wing or centre
assures him lots of action. ‘Work is fun and sports
is work,” says Hardy. “If. you want to remain sane
in the north, you better enjoy what you do for eight

hours out of the day!”

Four years ago Eldon started coaching Minor
Hockey. His son David, had become involved and Hardy
obliged the community with his skills and an honest
interest in children.

_ Phyllis Hardy was born in Wayburn, Sask. Her

-father, returning from the war attained a position with
the C.P.R. Phyllis graduated from high school in Way-
burn. Moving to Vancouver she worked at Simon Fraser
University in the economics and commerce department.
From there Phyllis moved to White! orse where she
met Eldon. “I swept her off her feet,’’ remembers;
Eldon, ‘‘and she swept me out the door!” Phyllis moved
back to Saskatchewan and went to work at the Bank
of Commerce.

% of Cassiar were not great.

™ Rose Ebbingoff.
& changed the name to, Smiles and Styles.”

True love however was to have it’s way and
three and one half years after the couple met they de-
cided to be together. They married and settled in Cassiar

Phyllis recalls that her first impressions
Although the winters were
warmer than Saskatchewan the lack of amenities took
some getting used to.

In 1976, Phyllis bought a clothing business from
“Tt was called, Roses Closes, and I

as a family.

She operated the business from her home as
she wanted to be home with her children. After three

and one half years she closed the business and opened

- aday care - which she still operates.

As a youngster Phyllis enjoyed recreational gym-
nastics and seeing a need in Cassiar became involved
with the newly organized gymnastics club. ‘“ I ended
up coaching,” says Phyllis, ‘‘ because the girl who start-
ed the club left town. I was always looking for people
who were more qualified than I, then I would become
the assistant!” She remained activily involved for five
years with the gymnastics club.

Again her caring about the welfare of children:
led her into volunteering her time as a Sunday School
Teacher at the Anglican Church for two years. She
has also been the Secretary Treasurer for the Anglican
Women’s Auxillary, and secretary for Minor Hockey
and the Parents Advisory Council.

In 1986 she was named “Mother of the Year”
in Cassiar. “The kids didn’t come to the “Brunch”
where I would be presented with my gifts,” remembers
Phyllis. Then son Jason said, “Mom, Kyle’s Mom just
told me you got the Mother of the Year award - well
who wrote the letter about you? I didn’t, David couldn’t
and Debbie didn’t - so maybe it was all a mistake!”
Phyllis laughs as she recalls the story - for hers if any
is a close knit family and one that is full of humor.

The couple’s youngest son, David says he will
either. be a doctor or a mechanic when he grows up -
just so he can fix up brother Jason (who wants to be
a racing car driver) when he crashes or fix the car. What-
ever needs the most work!

The family enjoys their cabin out at Chain Lakes
Cont. on Page 19

Cassiar Shopping Center

A Northern Shopping Experience - 12,000 sq ft Under One Roof

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Closed: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

Saturday - 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Phone: 7787668

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by Deb Gabel

PARENT
ADVISORY

The Cassiar Parent Advisory met again this month
in the Elementary School Library. Unfortunately, only
three of the eight elected members were able to attend.
Denyse Tavener and Deb Gabel gave an overview of
the Parent Teacher Conference they attended in Van-
couver. Both of them brought back useful information
and had enjoyed the conference and the trip out.

We had received a reply to our inquires. to the
Provincial government regarding the sale of lottery tickets
to minors. Legally, the tickets may be sold to anyone,
but the Public Relations Department of the Lotteries
Branch said they advised their agents to use some dis-
cretion. There have been no further instances of Snow-
ridge students winnings causing problems at the school.

There are four positions on the Parent Advisory
Council coming up for elections again this spring. There
was considerable discussion about the different possibili-
ties in running the council for another year. Currently
most of the positions are held by parents of elementary
school students. The possibility of forming two coun-
cils, one for each school, had been discussed at some
length earlier in the year. As we have trouble getting
enough people out to our meetings to hold a forum,
it was decided that there was not enough interest to
form two groups. This leaves the remaining council
with little or no input into the happenings at the secon-
dary school. It was decided that perhaps if no one is
really interested enough in the secondary school to
bother to come to the meetings or to let their names
stand to run on the council, that we should have the
focus of this council on Snowridge and discontinue
any involvement with the secondary school. This seems

very unfortunate, as the Parent Advisory Council pro-
vides an avenue of access between parents and the school
and to close this avenue is distressing.

It was decided that the parent representatives
would meet and decide what should be done about
the upcoming year. If you have any interest in being
involved in the council, please contact any council mem-
ber or myself. If more parents don’t show some inter-
est in their child’s education and schools, the Parent
Advisory Council as we know it will cease to exist. This
group is here for you and for your children; if you don’t
care it will die. It seems very unfortunate to me that
the apathy of this community extends to the school-
ing of our children.

PTARMIGAN
PLAYERS

The Ptarmigan Players performance at the recent
R.C.M.P. Ball was a success. The players involved in
the sketches performed very well and many compliments
have been received from our audience.

Katherine Lanteigne, Jason Gay, David Farrell
and Corry Larcombe were first “‘on stage.” Katherine
danced to “I Can-Do Anything Better Than You” from
“Fame” and the boys were her fall guys. A little com-
edy, lots of energy and some well practiced moves made
this dance sketch!

Norma Ray as Grandma, Chuck Malloy as the
Wolf, and Iris Trask as Ms. Red, the most wanted hood
in the northwoods, were very funny in their roles in
our fairy tale segment of the production! Thanks to
Staff Sergeants George Humphries, Ron Currie and
Len Jarvis for their co-operation in the Three Little
Pigs sequence.

Corry, David and Norma made fine jailbirds
in the “Jailhouse Rock” routine. June Evans and Rose-
marty Best were two of the best looking saloon girls
I've seen. I know the head table enjoyed their “view”
of these two gals! Very well done gals!

The players concluded their performance with
a song “Secret Love” dedicated to Gail Harrison and
Lisa McKenna, and a special Ode to the R.C.M.P., both
performed by Lorraine Lanteigne.

Special mention must be made to Walter Comper
for the job he did on our props. Walter is a talented
individual who lends his support to the Ptarmigan Players
without hesitation. His art work enhances our perfor-
mances and adds the special touch needed to provide
that “polished” look.

To Judith Knapp, Id also like to send a bouquet
of gratitude. Judith provided the players with the scripts
for their Ms. Hood and Three Pigs sketch.

Also, to Karyn Taplin who spent time in organ-
izing the costumes, ironing them, hanging them up and
generally supplying a service to the performers that
made the whole event more pleasurable!

James Lanteigne and Joey George were great
playing the music and thanks to Ellen Erickson and
Cassiar Hair Design for the hairstyles.

The players now conclude their year. Looking
back on our workshop with Iris Trask, the Christmas
in a Box performance and the R.C.M.P. Ball; it has been
exciting and quite busy. We are looking forward to
the fall, and to new and exciting projects. Have a good
break - we'll see you in September!

NORTHERN
LIGHTS
COLLEGE

Internal Evaluation

Northern Lights College Internal Evaluation
Steering Committee says thank you to the people of
the College region for responding to our quick survey.
The survey has helped us identify four areas for detail-
ed study, These are: Community Relations, Access-
ibility, Organization, and on-going Evaluation Processes.
The study will be conducted by staff of the College
over the next three months with a follow-up evaluation
by an external team in the fall.

Randomly selected residents as well as members
of the business sector will be contacted during the next
few weeks for responses to an indepth survey. If you
are one of those contacted, please take the few minutes
required to give us your honest answers. Your responses
will help us form College policies for the next five years.

Contact: Tom O’Connor, M.A.
Administrator (Stikine)
Phone: 771-5500
Dease Lake, B.C.

The replies received on the first survey contained
a few contradictions:

Some people want to see more University Trans-
fer courses offered and fewer of a personal interest
nature. An equal number of people feel that the College’s
ability to supply our communities with such a variety
of courses is a definite strength.

For the most part our instructors received ex-
cellent reviews, although some of you-were not quite
so kind. .

Depending upon your location, our campuses
were either bright and modern or sorely in need of im-
provement.

Some of your concerns, however, came through
loud and clear:

You think that the actual physical plant at each
major center needs some attention. We know that you
are freezing at Fort St. John campus, that_you would
like a better cafeteria service with more seating area,
and that you would like your library to be larger and
quieter. Fort Nelson would appreciate just having a
library. We know that in Chetwynd you are too cozy.
And in~Dawson Creek you would like the dormitories
upgraded (you don’t just mean a lick of paint) and the
grounds made more attractive,

Northern Lights College PR generally got low
ratings. There are far too many people out there that
know very little or nothing about our College or have
had unfavourable experiences with the College. PR
is a challenge for all of us, not the sole responsibility
of Student Services, Counsellors, Cashiers, and Recep-
tionists.

It is the opinion of some respondents that comm-
unications between the departments and between all
of the campuses needs improvement and that we all
need to be better informed of activities on each campus.

Student Council received some negative, com-
ments, mostly to do with the fact that students would
like to feel more “College spirit.” They would like
to have more social and recreational activities.

We don’t want you to think that all of the in-
put was negative. If fact, some people couldn’t find
anything wrong with Northern Lights! Some of the
strengths to be noted are: our dedicated staff, our com-
mitment to the multi-campus concept, our use of re-
sources, the greatest of which is you.

Members of the Steering Committee have read
all of the responses and collated the concerns under
four main issues. They are: Community Relations,
Accessibilty, Organization, and Evaluation Processes.

Four working groups are being formed, each- |

to study one of the major issues in detail, find the streng-
ths and weaknesses, and then. submit recommendations
for improvement.

The steering Committee thanks you for the
effort you have already put into this evaluation and
anticipates your continued assistance.

Quotables:

Northern Lights has “University Transfer courses
that allow students to assess their ability for post-secon-
dary school in their home enviroment without the ex-
pense of Jarge universities.”

“People who answer registration inquires by
phone must have the right information . . . it often
seems as though the left hand doesn’t know what the
right is doing.”

About the registration form, “I can’t see where
its necessary to fill out your life history when you just
want to take a course in Chinese cooking.”

_ “Very good instructors, I have not found one
I do not like.”

“*. . offering a wide variety of courses and work-
shops that relate directly to the community it serves. . .
informal and unintimidating atmosphere.”

“Its course organization: , too often courses
are advertised but then cancelled.””

Cassiar Courier May 1987 Page 7

“I know very little about the College, except
where it is located . . . close to McDonalds.”

At Northern Lights “you are more than just a
name and number.”

“Librarians are good, helpful, and friendly.”

“Improve the sports activities.” and “Upgrade
living facilities,”

In Dawson Creek, “Cafeteria - food is good and
prices very reasonable.”

From a parent, “The image needs to change
so our children will feel they aren’t losing a year if they
stay here for their first year.”

“Excellent day care facility at the Fort St. John
campus,”

A College Board member feels the strength of
NLC.is the “staff,”
Cassiar Campus
by Allan Studd

Northern Lights College through its Learning
Centre in Cassiar continues to offer a number of ser-
vices to the community. We remind you that our I.B.M.
compatible computers are available for public use. For
$2.00 an hour you can come in and: work your way
through a hands-on, on screen tutorial which will teach
you the basics of computer usage and how to use specific
types of programmes. They are also available for your
personal use for producing posters, letters or putting
your finances into some sort of order. David Andrews
and myself are only too willing to tell you what we
know and help you solve any problems. It is not class-
room instruction, but it is ane to o-> -~-'T ies
Office: 9-12 noon Monday, 1-4 pm, Wednesday, /-7 P-
Thursday.

A few other small services we have are complete
information on setting up small businesses in British
Columbia, retirement planning packages, and some
reports on stocks, bonds and dividends.

Our academic year is slowly winding down and
we are beginning to plan for next year. We expect that
the Centre will close for the summer early in June and
by that time we hope to have some idea of the courses
that we will offer next year. If you have ideas, please
speak to me. If you have a talent and would like to
teach a course, please speak to me.

Northern Lights hopes to present two more
major courses by the end of May. Both of these will.
have to be guaranteed by an early, non-refundable re-
gistration. Refunds would only be given on cancellation
of the course. They are:

*An Emily Carr College of Art weekend seminar
sometime in May. The medium would proba-
bly be pottery.

*A Class 1 truck drivers’ course coupled with
air brakes.

We liave tentatively scheduled a weekend semi-
nar in pottery with artist Bob Kingsmill of Vancouver.

This workshop will move from the throwing of pots
to the making of large thrown objects. The dates will
be Friday May 22nd to Sunday May 24th. Location
will be the Cassiar Secondary School. Deadline for
registration will be May 8th. The course will go if there
are 10 registrations. Cost has not been determined
yet. If you are interested please give me acall.

Class 1 truck drivers instruction will be held
in the first week of June. Each student will need 3
days of instruction plus some time in Ft. Nelson to
try the test. Northern Lights will provide the instructor
and the truck. The cost will be in the neighbourhood
of $400.00 per person, If you are interested please
give me a call and watch for the usual advertising around
town. The deadline for registration will be May 15.

If we can help you with your educational needs
or if you would like to respond to any of the items
mentioned above, please call us at 778-7878 or drop
by and speak to me or David at the Centre.

STIKINE RIVERSONG CAFE
LODGE and GENERAL STORE LTD.

- a is

Beautiful historic building overlooking the Stikine River.
Open daily 11:00 a.m. - 7:00.p.m.
B.C. Approved guest rooms (kitchen facilities available)
Cafe features home-cooking (Stikine Salmon a specialty)
Groceries. gas and vil available
FOR RESERVATIONS ond INFORMATION, PHONE

235-3 1 96 OR WRITE

GENERAL DELIVERY, TELEGRAPH CREEK, B.C. VOJ 2W0

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