Elsie Smith was born on a
Nova Scotia farm in 1907. She
and her family moved to a-
Saskatchewan farm a short time
later arid in 1911 left the prairies
for the Pacific Northwest. .

by Tod Strachan ©
“The family travelled by rail to

‘iB
for post in

TERRACE — Long time Cale-
donia Senior Secondary School
principal Bill Sturn has resigned.
“It’s a great career move for
me,’’ he says as he describes his
decision to accept the position
of Director of Instruction with
the Lillooet Schoo! District. But
it’s a sad occasion, too. “I’ve
got mixed feelings,” he says.
“Caledonia is a very special
‘place to me.” ;
When Sturn talks about Cale-
donia he describes its excellent
programs, a positive and profes-
sional staff, and the great coop-
eration there’s been between the
school, students and parents.
“The climate of the school is
such that I look forward to
coming to work every day,”’ he
- explains.

But he adds that the credit
for this doesn’t belong entirely
to Caledonia. He says it’s the

~ result of a dedicated school
board, a committed and con-
scientious teaching staff from
Kindergarten to Grade 12, and
the students themselves who
have worked together with the
teaching staff over the years.

“Tt doesn’t just happen’’, he
explains. ‘It’s the direction the
district staff and the school
board have taken. The results of
their policy and direction is the
guécess that our students have
enjoyed.”’

Sturn first came to Terrace in
at Skeena Junior Secondary. In
i968 hé. moved to Kitimat’s

Mount Elizabeth Senior Secon-

_ Terrace Review — Wednesca yiMay3,1989°

a : # - / a - ots fee Beis © yore aly oh Eee
Elsie Smith remembers Terrac
the ‘end of steel’,
where they remained for a short
period of time while Grand
Trunk Pacific hewed out three:
tunnels by hand, allowing them
to complete their journey
settle in Terrace.

ill Sturn leaves Cal

‘as a Mathematics teacher .L
In year at Langara College and is _

and

Elsie Smith, still a resident of

Terrace, took a journey down

Lillooet

dary, where he taught Mathe-
matics and Physical Education
for three years and. was then

‘promoted to Mathematics de-

partment head and the counsel-
ling department for another
two,
He then spent two years at
Selkirk Senior Secondary in
Kimberly before returning to the
north as the vice-principal of
Chandler Park in Smithers and
then the principal of Smithers
Junior Secondary. He returned
to Terrace in 1975 as the princi-
pal of Skeena Junior Secondary
and moved to Caledonia ‘in

1977. ;
Sturn and his wife, Joan, a

Kindergarten and Grade 1.

teacher who has worked at
Thornhill Primary for the past
10 years, raised two daughters in
Terrace and he says this also
makes it difficult to leave. ‘‘The
community has been very good
to my family and me,” he says.
“We couldn’t have asked for a
better place to raise our
daughters,’’

But the move to Lillooet has
its plus side too. Sturn says that
both his daughters are going
into education and he and his
wife will only be a four-hour
drive from Vancouver. He says
the oldest daughter, Jaci, will be
entering her fourth year of
Physical Education at UBC in
September, and the youngest,
Lisa, has just finished her first

‘on her way to a degfee in Pri-
mary Education. en

-Kitselas, memory lane recently. as she
described some of her most vivid
recollections to the Terrace Re-
view... the drowning death of
her father, the Skeena Slough

ferryman, as he tried to remove

a tree from the ferry’s cable

system... the churches, schools
and social clubs that were the
heart of community life... Sun-
day excursions to Lakelse Lake
where residents once carried jam:
jars full of pebbles to scare bears
away. This is the conclusion ofa
series in. which Elsie Smith re-
members the times; places and
people that brought the city of
Terrace into being. =

In the first segment, Smith »

- described a fledgling community

centered on Kalum St, between
Lakelse and Greig Avenues.
Many of these buildings remain
today as monuments to the labor
of our early settlers. In the sec-
ond installment, she told of her
teenage years — community pic-
nics, the first road, the first car,
families with names like the Lit-
tles, Greigs, Kirkaldys and
Johnstones. And in this last
episode she remembers the 40’s
— the war years that brought
soldiers and prosperity and left
behind a community that would
become the focal point of the
Pacific Northwest.

The Pearl Harbor Road

“The road to Rupert was a
war time bonus,” recalls Smith.
“It was often called the Pearl

* Harbor Road.’ She explains

that the attack on Pearl Har-
bor brought fears of’ another
on Alaska and this brought the
military — nearly 4,000 soldiers
and a thousand airmen,

Part of their preparation, she
says, was the construction of
Skeenaview — a hospital to treat

the injured in the event of an

attack, And there was more.
‘‘We had never envisioned a
road west or an airport,’’ she
says. .

But the community's social
life was-affected as well, There
was a housing shortage. ‘“‘Dur-

ing the army occupation,” she
recalls, ‘“‘matiy city wives:lived -
in converted buildings. which
‘had once been chicken coops or
_barns.”” As one ‘example, she
describes “‘the old: Ross barn’’
— a place where she had ‘played
‘and fed the horses as a child.

‘Charlie Adams remodeled the
old Ross barn and advertised,
‘Duplex Apartments For
Rent’.’” a ce
And there was rebellion... al-
most. A French Canadian bat-
talion, stationed on the bench
above the eastern part of the
town, staged a protest-after be-
ing ordered overseas. ‘*This had
the townspeople worried,” she
says. But the unhappy soldiers
soon cooled off — through a
lack of spirit, according to -
Smith. “A freight train which
contained a carload of beer
from Rupert was stopped at
Kalum and backed up to Rupert
to save rioting,”’ she explains.
“And things settled back to
normal.”” |
But there were good times
too. Smith remembers concerts
and dances organized by the Red
Cross Society to raise money for
the war effort. “Some of the
dances were called box socials,”’
she recalls. ‘“‘The ladies would.
decorate the box all fancy, put

. in a lunch for two, and they

were auctioned off.’? And this,
it could be said, helped Terrace
to grow. —

An aftermath of growth
In post war years she says,
“Terrace went back to being a
‘small village.” But not for
long... not everyone left. ‘‘Some
of the enlisted men married local
girls and returned to live here in
peace time,” says Smith. And
then the town grew. “‘Having a

- highway in both directions made -

it.a much more attractive place
to live,”’ she explains. ‘‘So many
new businesses sprang up as well
asnewhomes.” ©

And in part, it was the war
time activity that helped Terrace
to grow. Many of the old mili-

tary buildings, built with a work
force of -100 Winnipeg’
carpenters, were bought by local
yesidents and converted into
stores atid homes. “Terrace
never went back to being ‘the. .
sleepy village it had once been,””

she says. ‘More stores and in- |
dustries soon opened up and

Terrace grew-to be the

fine city it:
is now.” ° mo
- Blsie Smith won't tell you her
age, only that she’s something a
little over 40, But as she busies
herself'in her Walsh Ave, apart-
ment with her home-made crafts
and collection of dolls, she'll tell
you, with tongue in cheek, how .
she’s got her future well
planned. ‘‘What with the.
Terraceview institution on one
end of the bench and the
cemetery.‘on .the other... the.
scene.is well-set.” --

‘Before we close, Elsie has one-

more story she says she just has
to. tell, This one is about her
sister, Blackie McConnell, and
her claim to fame. It seems that
Blackie was an avid fisherman
since the day she was born. ‘‘She
used to spend hours: tramping,
river banks with her rod and
only a small dog for company
which would make a couple of”
good ‘bites for a bear,’” says
Smith. | a
One summer’s day, in*1959,
her hours of ‘‘tramping’’ paid
off. Blackie. was fishing the
Copper River, with only a hook
‘and line, when. she landed a.
29-pound steelhead — a.record
catch for hook and line that
stood for years.

“It was written up in Field:
and Stream with her picture,”
says Smith, ‘Gibbs sent her a
dozen spoons as that was what.
she had used, and she received
an engraved pin from Field and
‘Stream recording her name, the
date of the catch and the weight
of the fish. She also received a
nice trophy from O’Keefes.” It
was a long time, says Smith,
before a local game warden
finally bested the catch.

{

be yours |

expanded
hours.

Copper
Grill ot the .

Terrace Hotel
For your dining pleasure we have

@

our Copper Grill Restaurant

7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

_ Fine Dining
in quiet surroundings!

5p.m. — 10 p.m. .
4620 Lakelse Avenue

638-8141

a Polly’s Cafe.
le, Chinese & Western Cuisine

Sete Mon.—Thura. 10:30 a.m. — midnight
_ Fri, & Sat, 10:30 am. — 1 &m.
_ Sunday 12:00 a.m, — 10 p.m.

4913 Kelth Avenue,
838-1848 or 638-8034

GIM’S
RESTAURANT

Chinese & Canadian Food
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Mon - Wed 11:30 a.m. —~ 10:00 p.m. $A}
Thursday 11:30 ac. — 11:00 p.tygZ”
Fe . Sai 11:30 am, — 1:00 a.m.

: unaaa . @.itt. el fhe
4643 Park A venle m. 10 00 pom

O3S6EIT

| SRN Vay
Specializing in Chinese ~
Cuisine and Canadian

. Dishes =
4606Grelg Ave. for Take-Out = opel
bevereed Terrace, B.C. Ph. 635-6184 |p