. “Railway

Flossie

Lambly_

1906 to 1990

Jt was with much sadness _ that
‘we learned of the passing of
Flossie Lambly. She died peace-
fully on January 2, 1990.

by Alie Toop

She was born Christiana

Flossie Norman on December-
26, 1906 to her Haida mother

and Swedish father. Her mother
had gone to Metlakatla to await
the arrival of the baby, since
there was not a hospital in
Prince Rupert. The name of the
_hurse-who--attended the birth
was Flossie. She was given that
name, because somebody men-

tioned that her hair looked like .

embroidery floss. Flossie’s
mother liked it so much, that she
named her daughter Christiana
Flossie Norman, and she was
called Flossie from then on.

. Flossie’s mother was a hard-
working person, working at the
canneries or working as a help in
the household of the missionary
and his wife in Massett. This is
where she learned to cook and
sew and speak English. Later on
her mother also worked at the
hotel in Massett, which at that
time was owned by Charlie
Adams.

Flossie’s mother became an
accomplished dressmaker for
the people in the village,and for
those days. was way ahead of
her time. Flossie recalled one

time when her mother had sewn.
all the dresses for a Haida wed--
ding, and as payment received

half a sack of potatoes.

- Flossie was a happy girl, and

although she did not go to
school very much until she was

11 years old, she had no trouble -

learning the skills her parents
and brothers and sisters taught
-her,. She
English, to read and write, she
learned math and knew how to
handle money.

Flossie vividly remembered.

the first Grand Trunk Pacific
locomotive being
brought up to Prince Rupert by
barge. She was only three and a
half years old. It was the biggest
' most impressive thing she had
ever seen. The Grand Trunk
Pacific later became the CNR..

When Flossie was about five

years old and living in Port Ess- |

ington, she went with her sister
Emily and: her friends Sidney
and Cora Benson. picking
salmon berries behind the
Anglican Church. Flossie fell in-
to an abandoned well. Sidney
told Cora and Emily to hold on
to his feet, went in head first and
pulled her out. Flossie was
covered with green slime. Her

learned to speak

sister would not take her home
on the main road, so they went
home on the sidewalk along the
beach,

At age seven, Flossie was

-given her Indian name, which

translated means: chief woman,
whose voice is obeyed, or
woman with a commanding
voice.

It was also the custom at the
same time for the girls to get
their ears pierced. Flossie at age
seven was not having anything
to do with the earpiercing part,
but they gave her her Indian
name anyway. It was strongly
believed that Flossie was a rein-
carnation of an important chief
woman, because all the signs
were there.

There were many customs and
beliefs among the native com-
munity. As a little kid, Flossie
was taken by her mother to a
sort of Indian priest. The
mother’s friend and her small
son accompanied them. The
priest would spit on his hand
and pat the boy. This was sup-
posed to make him smart.
Ftossie however, looking at this,
refused the treatment when it
was her turn, and so the priest
commented that she did not
need the treatment, because she
was smart already.

At age 11, Flossie went to |

Sunny Side Cannery School.
After being tested, she advanced
three grades in one afternoon.
Several men. from different
families, wanted to marry
Flossie when she was 14 years
old, but her mother insisted that

‘she was too young. Flossie car-

ried on in her mother’s shoes,
and at.age 17 married a Swede
named Frank Johnson. They
had two children, a boy and a
girl. The boy was sickly all his

‘ life and died when he was only

16, The daughter from that mar-
riage. is Terrace resident Freda
Diesing.

The marriage only lasted four
years, when Flossie became a
widow at the age of 21. Some
time later at an exhibition dance
in Prince Rupert, she met Geoff
Lambly, who drove.a taxi in that
city. They married in 1929. In
December 1930 their daughter
Roberta was born.

After five years in ‘Prince
Rupert, the family moved to

‘Terrace in 1934,.They built a

house on what is now Haugland
Ave. on 10 acres of land: Since
the land was not cleared they
were not able to farm it, so
Geoff’ went: fishing. The fish
were traded for essential. garden
produce. Those were the depres-
sion years, _

cm

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A dream came true for Flossie
when she opened up the Corner
Snack Bar. (It’s an empty lot
now across from the Dairy

Queen.) Emil Haughland, the

Mayor of Terrace at the time,

_ bought the first cup of coffee. A

cup of coffee and two donuts
was 25 cents. For all the years
the Corner Snack Bar was there,
it was a popular hangout for
young and old, Flossie was the

first one to introduce soft ice

cream to Terrace. However after

_ 14 years, ill health forced her to §f

give it up.

In 1966 Geoff and Flossie
moved from. Terrace to Cedar-
vale and later on to Woodcock.
They returned to Terrace in
1972, when they took up
residence in the senior citizen
complex on Tuck Ave. When
husband Geoff passed. away in
1976, Flossie for a while stayed
on Tuck Ave. The last two years
of her life she spent at Ter-
raceview Lodge. Her arthritis
got so bad that she had to bein a
wheelchair, and her eyesight was
getting worse, but she was very
happy there and made many
friends.

Flossie lived at .Terraceview

until one month before she pass-

continued on page B2

spirit

Flossie Lambly was an actlye member of the residents’

council of the Terraceview Lodge during the two years she
lived there. This photo of her was taken before November
1988, when she announced that Jennifer Biberdorf won the
Lodge’ s annual Christmas Light campaign poster < contest.
Flossie Lambly died January 2.

I see it...

The way |

by Stephanie Wiebe

- When the mail arrived. yester-.

day, I received a telepathic
message from ‘‘Beyond’’, First,
I opened a letter telling me I
was in. the final winner’s circle

. for the Publisher’s Clearing

House Sweepstakes. There was
even a sample cheque for $1
million made out to me. The
second letter was a chain letter.
It read: ‘‘This is no joke! You
will receive good luck in the
mail. Don’t send money, as
fate has no price.”’ Immedi-

‘ately, I-realized it was no co-

incidence that the lucky letter
and the sweepstakes arrived in
the same batch of mail. Ob-
viously, | was. meant to win
big.

I read on. “‘An R.A.F, ‘of
ficer received $470,000. Joe
Elliot received $10,000 and lost
it because he broke the chain.”

‘Please send out 20 copies
and see what happens in four ©
days... After a few days you
will get a surprise. This is true

even Uf you are not super-

stitious.”"

At this point, I knew I was
one of the chosen few to be
' showered upon with luck and
riches. After all, 1 not only
received this letter of fortune,
but the Clearing House had my
name on a list as well,

a multitude of curses would
befall me. The cat would prob-
ably die. Oh sure, the cat is 80
years old in ‘“‘cat years’, a
bulimic with a bad heart, but
nonetheless, I’d know that it
was the curse of the chain let-
ter. Any tragedy happening in
the next year could be blamed

4, on me. Every headline, ‘‘Earth-
quake Topples Luxembourg”,

' “Hurricane Wipes Out East
Coast’’, would all be due to my |

throwing away the lucky chain
letter. Then my name would be

on the list with Joe Elliot and -

Dalen Fairchild. “‘... Stephanie
Wiebe-threw away the letter,

and three days later the world
came to an end.” Could I truly

‘From the moment I read these lines, I knew

I was doomed.”’

-Then, suddenly the chain let-
ter turned vicious. ‘‘... Gene
Welch lost his wife six days
after. receiving the letter. He
had failed to circulate the let-
ter... Dalen Fairchild received
the letter, and not believing,
threw the letter away. Nine
days later, he died.’’ From the
moment I read these lines, I
knew I was doomed. .

So this was ‘‘goodluck in the
-‘mail’’, No matter how prac- ©
tical, sensible and intelligent I
tried to be, I knew that if 1 ig-
nored this letter, something
awful weuld happen. I knew
that if I threw away the letter,

accept that responsibility?

Yes. I wouldn’t be bullied
through the mail. In the in-
terest of science, I’d ignore this
threat and wait for the results,
I realize I’m giving up the
Publisher’s Clearing House
winnings. | realize I’m putting
the cat’s life at risk.

So when you hear that Jean
Smiddiapp of Plottsville, On-
tario wins the Publisher’s
Clearning House sweepstakes,
you'll know what I’ve sacri-
ficed.

And if the world ends in the |

next four days — well, I'll just
have to live with it.

ae a