by Pam Whitaker

: “You ‘occupy a-very unique
and treasured place’ in the
heritage of Canada Post Cor-
poration, having ‘served © our.
customers in  Cedarvale. for
sixty-eight -years. Indeed, you
have the most enviable record of
having been : associated with
Canada Post. Corporation for.
the longest period of time of any
individual in our r history.

“Has there ¢ ever been such’ a
‘letter?”? Edith Mary Essex of
Cedarvale: asked with pride as.
_she displayed to visitors this let-
ter of commendation she receiv-
ed from Canada Post on June 2,
1989, It was her |‘ eighty-third.
birthday and postal officials
took the opportunity to combine
the presentation with the visit of
CBC’s ‘*Midday’’ news crew to

this region (via) Via Rail. ‘“Mid- .

day” filmed the event and it was
on their noon hour show. on
June 26.

Cedarvale store and P.O. is
across the river from where
Cedarvale Lodge is situated on
Highway 16 about 74 kilometers
east of Terrace. The community
was once connected by ferry, but
about the time there was a road

being pushed through on the.

other side of the river from Kit-
wanga, the overloading of the
ferry during high water caused it
to break. away and go down
river. It was never replaced.

The structure housing the
store and: Post Office was built
more than 100 years ago by mis-
sionaries. It nestles ina tangle of
wild rose and other flora bet-
ween the CNR tracks and the
Skeena Riverbank.

--More than 40 friends, neigh-
bors and postal officals from

There's been a fot of outdoor activity around local schools
one of them being Copper Mountain Elementary

recently,

8 ‘Terrace , Review — Wednesday, Tune 28, 1989

Edith Essex: Cedarvale’s perpetual postmistress

‘various towns shared a special

cake.in the sunshine- outside the
small, weathered building. Mary

Phillips, Canada. Post inspector.
-from Prince George, had organ- -

ized.‘ the birthday party and
honorarium... ©:

Edith Essex said: “The post-
master from Prince George, Mr.
Ray Debolt was the one -who

presented that . wonderful.
letter.” It was signed: by. the

president of Canada Post Corp,
Donald: H. Lander. Doe
She also received a 68-year ser-
vice plaque and paperweight
with the postal insigna on it, a
gold watch and framed member-

ship. certificate from the Postal -
Heritage ‘Club (presented by

Rick MacEachen), and from
Houston P.O.,. a book entitled

. “Marks on the Forest Floor” by

their Centennial Committee.
“Many of those years (of ser-
vice) were during a period of
time when the provision of
postal service in rural Canada
‘encurred many long hours and
personal hardship,”’ the letter of
commendation went on to say.
The Essexes lived a mile and a
half. from the P.O., and Edith
always walked that distance
both to and from work. She still
does — perhaps that accounts
for her youthful demeaner.

There were times that she had to -
meet the train at 3 a.m. to
receive the mailbag. She injured _

her leg once and just two years
ago slipped on the ice and broke
her wrist. After being in the
hospital only two days, how-
ever, it-was buiness as usual at
Cedarvale Store and Post Of-
fice.

The dedication to work, and
quality of the rural lifestyle
Edith Essex has lived is reminis-

School, where students took a day off just to have fun. Mark

Hawke and Ryan

Watson are shown here trying to master —

the cooperative effort required for the three-legged race.

cient of: an era. of Canadian

history: that. is fast. slipping |
away. - She has ‘published two |
-collections of. poetry — entitled

“Old Loveletters and Other

Poems”’; -and ‘Rhymes of a. |
Country Postmistress”’.

Reading her. unassuming
verses is to have the privilege of
a. glimpse ~ into everyday life
along the Skeena in past years.

at 4 tee dee a te et eg Te aan eae Lt

They. are, at least to this writer, - : |

poignant, sensitive and sincere.

“Also wholesome — like huckle-

berry pie. She writes like Grand-

‘ma Moses paints.::

‘Edith Essex’s father artived i in

‘the northwest from Vancouver
in’ 1913, - speculating - on real

estate, ‘He stayed to work as a
section man on the CNR, and
with his wife raised eight

‘children, Edith still resides on.

the property where they. settled.
A. widow, she was married to
William Essex, a conductor on
the railway. As they had no
children, her. brother Donald

’ from Smithers helps her care for

the land.
Edith’s parents were both
from Liverpool, England and

fell in love with Cedarvale andit j

white picket fences. It reminded
them of back home. At that time

the store was owned by arailway.

‘conductor named William Mox-

ley. He had a nephew whom he

allowed to run a grocery delivery

enterprise, resulting in a debt
amounting to $4,700. John
Thompson, Edith’s father went
into partnership with Moxley to
help ease his burden. It took a
long. while to pay off the debt,
and both men had. outside jobs.
The Post Office Department
paid five dollars per month,
received quarterly.

The Post. Office. had opened
July 1, 1910 and. Edith began
assisting there when she turned
15. The fact that she had only

_four years schooling, taking her

education over a period of years
as instruction became available,
was not a deterrant,

She will continue to run

Ka ba th tae ffm a breton ttm 8 dd od ~

Edith Essex, the postmistress and general store proprietor
for 68 years in Gedarvale, still enjoys an old-fashioned rural

lifestyle, boiling water for tea on a wood-burning stove and
walking three miles. to work each day.

Cedarvale Store and Post Office
‘fas Jong as they'll let me”, she
said. At the back of the little
building is a chamber where she -
can rest and make a nice cup of
tea, It has a cot standing on the
scrubbed board floor, a table
covered with oilcloth, a
sideboard and washbasin. On an
antique wood stove a kettle sings
in readiness.

In the company of Mitzi the
cat and Kelly, a seven-year-old:
black lab, she. will add, in her
spare time, to a collection of

hundreds of rare stamps. -

4 NB ee ea mene a cpg The eo ot

Crown jewels of the Skeena _

Valley
The Seven Sisters ‘mountains
rise
In all their majestic beauty
To the realm of the skies,

Edith has written -

She will continue to con-
template these mountains and to
miss the locomotives of the past,

which | chugged and whistled

their way along the Skeena cor-
ridor. re

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