INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 TERRACE STANDARD “The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 8, 2000 - B] SECTION B OMMUNIT Y= Local veterans describe their wartime memories WILFRED “Buck” Paupst remembers the Second World War, all right. One dark night near the German lines sticks out above all the rest. It was around midnight when one of the dozen or so Canadian soldiers in Buck’s unit told the men to be quiet. Then they heard it. It was the spine-tingling sound of German voices, coming from somewhere close by. The men hit the ground. In the distance, they could see a spot where the earth was raised up off the ground. There was a tell- tale crack of light coming from inside the dugout. “I motioned to the boys to come up easy,” Buck says. The Canadians, armed with sub-machine guns, had the dugout surrounded. “T shouted, ‘Come out with your hands up or we'll shoot!’” Buck says. ‘The German soldiers, caught unaware, had no choice. They piled out of the dugout. “We got ‘em out. We took all their weapons, and marched them on back be- hind the lines.” When the Sergeant heard about the episode, he was furious. “He ‘said, “You guys did a foolish thing. You should have shut your mouths and got the hell out.’” . Still, they never had to fire a shot. Paupst is now 77 years old and lives in Terrace. He’s one of the regulars at the Adult Day Centre, a program for seniors that’s operated by Home Support in the basement of the Terrace Pentecostal As- sembly. It’s open Mon- days, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Half of the seniors who presently come here are veterans of the Second World War. Henry Gibbs, a prairie boy born and raised in Leighton, Alberta, signed up for the army in 1939 and remained in service until well after the war was Officially over. He spent three years in Canada while he was in the army, and headed overseas to Borden, Eng- land in 1942, “There were lots of Ca- nadians and lots of air raids,” says Gibbs, 86. France, he says, was hot and dusty. He was sta- tioned over there for a time as a driver for an in- telligence officer. Then it was back to England and then home to Alberta. He brought home a lasting souvenir of his army days — an English woman named Stella. They met at one of the many dances for service men, and were married in 1945, Once home, it was hard to make a living farming. “Things were pretty tough when we came back from the army.” He joined a couple of friends who were going to North Battleford to apply for work with Alcan. “I was the only one who got the job!” he says proudly. He moved to Kiti- mat, where he worked for Alcan for 20 years. “It came out for a year, and I’m still here!” he laughs, His wife, Stella, sadly, passed away from cancer in 1983. Tom Olson, now 8&0, was born and raised in Terrace. He signed up on Dec. 5, 1941 — two days before Pearl Harbour. “I wanted to work on aircraft.” He was part of the RCAF ground crew, put to work as an aircraft mechanic specializing in metal repair. He never had to leave Canada. He was first sta- tioned in McLeod, Alber- ta, and then at the RCAF repair depot in Vancouver until the war’s end. Work at a sawmill at East Kwinitsa brought him to the Terrace area, where he and his second wife made their home. Unlike many, Gordon Hayward, now 79, didn’t want to fight. “T could have got killed!” he grins by way of explanation. Remembrance Day service and parade THE ROYAL Canadian Legion, Branch 13, is organizing this year’s Remembrance Day service and parade in Terrace. The parade will form at 10:15 a.m. in the Safeway parking lot, before heading off to the Tillicum Twin Theatres for the service, The service starts at 10:50 a.m. with an opening prayer by Lt. Michael Spears. Afier singing O Canada, and a hymn, there will be a musical selec- tion called Last Poss will be per- formed by Bob Butchart of the Ter- race Community Band. A moment of silence will be ob- served in the theatre at 11 a.m. That's followed by the Bugler's Re- veille, an address by Legion Padre, Rev. Lance Stephens and a message by legion president Pat Smith. After this short service, the parade will make its way from Tillicum Twin Theatres along Lakelse Ave. to the Cenotaph, located in front of city hall on Eby St. for the laying of the wreaths in remembrance. But he signed up any- way. “Tl figured if I'm going to go, I’m going to go all the way.” During basic training he realized he wasn’t cut out for life as a soldier, He was assigned to a special unit instead, and spent three and a half years working in the but- cher shop at a forces base in England during the war. Hayward, who married a woman he met in Ter- race when he moved here in the spring of 1968, comes from a large family of seven boys and seven girls. His brather Wesley, an- ather day centre regular, says he didn’t want to be a soldier, cither, After a few failed at- tempts at basic training, he quit the army for good, living as a hunter and trap- per during the war. All these men agree the war changed their lives forever. And even though it’s been 55 years since the Second World War ended, their experiences remain with them. When Terrace’s veter- ans parade down main street Saturday, these men probably won’t be joining them. But it’s clear from the way they sit for a group photograph or recall their regimental numbers with ease, they’ll be there in spirit, ali the same. A VETERAN AFFAIR: Wilfred “Buck” Paupst, (back row from left to right) Gor- don Hayward, Wesley Hayward, Henry Gibbs (front left) and Tom Olson. On Nov. 3 staff at the Adult Day Centre honoured these men for wartime service. We F kesseer veris? Reonarntan ‘ih. Putting soldiers on the map of B.C. THE PRACTICE of nam- ing geographic features after soldiers who died in battle began in the late 1940s. That’s when the drive to map B.C, and other parts of Canada really got a push, thanks to aerial photography perfected during the Second World War. , “Mapping came into its own as a direct result of wartime technology,” says Janet Mason, a provincial toponymist with Geogra- phic Data B.C., a depart- ment of the Environment Ministry. It soon became appar- ent that there were plenty of geographic locations ~ lakes, mountain peaks, ri- vers, coastal features and creeks — without names. So the department began using the list of fa- talities from the Second World War, and later the First World War, as a source. But by 1989, the prac- tice had started to feel hollow, Sc Mason decided it was time to actively seek out surviving family members to see if they wanted to participate. On Nov. 11, nine servi- cemen will be remem- bered, including a pair of cousins from Comox who died on the same day in France in 1918. But this year, north- western B.C. isn’t on the list because no one from here filed a request al- though she admits it’s probably easier to find un- named geographical fea- tures here than in southern B.C.. “It's actually very chal- lenging to find a suitable feature in a relevant loca- tion that has never ac- quired a name.” When a match is found, it’s truly rewarding. “It’s gratifying to be able to do this,” she says, adding the symbolic gesture is a “like a grave marker.” Her job puts her in touch with people who are in some cases still griev- ing. “It’s not a long time for brothers and sisters and widows.” Duncan Lake, located in Strathcona Park, is one of the features named after servicemen this year. The name cammemorates Ro- bert Duncan, who was 24 when he was killed by enemy fire on Sept. 27, 1918 in France. His cousin, Charles Duncan, 23, was killed on the same day in France. Mason says they grew up next door in Comox and were best friends. “It's heartwrenching.” ull up a chair at the Bordertown Cafe A CALL FROM a cross border family connection sets the story into action in the Terrace Little Theatre’s season opener, Bordertown Cafe, debuting to- morrow night at the McColl Play- house. Expect references to the differences between Canadians and Americans and a zany family in this Kelly Rebar play, a drama with plenty of laughs set in‘rural Alberta near the Montana bor- der in the mid-1980s. Teenaged Jimmy lives with his 34- year-old single mother, along with his grandparents, in the back of the family run business, a road side cafe . As Jimmy wrestles with the poss- ibility of moving something about themselves as the play unfolds,” she says. “They all re- flect on where they’re at, and where they’re going in life. Except,” she pauses dramatically, “maybe for grandpa.” Grandpa is played by Patrick McIn- tyre, the only veteran among the four- person cast. “He’s a man of few words,” Meln- tyre explains, And that presents a challenge, he says, because it means as an actor, he’s learning to use body language ra- ther than lots of dialogue to get his character’s point across. To do. so, MelIntyre called on his memories of his in with his father and his father’s new wife in the States, his inabili- ty to communicate little world.” own prandfather “What a brassy doll! She and grand uncles Just buzzes around in her own — strong, silent men, “They were all farmers in Alber- with his family threatens to drive them apart, as unrealized goals, dreams and obligations boil to the sur- face. Director Annette Martindale says Bordertown Cafe is a coming of age story for more than just the main char- acter, a 17-year-old hockey fan coping with life inside an unconventional fa- mily. : “The other characters all learn ta,” he says. His character’s job is, he says, to act as an island in the storm. According to the actor who plays him, Jimmy just wants a normal life. “It’s a little hectic,” says Brad Peter- son, “They’re all wailing for something to happen, and that really frustrates Jimmy.” Kathy Hicks plays Jimmy’s grand- ma, Maxine, a woman of homespun g : a ay ney AN ISLAND IN THE STORM: Patrick Mcintyre and Brad Peterson hearse a scene in Bordertown Cafe, opening tomorrow night. re- charm. “Whal a brassy doll!” Hicks says. “She buzzes around in her own lit- tle world,” she explains. “She just wants ta be loved and accepted and to know she’s needed,” It’s Hicks’s first time out on stage, but she’s feeling cunfidenl, : “They're a great bunch,” she says, gesturing to the actors and crew gath- ered inside the playhouse for a recent rehearsal. “I’m amongst friends, not just in the play, but in town.” It’s also the first time Margaret Da- vies has acted in a Terrace Little “Theatre production, loo. “I’ve never even been on stage before,” she says. “To me, it’s just fascinating to know what goes into something like this. It's not easy. It takes a lot of preparation and 1°m en- joying that.” The 26-year-old plays a character nearly 10 years her senior, a single mom raising her son alone. “She has low self-confidence. She doesn't communicate with her son very well.” Rehearsals began in early Septem- ber, says Martindale, who last direc- ted the Ayn Rand play, The Night of January 16, and more recently has concentrated on acting, including a role in this summer’s Vampire Les- bians of Sodom. “I was very busy acting last year,” she says, explaining that as a mother of a toddler, it’s less time consuming to act than to direct. “I've learned that it’s very helpful to be on the stage yourself,” she says of what she’s bringing to the digas chair this time out. “Wh irc dealing with actors who are totally green, inexperienced actors, the more acting experience you can share with them, the better.” . Bordertown Cafe is produced by Nancy Stone Archer. it opens Nov. 9 and runs Nov. 10-11, 16-18, and 23-25 at the McColl Playhouse, at 8 p.m.