The meeting of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Seniors Association on Feb. 19 opened with a short address by Alice Durksen who brought us up to date with the Wellness and Health Action Coalition. It has been trying to put together some working plans to assist with our local health care and doctor retention. Anyone can join the group at a membership cost of $3 which will help with supplies.
The rest of the meeting was about routine matters. Muriel reported that we have signed up several new members, while others had let their memberships lapse.
February had 12 members with birthdays and we were serenaded by those present.
We are planning a bus outing to Anglemont on April 30. We need about 25 - 30 people, and Muriel needs to know who is going by mid-March so that the bus can be booked. Payment will be required later when she knows if the trip is on or not.
Joyce Freeman gave a report on the cards she has sent out, including Birthdays, Thinking of You, and Get Well Soon.
We were all issued with two books of raffle tickets to be sold as one of our fund raising efforts. You will see us selling them at Safety Mart in the near future and this year the prizes are $100, $75 and $50 - so come and buy! The winners will be drawn at the Strawberry Tea on April 25 when you can come and enjoy a tasty dessert with us.
This year the Senior Games are to be held in N. Vancouver, and Kevin Scallon and Isabel McGrath would be pleased to answer any questions from people who would be interested in being at the games.
The meeting adjourned with the obligatory jokes from Donna, and we all had a good laugh - then on to tea and coffee and goodies and some enjoyable card games.
This week, I’d like you to hear about two of our hardest working members, Muriel and Kevin Scallon, who quietly go about making things smooth and enjoyable for the rest of us.
Muriel was born in her parents’ home in Seton on May 19, 1938 the ninth of a family of 12 children, six boys and six girls. Her mother home schooled the children and made all their clothes.
Muriel never did learn to play the piano as her mother had hoped, but she did learn many practical things - dressmaking, horse riding, cow milking, stock tending - and gathering eggs while escaping from the rooster!
When she was 12, the family moved to Terrace where she finished her education. She married and moved to Princeton where she had five children, but there was no settling down as he husband took work at the copper mine in Greenwood and then at the hydro-electric dam near Chetwynd, where he worked there until he had to be hospitalised. Eventually they moved to Kamloops, and lived there until he passed away in1984.
Kevin was born at Big Creek and lived there until his parents bought a farm near Salmon Arm.
He quit school early to work in a small sawmill, and after a while left home to work in construction and road building. Of all the places he visited while working around BC, he says he best liked the Chilcotin Country where he was born.
Muriel tells how one day after they had met, Kevin invited her to meet his mother in Salmon Arm. She agreed, and off they went. The next weekend she was to visit her mother in Ashcroft, so she invited him along.
They married and lived in Vernon for a time. When Muriel’s mother died, they bought her property in Ashcroft and moved into it in 1992. As Muriel says,” Life has a habit of turning us around every once in a while, so I’m now waiting for the next turn of events!”
Joyce West