Mr. and Mrs. Green talk about life on the Island in terms of amusing anecdotes of island life in the 50s and 60s.
Accession Number | 989.031.039 | Interviewer | |
Date | Jan. 10, 1989 | Location | Cassette tapes box File #24 to File #48 Shelf 8C |
Media | Audio CD | ||
ID | 34 |
34_Jack_Shirley_Green.mp3
otter.ai
18.01.2023
no
Unknown Speaker 0:01
memories never last for even finer women in the college. In that batch was they were both pioneer research groups that are in foster producing and Jack was described as a chartered accountant, hospital administrator and I think surely was prescribed was something that helped him in the hospital. And that doesn't I can't let that pass because going to yours. And I also would like to indicate that they have considerable and lengthy family connections to the island. There was an Ashtown green new survey the full for the 15 original sections along and incorporated from Isabel Floyd are from Kirkland data. Fulford harbour in 1874 1875, and that was Jack's grandfather. And he worked out a document that man and surely his father was here from 1910 to 1917, as the Reverend bass who served in concert and I asked her if I could tell this little story and she said, Because I just found out a short time ago and answer that surely and Jack are coming over and oh, yes, he's the father of basketball. Did you know that he always reported the various baptisms and marriages in the parish book your church by either that he sent him instead of Victoria Yosemite currently got lost. And there's one there are lots of couples married. And one chaplain to go to war in 1939. Yes, I was married in 1912 or so. I guess they check back hey, we're not battery registered British Columbia calm. And then of course, isn't that decentralized
Unknown Speaker 1:54
church in Concord, actually,
Unknown Speaker 1:57
son of that Jeff COVID, historian, protocol of all sorts of names competing to be anyway, Jack and surely came to the either the 1951 vote and 54 I live just near the canal and the other side of this canal. And Jack was in charge or is a chartered accountant work for Salzburg lands. And both Jack and Shirley were these forest type of community workers who are concerned with every aspect of community life particularly with for the welfare of children. I know that Jack was very involved in Boy Scouts and ensure he was busy with so many classes. And Jack was also involved in Chamber of Commerce. And whenever he was one of the people who are concerned and concern involved in community affairs, and one of their last one of the projects and projects that attempt to get the museum talking about using this afternoon, museum was taking the first bunch of logs that are all resolved and take them down. And it was going to be erected by the president school board officers if someone forgot to mark the law throughout throughout the chalk room. So Jack and Charlie left the island in 1961 and went to Kitimat. At least Jack went to kill him out earlier and then surely stayed to finish the census. And then she joined. They have three children Peters in Paris and deals in the catalog there in Fort St. James. And they say we've kept in touch and potentially we knew that we were off the island Denver, summer visitors we saw them and I'm sure they haven't. I know. Juries from the start listening. Remembers it's called Spring. I'm sure we have enjoyed it.
Unknown Speaker 3:55
Saltspring my parents is very liberal because I wasn't around. So before I was born and growing in the next cars, but I asked my sister Mary what she remembered of the days on Saltspring she left her when she was only 10. So she really doesn't matter very much. Except for the snow of 1960 which everybody seems to remember Mary remembers that vividly because my father dug a hole in the snow and picked up Marian Potter in return. She thought that's where she's gonna stay for the rest of her days. For a few minutes as my father is in crisis here to PSBA she likes to call for payment from Bristol. My father was in Bristol and now I get to come here from Bristol. So they got in touch with the powers that be in Bristol and I have this privilege and 40 year old daughter and a couple of kids, right? Kids are interested in going to Canada and BC as an NBA Commissioner, he's always trying to get back to Canada. So Mr. Boyd can arrange this and said that it should be prepared for my social life here and this is best which would be wonderful photos from August until April they can just as they were proposed to have chosen too much during every bit of their stay here on salt, remember their social highlights or not. But anyway, they'd love to Saltspring St. Mark's St. Paul's Ganges, time and see bears. Were my family follows his first two years of poker with a hammer and come back next day, it's time to throw forward guard and rubble. And I remember the guy coming in telling me that first right have you ever had cars and my father's so that's, that's my history Saltspring paternal don't dare say that.
Unknown Speaker 6:51
Just two parts are somewhat the guinea pigs because we just put the one together yesterday. And so we've got no idea how long this time so as soon as I hear people fidgeting, our overhead tapered off. The first thing we're going to do was actually when we're asked over here, I was talking to Bob Tolson give him a few yarns as I could remember them as we're chit chatting, and he said, oh, you should speak to the Historical Society every few hours and the artifact class yet, but we're going to take a world map anyway. Because I haven't mentioned my grandfather surveyed the island in 1874 1975. I got the letter under what's your permission to do that? I'm doing the sofar do I wanted something for the north part in the following year. Just before getting this commission he was elected Warden, as I call it that time and correspond to a reason these days. The newly formed municipality of North couch and hunters have been formed the year before in 1873. And going through a newspaper very much later I found brother giving him really quite a rough time because his year in office he don't he attended two council meetings. The reason of course being that he was over serving on the island here I'm back and he said before probably if you wanted to go from Seoul Saltspring over to Ganges River to Duncan that you got into a canoe and paddle it well for a non paying job and anyhow they're constantly budget at that time was about $300 a year to I don't blame him for not bothering to come all the way. After that, so they used to have a huge Boy Scout camps down at her go and pay two or 300 Boys summer times and I came onto a number of those. And there are very close times when reading one out, I always remember one father showing me a letter from his son saying Dear Dad, this is how who's going to rescue me so we knew I had a non biased opinion of our scouting counselor and after that we came over the outdoor climb for three times. Courses divan for 30 An hour thinking I was getting getting married
Unknown Speaker 9:27
for about three years two or three times to scramble up the face of bump max or one that sort of
Unknown Speaker 9:37
came up I was working with a Chartered Accountants office in Victoria and Gavin Mark wanted an audit done on Saltspring lands and our firm was handling and so they sent me over had a very enjoyable time staying to harbor house along with going to work getting over that time was quite different what it is today A lot of people remembered of course, there was only the one very little side. And on the end of a busy weekend, sometimes the line of cars would stretch far off the hill. And he might have to wait two or three trips before he got off. Where we're currently fortunate we're driving a very small car, a little Morris Minor that could be squeezed onto the tail tailgate of the ferry where the bigger ones wouldn't. So we sometimes got promoted in the line I'm sure there are other nice thing to have was, Captain Mark was a marvelous Skipper. No radar in those days running like that, in the middle of a thick fog when you couldn't see anything. It stopped the blender draft took the horn a few times to get the echoes off the hills to see whether it's more or less middle channel and then you'd proceed on. And he had many years I don't think he ever had ever had an accident is very long suffering. And our small boy got left behind and then go back like the marks wandered off. The other time he pulled the emergency cord on the ferry and socket ministry. That was I think it was a pretty reputable childhood to have. I don't know what the rest of that was quite fun traveling on who knew everyone back in those days. And particularly, we moved here and more people. I mean, again, I get down on the ferry in the morning and going into Victoria. Here it was Don Goodman good. He's sitting in the hearse, Dr. Don Francis probably locked alongside the fire and he could get reversed and they say Hey Jack, come on over. So I go and I get hers next to them and have a bottle on their name when you have Jack's plasma or bombings. So we'd have a very nice trip into Victoria
Unknown Speaker 12:06
and good. It was an awfully good time I will be still on now. I mean he ran the child service station at that time. And he was also an orderly in the hospital and the and the undertaker people occasionally wonder when he gets in the hospital or whether it's what we was looking at. But in the boy scouts at that time we had one terrific Bolliger I don't think they'd have one on the alpha bar we have hundreds and hundreds and dozens my whole garage was absolutely stacked up there under a current problem. out in the yard and so forth. Well, if we sold them on the hour, we only got 20 cents it doesn't buy get them into Victoria we'd get 25 cents it does. So people were marvelous they all loved it their cars out the beer bottles which content slop it smelled like a beer product in the morning Archer in their car. Good evening, the Herson loaded up with beer bottles with a number of times. The harbor posthotel was a very friendly comfortable place to stay wonderful atmosphere. I don't have the main striker socially, because he was able to go out on a job where he worked in the evenings. But the excellent meals in the friendly atmosphere. My big memory is one night when the pipes burst in the place. Nobody could figure where in the garden to dig to find where the water shutoff was. So all the guests were out there with the curves on keeping their hands on the leaking pipes until such time as they can locate the place to turn and I turned the water off. organized. Well then in a matter of 54 We moved to Salzburg out and I started working for Saltspring lands. That was quite an office we did just about everything we're in insurance and real estate of course subdivisions. Log brokerage was a big part. We have trust funds and mortgages and financing options once in a while which were really allowed to go like people are bidding bidding against each other and that sort of thing. Also in the office was the Golf I was very common in the north Saltspring waterworks, which showed Mark was essentially him and they were run by a burn in case Maurice on the inside and people are great that the muscle work of layoffs. On the outside that something didn't have enough in the office. We had Charlie Mellish it was a jeweler sitting in the middle there repairing watches, watches by trying to fix everything is originally a locomotive mechanic and how on earth they got out of watches I never knew that he could fix anything. But every now and then a little jewel would slip out of a washroom and half our staff would be crawling around the floor without notices. On the ground if you spent an original firm there was some Farber non insurance who hadn't taken over the accounting then we have real estate called our chocolate gold Humphries went faster, Charlie her on Frankel Charlie brought to prefer moto later. Stan always Mrs. Mathewson Mary muffler Adam Smith adenoid Henry Hudson revealed there probably some more that I have forgotten
Unknown Speaker 15:58
know Francis ran a big nursing home that was right down the front there He was a retired doctor and occasions when the other doctors were hit on the to adventure in the Emperor remember two or three occasions one was a crock my backup and couldn't move and so I phoned him up I said, Roger come in a cafeteria early enough I couldn't fold in my Morris Minor but some Thorburn and other larger car so people will remember that took me an errand dog shot on electricity in my back for a while and he took me out for me to straight timber for straight right. For that interview to relax the muscles of the back I'm always going on we have two
Unknown Speaker 16:54
physiotherapists and so forth there's probably two since there's no there's no treatment like
Unknown Speaker 17:04
another time and my son Tony flyfish fish in the pool back of our house which in our water reservoir and so it gets out there with a stick horrible great conflict on the end of a line with a worm on course immediate gets embedded in his cheek so we brought him in and brought him into Docker it was around now and couldn't find anything cut the bark off the carpet he finally got a huge pair of two hand shears like the metal shears like this that came up and I think we're so scared stiff he doesn't he doesn't move
Unknown Speaker 17:44
know as well
Unknown Speaker 17:53
there was another occasion in the same reservoir where our youngest son Derek, I guess at the age of about 18 months. Surely couldn't find out she was rushing around the dog ran around with a discount dog and later going the other direction it came back and find Derek totally facedown in the reservoir and so she fished him out quickly began artificial respiration and then rushed to the farm to get help. There's a lot to be said for the old fashioned where you have the operator on the other end he found the operator AND operator looked after things from the neighbor to come up with how to phone the police and the fire department to the mid air and they told me to randomly up there and I was good he said what he brought to the archives there was so glad to hear it can start crying and there's
Unknown Speaker 18:59
got to be sent to the process department I just forgot one thing and the connection with the
Unknown Speaker 19:13
Obama drive we currently have a very thoroughly we went everywhere. They even went to WMO and supposed to try and get some beer bollocks. I knew exactly what WM was, was like with regard to alcohol. You're not getting a refund for the cars that the last place you were trying to be involved. while they're here, they opened the golf club that been built back in 18 Oh golf golf club comm houses being built by Reverend Dr. Wilson back in 1893. And we're getting pretty raggedy in 1959. burned out it's very fair for the time to burn burned down because the volunteer fire department had had a difference opinion with the local and they don't quit right there in that so there is no other protected. There's beautiful fire Berkeley, well insured golf club house down. People were people said they've never seen so many smiling faces of the fire marshal came in right around in they actually could they couldn't find any evidence of any arson saw. But I guess that's how you got to talk about you know I was on the school board for two or three years while I was here, among other things. Of course, we had the annual battles with the teachers about raises and pay which they deserve and all that sort of thing. And so this went on sometimes quite far. And I heard Finally, one year of finding him tonight when we settled and so we're all pile into cars and without two miles at the students House to celebrate, he made a very good one that her son was a respectable citizen who normally came home sets full hours. And I didn't come home my wife called the police to see if they had reports of anyone going off the road going into the ditch or anything like that. Well, no report. And so I live miles Hudson's house not feeling any pain started driving home and his his car sits on my tail and sits on my tail the whole way down the booth canal. Imagine the dark behind. My wife from the police in tough times today
Unknown Speaker 21:44
was just after I left the school board that they were doing the roads the island technology school at that time they had a separate school board meeting on each island. The sector then was Chairman Peterson they're on their way to Galliano chartered a boat totally idle hours and set out very happily. And they tried to skid steer between the target and the barge which was towing while it didn't work, the barge roll the idle hours right over. Unfortunately, the trustees another great scramble up on the bar and I don't know how to how one would get up or not pick margin but they all did. So others though life last but even on the scoreboard, it would be could be dangerous. I saw while I was in the scouts, we took a group of scouts and cut up on a school bus up to Vancouver Island and growing up we found that English River Falls or other other places on aircard. And so there but on the way out, there is a zoo Nanaimo. So it was probably everything for their kids to see the animals and so we just turned them loose there. It's just different like kids to get to get running trouble in a public Zoo. So I'm wandering around myself so I'm gonna see what the people are and I've taken several the boys right right into the lions cage to get close up pictures alive as well. The birds in the way. Okay. Keeper knew what he was doing. But then the Cougars in the next case began to get a little irritated that the lions getting all the attention. And what when we were lucky when the lions came in our crews Joy was right over my shoulders. It was gone coming into the room
Unknown Speaker 23:55
I was pretty worried I thought How do I explain this? Well, anyhow, the keeper chased the boys out of the cage and everything was okay. But that not too long afterwards when the lions escaped from that zoo and called a little girl is always closed out. The exact year I guess would be around 1958 was a national voyage and the Vesuvius craft and carry on we finally got a second connection to the hurt of the Vancouver Island. Filthy bass winds howling around and everything else but I'm sure normally the ferry would never have sailed up on a day like that. But with all the powers that be over here at the inauguration, they carried on anyhow. I ended up coming over from the other side. Maybe I've gone over on an earlier trip. But anyhow, we came back we had quite a number of passengers aboard the RCMP and they were or Redster can always call the trimmings both was pitching and rolling. And I don't mind the role to cricket storm if you expect that when it starts making a lot of cracking noise you're gonna start getting worried so I personally I work myself right down to the bottom is where the superstructure when it comes down in the event thing happened many times but as have happened but gone over though let's go right right after that they straightened the superstructure. And most of the people that come over on the ferry refused point blank to go back again. Anyhow, they got the they got the sanitary inaugurated down there was this like referred to but I haven't referred to building the centennial museum for for once we got a grant. Out there rapids art organizations supported this group I was with in wanting to build a museum here was that we put a concrete slab down and we're down a lot in a log cabin that was up in the cranberry area. We have lots of support, but the good support, but then many organizations like the IoD II now when you leave volunteers out, these are wonderful organization. But moving bloggers up is not their strong point. So that after we got a certain way with moving the logs down, we realized there was absolutely no possible way that we have enough volunteers to complete the thing. And so rather than spend the available funds we call a public meeting and told them that that was adamant that better for we spent the funds to consider what we should do and then decided not to complete it. Since there was no other money available. That was the slab on which your school board office now stands. Halloween came up just about this time. And the morning after Halloween there were people joke was on us we got a good laugh out of it because there was a most dilapidated outhouse you ever saw standing in the middle of the slab with the big sign on at Centennial Museum. Charlie and I were protecting. I brought her into dumping weekly to this Carlson's dancing class along with a couple other kids in the car and a lot more became interested in so we made arrangements for man of all and there's a person came over and 30 parents checked in and so that way we're able to get to valley that says that valley down first and I'm happy to divert reasonable cops and we've had swimming lessons to organize on good basis. The school board helped us by transporting kids in and out come down Donald Vesuvius Bay and Mrs. Liu had been a swimming instructor in Germany came along and was hired as our instructor. Here again, each person checked in and we made to go one way in one way or another party is on the beach and one of the final graduations. One of our graduates out in the harbor Coast pool Arcturus was built for 1959 We have 81 children in the course. That was the big story of Mr. Cisco. So he arrived he was head of a life insurance company and many other things in the states and came up here and bought up several islands in Ganges harbor. Now, the reason he wanted the eye on as far as I can make out, was he used to bring all his salesmen out there and brainwash them, maybe incorrectly to bring their wives up to
Unknown Speaker 29:24
him he was certainly a going concern. And a big promoter on February way, Washington which hadn't fallen down on his management team down there. It always struck me when we're coming our boy scout sea scouts, they were that we should take our boat around in
Unknown Speaker 29:53
solido liquor or something to augment our two our two friends while these poor people isolated on the outside except for being allowed to come ashore on Sundays to go to church. That's my first introduction to a crazy American sales training
Unknown Speaker 30:16
is that like first in public? How can we know relatives is here? Okay? That this family moved here and set up in the photography business are critical to understand that he's inherited, rather nice estate manual, and so forth. That had one thought they were kind of crazy. And more so they rented this house and uncooperative. And they had something like 40 cats in there who were never allowed outside you could tell him when they came into the into our office, we used to wander around squirt in the air right behind the open all the doors. And so of course, fortunately, we had nothing to do with renting the house. Otherwise, we might have been responsible for it. But finally the owner got Windows situation. Cuts Okay, when investigated, and most of the people, but there was absolutely nothing I could do deal with the house and ended up by having to be burned out. ruined forever. But the fact is, as soon as I post has been viewed on me, the funniest thing was the court case over and over and Vancouver, we all leave. So whether they have a I guess that'd be the federal court probably over there, but very oily and all sorts of nonsense. And then we got this immigrant going, we had clean up behind the cat describing the very basic English what his job had been there. But the newspapers had a field day. The c Cpc came over here and did a write up office at that time. I was never very impressive, because while we have a lot of retired people on the arm, we also have a lot of kids in the in the schools and my wire and the way they made it. You would think that everyone on the island was conducting a little little cottage industry. And that was all it was here but of course it wasn't that way at all. Well, we got to about covers the memories, and I realized that many of you were you were here and you're here. The story is I understand that not the first thing we found when you wrote the book on the history of the doctrine women. People said we're probably a basket maybe be that the story she'll tell you is different from this one. And of course, as soon as we got the book written, we had one irate person come in and say that the story that we got from the sister of law rock. So it kind of it kind of went back to history. So that you can all you can do is try with a lot of memories. George Hynek is milk, the top third on it solid, thick cream. The Grove probably not as great truck or a little tiny Chihuahua. Throw Tuesday, but know that but they have these pancake races with everyone topping pancakes. So running through the center of guarantees. Lots of movement at that time. Anyhow, that's my memories of Saltspring.
Unknown Speaker 33:58
Know because history and so forth. Some of these old diaries and things are very, very interesting. And I was quite interested hearing about so you're setting up your archives talk about buying filing folders, all that sort of thing. And I wondered if you knew all the ramifications that you should get the special type that are acid free if you're putting valuable documents on them because the ordinary office filing folder is left for a large number of years paper a ton of material because there's little residual acid in the folder. There's quite a lot of stuff on on that when it comes to storage. Perhaps you know all this but those paid to write to the our local archives to the archives Victorian and then a few other pamphlets on on preservation so you don't have to do things over and over twice. At this point. Next time. We just finished our museum and Dr. Converting the railway station we've had an archive Looking for a couple of beers and a lot of us currently live very happily, before somebody came in and really knew what they were doing and is horrified as well and thinks we shouldn't be doing. So it pays to work, I think search out the information early in the game. We have some very interesting diaries over there from one farmer who came up by sailing ship around the horn and 1862, five months between England and the sky miles and they never touched shore once in between this mascot, Cape Horn, and some of the stories were just amazing. And then hacking her farm totally wilderness sort of growing vegetables in among the stumps to feed themselves. And all that sort of all that sort of thing. However, this one I've got for you here today is entirely different. There was something that sort of came to us through the family of this. And Annie Ellen went up to Uganda as a missionary, between 19 119 24 sent home these workers round robin she called in describing her friends and relatives, the country, as you saw, illustrated with the delightful local watercolor sketches. Surely his photographs, sketches and put them up on the slides, which were which we will be showing you a little further into the talk. She came out and landed in Mombasa, it was quite a long trip on the old coal burning steamers to dump past a bear but stay in the lane through the Mediterranean on the Red Sea and so forth. Then, they got through here gather five missionaries, and all of them had to go into Lake Victoria and a little north. So they each of the missionaries got a bicycle, nice old high end an old old fashioned high white leather with the short pedal hangers, because particular rod sadly started off. So I've got five missionaries on bicycles. We've got 150 quarters, walking behind them, carrying their bags and their equipment and their food and everything else. And of course, everything was done to drum beat for the benefit. And so they they have the gun going and the first part, the Uganda railway was a little bit finished. This was the 19 in 1900 was the rest of the way that they had to travel through. The missionaries would go ahead on their bicycles find a suitable place to park for the night probably have some advice, and that they would wait for the record the drumbeat displays 150 workers traveling along veering off and bearing all their goods. And then the departments would put up that would put up their tents and serve soccer and bring water to 10. So the missionaries, but of course we're not missionaries, but have their bows. I mean, the borders have been we've been struggling on each other the standard 165 pound load that each man carried at that time. Apparently that time I had no horses or wagons in the in that area tall everything that was carried on the men's bags. So they started out and they do about 15 or 20 miles today. Lots of gay in leopards, lions and elephants and so forth. And then at Lake Victoria, they got on us sailing ship, Tao and sailed up to their destination of the north end of the lake, which is just behind where I am to be is now called mango which was in the capital of Uganda. Now, in our day and age, looking at the attitude of the missionaries, all I can say is well a bunch of inhuman people. I mean, they were very conscientious brave and all that. But certainly from my from my point of view is the strictly unfair that the way they did treat treat people the way they thought they were bringing enlightenment to Africa. And so they were really behaving in the people's best interest. But there again, they paid almost almost no And no one, no money at all expected for people to be more than happy to work to get a copy of the gospel. In order to be baptized, an adult had to learn to read the gospel in his own language. You weren't married until you've been baptized. So that really, it was starting, sort of by putting a gun to people's people's heads. With school they operated to say these are very conscientious people thinking they're doing the best, but their ideas are so different. In the store, all the talk will survive. They didn't take any arithmetic, geography or anything else. Like somebody were to read the gospel. The money, they used cowrie shells, which is what they paid them, were worth trying to translate into current terms were worth about 100 for five sets. So that particular artist had the church collection or something that was quite a job. But most of the people's collections because they're so poor, they paid in Ames or plantains, or what? Whatever. Insects water and alcohol made from bananas, or all Royal Air, the nominal seemed to be the main thing that kept people going. They boiled them for the main food, they use their leaves for utensils and they use some of the France for clothing. Now the time that we're really dealing with was a later trip she made out there when things have changed greatly. And ground 1920 So they left and go now this coal burning show the Carlsbad cast, I took them loose Brian's abroad and mercy for us site and so forth. I had to take on call at two points, taking 31 days to get from England and take it down to Mombasa. Now, when we come to where this where the slide is structured, if you could take over