My PARENTS' WORK - District of Saanich

MEMORABLE EVENTS ...
"World War II. I was a teenager then. Red
Cross ladies always met at our house and did
their knitting and sewing. Whatever they were
going ro raise money for, they'd organize at the
house."
MARIE GRIFFIN, 81
"I was seven when WWI
ended. My dad was overseas
as a chaplain, and we lived
with grandma and grandpa in
the country. I can remember
grandpa, who was about six
feet tall, white-haired, coming
to the door and saying
'School's out, the war's over.'
Of course, they rang the bells
till they rang them off the
hook. We went into town,
and they burned the Kaiser in effigy. That was
quite a memorable evening, I can tell you,
because I was allowed to stay up."
M IRIAM TAYLOR, 89
"We had a good thing going. Our house was
in the middle of the Gordon Head army camp
which is now the University of Victoria. We
were in the middle of a route march, and they
always stopped at our place under the tree. My
grandmother used to give them cold water so
they gave us sugar and lemon and coffee so we
could make lemonade for the soldiers during
the summer and coffee during the
winter. There was always extra for
us for helping them out."
BARRIE 'BOOGIE' GOODWIN, 64
"I named Playfair Park and was
presented with a $5 cheque by
Premier Tolmie. It was a contest for
all Saanich school children to name
two par k s. "
GRACE LUCRETIA 'GRACIE'
(BEAUMONT) HENRY, 84
VE Day, Blanshard Street
"The most vivid in my mind was the day the
Second World War ended. We were out in
Saanichton and all the planes started to come
over. Everybody yelled to hit the ground, and
there were fireworks and bombers going
through. It was really scary."
MARY VOWLES, 61
"In 1930, there was the big strike where
everybody got on the old train and went to
Ottawa to complain about no work."
RICHARD 'BUNGY' WILLIAMS, 80
"I remember when the Lindbergh baby was
kidnapped. I remember how awful I felt when
Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped for
money and killed.
That was a very
traumatic thing in my
life; I was young and
impressionable. "
Charles Lindbergh
EDNA RIX. 84
"I remember when
Lindbergh flew across
the Atlantic."
WALLACE "WALLY" WEST, 88
"I remember VE Day here in Victoria.
Everybody started to walk all over the middle
of the street and throwing confetti and really
shouring, making a real whoopee."
OLIVE 'BILL' PATTERSON, 80