Stop focusing on tourism
little in the way of return was the way of life.
David’s family lived on Solly Road and I got to know them briefly through the two little girls, Isabel and her sister, who came to my Sunday school class at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church — the Stone Church — in all weathers, walking the distance from their house located on an orchard which ran, I think, south up a hilly incline to Giants’ Head Road.
I have no memory of the size of the orchard but I do remember during peachpicking time seeing David’s father come home at supper hour with his two sons who looked in their teens. No dinner cooking on the wood-burning stove. A wife, struggling with ill-health who died too soon. Two little girls and three hard working fellows — probably hungry — one was David. Mrs. Kampe’s love for her family was manifested in the church-oriented programs she encouraged her little girls to attend and I know how she struggled against her illness.
Can you imagine the determination to survive all this at the end of a hot summer’s day picking, hauling fruit and irrigation-by-the-ditch method which was a series of furrows running between the fruit tress and it was so labour intensive, and sharing the household responsibilities?
Somehow, the values, the caring and the multi-giving we now know about with the naming of the Penticton Regional Hospital’s patient care tower and all the other contributions, have come in part, I think, from those examples of Mr. and Mrs. Kampe.
David, I have never forgotten your parents.
This young wife from a different country and struggling to understand these new, hard ways now feel they too are being personally honoured. In my mind, their values are an example of those early, difficult post-war years for so many orchardists. Doiran Blagborne Thomson Summerland Walk’s honouree, as having been “affected by dementia.”
Some people have interpreted this to mean that she is living with the disease, which is not the case. Pauline volunteered with the Alzheimer’s Society of B.C. for 11 years, and her volunteer work is being recognized.
We are very grateful to her for the countless hours she devoted to the people in her community. There are few people in the region who are living with dementia, or have family members who are living with dementia, that don’t know Pauline.
We look forward to joining the Penticton community in honouring her during the Investors Group Walk for Alzheimer’s on Sunday, May 7 at Rotary Centennial Pavilion at Skaha Lake Park. For more information, contact Glen Mountfield at .
Glen Mountfield Special Events Officer Alzheimer Society of B.C. Dear Editor: Re: Shift in economic direction cuts ties (Herald, March 8).
Do I feel some disenchantment at City Hall? Employees turning against each other? All about economics and to solve the problem. Get real people, stop investing in the tourist trade, it’s doing well without your constant input. Focus on bringing industries that offer good-paying jobs. It’s not rocket science! James Banko Penticton