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Page 8 West Vancouver Historical Society January 2006 Around 1936, Phil got a job doing some gardening for a Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy. They owned an acre of land between Lawson and Kings Avenue. The Jeremys’ driveway was where Lawson would have been if it had been cut through. He probably turned most of his earnings over to Mom. Mom, Phil, Madge and I used to go out berry picking in the summer along Mathers and past Taylor Way. Anything edible went into our pails, blackberries, black caps, blackberries (wild) and tame ones that were growing wild. Phil took me up 15“" Street to the old flume. There was a huge patch of blackberries, and Phil says that while we picked on one side, he could hear a bear eating on the other side. Harry and Phil took on another job in the mid thirties. They started to dig out a bit of a basement. Using shovels and a wheelbarrow they took out enough dirt to make room for an oil-drum furnace. Someone cut a hole in the hall floor and installed a grate. Every winter there would be water in the excavated area, and one put on gumboots to light the furnace and keep it going. By 1938 our sister Rita had reached Grade 10. She got a job in the office of the “X” Laundry, but not for long. I think it was the policy to get someone into the office and then say they were being laid off. There was work in the actual laundry, though, if you wanted to work there. Times were still desperate, so one didn’t have much choice. Harry had been working at the office of the Canadian Credit Men’s Association since about 1936, but not long before the war started, the economy was still bad, and he was being laid off. With his little gardening job, Phil had some spending money, after giving Mom most of his earnings. I had won the free pass to the Hollyburn Theatre several times by ranking first. He could take me to some of the evening shows, which I would otherwise have missed. During the mid thirties we had a Chinese “fish John”. After getting off the ferry, he would hike all the way up 14‘^ Street to Lawson. I guess Mom had bought from him when we lived on Bellevue. The “fish Johns”, as they were called, had two metal containers, each hanging on either side of the yoke across their shoulders. He always had a fish tail or two for the cats. One day Madge and I got home from school to find Mom quite upset. The chickens and the Leghorn rooster were out in the garden. The “fish John” had seen him and wanted to buy him. When Mom asked him “why?” he replied, “Make good fighting cock.” I guess he realized how insulted Mom was, because we don’t think he ever came up the hill again. Our neighbours on the south side of Lawson were Mr. and Mrs. White, and their three sons, Eric, Ralph and Bob. Right beside us was a vacant lot and how dearly Mom would like to have had the money to be able to buy it. The next house to the west belonged to Mr. And Mrs. Clarke, daughter Esther and sons Doug and Mac. Mac died tragically at Ambleside Beach, aged about 15 years. A note or two about Helena Link’s wonderful account. We lived right next door to the Atwoods, who were at 1441 Ottawa Avenue on a double lot. (The house is still there.) The White family lived just steps beyond the trail that joined Ottawa and Mathers Avenues. They were a superbly exemplary family. W.T. Atwood, was president of the local branch of the Canadian Legion in 1933. Mrs. Atwood was the foster mother of a very old friend, Len Hudock (now dead), whose half-brother, Ben Evens, is pictured elsewhere here with Madge Aldred. Ben is now living in the South Okanagan, and is happily married. The Hollyburn Hall became part of my life when I was about twelve years old. I arrived home one Sunday bearing a vividly coloured picture of a glass of red wine, around which was ensconced a viper. My parents straightaway pulled me out of that Sunday School and dispatched me to St. Christopher’s Church. TT