ring ‘events of meetings :can-be list
jeayof Dixie Lee Chicken & Seatood Cast!
upmit notices to Castlegar News
iy oon for Wednesday:

IDAY.
OCKEY. _ COMMERCIAL, LEA Es. Wi
Moving and senee yi vs. Badd M ‘nights;
Soe ONTRACTORS vs:: Moun:

aici teAgu Dairy Queen vs.
Creek;’ 10:45 rena; TRANS: X PAVING

WEDNESDAY.
— GENTLEMEN'S LEAGUE: Dairy, Queen
Trans-X,: 9:30, Id arena. NHL: Buffalo
i channel,13.

363-5353 Costtoger ‘North
}-5304 Castlegar South: '

xy ~ have :
named ‘the Court Jesters. °
‘and the ‘Clown Princes of

Hoopdom. Their ball hand-

ways:seem new, never. fail

Sto keep the fans in an up:
roar.’
“Any ‘one of

maki
every time, but:enough to
amaze and bring down the

“house with thunderous a

plause. i
And’ the dribbling show.
— sometimes: the’ Clown
© dribbler > will: ‘wave’ -his
* team-mates off ‘the ‘court.

start \/ dribbling

putting the finishing touche

c th
Pekar re doyrhgmesanachnn gray 6.
ahip on'the front prop,
fine‘art,

“Just greatt” ied eemietes :
ry,

sat in various stages of

his carport:and now ‘finally: out at’.
jong time ‘Web had thought about

“As a ‘demo of how easy it is to build,

volunteers built one.in one week.” While Web was there .

he was also able to log 20-80 hours on that plane, took
over 100 color slides of it, and when he came back he
decided to start one for himself. That was five years ago.
‘And row she's just about. ready. to become airborne.:
“L keep checking the things off: my list,”: he ‘says.

i “The list’s getting smaller.” By the time this article comes

to print Web will have had the shiny yellow craft with the -

red stripes soaring through the air over Castlegar. “Te...
‘applied ‘for the full permit’ ‘and hopefully it will be here
this week.”

* Building an airplane is ‘not like putting together a.
“coffee table. ‘There: ner are, Mapes of. rules, dozens of:

certain procedure one must follow. The

inspectic anda
? first thing the’ builder’ should:do according to: Web is to
‘wri ‘Midistty:

inspector was out to do’ his final ‘week:
and aside for, a few minor. things he had to change,
light is ‘green for Web. 5

His' family is quite excited. ‘Atready the ‘Websters |

“Ihave plans of where they want to go and what they want
te ape, am Chel ong ight) his wiles family. in New,
his: wife's’ uncle’ in Connecticut, ‘and ‘his
daughter. is all'set for a'trip to the Bahamas! But one of
his first flights will be down to the E.A.A. (The ‘Exper-
imental Aeronautics Association) meeting in‘ Wisconsin.
_ And to fly it eross-country the cost won't be prohibitive.

‘Web told me that homebuilts ih around 80 per cent more;

gas efficient than factory buil

His next project? “I'm too cal to completion on this
to think: about’ building another.”*But he,says it ‘will
‘probably be a set of, floats to make his Zenith amphibious.
: When Web finally fires up'the engine, the MOT.
’, inspeciation isn’t over. For the five hours of flight he
must have 4 pilot with him. The next 45 hours are limited
os 25 mile radius bf the Centos alrport-p1 ean go upto
Nelson, down to Trail and that’s about it.” One further

reatriction will apply to:his homebuilt:at all 'times::that

is, he will never be allowed to fly with instruments alone. ::
Currently there are four homebuilts anchored at the
comraderie «

‘of Transport office in'Kelowzia and ° 4

i \getia scopy ‘of! the: regulations e built’ aircraft, ¢
“The! notify the MOT inspector in Kelowna and tell him '

of. your. intentions, show him ‘your: plans.’* Introduce

“yourself and he will’ usually come by and see you' even

“though he doesn't have anything to inspect. I have found

the particular one here very helpful and have gotten good
‘professional ‘advice ‘from him,” Webster says.

asked if the Zenith was put together as a Jaa "kil" “As
“much of a kit as is possible,” he replied. “You can't bi
plane like a ‘mechano set” The MOT regulations won't
allow’ that.” *

{Once you've gotten 'the go-nhead from the MOT
inspector,’ you just start’ building. “You. try to: pick
‘something’ smallto ‘start with. I ‘started with ‘the
horizontal stabilizer.” Web then went on to put together
the ‘second ‘rudder which is' “relatively small and the
hardest to get straight.” The next piece of machinery he
built was'the fuselage which sat in the Webster family

i fom for a year. Of this unorthodox room decoration, his

“was very. ”Let’s'say she
tolerated it. We thought at Christmas we'd put ared light
on it.” He added, however, “She was also happy to see it

"Recollections

of Robson

flying =
youngster growing up in bs Manitoba ‘He left f for he service
and when he re! he atte:

of Manitoba and UBC, tor: traning in electric
‘engineering. He lived in California for 10 years and it was’:

during this time that he finally took flying lessons and got
his pilot's license. ‘Ten years later he returned to Canada.

‘The Websters moved to Fart St. John — “and that's |

where I first got involved in school boards.” He.served on
-the board up there for, a term and when the

LL SET = .’. Web: Webster ‘sits in-cockpit of his
homebwilt low-wing, Zenith. Plane took ive years

Revelstoke ‘at the end of this :
The enjoy most outdoor activities, such as

-moved-to Castlegar in 1974 he ran for a two-year term
and was elected. Currently, he is serving on the Selkirk
College board and enjoys it. “I will be sorry when my
term ends at Selkirk.”. He stated that the main difference
between ‘the two boards is the way. the institutions are
financed. The College and Institutions Act governs the

college, while the Public Schools Act governs the public’

“school system.:\' *

Web| is’ employed by BC. Hydro: and .came to
Castlegar in 1974 specifically to work on the Kootenay
~ Canal project and the Seven Mile Dam.-Now that these
tw are, finished:he is scheduled to: start \ work ‘in

. skiing,: hiking — and both’hike regularly with: the ‘West ©:

Kootenay Naturalists. “Quite a few members’ are retired
-and some, of them it's hard for me to keep up with.” Web
also enjoys hunting. The Websters have two children,

Bordon and :Viki,.both living*in Edmonton. Gordon is’ +

attending University. of Alberta and) Vicki is working
there. And both children share their father’s love for the

sky. Gordon did a bit of gliding in high school and Vicki is x
very close to getting her private pilot's license. She also:

has six successful parachute jumps to her credit. “I'd like
to try parachute jumping sometime,” ‘adds: Web.
‘Web ‘is'a member of- three. ‘societies; the Experi-:.-

to build, finish at a cost of $11 ,000-$12,000.

mental A ics A the Historical
Society and the World War I Aviation Historical Society.:
He receives their hes journals collects books ‘and’ pictures:
and chair of antique.
aa arena canecialy tnercitel ia the was pass of
the first World War. Is he someday considering building a
WWI replica?. “There's a plane, the Sopwith Triplane. It's
not as well known. But I've always had a soft spot in my.
heart for that one.” He told me that one-third of the top’
aviators,in WWI were Canadians “even including the: 3
Red Baron!” =

*And when Web's not out working on. his fullsize

;, Zenith what's he doing? Building model. airplanes of

gt

s AANA NNR ii

beginning of this ‘century.

Recollections of Robson”, ‘will be featured in the Sunday
edition of the CasNews for the next 10 weeks. We hope
Yon! eadoy,# 08 mach sp wre enjoy: printing tt.

By. MABJORIE (FOWLER) GALBRAITH

The little village of Robson is pleasantly situated on the
Columbia River, about 16 kilometres from the’ foot: of
Lower Arrow Lake in a little section which Funs east and
west briefly.

The mountains are a friendly’ height, so that the early
newcomers to Robson, many of whom:were from the
. Prairies, could accept them and not feel. overwhelmed.

Mount Shields on the-west and'Mount Sentinel on the
east’ marked the limits of our valley: the east Robson
-side of the river, a wide bench just above river level gave
© room for a number of ranches.’ A of this bench had
been’comnissioned by the ‘real-estat firm of, ‘McDermid

«and McHardy of Nelson, B.C.

= ach ranch:located from this survey. had an: 88-yard
“water frontage and ran back to the foot of the mountain,
and, in the case of many of them, part way up it. Ours, for
instance, was 15-acres in area, but only about eight acres
pore suitable for orchard.
A small’ townsite was also: laid! out,. with | smaller
city-sized lots: In this ‘area stood’on old Hotel which had
= been serial about 1892. Considering it had stood idle for

y sort. of road

from the and
‘from’ the ‘townsite :downatream to, where Pass’ Creek
t joined the Columbia River. ‘An old railway. bed was used

’ for this latter strip of road. The Columbia and Kootenay

© Railway, (leased by the Canadian Pacific Railway) had in
1891 built a ‘line from the’ Columbia ‘River. up : the

River, to Nelson, and until a railway bridge was
d‘across the River ‘to.Ca in

: 1902, East Robson was the terminus of. the railway and

| the, transfer point for the steamers plying: -he: Arrow
“Lakes between Arrowhead ; and Northport, Washington.

Posts and some planking still remeined of.the slip the
boats had tied up to, and at Clyde's ‘Point there were
signs of an ofd turntable — timbers ‘and machinery -

.where the Jocometives had been timed ‘around bad their’

return trip’ to Nelsgn.
This is how.we found Robson, when, in the spring’ of

1908, the second year of the McDermid and McHardy...

development project, about a dozen families moved into
begin building homes and a future for themselves. Some
had come from England, some fron Ontario, at least one
family from the U.8., and several from Manitoba — as we
had done.

My parents, James an Mary Fowler, had been engaged

for 10 years in farming in the Copperfield District: of
southern Manitoba, having moved there. from ‘their

- birthplace in Ontario. My father had. heard reports of this

proposed settlement in B.C., had come out from Manitoba
in|1907 to view it, and had bought two lots. -

‘My father was undoubtedly dazzled by the mountains
and the lakes, but another factor in the decision to leave
the ‘prairies probably was that Manitoba neighbors of
ours, close friends, had moved to the Okanagan two years
before, and were writing glowing accounts of this new
land. ;:

“When we made our move-in 1908, there were: five
children in our family: Arthur, 18; Verlie, nine; myself

: (Marjorie), six; Earle, three; and Jim, two months. 1 was

too young to appreciate the problems of such a move, but
they must have been tremendous. Machinery relating to
wheat farming was sold, of course.-But there was still a
boxcar full of household: furnishings, plus’a team of
horses, four cows, pigs, and chickens. To take care of this
menagerie en route, a man was bired with whom my
brother Art travelled along ‘with: the animals .in the
box-car.

‘The rest of us boarded the passenger train, but it was
no luxury ‘coach, as I remember it. We travelled tourist,
with no proper beds and no dining car service. We took
food with us, and I suppose: we bought: more’ at..the
various stops along the way.

- At Medicine Hat we stayed over several days to visit
relatives, and at Nelson we stayed afew days with
friends.

My father left us at Nelson and went on out to Robson
west, a matter of 46 kilometres by train, to make sure the
‘box-carand .its contents had arrived safely, and | to
‘oversee the unloading of the animals and goods. Once
unloaded, they had to be brought back across ‘to the east
side of, the Columbia River.

At that time there was no proper landing facility on our -
side of the river, so the steamers used the old worn-out

wharf or ran the prow up onto the beach to unload. I

remember the following year’a family. arriving ‘from

+ Ontario with some’ wooden tubs of maple. sugar, among

their effects. One of these was broken-open accidently

and it didn’t take the children of. ‘the: settlement long to

ee discover this treat.,

f * «goods», , fortunately survived . similar rough
eta Re any ate, ts in advance of our arrival,'Dad
to-get a. jieces of

an Pi
siete a couple of rooms e a the abandoned hotel, where we
‘were to-set up temporary housekeeping along with

several other families — the Mitchells and the Hartfords
were names I remember, but there were possibly others
as well. This “camping out” sort of living was necessary
until some’ shelter could. be built.on our own places.

Within a few days Mother and family arrived from
Nelson at the Robson west railway station, where we
were met by Dad and one of the new settlers. We were
then rowed .back across the Columbia River in. two
rowboats, and it must have been quite an experience for
us children, as we'‘had never used: this mode of
transportation before.

We were given a warm welcome upon our arrival at the
east shore, and we experienced the neighborliness that
was to this small for many years
to come. I believe there was a community store set up
later that year, but I'm not sure about the time, so it is
possible that supplies had to be brought in from
Castlegar.

Castlegar, located about three kilometres downstream
on the west side of the Columbia River, at that time
boasted a railway station, hotel and store, with a few
houses around. At Ca the railway
bridge crossed to the east side of the Columbia, but for us
to cross on the bridge meant walking the ties — a
daunting feat, particularly as the water below travelled
quite fast at that point.

Some years later, when the Edgewood Lumber Co.
built a sawmill close to the eastern end of the bridge, a
pedestrian croasing was attached to the bridge structure,
making crossings decidedly easier. In 1908, this crossing
was still in the future, and getting supplies over. from
Castlegar. By, rowboat involved Planning and sees