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LOPa GORE era

by Janet E. Morris

Memories, memories - - - Occasionally I
let my mind wander back to my first
days at Capilano College when it was in
West Vancouver on Mathers Avenue. I
had just returned to Vancouver from
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where I had
been working in the Office of the Dean
of Arts and Science at the University of
Saskatchewan. An ad in the Citizen for
the position of Secretary to the Dean of
Instruction. Just up my alley! I went for
the interview and still to this day can
vividly remember the scene as I waited
for my interview. Noise, telephones,
laughter, and people crammed into a
very small area - to this day the marks
on my desk still remain from having the
switchboard operator's chair bash my
desk as she got up or sat down. The
typing pool - with Jan Bain at a normal
desk, sitting on her leg so that she was
high enough to type, the switchboard
with Dickie (her real name) who, when
she got tired of the constant bells
ringing, switched off the board so no
telephone calls could come through; the
lineup for the photocopy machine - this
machine would just quit when it was used
constantly so it had to be allowed to cool
down, the hand-turned ditto machine, the
postage machine, the faculty mail
pickup, you name it we had it...yes..
- ALL IN ONE ROOM. Ihad had my own
office and all the pomp and ceremony of
a large university and here I was in the
midst of a madhouse. I was told that
those conditions were only temporary
and within a year I would have my own
office - - --seven and one half years later

- I remind L.D.G. Brooks of this
whenever I have the _ pleasure of
occasionally talking to him. As it turns
out though there was a certain spirit
about the place. For instanee, I would
stop typing if the switchboard was busy
beeause Dickie couldn't hear the people

12

on the telephone. We had a meeting
room called the BULL PEN, I still miss it
beeause I thought it was most
appropriately named. We had faculty
offices, built by Ken Hughes (back when
he used to build things!) and called the
RABBIT WARREN. I remember one
faculty member asking me how six
faculty could use one desk and one filing
eabinet between’ them. We had
Christmas parties where we just had
wine and Kentucky Fried Chicken and
where did we hold them - in the BULL
PEN!!

On the whole we had a very young staff
and faculty and those that were not
young in years were young at heart. I
remember Karin Lind, when she came in
for an interview very confidently saying
"Hello, my name is Karin Lind". I
remember’ Bill McPhee’ with his
ber mudas. I remember Sue Carter
mothering her brood. I remember Sheila
Fletcher sitting in her counting house
eounting out her money and_ sending
smoke signals above the partitions. I
remember Lil McDonell loading students
in her Volkswagen to go out and collect
biology specimens.

I remember the Bursar, Bill Jordan, who
never really got excited about anything,
but really was a lot of fun. I remember
Penny Le Couteur saying that she was
reprimanded by the British Columbia
Automobile Association for using her
father's card while getting the tire
changed on her sports ear - her card
showed "Dr. P. Le Couteur" -

All in all when I think back to those days
there was a certain spirit that prevailed
and that spirit can never be regained
because over the past ten years we have
matured and the College now runs on a
very different basis. Memories,
memories. $$