Elsie Dawe

Elsie Dawe, who spent most of her growing-up years on a farm, likes to describe herself as a "Jack-of-All Trades." She has been a telephone operator, an Armed Forces medical assistant, a dental receptionist/assistant, a secretary, an office manager, a musician, a senior centre CEO, and a health director of a nursing station, to name but a few of her undertakings. Longest and most cherished, however, are her education and writing careers.

Elsie's writing career began when she was asked to write a weekly high school column for the town's newspaper; and with the exception of several hiatuses, became a life-time side line vocation. Mostly she wrote columns, feature articles, and advertisements for newspapers. She, however, also produced many pamphlets and newsletters for various organizations without monetary regard. She also taught communications for 14 1/2 years at a community college, English at a private college, and ESL at a language school as well as conducting workshops, and tutoring.

Elsie says that she was also a "Jack-of-All-Trades" with respect to the various subjects that she taught--Psychology and Sociology subjects, communications, typing, ESL, personal development subjects, running a small business, income tax returns, etcetera.

Elsie recalls fondly her many Arctic experiences, during the time she established the Human Services Department at Arctic College in Iqaluit and was its Chairperson. Whiteouts made walking and/or driving extremely hazardous as without any trees or shrubbery to provide orientation, one could easily walk around in circles and also drive off a road or drive onto a non-existent one. As for aircraft landing during a severe whiteout, it is definitely not recommended! Nevertheless, it is sometimes unavoidable as Elsie found out when a plane she was on had no choice but to make an emergency landing at Rankin Inlet, a destination where the whiteout was so bad that passengers for Rankin Inlet were told at Iqaluit that they could not board as there was absolutely no way a plane could land there!

Her three years at Bermuda College as a social science lecturer, head of the social sciences subject committee and Member of the Academic Council re-introduced her to hurricanes, a phenomenon she first encountered during a Caribbean cruise!

Although Elsie left Kelowna for a six-month work contract, she, nevertheless, has lived here for the past 12 years, second in duration only to the 14 1/2 years she spent in a northern Manitoba town. Considering her staying power here in Kelowna--and it hasn't always been easy!--with itchy feet such as hers gives her the undeniable right, she believes, to say, I Love Kelowna!"