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‘Abbotsford Sumas and Matsqui News

Twenty-second Year, No. 37

Abbotsford, B.C. Wednesday, Sept. 19, 1945

Twelve Pages

OVER DOUBLE 1941 BUILDING

COSTS

Builders Ask $30,000 To Erect
Two-Room North Poplar School

Advisory Board Unanimous Expenditure Too Great
For Such a Building; Seek Day Labor Estimate

Tenders for construction of a two-room

school at North

Poplar were the principal item of business at a meeting of the
M-S-A Advisory Board on Monday evening. Tenders received were

as follows:
Amundson Construction Co
Wm. A. Schmidt .....
Ulvild and Guido

$29,876
.. 30,795
31,957

The Board was unanimously of
the opinion that these figures re-
presented (too great an expendi-
ture for a two-room school.

Inspector A. S. Towell pointed
out that in 1941 a_three-room
school had been built at Mats-
qui, on comparable specifications,
for less than $18,000. In other
words, he said, the Matsqui
school cost about $6,000 per room,
while tenders just opened were
figured on a basis of approxim-
ately $15,000 per room. Making
every allowance for increased
costs of material and labor it
was impossible to see how con-
struction costs could have in-
creased two and one-half times,

It was finally decided to leave
all tenders in abeyance, and Mr.
‘Towell was asked to look into the
possibility and the estimated cost
of erecting the new building by
day labor.

Serious Overcrowding

The director reported that two
additional temporary rooms had
been opened, one in the basement
of the Matsqui School and one in
the North Poplar Community
Hall. In spite of this, he said,
overcrowding still prevailed al-
most everywhere in the Area. In
the High School and in the Ab-
botsford Elementary School the
Situation is rapidly becoming im-
possible, with some classes in
both schools running between 55
and 60 pupils. The enrolment in
the primary room at Abbotsford
has reached 56, mostly beginners,
and no teacher could efficiently
handle such a load.

Mr. Towell pointed out that
the only way to secure relief was
to proceed with the erection of
the proposed new high school,
and in that connection he pointed
out that new homes were being
erected so rapidly that it would
a4 id be impossible to secure a
Suitable site for such a school.

Two factors had to be consider-

(Continued on Page Eight)

SUGGEST TRADE BOARD
SHOULD RESUME ITS
REGULAR MEETINGS

Lapse of Board of Trade activ-
ity was deplored at the meeting
Monday night of the recently or-
ganized Abbotsford Businessmen’s
Association.

Through stress of conditions,
both in town and in the district,
lack of support and attendance
had caused the Board to suspend
regular meetings, H. S. Andrews
observed. It was to the advan-
tage of both town and district
that it be revived.

M, M. Shore suggested that the
last-elected president of the Board
be requested to call a meeting.
The Board had long been active
in the interests of the M-S-A
Area: He recommended that the
Businessmen’s Association sup-
port efforts to revive the Board.

Associated Boards of Trade of
the Frase Valley and neighbor-
ing Boards of Trade, particularly
at Chilliwack and Mission City,
were anxious to see the Abbots-,
ford & District Board resume
regular meetings, Lang. Sands,
last president, stated, If interest
was demonstrated he would en-
deavor to arrange a date and
place for a meeting. The ABA
suggested this be done,

AIRCRAFT FROM
OTHER STATIONS
TO BE STORED

Will Be Kept
Serviceable

Roar of motors in the skies
over the M-S-A Area once again,
if only occasionally, does not pre-

sage any great activity at Ab-
botstord Airport as far as can be
ascertained,

Apparently realizing that many
questions are being asked as to
the future use of the big station
Western Air Command announc-
ed today that: A number of air-
craft from other stations within
the Command are being moved to
Abbotsford Station where the
will be stored and kept service-
able,

spokesman for WAC declined

to reveal the number of planes

coming here or the number of
men who might be expected to
stay on the station to keep the
planes and airport serviceable.

A meeting of the former Men's
Club is to be held in Modern
Markets store on Monday, Sept
24, at 8 pm. The purpose of
the meeting is to dispose of the
piano and other furniture belong-

M-S-A REHABILITATION
COMMITTEE RESUMES
MONTHLY MEETINGS

At the B.C. Conference in Van-
couver last month of representa-
tives of Citizens’ Rehabilitation
Committees, the M-S-A Commit-
tee was commended for its activ-
ities, particularly for its recom-
mendations in respect to the
Veterans’ Land Act. It’s name
is well known at Ottawa.

This was the word brought
back by Chairman Harry Day
and Secretary H. W, Ellis, who
represented the M-S-A Commit-
tee at the conference. They re-
ported to a well attended local
meeting held Friday night in the
Canadian Legion bodrdroom.

The conference was a strenuous
8-day affair, Mr. Day said and
covered a lot of ground effective-
ly, It also permitted visits to
Shaughnessy Military Hospital
and Hycroft Home for Aged Vet-
erans.

Heads of departments adminis-
tering Veterans’ Affairs were
commended by Mr. Ellis who de-
clared: “They are doing their
level best to do a good. job.”

The local committee is advised
of men discharged who have a
local address. The secretary and
district representatives of the M-
S-A Committee are ti

Opportunities
For Veterans
In A bbotsford

Non-Competitive Lines
Not Serviced; Business
Men Name Committee

There are opportunities for re-
turning service men and women,
as well as others, to establish
businesses in Abbotsford, J. S.
Daly, president, pointed out at a
meeting of Abbotsford Business-
men’s Association on Monday
night. .

There are bound to be casual-
ties among newly _ established
businesses during the post-war
period, Mr. Daly observed, but
he contended these could be re-
duced through co-operation.
sug that a ittee be
formed to examine the openings
offered in Abbotsford where, in
many lines, there would be no
local competition and a service
could be rendered.

Les, Eyres, MLA, who was pre-
sent at the meeting, was greatly
interested in the proposal, declar-
ing himself to be a “staunch
supporter of any suggestion giy-
ing a man a chance to make his
own living.” He observed that,
through co-operation of councils
and committees, the Provincial
Rehabilitation Committee had
compiled a list of hundreds of
opportunities open to returning
service men in B.C.

On a motion by H. S, Andrews

and “Butch” Merrick, President
Daly’s suggestion was endorsed
and a committee consisting of L.
Caldecott, M. M. Shore and L.
Sands was appointed.
_ Attendance at the meeting be-
ing only 25 out of an estimated
100 business and _ professional
men and women in Abbotsford.
“Butch” Merrick was appointed
to make a round-up for the next
meeting.

each one, 55 todate, but request
that people advise members 0!
the discharge of men as it is be-
lieved more are settling here than
it has been officially advised of
as yet.

AUTO ACCIDENT

A section of guard fence was
smashed and $100 damages to the
car resulted when an auto driven
by Edgar F. McLatchy of Mis-
sion failed to make the right-
angle turn on the Abbotsford-
Mission highway at Harris road
Saturday evening. McLatchy told
B. C. Police that glaring head-
lights of a car coming from the
opposite direction and on the
wrong side of the road, caused
him to crash into the fence, only
recently repaired from the last
accident at this corner. McLatchy
had three passengers but no one
was hurt.

CIVIL DEFENCE
UNIT IS FORMED
AT HUNTINGDON

A Civil Defence Guild Post
with nine residents signing was
formed in Huntingdon recently
when the A.R.P. for that district
disbanded, During -the meeting
Inspector Moodie of Vancouver,
and Mr. Williamson of Burnaby

Defence Guild and stressed the
}need for one of the groups in
every community. Fourteen fam-

ilies were represendet at the
meeting.
Eight tables of whist were

played and the prizes were won
by Mrs. W. Sayce, and Mrs. E.
Mann, with consolations going to
Mrs. Knox and Colin Blatchford.
The Committee’ in charge was
Mesdames W. Waterston, K. La-
marsh and J. W. Winson.

REPRESENTATIVE SINCE 1937

animous choice of a Progressive

The meeting declared an open
convention by Chairman H. J.
Barber. ;

Stuart Davidson of Chilliwack
nominated Mr. Eyres and praised
his ability, efficiency and inte-
grity. Even though Mr. Eyres
had been in the Royal Canadian
Air Force at the time he was
returned to office in 1941, he had
not missed one sitting in the pro-
vincial House.

Mr. Davidson pointed out work
which, he said, had .been accom-
plished by the member including
the construction of “C’’ Street
extension, contract for which has
been let; road to the C.N.R. sta-
tion in Matsqui repaired; assist-
ed the Bradner Bulb Growers in
their effort to have the 8% sales
tax on flowers removed; assisted
the Sumas tobacco growers to
have their freight es reduced

“He has served us well”, Mr.
Davidson said, “and his one sre-
ward is for us to re-elect him
on Oct. 25”,

In_accepting the nomination,
Mr. Eyres ‘paid special tribute to
the farming men and women,

who though their help had gone
to the armed forces, had increas-
ed their production by 50 He
also paid tribute to the youths of
15, 16 and 17 who had helped to
produce much of this food sup-

ply.

Mr. Eyres said that the Coali-

tion government hag a fine reha
bilitation prograrh including ex-
pansion of power, and a program
for the betterment of the UBC

“There is nothing the Fraser
Valley cannot do if it has co-
operative support”. Mr. Eyres de-
clared he had always been will-
ing to give his support to a re-
quest for anything backed by a
community body, no matter which
political party the request had
come from,

ing to the Club,

The meeting, representative of

Les. Eyres Unanimous Choice
Of Nominating Convention Here

Leslie H. Eyres, of Chilliwack, who has represented this
riding in the British Columbia Legislature since 1937, was the un-

Conservative nominating conven-

tion held in the Orange Hall, Abbotsford, on Friday evening.

every part of the Chilliwack Rid-
ing, was attended by over 100
persons. H. E. Taylor, president
of the Abbotsford and District
Conservative Association, con-
ducted the convention.

Flt. Lieut, Eyres

EX-WESTMINSTERS
PLAN GET-TOGETHER
Members and ex-members of
the Westminster Regiment are
planning to hold a “get ‘together”
in New Westminster om Oct. 1,
Time and place will be announc-
ed later. Major Ian . Douglas
other officers, ex-officers and
ranks of the regiment form the
planning committee. At this
event a “bigger show” will be

planned for a date when all the
regiment has returned,

— a

explained the work of the Civil |’

FILMED IN VALLEY LAST FALL

keenly interested in

tainment.

NFB Movie To Premiere Here

Public Invited to See “Library on Wheels” Film

First public showing of the National Film Board picture
“Library on Wheels” ‘will be given in the High School Auditor-
ium, Abbotsford, on Saturday evening, Sept. 22, at 8:15 p.m.

Miss Elizabeth Morton, secretary of the Canadian Library
Council, is bringing the film from Ottawa.
ral library development, is arriving in Ab-
botsford on Saturday, and plans to spend several days with the
Fraser Valley Union Library before going on to other B.C. points.

“Library on Wheels” is a motion picture taken of the Fraser
Valley Union Library last autumn by the National Film Board in
co-operation with the Canadian Library Council.
will be other Film Board pictures, making a full evening’s enter-

The public is cordially invited by the Fraser Valley Union
Library to attend this showing to which admission is free,

Miss Morton, who is

In addition, there

ssuxtxt his

charge.

Pioneer F. V.
Service Takes

“Lead In Film”

Staff and School
Children, Bookvan
Patrons in “Shots”

“Library on Wheels” was pro-
duced in the Fraser Valley by
the National, Film Board of Ot-
tawa. The Canadian Library
Council needed a documentary
film showing how library service
can be organized in rural dis-
tricts — and how it has been
achieved in one area. The Fraser
Valley Union Library, already fa-
mous as the pioneer of the reg-
ional library movement in Can-
ada, was chosen 4s the model to
be filmed.

Last autumn a three-man group
(from the National Film Board
spent a month in the Fraser Val-
ley making the picture. The dir-
ector, Mr. . A. Macdonald,
formerly of the B.C. Government
Travel Bureau, and the camera-
man, Mr. R. Colby. who was on
loan from the B.C. government
to the NFB, were both familiar
with the Fraser Valley. Their
intimate knoWledge of the libr-
ary districts helped them greatly
in selecting suitable material to
film,

Making Abbotsford their head-
quarters, the Film Board Unit
followed the bookvan on _ its
routes, photographed borrowers at
van stops all the way from Pop-
cum to Crescent Beach, and from
Nicomen Island to Huntingdon,
visited schools to see collections
being delivered, watched children
using library books in the class-
rooms, and took interior shots of
branch libraries at Chilliwack
and elsewhere. At Library Head-
quarters, Abbotsford, the Region-
al Librarian, Mr. R, Bruce Car-
rick, was photographed in_ his
office. The cameraman caught
Staff members going about their

usual duties: selecting and or-
dering books, cataloguing and
preparing new volumes for cir-

cylation, making up branch and
school collections, filling requests,

and loading the bookvan,
To stress the need for trained
i includes a
sequence taken at the Uni-
sity ry School
where three B.C. students were
€nrolled last year
“WEST ABBOTSFORD”
Introduced by President J. §,
Daly, as a retired, businessman
greatly taken with the citizens
and location of Abbotsford, H
Schroeder, from Aberdeen Sask
said he foresaw “quite a centre

around what is known
near the
it be called

developing

PLOWING ASSOCIATION
TO MEET SATURDAY

A meeting of the M-S-A Plow-
ing Association is advertised to
be held in the Legion Hall on

Saturday evening. All who are

GLb
. Le
Dh

The above picture, reproduced by courtesy of the National
Film Board, shows the Fraser Valley Union Library bookvan serv-
ing borrowers at a roadside stop with Miss Dorothy Rumble in

“Ou Location”

By a member of the Fraser
Valley Union Library Staff

A contract in Hollywood is
not the usual end of a librarian’s
career, but some members of the
Fraser Valley Union Library
staff have big hopes now! Be-
fore last summer no one of us
would have even listened to any
fantastic prophecy that we would
ever be in a movie — a real
movie produced right here in
Abbotsford and the Fraser Val-
ley, and showing the library
bookvan, the library borrowers,
and us, the library staff, doing
our everyday work. zs

Everyday Clothes

When word came last autumn
that the Fraser Valley Union
Library had been chosen to be
filmed, we were surprised and
delighted, and at once fell to
housecleaning Library Headquar-
ters and varnishing our desks.
Perhaps some Abbotsford _ citi-
zens noticed us even hoeing up
the dandelions in front of the
library doors. When the direc-
tor, Mr. W. A. Macdonald, and
his assistants arrived, they soon
made it clear that they wanted a
true “documentary film” — no
posing, no acting, no specially
prepared scenes. Simply a pic-
ture of the bookvan, the bor-
rowers, and the library staff go-
ing about their activities exactly
as usual. We didn’t confess a-
bout the new varnish or the
dandelions, of course, but we
solemnly promised to wear our
everyday clothes, to proceed

Drainage Area
Of Huntingdon
Will Benefit

“C” Street Work
To Solve Problems

Les, Eyres, MLA, who estab-
lished in Abbotsford 25 years ago,
| was an interested visitor and con-
tributor to discussions at the first
fall meeting of Abbotsford Bus-
inessmen’s Association, held Mon-
day night in Trinity Church Hall.
J. S. Daly presided.

Mr. Eyres had been invited to
address the meeting on several
matters which the Association had
referred to his attention and on
which he had secured action. _

Award of a contract for con-
struction of the “C” street ex-
tension from Vye Road to No. 1
Highway, Mr. Eyres pointed out,
would provide greater benefits
than just the essential highway
link. Drainage of the Hunting-
don district would be greatly im-
proved by the construction of
big ditches included in the plans.

Recent visit of Hon R. L. Mait-
land, Attorney-General. had re-
sulted from a request Mr. Eyres
had received early in the year,
he said, from Chairman M. M.
Shore of the Abbotsford Board of
e) issi , and subsequently
the Association, expressing alarm
over rumors that motor licenses
might not be issued from Ab-
botsford. It pointed out that a
large territory was served by the
B.C. Police Office at Abbotsford
that could not be conveniently
served by any other office. He
had been able to give assurance
that the license office would re-
main in Abbotsford and, further,
had secured the promise of the
Attorney-General to visit the
Area and look into the request
for improved accommodation for
government offices,

Hon. Mr. Maitland, as a résult
of his personal inspection, had
admitted the B.C. Police building
tc be “not good enough” and had
agreed to see what could be
done. Mr. Eyres said he would
Personally keep after suggested
improvement.

CLOTHING APPEAL \
TO BE LAUNCHED IN
AREA NEXT WEEK

Name Representatives
In Various Districts

National Clothing Collection,
ed by the Canadian Unit-
ed Allied Relief Fund on behalf
of UNRRA, will commence Oct.
1, Preliminary canvass will be
made in this Area next week, ac-
cording to Mrs. W. Turner, co-
chairman with Mrs. O. H. Hey-
wood, of the Area drive. People
will first be advised what is
needed and how it is needed. It
will be collected between Oct. 1
and Oct. 20, directly or at depots
which will be announced.
Those who have been asked to
represent the drive in various
istricts of the Area include: Mrs.
Turner says, the following: Mrs.
- S. Cameron, Clayburn; Mrs.
John Reid, Matsqui; Mrs. L. C.
Gardner, Bradner; Mrs. A. E.
Gledhill, Aberdeen; Mrs. H. E.
Taylor, Mt. Lehman; Mrs. Claude
Weir, Abbotsford; Mrs. Heywood,
Poplar; August Schmidt, South
Poplar; Mrs. J. D. Leavitt, Sumas
Prairie, and Mrs. H. E. Beetle-
stone, Huntingdon. Red Cross
Superfluity Shop in Abbotsford is
being used as headquarters and
a meeting there of all district
representatives is being arranged

(Continued on’ Page 4)

for next week.

THE DAILY PROBLEM OF THIS
and legs through the right holes in
problem for millions of men,

the Canadian United Allied Relief

a committe is being set u
in Europe will be under

interested are invited to attend.

younster it to get his head, arms
is only garment. It’s a common

r > women and children in the liberated
countries of Europe, You can help them by contributing serviceable
used clothing, to the National Clothing Collection drive s

onsored by

Fund and scheduled for October

1-20, Under the national chairmanship of W. M. Birks of Montreal,
in every Canadian centre and distribution
e direction of UNRRA experts,