Page 39 - Clara Buffett Remembers Hilda Wright

ISSUE : Issue 55

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1990/8/1

And as I say, she would sit down and start talking to people. Shirley Chernin, and Sara MacLean, and all these people. And Shirley said, "We just got caught up in it. And we didn't know we were. We were down there working our little butts off," she said, "and we didn't--how did we get into this!" And Shirley's still into Town House. And Sara MacLean, and all the ones that we were into the food and the cloth? ing and the children. And you never knew how you got--you got caught up in it. I haven't the faintest idea, not even yet, how they got caught up in it. Hilda was an exceptional type of woman. She wasn't holy--I don't mean by that. You know, you could talk about anything--it didn't make any difference.... She was not terribly political. Only as far as the Church went. She knew what she was up against in the politics of the Church. But she was so essentially kind. Essentially kind. And it's not often you find that in people. They're kind to their own kind. They're kind to their own family. They're kind when they feel like it. But not essentially. (This woman, Hilda Wright, is really a Glace Bay heroine, that we know very lit? tle about.) That's right. (I may be wrong. Do people...?) People didn't like her par? ticularly. They were scared of her, I think. And of course, now, here--oh, gosh --she had an English accent. She never lost her English accent. And the Scots don't like English accents. Neither do the Irish. And there's an awful lot of Irish. And as soon as she'd open her mouth, they'd say, "Oh. Englishman. Englishwoman." (So many people did not like her. But they'd work for her.) They'd work for her. But--perhaps they ran a little scared of her. I don't know--you'11 have to ask somebody else. But I know the churches didn't accept her. They were polite. (How was she paid?) By the Church, from the central office--the joint..., And they had the little house there that's up in Passchendaele opposite-- right there where you turn to go under the trestle, if you go that way into Sydney. We used to have nursery class in it. She had her social office work office there. I can't say that everybody in the Church didn't (work with her). Some of them were very fond of her. And knew what work she was doing. She never advertised what she was doing. She wasn't getting items in the paper all about this. But she had a way of getting people involved--believing in her cause, that they could see that some good was going to come out of this--good for the town. And I think that Town House has been a marvellous thing for this town. Except people don't start to rip it apart. (That can always happen--or do you see that happening?) No, but we miss some of the older ones. I hope Shirley holds onto it for awhile. Because Shirley knows what it's all about, and how quickly something can disintegrate.... (It was) a warm, en? gulfing place. When people came in, they could feel that, with Elinor McArel. She was the...secretary, we'll say, of it since its inception. She just retired a couple of years ago. And a very good friend of Hilda's.... When you went into Town House, you felt this warmth. These people were really in? terested in you. It wasn't just a matter WE BUY AND WE SELL AND WE'RE AS NEAR AS YOUR TELEPHONE Sid's Used Furniture Phone 564-6123 436 Charlotte Street, Sydney Dave's Cycle Sales Here's something 455 GRAND LAKE RD., SYDNEY the whole world 5g2.4343 agrees on. ??jo' toto 'mmmmmmm Yamaha ?? JuMAHA '' y''' '' choice We make the difference. for 4-wheel drive. 7i??!c-S''Vt&K;' DOIMU ( OPEN 24 HOURS • 7 DAYS A WEEkI 412 Welton Street Sydney (562-5033) 1058 Kings Road Sydney River (539-3931) Cor. Charlotte & Townsend Sydney (562-8085) 106 King Street North Sydney (794-8337) Sterling Mall Glace Bay (849-0988) Commercial Street Glace Bay Cape Breton Shopping Plaza Sydney River (539-1399) Prince Street Sydney Shopping Centre (539-4287) i/tml' "Always fresh because you keep eating them!"

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