Grandpa Dean

Grandpa Dean was a Veteran, a builder, a Lion, a husband and a father. Grandpa came to Golden in 1952 as a carpenter working on the courthouse, bringing only Uncle Albert, who was then a young man, with him. Grandma, Mom and Auntie Dennie followed in the summer of '53. Grandpa was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, a Hospital Board member, and a charter member of the Golden Lion's Club. He was on the Centennial Arena Building Committee. Mom says he was also involved with the swimming pool, which started as a Lion project, but I can't find a Lion to confirm this.

Lady Grey school burned in 1956, around Easter. The story is that Grandpa George, Chairman of School Trustees and Fire Chief was attending this fire, as was Grandpa Dean. They asked each other how they were going to get children back to school?

The next day, Dean was at work in the Civic Centre, making classrooms, and the kids only lost a week of school.

Another of Grandpa's projects was the building committee for the Purcell View Apartments, Golden's first Senior's housing project. Grandpa felt strongly that Golden needed a low cost housing option for seniors who could no longer manage in their homes. Ray Olson, who was a Lion with Grandpa, remembers him saying at a meeting to Gordon Milum, "You're going to need this some day, and so will I". This was a huge project for the Lion's club, but they persevered, bought the land, formed a society with other interested parties, and Golden's first Senior's housing project was developed. Ray believes that without Grandpa's leadership, the Purcell Apartments would not have been built.

Grandpa was Chairman of the Hospital board at the time of his death on May 24, 1971. He had been working very hard to plan and oversee the expansion of our hospital and one of his special projects was the elevator. When the elevator he worked so hard for comes up from the basement at night, seemingly empty, everyone knows it is just Grandpa, checking that everything is running smoothly.

The Countdown is On!

We have just over 30 days to reach our goal of $5,000 for grandpa's birthday.  

All donations will help - from $5 to $500.

Donate now!

Thank you to everyone who voted on our name!  We have collectively chosen:

Crandlemire-Keenleyside Family Legacy Fund

There are two ways to donate:

Online:
You can click on the Canada Helps button on the top right hands side of this blog. Once you click on the button, you'll see two options (Donate Now or Donate Monthly).  After you make your selection you will have to fill out some basic information and select our fund from the drop down menu.  You will receive a tax receipt via e-mail, and Canada Helps direct deposits your donation into our fund. Donating this way saves on administration costs for donations under $250.00.


Cheque:

If you prefer to write a cheque, please make it payable to the Golden and District Community Foundation, put Crandlemire-Keenleyside Family Legacy fund in the memo line, and mail it to the Foundation at Box 1485, Golden, B.C. V0A 1H0.  Alternatively you can give your cheque to me or Jessie and will will deposit it on your behalf.  You will receive a tax receipt via mail if you donate by cheque.

Then please feel free to send Jessie an e-mail, FB message, comment on this post, or call her with the amount of your donation, so we can keep the tracking bar up to date.  If you prefer to keep the amount you donated anonymous, that is just fine.  I will receive monthly statements that bundle all donations together so we can reconcile our tracking bars.

Please note that a few people have asked if they can make a donation and have the tax receipt go to grandpa as part of his birthday present, unfortunately this is not an option.  The tax receipt must be issued to the giver of the donation.

Evelyn Keenleyside Wins Award

As my mom is telling the stories of her grandparents, I wanted to tell the stories of my grandparents. This isn't yet the summary or culmination of grandma's achievements, but rather a note on the recent public celebration that she has received for her dedication to Golden.

Recently, Evelyn Keenleyside won the the Peter Bowle Evans Memorial Award. The award, given in Peter's name is awarded each year, but only if there is someone worthy to receive it. Peter was a pillar of community service during the time he lived in Golden. Among some of his contributions were the initiation of the Ski School for Whitetooth Mountain and with Dan Ringheim, started the Nancy Green Race Program in Golden, which I and my brother were apart of for a great number of years in our youth.

Grandma was chosen for this award because of the economic impact her volunteer commitment has made on Golden. She has been involved with the Golden Community Resource Society since its' inception 32 years ago, and spent only 12 of those years in a paid position. Some of the programs she gave support and mentorship to were the Food Bank, the Women's Centre, the Family Centre, Golden Employment services, Special Services to Children, the Alternate School, Project Adamant, and most recently, Mountainview Assisted Living.

I would like to share the speech that grandma gave when she won the award:

There is a saying, "We make a living from what we get. We make a life from what we give". And I have been privileged go make a very good life here in Golden. As I was growing up, volunteerism was one of the values my parents passed on to our family. It was what you did for the community you lived in. You helped in any way you could to make your town a better place for all the people who lived there.

No one volunteers in a vacuum. One has only to read a history of Golden to see how much people have contributed to making our town what it is today. Golden has a history of great volunteerism and I have had the pleasure of working with many people who have contributed greatly.

But the secret about volunteering is that you get back much more that you give. The skills developed as you work toward reaching an outcome for all parties involved; the satisfaction of seeing organizations that you had a part in establishing, benefiting the people of Golden; and the many friendships formed over board tables and in work parties are all rewards I have enjoyed.

Thank you for this honour and thank you for the pleasure I have had by volunteering.

I think this speech summarizes not only how grandma feels about the community, but the energy and dedication behind the legacy fund we are establishing.

Thank you grandma, for continuing your parents legacy and inspiring us to do the same.

We should be live by next Friday

I am planning to have our Fund set up with the Golden and District Community Foundation by the end of the week, giving us 5 weeks to get the word out and try to raise enough money to meet Isabelle's challenge for grandpa's birthday. So far, the Crandlemire-Keenleyside Family Legacy Fund is winning the name race - and will wind up being our name, unless a wave of people vote for another option.

There is a small handling fee when you donate on-line, so anyone who still uses cheques could give them to me, or directly to Glen Ewan, Foundation Chair. Glen has also said that if anyone has questions about creating a legacy fund, he would be pleased to answer them. His e-mail address is info@emlaw.ca.

Once the fund is named and set up, we will do a larger post explaining the various ways to donate.

Grandpa Bob's Birthday Goal

I met with Auntie Isabelle this week to share mom's idea - and she absolutely loved it!  Not only the name that Nelson suggested (please vote on the side if you have a preference), but the long term granting theme of health and wellness.

I told her that while people can make donations at any time throughout the year, we will endeavor to make the months leading up to Grandpa's birthday our biggest drive months.  Further, I told her that I thought that our goal this year should be $1,000.  We made it to $780 last year - and this year we're getting far more organized! That's when Isabelle stopped me.  She was getting excited about the fund, and what it could mean for the community and our family as whole - she exclaimed that $1,000 is too easy!  Too easy?!

She challenged us to set the goal to $5,000!

So, what do you think?  Do we dare challenge ourselves this way - can we make it to $5,000?  How far reaching is our family and our network of family friends?  I say we take her challenge and take it as far as we can!

Grandpa George

Grandpa George was a Scouter, a band member, a pillar in his church, a husband and father, and an active volunteer. Grandpa and Grandma lived in Golden from 1939 to 1956, and their impact is felt on our community to this day.

Grandpa was one of the organizers of the Golden Fire Department with the first fire hall established in an empty room at George Keenleyside’s butcher shop. Because the town was not yet incorporated as a town, there was no funding for a Volunteer Fire Department, but it was during WW2, and communities were being encouraged to form Air Raid Precaution groups. By forming as an ARP, they were able to get some equipment, and then, when the war ended, they became the Golden Fire Department, with Grandpa George as Chief.

Grandpa was the Civic Centre Board Chair when the hall was built after WW2. We all now know the story of the first work party for the Civic Centre. Grandpa, Dad and Uncle Bill were there, and that's it. Grandpa was also the Chairman of the School Board around 1953, and Chair of the Hospital Board. (does anyone have a date for this?)

Grandpa was a Scoutmaster in Golden from 1947 on and organized a band, The Blue Serenaders. The youth band he also led performed locally for 8 years.

Throughout his time in Golden, Grandpa was deeply involved with the United Church. He and Grandma sang in the choir, and Grandpa was on the Church building committee. Grandpa acted as a lay minister whenever needed.

Grandpa and Grandma left Golden in 1956 when Grandpa answered his call to the ministry. With his Grade 9 education, he went to UBC as a mature student, and prepared for his 3 year stint at Union College - the United Church theological college. When he graduated, he and Grandma were settled in Terrace. Grandpa continued as a volunteer in Terrace, where he was dubbed the "honorary drunk" at the A.A. group he led. Even when he retired to Cobble Hill, and then Duncan and again at the Windermere in Vancouver he could be found acting as Chaplain and musician.

George William Keenleyside set a really high standard for us all to aspire to. I am proud to be his granddaughter.

What shall we call it?

So far, everyone's support has been fabulous! Thank you to everyone who has indicated an interest in setting up a family fund with the Golden & District Community Foundation.

The next step to creating our fund, is naming it! This should be the fun part.

I'll just put my idea out there. I am seeing the Crandlemire-Keenleyside Hospital, Health and Wellness Fund. My secret dream is to grow a legacy large enough to really partner with the Hospital to bring back services such as chemotherapy, that are no longer offered in Golden, but that's a 20 year project. With a Family Fund, we can be as involved as we like in the granting process from our Fund, and this is a broad category that could support many needs in our community. It will be exciting to see our Fund grow, and the projects we could support grow along with it.

What would you name our Fund? Make your suggestions in the comments, and we will put them to the vote!

Welcome to our Family Fund

I have been giving a lot of thought to what kind of family giving we could do for Dad this year and came up with an idea that is more than just a 'one off'. I would like us to create a Family Fund within the Golden and District Community Foundation to honour our Grandparents (parents and great grandparents, too), Dean and Sarah Crandlemire and George, Mary and Violet Keenleyside. Creating a Family Fund will let us get our whole family involved (as well as family friends) with giving back to our community, and the community that our Grandparents and parents have given so much to.

Did you know that both Grandpa George and Grandpa Dean were on the Board of the Golden and District General Hospital? At the time of his death, in 1971, Dean was the Board Chair. My thought for this fund is to support health and wellness, but we would like to hear your opinions! Yes, yours, too.

The process involved in starting a fund like this is that every year we raise a large pot of money that will go into our named fund. Before our fund grows to $10,000, the interest can be granted as part of the Foundations' Endowment Funds. It may take us several years before we're ready to start giving our own grants, but in the meantime we'll have the perfect place to make any community donations or large birthday presents (*cough *cough - dad/grandpa).

Our family has a legacy in the buildings and institutions that make up our home town, and we can continue that legacy with financial support far in to the future.

Please share in the comments below if you would like to support the creation of this fund - and where you think any monies we raise should be directed.