Vivian Elizabeth Bett came to Flin Flon in 1936 with her parents, Thomas Faulkner Bett and Viola Grace Schiltroth Bett, and her siblings Bernice, John and Elva.
The family were originally farmers in the Armley area of Saskatchewan. However, this was the Depression era, and after her parents had shipped some cattle by rail to Winnipeg only to find that the price for the cattle didn’t even cover the cost of shipping, they decided it was time to look for work elsewhere.
Fortunately, their grandfather, John Schiltroth, who only had one arm, was working for the Town of Flin Flon. They decided to come to Flin Flon to try and find work.
“We lived in the Channing Drive area and would watch men riding the rails on top of boxcars coming into Flin Flon looking for a job,” recalls Babe with a smile.
At that time, East Birchview and the Mile 84 area were just swamps, and there was a dairy, cows and all, down by where Hapnot Collegiate is now.
“Dad didn’t get hired on at HBM&S for a year after coming to Flin Flon, so times were tight,” recalls Babe, “but I was never hungry, and everyone was in the same situation.”
Babe started school at Ross Lake School, where she attended for six years. She had Mr. McLennan as a teacher, calling him one of her best teachers.
“He would try and arrange field trips for us after school for camping as he tried to instill in us a love for nature,” Babe says. “He really cared about us kids.”
In time Babe’s father opened a lot on Burke Avenue.
“In the fall the whole family spent a couple of days in the bush, putting up wood for the winter, which my dad would haul out with horses,” she recalls. “Even though the two oldest kids were girls, that didn’t cut any ice. We could use a bucksaw and an axe just as well as any guys our age.”
In hindsight, Babe says, “We were all poor and didn’t even realize it. We all walked to school or wherever we wanted to go, as there were no cars, or proper roads, for that matter. Already there was the division among the kids between the ‘company’ kids, and those of us from the other side of the tracks. We didn’t bother with that.”
Babe can remember a Sunday school class for Anglicans being held in Birchview School, and later a young people’s group that was established at St.
James Anglican Church with Rev. Horsefield as the minister.
Some of the kids going there were Wanda Pilah (Bateman), Cay Laidlaw (Jorgundson), Gwen Bergman, Helen Ferg Louise Jamieson (Ekstrom), and Gord and Eddie Sleade, along with the Hagen Boys and Bertha and Edith Oulette.
“We were all good friends, and still are today, at least with those who are still with us,” says Babe.
“We all played sports in school, and we had a special dance teacher, Miss O’Neil, and out of respect for the staff of the music festival, a group of us girls, roughly 10 to 12 years old, were going to do a demonstration of the folk dance.
“We practised at main school, where the general hospital is now, and never at the community hall where the festival was to be held. So when the event took place, we began the cotillion and my best friend and I came to the centre and then tried to swing, and someone else was in the wrong place, probably my fault, and we began to argue on stage. I slapped her and we both broke into tears, ending the dance in disgrace.
“One of the fathers in the audience told us later that it was the most exciting part of the whole evening of the festival,” she says, with a laugh. “Later, folk dancing was brought into the festival as a competition. We were the forerunners for sure.”
Curling began in high school and became a lifelong love for Babe. Her home rink was Ross Lake. She curled with Jack Betteridge, Beatty Bowes and Marg Mooney, and they won the Doctor’s Trophy together while in school.
Babe met Richard (Dick) Evans in 1946. He worked winters in Flin Flon and on a farm in Margo, Saskatchewan, in the summers.
In 1948 Babe’s parents decided to move to BC, but they were not leaving their single daughter alone in a mining town, so on Valentine’s Day Babe and Dick were married.
Dick was working for the Town of Flin Flon at the time. They moved to Winnipeg for a year while Dick took a course in diesel mechanics, returning to Flin Flon in 1953 to continue working for the Town of Flin Flon.
Dick worked along with Ernie Ransom, Wayne Wallaker, Tina Konik, Bev Groff, Endfred Lindgren, Mel Pearson and many others. Dick eventually worked his way up from hauling water to superintendent (at the time there were no waterworks to maintain).
Babe and Dick raised four kids: Harley, Aleida, Kerry and Rhonda. “Flin Flon was a great place to raise kids,” Babe says.
Once the kids had grown up and were in school, Babe could curl in the afternoons. At Ross Lake she curled for nine years. On a team with with Marion Lekopoy, Rita Chute and Margie Wallaker, Babe represented northern Manitoba in Winnipeg in 1989.
In 1981, on a windy, overcast day, Dick and two of his friends, Bob Bouteiller and Woody Hollier, decided to go fishing on Amisk (Beaver) Lake.
“I could hear them on the back lane as they were packing up to go, laughing and kibitzing around like brothers,” Babe says.
The men didn’t come home when they said they would, and a search party went out to find them.
“We don’t really know what actually happened, but all three men were found on that lake near their capsized boat,” says Babe. “They had died of hypothermia.”
Life was never the same. After always being an at-home mom, Babe got a job at the age of 50, working at the Northern Lights Manor. She worked as a liaison, helping potential residents who were at the manor to visit do crafts, quilting and painting. These activities helped make the transition from home life to the manor much easier.
Babe found she loved her job, working with women who would become great friends, including Olga Dumenko, Sheila Adams, Pat Kawerski, Lena Kopachinski, Shelly Andres, Melba Maynor, Bette Williams and others.
Babe gladly stayed at the manor until she was 65. “Working with these seniors was such a joy,” she says with a smile.
Today, Babe’s children all live close by in Manitoba, allowing her to visit them regularly. She also has nine grandkids and six great-grandkids.
Since Dick’s passing, Babe says she has become a “read-a-holic.” She also squared danced and travelled with Oscar and Jane Hedman to Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina, Brandon, Winnipeg and South Dakota.
“I have had five hip surgeries,” Babe says. “Had a good kick at the cat. I can’t squat or kneel but still get around with my walker. I lost my good friend and neighbour of 50 years, Francis Wall, just before Christmas. We used to walk the neighbourhood with our walkers. I sure miss her.”
Reflecting on her life to date, 1926 to 2014, Babe knows she has been a witness to history.
“I have experienced the most progressive time in history, from the horse and buggy to travel to space, plus all the technology,” she says, “as well as watching Flin Flon grow from a mining camp to a progressive city.”
