Having spent most of her life in the Boundary region, Betty Talarico is a treasure living among us.
Seated in her comfortable kitchen, with a view of Grand Forks, she points out several places I recognize and begins to share some stories about Grand Forks, Greenwood and Phoenix.
It is fascinating.
Born in Greenwood, her family’s ranch was close to the historical site of Phoenix, where she lived with her parents and four older brothers. The ranch was self-sustaining and there was not much need to go to the grocery store for they raised or grew almost everything they needed.
She and her brothers had the task of delivering milk before school and if anyone has been down the Phoenix hill into Greenwood, you can imagine the chore it was to sledge the milk down the hill in winter without going out of control and the terror of dragging your feet to slow a wagon loaded with milk in fair weather. She chuckles as she says, “It was challenging.”
Ever positive, she says the walk home from school up the hill was “invigorating.”
Being a rancher’s daughter, the 4-H was an enjoyable part of her childhood.
The yearly judging of swine in Midway was one of the things that made participation so enjoyable and she naturally always hoped to be rewarded with a ribbon.
As a teenager, she played hockey with the ladies from her town and a few games were arranged for Grand Forks. Basketball games against the Grand Forks team were held in a building where Hog N Suds Auto Detailing is now located.
The May Queen celebration every spring made for a great outing and was held at the high school in Grand Forks.
A trip was arranged by Talarico’s parents to attend and enjoy the festivities. The celebration was eventually cancelled around the 1950s or 60s, by a principal who deemed it took too much time to prepare, especially because of unpredictable weather.
She and her family also travelled around the valley to view the agricultural seed farms. The tour ended at the bottom of Spencer Hill at a beautiful farm with ice cream being served.
As a high school student, it was a very sad time as Betty’s two youngest brothers went to war.
One brother was wounded in France and sent back to Canada to recover at Shaughnessy Hospital. Sadly, he died and is buried at the Greenwood Cemetery. About the same time, Japanese families were sent from the coast to stay in Greenwood and the population increased significantly. They were welcomed warmly by the residents and became part of the community.
Talarico shares some memories of the town of Phoenix that are personal and historical. Her two older brothers were born there, but around 1918 the mine closed and Phoenix fell.
She recalls seeing many of the buildings eventually tumble down, although there was mining again for a short time when Betty was in high school. Around 1956, the Granby Company resumed mining at the site but after a time, operations stopped completely. Although mining was no longer, the logging industry started to take off.
After her schooling in Greenwood, Talarico journeyed first to North Vancouver for Senior Matriculation (Grade 13).
A timely conversation with her brother, who was living in Saskatoon, convinced her to enroll in the University of Saskatchewan to continue her education.
She earned her Bachelor of Household Science Degree and taught one year in Princeton, B.C. before moving to Grand Forks in 1949 to take the position as the first home economics teacher at the brand new Grand Forks Secondary School. Three years later, she married her husband, Adoph (Ace) Talarico.
They met when Betty went to Ace’s family’s Valley Market to buy supplies for her classes. The store was located where Jogas Espresso Café is now on Market Avenue.
Betty and Ace were blessed with four children, but sadly lost two sons – one to gastroenteritis and one to leukemia at very young ages. Betty stayed home to raise their daughters until they reached school age and then went back to teaching foods, nutrition, clothing textiles and child care – all very important skills for daily living.
Ace and his brother took over the family market and it eventually became an IGA. After the sale of the business, Mr. Talarico worked as the butcher at Super Valu, which was located where Buy Low is now.
After many years as a volunteer fire fighter, serving with many other capable men, Ace was appointed the first paid fire chief for the City of Grand Forks in 1970.
He retired in 1985 and enjoyed the home he had built on land where he had raised his cattle for his market, which is situated near Valley Heights.
Betty retired in 1983 and says she found the youth she encountered to be very uplifting. Ace passed away in 1992, seven short years after his retirement. Talarico has suffered the loss of her husband, parents, sons and her brothers, but remains a positive force with much joy. Her dedicated daughters and two enjoyable grandsons are a big plus.
Since her retirement, she has enjoyed golfing, skiing, curling, volunteering on the home support board and the hospital auxiliary.
She credits St. Jude’s church in Greenwood and Holy Trinity in Grand Forks for helping her have faith throughout her long life.
She says that naturally, over the last 80-plus years, there have been many changes but we still have agriculture and forestry as main industries and hopefully there will be mining again in the near future.
Although school has changed too, with the use of computers and SMART boards to mention a couple of things, she felt that she could relate somewhat to the lives of her students.
She was always interested in their well-being and over the years has enjoyed seeing many of them in adulthood.
The Boundary region holds a special place in Betty’s heart and she considers it one beautiful place in B.C. from Christina Lake to Bridesville and all the places in between. It is home.