R.S.S. Remembers Robert Service

by Dan Davidson

When Robert W. Service was born in Preston, England, 131 years ago this January 16, no one would have thought he would grow up to be one of the most famous poets in the English language not that he would be permanently identified with Dawson City in the Yukon, even though he spent biggest single part of his life in southern France.

Casey’s goat faces down a train - Photo: Dan Davidson

Elementary classes at the school named for him in Dawson spent past of last Friday afternoon celebrating the poet’s life and work?

How do you celebrate a life? Well, Grade 1 did it with a sort of recitation, accompanied by signs marking all his major dates.

Grade 5 dramatized his old his old age with a reading of “The Rocking Chair”.

Grade 2 selected an amusing poem called “Resignation”, about how

Grey Mouse meets a Cat - Photo: Dan Davidson

being human is perhaps better than being other things,

Grade 4 acted out a detailed version of “The Shooting of Dan McGrew”, the poem which Service once claimed he was cursed with, but which he could always recite from memory.

Grade 3 presented a cute rendering of “My Gray Mouse”, complete with mouse and cat.

Grade 7 dramatized “The Ballad of Casey’s Billy Goat”, featuring an omnivorous goat, a difficult romance, and a near disaster on the railway tracks.

Grade 6 concluded the hour by reciting “The Spell of the Yukon” in a darkened Ancillary Room, which faces lit only by flashlights stationed at random around the room.

A Winter Tradition blossoms in the hands of Youth

Submitted by:

Cathie Findlay-Brook

Education Coordinator

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in

What do Culture Club, Homework Club, Youth Study Group, noon hour Beading & Moccasin Making, Jigging Classes, Education Night, Family Literacy Day ÉÉhave in common? All are initiatives that Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in has been instrumental in delivering to children and families along with dedicated partners in the community.

A main goal of TH Education is to provide support in the community for First Nation Students so that they will succeed at school. This takes form as encouraging parental involvement in children’s education, lending a voice to student or parental concerns, assisting school staff to ensure adequate supports are in place at school, and helping to facilitate tutoring and after school study.

Equally important is fostering awareness and appreciation for the heritage, culture and traditions of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Lately youngsters in the Culture Club have been making one of a kind hand painted & beaded potlatch bags. They are now launching into more traditional beading projects.

The Mitt Making Class with teacher Marjorie Logue and the Grade 10 Planning Class was taught inspiringly by Freda Roberts at the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre. Over several weeks of budgeting, planning, sewing and beading the youth really grew to appreciate the work and care that is invested in hand made clothing. A spark of interest has flamed the fire among high school students resulting in a noon hour beading & sewing group open to all students at Robert Service School.

Education is a partnership between students, parents and educators. A successful partnership is one where cultural traditions are valued and respected. By encouraging the development of programs, both within school and in after school programming, that embrace aspects of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in culture, education is enhanced for all students in Dawson. I would like to really thank all the parents & educators for making all this happen for our students.

Rural Training Co-ordinator Barry Kidd, left; Carol Tyrrell, Dawson Supervisor, receiving the keys to #147 from Acting Manager Yukon EMS, Michael Swainson. Photo by John Tyrrell.

New 4x4 Ambulance for Dawson City Volunteers

by Fr. John Tyrrell, EMA1/EMT-A,

Dawson Ambulance Training Officer

After more than four years of lobbying three successive governments, the Dawson Volunteer Ambulance Service finally received a 4 wheel drive ambulance. Acting Manager Michael Swainson and newly appointed Rural Training co-ordinator Barry Kidd were in Dawson shortly before Christmas to deliver the new unit. Local supervisor Carol Tyrrell received the keys for unit 91-147 and sent back to Whitehorse our former #1 unit, 91-139.

The new ambulance showed its stuff in the very first week when two of the three calls would have required the old two wheel drive unit to chain up, or perhaps even get stuck, something that happened far too often in the past few years. Often Dawson area driveways and access routes are not plowed out and the service has had great trouble accessing patients or has been excessively delayed by having to chain up. In some situations this can be life-threatening.

The new ambulance is a Type 1 style ambulance which means it has a patient treatment module mounted on a one ton truck chassis. This is a much roomier module than the traditional Type 2 van style ambulances and allows better single or multiple patient care. In North America, most services have now gone to the Type 3 style which is a modular ambulance built on an RV cutaway body which is the same way a Class C motorhome is constructed. The main difference between Type 1 & Type 3 is access from the cab to the module. The Dawson Ambulance has a small pass through window between the cab and the module.

Much has been made of the problems with this new ambulance when it was in service in Whitehorse and of the one in Ross River; however, for Dawson those valid concerns are not applicable. Our ambulance station easily accommodates the new larger unit as it was originally designed to accommodate the McDonald Lodge bus. The unit is higher that the Type 2 van styles, but Dawson usually has 3 or even more (with trainees) attendants on board so the lifting is not so problematic, and with a call volume of around 200 calls a year, our people are not having to lift patients the extra height all day long with only a two person crew as in Whitehorse. The ride is a little rougher with heavier duty springs and suspension and so our crews have been instructed to keep that in mind for patient comfort and to diminish the effects as much as possible; however, the benefits of the four wheel drive and the larger wheel base far outweigh the deficits for our service.

The second ambulance, 91-140, was acquired in the summer when the much older 91-126 was condemned and taken off the road. The local Highways mechanics have brought 140 into good mechanical condition. Through the fine co-operation of the Fire Chief, it is housed temporarily in the fire hall during the cold winter months. Dawson Ambulance Service looks forward to the eventual construction of a new health care facility that will properly house all our emergency equipment.

Dawson Ambulance Service is always looking for new recruits and will begin a course this winter which meets national certification. Training occurs on the first and third Monday of every month at 7:30 pm at the Waterfront Building. For further information, please call the Supervisor in the evening at 993-5381.