We decided to get a group and go
to Green Lakes, Wisconsin for LIFE ’72. A plan was laid out to help as many
kids as needed financial assistance to attend. We did not have a better plan,
so we began to gear up to collect bottles and papers and do it for as many
weekends as necessary. We needed trucks and trailers to go with the various
groups who would be knocking on doors to ask (read beg) for any bottles or newspapers they might be willing to
give.
Fortunately those were still the
days when people would open their doors, listen to the kids and help. We
explained to the people what we were raising money for and what we needed.
Strangely, there were occasions when we were even given money. We never
expected that. We had a simple system that rewarded people who actually helped
with the collecting process. It was all related to hours spent on the job. We
were determined that enough would be made to pay the complete way of everyone
that wanted the help. I think someone tried to figure out how many bottles that
would require. I have no idea, but it was many truck and trailer loads.
There was a lady at the church who
knew the owners of the Seven Seas restaurant and made an arrangement for us to
pick up their empty bottle each week. It was a good stop for us as it always
filled a trailer. The restaurant was a bit of a surprise to some of the crew.
How could they sell so much liquor in one week that we could fill a trailer
every week? Then there was the smell. None were used to that. There were some
times we made two trips. At the Seven Seas we made our pick up on Monday after
school, We drove directly from the restaurant to the location on Boundary Road
where we sold the bottles, smelly, but a good haul for us. One helper commented
that we were making a pile of money off the drunks. It was funny at the time.
Maybe you had to be there.
We also had a box set up in the
back parking lot at the church for people to bring their papers and bottles. We
had to take the papers for sale during the week. That meant we had to store
them over the weekend. They were stored at the Drewlo apartment building. One Saturday as Ken
Remple was helping the gang pickup papers he lost his load and tied up traffic.
Not funny at the time, but later…
I had a hitch put on my white ’68
Dodge Polaris and drove the streets every week. Ken was a gift from God. He
drove a great deal of the time. Others pitched in from time to time. We mapped
out the city and never went back to the same area twice. Each Saturday was a
two to three hour shift. Another crew helped with the Seven Seas bottle pickup
during the week and yet another crew took the items from the church to sell. I
appreciated the men who helped in this project with their time and vehicles.
Dale Klassen wrote, “Paper Drives, I
think some of the adult volunteers, meaning those who would subject their vehicles
to wear and tear were Ken Remple, Peter Geisbrecht and Amroyd Holmlund. Some of
the youth participants were Rick Remple, Greg Neufeld, Gord Jarvis, Ron Hoskyn,
and Debbie Hallam (who took offence when collecting at one of the thousands of
doors we knocked and she was called a boy). During the times of the
paper/bottle drives my brother Jim and I would work all Friday night as
janitors at Simon Frasier University mainly cleaning the pub, get off work at
7:30 am and then go on the paper drives.” And these two guys were there every week.
I wrote a news sheet every week or two
updating what was happening in regards to the upcoming Life Conference, and reporting
who had volunteered that week, the hours they worked and the money they were
earning. I wanted to encourage others to join us on the weekends.
It really was an amazing experience. We
earned enough to help everyone who needed help, paid the full Greyhound bus
rental for everyone and had enough money to buy a few meals on the trip there
and back. We also bought everyone a sailor hat. It was our connection to a port
city and a way to keep the group connected in the crowd of nearly 5000 teens
who attend LIFE ’72.
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| We earned this all pennies at a time. Hard work, but a great bond. |
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