Longtime volunteer Janet (Parrish) Dahlberg, one of four children, was born in 1938 in Grande Prairie, Alta.
She was raised and schooled in Bezanson, Alta. She grew up on a farm and it was her job to look after the farm animals, help with milking the cows and help during the haying season.
After high school, she moved to Nelson in 1955 and worked in a housekeeping position.
She moved to Prince George in 1956 and that is where she met her future husband Ralph Dahlberg. She met him at a dance; they became friends and got married one year later and, as they say, the rest is history.
Ralph, an only child, was born in Port Arthur, Ont. in 1934. He went to school in Ontario until he was 14 and then his family moved to Prince George in 1948 for work in the lumber industry.
Ralph started working at the age of 16. His first job was working for Evanson Sawmill.
He worked as a jail guard for 10 years and decided that this was not an ideal job and not his type of work. Ralph moved his family to Nanaimo where he worked in a lumber yard. Ten years later, they moved back to Prince George for a better job and he went back to the bush. working for logging contractors.
When the children started to arrive, Janet became a stay-at-home mom. When they were in school, she worked at the ski hill at Ferndale for nearly four years, waxing skies and fitting customers with the right skies they would need for their day on the hill.
Time went by and she took up the responsibility of looking after Ralph's aged parents until they passed away.
Janet said, "We were married for 54 years when sadly Ralph passed away in 2011. We had our ups and downs like any other married couple but we always worked our way through it. Ralph was a people person. He was always interested in the history of Prince George and loved to relate that history as a topic of conversation.
"When I came to Prince George in 1957, there were no highways into town and the streets were not anything like they are now. It was a time when a handshake meant something and no one needed lawyers. I have always liked Prince George; we made a good life here and as we raised our children. We made sure that they learned good life lessons.
"Ralph retired in 2006 and started a small stump grinding business. It was hard work but it was also satisfying because I was able to help out by cleaning up and hauling away all the shavings. We enjoyed working together and at the end of the day we were pleased with all of our work.
"We first met at a dance and we continued dancing together until health issues took over and put an end to our dancing."
They had three children; Susan, Wanda and Duane (deceased January 2019). Janet was proud to say that she has three grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Janet was always willing to give back to her community. When the children were growing up, she volunteered with anything to do with their activities and kept a big garden at the same time. She played baseball in her younger years and enjoyed being on a softball team with her daughters.
Over the years, Janet and Ralph volunteered together at the Hart Pioneer Centre selling raffle tickets and working at their dances. Janet served on the board and is a past president. She used to knit items for their craft cabinet, worked in catering, helped out with bingo and was available to help out as needed.
She still helps out in catering and at the dances and said, "I am now 81 and I help out as much as I can. I still take time out to play cards, read, and do my carpet bowling at the Tenth Avenue and Fourth Avenue senior centres. We have a lot of fun carpet bowling and the teams travel out of town together to participate in carpet bowling tournaments.
"I highly recommend belonging to senior centres. They have so much to offer and they are a great place to meet people and make new friends.
"I have always enjoyed my volunteer work over the years because it made me feel good about myself. The best part of it was that I met a lot of people and made some great long-lasting friendships."
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June birthdays that I know about: Matt Pauley, Marlene Ongman, Egil Lindquist, June Chamberland, Linda Earles, Clarence Switzer, Diane Sultano, Ivor Buchi, Louise Bundock, Jean Liversidge, Gladys Thorp, Francine Bussieres, Ethel Rhodes, Carol Bailey, Linda Wenzel, Adele Mingay, Pauline Anderson, Lee Abra, Pam Meyer, Hilda Lipke, Otto Arndt, Connie Buchanan, Robert Reid, Mary Kirby, Lois Bittner, Frank Mauro, Helen Checkley, Gladys Goyer, Euclide Goyer, Dody Morehouse, John Wemyss, Heather Carter, Don Carpenter, Keith McLachlan, Rod Holmes, Skip Cleave, Margaret Girling, Margaret McConaghy, Marlene Pauls, Joyce Antonation, Judy Green, Elaine Lamb, Louise Little, Marilyn Rayner, Lena Rossi, Susan Schaefer, Erwin Stoll, Doreen Gray, Linda Parkinson, Dave Erickson, Dave Stolar, Joan Griffiths, June Mackay, Ed Seidlitz, Terry Roy, Gena Fournier, Keith Anderson, Kay Wendland, Janice Burt, Gwen Tindill, Roberta Case, Ann Hiebert, Nancy Nieson, Shelley Major, Debbie Bisson and Colleen Lemon.
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Wedding Anniversaries: 65 years for Mike and Louise Bundock, 63 years for Walter and Marilyn Shelest, 58 years for Otto and Janice Arndt, 54 years for Stan and Margaret Smith, 53 years for Dennis and Sandy Houston, 51 years for Otto and Lynn Kedl, 50 years for Terry and Heather Carter, 49 years for Tony and Dodie Bond, and four years for Mike and Helen Green.
