This week's interesting and amazing senior is Spencer Baker: Spence was born in 1923 in Fort Steele, a small town with gold rush beginnings as early as 1864: A town that has gone from boom town to regional center to ghost town and is now one of the most important heritage attractions in British Columbia.
Spence started working for BC Hydro's construction crew back in 1967. His first big job was out west in the Hazelton's, north of Prince Rupert. Spence explains, "I was part of the crew that put the hydro lines in at Kitsault. Kitsault is located at the head of Alice Arm and at the mouth of the Kitsault River. Installation of the hydro lines was all done by helicopter work due to the towering mountains and the terrain. We installed the line from Terrace, across the Nass River and into Kitsault. There were no roads back then like there are now. The molybdenum (a metal used in steel production) mine was just getting set up along with the building of the camps for the workers. The bottom camp was designed to hold 350 workers and the upper camp would eventually hold 500 workers. The town of Kitsault was established in 1979 as the home community to a molybdenum mine. The community was designed for 1,200 residents and included a shopping mall, restaurant, swimming pool and bowling alley. In 1982 prices for molybdenum crashed and the entire community was evacuated after just 18 months of residence. In 2004, the ghost town was bought by an Indo-Canadian businessman for $5 million in cash."
For more information about the history and the future plans for Kitsault see: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-ghost-town-could-become-major-natural-gas-hub-1.1391052
Spence arrived in Prince George in 1967 as he continued to work in substations from Valemount to the Queen Charlottes and from 100 Mile House to Fort Nelson. I asked Spence to tell me about the most interesting site that he worked on and he said, "The work in Hudson Hope was interesting. We had to bail out the debris behind the dam on Lake Williston; the stories I could tell you about that! The high waves and the windstorms made the work a real challenge at times. I vividly remember the time when the winds were blowing at 100mph; we were forced to shut down an entire shift. One of the boom boats broke loose and it was blown wildly across the lake and it eventually sank. We had to cut it loose and just let it go. They brought in divers and recovered it the following week. I put in five years at Hudson Hope and during that time there was always excitement of some sort."
Spence reflected back and said, "I met a lot of hard working people over the years. I saw a lot of things back in those days and now it is my time to rest. Our generation has seen more changes and advancements in technology than any other before us. Who knows what is coming next.
"I am 91 years old and I live in a great apartment building with some mighty fine neighbors. I used to be able to do lots of volunteer work; if anyone needed me I was there. My wife Edith Baker and I line danced for years with the Spurs and Jingles group before she passed away. Now I belong to three senior centres and I find a lot of joy in that. I am taking it a bit easier these days, I go out for coffee and lunch just to stay in touch with friends and to meet new people. I believe that all seniors should join a senior centre because it beats sitting around and staring at four walls day after day."
