CIO The Acton tree Tuesday December Royal visit Arctic games highlight year for Rev Dittrich family Of interest to many Acton friends is the annual Christmas letter from the Rev Douglas Dittrlck Mrs Dittrich and family at He the son of Mrs Laura of Acton CHRISTMAS Church of the Ascension Box Each year as we prepare to write our Christmas letter we always feel we have neglected many of you As we look at the pile of unanswered letters we wish we had found time to write to more of you personally On the the other hand wo know your comments that you appreciate receiving this annual newsletter From the description of the past year a activities you will realize that we manage to keep busy one way or another We had even thought of writing a mid year letter in but never managed to get it done You are in our thoughts often and we continue to value your interest in us and our work in the North It Is hard to believe that eight and a half years have past since we stepped from that plane one June in Froblsher Bay to embark on a type of life somewhat different from that of many our friends in southern Canada Winter games In midJanuary Doug went to to make arrangements with Arctic Winter Games officials for a presentation of traditional gomes and dancing by some of the Delta people He was asked to be one of the Eskimo games coordinators for the first Arctic Winter Gomes which brought together athletes from the Yukon and Alaska as welt as the whole On this trip to Doug was invited to the Commissioner Centennial Ball although because of aircraft delays ho arrived there Just a little after midnight He was also able to sit In on a few sessions of the territorial Council M attends During the first week of February the Mackenzie Area of the Diocese held a conference on family life In Doug To our many friends and patrons we become acquainted with through A B Super market Acton Acton Free Press Bradley Meat Market Blue Springs Flower Shop Simpsons- Sears HERBS DELIVERY HERB DODDS CONSTRUCTION LTD of Christmas fill the ui with Santa children gifts and smiles Hope they re all pan of your holiday Acton Home Furnishings took the long route there and on the way spent a few days visiting the Indian settlements of Fort Franklin on Great Bear Lake Cblville Lake and Fort Good Hope In March Doug returned to with the Eskimo drummers and dancers and a team of Eskimo boys They domonstratcd some of the traditional games and dances of their people for the crowds on the first day of the Winter Games opened by Prime Minister The usual Easter school holiday was held at this time to allow young people from all over the North to participate In the various sports Dropin centre As secretary of the Committee of Concern on Alcohol Problems Doug devoted a lot of time to the supervising of a drop- in centre which the group operated from early December until the end of June This centre was used by many of the local people particularly the younger ones who often practised some of the traditional native games Admission was restricted to those and over The coffee was always hot the pool table was well used and a tape recorder provided music For Doug and the other supervisors who included a doctor C priest a Pentecostal pastor and an Eskimo social worker it proved to be a good point of contact with many people It is finned this can be reactivated shortly In April the Committee sponsored a one- day community seminar on alcoholism Slower pace At the end of March Doug had business to attend to at Aklavik and friends Mr and Mrs Davis kindly kept the children so Jean could go with him for a couple of days Captain Frank Clarke again very graciously extended his hospitality and it was an enjoyable trip We were very interested in the seismic lines crisscrossing the Delta and in being able to see from the air the tracks on the lakes where trappers were getting muskrat The pace of life in is still slower than Inuvik more like most of us still expect the Arctic to be July weekend Doug is the secretary of the Northern Games Association which organized Inuvik major project for the Northwest Territories Centennial Operating with a grant to help with transportation and other expenses the committee planned a very successful weekend in July People came from a dozen western Arctic settlements to participate from Coppermine in the east to Point Barrow Alaska in the west from Sachs Harbour in the north to Fort Good Hope in the south on the Arctic Circle The Rev Ken Snider of Dawson City who opened the Inuvik mission in 1957 brought participants from the Yukon traditional games skills and crafts were demonstrated Competitions in native sports were held Indian and Eskimo traditional clothing and dancing made the Northern Games a colorful and unique spectacle Tea Kayaks About 175 officially participated in everything from tea boiling to muskrat skinning to kayak racing Hundreds more joined in the festivities and dances The local people had a wonderful There was a good atmosphere throughout the Games with the people obviously doing the things they like and are good at Timing of events was quite flexible in keeping with the ways of those involved If a group of people felt like having a drum dance in the town square at Mam then this is what took place Very gratifying was the absence of problems related to alcohol and excessive drinking which frequently mar social occasions organized by the white man Games arc now planned as an annual event Load of seals Early in June Doug made another trip to Banks island and spent eight days visiting the Eskimo community Sach Harbour This settlement has been much in the news lately because of proposed oil exploration this winter He came back with a planeload of freshlycaught seals which were put In cold storage In until the Northern Games seal skinning contests Centennial celebrations In the included many different events such as snowmobile races talent shows the mile Mackenzie River canoe race to the reenactment of historic mall runs Many special visitors came to Inuvik In July over sixty small aircraft from mnny parts of North America brought visitors Fly in rhls fly in was sponsored by the local aviation council Some of the old time bush pilots who originally opened up the North relumed for a visit on a special charter in August We have been entertained by groups such as the Canadian Mime Theatre and the C M Band The Band gave a concert in Inuvik and also played at an ecumenical service here on Sunday Junc21stattendedby the Commissioner of the W T and other public figures Archbishop Jackson who in January became senior bishop of Ruperts Land which includes the Arctic Quebec and the prairie provinces addressed the gathering His impressions of his first northern tour are found in the ember Canadian Church man Understands problems We found him to be very understanding and fair In his assessment of the Church position in the North and the problems the northern people are facing That same day Doug Bishop Cook and the Archbishop flew to to Join in the annual Rat Sunday service at All Saints Church This a special time of thanksgiving when the people make their offerings of fur Just alter midnight they returned to Inuvik It was a beautiful clearnlghtwiththesun shining brightly on the thousands of lakes and channels that make up the fifty milewide Delta a sight long to be remembered Special visitors After a trip with a friend to the west coast Doug s mother came to with Doug ten year old nephew Sandy They were with us for most of July and shared in many of the Interesting activities of that month including an evening visit by plane to Shortly after they came the Royal Family visited Inuvik Doug and Jean had the opportunity to chat with the four members of the Family the Queen Prince Philip Prince Charles and Princess Anne At a Town luncheon for the Royal Party Doug was asked to say Grace It was a memorable experience to offer prayers for the Royal Family and to toast Her Majesty in thetr presence In August the Governor General and Mrs came Doug and Jean attended a reception and banquet in their honour Oil exploration Oil exploration has brought much activity to our part of the Here in Inuvik there is a multi million dollar research project testing the effects of transporting very warm oil through a inch pipeline over permafrost One cannot begin to name all the recent visitors to because of the economic developments ambassadors diplomats military personnel and several federal cabinet ministers to name only few By the mldscventles we expect the construction a gas pipeline from northern Alaska along the Mackenzie River valley to southern Canada and the An oil pipeline wilt probably bo built later The government has now set 1974 as the target date for completion of the Dempster Highway which will link road to the south via the Projected expenditures of literally billions of dollars will have a tremendous effect on this area The Science Council of Canada met here this summer and Inuvik was visited by the C B C Board of Directors In April cross country skiers from several European countries and the came to Inuvik to compete in the Top of the World ski championships team of Indian end young people Is now world famous and Is expected to make a good showing for Canada in the Winter Olympics Liberals meet Meetings of Interest have been held in this year Including the first Arctic Liberal Party policy conference in October and In November the Man in the North conferenceon community development sponsored by the Arctic Institute of North America Inuvik continues to grow a million dollar public housing project Is completion and a extension program is underway fvo hotels have built large ad cations a third one was opened This year the Town issued business licences and registered vehicles are now seven Jet flights a week from Edmonton and six flights a week to Whttehorse Yukon if you want to go to Vancouver A new supermarket has opened giving some competition to the Hudson Bay Company which celebrated its JJWth anniversary on May 2nd Television Is also a part of our life now with broadcasts tor four hours each evening taped by the C B C in Calgary and seen here two weeks later Busy In the course of a year we have many interesting visitors Some are fellow Christian workers such as the Rev Don Webster of Fairbanks Alaska who works with Wycllffe Bible Translators the Rev Steve Collins of the Canadian Bible Society and the To friends and new go our wishes for a wonderful Christmas season and Staff Toronto Dominion Bank Ron of Old trow Yukon One day It may bo a reporter Interviewing us for the New York Times or Monde of Paris another day It may be an Indian chief his family or the Toronto lawyer Richard originator of the MidCanada Corridor development concept another day a friend from Buy such as Bryan Pearson or Jonah Kelly or an anthropologist from Oklahoma or a Girl Guide trainer from Ontario Of course there are other kinds of visitors as well those who call for help or advice on various problems Life is not quite as exciting as a chronicle events like this newsletter tends to make It The daily routine for Jean particularly during the long winter is demanding For Doug the regular work of the church Sunday duties radio brood casting hospital visiting and so on require most of his time At courses On December 21 there la to be an election Tor the Territorial Council and it is hoped that some of the native candidates who can speak on matters of concern to their people will be elected Winter came early this year with a cool Septembcrand much more snow than usual In October December has started on the cool side too with a temperature degrees below zero greeting us on the first This fall Doug has been teaching a course In accounting the community night school and Jean is attending a course in Home garden With money received Christmas last year we bought fluorescent light fixtures and were able to keep alive some house plants which lacking sufficient light during the time the sun is gone often do not survive the winter We planted seeds late in February and by May had petunias pansies and other flowers blooming in the house Although there was snow on the ground until early June it seemed much more like spring having flowers In bloom We also started plants in the house under the lights which were then transplanted to a garden along the front and side of the house and to window boxes Doug made We have also enjoyed helping with some gardening in a greenhouse of one of the government departments We now have quite a few plants It a the season of fun and laughter Wi tvtsh your family tht fccji th can offer Merry Christmas Management Staff 5 TO STORE Cheery Greetings A hep your holiday Is flUtd wfttt friends good Warm writhes DAVIS JEWELLERS Elgin St loton Evtrywhcr Christina ring our tilling of odd our btt whim DILLS STATIONERY growing under the lights including geraniums African violets fuchsias and begonias On the whole summer weather thisyearwasverygood although would not give the Queen the best treatment In this regard or the two of the Royal Tour It was generally cool wet and foggy which at least meant no mosquitoes or blue Wiles lively children Since Keith was a baby we hod known that something was wrong with his right leg or toot and the doctor here decided he should be Been by a specialist Jean took him to Edmonton in September The trouble was with the bones In his feet the right being worse than the left and he now has special supports built into boots which seem to be helping We arc pleased to see him walking much better than he hud done before Jean and Keith staed for two weeks in with and Mrs formerly of Inuvik and enjoyed tl visit very much We arc grateful to the Davis family for taking care of the girts while Jean was away Keith now is quite a self sufficient little boy with a good sense of humor Christina who was In October Roes to kindergarten In the mornings and enjoys It very much Since lust year kindergarten has been a part of the regular school system Christina is still a lively and active little girl Ruth is in Grade and docs well in school Her ability to read amazes us and she often books to the other children She Li quite tall her and seems to have grown up a an the past few months She expects to take figure skating lessons this winter Struggle continue Although this part of Canada Is growing and developing rapidly the financial struggle to keep the work the Church going continues It is not easy here as to pay all the expenses for a fulltime minister and the costs of upkeep tor the church and rectory by relying solely on the freewill offerings of tl relatively small number concerned people In the community The witness to the is vitally needed at a time the northern people are going through a period of crisis upheaval and many need help and encouragement to find or keep Christian perspective when so much In their lives la changing Wo pray that the need for the continuation of and Increase In tht Church work and ministry will be recognized and that support will be forthcoming Salaries for clergy are no longer realistic particularly here where the cost of living Is up to per cent higher than in the south With a growing family one has lo be practical but Doug does not want to have to seek other employment and thus reduce the amount of time that can be given to working with people Our hope Li th it the Church on a national level will sec fit to subsidize the work In frontier areas to a greater extent thereby allowing the Church in the field to meet the challenge of a changing North We close with our prayer that thLs Christmas season will be a blessed one for you celebrate the Christmas season may the of and freedom a fraternal spirit ire all Kens Auto Service No Hnj East End Acton HE SPIRIT of CHRISTMAS you worship with your family at Christmas may the true apint of the season greatly you Sincerely we extend our greetings FROM Management and Staff F00DLAND STORE