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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2004 Owen and Arline Coultrup's lives joined after escape from Burma June is Senior Citizens' Month and each publica- tion of The New Tanner this month will feature an article on the people ac- tive in the Acton Seniors Recreation Centre, by Julie Conroy. This weeks features Arline and Owen Coultrup. Arline Ferguson was born in Mandalay, Burma. Her father was of Scottish descent and her mother French and Burmese. Her parents owned a small de- partment store that specialized in selling only British items. Arline remembers as a small child sitting in the store and looking at the delicate china things, but not being able to touch. The lifestyle for many people was good, and Arline remembers parties, and entertaining with many servants at their beck and call. Her mother managed the store, after her father joined the Royal Signals in the Brit- ish Army when war was declared against Ger- many. She attended a convent school, and had fond memories of a beautiful city of temples with golden spires and are people. When the Japanese were about to invade Burma, many people working for the British Army were evacuated by rail and sea, but Arline's mother (through some mix up) missed the last aircraft, and sea exit, so on March 8, 1942, with just three small suitcases, her mother, older sister and two brothers left Mandalay and joined a group of over 90 strangers and two British guides on the last government con- trolled convoy to leave Burma. They trekked 951 miles on narrow pathways over mountainous terrain. After a month of walk- ing and a diet of soup and bread, rice and lentils they reached a small town in Assam, India. They lived there for nearly two months until their father joined them. They then went to Calcutta, which was quite a culture shock after Burma. India was then in the throes of famine. Arline completed her education at Loretto School and College in India. She worked as a secretary in an English engineering company. In 1947 there was political discontent and riots against the Brit- a The job market education costs. ~~ Tuesday, June 15, 2004 11:30am & 6:30 pm Investing Compass Your Midyear Market Update Join us as we talk with John Wright, senior vice presi- dent at Ipsos-Reid, Canada's largest market research and public opinion firm. He'll give his insights on how the confidence of consumers, business and investors helps shape the trends that impact financial markets. Our discussion will include: 4, The federal election a Key portfolio strategies We'll also hear from one family about their strategies for saving for their child's future in the face of rising To reserve a seat for you and a friend at this free video presentation, please call or stop by. Archie A. Braga Investment Representative 315 Queen Street East Acton, Ontario L7J 1R1 Bus: (519) 853-4694 Fax: (519) 853-5643 www.edwardjones.com/compass Member CPF EdwardjJones - Serving Individual Investors ish government, and India gained Independence in 1947. It was time to move on Owen Coultrup was also born and attended school in Mandalay; he was seven years older than Arline, so although they knew each other to see, they didn't associate with each other at this time. Owen's stepfather was. in the British Army, so Owen was airlifted out of Burma earlier in the war to Calcutta, India and later to Northern India. Owen decided to immi- grate to Britain in 1952 and Arline decided to fol- low him. 'She left India one year later and they reunited and married i in London. Arline had a rude se ening in Britain as she had been used to having eve- ryday chores done for her and had to learn how to use the vacuum, clean windows and cook as well as holding down a full- time job, but as she says, "T matured fast." Their first two children (boys) were born in London. The couple immigrated to Canada in 1957, and lived in Toronto for two years. Then they moved to Acton, where their third son was born. Arline started working at Mason Knit in the office until it closed, then went to Owen and Arline Coultrup Beardmore and Co. where she later trained for the position of cattle hide buyer. The new position opened up a whole new world for her. She trav- elled all over Canada and also some cities in the U.S.A.. She feels her life in the Far East gave her excellent negotiating skills, and life in England honed her organizational skills. Owen was employed at the Metro Police Head- quarters in Toronto, and then accepted a position as Assistant Purchasing Manager at H.K. Porter SonGames 2 Vacation Bible School This year's progratn is SonGames 2004, a week of sporting good fun! ~ Bible stories ~ Games ~ Crafts ~ Songs ~ Snacks ~ July 12-16, 9:15 am to 12 noon All children ages 5 ~ 12 are welcome. REGISTER on June 15, 7:00pm to 8:30pm at Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Acton {across from Acton Sobeys). Please consider a donation of $7/child toa maximum of $20/family to help us cover costs. For epee ok information please call Tania Spill at 519-853-5190. SPECIAL THANKS to this year's sponsors: Steven Murray of FREEDOM MOTORWORX, Carol & Tony Walraven, REMAX Blue Springs Realty, Bill Graham of ACTON SOBEYS Steve Cabral of McDONALD's in Acton, Alec Boyd of GIANT TIGER, Acton TIM HORTON's, Acton and y WAL-MART, Georgetown which became Disston and then Sandvik. He later became Purchasing Manager. When the com- ~ pany closed its facilities in Acton he transferred to Mississauga, and then Guelph. Owen used to be in- volved with the Acton Agricultural Society, do- ing some accounting for them. He was also on the board of the Acton Sen- iors Centre for three years, and become well known for the Seniors column he wrote for the Tanner for several years, keeping people up to date on events happening at the centre. Arline became very busy with her volunteer work with the C.W.L. (Catholic Women's League) at St. Joseph's Church and there weren't too many executive posi- tions she didn't hold over the year, ultimately be- coming president. She also joined Toastmasters, and felt it gave her a lot of confidence in public speaking. She was on the reception desk for many years at the centre and re- ally enjoyed meeting people, although due to other commitments isn't able to spend quite as much time as she would like now. Over the years, they have enjoyed travelling, and visited Hawaii, cruised the Caribbean is- lands and Alaska, also Costa Rica and Tunisia, but the most interesting was Africa. They spent 8 days in Mombassa, then 11 days on Safari. She said it was fascinating going through the rugged coun- tryside, and coming across a green oasis, with luxuri- ous lodges where they would spend the nights and wakening to the sounds of lions roaring. They travelled by safari van each day. and saw many -animals including huge African elephants. While in Kenya they en- countered the Maasi tribes in their villages with their cow dung houses. Arline said the odour was over- powering. The Maasi were very cu- rious about their jewellry and watches and wanted to trade for their own native handcrafted items. They also revisited Brit- ain and noticed a lot of changes from when they lived there. Owen and Arline have certainly had an interesting life over the years, and I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about them both, two people who have contrib- uted a lot over the years. Arline, a child in Burma