When Celia Fisher got the call last week that she was the 2008 Golden Girl, it caught her completely unaware. She was expecting a call from Sea Cavalcade chair Conchita Harding about some memorabilia the Fishers had from past Cavalcades.
"I was totally surprised. It never ever entered my head. When Conchita phoned me, I got totally flustered. The limelight is something I don't feel comfortable with and I asked her if I could think about it overnight and get back to her," Fisher recalled.
Fortunately, after some calmer moments, Fisher decided to accept the honour. "Although I had knots in my stomach for quite a few days [after accepting] it was really nice to be acknowledged by the community," she said.
And while Fisher may be uncomfortable with being the centre of attention, she is a well-known person in our area. An almost life-long resident of the Sunshine Coast, she came here at age eight and has seen and participated in many changes over the years.
Many of us know Fisher from her two terms on the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) as the Area E representative. But that's only the tip of the iceberg as far as her community involvement goes.
Fisher first felt the call to public service when her children were in school. The mother of five joined what was the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) back when her eldest went to elementary school. That was the mid-'50s when class sizes of 36 or more kids were the norm.
"The elementary schools had no libraries, no gyms, no universal kindergarten and no teaching assistants. The PTA became a lobby group with the local school board. We always had three or four members at school board meetings. Finally they instituted kindergarten for one year in Sechelt. This was the first school district in the province to have 'free' kindergarten," Fisher explained.
Fisher followed her kids through school, helping first at Gibsons Elementary then Cedar Grove when it opened, and finally Elphinstone Secondary.
"You go from hot dogs to 'we've got a couple of kids that need help with reading' etc. I did that for years," she said.However, when the economy took a downturn in the 1980s and Fisher's husband Bud lost his job, it appeared Celia's volunteering had come to an end.
"I need to get a job," she told the powers that were.
And the school found her a paying job. Many classes and courses later she became a learning assistant working with students with problems - a job she came to love. Indeed Fisher has a great deal of empathy for struggling students.
"You and I wouldn't go to work for 12 years at a job we didn't like, yet kids have to," she said.
She soon found a great tool to break the ice with unhappy children -cookies - a tool she found useful when she was first elected to the SCRD. As Fisher recollects, her term came about after a bitter lockout of SCRD employees.
"I was sponsored by CUPE local, the labour council and the Mount Elphinstone Recreation Committee (MERC). I started bringing cookies to break the ice with the staff," she said.
To this day Fisher frequently meets past students or SCRD employees and the first thing they tell her is how much they miss her cookies.
Before the SCRD, Fisher served several terms on the school board. In keeping with her innate modesty, she declined to sit as chair for either of her elected functions.
Fisher's passion for youth and their concerns was one of the driving forces behind her involvement with the Gibsons and District Community Centre. For many years she worked to have the facility built in the Gibsons area. And although many folks in the area see the new complex as primarily a recreation facility, that wasn't Fisher's objective. She wanted a place for young people to hang out with their friends.
Fisher has great memories of growing up in the Roberts Creek area. It was a time when all citizens kept an eye out for young people. Many people in the area had no children of their own but that didn't stop them from getting to know all the kids in the district. As Fisher remembered, it was difficult to get into serious trouble because "everybody knew your name."
"We grew up with co-operation, pride and consideration because we were looked after by people in our community. There was always the guidance of adults, aiding and helping us along the way," she said.
She is a fan of the young, a strong believer in karma.
"If you're polite and at least open [to youth], you get that back. If you're cranky and miserable, you get that back," she shared.
Fisher considers herself blessed. "I have a good strong family, five kids and 11 grandchildren."
Her only small complaint comes as a result of her run at politics. She commented about women who put their lives on hold and attend all-candidates meetings and other functions to help their mates achieve office.
"I don't think Bud ever went to any of those meetings. Women are more supportive," she laughed.
For a woman who has never desired the limelight, Celia Fisher has made a big difference in our community. She's brought gold to all she's done.
