Elsie Montgomery is an inspiration and a Williams Lake booster.
She arrived in Williams Lake in 1969 with her late husband Bill Montgomery.
Bill had been transferred with what was British Columbia Telephone Company (BC Tel) at the time. Elsie was originally from High Prairie, Alta., but they were living in Vancouver when they made the move to the Cariboo.
“Williams Lake had dirt sidewalks and was much smaller at the time,” she recalled of arriving when they did. “It truly was a welcoming place.”
Bill had a baseball team with work and that way they met a lot of local people right away. One of her favourite memories is how she met one of her close friends she still has today. The friend’s husband was also playing ball and the friend happened to like beer.
“My husband said to her, ‘I think you and Elsie would get along pretty good, because she likes beer too.’”
Bill described Elsie and the woman what kind of car Elsie drove.
One day Elsie was pulling into the post office, where Laketown Furnishings Ltd. is today on Second Avenue and Borland Street.
She parked and could hear someone calling out “Elsie, Elsie.”
“I’d just moved here and I didn’t know anyone and there was this lady across the street and she walked straight across, introduced herself, and we are still friends today.”
Elsie actually met Bill through curling in New Westminster and when they moved to Williams Lake they continued to play.
When their children Koralee and Bryan were born, she stopped curling and Bill continued for another 10 years.
“It was in the old curling rink the Quonset,” she recalled.
Today she stick curls, which she started a few years ago.
“We curl on Mondays and Thursdays. We have six sheets and about 24 curlers, it’s a lot of fun,” she said.
On Monday, March 17, she was selected as a matriarch to throw the ceremonial rock for the opening ceremony of the Nifty Fifty Ladies Bonspiel.
“I threw a little too heavy,” she said afterwards.
She was also volunteering during the bell for the start and finish and then she and her daughter were cleaning tables in the eating area in the afternoon.
Elsie also volunteered for the Williams Lake Stampede for about 20 years.
She golfed up until Bill needed care as he battled ALS for 10 years up until he died on May 24, 2019, at the age of 78.
Smiling, she said she fully intends to get back into golfing if her body will allow her to do it.
Twice a week she goes to the pool for “aqua-fit, hot tub and gossip,” she quipped.
Sometimes she finds the pool water quite cold and said she asked why and was told in advance of competitions the temperature is kept cooler for the swimmers.
“That was a good hot tub day,” she added.
Williams Lake is home and she has no plans of leaving, she said.
“I hope to stay in my home as long as I can. My daughter and her family have a place at Sun Peaks and I go there every Christmas and spend four or five days with them.”
She still drives to Vancouver as well, which is a sign of her continued independence.
"So far, so good," she said.
