Post by IAMCAPER on Dec 11, 2006 10:30:44 GMT -4
Life still holds surprises for 83-year-old Warna Timlock, who was delighted over receiving a prestigious award from the government of Ontario last month.
Timlock, who left Cape Breton 63 years ago and lives in Sudbury today, was one of only 21 people in Ontario to receive a 2006 senior achievement award.
“That’s pretty goddam good for a Cape Bretoner isn’t it?” she said with a laugh during a telephone interview with the Cape Breton Post.
The award came at a good time for the former dancer, who had a very hard year. The ceremony gave her a good reason to get back on her feet after a bad fall that sent her to hospital for two weeks.
“I got the letter telling me about the award and I thought, ‘God d**n it,’ I couldn’t walk but I wasn’t going in a wheelchair and I made sure in a week, I was walking.”
The honour also helped her get over the loss of her daughter, Kimberley, who died unexpectedly of lung cancer in March.
“I was still depressed over my daughter,” Timlock said.
The octogenarian makes it a point to stay busy, volunteering with Kiwanis festivals, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Interlink Choir, which works with school choirs in Sudbury. Timlock also belongs to a club of expatriate Cape Bretoners in Sudbury which is planning a Christmas dinner later this month.
“I’m a great volunteer,” she said. “But I mean, what else would I do to keep my brain working a little bit? I volunteer for anything I can do. If I don’t stay busy I will be bored to death.”
Timlock grew up on the Esplanade in Sydney. Her love of show business started at an early age and she was only four when she won her first dance contest, in 1927. Later, she often danced in shows for army and navy servicemen stationed in Cape Breton.
“I was a hoofer and did some minstrel shows down there,” she recalled. “Then, when I got kind of too old and too fat, really, I went backstage.
“My mother used to make all my costumes and make costumes for the dancers down there so I went into making costumes and ended up in professional theatre.”
She left Sydney in 1942 planning to marry a man in St.Catharines and although the marriage never happened, she found an artistic home at Garden City Productions, a well-known local theatre in that city.
“I have wonderful memories and I enjoyed every minute,” she said.
Timlock moved to Sudbury in 1982 at the age of 59 to work for the Sudbury Theatre Centre.
Last month’s senior achievement award, which put Timlock on the front page of the local newspaper, the Sudbury Star, was one of the high points in her life.
“I was so proud.”
Timlock, who left Cape Breton 63 years ago and lives in Sudbury today, was one of only 21 people in Ontario to receive a 2006 senior achievement award.
“That’s pretty goddam good for a Cape Bretoner isn’t it?” she said with a laugh during a telephone interview with the Cape Breton Post.
The award came at a good time for the former dancer, who had a very hard year. The ceremony gave her a good reason to get back on her feet after a bad fall that sent her to hospital for two weeks.
“I got the letter telling me about the award and I thought, ‘God d**n it,’ I couldn’t walk but I wasn’t going in a wheelchair and I made sure in a week, I was walking.”
The honour also helped her get over the loss of her daughter, Kimberley, who died unexpectedly of lung cancer in March.
“I was still depressed over my daughter,” Timlock said.
The octogenarian makes it a point to stay busy, volunteering with Kiwanis festivals, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Interlink Choir, which works with school choirs in Sudbury. Timlock also belongs to a club of expatriate Cape Bretoners in Sudbury which is planning a Christmas dinner later this month.
“I’m a great volunteer,” she said. “But I mean, what else would I do to keep my brain working a little bit? I volunteer for anything I can do. If I don’t stay busy I will be bored to death.”
Timlock grew up on the Esplanade in Sydney. Her love of show business started at an early age and she was only four when she won her first dance contest, in 1927. Later, she often danced in shows for army and navy servicemen stationed in Cape Breton.
“I was a hoofer and did some minstrel shows down there,” she recalled. “Then, when I got kind of too old and too fat, really, I went backstage.
“My mother used to make all my costumes and make costumes for the dancers down there so I went into making costumes and ended up in professional theatre.”
She left Sydney in 1942 planning to marry a man in St.Catharines and although the marriage never happened, she found an artistic home at Garden City Productions, a well-known local theatre in that city.
“I have wonderful memories and I enjoyed every minute,” she said.
Timlock moved to Sudbury in 1982 at the age of 59 to work for the Sudbury Theatre Centre.
Last month’s senior achievement award, which put Timlock on the front page of the local newspaper, the Sudbury Star, was one of the high points in her life.
“I was so proud.”