{"id":29282,"date":"2016-08-03T10:03:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T14:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=29282"},"modified":"2016-08-03T10:22:31","modified_gmt":"2016-08-03T14:22:31","slug":"memoir-mennonite-voluntary-service-years-alberta-highlights-hard-work-many-alumni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/memoir-mennonite-voluntary-service-years-alberta-highlights-hard-work-many-alumni\/","title":{"rendered":"Memoir of Mennonite Voluntary Service years in Alberta highlights hard work of many alumni"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new memoir by Isaac \u201cIke\u201d Glick \u201955<\/strong> and Mildred \u201cMillie\u201d Alger Glick, class of \u201955<\/strong>, Risk and Adventure: Community development in Northern Alberta (1955-1970), <\/em>highlights the work of Mennonite Voluntary Service participants (MVS) in Canada from 1955-1970.<\/p>\n

An estimated one-third of approximately 100 people involved in the program were Eastern Mennonite College graduates, according to J. Daniel Hess \u201959<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were dispatched with the mantra to \u2018see what could be done to help people help themselves,\u201d says Hess, a retired Goshen College communications professor and writer who helped with the memoir. \u201cI find it incredibly interesting that so many EMU people became attracted to service in the \u201850s and \u201860s, showing a commitment to the church\u2019s commission as well as a response to acceptable alternatives to military service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"R&A<\/a>
Authors Millie and Ike Glick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The memoir features stories of MVS work in Alberta, accompanied by photos, maps and several first-person narratives from former colleagues. Mike Cardinal, the first indigenous Albertan to serve in government office, held five ministry positions and recalls the Mennonite influence upon his childhood in Calling Lake, as does Professor Emma LaRocque, a Metis who benefited as a young girl from alternative schooling opportunities and remains a lifelong friend of the Glicks.<\/p>\n

Unlike the United States, which has never formally recognized the damage its legacy of \u201cIndian Boarding Schools\u201d has caused generations of Native Americans, Canada embarked in 2008 on a National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. That commission ended in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis book can be very helpful as we all\u00a0seek to build bridges and seek ways to help implement the 94 calls to action of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission,\u201d said Jim Shantz, co-coordinator of Indigenous Neighbors for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta.<\/p>\n

Life-changing choices<\/h3>\n

In 1955, Ike graduated from EMC with a degree in Biblical studies and theology. Millie had graduated from Eastern Mennonite High School and completed one year of college. Unsure of their future, they volunteered for a two-year term with MVS, leaving their native Pennsylvania (Ike) and Virginia (Millie) far behind.<\/p>\n

After graduation, the Glicks bought a retired ambulance (affectionately named Gypsylyn), packed up their belongings and their one-year-old son, and headed west, in the hopes that it \u201cwould provide some clarity for our future,\u201d Ike writes. \u201cIt did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple stayed in Calling Lake for 10 years beyond their two-year term. They lived in an isolated village of about 300 inhabitants, at the end of 45 miles of dirt road surrounded by the bushland of northern Alberta.<\/p>\n

\"R&A<\/a>
Ike Glick measures a beaver pelt at the fur trading post at Chipweyan Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was not difficult. It was different,\u201d Ike says, of their life.<\/p>\n

He learned to fly a plane to reach settlements without road access. Millie learned to cope with wood stoves.<\/p>\n

Those 12 years changed their lives forever.<\/p>\n

The couple now lives 150 miles south in Edmonton. They first wrote memories of their time in northern Alberta to share with their children. Hess encouraged them to add photos and to publish the book for a broader audience.<\/p>\n

EMC alumni join in<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The MVS unit\u2019s task was \u201clargely undefined \u2026 to help people help themselves,\u201d Ike Glick writes, quoting Ray Horst, then a unit director in his second year of what would become a long career working for social justice issues and with indigenous people with Mennonite Board of Missions.<\/p>\n

\"R&A<\/a>
Fred Gingerich ’57 with 17 students at Sandy Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During their time in Alberta, the Glicks, along with many other MVS members, engaged indigenous communities within a large radius of northern Alberta, helping to build, populate and teach in schools; to build and staff public health centers; and to help create sustainable economic opportunities. This included traditional beaded leather crafts and canoes.<\/p>\n

A small sampling of the many EMC alumni who eventually joined them includes Roy Hartzler \u201959<\/strong>, who spent a summer helping to build a school at Sandy Lake; Delmar Yoder \u201961<\/strong>, who started a demonstration garden, inspiring many to plant gardens of their own; and two couples, Fred and Elsie Yoder Gingerich<\/strong>, both 1957 graduates, and Dr.<\/strong> John Rutt<\/strong> and his wife Becky Hartzler Rutt \u201959<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Gingerichs lived 50 air miles beyond Calling Lake at Sandy Lake, and then moved another 90 air miles further to re-open a Hudson Bay Company store and eventually a school in Chipewyan Lakes. The Chipewyan Lakes community had been evacuated by the Canadian government and relocated 90 miles away to Wabasca because of village resistance to the policy of children being removed to residential school.<\/p>\n

John and Becky Rutt lived three years in Alberta in the early \u201860s, first at Calling Lake where they operated a small clinic and later Slave Lake, where the evident need for a physician laid the foundation for a 40-bed hospital, just as the Rutts were returning to the United States.<\/p>\n

Working with First Nations people<\/h3>\n

Significantly, the volunteers built relationships in ways contrary to the traditional treatment of indigenous families at the time.<\/p>\n

The Glicks raised five children in Calling Lake, as they responded to what they termed \u201cunexpected compelling opportunities.\u201d Eventually Ike was offered a position with the government, working with First Nations people on an economic opportunity project that had grown from MVS support into a larger business called Teamwork Enterprises of Alberta and McKenzie (TEAM). For this position, the family moved to Edmonton.<\/p>\n

In 1970, Ike enrolled in a master\u2019s degree program in community development. He often felt affirmed about voluntary service initiatives since he could now relate theory with practice. He continued to work with First Nations people for the rest of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience was life enriching and life determining for us,\u201d Ike said, sharing that close friendships developed with many of the volunteers and among area indigenous residents.<\/p>\n

Nearly 40 VSers\u2014those who stayed in Alberta plus a few residents from elsewhere\u2014 reunited two weeks ago in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bonds that were created years ago were still very evident,\u201d Ike said. \u201cWe had a great time together.\u201d<\/p>\n

For information about how to purchase the book, send an email to lauren.jefferson@emu.edu<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new memoir by Isaac \u201cIke\u201d Glick \u201955 and Mildred \u201cMillie\u201d Alger Glick, class of \u201955, Risk and Adventure: Community development in Northern Alberta (1955-1970), highlights the work of Mennonite ... read more about Memoir of Mennonite Voluntary Service years in Alberta highlights hard work of many alumni<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-29282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nMemoir of Mennonite Voluntary Service years in Alberta highlights hard work of many alumni - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/memoir-mennonite-voluntary-service-years-alberta-highlights-hard-work-many-alumni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memoir of Mennonite Voluntary Service years in Alberta highlights hard work of many alumni - 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