The Basin Record Newsletter Vol.1 Issue 2

Basin Biography Out of 209 graduates in total from the St. Eugene School of Nursing, Helen Faulkner was one of the first fromCranbrook. Born in 1916, Helenmoved to Cranbrook at the age of six months with her parents, Marion and Cornelius VanBraam. When Helen turned eighteen, her wish was to go to university but because of limited finances she chose to pursue a career in Cranbrook. Helen had a choice of three careers: teaching, secretarial work, or nursing. Helen made her choice and enrolled at the St. Eugene School of Nursing. She began her day at 7:00 a.m. when she joined all of the students downstairs for the Roman Catholic prayers, had breakfast in the main floor dining room, and then began her lessons. The school had strict rules: students had an on-duty and off-duty dress code, and were required to be in the building by 9:00 p.m. each evening. They were not allowed to smoke or drink. At the beginning of the training they were taught how to clean the hospital rooms appropriately, which was very hard work. When the day was done, Helen was lucky enough to have a private room to which she could retreat while most of the other students had to share rooms. When Helen graduated from her training in 1937, she worked at the St. Eugene Hospital and later at the Cranbrook Hospital. She also worked in Creston and Golden. Helen married George Faulkner in 1940 and raised three children. She retired from nursing in 1981. Helen still remains a resident of Cranbrook to this day and is an active member of the St Eugene Alumni. The Alumni are planning a memorial for the St. Eugene Hospital to be put in the Railway Museum. Mrs. Faulkner (nee VanBraam) at the time of her graduation in 1937 Helen Faulkner Elizabeth Lake Cranbrook has a long tradition of caring for Joseph’s Creek and its watery residents. The recent work we have seen being undertaken on stream enhancement makes us want to explore the history of the creek. Information the Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History has indicates that there were two hatcheries maintained in Cranbrook prior to the 1966 opening of the Kootenay Trout Hatchery at Bull River. This is certainly something to be proud of. Not many communities in the interior had hatcheries maintained by the residents long before conservation became a universal concern. Can anyone help us with information or photographs of either of the two early hatcheries? Please let us know so we can feature Cranbrook’s early aquatic undertakings. THE HATCHERIES Submitted by the Rocky Mountain Naturalists Passing through the south end of Cranbrook on Highway 3, Basin residents and visiting tourists are treated to the remarkable diversity of aquatic life found at Elizabeth Lake. Technically termed a marsh, Elizabeth Lake was formed 10,000 years ago with the last major glacier retreat. The history of this wetland area is marred with all the challenges posed by development, but the Rocky Mountain Naturalists and various partners have dedicated considerable time, resources and passion over the past decade in restoring and maintaining the biological diversity and health of the wetland. Members of the Rocky Mountain Naturalists (RMNs) have undertaken multiple stewardship activities in the Elizabeth Lake area, including: the mitigation of highway hazards for the endangered western painted turtle; the courageous battling of noxious weeds; the burial of waste materials, and; the re-seeding of sections of Elizabeth Lake with native grasses. They are currently focused on addressing habitat restoration issues on Lake lands within the City of Cranbrook, and are leading the annual Christmas Bird Count to occur on Dec. 17 th in Cranbrook and Dec. 28 th in Kimberley. The Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History is keen to link the cultural and natural history of the Elizabeth Lake area. We will follow up with more information on this tremendous wetland in the next issue of the Basin Record.