Soroptimist Club honours Freda
Freda Hesketh is not a woman who will toot her own horn so it was up to the Osoyoos Soroptomists to do that for her last week.
Hesketh was honoured with the Women's Recognition Award at the annual Chez Femme dinner and fashion show.
The Soroptomists have awarded the honour to many women throughout the years, as a way of recognizing the courage and commit-ment to family and community by some of Osoyoos' 'pioneer wo-men'.
Hesketh and her husband Harry moved to Osoyoos in 1946. Both had served in the Second World War: Harry in the air force and Freda as an Ordnance Inspector for the army.
I did the bookwork and looked after all the supplies for 150 active and reserve units in Saskatchewan. And supplies included everything from kitchen utensils to guns, she recalled.
She never did get oversees although she was on draft three times in those four years, but Freda enjoyed travelling everyday as the Ordnance Inspector.
Freda and Harry were married during the war, and she noted that, had she not been busy with her job in the service, she would have been sick with worry.
After the war, the Heskeths moved from Fillmore, Saskatchewan (by way of Vancouver, for a few months) to Osoyoos. Harry had remembered that another Saskatchewan friend had moved to the Okanagan Valley a few years earlier, so he came out first to see what there was. At that time, there were only 400 people in Osoyoos.
I came here in January of 1946, and the minute I arrived, I fell in love with the place.rnComing from the wide expanse of the prairies, Freda said she didn't care for the claustro-phobic feeling of being surrounded by moun-tains.
I couldn't have lived in a place like Hedley, but this valley was just beautiful.
When we arrived, Osoyoos was a village and it was just starting to boom. People wanted to move here and start up businesses. We were established in no time. It was only a couple of days before I started working at the Flour and Feed Store. Then by May of 1946, we began working at the Post Office.rnFreda had been a postmistress before she served in the war. The Heskeths settled in to careers as Postmaster and Postmistress, where they worked for 25 years.
They also owned an orchard at that time, three-and-a-half miles north of Osoyoos, and raised a family of three. Freda's daughter and son-in-law own the family orchard now.
An interesting bit of trivia about Freda is that she was responsible for typing all the bylaws when the Village of Osoyoos was incorp-orated.
Freda's dedication to the community includes a 60-year involvement with the local Royal Canadian Legion, for which she received her 60-year pin, the Meritorious Service Medal, and palm leaf, the Legion's highest recognition.
Being a 'vet', when I arrived here I wanted to join the Legion. But at that time, the members were all old World War One men, and they didn't take to the idea of letting a woman join. Then they offered me a position as treasurer, and I asked them how I could be the treasurer when I wasn't even a member. So then I was able to join, she laughed.
Freda said she was the first woman to join the Osoyoos Legion.
Her love of sports and recreation drew Freda to work with the Girl Guides, Little League Baseball and the Ladies International Curling Club.
Within the Legion, she was also Sports Chair-person in all four divisions: Local, Zone, Provincial and Domin-ion, where she organized curling, darts and cribbage events. She also worked towards estab-lishing the Legion Park and Golden Tulip Park.
The list of Freda's accomplishments also includes serving on the board and as treasurer with the Osoyoos/Bridesville Cancer Unit for over 30 years, and helping to instigate and found the Osoyoos/Oliver Mental Health Support Group.
Her other volunteer activities have included work with the Osoyoos Desert Society, the Osoyoos Cherry Carnival (now Fiesta) and organizing a music group at Sagebrush Lodge.
Although Freda still takes part in many activities, she said she does not hold any official positions, nor does she want to.
However, her natural skills and abilities as a leader, and her love of planning and organizing have kept her busy and motivated through the years.
She is also quick to point out, in her modest way, that her accomplishments have all been possible because she has worked as part of a team.
I realize people are giving me this recognition, and I was really overwhelmed by it all, but really, I could not have done all these things by myself. I've been just one of a team of good volunteers and have had a lot of support, she said.
But, as honoured as she was, Freda is still reluctant to boast about her accomplishments.
I guess the best way to look at this sort of recognition is to realize my work was not in vain. It has been a rewarding and exciting life.rn
