A soundscape of wind chimes fills Gerti Smith’s home.
Silver-plated cutlery suspended from driftwood gently ring against each other, producing a joyous cacophony of sound.
In this place, beauty, self-sufficiency and community-mindedness mix, qualities that reflect Gerti herself.
Gerti started making the wind chimes after her children had grown up and she was left with their silver-plated baby spoons.
Reluctant to give them to the thrift store, she turned them into wind chimes. Now she collects silver-plated cutlery from the thrift store and her wind chimes hang throughout Revelstoke – and around the world.
“All the homemakers get one,” Gerti said. “There are several in England, one in Holland, some in Germany, Australia and the U.S. In Canada they are in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario.”
She gives the wind chimes away to bring joy and keep the cutlery out of the landfill. She is also known for her flower gardening. She and Greta Speerbrecker volunteered for years in the Revelstoke Museum and Archives heritage garden, carefully collecting the plants and preserving their stories.
“We modelled it on an English country garden,” she said. “When one thing abuts the other, the weeds don’t have a chance. You clean up the edges and the garden appears well looked after.”
Gerti was born 92 years ago in Germany. She trained as a furrier but struggled with the class hierarchy that existed there at the time. “People only socialized with their own class. That’s wrong. We’re all born equally, with no clothes on, and what we make of our lives, that’s what we can be proud of.
“So I kept thinking, if I stay in Germany I’ll stifle. I need to get away from here. I researched Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Canada had similar temperatures, weather patterns and seasons to Germany. Canada was a free country; it was the country of my choice.”
Her brother had emigrated earlier to Kitimat and sponsored her to join him in 1957. She soon moved to Vancouver to find work in her field but came up against another kind of barrier.
“I was a fully qualified furrier. I was told that in this country all the furriers and machinists are male. Females can only be finishers.”
Gerti worked as a fur finisher for a year then married and moved to Revelstoke where her husband had gotten a job building the TransCanada Highway.
Gerti’s husband would not let her work for money but being idle was not in Gerti’s nature. She set out to get to know her community and make herself useful.
She walked her dogs to the post office every day, each time taking a different route. “So then I got all the knowledge of all the area. I knew all the streets. Eventually, I knew the people who lived there.”
Gerti also volunteered at the Happy Time School, an association that taught children with learning challenges. That was the beginning of a long and fulfilling career and vocation, both paid and unpaid, in special education.
“I missed my calling,” she said. “I should have gone into that in the first place. I found I could give my whole heart to it because I believed in it.”
She discovered she had a special way of reaching students, teaching them according to their learning styles. Two years after she began working at the Happy Time School, Gerti and her husband adopted two boys, Timothy and Edward, then Gerti gave birth to Michael, her youngest child.
When the children were still young, Gerti’s husband left and moved to Prince George. To make ends meet, Gerti worked as a court worker for the John Howard Society and in special education after the Revelstoke School District incorporated students with diverse needs.
She worked for the school district, mostly at Mountain View School, until she retired.
Today, Gerti can often be seen walking on Third Street to town, pushing her walker. “Last week I went three times,” she said. “I’m stubborn. When I walk, I figure I made it this far. I have phone numbers on me. I could call for help. But then I think, ‘You walked here. You walk home.’
“I take a lot of breaks with the walker. You can take a break and sit down and rest. I go the days I can go. Two blocks, maybe three blocks, maybe add another block. But it doesn’t have to be Mackenzie Avenue all the time.”
Asked about the secrets to a happy life, Gerti said, “For starters, I would say, look at a problem. If it is not yours, don’t own it. Leave it where it belongs. And that takes care of minding other people’s business. No gossiping. I have observed many things in the 60-odd years that I’ve lived here. They go into storage. They don’t cross my lips. It’s not my business.”
“I’m very comfortable with my own company so I don’t need to see people daily. But if some days I feel a little heavy, I get up, get dressed, and start my day. And if it gets too difficult, get out the door.
“And talk to anybody. Talk to strangers. Talk to people who you don’t normally see. Talk to dogs, talk to cats, talk to birds even.”
Finally, she says to stay active, eat right and don’t hurt anybody. There is no need to hurt someone unnecessarily. Swallow your pride sometimes.”
– Article contributed by Laura Stovel
•The Revelstoke Community Response Network (CRN) is a committee of service providers, including the city, Interior Health, and several non-profits that work together to prevent adult abuse and support vulnerable adults.