Terry Farrell
Record staff
Pam Crowe has been serving on the Comox Valley Child Development Association board for more than 30 years.
She’s been a part of the annual Telethon even longer.
“We got to town in 1976, so it was ’77 or ’78 that someone said, ‘You should come to Courtenay, there’s a Telethon going on.’ So I went in and there was nobody at the front door. Someone saw me and said, ‘Do you want to sit there and take pledges as people enter?’ So I said OK, and I guess that was the start.”
Nearly 40 years later, she’s getting ready for another one.
Pam is the president of the Comox Valley Child Development Association board of directors.
The 2016 CVCDA Telethon happens this Sunday, from noon to 8 p.m.
The CVCDA was one of the first non-profit organizations Pam became involved with upon her arrival in the Comox Valley, after spending a few years travelling.
She grew up in Victoria, took a year of university, then the travel bug hit her hard.
“My girlfriend and I went travelling in Europe and Asia and down to Australia for three years, doing that Volkswagen bus thing,” she said. “Real hippies. Well, we called ourselves hippies, but the worst thing we did was put our hair in braids... and the Volkswagen bus.”
After three years travelling, the two friends returned to the Island, with plans to work only long enough to earn enough money for a trip to South America.
“My sister was living up here, so I got a job here, always with the idea that we would go to South America. But my friend who I did all the travelling with, she didn’t earn enough money, and time goes on, and I’m still here. Still haven’t been to South America. I’ve been to Africa since I’ve been married - I have grandchildren now over in Africa, so we have been there three times.”
Pam said her involvement with the CVCDA should come as no surprise.
“When I think back, it’s kind of interesting. My plan when I originally went to university was to become a teacher and work with children with special needs. It was always something that I wanted to do.
“Being involved with the Child Development Association, which helps children with special needs, it’s sort of a way for me to access what I wanted to do in those days and wasn’t able to. So maybe that’s a reason for what I do, but... I just think the Child Development Association is a great association. They do great work, and I’m really proud to be involved with it.”