Veteran continues to serve

Antipodean Andy · Jul 20, 2008

St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA

Al Page has collected himself out of a place to park.

The St. Catharines senior has so many discarded pop cans packed into his garage, he has to keep his car on the driveway of the Berryman Avenue home he's lived in for nearly 60 years.

"I haven't been in my garage for two years now," Page said recently.

But the minor inconvenience is all for a good cause.

Page, 90, regularly loads his car with the cans from his garage and sells them to an aluminum recycler.

Then he hands over the proceeds to Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre, where he spends three mornings a week volunteering his time.

In little bits here and little bits there, Page has donated about $5,000 to the health centre's foundation over the past few years.

It's a continuing project that has earned the Second World War veteran the nickname Pop Can Al from pretty much everybody who knows him at Hotel Dieu Shaver.

"I seem to enjoy it, anyway," Page said of his volunteering. "I have to do something to keep me going."

A native of St. Catharines, the longest Page has been away from the city was the 5 1 /2 years he spent overseas during the Second World War.

After stints working at an old silk mill on Welland Avenue and three years at General Motors, Page joined the army in September 1939.

Three months later, he shipped out to England at age 21 with the 10th Field Battery, an artillery unit based in St. Catharines.

He and the others in his unit made the transatlantic voyage aboard the passenger ship Empress of Britain, which had just been painted pale grey for its new role in wartime service.

"They treated us just like regular ship passengers on the way over," Page recalled.

Stationed mainly in Britain and northwest Europe, Page left the artillery in 1943 when he became a commissioned officer.

As a young lieutenant, Page shifted his sights from the ground to the skies and was trained to become a pilot.

"I joined the army at $1.10 a day, and they taught me how to drive a motorcycle, a car, a truck and fly an aircraft."

Page's main role was to fly surveillance missions, scanning the land from a height of about 60 metres.

"I used to go even lower. I liked going around trees instead of over them," he said.

Page never found himself caught up in serious trouble, and he enjoyed his newfound wings.

"It was great. The guys on the ground thought it was scary, but it wasn't scary up there."

Page returned to St. Catharines after the war in July 1945.

He remains a member of the 10th Field Battery Association and the Royal Niagara Military Institute. But as each year passes, he sees fewer of the men who joined him overseas. "We're slipping away," he said. Page, who sold insurance and later wholesale goods after the war, got involved with Hotel Dieu Shaver in the mid-1990s.

At the time, Grace, his wife of nearly 50 years, was a patient at the Glenridge Avenue facility. Between visits he volunteered in the recreational services department.

After his wife's death in 1996, Page volunteer his time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. And he's still at it.

"It just seemed like the thing to do for me. It's just a great place," he said.

Page waters and tends some of the facility's plants and looks after some vending machines.

And, of course, there is his constant quest for more aluminum cans.

It's not unusual for Page to arrive home and find more cans in his driveway, donated anonymously by people who know of his fundraising.

"All kinds of people help out. I don't even know they've arrived. I go out and the bags are there."

He uses a rubber mallet to crush them into a smaller size, and then hauls them by the carload to a recycler.

Hotel Dieu Shaver Foundation executive director Bob Bell said Page's donations usually add up to between $1,000 and $1,200 per year.

But aside from his financial assistance, Bell said staff and other volunteers at the health centre appreciate having Page around.

"He's a pretty busy boy for a couple hours here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday," Bell said. "He's a wonderful guy."
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Kyt · Jul 21, 2008

An incredible man who seems more active than men half his age. May he continue to do so for many years to come

CTNana · Jul 21, 2008

Amazing!!!! Makes me feel quite lazy and guilty!

Pathfinder · Jul 22, 2008

Good on Al for doing this. Sounds like he's got unlimited motivation.

spidge · Jul 22, 2008

What a guy.

Inspiration to some.

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