Grace laughed at what she called her "stubborn streak". She told me that she comes from a family of six children where she is the only one who completed high school. Setting goals and taking it one seep at a time has been her approach to her own life as well as to the work she does in literacy. She said, "It took me half my life to begin to fight for the right to know. And now I can offer this specialized help to students so that they can start to find out that they too can learn, that they can also fight for the right to know. That's the best part of my job."

After lunch, Dave took me for a tour of the College and the town. Fairview College, which sparkled from the sun shining on the hoarfrost left over from the cold night air, was built in 1951 and was originally an Agricultural College. Still referred to as the "Ag School" the College now offers a variety of programs such as Turf Grass Management, Animal Health Technology, Bee Keeping and Motorcycle Mechanics.

The town of Fairview is a farm service community serving a population of about 5000 people. There are no traffic lights in Fairview and Dave commented that "even the stop signs in town aren't really meant for the people who live here!" I waited in the truck while Dave went into the post office to collect his mail. He stopped and chatted to a number of people in the post office then stood on the outside steps in the cold and talked to a few more people before climbing back into the truck. "Getting the mail is a very social occasion in Fairview," he laughed, his beard icy from the cold. The pleasure in his voice cold me that he wasn't kidding.

Later that day I had dinner with ABE JANZEN, the Director of the Northern Region for Fairview College. He had driven 4 hours south from his home in High Level to take part in the College's PD Days. I had never met Abe but had enjoyed our numerous telephone conversations. We sat by the window, keeping an eye on the drifting snow outside as Abe drew an intriguing and colourful picture of the North, a picture which always seemed to revolve around people.

Abe believes in people - their ability to learn and their ability to teach. "So much of what we do in adult education in the North is just people helping people. 'Doing unto others', reaching out, showing that we care. In a world that is troubled, we tend to forget about the inherent goodness of people, about basic human kindness. I believe it's still there; we have to draw on that and build on that."

Crossing the road to attend an evening workshop at the College, Abe told me that he would soon be leaving the North. He and his wife and two children would be moving to Bolivia next May to work with the Mennonite Central Committee. Having just met Abe, I could well imagine how much he will be missed by the people in Alberta's northern communities.

Part of the attraction of the Fairview College Professional Development Days is the Board of Governor's Ball. It snowed heavily all day Saturday. At the evening Reception people were swapping stories about the difficulties they'd had getting to Fairview and checking with each other to make sure that all their colleagues had arrived safely.

During dinner, awards were given out to Fairview College staff for long service and special recognition. Fred Trotter, President of the College, read half-way through his well-prepared speech then put the pages aside and said, "Oh, to hell with it. I just want you all to know that I'm damn proud of you." The resounding applause and the smiles on the faces of the 400 people in the room indicated deep appreciation for the President's simple honesty.