Paula White
Northern News Services

INUVIK (July 23/99) - It wasn't the breathtaking scenery, the wildlife or a love of the great outdoors that prompted Capt. Art Lindop to take his vacation in the North this summer.

It was an old church and a bottle of water.

"It's an interesting little story," commented Lindop, who is from Burlington, Ont.

It all began with a promise made long ago by Lindop to his grandchildren. He told them he would take each of them on the trip of their choice when they reached their 10th birthday. The first trip was to the west coast with the eldest granddaughter. One of the mementos she brought home with her was a jar of water from the Pacific Ocean.

The next granddaughter decided for her trip she wanted a bottle of water from the Atlantic Ocean. Off they went. This year, it was 10-year-old Gavin Clow's turn. He made the logical choice to get a jar of water from the Arctic Ocean.

"Smart kid," Lindop laughed. He then explained that to prepare for their trips, each grandchild had to do extensive reading on the area of their choice. They were then tested on this knowledge by Lindop.

"This way, they're building a knowledge of Canada," he said. "Now Gavin's up on this. The first thing I said to him when we left Edmonton, ŒOK, we're not going to go any farther. How long is the Mackenzie River?'"

Gavin's choice pleased Lindop in more ways than one. It conjured up some memories of a trip Lindop had made to Aklavik and Inuvik in March of 1958. He was a pilot for the Department of Transportation and his mission was to fly a group of government and military officials to the North.

"In March of 1958, the telecommunication of the Arctic was handed over from the military jurisdiction to the civilian jurisdiction," Lindop said.

The group made several stops along the way, one of which was in Aklavik. While there, Lindop snapped a few photos of dog teams, one of a group of children and one of two ladies (we'll come back to this later). In particular, Lindop was impressed by the Anglican Church and a painting inside of a nativity scene known as the Epiphany of the Snows.

"Isn't that gorgeous?" Lindop said while showing the photos of the painting. "It was painted by an Australian lady...she painted that on the wall."

The group also stopped in Inuvik and Lindop took pictures here as well, including one of Sir Alexander Mackenzie school and the Hudson Bay Company store. He was particularly struck by the concept of buildings being constructed on pilings.

"It had never been done before," Lindop pointed out. "Canada has a lot of firsts, you know."

Lindop returned to Inuvik two more times in the 1960s. He said that during his career with the Royal Canadian Air Force and then the Department of Transportation, he crisscrossed Arctic skies many times. Eventually Lindop became a pilot for Air Canada.

Now retired, Lindop is back again, this time with his wife Barb and grandson Gavin. One of the first things they did when they arrived was fly to Tuktoyaktuk to get the jar of water. One of the last things they did before they left was fly to Aklavik to present the community and the Anglican congregation with the photos and colour slides of the church and the painting of the nativity scene taken long ago by Lindop.

"I have the right to copyright and I'm giving the copyright to the people of Aklavik and the diocese," he said. "Any money derived from the use of these slides is for them."

The photos were of special significance to the congregation because the church, and the famous painting inside it, no longer exist. The church caught fire and burned in 1972. Lindop did not know this before he arrived.

"I had this picture, I wondered if they'd like it. It was sitting in my file somewhere," he said. "Turns out that, my goodness, it's (the church) no longer there."

"It was very well-received," said Rev. Chamberlain Jones, the Anglican Church minister in Aklavik. "People were very happy to see people whom they could recognize in the Œ50s from the slides."

Jones said many of the people were very young at the time the photos were taken and to see the church and the painting again brought back some good memories.

"I think the community and the church community are very well pleased," Jones said. "They enjoyed it."

Lindop and his photos ended up causing quite a stir in Inuvik as well. During an elders' luncheon at the Ingamo Hall Friendship Centre, Lindop unexpectedly found himself guest speaker, where he talked about his trip and showed the photos. Incidentally, remember the photo of the two ladies? That caught the eye of one gentlemen in particular because one of the ladies was his wife.

Lindop and family left Inuvik on July 12. It's a trip they won't soon forget and a trip that many people in Inuvik and Aklavik won't soon forget either.