Eileen Collins
Northern News Services

Hay River (Feb 28/00) - She met her husband after a stock car race and came North with him in 1971, aiming to spend two years.

But now, nearly 30 years later, Eileen Gour has come to love the North -- thanks in part to her many experiences.

"I came for two years. Gee, that's what, 30 years ago? I wish my stocks would work like that, two times 15. Wow!"

Now employed as manager of the Human Resources Development Centre in Hay River, Eileen has lived and worked throughout the North, in Yellowknife, Norman Wells and Inuvik before moving to Hay River.

It is the North's diversity that appeals to her most. Her first exposure to the North came during visits with friends in Hay River.

"We'd go to dances (in Hay River), and one of the things I noticed was there were people of all colours and ages, which was not what you saw down in Northern Alberta," explained Eileen. "I just loved it."

It was her husband, Norman, who brought her North in 1971, leaving their home in Peace River, Alta., to look for work.

She met him after taking a stock car out on the track. Covered with mud and looking like a "backwards raccoon," Eileen had gone over to her best friend's house. Her friend was married to Norman's brother.

"There was this gorgeous guy playing with her baby and here's me all covered in mud. He looked up kind of totally disinterested," she recalled. "It was pretty funny, but I was horrified that anybody should see me like that.

"I promptly went home and showered, made myself beautiful and popped back in on some other excuse and to say 'Hi,' so he could see the real me.

After a couple of weeks, Norman asked her out on a date. She accepted.

"That was it. I broke another date at the last minute to go out with him because it was love at first sight."

They lived in Yellowknife until 1982, and during that time Eileen worked for the territorial government in the accounting department of Social Services, then moved over to Health and Welfare.

She quit to go work for Human Resources in the mid-1970s, as a counsellor and looking after training programs.

A move to Norman Wells came in 1982 and she worked to recruit workers for the expansion project. After two years, she moved North to Inuvik, doing recruiting for Esso in the Beaufort Delta.

"In those times, all the companies, by and large, were from the south and the North was a true mystery. It's very different operating here from their point of view," she said.

"I found that I was able to be the conduit, if you will, between those companies and the community and help them to understand why they couldn't do things the same way and why it was so important that local people got first opportunity.

"I still think that's important. That work still has to go on somewhere."

After six years with Esso and some contract work with Shell, Eileen had to find work when oil and gas exploration dried up.

She found a job as manager of the Human Resources Centre in Inuvik, then moved to the same job in Hay River.

The community had a special place in her heart from her first contact with the town and its people three decades ago.

Eileen goes about her work and her daily life quietly and proficiently. She is best described as a caring, calm and peaceful person. These qualities are balanced by her wit and humour.

Her son, Dustin, is 19 and an apprentice mechanic while her daughter, Carrie, lives in Calgary, working in the film industry.

Norman, now blind and unable to work, remains the love of her life.