The Riverview woman known locally as

A4

by Hanne Armstrong
This Week Staff

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In 1954, a young woman named Marian spent her first leave after basic training at the Canadian Forces Base in St. Jean, Quebec, in Montreal. A reporter friend of hers was acquainted with Oscar Peterson, and took Marian to a club where the jazz great was playing. Peterson then invited the pair to listen in on an after-closing jam session.

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Photo Contributed

Marian Zaichowski after receiving the Silver Wolf award in 2007. The award is given for service of the most exceptional character, normally of national importance, and is the highest national honour for volunteerism in Scouting.

Photo Contributed

Marian Zaichowski has devoted over 50 years to the Scouting movement, among other amazing accomplishments.

"That jam session is one of the two outstanding highlights of my life," reminisces Marian Zaichkowski.

At Mount Allison University's spring convocation of 2007, a 75-year-old woman named Marian, legally blind, stepped up to receive her Bachelor's degree. All the professors stood up and clapped, and soon the entire audience was on its feet, in recognition of what Marian had accomplished.

"That was my 15 minutes of fame," quips Marian, "and the second outstanding highlight of my life. All my six children were there, and I really felt a terrific sense of accomplishment."

Marian's varied life started in her hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a teenager she was, for a short time, a magician's assistant. When the local Cub pack was short a leader, Marian volunteered.

Not in the Scouting movement herself, she was made an honorary Rover so she could perform her duties. In one way or another, Marian has been involved with scouting ever since.

"Now I'm the Assistant Commissioner for the Provincial Scouting Council of New Brunswick," Marian explains, "and I'm on the International Relations Committee for Scouts Canada.

"Scouting became important to me soon after I first volunteered in Winnipeg. It's like a huge family, no matter where you go you're welcomed, anywhere in the world."

Marian has been honoured with the Silver Wolf and the Silver Moose awards, which are the highest honours nationally and provincially for volunteers in the Scouting movement. All of Marian's children have university degrees, as does husband Wally, whom she met at Camp Bordon outside Ottawa.

Marian herself had her Grade 10 plus several courses at Université de Moncton through Atlantic Lotto, where she was one of the first employees, before they even had furniture.

"I saw a Mount Allison ad for continuing education courses in Moncton," she recalls, "I was bored, so I decided to sign up."

Only a few months into her university education, Marian was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, which has left her able to see only a few feet straight ahead of her.

"I can see up, down, and sideways, but ahead is just a thick fog," she relates. "It was very hard for the first several months, but I have equipment now that allows me to see my computer screen, and enlarges books onto a screen for me.

"I miss some things very much, like the independence of being able to drive, and curling up with a book."

Not content with one degree, Marian is in her second year of work towards an Honours Degree from Mount Allison, where, she says, the professors have been wonderfully helpful and supportive.

"All in all, I love life," she says. "And I love people. The only things I don't like are people feeling sorry for me, and being told I'm an inspiration."