In Ann Kitching’s April Road house, a place she has called home for the past 40 years, the phone rings constantly.
Visitors drops in daily to her “Chimney House,” so named for the long, white vertical pipe that rises from her living room fireplace — a house she added on as soon as she moved in.
On a table close to where she enjoys the view of the Port Moody Inlet, there’s a gift of white orchards, a sign of appreciation for all her years of service and dedication to the community.
It’s a home filled with love and, soon, a place where she will have to leave.
Penelope “Ann” Kitching has cancer.
She was given four to six months to live “and that was five months ago,” she said.
Doctors diagnosed her with colon cancer at first. Then, other illnesses followed. She had the necessary treatments and, today, is on a host of medications including morphine.
Her humour is still sharp, though, and she is well enough to accept invitations and well-wishes from what she describes as “an unbelievable collection of friends.”
“I think I am the luckiest person in the world,” she said. “If I knew dying was this much fun then I would have died earlier.”
Educated in Salisbury, England, the mathematician, former college administrator and Port Moody Freedom of the City recipient has a bucket list she’s checking off before she leaves this Earth.
Last week, Kitching got one item accomplished when she gave Mayor Mike Clay and city council an earful about the state of the City of the Arts, a term she and Elizabeth Keurvorst — Port Moody’s former director of communications and culture — coined about 15 years ago, when Joe Trasolini was mayor.
The brand, which was trademarked on June 16, 2004, was aimed at sparking creativity and tourism — in essence, a way to honour the numerous artists and artisans working in the community.
“We wanted to make Port Moody different from Burnaby and Coquitlam,” she said. “We wanted to try to keep Port Moody as a unique city and make the arts and culture an economic driver.”
In its first year as the City of the Arts, handpainted street banners went up, she said. And soon, welcome signs were erected at the city borders to announce Port Moody as the “City of the Arts.”
But after that, the campaign fell flat.
And, at last Tuesday’s city council meeting, Kitching voiced her frustration about the lip service and lack of leadership from the municipality.
She waved her city key before them.
“I had expected it to continue and for the city to build on it,” she told The Tri-City News last Friday, “but it was a hit and miss…. No one was given the responsibility to keep it as the City of the Arts.”
(Requests for comment from Mayor Clay were not returned).
As president of the Port Moody Arts Centre Society, Kitching tried to do her part over the years.
She and volunteers launched the Wearable Arts awards, an event to encourage local, Canadian and international artists of all mediums to design imaginative creations for the human body.
As well, she was a member of numerous civic committees, offering direction to council on how to boost the arts while connecting the community.
For the city’s 100th year in 2013 — the same year Clay granted her the key to the city — she and some 400 volunteers helped to stitch a quilt, showing landmarks and historical places (the artwork is now on permanent display at city hall).
“That’s the sort of thing I had hoped we would continue,” Kitching said, “because we have so much spirit here. I have been on committees and task forces. There have been charrettes. There have been thousands of hours of planning and hundreds of ideas. Nothing happens.”
Still, despite her disappointment, she doesn’t believe the brand is a lost cause.
Kitching has rallied developers of new oceanfront properties to incorporate public art or other architectural designs on their land (she cites the example of the Dancing House in Prague).
And she has made it known her desire to see “an easy, cheap and impressive” project for Christmas, one that would band all ages and give residents a sense of belonging.
She wants them to hang an ornament or two along St. Johns or Clarke streets in Moody Centre to give it a bit of sparkle.
“It doesn’t seem to me that it would be difficult to do,” she said.
As for other items on her bucket list, Kitching will soon realize another dream of seeing her fibre arts exhibited in a public gallery.
A few of her pieces will be on display at Art 4 Life, a show at the Port Moody Arts Centre that opens Oct. 1 to coincide with Culture Days.
In the end, she believes she will have accomplished most — if not, all — of her dying wishes.
Kitching said her daughter and granddaughter will inherit her beloved home and belongings, including her cat.
And, for her final days, she plans to receive palliative care down the hill at the Inlet Centre Hospice, which is run by the Crossroads Hospice Society, in the city she so dearly loves.
“When I’m ready, I think I’ll just pop down to the family room there to have a cup of tea,” she said with a smile.
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@jwarrenTC
