Santa and his elves save the day
In the late 1990s, I was the principal of Fulford Elementary School in the south end.
One winter afternoon, at about 1:30, an unexpected storm blew in. This was more than a snowfall, it was a blizzard! Within minutes our power was gone (no phone, no water, no toilets flushing) and here we were with a couple of hundred kids and no food.
The buses attempted to get to us but the roads were impassable. We could actually watch the snow get deeper by the minute. We brought all the children into the library and closed the doors to retain heat and read stories to keep them calm but had no idea what we were going to do. A staff member volunteered to slog down to Patterson’s Store through knee-deep snow to try to spread the word to the parents that we were in trouble. Remember — this was the era before cellphones and few people had a four-wheel-drive!
The afternoon was getting on, dusk would soon be upon us and panic had set into my gut, when I heard a far-off noise. The rumble grew louder and louder and louder, so I went to the back door to investigate.
There, before my eyes, appeared Santa Claus and all his elves in the form of Bruce Patterson and an army of bundled-up men. When Bruce heard the trouble we were in, he immediately went into fire chief mode. He got on his emergency radio system and rounded up every guy in Fulford with a four-wheel-drive and the rescue team arrived to save the day!
We quickly divided kids up by neighbourhood and the flotilla of elves did their runs and delivered every child home safely.
And if anyone ever asks? I tell them there truly is a Santa Claus and he has many elves. I know. I met them in real life performing their magic!
Happy Holidays, and may 2025 bring you peace, hope and contentment.
Barb Aust,
Salt Spring
—————————————————————————————————-Pave paradise?
In his Dec. 11 guest column, Eric March claimed there are “no plans to double our population” or “pave paradise.” While that may not be the intent, the outcome could be just that.
Here are some of the recommendations guiding the official community plan (OCP) update: secondary suites and ADUs in all residential zones (with possible strata conversion if detached); conversion of larger acreages to bonus-density strata development in exchange for covenanted land; tiny home villages and tiny home mobile parks; additional dwellings per lot if size is restricted.
Implementation of these open-ended recommendations will require deletion of very specific growth limits in our OCP — to be replaced, no doubt, with vague, unquantified wording as in the draft Islands Trust Policy Statement: “Manage growth by directing residential and mixed-use development into appropriate locations.”
And how many new densities will go to the intended people given that housing agreements are out of favour and real estate prices keep rising? Upzoning private land is not the same as creating homes for islanders.
March’s assertion that there is a “strong anti-housing lobby” on the island is offensive as Trust supporters share his concerns, but want to avoid the destruction of wielding a density shotgun. If I don’t like pineapple pizza, does that mean I am anti-pizza?
Housing is a highly charged issue, and it’s easy to use emotive language to provoke a knee-jerk reaction. But let’s remember that zoning is the key to the vault and the main role of the Islands Trust is to resist the homogenizing trend sweeping the whole region.
The focus must shift to non-market housing such as co-ops, community land trusts and similar projects that guarantee long-term accommodation for target groups. Efforts should also be made to reclaim homes currently left empty or used for investment purposes. Simply calling something a “solution” does not make it thus.
FRANTS ATTORP,
Salt Spring
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Gratitude
I love recycling and it is such a delight when the young man who works at the Rainbow Road recycling depot sees me drive in and comes to carry my bucket filled with assorted recyclables, empties it and brings it back to my car.
Walking with the bucket is very difficult for me and I am extremely grateful and I give him a huge bunch of red roses. Thanks so much for your kindness.
DIANNE PETRIE,
Salt Spring