Since 2012, the last Tuesday of November has been pegged as the one day of each year when people should think about giving rather than shopping, as they are so strenuously encouraged to do on the last Friday of the month via Black Friday promotions.
It’s not necessarily easy to switch one’s mindset from expecting a physical object in exchange for doling out our often hard-earned money. But the rewards of donating to a charitable organization, or of simply helping a neighbour are just as tangible — even without considering the income tax benefits of donating to registered charities.
Many people on Salt Spring and the other Gulf Islands are concerned about climate change, species loss and environmental degradation, but are not sure how to have impact as one individual.
Contributing to important land conservation campaigns currently underway on three islands is one way to make a real difference.
The largest — undertaken by the Nature Conservancy of Canada — will preserve a whopping 400 acres of south-end land off Reginald Hill. The four lots in question are especially valuable because they connect to other conserved lands, preserving wildlife corridors and more. As of last week, the remaining funds needed were approximately $500,000. If added to the recent successful Salt Spring Community Park campaign that saw 75 acres of Mount Maxwell land purchased, the Reginald Hill acquisition would make 2022 a banner year for conservation on Salt Spring.
On Pender Island, the Pender Islands Conservancy and Raincoast Conservation Foundation have gathered more than 84 per cent of the $2.1-million needed to save the 45-acre KELA_EKE Kingfisher Forest. An anonymous donor is matching all amounts given by a Dec. 31 deadline, so that goal is in sight with a final financial push.
And just announced last week is the need for the last $50,000 to save the 78-acre Mount Fisher Bluffs on Saturna Island by the end of the year in a campaign undertaken by The Nature Trust of B.C.
Of course any number of worthy charitable groups on the islands can benefit from donations at this or any other time of year (with some of them described in articles in this week’s paper).
Without a doubt, your choices and donated dollars can and do have a tangible, measurable impact.
As the first significant snowstorm of the season receded from Salt Spring this week, islanders began digging out and schedules returned to normal.
All told, the two-part, multi-day storm — which began with swift wet flurries on Tuesday, Nov. 29, took a break and then returned on Friday night — dropped as much as 10 centimetres on some parts of the island, with slippery conditions sending vehicles off roadways as crews worked to clear snow and restore power.
While snow stacked up Tuesday afternoon, Gulf Islands Secondary School’s water taxi students left early to beat forecasted heavy winds, and SD64’s transportation department made the call to shift their buses to “main roads only” protocol. That meant amending or eliminating several bus routes to focus on getting as many students as close to home as possible along the island’s “backbone” roadways. Remaining school buses were packed, and staff at several schools said many caregivers picked up students early — particularly those who knew access to their own homes was deteriorating quickly.
By that time, “main roads only” had gone into effect for Salt Spring Transit as well. Assistant manager Brad Bunyan said while they had some of their “best and most veteran” drivers working and were able to continue through the afternoon, by 6 p.m. conditions had become so poor that evening bus service was suspended altogether.
“Our amazing drivers were up to keep going, but due to the inclement weather, and our large rural situation, sometimes the roads just become less than safe for the bus and passengers,” said Bunyan. “We haven’t seen roads this wet and icy in a long time, so it was deemed too dangerous to keep driving even on the main roads.”
Emcon’s work to maintain access along major roadways during Tuesday’s storm — and the speed with which they made roads passable as the snowfall eased — is credited with a return to nearly normal service Wednesday morning for most school and transit buses.
“By 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, almost everything was fully drivable,” said Bunyan. “There were a few side roads we couldn’t get to right away, but for the most part we barely lost any routing on Wednesday.”
The slow-moving storm gradually knocked out power — temporarily — for more than 2,000 customers on Salt Spring, and thousands more on nearby islands, although Pender and Galiano islanders seemed to be the hardest hit. Most lights were back on within a few hours, but some pockets lost electricity nearly overnight — and some more than once. Crews on Galiano worked during the storm’s second wave Friday to restore service to some 900 customers — who had previously lost power for five hours Tuesday night — until 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
“At the peak we had about 7,000 customers out in the Gulf Islands,” said BC Hydro community relations manager Ted Olynyk, who said the crews deserved praise but Mother Nature’s help was also appreciated.
“At the end of the day, it’s always up to her. She’s in charge,” said Olynyk.
BC Hydro officials said the snow gradually weighed down trees and branches, many of which were already weakened by a series of fall windstorms, until they contacted lines and equipment — often well after the snowfall had begun to subside.
“Unlike a windstorm, snowstorms can often mean large but slower-paced outages as snow takes time to accumulate on vegetation,” read an operational update. “That is why outage numbers spiked after the storm seemed to have passed in some areas.”
Bandemonium Concert Band and Swing Shift Big Band are combining forces to present a concert titled Let’s Try This Again, set for Saturday, Dec. 3 at ArtSpring.
After two years of concert cancellations, the bands are thrilled to once again rehearse regularly in their new home, a dedicated community music room in the Capital Regional District’s centre at SIMS, and even more thrilled to present a back-to-normal indoor concert.
A very eclectic program, sprinkled with a few seasonal favourites, includes music by Leroy Anderson, Gustav Holst, Benny Goodman, Andre Jutras, Sammy Nestico, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Duke Ellington and more. Guest artists include Yael Wand singing two big band classics, and Brandon Bronson performing a xylophone feature.
Bandemonium’s and Swing Shift’s current music directors, Wendy and Derrick Milton, are the cofounder’s of the Bandemonium Music Society. The society’s two bands have been providing an opportunity for community music making for almost 30 years. New members are always welcome. This concert will be Wendy’s last performance as music director. A new music director will be announced in the new year.
The Christmas season is well underway on Salt Spring Island, with the island’s Chamber of Commerce helping everyone get into the spirit of the holidays with several special events.
The first was the Light-up in Centennial Park event, which saw a crowd enjoy hot chocolate and treats, carolling and a search for a golden candy cane, giving the finder — five-year-old Lotus — the honour of flicking the switch to turn on the lights in the park trees.
This Friday, Dec. 2, the Love-Local Winter-Wander sees stores open late and a fun Shopping Passport available for a chance to win some great prizes. People need to collect a stamp from three of four “shopping districts” between 5 and 9 p.m. on Friday and drop off the passport at the Visitor Centre by 10 p.m.
Also now underway is the Glowtini Contest and the Window Decorating Contest, with winners determined by online votes in both cases. The websites give details about who has entered for judging purposes.
Allison Therese Marr (Nee Currie) passed away November 17, 2022 after a 6 month battle with Melanoma. Born and raised in Victoria BC and a graduate of the University of Victoria, Allison was predeceased by her parents, Robert and Anne Currie. Moving to Salt Spring in 2009, Allison ran her project management and design company creating beauty for many satisfied clients. Simply put, Allison was a dynamo. She excelled at everything she did: buying and renovating homes, catching wind on her kite board, cycling long distance and both competing and winning at every sport one can play on a court. She was courageous, witty, wickedly intelligent with an endless kindness and thirst for life.
Thank you to the BC Cancer Centre, the Royal Jubilee Hospital, the Lady Minto Hospital and the various paramedics we met along the way. A special thanks to Dr Holly Slakov and nurse Israel who restored the power and dignity taken from Allison by this illness. Before her passing, she asked that I include a poem I had written for her about loss. She will be deeply missed.
I once believed that time could cure any pain of the heart. If enough seasons passed and prayers were spoken, the sting would leave as you did today. Even the simple memories of all those moments we shared sit in my stomach like a knife. Still and cold and ready to pierce my insides if I breathe.
But your image, who you were, who you were forced to become hang like a noose around the neck. Guilty only of wanting time. How much loss can one person swallow and you and I endure. How many things in this cruel world have the strength to break twice? I squeeze your ring in my hand. It feels real there somehow, absolute, like a secret we share. Tucked away with what it means to be a friend. A companion. For me, the one who survived.
Even on opposite sides of suffering, I saw you as an equal. A sister. But the question remains and will all the rainy days of my life, was it enough?
What would it be like to talk once more, as we had countless times. I carry that wonder in my thoughts and the creases of my heart. And in this moment, as you lie forever still, I am humbled. Not by the force of life and death but by your hope of being seen. I saw you.
Nothing is more tedious than the infinite sound of silence and one wisdom I know is that we are far more than the thoughts we have and the words we speak. My other “wisdoms” I will keep to myself.
And like the fettered tie of the sun and the moon, our paths tracked each other. With the cracks in this brutal truth drawing marks between our lives.
My truth? The lines of your face will never fade. From dawn to black, as the sand calls home the tide and in the vastness of eternity, I will remember you. Just a girl, as I am just a girl, your hand placed in my hand.
I hear your voice even now and see the light in your blue eyes. So take this rest, my dearest, dearest friend, for it only comes once. Love Kelly
Salt Spring has an opportunity to preserve 400 acres of rare Coastal Douglas-fir forest with existing trails and connection to other important and well-loved protected lands.
Only $500,000 is left to raise for a $7-million purchase of the “Reginald Hill” acquisition. The preservation project is being undertaken by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).
Lesley Neilson, communications director for the NCC in B.C., said it is rare to have an opportunity to protect such a large chunk of land in the Gulf Islands or southern Vancouver Island.
“That the family had kept it intact, and now are very supportive of this conservation outcome, is just the best of what we all want,” said Neilson.
Many people know about and use the existing trails, although the NCC stresses people should not trespass on what is still private property.
Charles Kahn, author of Hiking the Gulf Islands, called the parcel one of the “most beautiful, environmentally sensitive and historically interesting” pieces of land on Salt Spring Island.
“It has extensive wetland, endangered species, incredible 180-degree views, and a wonderful network of trails on old logging roads,” said Kahn. “It is land that has been protected for many years by its limited access and the owners’ reluctance to part with it. NCC’s intention to buy it preserves one of the last of the island’s uplands, from development and for the public.”
Neilson said one of the exciting things about this project is that once the land becomes a conservation area, then the trails will be open for everyone to enjoy as part of a wider recreational area.
“Because it connects to the little regional park and other trails, I think it’s going to be such a great addition to where you can go walk on the island,” said Neilson.
NCC fundraising materials describe the parcel as having dense forest, open meadows, pockets of ancient Douglas-fir, arbutus and Garry oak, “harbouring many plants and animals that rely on this unique ecosystem for survival.”
Species at risk identified on the site include band-tailed pigeon, common nighthawk, olive-sided flycatcher, northern pygmy owl, western screech owl, common sharp-tailed snake, northern red-legged frog, propertius duskywing, ribbed vertigo (snail) and batwing vinyl lichen.
The property was selectively logged in the 1940s, and some “eco-forestry” was undertaken in the 1990s.
“Despite past use, the ecosystem continues to support a thriving diversity of wildlife typically found in Coastal Douglas-fir forests,” according to the NCC. “Conserving this forest will allow it to continue to mature and build old-growth characteristics over the coming centuries.”
The NCC said one of the property’s prime values is that it is “largely surrounded by undeveloped land, including conservation covenants to the southeast, de facto protected properties to the east and reserve lands administered by the Tsawout First Nation Lands Department to the south.”
Neilson said the NCC is pleased with fundraising results so far and hopes the public will help the conservancy gather the final $500,000.
“We knew that there was going to be a lot of support for protecting this beautiful forest,” she said.
The fundraising deadline is Jan. 31, 2023. Donations — which are tax receiptable — can be made online through a portal for this project. For more information or alternate ways to donate, email bcoffice@natureconservancy.ca.
The MV Mayne Queen is retiring after 57 years in our waters, 40 of them serving the Outer Gulf Islands. Our request to BC Ferries and her crews — to have a chance to say a fond and respectful goodbye and not have her just disappear — was warmly met.
Last Sunday, Nov. 20 she came to Saturna, engines throbbing their familiar tones, whistle sounding, flags flying, seagulls and cormorants flapping and flying off of the wing walls as she gently came into the slip. That day, she pulled into all of her daily ports of call to meet her cheering fans on Pender, Mayne, Galiano and Saturna islands as she did her “bon voyage tour.”
She was captained by Capt. Sam McCandlish and all the crew from “B” watch sailing with retired long-serving captains and crew members who wanted to take a last sail, and Senior Capt. Ryan East. She was met at every port by a large crowd of well-wishers who came to pay their respects for her splendid, utterly dependable service across 40 years. All declare her to be a classy, fast, reliable, maneuverable ferry — low-profiled, excellently engineered, easy to handle for our inland waters with big tides and winter south-east gales. She often makes up time on her schedules for her other slower partners. Islanders who know her thank her crews — well trained and capable — who have become like family. There are many stories of crews going above and beyond the demands of their job to help islanders. Their friendliness mirrors that of the ship they sailed on. As one crew member told an islander, “We choose to work on this ferry.”
BC Ferries Capt. Sam McCandlish on the bridge of the Mayne Queen. (Photo by Priscilla Ewbank)
We are all proud of Captain Sam, who got her captain certification papers while working on the Mayne Queen as first mate.
We, on Saturna, view her as “our” boat. She has served us for almost half a century. We’re the first islanders on at 6 in the morning and the last off on her fourth run of the day before she returns to Swartz Bay. We figure in her 40 years she has done about 40,000 runs up Navy Channel to Lyall Harbour. Day in and day out, she takes us off island to town or away, and then always brings us home. Once aboard you really are already at home.
Many of us have grown up with her, arriving with our dreams and plans, ready to make a life, have families, make our way in already well-established island communities. And we learned and our plans shifted and changed as we saw the island had her own rhythms, one of which was the lifeline of our ferry.
As one of our three ticket agents, Ingrid Gaines, said, “I think it is hard to explain the emotion the Mayne Queen evokes in so many of us here on Saturna, but love her we do.”
Ingrid and many other Saturna Islanders came home, as newborns, on the Mayne Queen with parents who had moved to the islands at some earlier time. The Mayne Queen has served generations of islanders old and new. She is part of our identity, a common thread. We all travel on the Mayne Queen. We all come home on the Mayne Queen.
Saturna Islanders bring a banner onto the Mayne Queen during the celebration at Lyall Harbour on Nov. 20.
Every islander on Saturna has a Mayne Queen story. Every islander knows when they arrived on Saturna and what their thoughts were at the time. I have heard again and again, “I got off the Mayne Queen and I knew I was home.” The funny thing is that as I got to know islanders from other islands, they said the same thing about Pender, Mayne and Galiano.
“We were regular summer visitors . . . we hated at the end of summer to take the September Labour Day ‘loser’ boat back home!”
“The ferry was just pulling out . . . and the ferry lady called her back and said, ‘You get one of these in a lifetime!’”
“My mom came down the ramp with my back pack and the ferry guy said, ‘Throw it on.’ I could have died!”
In the 1970s, a sign in the MQ ladies bathroom: “Do not wash your hair in the sink! If you do, clean up after!”
So many stories for each generation. She sailed into the rhythm of our individual lives and the collective heart of our community.
Besides us islanders and visitors, the Mayne Queen has taken and brought everything that we want for our businesses, services and connection to families and friends. The Mayne Queen in her years of service has worked to accommodate changes in population and the habits of islanders. The General Store truck goes in twice a week for supplies, as does the pub truck, and then there is recycling, garbage, construction materials, the mail, our Saturna Ecological Education Centre students, all of the gravel and vehicles for roads maintenance, the Victoria health care vaccination squad, our doctor and medications, BC Hydro when the power goes out and for new installations, bottles for the winery, logging trucks, our fire and ambulance vehicles for upgrades and inspections, and on and on. For two months she carried monolithic trucks and their trailers full of boulders, gravel and giant culverts to fix the destroyed parts of Saturna’s roads. This is what you call a lifeline; this is another part of our gratitude.
In the Mayne Queen we know we had a classy boat. Bone simple and plain, it was built in 1964 at Victoria Machinery depot with her two sister ships — the Bowen Queen and Powell River Queen — easy to repair and get parts. The “sisters” are some of the longest serving ferries in the fleet. No tinted windows, no TVs, no mini mall, no cafeteria — she’s sized and scaled to fit the inland waters. Close to the sea, you can see her bow wave curling through the gunwale holes as you get into your car, the sea gulls on the driftwood, the glorious summer sunsets as she glides down Navy Channel in the long summer evenings or the sun rises over Mount Baker in the spring and summer dawns.
Saturna truly turned out for her royal send-off party. We figure 125 to 150 out of a winter time population of about 300-plus. Only something of the magnitude of the Mayne Queen leaving could have gotten so many islanders down to the dock, determined to be a part of an appreciative and loving farewell. Eighty-nine-year-old Bettianne Hayward and all of her grown children and their kids, to 14-month-old Isla Foster of the Blackhall clan, to Jacques and Nan Campbell who were born to parents who came to the island between 1935 and 1948, and all the rest of us.
We could see her coming down Navy Channel, the eight-foot banner was unfurled and held high! “Thank you, Mayne Queen for 57 years of Splendid Service.” Islanders streamed up to see the wheelhouse and to tour the immaculate giant engine room with the generators and the four Z-drives at each corner. Then we came down to the empty car deck and shouted a rousing “Hip Hip Hooray,” shared our two celebratory sheet cakes — baked on Saturna — and sang along with a song our musical neighbours had written for the occasion to the tune of John Denver’s Leavin’ on a Jet Plane:
Oh, the ramp is up and she’s ready to go, our hearts are heavy and our spirits low
We hate to say goodbye to our old friend
‘Cause she’s leavin’, yes, the Mayne Queen’s leavin’, she won’t be back again
Oh, how we hate to see her go!
Singing of a special song for the Mayne Queen before cakes were cut on deck.
Captain Sam called over the loud speaker “Time to depart!” And she left, flags flying, whistle blowing, she had a schedule to keep! Other islanders waiting!
So many rich island stories of marine rescues and standbys, of births and homecomings — funny and sad, for every day and on special days.
MV Mayne Queen comes into port at Lyall Harbour on Saturna Island during a “farewell tour” for the BC Ferries vessel on Nov. 20. (Photo by Nettie Adams)
Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) swimmers spent two weekends last month in heavy competition, first against the other schools from Vancouver Island in mid-October, and last weekend testing our mettle against all the best representatives from every high school in British Columbia.
After coming together to form our team in the first weeks of school, our high school team worked through the typical high intensity level of the season — with some swimmers training six times a week from early September to mid-November, starting before the sunrise twice a week, and always finishing after sunset. Although this workout regimen can prove difficult to follow with the demands of homework, after-school jobs and other sports, we had a full pool at almost every swim, and rapid growth in strength and ability was noted.
On Oct. 22, all the schools from Vancouver Island gathered in Nanaimo at the Aquatic Centre to qualify the best swimmers in the region for the provincial championships. GISS typically sends one of the bigger and stronger swim teams to this meet, and this year was no exception. With 17 competing swimmers working in up to four events each, every single swimmer placed high enough in at least one race to qualify for provincials — with several swimmers doing well in multiple disciplines.
Of note, a few swimmers qualified in all four events they swam, which can be a very rare occurrence. Elyse Walsh, Zoe Sanchez-Wickland and Druehn Pinney all qualified for that maximum level of competition, and overall GISS finished with the second highest number of provincial competitors, only trailing Nanaimo District Secondary as the strongest island representative.
Weeks later, the provincialists from all over B.C. met for the championship meet in Richmond on Nov. 18 and 19. GISS had our 17 swimmers competing in 18 races (eight relay teams and 10 individual events), making us one of the more visible teams in the meet. Competing at provincials among several hundred swimmers tends to lead to a very chaotic atmosphere and a very busy stressful location, and having so many swimmers in an enclosed space makes for a challenging pool to swim in, due to the extra heat and humidity. Despite these challenges, our swimmers persevered and swam well, with three qualifying to swim in medal competition on Saturday, and five others swimming for top 16 provincial placement.
After all the damp dust had settled, GISS ended up with four top-10 finishes. In the girls medley relay, Nina De Roo, Mia Kerrigan, Elyse Walsh and Zoe Sanchez-Wickland finished 10th overall, and the same team placed fifth in the girls 100-m freestyle relay. Our mixed-medley relay, consisting of De Roo and Kerrigan joining forces with Pinney and Matthias Woodley, placed eighth after a long delay got in the way of race preparation.
Our highest achievement came with Pinney missing the podium by 0.11 seconds, finishing fourth in boys 50-m backstroke. When all the other finishes were tabulated and points were totalled, the GISS boys ranked 13th among all AA schools in the province, the GISS girls ranked seventh of all AA schools, and overall we finished 31st against the biggest and most powerful swimming academies in B.C.
Enormous thanks go to coaches India Hayden and Aiden Otsubo-Papp, who dedicated huge amounts of time and energy to give back to the program and move themselves from swimmers to coaches in a most selfless way. As the teacher-sponsor for the swim team, I am so constantly proud of the effort and humility shown by the swim team, and consider them the most deserving athletes of praise, in the least visible sport offered.
We are provincially recognized as excellent swimmers and representatives of our community, and this happens due to the efforts and overall niceness of the swim team year in and year out.
Congratulations to Kerrigan, Nina De Roo, Kiran Pillay and Emma Lizotte as graduating swimmers who did us proud in effort and leadership, and here’s looking forward to next year!
Stephen Hawking said “disability need not be an obstacle to success.” But if you ask any person with a disability if their world is full of obstacles, they will surely say yes. But they’ll also tell you, that like Stephen Hawking, they charge ahead.
There are 11 adults with developmental disabilities who charge ahead with the help of GIFTS. The society was started in 2001 by families to make sure their sons and daughters were able to fully participate in our community. We are blessed with wonderful staff and a dedicated board of directors and parents who go above and beyond. Our vision is to create opportunities, foster independence and inclusion. Funding is provided through Community Living BC and the generosity of individuals and local foundations.
Support workers help our participants engage in the activities they choose. That might be swimming and golf in the Special Olympics. It might be working at Country Grocer or Thrifty’s. And then there are the dances, the art classes, the sing-alongs and courses at UVic.
Al Etmanski is a well-known parent activist for disability rights and a recipient of the Order of Canada. He encourages all of us to make our world more inclusive for anyone with a disability. On Dec. 3, let’s pause and ask how inclusive is our community? How easy is it get around Ganges in a wheelchair? If you had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, could you find employment at a living wage? Would there be supportive housing for your child, when you could no longer provide care?
On Dec. 3, let’s all of us do one small thing. Make a donation! Write a letter advocating for accessible sidewalks and supportive housing. Volunteer! And remember that every small action is a step toward a more inclusive Salt Spring Island.
Grammy-winning musician John Reischman brings his old master’s sense of tone, taste and musicality, along with his global reputation as one of the finest mandolinists of his era, to fans of folk, bluegrass and old-time swing on Sunday, Dec. 4 at ArtSpring.
Also known as a composer, bandleader, and musical educator, Reischman continues to explore the frontiers of this exciting genre of music in fresh ways. Since emerging from the vibrant “new acoustic” bluegrass scene of the Bay Area in the 1980s, he is now reaching new generations with his signature style.
His latest CD, New Time & Old Acoustic, blends a lifetime of musical influences into an engaging recording with some of today’s top acoustic guitar, fiddle and bass players. The album includes 12 new Reischman originals and a reinterpretation of his classic tune Salt Spring.
Salt Spring, along with many of Reischman’s melodic mandolin tunes like Little Pine Siskin and Birdland Breakdown, have been adopted by the bluegrass community as standards across the continent.
In addition to his solo career, as leader of John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Reischman has toured extensively throughout North America and abroad for two decades, showcasing a uniquely Pacific Northwest sound. They have two Juno-award nominations for best performances in the Roots and Traditional category and have released seven albums during their 20-year tenure.
Sunday’s performance is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale through ArtSpring.
