Salt Spring Island was temporarily out of all grades of gasoline at both of its gas stations Monday mid-day, with Mid-Island Co-op receiving a refill on a special BC Ferries sailing Monday afternoon.
Co-op general manager Joel Shaver said their expected delivery of gas from Vancouver Island last Thursday did not arrive, due to the cancellation of a dangerous goods sailing from Crofton to Vesuvius Bay.
“Without trucks on Thursday, we would never make it all the way to Monday,” he explained, as storage capacity is limited.
The cancellation was a result of weight restrictions imposed on that route Thursday for safety reasons. A planned inspection at the Crofton ferry terminal mid-day Thursday found two to three dock pilings showing signs of deterioration. Contractors drove new pilings on Saturday and Monday nights to correct the ramp damage.
As a result, commercial vehicles with single axles over 9,100 kilograms and tandem axles over 7,500 kilograms were told to take the alternate Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour route and the dangerous goods sailings on the route last Thursday and this Monday were cancelled.
Noor Sidhu at Ganges Gas said that their gas station received their Wednesday shipment as planned, before the issue with the Crofton dock was discovered. Yet with Co-op running out of gas over the weekend, Ganges Gas ended up with non-stop line ups during the busy weekend with visitors and locals attending the Gulf Islands Secondary School graduation and other events.
It was not possible to sustain the fuel needs of islanders and visitors with one station’s supply alone, and by Monday mid-day both stations were completely out of all grades of gasoline, except for diesel.
The Salt Spring Island Emergency Program urged islanders to limit travel to conserve fuel, and reminded residents to “always maintain a half full tank to be ready for emergencies.”
As of Monday at 4 p.m., Co-op was once again supplying gasoline to the community thanks to a special dangerous goods sailing BC Ferries provided from Swartz Bay to Long Harbour. Ganges Gas is expected to begin pumping gas by Wednesday mid-day, when they receive their regular shipment.
BC Ferries informed travellers that the dock maintenance had been completed and commercial vehicles were once again able to travel on the route as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Service changes are coming to the Salt Spring Island public transportation system, effective June 29.
The Route 9 service to Ruckle Park will start up for the summer, and a number of other routes will be adjusted to meet summer ridership demands and align with ferry schedules. “These changes cause other routes, which do not directly serve the ferry terminals, to be adjusted as well,” a notice from BC Transit stated.
Islands Trust offices on Mayne, North Pender and Saturna will be closing this summer, after the decision was made by Trust Council as part of budget deliberations.
“Staff and trustees will continue to be available for on-island visits by request, or to meet via other means such as phone or video conferencing,” the Trust stated.
The Saturna office will close June 1, followed by the Mayne office on July 1. The North Pender office will close August 1.
The office on Denman Island will also be closed as of July 1.
No staff use these offices permanently, instead they are for planners to use when meeting with trustees and others on the islands. The office closures were one of several cost saving measures decided on as part of Trust Council’s approval of the Trust’s 2022-23 budget. The budget was reduced by $12,300 for the four offices to be closed, the Trust’s communications specialist Tara Todesco confirmed.
“Those are the walk in offices that we use for planners to come meet yourselves and others,” the Trust’s chief administrative officer Russ Hotsenpiller explained at a March 10 presentation of a revised budget, which followed Trust Council’s direction to whittle down the budget from $9.51-million to $9.1-million before approval. “So we close those offices and then have the commensurate cleaning and upkeep cost being reduced as well.”
A weight restriction imposed on the Crofton – Vesuvius Bay ferry route has been lifted, after contractors worked over the weekend to repair pilings found to be deteriorated.
The condition of two to three dock pilings at the Crofton ferry terminal found during a routine inspection June 16 halted larger commercial traffic to the island and led to the cancellation of the weekly dangerous goods sailing.
BC Ferries stopped commercial vehicles from boarding the ferry after the damage to the dock was discovered June 16, with a first service notice at 11:40 a.m. stating that no vehicles over 5,500 kilograms could travel on the Crofton to Vesuvius Bay route. A 1 p.m. notice expanded the ability of the route to carry vehicles weighing under 13,500 kilograms. On June 17, the weight limitation was changed to vehicles with single axles no heavier than 9,100 kilograms each and tandem axles no heavier than 7,500 kilograms each.
Commercial vehicles above those weight limitations were advised to take an alternate route on the Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour ferry. The Quinsam continued its regular schedule between Crofton and Vesuvius Bay, yet the dangerous goods sailing on that route was cancelled as most vehicles on that sailing are over the weight limit.
“Dangerous goods customers were notified and will be rescheduled on the dangerous cargo sailings next week,” executive director of public affairs Deborah Marshall explained via email.
BC Ferries stated that on Friday and Saturday contractors would be driving new piles adjacent to the existing ones to rectify the issue.
The weight restriction was lifted for the first sailing on Sunday, June 19.
Brenda Guiled hopes the stories of cyclists who have suffered grave consequences as a result of accidents on Salt Spring roads will convince the province to act on local cycling infrastructure.
The Road Smarts video featuring a group of Salt Spring Island cyclists, is an effort to lobby the province’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to widen the shoulders on the major roads between Vesuvius Bay and Fulford Harbour ferry terminals. Consistently widening the shoulders with 1.2 metres of paved surface for cyclists on Vesuvius Bay, Upper Ganges and Fulford-Ganges roads would also complete the trail network known informally as the Salish Sea Trail Network connecting trails throughout the Capital Regional District including the Galloping Goose and Lochside trails.
Salish Sea Trail Network map.
The province’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming and Minister of Health Adrian Dix have received letters introducing them to the Road Smarts video, which details near misses, harrowing accidents and lifelong consequences for local cyclists.
“Walking-wounded cyclists are among us, often struggling for the rest of their long lives. Families and communities pay a heavy price, too,” Guiled stated.
Guiled has been involved with Island Pathways for close to 17 years, and said she is stepping away from the work to leave room for younger volunteers. Yet she is still involved in getting the Road Smarts video into the hands of politicians.
The idea to record the experiences of cyclists on video came from the late Stan Wharry. Originally she wanted to organize a cycling forum, this being pre-COVID times, and asked Wharry to participate. Having experienced an accident going up the Ganges hill, Wharry agreed to share his story, as did other cyclists. Wharry died before the forum was able to take place, and the idea morphed from a forum into a video where cyclists Blake Gold, Margaretha Nordine, Matthew Salo and John Wakefield shared their stories.
“I felt myself pretty invulnerable up until I had my accident,” said Salo, who was biking daily on Salt Spring before an accident in 2014. The accident was so severe that Salo was airlifted to Victoria, then onto Vancouver, after a hit and run possibly with an SUV. He experienced multiple injuries, including a collapsed lung, broken jaw and injuries to his spinal chord and brain. “They told me, basically, that I was never going to walk again,” he recalled.
Salo has lifelong injuries as a result of the crash. While he can still walk, he uses his sight to guide him as he cannot feel much below the site of his spinal injury and he cannot feel much in his hands either.
“The roads on Salt Spring are pretty miserable, the shoulders are pretty poor and the roads are narrow,” he said, adding that riding alongside vehicles on the road or navigating the changes from bike lanes and wide shoulders to these things disappearing and being replaced by gravel or ditches. “That’s really tough to move out and then move back and move out and move back, and it’s tough on on cars too.”
Gold is a cyclist on Salt Spring and has been since he arrived here in 1995, even despite two “altercations” where vehicles were at fault he said. His first accident resulted in a broken collarbone and his collarbone broke again in the second accident. Gold added his voice to the call for proper bike lanes or wide shoulders that would help local bikers, visiting bikers and drivers.
“I want to say you should come cycle on Salt Spring Island because it’s the most beautiful place in the world to cycle, with our beautiful trees beside the ocean, cafes to drink coffee and people like us here, but we do need it to be a little safer for bicycles, and that’s what I’m here for.”
Nordine, who many a child may know as the “bike lady” due to her bike safety advocacy and as founder of the Helmets for Life program, related her experience of a painful accident where she shattered her pelvis. After her accident she kept biking, because she said “biking was my life, that’s how I went to work.”
“Generally, I love cycling on Salt Spring Island, it’s really a lovely place to ride,” said Wakefield, a resident here since 2000. Yet challenges including undulating curves and blind corners pose a risk to cyclists, pedestrians and drivers.
Wakefield said he’s living proof that cycling on the island can be dangerous, after being hit from behind by a truck. He described being “pitchforked” over a truck and landing on the pavement. “I couldn’t feel my legs, I was screaming and in extreme pain,” he said, showing video viewers the bicycle seat from the accident that was bent sideways and sheared off the seat post.
Wakefield spent over a month in hospital in Victoria, and another month in hospital on Salt Spring, followed by years using crutches, wheelchairs and canes. Wakefield now rides a covered recumbent trike because his injuries do not allow him to ride a regular bicycle.
“These accidents impact everybody, it’s not just the victims that get hurt,” Wakefield said.
Wider shoulders on the main routes, he added, would hopefully reduce the serious injuries to cyclists and pedestrians on the island.
Guiled has also compiled data on known sites where cyclists have been injured on the island since 2002.
“While the highway deficiencies that contributed to their crashes remain unaddressed and ever more cyclists using Salt Spring roads, including more e-bikes, the rate of red markers appearing on this map will increase,” she stated.
bikemaps.org map showing areas where collisions have occurred and hazards exist on Salt Spring.
William Acken, 16, who will spend a few days this July as a trainee sailor in the 2022 Tall Ships Races. (Danielle Acken photo)
William Acken is preparing to partake in an adventure aboard an early 20th century sailing ship, traversing the waters off the coast of the Netherlands and Belgium.
The 16-year-old Salt Spring Island resident plans to pack his violin, his sea shanty repertoire, some linen and wool clothing he has fashioned and a leather-bound notebook as he boards the Morgenster and sails from Harlingen, Netherlands to Antwerp, Belgium in the 2022 Tall Ships Races this July 16 to 24.
What he’s leaving behind to go on this journey is equally important, including the need to be connected to the outside world. There is no WiFi aboard the ship. He also isn’t fussed about whether he’ll be sleeping in a hammock or a bunk or other finer details, which is part of the charm of setting off on such an adventure.
From an early age Acken has been interested in the concept of adventures, first through the pages of the likes of Treasure Island and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and later in a single-handed Laser sailing dinghy around Salt Spring Island.
“The whole idea of getting to go on a boat and sailing off into some horizon is something I’ve always really enjoyed,” he said.
Sailing, which Acken has been doing for around five years now, provides some “overly cinematic moments,” including seals swimming alongside his boat, sea lions making surprise appearances, brilliant sunny days on the water, camaraderie and action.
“[These moments happen] enough that you have enough stories to tell when you get back, so it keeps itself mysterious.”
Acken will likely come back with stories galore after his experience partaking in the 2022 Tall Ships Races. The Morgenster is a traditionally rigged Dutch square sail brig built in 1919 originally as a herring lugger for the den Dulk fishing company. It continued being a fishing vessel for 50 years, after which an alleged pirate owned the vessel before it changed hands again. The ship’s hull measures 25 metres high and 38 metres long. Aboard the ship are 36 trainees and 10 permanent crew.
A website dedicated to the ship states that the Morgenster is a “thoroughbred sail training vessel” where the many sails and running rigging makes collaboration on board “a natural necessity.”
The Tall Ships Races began in 1956, the Windseeker website explains, “to promote international friendship and sail training.” The races require at least half of the trainees on board to be aged between 15 and 25 years old. The experience not only involves sailing, but port events, parades, competitions and fireworks are also planned.
Acken will be a trainee alongside other young people from Belgium, Netherlands, U.K., Ireland, Denmark and other nations. Trainees get to partake in all roles aboard, Acken explained, yet he’s most excited about working the ropes of the Morgenster. Joining a crew, away from the online world, is part of the adventure as is travelling to countries where English is not the dominant language.
When he’s not busy skippering, cooking meals for hungry sailors or being on lookout duty, Acken is set on writing some music.
“A lot of my music taste lies in that traditional folk sea shanty area, so it’ll be nice to get to write with the experience that a lot of those older sailors did when they wrote the music,” said Acken.
He has also heard the captain of the Morgenster is a fan of sea shanties.
Acken is keen to experience the history of the area, in particular pre-industrial times, as well as learning how the vessel operates mechanically.
“What about the boat seems more efficient than modern-day machinery and how we can implement that” is one of the environmental questions he hopes to have answerered aboard the Morgenster. Acken will be commemorating his experience in the “old school” way, writing daily logs in his notebook.
Acken applied for the experience through Sail Training International, where he joined the Dinghy program, which helps trainees raise money for their upcoming experiences. In total, Acken needs to raise circa $9,000 to fund his travels, and he’s around $1,500 short of that goal. He has been reaching out to local businesses for sponsorships and has also started a GoFundMe online fundraiser. Should readers be interested in contributing they can contact Acken at william0james0a@gmail.com.
Bach on the Rock chamber orchestra and choir is closing its season with a concert that celebrates works by female and BIPOC composers who were united by their exploration of the divine.
Pippa Andrew is the group’s guest artistic director who assembled the program called Diverse Voices for Divine Celebration for the Saturday, June 18, 7 p.m. concert at Fulford Hall.
The concert includes the first movement of Novelletten Op. 52 for small orchestra by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was a prolific and esteemed English BIPOC composer who died at the age of 37 in 1912.
Florence Price was the first American BIPOC woman to have her music performed by a major orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered her Symphony in E minor in 1933. BOTR will play the Elaine Fine small orchestra arrangement of Adoration, which was originally composed as a devotional for organ.
The Golden Harp, described by BOTR as “a sublime and transcendent musical work for soloists, choir and orchestra” by American composer Gwyneth Walker is also on the program.
Vocal works by Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704), an Italian Ursuline nun, and one of the most prolific female composers of the 17th century, and by Italian composer and nun Bianca Maria Meda (c.1665-1700) will be performed.
The program will close with Antonio Vivaldi’s beautiful Gloria RV. 589.
“There is significant historical evidence this work was written for performance by the all-female voice choir of Ospedale della Pietà, a prestigious Venetian charitable institution for abandoned girls, where Vivaldi (1678-1741) taught for the majority of his professional career,” states BOTR. “Since its rediscovery in 1926, Gloria RV. 589 has become one of the most loved and regularly performed works of divine celebration in current repertory.”
The concert’s vocal soloists are Gwen Jamieson, soprano; Alana Hayes, mezzo-soprano; and Louis Dillon, baritone.
Andrew is a music teacher, composer, choral and chamber group director originally from the U.K., who now lives in West Vancouver.
Tickets ($25) for the June 18 show are available at bachontherock.com or at the door.
When I took on the job with Salt Spring Island Community Services to work on some special programs for seniors, I had no idea I would be working on a community networking project related to preventing elder abuse, elder neglect and self neglect. Yikes. I was truly surprised at how urgent the problem is.
I myself have experienced ageism in various situations or conversations, usually when I take off my motorcycle helmet on the ferry and my white hair shows!
More seriously, so far I haven’t fallen prey to persuasive scams or family or caregiver violence, but then I am not yet isolated and very vulnerable. I have, however, had to look at my own attitudes about aging. Wow! There is really a cultural stigma to aging, both inside my head and outside. At the same time I know amazing elders everywhere. I understand our vulnerability intersects with our ethnic background, skin colour, disability, sexual orientation, income, gender identity and more. I am a descendent of white settlers and I was given a formal education and thus I carry a lot of privilege in this culture, yet I still feel a lurking unease as I age, countered mostly by a basic “Trust in Life,” along with the support found in talking with family and friends about our mortality.
June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and on this occasion I wanted to share some statIstics. Numbers seem cold and impersonal, yet behind them are real people and “one senior abused is one too many.”
• One in two people are prejudiced against older people (Global Report on Ageism, World Health Organization).
• In Canada, a 2015 study estimated that 7.5 per cent of Canadians 55 and older experienced abuse (Into the Light National Survey on the Mistreatment of Older Canadians, National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly, 2015).
• Women aged 55-64 years comprised the largest proportion of victims of femicide (19%). (Call it Femicide Report, Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, 2020).
• In Ontario, there was a 250 per cent increase in calls to the Seniors Safety Line in 2020 (Assaulted Women’s Help Line, 2021).
The basic human rights of older Canadians are being challenged and undercut every day. It is estimated that one in six seniors globally experience elder abuse. We, as a country, cannot allow this to continue.
Join me and the 80-plus networks in B.C. communities who are creating conversations around elder abuse prevention. The B.C. Association of Community Response Networks (BCCRN) at www.bccrns.ca has great information and resources. Salt Spring Community Services has partnered with the BCCRN, and I was asked to be a local coordinator.
Did you know that Island Health has three designated people authorized to follow up on concerns about elder/adult abuse, neglect or self neglect?
I am learning it takes a local network of people to help spread awareness around what can be done to uphold and protect the rights of older adults in our community.
On the BCCRN website you can “take the pledge” to raise awareness. I did, and now I feel both personally and professionally obligated to submit this piece to the Driftwood. This is my first ever letter to the editor in 73 years. Also, I will have an info table at Country Grocer today (Wednesday, June 15) from 3:30 to 6 p.m. I’d like to meet you and offer you information, giveaway items and complimentary refreshments.
June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and the world theme this year is Human Rights Don’t Get Old.
Join us around the world and wear purple on June 15!
When it comes to the referendum asking Salt Spring Island Fire Protection District ratepayers to approve borrowing $9.7 million to build a new fire hall, it is easy to be distracted by late-blooming questions, laymen’s alternatives and allegations being thrown into the ring.
It is also easy to trash any idea, plan or person. But what is needed to make any good decision in the public interest is to open one’s mind, take the time to get reliable information and trust that it is being provided by people who know more than we do, and that they have good intentions. If you, a friend or family member have an alternate idea about what could work better or cost less money, it has likely already been considered and rejected for valid reasons.
Since the 2013 hall referendum defeat, many different fire trustees and staff, architects and professional consultants have done their best to get us to the point we are at today. Accumulating some reserve funds is prudent for any local government with taxing authority. Surveying people on building options and tolerance for tax increases — and going for a zero increase — was also smart.
Securing of the old hall site as public space for $1 by the CRD and allowing Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue to remain there rent-free until the new hall is ready is also a good idea. What eventually happens on that property will require public input and approval through a CRD referendum if funds must be borrowed to do anything. We are not voting on future use of that space at this time.
Something else to stress is that getting a new fire hall is not about improving the chances your house will be “saved” if it catches fire. Honestly, it’s not about you as an individual. The referendum is about having a safe and healthy, well-located emergency services building with the amenities needed for firefighters and staff to do their jobs as best they can.
No one is trying to pull one over on you. Defensive emotions are not required. What is needed is an open mind, logic, practical considerations and trust. This is not the time to take our eye off the ball, abandoning the years of effort that have got us to the point of having a good, solid, affordable proposal to vote on.
We encourage you to support your community and its fire department by voting “yes” in the fire hall referendum and ensuring your ballot is received by mail or in person at the Ganges fire hall by June 30.
A small but mighty Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) rowing team went east to compete in a national championship, coming home with admirable results.
Five GISS rowers competed alongside circa 1,200 participants in the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association (CSSRA) Regatta in St. Catharines, the national championship for high school rowing. The Salt Spring team was one of the smallest school programs to participate, with some of the best results, coach Stacy Mitchell reported.
“It was an incredible success between thunderstorms and lightning with periods of sun,” she wrote. “All five rowers successfully qualified for the finals in their events.” Only 150 athletes made it to the finals.
Grey Williamson came fifth in the Junior Men’s single event. Quinn Nickels and Zoe Clarke came sixth in the Senior Women’s Double. Nickels, Clarke, Angelica Allen and Maya Wilson came fifth in the Senior Women’s Quad.
“It was incredible to see these athletes from our small community raise the challenge and be some of the best rowers in Canada at the secondary level,” Mitchell wrote.
It was the first time in three years that the national championships took place, the annual event hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Regattas across the country were stopped during the pandemic, yet the GISS rowers continued training both on and off the water in innovative ways to keep safe. Coaches Stacy Mitchell and Heidi Cowan had the rowers practise “in single sculls, with staggered starts and extensive safety protocols, maintaining their four practices a week on St. Mary Lake,” GISS Rowing wrote.
The rowers also pulled together to raise the needed funds to get them to St. Catharines, organizing fundraising lunches and raffles.
