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Viewpoint: Trust CDF project input welcomed

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Viewpoint: Trust CDF project input welcomed

By PETER LUCKHAM

As the Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee (SSILTC) looks forward to 2021, we strongly feel the need to tell the community we are listening. 

In 2020, our Protection of Coastal Douglas-Fir and Associated Ecosystems Project got the community talking. As we head into a new year, the SSILTC wants everyone to know we want to hear from you. There will be many things to talk about: developing a Ganges village area plan, considering the regulatory and policy framework for drinking water watersheds, amending the island’s official community plan and land use bylaw to address housing issues, and ensuring we continue the important work of reconciliation. 

Forest ecosystems and the species they support have been culturally and spiritually important to the First Peoples of this region since time immemorial and are critically important to the well-being of the islands and the people who live there. It is crucial that decisions about how best to protect them into the future are well-informed by a variety of perspectives. As 2020 closes, we want to set out the facts of the Protection of Coastal Douglas-Fir and Associated Ecosystems Project and our commitment to hearing from the public, conservation groups, foresters, outdoor enthusiasts, and to engaging with First Nations. 

The Protection of Coastal Douglas-Fir and Associated Ecosystems Project is a two-year project that aims to maintain contiguous forest cover, protect and restore functioning ecosystems, protect watershed ecology, honour First Nations’ cultural heritage and minimize wildfire risk. Currently, in phase one, we are gathering and analyzing information. We are working with local scientists and First Nations knowledge holders to identify the areas of highest interest for protection. The SSILTC and islanders have a suite of options to consider, including education, advocacy, regulation and incentives. At this time, the Local Trust Committee has not instructed staff to draft bylaws. 

Throughout every phase of this project, and indeed, every project we take on, we will seek and consider input from the public and stakeholders, and will engage First Nations. We want to hear from those who rely on forestry for their economic livelihood, and those who have concerns about forestry practices and development practices that degrade ecosystem health. 

The SSILTC will be providing engagement opportunities throughout 2021 about this project and the others we have underway. We look forward to hearing from the community and First Nations and hope that sometime this year we can gather again safely in person to have these conversations. 

Islands Trust staff are available to provide details on the project, and local trustees are keen to hear from you. Please contact the Local Trust Committee at ssiinfo@islandstrust.bc.ca, or staff at the Islands Trust office at 250-537-9144. Background information is available at www.islandstrust.bc.ca/cdfssi. 

The writer chairs the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee and Islands Trust Council.

Editorial: Salt Spring Progress Report for 2020

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Salt Spring Progress Report for 2020

Just over a year ago the Driftwood laid out a Salt Spring Island wish list for 2020 in this space.

It included the hope for movement on the affordable housing issue, a laundromat for the island, road repaving and line painting, and ferries that run on time and aren’t perennially overloaded. 

Quite incredibly, in spite of a global pandemic throwing a wrench into the works of just about everything this year, there was progress on all of those wish-list items. A new phase of the Croftonbrook affordable housing project operated by Islanders Working Against Violence welcomed its first tenants this month. The Salt Spring Community Services’ Salt Spring Commons project is set to do the same early in 2021. Fingers are still crossed for needed funding to arrive for Meadowlane, a seniors complex on Kings Lane to be owned by the Gulf Islands Seniors Residence Association, but great progress has been made on project approvals in the last year. 

As well, the Capital Regional District just released a Salt Spring-specific Housing Needs Assessment report, which anticipates future affordable housing needs and provides some basic suggestions for meeting those needs.

The Salt Spring laundromat and soap exchange facility secured premises in Ganges and should open this year. While anticipated road repaving has been rescheduled for this year and isn’t as extensive as first hoped, many road markings were at least repainted this summer.   

The chaotic scene we experienced at Vesuvius and Crofton ferry terminals in 2019 vanished in 2020. That was partly because ferry traffic dropped  due to COVID-19, but also because BC Ferries heard community concerns and wisely replaced the Quinitsa with the larger Bowen Queen during spring and summer months. Ferries serving the multi-stop Southern Gulf Islands Route 9 between Tsawwassen and Long Harbour continued to be late on higher-traffic days, of course, which is simply the nature of that complicated transportation beast.

COVID-19 is still impacting every facet of life on Salt Spring Island and beyond. But if local priorities can make as much progress as they did in the tumultuous year that was 2020, then we are optimistic the same kind of measurable forward movement can occur in 2021. 

CHRISTENSEN, Sheila Olive

Driftwood Obituary
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CHRISTENSEN, Sheila Olive

Sheila Olive Christensen
Feb. 9, 1927 – Dec. 18, 2020

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our matriarch, Sheila, from natural causes in Abbotsford, B.C.
Sheila is predeceased by her devoted husband of 70 years, Nils, and her son, Erik. She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters, Marit and Randi, her four grandchildren and her five great-grandchildren.

Born in Arlesey, England, Sheila lived in England and Egypt with her parents, and Norway and Holland with her husband, before the couple settled in Canada to raise their family.

Sheila had an insatiable curiosity and the soul of an adventurer. One of her finest qualities was the wonderful ability to find delight in every day and to have such gratitude in her life. She was a strong, steadfast and inspiring woman and we loved her deeply.

BONGIE, Laurence Louise

Driftwood Obituary
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BONGIE, Laurence Louise

Laurence Louis Bongie
December 15, 1929 – December 26, 2020

Laurence (“Larry”) passed away on Boxing Day in Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island. Son of Louis and Madalena Bongie, he was born in Turtleford, Saskatchewan, and no matter how far he went in life, geographically and intellectually, he never lost touch with his northern Saskatchewan roots and the memory of that one-room schoolhouse near Fairholme which he attended with his beloved sister Alda.

After moving with his family to Vancouver in 1944, a love for literature and philosophy took him first to the University of British Columbia and then to Paris, where in 1952, at the ripe old age of 22, he received a doctorate from the Sorbonne. Upon his return to Vancouver in 1953, he took up a teaching position at UBC, eventually becoming Head of the French Department in 1966, a position he held until his retirement in 1992. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998, he continued to add to a series of groundbreaking studies of eighteenth-century France that culminated in 2004 with his sixth book, “From Rogue to Everyman: A Foundling’s Journey to the Bastille,” which beautifully exemplifies his passionate engagement with archival research and buoyantly dissident approach to social history. During all this time, his loving wife Bettye oversaw his transition from motorcycle-driving bohemian in the 1950s to Subaru-driving contrarian in the 2010s. Starting in 1973, Larry and Bettye spent most of their free time at “the farm” on Salt Spring, where they moved for good in 2010. After Bettye’s death in 2013, Larry persevered, working on French translations of his last two books, taking many a thoughtful stroll down Philosopher’s Walk, and excelling, late in life, at the fine art of being a grandfather. Diagnosed with terminal cancer in February 2019, he died as he would have wished, strong in mind (if weak in body), dispensing anecdotes and jokes in that inimitable fashion which enlivened so many leisurely lunches and dinners at the UBC Faculty Club during its golden years.

A loyal son, a fiercely protective father, and a doting nonno, Larry is survived by his sister Alda, his son Chris (Ishita), his grandson Ishaan, nieces and nephews Rick (Carmen), Terry, Laurel (Drew), and Margot (Leo), along with many other cherished relatives and friends.

Goodbye, Larry, we will miss you more than you’d care to know. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in his name to the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation as a token of our collective thanks for the care provided Larry in his final days.

Christmas lights spread joy in winter

Gail Sjuberg
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Christmas lights spread joy in winter

Cancellation of seasonal celebrations due to COVID-19 may have dimmed people’s spirits this year, but some islanders are trying to brighten them with their brilliant Christmas light displays.

It’s hard to miss the 90-foot-high fir tree covered in lights at 430 Fulford-Ganges Rd., or the rest of the lights on the property owned by Racheal Doucette and Todd Mitchell.

“I like to look at it as a finger of lightning all over the yard,” said Doucette about the huge tree.

The couple’s house is framed in coloured bulbs, and this year some bright white lights mark an area where they plan to put up a fence in the new year. One tree is ringed in white and another area in red. 

“It makes me feel good every time I drive home,” she said.

How did they get the lights onto a 90-foot tree? Mitchell arguably did it the hard way back in 2017. 

“He crawled up this tree,” said Doucette. “They weren’t put up with a crane. He put them in a backpack and crawled up the tree.” 

Doucette credits Mitchell’s Mohawk heritage with his comfort with heights. Unfortunately, a non-climbing accident in 2018 put an end to his vertical expeditions, which makes it even more special that the lights can still be turned on each year.

Doucette and Mitchell learned how much the lights were appreciated following the December 2018 windstorm. Doucette said they were reluctant to plug in the lights that year because so many people on the island were without power. 

“I went to the grocery store and one of the ladies came up immediately and said, ‘I just want to thank you for putting those lights on, because we haven’t had power for 10 days,’ or whatever it was.” 

The lights can be seen from above their property on Don Ore Road and even across Ganges Harbour from Long Harbour Road.

The current site isn’t the first one the couple decorated on Salt Spring. 

“The lights being high like that in one particular tree started up on Trincomali Heights. I was kind of down in the dumps about Christmas, and I came home and noticed there were lights in the trees . . . and then I realized they were at my house. Todd had crawled up and put the lights in the trees.” 

Doucette has no idea how many lights are in the present display. 

“We keep saying we’re not going to buy any more and we keep buying more.” 

Doucette loves how the village of Ganges is all lit up and would like to see Christmas lights all the way up Ganges Hill, so is challenging people to get on board with that idea.

She thinks of her household as being in a competition with Tom and Carol Bremner, who live at 811 Fulford-Ganges Rd. and also take their decorating seriously. 

“We are both from Nova Scotia and us Maritimers love our Christmas lights,” explained Doucette.  

She grew up in Morden, a village of 250 people in the Bay of Fundy area. Her descendants have lived on the same road since 1755.

“My whole family are pretty crazy over Christmas lights too, so it’s inherited.” 

Carol Bremner is from Truro and Tom from Chester, N.S. 

“Carol and I both love lights and the Christmas season,” said Tom.

For most of the past six years the Bremners put lights on a 65-foot tree in their yard.

“This year we switched it up and did a whole bunch of lights on smaller trees,” said Tom. “In combo with the front and back yard lights we have in excess of 5,000 LED white and coloured lights.”

The Bremners usually put up their lights at the end of November and keep enhancing the display for a few more weeks until they are happy with the results. Their lights can be seen from 5 to 11 p.m. until Jan. 2 and are a favourite with neighbourhood children. 

Doucette, who owns 19B Barber Shop in Merchants Mews, has been telling her clients, “Let’s get the lights happening because we can’t do anything this year, but we can get in our cars and drive around and look at other people’s lights.” 

  • Lights on a 65-foot tree in the Bremners yard in past seasons.
  • Decorated archway at 811 Fulford-Ganges Rd.
  • Two colourful trees in the Bremners’ yard.
  • Christmas wreath and white lights as part of Tom and Carol Bremner’s decorated Salt Spring Island property.

Middle school closure hashed out

Elizabeth Nolan
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Middle school closure hashed out

School District 64 administrators held a public meeting last Wednesday night to discuss the board’s intention to close Salt Spring Middle School and what that will mean for its existing students. 

The board of eduction gave a notice of motion on the school closure as part of a district-wide configuration change that has been partly propelled by a looming $1.1 annual deficit. The district says lower enrolment than in the past also means it currently has too many facilities compared to students. 

With their vote scheduled for the Feb. 10, 2021 public meeting, a 60-day consultation period is now underway.

Wednesday’s meeting was held on the Zoom platform and moderated by John Wakefield, who is a former Salt Spring school trustee. Gulf Islands superintendent of schools Scott Benwell and secretary treasurer Jesse Guy gave a presentation based on the most commonly received questions about what will happen next year. 

Benwell reported closing the middle school will not result in the loss of special programs, district staff or classroom resources, as some parents had feared.

“We’re not losing our innovative teachers. They’re going to take their talents and skills to their new schools, and that’s such an asset to our students,” Benwell said, adding teachers have shown willingness to work with new teams and school communities. “I have every confidence the talent that is at SIMS will find its way to new settings.”

Continued access to Late French Immersion has been a primary concern for multiple families throughout the district’s configuration process. The program will return to Salt Spring Elementary School where it was held prior to SIMS’ opening in 1995 and will have one intake class per year starting in Grade 6.

“We’re feeling that model, because of closure of the middle school, will work well in terms of retention of students in the program,” said district department head Louise Doucet.

A new feature of the program is it won’t be geared to just Salt Spring students. Instead there will be some seats for students from all the Gulf Islands with placement by lottery. 

Benwell additionally clarified that no student who is currently enrolled in French Immersion has to worry about losing their place in the program. 

Staff reconfirmed that Salt Spring elementary schools have the space to move from their current K-5 model to K-7, both according to the square footage required by the Ministry of Education and to consultation with all the school principals. Elementary school catchment areas on Salt Spring could be adjusted in the future, however, if there is a need to balance school populations.

In answer to a key question about what will happen with the Grade 6 cohort currently at SIMS, Benwell and new school board chair Tisha Boulter reconfirmed that group will spend their Grade 7 year in the middle school facility, while the cohort going into Grade 8 will be moving on to Gulf Islands Secondary School. Although some have questioned the financial sense of this move, the admin team said only part of the facility will be used, heated and maintained by the district. They believe keeping the Grade 7 cohort on site is an overall better plan than sending those students back to the elementary schools they last attended in Grade 5.

The admin team will be consulting with the students, parents and staff who are staying the extra year as to which part of the facility they would prefer to use, but suggested that might be the main quad area around the courtyard, which will leave the south wing available to other groups for long-term leasing. 

The Salt Spring Performing Arts Society has already earmarked the school as a potential home for rehearsal, storage and performance space for its member groups. Guy explained that whoever takes the building lease would be tasked with overseeing space rental, since the school district does not have the capacity or the mandate. 

Adria Kray, who is the SIMS parent advisory committee co-chair and district parent advisory committee member, asked several questions on behalf of parents, including about how transportation factored in the upcoming decision.

She also asked about the seismic upgrade funded by the province that took place at SIMS during the 2008-09 school year. 

“The taxpayer piece concerns me, with how much was invested there,” Kray said.

Benwell said the district has no intention of disposing of the school facilities and they will be available for other groups to use for at least the next five to seven years, when student enrolment is projected to be smaller.

“It’s still there, it’s still existing, we’re not selling it off. The hope is it’s actually available to even more people,” Guy added. 

District administrators will be holding meetings in January to consult staff at the other schools that will be directly impacted by the change, including Salt Spring’s elementary schools and GISS. 

Community members can submit their feedback via a form on the sd64.bc.ca website under the Configuration section.

Viewpoint: Stylish on Salt Spring

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Stylish on Salt Spring

By FRANTS ATTORP

Normally, when one thinks of the world of haute couture, trendy places such as New York, Paris and London come to mind. 

But who would have thought tiny Salt Spring Island, long known as the home of hippie attire, has as much to offer as these global fashion centres?

For weeks, prompted by criticisms from my daughter, I have been looking to buy a chic pair of trousers to replace my increasingly ventilated sweatpants. My search has taken me to such high-end fashion boutiques like big box stores in Victoria, but all to no avail. The pants there are either way beyond my budget, or have legs so skinny only a ballerina on a Keto diet could squeeze into them.

But then a stroke of luck! While browsing through the pants and jeans section at Lady Minto Thrift Shop, I hit the jackpot: a pair of like-new Tommy Hilfiger trousers that were my size, my style, and my colour. And best of all, 100 per cent cotton!

At two dollars, I have to admit the price was a bit steep, but at least the money was going to a good cause, so I decided then and there to splurge. It would be a Christmas present to myself!

As I handed over my toonie at the counter, I noticed that the check-out lady had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She obviously enjoyed seeing so many happy customers passing through with their new-found treasures.

But there is more to this story, for when I got home, I immediately tried on the pants to make sure they were right for me. To my great surprise, I found a loonie in the right hand pocket, bringing the price of the garment down to just one dollar. I am now left wondering if the coin was simply forgotten by the previous owner, or if it was placed there on purpose as a little joke to brighten my day. What to do? I have never been a very good money manager.

Needless to say, I highly recommend Lady Minto Thrift Shop for an amazing one-stop shopping experience. The selection is fantastic, the prices reasonable, and the personnel friendly and helpful. Even if you’re just going to buy an item of clothing, you might come away with other useful stuff, such as an egg beater or a rare collection of coloured coat hangers.

Let’s keep in mind that nothing at Lady Minto Thrift Shop would be possible without a small army of dedicated volunteers — individuals who, even during a pandemic, receive, sort, inspect, price and display the local finery and then process the transactions. To these hard working members of our community, I say thank you very much and may you all have a great Christmas and New Year. You have outdone Marks and Spencer and helped your fellow islanders make it through these trying times with style and panache!

The writer is a Salt Spring resident and frequent contributor to the Driftwood’s opinion pages.

Christmas decorating contest winners awarded

Driftwood Staff
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Christmas decorating contest winners awarded

Winners in the annual Driftwood Christmas Light-up Decorating Contest received their awards last week. 

Taking first place for best overall and most creative premises was the Apple Photo Christmas village display made by island resident Sharon Sykes. The window also won the people’s choice award by public voting. 

Love My Kitchen took second place in the best overall and most creative categories. 

Salt Spring Inn won first place for best use of lights, and Mouat’s Clothing was the second-place winner. 

Winners receive credits towards Driftwood advertising in addition to certificates. 

The Driftwood has sponsored the contest for the past 35 years. 

Above: Four winning windows and premises in the Driftwood’s Christmas decorating contest. Clockwise from top left, Apple Photo, Love My Kitchen, Salt Spring Inn and Mouat’s Clothing. Across the top, from left: 1) Love My Kitchen owner Linda Koroscil, left, and Driftwood publisher Nancy Johnson. 2) From left, Driftwood publisher Nancy Johnson, Mouat’s Clothing manager Marci Leighton and her dog Leo. 3) From left, Salt Spring Inn staff members Madison, TJ, and co-owner Jeremy Milsom.

Thousands lose power in Monday storm

Driftwood Staff
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Thousands lose power in Monday storm

The first day of winter came in with a forceful blast on Monday, causing power outages for around 9,000 households on Salt Spring and North Pender Island after an unexpectedly heavy snowfall blanketed the region.

An Environment Canada weather alert issued over Sunday night had warned that some snowfall might occur in higher elevations, but most of the precipitation was predicted to arrive as heavy rain. That rain had turned to snow across much of Salt Spring by around 8 a.m. and power outages started to occur by late morning as the heavy snow brought down power lines.

BC Hydro issued a regional alert at 11:20 a.m. to say significant snowfall had caused power outages across the southern Vancouver area and that crews were responding.

Emcon Services was plowing the main roads but driving conditions remained difficult for much of the day. At 1:30 p.m., Salt Spring Fire Rescue crews were paged to gather at the island’s fire halls for quicker response to a high volume of related calls. 

Salt Spring Emergency Services issued a notice at 2 p.m. asking island residents to stay home and off the roads, if possible.

Ferries between the mainland and Vancouver Island, and the Gulf Islands and Tsawwassen, were cancelled on Monday evening due to adverse weather warnings. As well, passengers on the 3 p.m. sailing from Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour had to wait on the Skeena Queen before being able to disembark from the ferry in Fulford due to the power outage and ramp difficulties.

Island patient brings cheer to cancer clinic

Gail Sjuberg
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Island patient brings cheer to cancer clinic

Driftwood columnist Shilo Zylbergold played Santa on Wednesday when he went to the Victoria Cancer Clinic for his chemotherapy session. 

As a token of his appreciation for the clinic’s nurses and staff, he arrived at the facility dressed up like Santa carrying a sack full of toffees and chocolates. Zylbergold said his thoughtfulness was appreciated.

“So many of them came by to tell me how unique it was to have some lightness brought to a place where it is so easy to get lost in the darkness.” 

Zylbergold, who is known locally for his acting and musical talents with groups such as the Salt Spring Hysterical Society in the late 1980s and ‘90s, said he has “amazingly” never played Santa before, “although I was born with the perfect body for it.” 

He borrowed the suit from veteran island Santa Bob Twaites. 

Zylbergold has a rare form of cancer called Sezary syndrome, which is a type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. 

“I was diagnosed in 2016 after several years of treatment for other possible causes,” he said. 

He has just finished his third round of infusions with a chemotherapy drug called romidepsin and has five more months of treatments needing to go to Victoria for three weeks out of every four.

“This is my second go-round with this particular drug,” he said. “I managed to get a full year of remission after the first time, so my fingers are double-crossed.”

Zylbergold writes a monthly humour column for the Driftwood called Nobody Asked Me But.

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