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School board votes for K-7 reconfiguration

Elizabeth Nolan
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School board votes for K-7 reconfiguration

The Gulf Islands Board of Education has determined a new plan for configuring schools throughout the district, which will take effect at the start of the next school year in September 2021.

As recommended by staff, the board voted Wednesday to make all elementary schools cover kindergarten through Grade 7. A notice of motion was also introduced at the Nov. 18 board meeting to close Salt Spring Middle School at the end of June 2021.

Salt Spring students will attend Gulf Islands Secondary School on Salt Spring starting in their Grade 8 year. Students who live on Pender, Mayne, Galiano and Saturna islands will attend junior high school on Pender for grades 8 and 9, and will have the ability to stay on Pender or move to GISS for grades 10-12.

“We’ve wrestled with the decision. We’ve wrestled with how to correct the situation the board finds itself in,” district superintendent Scott Benwell said before making his recommendation.

Benwell went on to characterize a dilemma of “right versus right,” where valid concerns about choice and access to programs came up against the board’s responsibility to balance the budget. The status quo configuration does not provide that opportunity, Benwell said.

The board also voted to designate a transition year for the first year of the new regime, so outer island students entering Grade 8 in 2021-22 can choose to stay on their home islands or attend school on Pender during that year. Grade 9 students from the outer islands will have the choice of attending school on Pender or GISS just for the transition year.

As part of the reconfiguration motion, students on the outer islands will be permitted to attend school on Salt Spring if they are registered in French Immersion or the Gulf Islands School of Performing Arts, or to access inclusive education services as required under an individual education plan.

The decision was opposed by Galiano Island school trustee Shelley Lawson and Mayne Island trustee Janelle Lawson, who had attempted an amendment that would have increased the transition period to two years.

Parent opposition to the plan was especially strong on Galiano. Shelley Lawson noted close to 300 community members had spoken out about the inequity they felt a mandatory Pender catchment area would produce for outer island students, and the sense of historic inequity for those island residents.

The District Parent Advisory Council also collected large amounts of negative feedback around the plan. A delegation from DPAC at Wednesday’s board meeting requested once again that the board take more time to consider options and wait until at least January before advancing a motion.

For more on this story, see the Nov. 25 issue of the Driftwood newspaper.

SEEC data aids rockfish efforts

Elizabeth Nolan
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SEEC data aids rockfish efforts

Students attending school at the Saturna Ecological Education Centre this year have joined a campaign to raise awareness around endangered fish species and are doing scientific field work that aids the knowledge bank about fishing threats at the same time.

The School District 64 program sees around a dozen students in grades 10 and 11 stay at the off-grid campus at Haggis Farm from Sunday night through Wednesday afternoon each week, for a full year of experiential place-based ecological learning. SEEC’s current cohort includes students from Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands. Working on a major theme of ecological citizenship for their year of studies, students have been monitoring and recording data collected in two federal Rockfish Conservation Areas.

Two cameras set up in the conservation zones this fall each take a photo every five minutes, producing 4,000 photos per week. Students are working in group to investigate every image to determine whether boats may be fishing in the protected zones. The data is being shared with partners at the Galiano Conservancy, who helped set up the project, the University of Victoria and the Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society. These groups are hoping to make a difference in the survival of multiple rockfish species, which were over-fished over the last century and face special challenges due to evolutionary biology.

“Education is so important, and I think the only way we can bring it home and have success is making sure people are more aware and wanting to help out,” said Sarah Stelte, who served as the Galiano Conservancy’s rockfish marine technician for the 2020 season. “I think it’s really great [the SEEC students] are excited and involved.”

Fisheries and Oceans Canada states there are 38 rockfish species along the coast of B.C. The species are long-lived and slow to grow and reproduce, with some fish living up to 100 years and not reaching sexual maturity for several decades. As well, rockfish don’t stray far from home habitats. Both factors make them extra sensitive to fishing pressure.

Commercial and recreational fishing restrictions have been in place in 162 Rockfish Conservation Areas since 2007. Most fishing activities, including recreational halibut and salmon fishing, are prohibited in all RCAs.

“The reason people cannot fish in these zones is that if they accidentally catch a rockfish, their internal organs are severely damaged by the sudden change in pressure and if released they rarely can make it back down to the level they are comfortable at and die,” explained SEEC student Solace Purtill. “Sometimes the fish’s stomach is seen coming out of their mouths because of that change in pressure.”

Galiano Conservancy has been doing outreach around rockfish since 2015. Stelte said they have put up signs at marinas so it’s the first thing boaters see when anchoring. The organization also normally does lots of in-person activity, from interviewing fishers at the dock to attending community events armed with posters, pamphlets, T-shirts and puppets.

Data collected from eight cameras viewing the RCAs around Galiano suggest that outreach has helped, with a noticeable downward trend in boats illegally fishing in those areas over the previous few years. This year, however, saw an upward spike in fishing activity on all eight cameras. Stelte said COVID’s impact may be felt in the inability to do public outreach and perhaps a new interest in fishing from people looking for an isolated activity outdoors.

“This was a very bizarre summer and we do need to take those factors into account when analyzing the data,” Stelte said.

Stelte brought two of the conservancy’s cameras to Saturna this fall for the students to monitor as a pilot project that will help scientists analyze a broader picture. The waters off Saturna’s entire southern shoreline are covered by one RCA, and there is another in a stretch along the north-eastern tip encompassing the Bell Chain Islets.

Recreational fishing in those areas is limited to crab and prawn traps, invertebrate harvesting done by hand and smelt gill netting. But there is little information on site to remind recreational fishers. SEEC students noted there is one sign posted at Lyall Harbour, and that’s it.

Students studying the photos record a suspected fishing incident whenever a boat stays in the zone for three photo frames or more, or at least 15 minutes. They say some boats are obviously fishing because rods can be seen, but many are too far away to be sure.

“We’ve learned a lot about data collection and putting it into a research format,” said student Magnus McCallum. “In the future we can go back to what we collected in the past and see if [instances of fishing] went down, percentage wise.”

Clara Gioia observed many people are not actually fishing for rockfish, but the fish are still at risk of being caught accidentally because their closed swim bladder makes them highly susceptible to barutrauma. Gioia said the students want to prevent this, and added she finds the evolutionary history of the fish “super fascinating.”

Strong advice from students to the public, said Hansen Thingvold, is quite simply “don’t fish” in the conservation areas, but also to make sure to check DFO’s local regulations before heading out, which is easy to do online.

SEEC teacher Martin Anevich said he was attracted to the project because it offers an experiential component that add values to the environmental science his group is studying.

“Having the chance to go for a hike to a remote part of the island, while also doing the work of processing and analyzing data, affords students the chance to be a part of citizen science; to solve real world problems,” Anevich said. “What happens outside of the classroom, in the field, supports the development of academic skills.”

The SEEC class said they feel extra engaged with the project since it is making an impact in the real world, unlike the results recorded from a controlled lab experiment. And while it may not go so far to inspire anyone to focus on rockfish studies as a future career, Peter Goggs spoke for many when he said it increased his interest in marine science in general.

“I didn’t know that rockfish were a thing, first of all,” said Goggs’ classmate Purtill, who added a key lesson learned in the project: “The main cause of rockfish becoming endangered is ignorance — people not knowing about it. And I think that’s the root of many problems.”

 

This week’s Driftwood late due to ferry cancellations

Driftwood Staff
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This week’s Driftwood late due to ferry cancellations

The Nov. 18 issue of the Driftwood will not be distributed until Thursday this week.

Uncertainty about ferry sailings to the Lower Mainland, where the paper is printed, on Tuesday meant the paper could not be transported back to the island in time for Wednesday morning distribution through Canada Post and stores on Salt Spring Island.

Some copies might be available at Thrifty Foods or Country Grocer after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Driftwood will be delivered in the mail to subscribers on Thursday.

BC Ferries cancelled all sailings between the islands and the mainland on Tuesday until 3 p.m. due to forecasted high winds.

LTC permit decisions keep local industry rolling

Elizabeth Nolan
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LTC permit decisions keep local industry rolling

The Salt Spring Local Trust Committee was generous in consideration of several temporary use matters at their Nov. 10 business meeting as trustees acknowledged the benefit of keeping local business ventures in operation during difficult times.

Forsyth Farms gravel mart was issued a soil deposit and removal permit and a temporary use permit that will make much of its operations fully legal for the first time. This includes the sale of aggregate mined from the Jones Road property and sales of imported bark mulch, compost and soil.

“In a very difficult climate for economics, they’re trying to eke out a living and also provide a service to a lot of people,” commented trustee Laura Patrick.

Patrick noted the ability to purchase landscaping products locally is especially welcome during the COVID-19 pandemic, when interest in home gardening has “exploded,” but added she hopes that interest continues after the pandemic has ceased.

The Local Trust Committee had been waiting to receive a security deposit toward site restoration before issuing the soil removal permit. Staff reported at last Tuesday’s business meeting they had recently learned that request may have overstepped the LTC’s legal rights, and therefore recommended immediate issuance. Owners Grant Forsyth and Michele Mackie have a B.C. mining permit and have paid a $12,500 security to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources toward the eventual restoration.

Islands Trust staff had additionally been concerned about the non-farm use of land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. However, bylaw enforcement staff from the Agricultural Land Commission have indicated they don’t have a problem with the activities taking place.

Charlie’s Excavating eyes TUP

Trustees were sympathetic to a request that bylaw enforcement temporarily cease on a property being used by Charlie’s Excavating until a temporary use permit application can be considered.

The four-hectare (nearly 10-acre) property on the corner of Cranberry and Blackburn roads is zoned Rural Watershed 1. The applicant seeks to use two acres for the business, including two existing accessory buildings, three sea cans, storage, office space and onsite fuel storage.

Company representative Mia Cahill argued that allowing the company to keep operating while the permit application is being processed is to the community’s benefit by keeping jobs on Salt Spring and reducing ferry traffic from off-island contractors. Perhaps more significantly, Charlie’s Excavating is currently involved with two major affordable housing projects on the island: Croftonbrook phases two and three, and Salt Spring Commons.

“I think that certainly sets us apart from other excavating contractors on Salt Spring,” Cahill said.

While the committee was unanimous in supporting bylaw enforcement relief, Patrick said she hoped the applicants would take the time to engage with neighbours and ensure their concerns are addressed in the proposed temporary use permit. She repeated the wish to support the businesses that are still running amidst COVID.

“I’m confident that we can reach a TUP that has the guidelines that allow peaceful co-existence,” Patrick said.

“Certainly working together is going to make a much healthier community in the long run,” agreed LTC chair Peter Luckham, who also encouraged the applicants to work with their neighbours.

Also at last week’s business meeting, the Local Trust Committee issued a three-year temporary use permit allowing Ron and Carolyn Cook to operate a portable sawmill at 133 Caprice Heights. The primary use for the sawmill is to support gardening and agricultural uses on the property. The sawmill can only be used for a maximum of three hours per week, and not on Sundays or holiday Mondays.

Golf club installation honours Alice Richards

Elizabeth Nolan
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Golf club installation honours Alice Richards

The second hole at the Salt Spring Golf and Country Club was a special place for the late Alice Richards, who accomplished two of five hole-in-one shots made over her lifetime there at the ladies’ tee.

Family, friends and fellow golfers can now visit the greens and honour Alice Richards at the same time with a memorial promising to keep her name and her memory alive for many years to come.

“My mom spent so much time there. She loved golfing — she golfed most days for many years,” said her eldest son Damian Richards, who did much of the planning work to make the memorial a reality.

Alice passed away April 11, 2018 after a long battle with cancer. Her surviving loved ones — sons Damian and Robin, and husband Bill Haworth — were each responsible for arranging one of the memorial’s three elements. The installation includes a stone with a plaque, and a hand-crafted bench made by Michael Mintern from red cedar grown by Seven Ravens Permaculture. The bench will be shaded by a weeping cherry tree planted as part of the memorial. Alice’s ashes have been buried beneath the sapling.

“The tree gets quite large and has flowing purple blossoms. It’s quite beautiful,” Richards said.

The Driftwood also helped contribute to the bench in memory of a cherished member of the newspaper family: Alice was the first wife of company owner Tony Richards and an active part of the paper’s success for many years.

Alice was born in Fredriksberg, Denmark, in 1951 as Alice Schodt and emigrated to Canada with her family three years later. They lived in the tiny town of Woodfibre, B.C. and later moved to North Vancouver, where Alice attended high school.

She arrived on Salt Spring as a young woman after seeing an ad for a summer job at the Harbour House Hotel and moved to the island permanently in 1972, which is when she met Tony. The Richards spent the next few years living off the land and the ocean near Surge Narrows on Read Island, where they had their two sons. They moved back to Salt Spring to raise their kids.

Tony went to work with his parents at the Driftwood newspaper after they returned, and  Alice joined the staff soon after as a photographer and columnist. She won many awards for her work. One defining moment in her career came during Vancouver’s Expo 86, when Alice received a media pass to follow Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip on their official duties in Victoria, and ended up being invited aboard the royal yacht Britannia. She was especially proud of the photos that resulted, and also got to speak with the prince consort.

“That was a highlight of her life, for sure,” said Damian, adding he still remembers working with his mother in the Driftwood’s darkroom as a child.

Alice met her second husband, William (Bill) Haworth, at the Salt Spring Island Golf Club and playing the sport was a passion for the couple. They travelled to St. Andrews in Scotland for the British Open twice, and played a traditional 12-hole course on the Isle of Arran as another highlight of their travels together.

Alice achieved her very first hole-in-one at the Blackburn Meadows golf course back on Salt Spring. She scored four others at the Salt Spring Golf Club, where she was also Brooks Ladies Champion in 2004 and 2009 and earned multiple trophies. She supported the organization running the course by serving as secretary to the board and a member of the greens committee as well as other roles.

Damian Richards said he’s received good support for the project from people at the golf club who knew his mother, including the groundskeeper and the manager, and some of the friends who played with her. Everyone there has agreed the tribute is entirely fitting. And for all those who knew Alice and now have to live without her, the memorial bench and tree will provide a lovely place to think about the positive impact she had in their lives.

“We didn’t have any kind of service, which was difficult,” Damian said, noting that was his mother’s expressed wish. “I believe in the importance of rituals around loss and grief, and it’s super important to help process it, and just to honour her in some way.”

COVID changes Santa’s Workshop process for 2020

Driftwood Staff
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COVID changes Santa’s Workshop process for 2020

As with so many other public and volunteer-sponsored events, Santa’s Workshop will see drastic changes for 2020.

Coordinator Wendy Eggertson says that the good news is that the program will still happen, but in an entirely different format. 

“Due to current special distancing and safety precautions, the elves at the workshop have decided to provide gift certificates only to families in need of help with their gift giving to children at Christmas,” said Eggertson in a press release. “No material gifts such as toys, clothes and books will be provided.”

The program is open to families with children aged 0 to 14 only, with the application period opening on Nov. 23. Applications are available at the reception area of Salt Spring Island Community Services and online at www.ssics.ca/santas-workshop. Completed forms must be received before Dec. 4.

Eggertson said that very generous donations from the Salt Spring Toy Run and the Lions Club have allowed the program to continue under trying conditions.

“With the help of our core group of Santa’s elves we will be distributing the gift certificates by post, delivery service — if possible — or pick-up from Community Services.”

For a full description of the program, go online or to Community Services reception after Monday, Nov. 23.

Because no physical gifts will be distributed, boxes will not be set up in local stores as in the past. Monetary donations for the program would be gratefully received, however.

For more information about the program or to donate, contact Eggertson at 250-537-2658 or email weggertson@shaw.ca.

Editorial: Trouble in Paradise

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Trouble in Paradise

Last week’s Driftwood story about a racist assault on a Ganges store owner shocked many members of the community.

The owner of Harbour Food Market is a Canadian citizen of South Korean descent. On the evening of Nov. 4, a reportedly drunk person pressed him to disclose information about his “Chinese” origins and would not leave the store. Salt Spring RCMP were called and dealt with the individual, with charges recommended to the Crown. The incident was obviously extremely disturbing to the victim, his family and witnesses.

People have expressed surprise that this event could have happened on Salt Spring Island, a supposedly enlightened beacon of sanity in a world where expressions of hate have skyrocketed in recent years. The public response was similar earlier in the fall when some Gulf Islands Secondary School students wore T-shirts with offensive words and statements on them. And while RCMP say the breaking of windows of two shops in Ganges Alley owned by residents of Asian descent was not racially motivated, that event was also upsetting.

Harbour Food Market owner Charlie Chung himself stressed that he felt it was an isolated incident and that his experience is that people on Salt Spring and in B.C. where he has lived for many years have been overwhelmingly supportive. 

But people of colour living on Salt Spring have reported to the Driftwood in the past that racist comments and attitudes have been directed towards them, so it’s not like the issue has never been flagged before. As islanders with lived experience, they are the ones who can best help others to understand that it does exist and what must be done to address it.

Nov. 15-21 is International Restorative Justice Week, which aims to educate people about an alternate method of resolving conflicts between parties or dealing with individuals who have committed crimes. People can learn more at a Nov. 21 Zoom session led by Salt Spring’s active RJ group.

The Restorative Justice format is one that could help address both the Harbour Food Market attack and broader issues of racism in our community, because it can and does exist even on “idyllic” Salt Spring Island.

Viewpoint: Fire board – nuance offered

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Fire board – nuance offered

By HOWARD BAKER

I read with interest the editorial in last week’s Driftwood and hope to add a little nuance.

I have to admit, as one of 18 trustees serving since April 2015 (11 of whom resigned before the end of term) that it is ridiculously easy to criticize the fire board. Indeed, you may have read some of my criticisms here in recent years while I was a member of the board of trustees. Just imagine how that endeared me to my colleagues!

Concerning recent news, the different interest groups have all been heard from in this newspaper: first, the resigned CAO; second, the resigned two former trustees; thirdly, the present chair of the board representing the five remaining members; and fourth and lastly, a health and safety committee representing firefighters. So here’s my two cents worth.

After Salt Spring’s professional firefighters became part of the International Association of Fire Fighters in 2006, the annual operating budget almost tripled from approximately $900,000 to $2.5 million in 2015 when I was elected to my first term as trustee.

This activist board I joined in December 2015 had been in office since late April of 2015 and by November had completed many recommendations of the Walker Report, had begun a capital reserve fund, relieved a chief of his duties and was in a process of negotiating with the firefighters union. (This is now nearing a judgement with binding arbitration.)

Thus began my awareness of issues of the fire department and ensuing instability in the board and front office administration. I’ve seen it from both sides now and up and down til my terms of office ended in 2019. My evolving opinion of their causes is as follows:

1) The disjointed management between administration and the firefighters’ union.

2) The governance structure of improvement districts. Created to provide services to small rural communities, improvement districts were never intended to become so large and complex as ours. According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, improvement districts work best when members (electors) number less than 100, preferably 15 to 20. We have more than 6,000 in ours! Only landowners have a vote.

3) What I call a lack of collegiality on the board, which has included verbal attacks and campaigning against a fellow trustee, and a majoritarian ethos that prevents consensus. Maybe intransigence also if that means an unwillingness to listen to others and make reasonable compromises.

There are ways of addressing each of these problems. Stay tuned!

Also, I hope I can allay some fears that our fire/rescue operations are not fully functional. Fire/rescue operates very well under the supervision of its just-announced acting chief, former Assistant Chief Jamie Holmes, with full-time firefighters and POCs, the on-call firefighters who provide the most essential manpower and womanpower. Proof of the efficacy of firefighter training exists in the fact that several of our POCs have gone on to full-time positions in Vancouver, Langley and elsewhere.

UPDATED: Ferry sailings resume at 3 p.m. Tuesday

Driftwood Staff
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UPDATED: Ferry sailings resume at 3 p.m. Tuesday

Ferry service between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland will resume at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

BC Ferries had cancelled all morning sailings on Tuesday due to wind warnings issued by Environment Canada.

The next scheduled sailing from Long Harbour to Tsawwassen is at 3:35 p.m.

Last evening BC Ferries announced that the early morning Long Harbour ferry, and the 7 and 9 a.m. sailings between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, and other Vancouver Island/Mainland morning sailings would be cancelled due to high winds. Those winds did not materialize this morning.   

Deborah Marshall, BC Ferries’ executive director of public affairs, told the Driftwood the call to cancel the early sailings was made out of an abundance of caution and to give a heads up to their customers.

“With the prediction that Environment Canada gave last night we expected the winds to peak at 9 a.m.,” said Marshall.

The wind came in slower than anticipated, she said.

For more information and updates, see www.bcferries.com.

Subscribers to the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper will not receive the paper in their mailbox until Thursday because of the cancelled sailings on Tuesday as the paper is printed in Coquitlam. It should be available in stores on Salt Spring later on Wednesday afternoon.

POBORSA, Blanche (nee Anderson)

Driftwood Obituary
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POBORSA, Blanche (nee Anderson)

Blanche Poborsa (nee Anderson)
December 2, 1926 – October 31, 2020

Blanche passed away at Peace in her home, her three daughters at her side. It was a sacred time.
Predeceased by her parents and seven siblings, her husband Stan Poborsa and son-in-law Victor Cox. Blanche will be greatly missed by those she leaves. She is survived by: daughter Kathryn Landry (Craig), grandson Manuel (Dawn), grandson Jordan (Carla), great grandson Cameron, great granddaughter Jenna; daughter Cynthia Camsell (Charles), granddaughter Sarah, granddaughter Leah Smith (Everett), great grandsons Nate, Riker, Tucker, grandson Gabriel, granddaughter Kelly Jones (Brent), great granddaughter Fenix, great grandsons Paxton, Berkley, Lincoln, grandson Julian Camsell (Ashley), great granddaughter Emery, great grandsons Sullivan, Callahan, grandson James; daughter Valerie Poborsa-Cox, grandson Spencer, granddaughters Carrie, Sarah, Carly and Rufus and Telly; nieces and nephews across Canada, her American cousins and friends far and wide.

Blanche loved her family dearly and was very proud of her 12 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

Blanche strongly believed in education and equality and respect of all human beings. Ever a teacher, she worked in Saskatchewan on the prairies in a one-room school house, had her family, and then returned to teaching when her children were old enough. A person of great inner strength and integrity, our mother met every challenge with finding a successful way to carry on a life of meaning. She passed on her love of music, literature and an eye for beauty in art and nature.

Her lifelong joy of reading good books and nurturing plants was inherited by her family. Blanche enjoyed Mensa Bridge, Mah Jong, and deeply valued her friends and neighbours. In response to situations and people she often had a humorous witty little quip, she was sharp as a tack! A genuinely friendly person, Blanche was always interested in people and their stories, she was a listening ear, comforting shoulder and a trusted confidant to many. She was an inspiration and mentor throughout her long life.

Blanche enjoyed living on Salt Spring Island over the past 30 plus years. She felt a strong bond with the community was important for a person, she felt that she belonged on Salt Spring. That sense of belonging was felt deeply within her spiritual community and she felt a deep sense of rapport and respect with United Church ministers, especially Dr. Barry Cooke, Clark Saunders and Faye Greer.

In her later years Blanche sincerely appreciated everyone who helped, it brightened her days. She was thankful for rides to and from her activities, singing group, concerts, church, medical appointments, shuttle bus and Copper Kettle service. The list is endless (you know who you are). All this allowed Blanche to remain living in her own home, which was so important to her in this past year.

A special thank you to Thrifty Foods, Country Grocer, Mouat’s and her Pharmacists for going the extra mile. A profound thank you to those who helped in Mom’s last days including, the doctors and home care nurses who attended. Your capable, respectful kindness is so appreciated. Thank you also to Haywards, your helpful understanding is such a contribution. 

Blanche’s daughters, Kathryn, Cynthia and Valerie, feel such gratitude!

Blanche Poborsa (nee Anderson)
December 2, 1926 – October 31, 2020

Blanche passed away at Peace in her home, her three daughters at her side. It was a sacred time.
Predeceased by her parents and seven siblings, her husband Stan Poborsa and son-in-law Victor Cox. Blanche will be greatly missed by those she leaves. She is survived by: daughter Kathryn Landry (Craig), grandson Manuel (Dawn), grandson Jordan (Carla), great grandson Cameron, great granddaughter Jenna; daughter Cynthia Camsell (Charles), granddaughter Sarah, granddaughter Leah Smith (Everett), great grandsons Nate, Riker, Tucker, grandson Gabriel, granddaughter Kelly Jones (Brent), great granddaughter Fenix, great grandsons Paxton, Berkley, Lincoln, grandson Julian Camsell (Ashley), great granddaughter Emery, great grandsons Sullivan, Callahan, grandson James; daughter Valerie Poborsa-Cox, grandson Spencer, granddaughters Carrie, Sarah, Carly and Rufus and Telly; nieces and nephews across Canada, her American cousins and friends far and wide.

Blanche loved her family dearly and was very proud of her 12 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

Blanche strongly believed in education and equality and respect of all human beings. Ever a teacher, she worked in Saskatchewan on the prairies in a one-room school house, had her family, and then returned to teaching when her children were old enough. A person of great inner strength and integrity, our mother met every challenge with finding a successful way to carry on a life of meaning. She passed on her love of music, literature and an eye for beauty in art and nature.

Her lifelong joy of reading good books and nurturing plants was inherited by her family. Blanche enjoyed Mensa Bridge, Mah Jong, and deeply valued her friends and neighbours. In response to situations and people she often had a humorous witty little quip, she was sharp as a tack! A genuinely friendly person, Blanche was always interested in people and their stories, she was a listening ear, comforting shoulder and a trusted confidant to many. She was an inspiration and mentor throughout her long life.

Blanche enjoyed living on Salt Spring Island over the past 30 plus years. She felt a strong bond with the community was important for a person, she felt that she belonged on Salt Spring. That sense of belonging was felt deeply within her spiritual community and she felt a deep sense of rapport and respect with United Church ministers, especially Dr. Barry Cooke, Clark Saunders and Faye Greer.

In her later years Blanche sincerely appreciated everyone who helped, it brightened her days. She was thankful for rides to and from her activities, singing group, concerts, church, medical appointments, shuttle bus and Copper Kettle service. The list is endless (you know who you are). All this allowed Blanche to remain living in her own home, which was so important to her in this past year.

A special thank you to Thrifty Foods, Country Grocer, Mouat’s and her Pharmacists for going the extra mile. A profound thank you to those who helped in Mom’s last days including, the doctors and home care nurses who attended. Your capable, respectful kindness is so appreciated. Thank you also to Haywards, your helpful understanding is such a contribution. 

Blanche’s daughters, Kathryn, Cynthia and Valerie, feel such gratitude!

The family will have a private gathering at a later date. Mom loved all animals great and small, so donations can be made to the local SPCA or Canadian Wildlife Federation.

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