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Shimmy Mob headed for island

Elizabeth Nolan
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Shimmy Mob headed for island

World Bellydance Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in May every year, but 2019 will offer a special opportunity to appreciate the art form on Salt Spring and in the Duncan area.

This Saturday, May 11, Salt Springers led by Sarah Allen will join with Vancouver Island dancers for Shimmy Mob, a “flash mob” style event that sees people from all over the world bellydance in public places as a way to raise awareness and collect funds for victims of domestic abuse.

Allen has been learning and dancing bellydance for over 20 years and teaching it on Salt Spring since 2016. She has participated in Shimmy Mob events in the Cowichan region for the past three years.

“I’ve been wanting to do one on Salt Spring,” Allen said. “There were just six of us for this first time, so we’ve joined forces with the Cowichan Valley team.”

Shimmy Mob is billed as “the largest bellydance event of its kind by the total geographical territory covered in one day.” It was started by Vancouver bellydancer Francesca Anastasi in 2011 and soon spread to an international phenomenon. Teams around the world dance using the same song and the same choreography, wearing the same T-shirt (a different colour each year).

“The choreography is fun and really simple,” Allen said. “They make it that way very specifically so anybody can learn it and dance it. You don’t have to already be a dancer or even a bellydancer. And anyone can join in.”

That includes men and children, Allen said, although so far the local group is all women.

Participants wear their colourful T-shirts partly to broadcast the event but also to show respect to the culture where bellydance originated, by not showing off too much skin. The beautiful artistry of the dance is being showcased as much as the worthy cause that Shimmy Mob supports.

Local residents will be dancing with the Cowichan team at three Duncan locations before the entire group heads to the Crofton ferry terminal. After a performance on the nearby green space, the combined team will head to Salt Spring to shimmy. Performances are planned at the Saturday Market busking area around 2 p.m. and then at the boardwalk outside Shipstones around 3. Donations are collected in a bucket and all go to support local organizations serving victims of abuse and/or working to prevent domestic violence. On Salt Spring the funds will go to Island Women Against Violence and the Salt Spring Transition House. Funds collected on the Duncan side will go the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society and Somenos Transition House.

Anyone who can’t attend and would like to make a donation can contact Allen at ssisarahlouise@gmail.com. She is also interested in hearing from people who would like to practice for the Salt Spring Shimmy Mob team next year, or would like to take a bellydance class in the meantime.

“I’m hoping it will be an annual thing,” she said.

Salt Spring Sailing Club turns 50

Contributed Article
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Salt Spring Sailing Club turns 50

SUBMITTED BY GREG SLAKOV

The Salt Spring Island Sailing Club turned 50 this year and was celebrated in style on Sunday, May 5 on the water in Ganges Harbour and in the clubhouse at the foot of Douglas Street. 

You may have noticed the armada of about 40 or 50 sail and power boats milling about between the club and Goat Island before noon. The bagpipes celebrating the anniversary and the club’s first commodore, Lawrie Neish, could be heard all over the harbour as members marched from the docks up to the clubhouse for lunch. After lunch, 11 boats set out on a fun race from the club, up into the inner harbour near the Coast Guard dock, all the way out to a buoy near Prevost Island, and back. 

Over 50 years ago, Lawrie and Aileen Neish started the ball rolling on what would become our local sailing club. They mentored students to build small sailing boats called Sabots in Lawrie’s shop at the school where he was the shop teacher. When the boats were made, the students learned to sail them, and as soon as they were sailing around together, they began to race. This was very successful and popular at the local level, but to race in formal regattas, one needs to belong to a sailing club. Hence the Salt Spring Island Sailing Club was born. For these services, and others too long to list, the Neishs received three rousing cheers from the entire club membership at Sunday’s lunch. 

Several of the students who learned from the Neishs still live on the island, Karen Truscott and Rob Cannon among them. And true to its heritage, the club still teaches children and youth to sail and race during the summer in its very popular sailing school.    

Viewpoint: Trust enforces STVR rules

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Trust enforces STVR rules

By MILES DREW

Re: STVRs on Salt Spring Island: This week, Islands Trust Bylaw Enforcement and Compliance Officers issued 15 fines to the operators of unlawful short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) on Salt Spring Island. These fines are part of an ongoing and escalating enforcement strategy to address the community’s concerns about unlawful STVRs.

This summer, violating Land Use Bylaw #355 by operating, managing or renting unlawful STVRs might earn fines of $500 per day.

Unless there is a significant reduction in the number of unlawful STVR operations, fines will also be issued to persons found renting unlawful STVRS. Some renters have already been issued warnings.

The Salt Spring Island community continues to express concern about unlawful STVRs. Among these concerns are the eviction of long-term rental tenants so owners can profit from an unlawful commercial use, impacts on the availability of affordable rental housing, and the over-consumption of water, among others.

The Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee shares these concerns and have directed bylaw compliance and enforcement staff to take proactive measures to prevent unlawful STVR operations.

Unlawful STVRs are those that provide commercial guest accommodation in zones intended for residential use in a manner that does not comply with the island’s bed and breakfast regulations. Properties that rent out their entire dwelling, seasonal cottage or suite are not bed and breakfasts.

Last year, Islands Trust Bylaw Enforcement staff sent three letters to operators of unlawful STVRs requesting that they take steps to comply with the Land Use Bylaw. Only a few did so.

Vacation rental companies have been made aware that property owners using their services to advertise unlawful STVRs are facing fines. These companies have been invited to support the bylaw compliance process.

Salt Spring Island’s land use bylaws have long permitted operation of legitimate bed and breakfasts, recognizing the valuable role they play in supporting island livelihoods and the local tourism economy.

Unlawful STVR operators are advised to bring their operations into compliance with the island’s bed and breakfast regulations. If this cannot be done, operators can seek a Temporary Use Permit or apply for rezoning. Operating unlawfully with impunity is not an option.

STVR operators are advised to contact Bylaw Compliance and Enforcement at kkudyba@islandstrust.bc.ca immediately to discuss compliance options.

The writer is the bylaw compliance and enforcement manager for the Islands Trust.

Editorial: Traffic jam

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Traffic jam

Major traffic planning for Vancouver Island is underway, and once again Salt Spring has been left out of the exercise.

The recently announced South Island Transportation Plan aims to tackle vehicle congestion in the region and study multi-modal possibilities for improvement in an area stretching all the way from Sooke to Duncan. Much of the work will be updating and collating previous studies, some of which were undertaken by the Capital Regional District. But just outside the study’s scope are the CRD’s electoral areas, and so far we have not been given a seat at the table.

Fair enough, we are not directly connected by a through-road. We’re not the ones sitting in the dreaded Colwood Crawl during our daily morning commute and we can usually avoid McKenzie Avenue during rush hour. But there is no question that people on the Gulf Islands — especially Salt Spring — are stakeholders here. Continuous ferry traffic through Salt Spring’s terminals to Swartz Bay and Crofton proves we’re adding to the mix. Business, medical appointments, recreation activities and shopping often take us to the larger centres across the water. We also sometimes deal with the overflow when crashes close parts of Vancouver Island’s major highway system: Salt Spring made for an extremely backed up and aggravating detour route when the Malahat portion of Highway 1 was blocked in May 2017.

The Juan de Fuca area is, of course, part of Vancouver Island and connected by highway to the study region. The “back road” to Port Renfrew from Lake Cowichan has likewise been suggested for detour traffic for people living closer to Sooke. 

Salt Spring has been successful at lobbying for inclusion when left out of such plans in the past. The local transportation commission secured funding to produce its own cycling and pedestrian masterplan after being excluded from a CRD planning exercise.

This time the electoral areas have the CRD on our side, and it’s the province that needs to wake up to the fact that any regional transportation strategy must take us into account.

Transportation issues on the South Island need to be solved. A complete study of all the impacts and solutions is necessary — and the electoral areas are part of both.

STEVENS, Kathleen

Creative
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STEVENS, Kathleen

KATHLEEN STEVENS

Kathleen, (Kit to all who knew her), died at Lady Minto May 3rd, 2019. Mum and Dad found loving, supportive communities and developed many deep and lifelong friendships here on Salt Spring. We also became part of that family. Thank you. Thank you as well to Dr. Ryan, Braehaven friends and the nursing team. Lesley, Amanda & Tom, Jim & Bev and Kay & Brian survive Mum as well as 8 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Dad to us, Don to you, Mum’s loving spouse, died in 2015. We love you Mum. You are ours forever. We will return in the fall to say goodbye.

HADDOW, Queenie

Creative
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HADDOW, Queenie

Queenie Haddow

On April 16th Queenie passed away at the age of 103, the last of 9 siblings. Born and raised on the Prairies, she left school after grade 8 to help with the struggles of the depression. After moving to Victoria she had quite a varied career from welder at VMD during the war, ending as matron at the Royal Jubilee Nurses Residence. Throughout her life she enjoyed gardening, sewing, her projects, animals, friends and family.

She will be remembered by her son Trevor (Shirley) and granddaughters Kim and Erin (Jesse). Many thanks to all her care givers, as she could be quite at test. There will be a family service.

AKERMAN, Joseph Charles

Creative
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Joseph Charles Akerman
May 4, 2019

Joseph Charles Akerman (Joe) was born in Powell River BC and spent his early years on Salt Spring Island. His island connection runs deep as he was one of the 3rd generation of Salt Spring Island Akermans.

Nearing the end of his 87th year, Joe passed away peacefully at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital.

Joe was a beloved father of 4 children, Joseph Jr., Shawn, Chantal and Thomas, as well as the loving husband of 45 years to Yvonne and her 2 children, Doug and Marlene.

Together they retired to Salt Spring Island and enjoyed many years here. A welding fabricator by trade, Joe opened his own shop on the island and provided welding services, a cup of tea and a few laughs.
In the more recent years Joe’s short term memory became challenged but he never forgot stories of his youth on Salt Spring.

Joe also served 3 years in the Canadian Army.

Joe is survived by his wife, Yvonne, 4 children, 9 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren, sister Colleen and brothers Laurie and Doug.

A gathering of family and friends will be held at 2401 Fulford-Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island on Sunday May 19th, at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family graciously requests donations be made to Greenwoods to ensure those in need have the gracious care they deserve in times of memory loss.

Lost and Found theme in concert band evening

Gail Sjuberg
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Lost and Found theme in concert band evening

The Salt Spring Concert Band welcomes a new season with their spring show entitled Lost and Found on Friday, May 3 at ArtSpring.

“It was a long winter for everybody,” said music director Keith Ollerenshaw. “While we’re playing a lot of classics, I think that just with the nature of how they’re written embodies spring. That was the idea, waking up and hearing traditional repertoire while also enjoying spring.”

The show features some concert band standbys, as well as music from movie soundtracks and more recent composers. The show’s Lost and Found name comes from the The Lost Lady Found movement in the Lincolnshire Posy. The name also refers to lyrics from Amazing Grace, which is another piece on the program.

“There’s a huge history of band music, especially in the U.K. and the United States,” Ollerenshaw said. “We have a lot of American repertoire as well. We’re going to be playing some [Aaron] Copland. He’s probably our biggest American composer. Then the other one is Frank Ticheli, and we’re going to do a couple of his pieces as well.”

The concert band will also welcome the adult beginner band onstage for three numbers. Ollerenshaw hopes that by merging the two bands, more community members with a musical bent will be interested in joining the band program.

For more on this story, see the May 1, 2019 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

Island girls host roller derby doubleheader

Gail Sjuberg
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Island girls host roller derby doubleheader

Roller derby fans can look forward to an afternoon of rough stuff as the Salt Spring Island Tempest junior roller derby team hosts two bouts at Gulf Islands Secondary School on Saturday, May 4.

The Tempest will play against Vancouver Junior Roller Derby in the first game of the evening. Their match will be followed up by the Brass Knuckle Derby Dames out of Cowichan Valley facing off against the Brick House Betties from Comox.

“It’s our first game of the season. We are going to be playing at home, which is awesome. We don’t get a lot of games here,” said Hannah Lawson, a.k.a. Lawless, one of the players on the Tempest. “It’s nice when we get to have home games because then everyone on the island can come and participate.”

Roller derby is a rough sport in which players skate around a track at high speed, trying to score points against a defending team. Points are scored when a jammer (a scoring player, identified by a star on their helmet) laps members of the opposing team. The defending team tries to block the jammer from getting past. Blockers on the scoring team can also use body contact and other tactics to make it easier for their jammer to score.

“It’s a very charismatic game. We have characters behind our names, there is a lot of makeup, a lot of outfits,” Lawson said. “The crowds are awesome. We have a very strict no swearing policy so the sportsmanship is also really good.”

Derby players get to make up their own character, complete with names, costumes and personalities. Some of the names on this year’s roster are Lawless, Blocking Beauty, Abi McStabby, Av-A-Sassin and Hello Hitty.

This year, the Tempest is bringing a group of experienced skaters to the game. Each player on the team has been skating for at least three years. Junior roller derby players are ranked into skill levels, beginning at level 0 with beginning skaters and going up to level 3. Skaters in level 3 are generally considered to have adult-level competency on their skates.

“We have level-2 and level-3 players. Vancouver has more level-1 and level-2 players. They do have a few level-3 players, but they have a lot of younger kids. We’ll be bringing our brutality down a bit for the game. It’s still really good practice for us to be playing with smaller, lower-level kids.”

The team is also looking for new players. Three of the Tempest’s skaters will be aging out of the league this year, and fresh faces are always welcome. Lawson explained that though the game looks rough and scary, safety measures are in place to reduce any chance of injury.

“For me personally, it’s a great outlet for stress or if I’m not having a good day. I also just love the feeling of being on skates. I feel like I’m flying whenever I’m skating,” she said. “The team’s energy is just like we’re a little family.”

For those interested in playing, the team’s Facebook page is a good way to get in contact with the coaches. The team practices on Monday and Tuesday nights from 4:45 to 6:15 at Fulford Hall.

Doors open at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tickets are available in advance from Windsor Plywood, or at the door. Children under five get in free, and must be supervised and away from the track and crash zone at all times.

Pass It On group hosts Sparkfest

Elizabeth Nolan
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Pass It On group hosts Sparkfest

Performers are lined up and dessert menus are being finalized for Sparkfest, with the annual event hosted by Pass It On participants all set to return to Barb’s Bakery and Bistro on Thursday, May 9.

Now running for nine consecutive years, Sparkfest has been established as a fun way to celebrate an important initiative for youth in the community and to raise funds for the following year’s activities at the same time.

The SWOVA program sees high-school-age students meet weekly in peer groups with an adult facilitator to talk about anything they would like, from daily concerns to truly heavy issues. The students also act as mentors to little buddies in the middle school — usually Grade 8 students who will be moving up to high school themselves the next year.

The 2018-19 program marks the third year that boys have been included under the supervision of David Norget, while program founder Kate Nash has been running the girls’ group every year since 2009.

High school students involved with the program are looking forward to sharing their work with the community on May 9, with everyone invited to come out and support the program.

“I think the most important thing about Pass It On for me is it’s really brought together a community of the girls, and it kind of gives you a support group, almost. You get to go every week and relieve yourself,” said Grade 10 student Emma Phillips, who was a buddy when she was in Grade 8 and is now part of the mentor group. “And with the younger buddies it gives you that connection to maybe help them come into the high school.”

“It’s definitely an ease of transition,” agreed Grade 12 student Manny Wood Lynes-Ford. “For younger buddies it’s the transition between Grade 8 and high school, which is a pretty big jump. And then for us it’s going to be a jump to moving out of the house or living on our own.”

Healthy take-up of the program shows that many students find value in the relationship. There are currently between 15 and 20 partner-pairs from the girls’ side. The boy’s group, which is still in its early stages, attracted 10 high school mentors this year who are doing double duty with around 20 middle-school buddies. The pairs get together outside of regular meeting times and make their own plans. Often the mentors take their buddies out for lunch on a school day, and talk on the phone or text each other.

The older students are working on communication skills and building confidence as they prepare for a new future while being there for their younger counterparts. The younger group meanwhile gets familiar with the high school setting during fun group meetings and gets to know a few older students before the big move.

With all the good work of the past school-year coming to a close, the atmosphere at Sparkfest is definitely one of fun and celebration. As usual, Nash has used her connections to bring in professional entertainment from Vancouver. This year the program features music from Tom van Deursen, Ta’Kaiya Blaney and Chad Gilmour. There will also be performances from the GISS national champion improv team and Pass It On participants.

Tickets are available at the door, or for a discounted rate people can get them in advance from the students. The event starts at 7 p.m.

For more on this story, see the May 1, 2019 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

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