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HOPKINS, Mary

Driftwood Obituary
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HOPKINS, Mary

Mary Hopkins
April 6, 1920 – July 3, 2018

Mary was born on April 6th, 1920 in Picton, Ontario and gently passed away on Tuesday July 3rd, 2018 in the loving care of some of her children.

Mary (Marie) (Grammy) had 5 children, 6 grandchildren & 5 great-grandchildren and was pre-deceased by her husband Norton Hopkins who originally brought her to the Island.

Mary moved to Salt Spring Island in 1975 and quickly embraced the island life-style. She learned to golf and went on to become an avid golfer: winning tournaments; trophies and even accomplishing the ultimate goal:  a-hole-in-one!  She thoroughly enjoyed the game, the life-style and her golfing buddies. Mary was a loyal and devoted member of the Catholic Church and the Catholic Women’s League. She also, enthusiastically dedicated many volunteer hours to the Thrift Shop cleaning the silver and managing the cash register.

Mary was the last remaining sibling of a large family back in Ontario. She remained close and friendly with several nieces & nephews over the years.

Two of Mom’s most memorable quotes are:
1.  “The best times of my life were when my children were young and when I was at the Golf Club”.
2.  When we would tell our mom that we loved her, she always responded by saying “I love you more”.

She will be missed by all!

Mary’s family want to extend a big thank you to Father Scott; the staff at Greenwood Residence; her private companion Carol Penhale for all the care & attention they gave our beloved mother this past year. A special thank-you to her friends from the Golf Club; the Thrift Shop, the Women’s League and her neighbors along Old Scott Rd.  Thank you for helping to enrich our mother’s life during the past 45 years on her beloved island. Our Mother enjoyed her lovely home, her beautiful ocean view and visits from family and friends.

The “Celebration of Life” for Marie Hopkins
will be held at a Mass on Thursday July 19th
at the Lady of Grace Catholic Church
at 2:00 p.m.  The Mass will be followed by
a lively reception at the Lions Club:
103 Bonnet from 3:00-4:30 p.m.

Taming of the Shrew triumphs in Mouat Park

Elizabeth Nolan
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Taming of the Shrew triumphs in Mouat Park

The term “gaslighting” is reaching new prominence in the #MeToo era, as society comes to terms with the idea that making a woman doubt her own perceptions and experiences is yet another form of abuse.

As explained in a Guardian newspaper story last month, the term refers to “a malicious form of mental abuse designed to alter the victim’s perception of reality” and gets its name from the singly awful marital strategy laid out in the 1938 play Gas Light. Yet the practice has an even earlier provenance in fictional marriages, with Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew providing a near textbook example.

Within this context, exitStageLeft’s production of the play for this summer’s Shakespeare in the Park is particularly timely. It also accomplishes several goals of good theatre: it entertains, it illuminates high-quality material and it produces discussion long after the “curtain” falls (which in this case means darkness at Mouat Park).

Under the imaginative twist devised by director Jeffrey Renn, women actors take on the many male roles written into the play and young men play the few female characters.

Company co-founder Christina Penhale has truly risen to the occasion in playing leading male Petruchio. She makes for a surprisingly handsome man; with her flowing hair and handlebar mustache, her look is reminiscent of Billy Crudup in Almost Famous. But she inhabits the character so well, there is no sense of a woman in drag.

Penhale becomes Petruchio to the core, arriving at a strategy of dominance that is regrettable but ultimately practical while projecting an air of magnetic charisma. He is gaslighting the entire society of the mission, not just his unwilling wife.

Charlie Beaver likewise steps into his role as the “shrew” Katharina, who doesn’t even get to keep her first name under the relationship and becomes Kate instead. He holds his character rigid in haughty anger, moving into disbelief and something close to fear before she accepts her husband’s view of things. The gender-reverse casting allows the audience to accept Kate’s capitulation without becoming too uncomfortable, and still ask plenty of questions about what just happened.

Despite all the topical aspects, The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy at heart and audiences will laugh many times at the silliness afforded to the supporting characters. Combined with a setting shifted to the “Mission San Antonio de Padua” in California, the reversal allows women to portray exaggerated masculinity with terrific swagger and glee. The Western setting also works to anchor the story in small but important ways. Visually, having the male characters sport long hair under their hats makes perfect sense. The character’s Italian names meanwhile transfer easily to a Spanish mission setting where Zorro would not be out of place.

For more on this story, see the July 4, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online. Or go see the play! 

Viewpoint: Living wage report appreciated

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Living wage report appreciated

By HANNAH BROWN

The Living Wage for Salt Spring Island report commissioned by the Salt Spring Foundation is a long overdue and much appreciated look at the real costs of living on Salt Spring.

It shows us that our Canadian minimum wage is insufficient for living a nominally stress-free life. When referring to stress, in this case, I am addressing the stress of finding housing that is not filled with mould, or housing that has adequate space for a family, as well as the stress of being able to feed oneself and one’s family healthy food, especially food grown on our island.

It is important that the main employers on our island take this study seriously and approach it with a morality that goes beyond the bottom line. People should not be working for most of the wages being paid by the primary employers on this island. It is shameful and unnecessary. The disparity between the wages that are paid to our most needed workers in the retail section and the rest of us must be addressed.

We are a profit-driven society that does not address the issue of how much profit is enough. Instead, we need to talk about worker health and well-being. We need to give our heads a shake and stop glossing over the problems. We need these workers. Really, what would we do without them? Who would stack the shelves with food and who would check out and bag our food?

Are we all capable of making our own clothes and shoes and tools and household and gardening supplies? Clearly not, but thanks to retail employees who provide this service to us, we walk in and there they are shelved and ready to be cashed out and bagged for us. We also receive information from these same employees that we might need in order to choose the appropriate item for our needs, or details that will help us to use them easily.

A person making $15 an hour, working an eight-hour day and five days a week makes $31,000 minus taxes, etc., which is $25,000. Housing costs should be 33 per cent of their gross income, which is $852.50 per month. So we see how this is tightly tied in with affordable housing. Affordable housing for a single person with children who is making $15 an hour is only $852.

For those who make $12 an hour, the affordable level would be $686. A couple with two children making this wage would theoretically have $1,372 to spend on housing. Is this enough on Salt Spring or in Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto? How many units to fit a family of four can be found at this price? Very few.

We can also see through these figures why so many single women in the lower wage sector and raising children are living at or below the poverty level. This applies also to many senior women. More than 1.5 million Canadian women live in poverty and this continues to increase. Most of these older women were lower wage earners. It’s hard enough to make ends meet in this wage bracket and all but impossible to save for your older years. In the last 25 years, Canada’s rate of poverty has increased by 25 per cent.

I am very appreciative that the Salt Spring Foundation has brought this report forward. What we will do about it is now the question. We must not put our heads in the proverbial sand pile.

The writer is a Salt Spring resident and former teacher who says she feels very privileged to have a wonderful pension. She adds that her foremothers and fathers were hard working, dedicated low wage earners who were not so fortunate. They hoped that the future would be brighter for the working class.

Community Alliance shares governance study results

Gail Sjuberg
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Community Alliance shares governance study results

The Governance Working Group of the Salt Spring Community Alliance has suggested two possible ways to improve local governance, following an extensive examination of a wide range of options.

“There was nothing that was off the table,” said GWG member Brian Webster in introducing the group’s process at a June 25 meeting attended by about 50 people at Lions Hall.

The meeting summarized results of an estimated 800 person-hours of volunteer work put in by 17 people and took questions from the crowd.

It outlined two possible ways to improve coordination and priority setting between various bodies, which Webster said was identified as a major problem with Salt Spring’s governance system during last summer’s incorporation referendum discussions. Dubbed a “local government working group” option, it would establish regular meetings of representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, RCMP, fire district, North Salt Spring Waterworks District, Islands Trust and Capital Regional District.

GWG group member Linda Adams, who is the former CAO of the Islands Trust, said it is envisioned as “something quite formal in that the groups would commit to going to it,” the meetings would occur on a regular schedule and minutes could be kept. No decisions could be made at such meetings because doing so would fetter the discretion of various bodies involved, she said, but a town hall portion could be included, as well as time for guests to address specific topics.

“If we choose to do this [the different agencies] would enter into some sort of memorandum of understanding with each other,” said Adams.

The other possibility is to pursue creation of a Local Community Commission through the Capital Regional District. As presented by economist Richard Kerr, that option would see four to six paid commission members elected island wide, in addition to the electoral area director who is currently the island’s lone elected CRD official.

“In addition to bringing together decision making on all the matters the regional district deals with on the island, and which could become more than we have now, it would allow priority setting across different areas much more effectively than the current system,” said Webster.

The LCC structure is well suited to taking on additional responsibilities, such as the NSSWD or fire district, which are both currently improvement districts, he added. Creating an LCC would require the consent of the CRD and Salt Spring voter approval through a referendum.

Adams explained that other potential options were investigated by the Governance Working Group but did not pass three major elimination criteria. They could not require changes to provincial government legislation, which is a long and complex process that needs complete buy-in from the province; they had to protect the role of the Islands Trust and keep service delivery separate from land use; and they had to be acceptable to the provincial government policy-wise.

Other ideas deemed not worth pursuing included other forms of incorporation, having Salt Spring put into a different regional district, creating an Islands Trust regional district or a multi-service improvement district, or developing a multi-service non-profit society to provide services as is the case on Hornby Island.

The governance group aims to publish a report by the end of August.

The Community Alliance grew out of the incorporation referendum debate, with the aim of working to resolve issues of governance and community concerns. SSCA working groups are also meeting on the topics of environment, micro-economics, housing/health, infrastructure and community visioning.

The environment group is scheduled to give a report at the next SSCA meeting at Lions Hall on July 23 at 7 p.m.

For more information, visit www.saltspringcommunityalliance.org or email Gayle Baker at ssispeaks@gmail.com.

Editorial: Let working groups work

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Let working groups work

A grassroots initiative to improve local governance on Salt Spring Island is picking up steam. 

The Salt Spring Community Alliance was formed following the solid “no” vote in last September’s incorporation referendum. While most alliance members were publicly opposed to incorporation, the group consists of islanders from across the spectrum on the issue, indicating healthy collaboration at work.

As stated at its monthly meeting at Lions Hall last week, few people familiar with how Salt Spring’s governance system functions would suggest it does not need improvement.

After some intense investigation into various ways the system could be improved, the alliance’s Governance Working Group has come up with two major avenues it feels worth pursuing.

One option is the local community commission. It could help address the disconnect between the various Capital Regional District commissions by bringing the services they provide under one CRD umbrella. Accountability and representation would exist through commissioners being elected. After witnessing the recent Saturday market parking shuttle proposal, which saw CRD staff scuttle the shuttle despite enthusiastic support from two of three CRD commissions, more coordination within the CRD would be a good thing. However, because the LCC requires far more work, including full CRD buy-in and a referendum, it should be considered a longer-term possibility.

The other concept is being called the “local government working group,” a form of which was active for a period of time in the 2000s. No decisions could be made at such a meeting, but at least the arms of the octopus that is Salt Spring governance would know what the others are up to once in a while. In its previous incarnation, the meetings were not open to the public. That should be changed if a group is in fact formed, as the alliance group has also suggested.

This option should be relatively easy to enact and would definitely improve coordination between the disparate government agencies. 

Let’s hope genuine investigation of the “local government working group” is not blocked by government bodies whose cooperation is needed to make it a possibility.

Promoting a honk-free environment

Contributed Article
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Promoting a honk-free environment

BY GREGORY AST

Honking has become a significant part of my life these days.

You know that kind of honking from agitated motorists who are on missions of national security? They’re so tight for time that they can’t allow an extra nine seconds to be removed from their Expected Time of Arrival.

I blame Salt Spring Island. You see, I took the motto too seriously. “Don’t try to change Salt Spring – let Salt Spring change you” is how I first heard it. I remember laughing about it the first time, years ago. I talked to local friends about it and was surprised at how many didn’t return my giggles. They took that phrase seriously.

“Greg, we take that motto seriously,” they said. “It’s an important contribution to your future health.”

So, I decided to let it happen. And it did. I changed. I slowed down. I noticed that others already had. Slowed down, that is. The whole island takes the extra nine seconds to let you cross the street or go ahead in the grocery line if you appear to need the time.

Now to be fair, the grocery line often takes more than nine seconds. By my watch, the delay is 42 seconds, but in those 42 seconds, the person I let ahead and the cashier both talked to me about something enjoyable that improved my life, so I actually only wasted nine seconds there too.

But I’m going to Victoria quite a bit these days. People there are obviously in the midst of terrifyingly serious matters and they do not have the time to waste those aforementioned nine seconds.

However, they do have the time to blow their car’s horn at people like me who meander. The first blast nearly popped me out of my shoes. I turned to find out what had happened inside the car that caused the driver to blow their horn so dramatically. I thought perhaps a terrorist had commandeered their vehicle at knife-point and they were trying to attract my attention to their plight. Perhaps they thought I could rush into their dilemma and save them.

But no, upon closer inspection, there was no terrorist. There was a middle-aged guy at the wheel with a Pekinese riding shotgun and both were flipping me the bird. I was apparently walking too slowly across the street in their path to wherever they were headed. Doggy daycare, perhaps.

Then it happened again, and again. Mostly in shopping malls. I often walk from my parked car towards my destination (usually, a store — duh) and apparently take up too much of the pavement pre-ordained for the exclusive use of the automobile. Drivers honk at me, regularly. Soon, I was ignoring the honks. No need to believe that any of the horn blasts actually wanted my attention. Rather they just wanted me to know that I was being considered a klutz by some extremely important people (them) in the provincial capital. Fortunately, I have known that I’m a klutz for quite some time and their input was quite unnecessary.

But now it’s happened on Salt Spring. To be fair, it only happened once, and it was on market day and I was J-walking. But I was so surprised that I had to look into the car. Oh, my goodness! It was the guy with the Pekinese dog again!

I found my shoes and returned them to my feet and then walked up to his window, which was rolled down. The Pekinese scowled at me. The man told me that I was J-walking. I could tell that his blood pressure was frightfully high by the colour of his complexion. I pointed out that it was market day and J-walking was permitted. He told me to pay closer attention to the rules of the road. I told him to stop trying to change Salt Spring. He told me to do an unnatural act and laid a strip of tire rubber in front of Ganges Alley as he headed up Ganges Hill, presumably to catch the first Fulford ferry back to civilization. I swear the Pekinese flipped me yet another bird.

So, you see why I’m getting just a tad nervous. The time I’m now spending in Victoria could change me. I might need to pay closer attention to their big-city traffic patterns. Either that or just wear earphones with the white noise app.

So, I’m thinking of sporting a T-shirt in Victoria. I can buy it at Apple Photo. They’ll imprint it for me, did you know? “DON’T TRY TO CHANGE ISLANDERS. LET ISLANDERS CHANGE YOU.” Salt Spring Island Chamber of Commerce

I could start a whole new following. The collective blood pressure of the Saanich Peninsula could drop significantly. I could open a kiosk at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal. Right there beside the Salt Spring Gelato franchise store.

The healthcare system could return to the black.

Great ideas come from simple observations.

The writer is a Salt Spring resident.

Tempest junior roller derby team hosts double header

Gail Sjuberg
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Tempest junior roller derby team hosts double header

Roller Derby is coming to Salt Spring Island on Saturday, July 7 as the Salt Spring Island Tempest junior co-ed roller derby team hosts their first island bout.

The event will be at the Gulf Islands Secondary School gymnasium from around 4 to 9 p.m. (Doors open at 3:30.) The Tempest will play first, followed by an adult bout. This will be the first time that the junior team has played against a visiting team on Salt Spring Island.

“Finally, we’re going to have everyone cheering them on, which is going to feel awesome for them,” said assistant coach Kate Richer. “The kids are super excited. We’ve had the junior team for two years and this is the first time playing on Salt Spring.”

The Tempest is a co-ed junior roller derby team for youth ages 11 to 18. Kids learn everything from basic roller skating skills to more advanced moves and strategies needed to win the game.

Roller derby is more than a brawl on a roller rink. Crews are made up of blockers and jammers. Jammers are the scoring players who try to pass the blockers, race around the track and pass through them a second time. Points are awarded for each time the jammer passes an opposing blocker.

“It can get rough,” Richer said. “It’s not a sport for the light hearted, though we have many kids who are very gentle and they love it. They get to explore that other side of themselves.”

The team practises twice per week at Fulford Hall. The kids start out by learning how to roller skate and it is not until they learn all of the skating skills that they can even start learning the game. Most of the players from the first year came back to play for a second year.

“It’s something that I always look forward to at the end of school, or that I really dread, but it’s definitely something that I’m excited to do,” said Lili Paulin Kuroda, one of the players. “I think that it’s a part of my personality. I think that if I work really hard and I continue with it I can get pretty good.”

One of the more creative parts of being on the team is being able to choose derby names. The nicknames bring out each skater’s persona and are a big part of roller derby culture. Lili “Minie Mimi” Paulin Kuroda, Tammy “Trixie McDinglehopper” Miller and Morgan “Donor” Fry are some examples.

Putting on a roller derby bout is an involved process. A special floor needs to be installed in the gym, and at least 18 officials are required to run a game. Those interested in helping with the floor installation are asked to contact the team through their Facebook page.

Game tickets are available at  Windsor Plywood, Axe and Reel and through the team’s Facebook page: The TempestSSIJRD.

For more on this story, see the July 4, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

Fernwood dock closed for repair work

Elizabeth Nolan
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Fernwood dock closed for repair work

The crane barge HM Tacoma is anchored at Fernwood this week while a crew from Heavy Metal Marine finishes up infrastructure repairs.

A total project budget of $164,000 set by the Capital Regional District’s Salt Spring administration office includes a $132,000 construction budget to replace damaged timber decking, damaged kick boards, some timber piles and damaged rubber fenders.

The project will also see new paint for hand rails, the gangway and lamp standards, plus installation of bird spikes on lamp standards and new electrical equipment for some of the lamps.

Jennifer Shaw, proprietor of the nearby Fernwood Road Cafe, said she was surprised to see the popular amenity closed last week since she didn’t see much in the way of public notification, but added it’s good to know needed repairs are taking place.

“Any safety issues definitely need to be fixed,” Shaw said. “It’s just unfortunate it has to happen in the summer. We are seeing increased boating traffic to the dock and lots of people coming over here.”

Repairs were scheduled to take place from June 26 to July 5. The dock was temporarily re-opened for the Canada Day long weekend.

Tendering for the project took place in October 2017, with Fernwood Dock tied into a process for several projects identified under the Southern Gulf Islands Harbour Commission capital plan in order to realize administrative efficiencies and leverage scale of economies. The local Fernwood Dock Management Commission was dissolved  some years back with administration moved to CRD Integrated Water Services and more lately to the CRD’s Salt Spring management team.

According to a CRD staff report, four facilities including Fernwood Dock were inspected by consultants Moffatt & Nichol, wharfingers and CRD staff in May 2017 to confirm scope of works for each facility.

The SGI Harbour Commission passed a resolution in October 2017 awarding the combined tender for infrastructure improvements to Fernwood Dock and Montague Harbour on Galiano Island to Heavy Metal Marine for $150,226.55.

The company has been part of many coastal projects, including designing and building the boardwalk for the District of Sooke and constructing a new dock at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney.

Bike Park construction gets rolling

Marc Kitteringham
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Bike Park construction gets rolling

Trail building for the Salt Spring Lions Memorial Bike Park began last week.

Charlie’s Excavating of Salt Spring is building the trails for the park, a process that is expected to last through July, according to an update provided by the Capital Regional District.

The goal is to open the park to riders in August. Fencing and landscaping work will continue into fall.

The park will be mainly for younger riders and their families. It will be a place for children to be able to have fun and to learn cycling skills that they can later take elsewhere on the island. Children as young as two years old will be able to ride at the park and learn valuable biking skills. It will not be a jump park or an advanced mountain bike park.

John Wakefield, a parent and member of the Salt Spring Bike Club, said in a press release that “having safe, fun and affordable recreational biking facilities for children and families to develop their skills in nature will be a great asset to the community.”

The facility will be built in a small section of Mouat Park next to the ArtSpring parking lot.

Hiring a local company was one of the goals outlined by the Lions Club, which has provided $150,000 for the project. Club members will also be volunteering during the construction phase, installing wooden fencing at the site.

Planning of the park has been going on for well over a year. There has been site analysis, an environmental review, a community open house and consultation. The design was finalized and approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission on May 14.

Family venture makes healthy food that tastes great

Driftwood Staff
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Family venture makes healthy food that tastes great

Chicken smoked for hours on the bone, leaving a crispy seasoned skin over melt-in-the-mouth meat. Fresh rice paper spring rolls with rainbow-bright veggies and homemade peanut sauce. Low-carb fried chicken served with golden potato rosti. It all tastes as delicious as it sounds, and it can be found in a garden near you.

Dr. Tom’s Cafe opened five weeks ago on Kings Lane, across from the medical clinic and a short walk from Lady Minto Hospital and Braehaven/Greenwoods. The home-based business operated by Tom Boekbinder and his wife Marialyn is a great new option for lunch for people following a ketogenic diet, but also for anyone who enjoys good food.

The couple’s custom-built food truck with stainless steel kitchen is the site for food preparation and serving, while Tom’s wood pellet-fed smoker is located outside. Picnic tables, umbrellas and a gravelled courtyard transform the home’s front yard into a prime lunching location just steps off the main road into town.

It may be a coincidence that three health-care facilities are located in such close proximity, but it makes sense that the health-minded people working there would be among the first to discover the delicious menu that Tom and Marialyn are cooking up.

“The overall objective is to provide simple food items that feed the body in the best way possible, but also taste great,” Tom explains.

Tom is a retired veterinarian from California who has loved cooking for family and friends since he was a 10-year-old boy in Holland. Moving to Salt Spring and building a cafe in his front yard fulfills a longtime dream of easy communion with friends and neighbours that’s based around sharing food. The business is a family hobby that’s been created for love rather than profit.

“We’re doing the cafe four days a week because we have a daughter, and it has to be fun, too. And I’m doing it with my wife who I love dearly, so nothing can hurt that relationship,” Tom says.

Marialyn, his wife of 13 years, brings Filipino cuisine and a love of people to the arrangement, while their 10-year-old daughter is the inspiration for Sophie’s Chocolate Garden. This line features products made from ground cacao nibs and just a few high-quality additions, as well as ketogenic chocolate.

For those who are in the know, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Ketones are created in the liver and used for energy instead of the glucose that carbs create; bodies that burn ketones enter a state of “ketosis.”

Tom has recently started to follow a ketogenic diet so that’s the focus of most of the menu. But “probably the star of the show are Marialyn’s fresh spring rolls, which are made to order,” he says. “We make our own peanut sauce and spicy sauce because we make them without sugar.”

Despite the modesty, Tom’s smoked chicken, beef and pork prepared with homemade, low-sugar barbecue sauce is one specialty that visitors won’t find many places. Tom became “enslaved” to smoked chicken in particular through a German deli in California, and says it just isn’t available here. (More than a few people who have visited the cafe so far have reported Tom’s is the best chicken they’ve ever had.)

Other mouth-watering menu items include smoked Italian sausages, a noodle bowl made with bone broth and spaghetti squash “noodles,” and a recent experiment on baked brie puffs made with a low-carb crust.

Dr. Tom’s Cafe recently catered a staff lunch for 25 people using only Filipino dishes to great success, and Tom and Marialyn plan to start offering more dishes at the cafe, perhaps on a special day or special week. They use local and organic ingredients whenever possible for all their dishes.

The outdoor cafe is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with plans to stay open year-round. For more information and to see the menu, visit drtomscafe.com.

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