FRIDAY JULY 3, 4, 2015
VVO OLL.. 4422,, NNO O.. X2X3
$1
including including GST GST
Watch Watch for for more more online online at: at: WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM
How we got home
Islanders tell their story of the journey to the place they now call home
Collins Farm
Keeping the spirit of agriculture alive on Bowen’s oldest farm
Hogweed update
Municipality takes first steps
Legal petition filed against municipality MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Jason Bennett, the winner of the stand-up paddleboard category of the Round Bowen Challenge, completed the race in four hours and 15 minutes.
Matt Somerville, photo
Wind and waves create challenging conditions for paddlers racing around Bowen MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
The founder of the Round Bowen Challenge and this year’s Master of Ceremonies, Martin Clarke says last weekend’s race around the island conjured memories of the toughest race ever, in 2002. That year, he says, 10 foot swells meant even experienced paddlers couldn’t finish, and the winner from the year 2000 was pushed into retirement. “The waters around Roger Curtis were a mess,” said Clarke, following the race awards presentation and barbeque. “That’s always where you’re going to run into trouble whether it’s politically or climatically.” Dr. Leah Kline, works on the rescue boat for the race each year and says that while this year the swell was not as high (6 feet around the Cape) as 2002, the waters were extremely choppy and erratic. “Leaving Tunstall Bay we saw the beginning of this water that looked like it was in a washing machine,” says Kline. “There was a following sea, wind at the back, and these reflective waves that made a super-sized effect.” Kline says that in checking-in with the various paddlers, she noticed even the experienced surf skiers were forced to concentrate hard to maintain their balance near Cape Roger Curtis. She says a man paddling an outrigger gave her the thumbs-up near the Cape, and told her after the race he had a great time. Another stand-up paddleboarder who gave the her the thumbs up had, as it turns out, paddled to the race from Nanaimo. “He was clearly in his element,” says Kline. She adds that there were a lot of people, stand up paddle-boarders and inexperienced
surf skiers in particular, that needed to be pulled off the water. “There was one woman, an inexperienced surf skier who started the race in Tunstall and just couldn’t stay balanced in her boat and didn’t have the strength to cope, she was quite happy to be rescued,” says Kline. “But another man, who it turns out was her husband made it past the light house at Cape Roger, but had capsized 25 times already. It took some convincing to get him in the boat, but by the time we did it was clear he was showing signs of hypothermia.” Stand-up paddleboarder Arne Guttmann says his 14 foot board just couldn’t hack it in the rough conditions, and he had to be pulled out of the water after 20 kilometers. “My friend and I had been training really hard for similar distances, but it was just too much work out there,” says Guttmann. “I remember a couple of times when a kilometer took me probably 20 minutes to half an hour, when in good conditions I can cover a kilometer in 2 minutes.” Like other experienced surf skiers, race-winner Ken Rice found the area around Cape Roger Curtis to be a great opportunity to accumulate speed. He figures he managed to travel at roughly 15 km per hour. Rice, who competes at roughly seven international paddling competitions per year and studies sports management in Capetown, South Africa, says he’s extremely pleased with how the race went. “This race is longer than normal, and I’ve never raced around an island before. Racing around an island means you have absolutely everything involved, upwind, downwind, side-wind… and that makes it very exciting. And the whole way around it is exceptionally beautiful,” says Rice. Rice completed the 33 kilometers around Bowen in 2 hours and 31 minutes, with record-holder Wes Hammer finishing 17 minutes behind him.
The owner of lot 17 at the Cape on Bowen, Shu Lin Dong, filed a petition against the Municipality of Bowen Island on June 23 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia asking for a declaration by the courts that Bylaw No. 381, which prohibits dock construction along the Cape’s coastline, illegal. The petition says that the bylaw extends beyond the municipality’s legislative authority, is discriminatory, was adopted in bad faith, and was passed in breach of its duty of procedural fairness. The petition also claims there was a lack of consultation and attempt to find a balanced solution, and sites the support of the mayor and three councillors for the 2013 petition released by Stop the Docks campaign asking for a prohibition against all dock construction on the shoreline of the Cape. Former councillor and Stop the Docks Campaigner Doug Hooper says that the group is simply made up of concerned citizens who want to protect the shoreline of the Cape. “It is unfortunate that this matter is going to the courts, it takes away from council’s other priorities,” says Hooper. “Even if we win this, it can still be costly for the municipality. But I vigorously support council in their efforts to support the public and the shoreline.” He adds that according to the petition filed by Shu Lin Dong, the province was approving dock applications while the municipality was still sorting out the details of its land-use bylaw in relation to docks. “I think this lawsuit brings us the opportunity to gain some insight into the role the province has played in all of this,” says Hooper. The municipality is not making any statements about the lawsuit at this time, but is preparing for the court hearing on July 24.
Through bus gets TransLink approval to continue service MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
A call by mayor Murray Skeels to the executive director of the Metro Vancouver Mayor’s Council, Mike Buda, brought good news for Peter King and the people who ride his bus: TransLink has approved the contract that will allow the service to continue operating for another year. Mayor Skeels says that he is really pleased about the news, and sees it as a potential game-changer in commuting from Bowen Island. Peter King says this is still just a step, and is eager to actually see a contract. “I submitted a contract and have not had anything returned to me so I can only assume they are agreeing to my conditions,” says King. “But I get the fact that TransLink is up to its armpits dealing with the “yes” and “no” question in the referendum. We’re small potatoes.”
2 • FRIDAY JULY 3 2015
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→ DOGS IN SNUG COVE
→ WAT E R U S A G E
Bowen Island Municipality is considering an on leash dog area in and around Snug Cove (see map). Council’s deliberation to designate this area as an on leash dog area is based upon the disproportional numbers of dog aggression incidents in Snug Cove as compared to any other area on Bowen Island. Off leash dogs are involved with many incidents that result in injury to human, dog, livestock and wildlife. Community input related to the proposed changes to Bowen Island Municipality’s Dog Control Bylaw No. 30, 2001 is encouraged. Please send your comments to Bonny Brokenshire, Senior Bylaw Services Officer bbrokenshire@bimbc.ca . Proposed On Leash Dog Area 1
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The following recommendations apply for all Municipal Water Systems: NO LAWN SPRINKLING NO CAR/BOAT WASHING NO DECK/POWER WASHING Please limit your water usage: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
turn the tap off while brushing or washing use the dishwasher only when full use laundry machines sparingly embrace the dusty look for your car water garden by hand-held hose or containers equip hoses with spring-loaded shutoff devices collect rainwater flush only when necessary
Card
B o w e n
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S
Conserve water or have none.
Dorman Rd
BIM North and South Dock
Legend Road Data - MOT
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Public Works department at 604-947-4255
Proposed On Leash Dog Area 1 Property Boundaries
Scale 1:6,000 0
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→ COMPLETE FIRE BAN IN EFFECT
NO Open Burning NO Camp Fires NO Beach Fires NO Fireworks
TO REPORT FIRES OR WILDFIRES CALL 911 → B L U E WAT E R PA R K
WAT E R S Y S T E M A N N U A L I N F O R M AT I O N M E E T I N G
All Blue Water Park Residents Welcome! When: Friday, July 17th at 5:30 pm Where: Bowen Island Municipal Hall, 981 Artisan Lane What: Overview of Annual Budget, Water Reports & Operations
→ SUMMER
D AYC A M P S S TA R T J U LY 6 T H !
Island Adventurers (5 ½ - 7 year olds) Day Trippers (8 – 12 Year olds) Monday – Friday 9:00am – 4:00pm www. Bowencommunityrecreation.com 604-947-2216
→ D R I N K I N G WAT E R A N D
PERSONS WHO ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED
The Provincial Health Officer advises all British Columbians with compromised immune systems (such as HIV, organ or bone transplants, chemotherapy or medications that suppress the immune system) to avoid drinking water from any surface water or ground water that is under the influence of surface water, unless it has been boiled, filtered ,distilled or treated with UV. Bowen Island and other areas in British Columbia use surface water sources (lakes, rivers, streams). This is not a general boil-water advisory for the general public, but rather is directed only at persons with compromised immune systems. If in doubt about your immune system status, please discuss this further with your physician. For additional information refer to health file http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/ healthfiles/hfile56.stm or contact your physician directly.
→ NOTICE OF
CONSTRUCTION IN SNUG COVE
June 30 - July 31, 2015 Installation of an oil-water separator Visit www.bimbc.ca for more information and construction updates.
→ NOTE TO BUILDERS,
CONTRACTORS AND BC LAND SURVEYORS
The Bowen Island Municipality Building Department requests that all BC Land Survey (BCLS) forms include one geodetic reference point, clearly identifiable on the surveys, for staff to confirm that all building construction complies with the applicable bylaws and issued building permits. If you have any questions, please contact the BIM Building Department at 604-947-4255.
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Municipality tackles hogweed “hot zone”
FRIDAY JULY 3 2015 • 3
Our affordable seniors residence may be the perfect choice for you!
Hello from Squamish, BC!
Lisa Friesen General Manager
The team that took down the Scarborough hogweed plants. From left: Michael Green, Davin Killey, Mark Edmonds and Chance Feist.
Located just 40 minutes from Horseshoe Bay, Shannon Falls Retirement Residence has the perfect blend of spacious suites with spectacular views, all inclusive services and 24/7 staff.
Call Lisa today for a complimentary Lunch and Tour or inquire about our trial stay rates.
Bonny Brokenshire, photo
604-848-2000
MERIBETH DEEN
38225 3rd Avenue, Squamish
EDITOR
On Tuesday of last week, the municipality’s parks and environment manager, joined by the new park operations and Snug Cove maintenance lead Mark Edmonds, who has a horticulture background, headed to the Scarborough neighbourhood to inspect a number of properties where Giant Hogweed has been reported. Brokenshire says that a lot of plants were found on three particular properties. She calling the neighbourhood a “hot spot” for hogweed. On Thursday, Edmonds and a team from Home Farm Gardens helped to remove as many hogweed plants as possible from the properties. “There are some plants hidden among the brambles and blackberries so they may have been missed,” says Brokenshire. “But I know we got many before they went to seed. Many of the plants we saw were at the flowering stage.” Brokenshire says that this is just the beginning of a vigilant monitoring program for hogweed and other invasives on Bowen. “Having the invasives email set up through the municipality has been very helpful, and we have received a number of tips from the public that have allowed us to identify the plant on other parts of the island,” says Brokenshire. “Hogweed in particular is such a sinister plant that can be devastating both to human health and our waterways, it is important that we do whatever we can to prevent it from spreading.” If you think you might have giant hogweed on your property contact the municipality at: invasive@bimbc.ca or call 604-947-4255
www.shannonfalls.ca
Bowen Buyers Club This business stands on three legs: • Saving you money • Saving you time • Saving the environment www.bowenbuyersclub.ca
Vendors Gloria July and Jane Ferguson at the first Farmer’s Market of the season at BICS. Meribeth Deen, photo
604-947-2565
4 • FRIDAY JULY 3 2015
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Bowen Island
viewpoint
EDITORIAL
The funny side of the OCP MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Is our Official Community Plan (OCP) the saving grace of Bowen Island or is it the document that stops everything from happening and leaves islanders with screaming all the way to the courthouse? This is a question to which I have no answer, and the debate is likely to rage on until our fair island sinks into the rising seas. However, in the midst of answering this heated question and many others there is one islander who always seems to come from another place entirely with his perspec-
tive, and ALMOST always makes most of us laugh. Sometimes, though, we don’t get it. Cartooning after all, is like jazz. The islander’s name is Ron Woodall and this weekend, July 5, marks his 80th birthday. He has been penning cartoons for The Undercurrent for eight years now, and in that has stood the test of time. To celebrate, and to say ‘Thank You’ for all the great work, we’ll be throwing a party at the Snug Café at 3 p.m this Friday. Bring a smile and a small donation to CAWES, if you can.
Swallows flitting light and fast, this and that way, looks like play, but it’s serious survival, catching bugs to last all night! They throw themselves up to the trees, sailing down again and again, white bellies flashing light, with fast, elegant flying. I could spend the last hours of my life, watching the swift, skillful flying of swallows over the meadow: This incredible lightness of being! Imke Zimmermann
Harmony and the OCP Dear Editor, In response to Bud Long’s letter, I join Dave Witty in stating that my comments bore no relation to implementing the Official Community Plan “in an extreme form.” I was simply making the point that upholding our own democratically created OCP would assist in avoiding polarization among Bowen Islanders. In other words, when a plan has been formally and legally adopted by a community, it is more conducive to harmony if that community works together in supporting and implementing the fundamental objectives, policies and provisions of that plan. It is particularly important when dealing with an official document such as the OCP which, in the words of Mr. Witty, “is our Official Community Plan in name and law.” In my estimation, islanders would do well to follow Mr. Witty’s counsel, as it lays the solid foundation for peace, order and good government when dealing with community planning.
The Write Stuff. The Undercurrent encourages reader participation in your community newspaper. You must include your full name and a daytime phone number (for verification only). The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity, legality, brevity and taste. Here’s how. To submit a letter to the editor, fax 604-947-0148 or mail it to #102, 495 Government Rd., PO Box 130, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G0 or email editor@ bowenislandundercurrent.com.
John Sbragia
Help! Bring colour to the office of the Bowen Island RCMP
B.C. Press Council. The Undercurrent is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 1-888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org.
All Advertising and news copy content are copyright of the Undercurrent Newspaper. All editorial content submitted to the Undercurrent becomes the property of the publication. The undercurrent is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, art work and photographs. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Summer ev’ning in the meadow, light and warm the breeze, tall the grasses, smell of hay.
Dear Editor, I appreciate our little Bowen Island RCMP Detachment. It’s kept us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Many great officers have made it what it is today. However, I don’t think much thought went into it when it came to aesthetics. We are looking for any local artists who would care to donate or temporarily lend some of their work (photos, paintings, etc.) to be proudly displayed at the police station. If you’re interested please contact me. Sincerely, Cpl Paulo Arreaga at 604 947-0516.
Lost and profound: The more we acquire, the more we require. Ed Sanders #102–495 Bowen Trunk Road, PO Box 130, Bowen Island BC, V0N 1G0
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FRIDAY JULY 3 2015 • 5
Concerned Citizens of Bowen Island The Witty Family Donation to Island want you to vote with your boat! Pacific School: In memory of Marg Concerned Citizens of Bowen Island, from left: Susan Swift, Martin Clarke, Claire Allen, Peter Williamson, Fitch Cady, Brent O’Malley, and Lesley Gaunt. Susan Swift, photo
FITCH CADY SUBMISSION
Members of the group Concerned Citizens of Bowen Island have been working hard to organize a flotilla of boaters in Howe Sound, with the aim of sending a message to Premier Christy Clark. The message is this: Woodfibre LNG and 1000 LNG mega-tankers are wrong for Howe Sound. It is the wrong place for a class A Hazard industry. The wrong place for an LNG plant sited over two thrust earthquake faults, using a cooling system banned in California, New York and parts of Europe and the wrong place for dangerous 1000’ mega-tankers which imperil the safety of population centres along the Sound including Lions Bay, Bowen Island, Horseshoe Bay and West Vancouver. Bowen Island boaters are invited to join the flotilla that will assemble Saturday July 11th at 11:00 am between Bowyer Island and the mainland and to blow their horns in protest as they cross the proposed tanker route and then proceed up the sound
to arrive at Ekins Point (north end of Gambier Island) by 2:00pm for speakers discussing the challenges currently facing Howe Sound and live music by the Sunshine Coast band, Brothers in Farms. In February Bowen Island Muncipal Council passed a resolution to the provincial government to ban the passage of LNG tankers in the waters of Howe Sound. Municipal Councils & Regional Districts around the Sound including have all passed resolutions questioning the wisdom of locating this project in Howe Sound. The recovery of Howe Sound from the previous industrial resource extraction projects has cost millions of tax dollars and hundreds of volunteer hours. Orcas, humpbacks, dolphins, salmon and herring have returned. Antique glass sponge reefs, unique to the area, have been discovered. Howe Sound is home, a place for everyone to enjoy and a tourist destination for millions of people from around the world. To register, and for updates, go to www.myseatosky.org/sos
BOWEN ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SUBMISSION
“It was a crazy idea, starting this school,” Ted Spear said. “But what really made it work in the early years -- what really mattered -- was having people like Marg Witty on the board. She became chair and her phenomenal personality and her reputation in the community were invaluable.” The Margaret Witty Bursary Fund has been created by the Witty family in honour and recognition of Marg Witty’s contribution to Island Pacific School and the community of Bowen Island. Over the next five years the donation will grow to $50,000, thanks to a commitment of annual donations from Dave Witty and his children. The Fund will be managed by the Bowen Island Community Foundation and will provide an annual bursary to one or more deserving students of Island Pacific School. “Marg loved Island Pacific,” Dave Witty said. “She had been taught herself by nuns and she loved the academic freedom of IPS – its emphasis on outdoor activities, the focus on developing critical thinking, and the Masterworks projects for graduating students. She also loved that sports at IPS are inclusive: that both boys and girls are involved, that you celebrate the other team – Ultimate Frisbee, the official school sport, is about everyone having fun.” Dave says that leaving an endowed bursary is a way to leave a legacy to Marg, a way of ensuring that she will always be a part of this island that she loved.” As Head of Island Pacific School Ted Spear has watched the institution grow from “a crazy idea,” to an economically sustainable school for children in grades 6 to 9. Marg Witty was a critical catalyst for the School’s development, and as the IPS website noted, “it is small by design and distinctly different.” Small classes, civic engagement and a range of academic, artistic and recreation pursuits are the hallmarks of an education at IPS. Although fees at Island Pacific are much lower than those for most independent schools, Ted Spear would like to be able to make Island Pacific more affordable, particularly to adolescents growing up on Bowen Island. The Margaret Witty Bursary Fund will help some youngsters to have that opportunity. “We have some of our kids who have gone on to Oxford and Cambridge, and very good graduate programs, and that’s great,” says Spear. “But that’s not what we’re really most focused on. We want to ensure that the young people who leave our school go on to become decent human beings, that they are intellectually curious --that they know how to ask critical and intelligent questions.” Marg Witty was pleased that she lived to see her grandson Jett become a student at the school. “This is different,” Dave Witty says of IPS. “The way that education is understood and delivered here was something that Marg really cared about.” Donations to the Margaret Witty Bursary Fund can be made through the Bowen Island Community Foundation, and sent to Soren Hammerberg, Chair. P.O. Box 18, Bowen Island, B.C. V0N 1G0. Contributions can also be made through our website at www.bowenfoundation.com. The celebration of life for Marg Witty will be held at the Lodge at the Old Dorm on Sunday July 5th from 3 to 5 p.m.
SS Master is coming to Bowen ALAN MILLS SUBMISSION
Steamship Days is proud to announce that the last surviving steam powered vessel on the West Coast will be part of the wooden boat show at the USSC and Bowen Marina. Built 93 years ago at the False Creek shipyard the SS Master was originally intended for use as a WW 1 mine sweeper. At 85 feet long with a bottom that extends 19.5 feet down the only moorage for her on Bowen is at the very end of the USSC marina on E dock. The SS Master Society, the current owners spend thousands of hours each year to maintain her in seaworthy condition. She will be open for tours on the Saturday & Sunday for Steamship Days (July 11 & 12th). Donations are gratefully accepted.
On the calendar FRIDAY JULY 3
SATURDAY JULY 4
SUNDAY JULY 5
WEDNESDAY JULY 8
THURSDAY JULY 9
FRIDAY JULY 10
SATURAY JULY 11
Birthday Party for Ron Woodall 3 p.m. Snug Cafe
Bowen Island Gives (BIG) fundraiser and hike up Mount Gardner
Celebration of Life for Marg Witty 3 - 5 p.m. Lodge at the Old Dorm
AA Meeting Collins Hall, 7:15 p.m.
Duplicate Bridge @ Bowen Court Call Irene @ 2955
Bowen Island Film Festival Gallery at Artisan Square 6 - 10 p.m. Admission by donation
Bowen Island Film Festival Gallery at Artisan Square 6 - 10 p.m. Admission by donation
Bowen Island Film Festival Gallery at Artisan Square 5 -7 p.m. Admission by donation
Snug Cove House Burger Barbeque at Norma’s Dock with the World Famous Snug Cove House Ukelele Band 5 - 7 p.m.
Save Our Sound flotilla to assemble between Bowyer Island and Horseshoe Bay, 11 a.m.
Small Guitar Tir Na Nog 7:30 p.m.
Bowen Island Rotary Meeting 7:30 p.m. Collins Hall, all welcome
Steamship Days begins!
6 • FRIDAY JULY 3 2015
WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM
Summer Kayak Camps Flexible for you, Fun for your kids!
Full days (9:30 3:30pm) of games, skill-building, fresh air & adventure for kids 8-12. New session every other week thru August. Choose 2, 3 or 5-days and the week (or weeks) that work best for your family.
RATES & DATES Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4 Session 5
On Canada’s birthday we ask Bowen Islanders... how did you get here? MARTHA PERKINS CONTRIBUTOR
Joong Kim owner of Bowen Island Sushi
June 29-July 3 July 13-17 July 27-July 31 Aug 10-14 Aug 24-28
5 Days: $359 M,W.F: $235 or T, TH: $159
604-947-9266 or register online: bowenislandkayaking.com
Adele’s
G N I Z AMA
Great BIG Auction a fundraiser for the
Annie Laurie Wood Annex & Gallery Project
Saturday July 4
Bowen Island Pub
Music by the
Fatback Players
8 pm - midnight
Silent Auction: 3 pm - 10:30 pm Live Auction with Graham Ritchie: 9:30 pm Auction items include: Bill Hoopes and Stuart Slind artworks, Canucks signed Jersey and stick, Helijet for 2 to Victoria, feast for 8 hosted by John & Joan Tennant, 2 days at God’s Mountain B&B, wood chipper, vet services, boats, singing lessons, firewood, jewellery, backhoe services, massage, golf and much, much more!
Free Admission
Joong Kim at his restaurant at Village Square.
Martha Perkins, photo
It was a long journey from Seoul, South Korea to Bowen Island. Now that Joong Kim is here, he thinks he never wants to leave. Kim arrived in Toronto in 1985 as a university student but he didn’t have enough money to continue his education so, after one year, he quit and worked in the construction industry. Seven years later he got landed immigrant status and opened a small variety store. He’d wake up early, go to a wholesaler’s to stock the store, return to the wholesaler’s during lunch to spend the morning’s proceeds on new supplies, work until night and start the whole routine again early the next morning. When new laws governing cigarette sales took effect, he worried about the store’s viability and headed west to Britannia Beach in March 2003. When a longterm relationship broke up, he sold the store and came to Bowen, where he knew the owners of the General Store. He worked at the store until nine at night and then took the ferry to the mainland, where he trained as a sushi chef for two hours every night. He opened Bowen Sushi in 2004 and moved here in 2009. Work doesn’t allow him much time to enjoy island life. He works 10 to 10 six days a week and spends Sundays shopping, also going to town at least one early morning to buy supplies before the Village Square restaurant opens. Recently he opened another restaurant, Sushi Hub, at Main and 33rd in Vancouver. He puts in the long hours to be able to send money to his 83-year-old mother, who lives in Seoul and has health problems. “Canada is a good country,” he says during a rare break. “Bowen is a very nice place. All the time my heart says, ‘Thank you very much.’ Maybe my life will finish here.”
Sarah-Jane Curry Sarah-Jane Curry (formerly Hayes) was a week old when she bumped into a hunchback whale — or, more accurately, the sailboat she was on nudged the sleeping whale out of its slumber. It might have been a sign that she wasn’t going to have a “normal” childhood. When Sarah-Jane was nine, she and her six-year-old brother Will and fouryear-old brother Miles left Johannesburg, South Africa with their parents Piers and Joan aboard a 41’ sailboat. Anticipation was high, not for the journey ahead but to be able to open the tin of homemade fudge that their grandmother had given them to enjoy once they couldn’t see land any more. For the next two years they made their way past continents and islands, across oceans and seas all the way up the coast of North America until they reached Port Colborne on Lake Ontario.
continued PAGE 7
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FRIDAY JULY 3 2015 • 7
WOODFIBRE LNG Associate Member of SIGTTO
SIGTTO
stands for the Society of International Gas Tanker + Terminal Operators Ltd.
Sarah-Jane and Elijah at the Snug. Martha Perkins, photo
from PAGE 6 It was a journey filled with many wondrous memories but of all the places she’s been and things she’s done, the memory Sarah-Jane hangs onto the most were those quiet moments in the cockpit at night, cuddling up with the parent who was on watch duty. In such cramped quarters, being able to spend one-on-one time with either your mother or father was a special treat. “It was just the stars and the water and no land. So peaceful.” After two years in Toronto, Piers settled the family in Abbottsford while he started a new job. It wasn’t the family’s happy place. One day they phoned the couple who had sailed beside them for much of the journey, parting ways when the Hayeses headed for Canada and the other stayed in New Zealand. The couple had some friends over for dinner, including someone from Vancouver. The man from Vancouver asked them where they were living. “Abbottsford? Oh, God, no,” he said. “You need to go to this little place named Bowen Island. You’ll love it. It will remind you of home. Go there.” The Hayeses arrived on a Sunday morning and went to a church service at Cates Hill Chapel. They were greeted by the then-pastor, Larry Adams, and his wife Sylvia. The family was about to go on holidays for a month and invited the Hayes family to live in their home and get a feel of island life. That was the summer of 1997. Today, Sarah-Jane is married to Gord Curry — “he also grew up in a similarly strange way” — and is enjoying maternity leave from the family-run Snug Café with seven-month-old Elijah.
Kate Coffey
Woodfibre LNG Limited is an associate member of SIGTTO. SIGTTO is an international non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the safe and reliable operation of gas tankers and terminals within a sound environment. The Society has consultative status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and represents more than 200 companies that operate more than 95% of the world’s LNG tankers and terminals.
For Kate Coffey all journey’s end on Bowen Island. Martha Perkins, photo
“My first choice was New Zealand but it was too far from Ireland. I had three criteria: it had to be relatively close to Ireland, English speaking, and close by the ocean.” At 23, Kate Coffey owned her own home in Dublin, flew to Milan for weekends on a lark, worked “crazy long” hours for Rothschild International and earned oodles of money. At 29, she thought to herself, “Oh my God, I’ll be dead by 40.” The lifestyle was one thing; the pace of life needed in order to sustain it was quite another. “I didn’t know what life was meant to be like but I knew it wasn’t supposed to be like that,” she says, sitting in a Vancouver coffee shop almost kitty-corner to where she’ll hop on Peter King’s express bus back to Bowen Island at the end of a work day. To the shock and horror of everyone, particularly her family, she decided to quit Rothschild’s and apply for permanent residency in Canada.
continued PAGE 12
To learn more, visit sigtto.org Please share with #workingforsquamish Ask a question at askwoodfibrelng.ca
8 • FRIDAY JULY 3 2015
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Bowen Island Film Festival: No sunscreen required
Leave your dog at home Bowfest to welcome on trips to local islets mythical creatures SASHA BUCHANAN SUBMISSION
Thanks to the bright minds of Bowen Island Community School (BICS) student council, Bowfest was presented with a truly expert shortlist for this year’s theme: Out Of This World vs. Mythical Creatures From Around The World. Time constraints meant that this year’s battle for theme was short and fierce. The clash of themes raged on for a week while Bowen voted through four outlets: the smallest Bowenites had their say at Bowen Children’s Centre, we voted online via Bowfest Facebook group, tradition blind ballot was held and the General Store, and our trusted board put in their two cents. The outcome of this neck-to-neck race was anything but expected (who are we kidding, this is Bowen, it was totally expected). Breakdown of votes:
Zombies, family drama and so much more at the Bowen Island Film Festival. MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
The Bowen Island Arts Council and Sylvaine Zimmerman are offering Bowen Islanders a great way to beat the heat this weekend with 7.5 hours of screen-time at the gallery at Artisan Square,. The Bowen Island Film Festival, will show a variety of genres from documentary to surrealism and four feature length films – all with a Bowen connection. “I’ve tried to hook the short films to the features categorically,” says Zimmerman, the festival organizer. “Scott Rainards feature, Pristine Coast, is one of the features I would recommend – it is the story of what he discovered when he started to investigate the sea-lice epidemic in salmon and it has really stunning visuals. I’ve linked that with Bronwyn Churcher’s short, We Rise Up, which was filmed during the protests at Burnaby Mountain. Both of these are under the theme of ‘Protecting our Coast.’” Zimmerman says this festival was inspired in part by a Bowen Youth Film Festival in 2008 that featured many Tir Na Nog graduates who have gone on the make a career in film. Among them are Sam and Kaley Spear, as well as Natasha Wehn, all of whom will be featured in this year’s festival. For scheduling information, check out the Bowen Island Film Festival Facebook page.
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BCC 14.75% Myth 10.25% Space FB 18.25% 6.75% General Store 13.75% 11.25% Board 15.75% 9.25% Total: 62.5% 37.5% (Each group was given 25%) And thus our theme was decided: MYTHICAL CREATURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. Time to dust off your unicorn horn and get the mermaid tail out of the shed. This year’s theme is sure to get Bowen’s fanciful community pumped. As well as a parade that is sure to be truly magical, Bowfest has recruited some of our island’s many artisans and crafters to create decorations, embellishment, and other beautifications to help amplify the theme and general ambiance of Bowfest.
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Now is the time when Oystercatchers are nesting on the coastal islets around Bowen Island and elsewhere in Howe Sound. This year the only nesting site close to Bowen Island that we are aware of is on Onion Island, close to Tunstall Bay. The population of Oystercatchers is limited, and restricted by habitat requirements and predation. Oystercatchers are ground nesters, often choosing a high, exposed location, and creating a shallow depression surrounded by shell fragments. Their eggs and chicks are camouflaged, but very vulnerable to trauma from walkers or dogs. Nesting success this year is likely to be improved if you are aware of Oystercatchers at this vulnerable time, and restrict your activities on local islets until after the birds have fledged. In particular, please do not take your dogs on your exploration trips.
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Get soccer balls into the hands of children in Syrian refugee camps! Michel Ibrahim has until July 22 to raise enough money to pay the custom fees on a shipment of donated soccer equipment destined for Syrian children living in refugee camps in Lebanan. He’s offering several perks to donors including a free haircut at his West Vancouver Barber Shop, registration in an August 9 soccer workshop and an extensive soccer camp for an entire team of young players. To contribute, go to
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Collins Farm: Growing with the spirit of co-operation MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Last fall, Charmaine Heffelfinger made daily trips to Tunstall Bay to gather bags of fallen leaves from a maple tree. She piled them, along with sticks and branches and whatever yard waste people would give her onto a large grassy patch of her front yard that now provides a home for young squash and zucchini plants. “It’s called Hugelculture,” she says. “It’s a way to make soil.” With this new patch of garden, a 12x20 ft greenhouse, 23 chickens, a small flock quail, an old truck and the spirit of co-operation with her neighbours, Hefflefinger hesitantly, but proudly, calls herself a farmer. Starting this spring, Heffelfinger and her neighbours Deanna Adams and Susanne Armstrong-Bates have started collaborating, working on each other’s garden plots for two hours each week on a rotating basis, in order to get more done. “It’s like a garden round-robin,” says ArmstrongBates. “Three people working together for two hours can just get so much more done than one person individually.” Armstrong-Bates does not use the term farmer to describe herself, preferring “stressed-out gardener,” instead. “I just can’t keep up with the weeding and the watering,” she says. “Especially in such a hot dry summer.” Deanna Adams says she’s not sure she’s a farmer, but she does spend a lot of time in the garden. Like both Heffelfinger and Armstrong-Bates, she also has chickens, but doesn’t sell the eggs because they get gobbled up too quickly by her teenage boys. Currently, the women focus on feeding their families with their gardens, but also sell to a handful of friends.
We didn’t realize how much we could produce once we put our minds to it
Top: Charmaine Heffelfinger, Susanne Armstrong-Bates and Deanna Adams. Centre: Marion Moore, Jean Jaimeson, Heidi Kurt Bottom: The Young Farmers of Bowen Island
“We didn’t realize how much we could produce once we put our minds to it, but now we are definitely in a position where we have to think more about how we’re going to sell all the extra food we produce,” says Armstrong-Bates. “We got an old candycart from that the Candy Store didn’t want anymore, and if we can get around to painting it and making a sign maybe you’ll see our vegetable for sale along Miller Road on weekend’s. We’ve also tossed around the idea of a Collins Farm Fall Fair, and maybe one day making a pumpkin patch... but we’ll see.”
Next week in the Undercurrent:
FIRST CREDIT UNION IS HIRING! Position: Teller (Bowen Island Branch, Permanent, Part time)
Check out our ocean swimming feature! Above, Billi Behm and Peter Scott Martha Perkins, photo
First Credit Union is looking for a team-oriented individual to provide a high caliber of service. The successful candidate must commit to the service standards of First Credit Union and will possess the ability to work in a fast paced environment. A high level of professionalism must be maintained at all times. Candidates must have excellent customer service skills, ability to foster business development, adhere to security procedures and limits, be able to multi-task, have excellent organization skills, and be able to problem solve. Must be available to work on Saturdays. Please forward your resume and cover letter to HR Manager, Angie Poulsen (angie.poulsen@firstcu.ca) by July 6th, 2015 (end of day).
These three budding “farmers” are just one group that are keeping the spirit of agriculture alive on Collins Farm. This is exactly what the Collins sisters, Jean Jaimeson and Marion Moore, had hoped for when they started working on getting official farm status for their land back in 2002. While the sisters were growing up, Collins Farm encompassed 160 acres. Their family had 9 cows and their father delivered milk to the Pie Shop, a small grocery store in the Cove, and individual summer and winter residents. They also had a large vegetable patch, from which Jean recalls eating a lot of root vegetables, and mangold - a plant similar to chard. “Humans ate the tops and the cows ate the roots,” she explains. When asked why they sought farm status Jaimeson and Moore say it just made sense to keep it as a farm. In the early days of Collinsia (not just a version of the family farm name, but also the genus of local flowering plants, including the Blue Eyed Mary) as they call the farm, Sue Ellen Fast worked as the farm’s manager, and the operation received a grant from the Ruddy Potato, where they sold the majority of their produce. In 2006, the sisters teamed up with seven local families to create a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group. CSA member Heidi Kuhrt says that Marion and Jean are the backbone of the group, offering guidance, and still digging right in to make sure the garden keeps growing. She makes sure people know what to plant, she mulches, weeds and this year helped to lay-out all the drip-lines for irrigation. While 96 year-old Jean is unable to be as physically active in the garden as she once was, she still starts tomato and squash seeds in her greenhouse and contributes advice. Learning the skills Jaimeson and Moore have acquired and put into practice over a lifetime is something that Matt Matheson hopes Bowen youth will get a taste of by working a roughly two acre plot on Collinsia this summer. Matheson and Sarah Haxby are supervising Bowen youth, including the Young Farmers of Bowen Island and a new group called Bowen Grows, to grow what they hope will be a substantial amount of food. “What excites me is that we’ve got one of the oldest gardens on Bowen back in production,” says Matheson. “And with the youth, the aim is to grow enough to provide for the kids and their families, and also to put on a community feast in the fall.” You will find the Young Farmers at upcoming Farmer’s Market’s selling produce they’ve grown at Collinsia, and other gardens around Bowen Island.
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Small guitar comes to Bowen Island David King, actor and playwrite.
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Award winning playwright and actor, David King is bringing his new solo show, Small Guitar, to the Tir na nOg theatre on Friday, July 3rd. The play previewed in Gibsons in May and King continues to develop the work over the summer on some of the Gulf Islands before premiering it in Vancouver in the Fall. It is a monologue with songs that tells the story of retired ferry worker, Clayton Gilchrist, who recounts his life in an Alternate Universe where he was a major pop star. “The play straddles two realities and, consequently, two streams of history. One in which most of what happens can be construed as a natural evolution of the human struggle; and the other in which things are made to happen for all the wrong reasons” says King whose plays include Life Skills, Joey Shine, Up Island and the Garage Sale. He’s also recorded two albums of his songs and has written a Libretto for a chamber opera. Small Guitar is subtitled Celebration of a life in an Alternate Universe. You may not get an opportunity to attend this celebration in an alternate reality so you’d be well advised to experience it in this one. Admission: $10 at the door Doors open: 7:30 p.m. Show starts: 8 p.m. At Tir Na Nog Theatre
With close to 50 items already registered for the Out of the Attic #3, the exhibit and sale is shaping up to be the best yet. This fundraiser in support of the Gallery has always been an exciting opportunity to see what emerges “Out of the Attic”, or the back closet or under the bed where artwork is sometimes stored. The last Attic show in 2013 revealed some real gems. The collection included some astonishing original art by Daniel Izzard, Nick Bantock, Sam Lam, Sam Black and J. Spillsbury, to name just a few. This year also promises to rediscover some fabulous artwork offering collectors excellent opportunities to purchase from a wide variety of oils, water colour, pastel, mixed media, etchings, engravings and more. Have some original work that you no longer love or no longer have room for? Why not consign it to the Gallery at Artisan Square? The majority of items on offer will be sold on behalf of the owners with the exception of some very generous islanders who have donated their pieces. The Gallery’s commission is 30% for items valued at $1,000.00 and under and 20% for items over the $1,000.00 price. If you have items you are thinking about selling please contact Betty Dhont (blushrambler@shaw. ca, 947-9237) or Greta Smith (gretasmith@shaw.ca, 947-0853). We will be accepting original paintings, lithographs, etchings, sculpture and other items of interest for this show until August 7th. We do not accept work by Bowen Island artists if they currently reside on island. The show will run from September 18 until October 11th.
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How we got here: Kate Coffey’s journey to Bowen Island Bowfest theme, 2015: Mythical Creatures from PAGE 7 Within six months, the embassy in London was on the phone, asking her about her plans, her work experience and how she intended to provide for herself in a place where she knew absolutely no one. When she mentioned Rothchild’s and told them she’d live off the proceeds from the sale of her house, she literally heard the stamp of approval as her application was marked “good to go.” She chose Vancouver as her final destination because of its weather but didn’t want to just plop down in her new life. In April 1997, she flew to Halifax and boarded the train to Prince Rupert. Well, she got on lots of different trains, taking nine weeks to travel across the country.
She picked up a tourist brochure which told her to discover Bowen Island. Little did she know her second OMG epiphany awaited her there. After finding an apartment in the West End, she started taking a good look at her surroundings. She picked up a tourist brochure which told her to discover Bowen Island. Little did she know her second OMG epiphany awaited her there. Sitting on the bench by the lagoon and looking over at the North Shore mountains, she realized, “Oh my God, this is it, this is where I want to be.” There was only one small problem: money. With no work experience in Canada, it wasn’t easy at first to find a job. She went from a six-figures-in-a-European-currency job to thinking that a once-a-week Starbucks coffee was a treat on a $36,000-a-year Vancouver salary. She says her talent is to be able to process a hundred things at the same time, “pick out all the silly bits” and then be able to communicate a strategy to both the president of the company and a person on the street.
Among larger international companies, those skills are more highly valued than the university degree she doesn’t have. The only problem is that not many of those companies are based in Vancouver. But one job led to another and eventually she hung out a shingle as a consultant for boutique firms. “I knocked on doors and said ‘Here I am.’” At the second door she was invited in for a yearlong contract. It was time to move to Bowen. The house she liked was, in Bowen parlance, “Gordie Begg’s mother’s place” on Lenora. Gordie was a big, tall man and he didn’t want to sell the house to just anyone. He wanted it to be loved and nurtured and told Coffey that she had to come for an interview. “They met me and came back and said, ‘You’re it; you can have our mother’s house.’” Later, Gordie was moved to tears when she invited him to see how she’d infused the house with her own personality. Settled on Bowen, Coffey’s life went into overdrive in town when a two-year contract put her smack dab into “the craziness of mergers and acquisitions.” Every week it seemed she was on a plane to somewhere, her only requirement being that by Friday at noon she was touching down at YVR for a weekend of being restored by life on Bowen. “It’s that sense of belonging and that Irish thing of owning a house. To own land and a house is a big thing for an Irish person. My parents were the first generation to own a home,” she says. Although Bowen will always be home, her curiosity and quest for meaning will always be her passport to a world of discovery. After one of her work contracts ended on a Wednesday, she departed for Nepal the following Monday for a year of “mid-life enlightenment.” In Nepal she volunteered at a rehabilitation centre for people with spinal cord injuries; in Bangladesh her focus was micro-financing. When she left Nepal, part of her heart stayed behind and, after the devastating earthquakes, she’s been working hard to raise money for the centre. (It’s chronicled on her blog, www.bowen2bangladesh.wordpress.com.) “Nepal is very close to my heart,” she says, just before the bus arrives. “It’s another one of those Bowen-like places.”
This year’s first voter, Marley, hands her ballot to Nancy Lee at the General Store. Sasha Buchanan, photo
from PAGE 8 Who among us could possibly say no to a visit to an “enchanted” beer garden? On 29th August Bowen will be alive with the patter of centaur hooves, the beat of phoenix wings, and roar of harpy calls. As well as the mythical creature theme, Bowfest will be honoring
our 40 year anniversary by hosting a 1975 tent filled with old time Bowfest games, including Hot Legs, neighborhood tug of war, and wood splitting competitions. We are currently looking for a volunteer MC for these events. If you would like to get involved with this year’s Bowfest please contact us at bowfestonbowen@gmail. com. Bowfest is only possible through volunteer support.
Rotarians Denis Lynn and John Hazell recently presented the girls of the Bowen Island Gymnastic Club with $1,500 raised in Operation Red Nose, and Bowen Rotary caps, for their trip to compete in the World Gymnæstrada to be held in Helsinki, July 11–19.