6
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE
www.lakecowichangazette.com
COOK ISLANDS! 12 NIGHT PACKAGES from
$
1659
PP +TAX
Another memorable year for the Hillcrest reunion
DEPART OCT 28/12 OR JAN 13/13 Includes air from Los Angeles, hotels, Transfers & more! Sherri Brubaker
60 STATION ST. • 250-748–8128 • 1–800–434–0566
B.C. REG 1506
FAITH DIRECTORY Baptist
Pentecostal
Cowichan Lake Baptist Church
Lake Cowichan Christian Fellowship
8259 Beaver Road Lake Cowichan
57 King George St. South Lake Cowichan
Sunday Service 10:30 am Sunday School 10:30 am
Sunday Service 10:30am
Pastor Dale Winters
Pastor Terry Hale
250-749-3211
United Lake Cowichan United Church
250-749-6492
Roman Catholic Congregational St. Louis de Montfort
‘New Hope’ Community Church
60 Fern Road Lake Cowichan
10648 Youbou Rd, Youbou
Sunday Service 10:30 am
• Rosary at Noon • Mass Sunday at 12:30pm
Breakfast at 10:00 am Sunday Service 11:00 am
Rev. Greg Darjes
Fr. Alfredo Monacelli
Rev. Vikki Marrs
10 King George Street Lake Cowichan
250-749-3771
Cec Ashley Photos
Above left: Proud dad Bikar Mann (c) with sons Jason (l) and Manjeet(r). Bikar worked at Hillcrest mill for 14 years and was a master lumber grader winning the Lumber Grading Championship. After Hillcrest closed Bikar worked for MacMillan Blodel on the mainland. Above right: Cec Ashley and Mesachie Lake raised Nancy Robertson, a granddaughter of Hillcrest Lumber Mill founder Carlton Stone, at the recent Hillcrest reunion at the Mesachie Lake Community Hall.
250-749-4103
250-745-3406
The
of the
Lady Lake Society
would like to express a huge & sincere thank you to the following people & organizations for their ongoing commitment & support of our program. Cowichan Lake Chamber of Commerce, CVRD Areas I and F for their generous and continued donations. Town of Lake Cowichan for their continued support. Kaatza Lakeside Players for their expertise year after year and for the use of the big screen, special thanks to Dena McPhee, Mike Patrick, Andrew Paterson and Mckenzie Paterson. Lindsay Anderson for her guidance and advice for the girls’ talent performances. Country Grocer for the use of the meeting room & endless photocopying and on-going support. Wall Street for the amazing Fashion Show. Cow Cafe & Cookhouse for the dinner at the Ball. Lauren Frost, Bailey Callihoo and Gilbert Lewis for running the concession on Opportunity Night. Tim McGonigle and Joceyln Lundberg for the fantastic job as MC’s at the Ball. Dot Lungal at the Footwear Center for selling our Ball tickets and sponsoring Miss Congeniality Island Scentsy Scents for sponsoring Miss Blossom. Cowichan Lake Recreation Management and Staff. Jayne Ingram and team for making Ball night beautiful for the girls. Bruce Ingram and Pam Palliser for looking after the bar at Ball night and donating the proceeds to our Society. Shannon and Tasha from The Track for choreographing the dance. Maria Cullen for assisting with the fashion show. Karen Armstrong from Toastmasters for the hours of training. Lori and Leslie from Home Hardware for the use of their window for our photos. Remedy Salon, Rhonda Weber, and her team for hosting our ladies night. Friends of Catherine for the Catherine Boeckner Memorial award for talent, won by Alicia Fall. Angie’s Esthetics for sponsoring the first ever public speaking award, won by Sydney Allan. Beta Sigma Phi, Chapter Xi Gamma Kappa for the lovely Strawberry Tea. Suzanne Tardiff and Jordyn Wear for doing a great job as back stage crew. Indra Johel for the beautiful flowers. Island Savings for sponsoring the essay award, won by Alicia Fall. Lake Cowichan Gazette for the great coverage. Thank you as well to our nine candidate sponsors for 2012. Without your support, there would not be a Lady of the Lake Program. • Thank you to our outgoing royalty - Jorden Matson, Mary Batyi and Amber Bell we are all so proud of you & wish you well in the future. • Congratulations to the new royalty - Lady of the Lake Miss Island Pharmacy, Alicia Fall, 1st Princess Miss Cow Cafe & Cookhouse, Sydney Allan, & 2nd Princess Miss Track Fitness, Nikki Gibson. • Congratulations also to Miss Blossom, Crystal Charles & Miss Congeniality, Alicia Fall • A job well done by all, thank you everyone from all of us involved in Lady of the Lake Program. We will be collecting bottles through the summer as our major fundraiser, please call for pickup. We are also looking for a space to sort & store bottles, please call if interested. If you would like to donate or contribute to our Program, please contact one of the following Committee Members: Denise Allan, 250-749-3329 Sydney Rabey, 250-710-1959 Jane Casey, 250-749-6954 Kaytee Nott, 250-701-1928 Tanya Kaul, 250-749-6086 Rob Frost, 250-749-6086 The Society is also looking for the donation of a truck to pull the parade float. If anyone would like to donate a truck, or has any ideas on how to obtain a truck, please call Rob Frost.
Rolli Gunderson
PAGES OF HISTORY Close to 70 people came out to the Hillcrest 12th Annual Reunion held last month at Mesachie Lake proving that Hillcrest people, former employees and their families, continue to be the tight knit group they were always famous for. Although he would likely disagree, Cec Ashley and his wife Joyce (and others) go the extra mile each year to ensure that the reunion continues. Through The Last Whistle, an interesting e-newsletter that Ashley maintains, many interesting pictures and information on a succession of reunions and the industrial and
social history that surrounded the Hillcrest Lumber Mill, its people along with old and new photographs, ensure that history lives on. The annual event had its beginnings 12 years ago when George Smart and Frank Vanyo formed the Mesachie Lake based Hillcrest Lumber Company Employees Reunion. Smart was a high rigger in the early days and later the woods manager until Hillcrest Lumber Company closed in 1968. Vanyo was a cat driver, who built the logging roads in the woods. In 2004 Doug Stone and Cec Ashley took over the duties of organizing the reunion. Since then Ashley and his wife Joyce have taken-up the mantle. Those involved are mainly former employees and family members of Hillcrest Lumber Company who worked in the mill and woods from 1943 until its closing in 1968.
Although mostly former employees attend the reunion, everyone is welcome. The get together — with catered lunch — takes place the last weekend in May each year. Anywhere from 80 to 100 former employees, family members, and visitors attend, which is very gratifying to the organizers and quite unusual for a company that has been shut down for 44 years. Those attending maintain that the annual event, after so many years “shows the love and dedication they had for the company, for it was one of the best companies to work for.” If you are interested in the history (including many photographs) of the former Hillcrest Lumber Company at Mesachie Lake, the community and it’s people, as well as the annual reunions, check out Cec Ashley’s website The Last Whistle at sites.google.com/ site/cecilashley
Successful vintage movie night at Kaatza museum
Photo courtesy Cec Ashley and The Last Whistle website
A successful Vintage Movie Night took place at the Kaatza Museum on Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23. Approximately 50 people turned out to see the old-time movies, presented by Cec Ashley, of the logging, sawmilling and fishing industries. Cec later presented Barb Simpkins, curator of the Kaatza Museum, with a cheque for $400.The money was raised through admission donations at the showing of the movies and the generosity of those attending the recent Hillcrest Lumber Company Former Employees Reunion.