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GOLDSTREAM Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Community laments loss of gardens Charla Huber News staff
A small stunned group of gardeners gather at the Pilgrim Community Garden on an overcast Friday morning. They were alerted via email two days earlier, Feb. 13, that the garden would close. The garden is on the Pilgrim United Church property in Colwood. Church members are scheduled to vote March 3 on whether to disband. “It’s a little bit sad, and a little bit disappointing,” said gardener Andy House. “But it’s out of our control.” The gardeners – many who were getting ready to start planting for the next season – were asked to clear their plots by the end of the month. House lives in a View Royal condo with his wife Sharon. Any day now he will be back at the garden to dig up his strawberry plants and pot them at home where there isn’t much room. “If you don’t live in a single family home or a duplex with a backyard, you can’t garden,” said House who plans to start looking for another plot. For the House’s this would have been their sixth year at the garden, a summer pastime they both were looking forward to. “It was a habit, we would grab a coffee, go to the garden and then go to the peninsula and sit on the water,” he said. He has looked at some other community garden options but said paying upwards of $100 is too much for him, nearly double the cost of gardening at the Pilgrim site. PLEASE SEE: Green thumbs seeking new plots, Page A6
Khafre Shillitto, 4, munches a leaf of kale at the Pilgrim Community Garden. Charla Huber/News staff
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Church members face vote on closure Charla Huber News staff
Pilgrim United Church members will vote March 3 on whether to disband the congregation. “No decision has been made and nothing will be declared until after the vote,” said Treena Duncan, acting executive secretary of The British Columbia Conference of The United Church of Canada. “We want the congregation to have to have the freedom to wrestle with the decision.” Only active members of the Painter Road congregation will be able to vote. There needs to be a quorum within the congregation for all property decisions. “Given the time we are living in, a number of congregations are struggling with dropped attendance and stretched finances,” Duncan said. Memberships within The United Church of Canada have been dropping since 1965. “People are very emotionally attached to their congregations. Their children were baptized there and they’ve had family funerals there. People have strong emotional and spiritual ties with their church,” Duncan said. Members of Pilgrim United Church would not comment. charla@goldstreamgazette.com
On the prowl again.