Special Features - Tweed Magazine - Summer 2014

o a k b ay l ivi n G

Tweed SUMMER 2014

Art passion the active world of avis rasmussen

Superhero simon roy rocks comics industry

Tiny beauty great garden comes in a small package I N S I D E › P e o p l e › T R AV E L › F OO D › H I S T O R Y › A rts

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Tweed

Summer 2014 Volume 2 Issue 2

18

inside

18 Artist profile The exuberant and energetic Avis Rasmussen.

D E PA RTMENTS

15

Oak Bay Insider

Christopher Causton drops by the Kiawanis Tea Room.

16

42

Dogs on the Avenue

Photographer Nate Clark captures the cute, the cuddly and the gangly in Oak Bay canines.

Historic Oak Bay

Writer Ivan Watson explores the life of the late Agnus Newton Keith.

22

Romancing the Stove

Join Pam Grant at Oak Bay’s annual Soup Lunch fundraiser.

22

tell

tweed!

Tweed Magazine welcomes your Oak Bay suggestions for the next edition.

So, do tell!

Email editor Susan Lundy at: lundys@shaw.ca

26

33

Tea With

Tweed editor Susan Lundy chats with MP Murray Rankin.

38

Postcards Home Search

for a Hindu monastery in Kauai with Sharon StooseJohannknecht.

4

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38 10

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» Chefs in the city – The Marina Restaurant’s executive chef Jeff Keenliside has been selected for the second time as one of 10 contestants in the West Coast leg of Gold Medal Plates, being held Oct. 30 at the Victoria Conference Centre.

Keenliside will compete against another Oak Bay chef — Iain Rennie of the Oak Bay Chef Beach Jeff Keenliside Hotel — among several others from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. The annual event takes place in 11 cities across Canada in the fall and acts as a qualifier for the Canadian Culinary Championships, set for February. Proceeds from the annual competition are donated to the Canadian Olympic foundation, amounting to over $8 million to date.

“I’m excited to be invited to participate again and to help support our Olympic athletes,” said Keenliside. “We would like to wish all of the competitors good luck.” Tickets for the event last year were $300.

More information will be available online this summer at www.goldmedalplates.com.

Foundation Theatre at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel can take a road trip across Canada and experience the very best in Canadian food, wine and music without leaving their seats. SENSEational BC is a pairing of the very best BC has to offer — amazing cuisine, bountiful wines and great entertainment all served up at the oceanfront hotel. Participants will enjoy a sommelierguided sampling of five BC wines paired with the creative plates of executive chef Iain Rennie’s locally inspired bites, while being entertained by top Canadian performer Laura Jayne Earnshaw and guests from Ballet Victoria. The show features the music of wellknown Canadian artists including Celine Dion, Leonard Cohen, Sarah McLachlan, Michael Buble and David Foster. Tickets are $69.

» 20 years of art – Winchester

» Canada road trip in OB –

Visitors to the David Foster

Galleries is celebrating 20 years in Oak Bay with a special exhibit this September.

The exhibit, which will feature the “best of the best from all our represented artists,” opens with a preview on September 15. The opening reception takes place on September 20, and the exhibition continues until October 25. The gallery is also hoping to produce a catalogue for this show.

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EDITOR'S LETTER

With a view to “the rest of our lives”

A

friend put words to my thoughts as I approached Shades of White bridal shop: “They’ll assume you’re buying a “mother of the bride dress,” she chortled. Fact is, I’m 49 (and a half) and this July I’m getting married. Again.

There is something slightly embarrassing about second weddings. After all, didn’t we all pledge eternal love until “death do us part” . . . once before?

And haven’t we already walked down the aisle with the “love of our lives?”

Bruce and my plans have taken on certain ground rules appropriate to second weddings and to two people who had a few single years between marriages. For example, we decided we could only invite one “ex” each to our nuptials (happily, we’ve both invited the exes who are also the parents of our children).

We also agreed the event shouldn’t replicate features prominent in our past weddings. So, since I was wed on a beach the first time around, there will be no sand in our toes this time. Bruce wore a tux in the past, so he’s permitted to wear a kilt this time.

And so on.

The wonderful thing about mid-life weddings is the opportunity to share it with your adult children. My bridesmaids are all in their early 20s (happily, no one will actually be looking at the not-so-blushing bride) and they’re exuberant about all wedding details. Hence, during my visit to Shades of White (no! they didn’t try to sell me a “mother of the bride dress”), I used FaceTime to consult with both my daughters — one in California, one in New Brunswick — as “we” tried on dresses. (Indecisive me can’t manage to buy a pair of socks in one outing, but somehow I purchased a wedding dress in 90 minutes!)

Here’s what else is cool about mid-life marriages. For the first time at this age, you actually start to see “the rest of your life.”

When you’re younger, it’s there, but it’s more of a concept.

As I envision the next four decades, I can see us — slightly

Miles Takacs When time and money matter!

plumper, greyer, a few more aches and pains — still enjoying travels near and far, hiking, drinking Prosecco on the beach, and still booing Hockey Night in Canada refs. I see us bantering, laughing, teasing. I see us dealing as partners with hardships that come and go. At my second wedding, my best friend becomes my companion for the rest of my life.

At this point in my column, I typically aim to cleverly weave the relevance of my anecdote into the content or theme of Tweed. But, in fact, there are no wedding related stories in this entire edition of Tweed. However! If you aren’t getting married this summer, you’ll have ample time to enjoy the amazing collection of stories in this, our seventh edition. Meet Oak Bay High School grad Simon Roy, a successful comic book artist (page 26), and Avis Rasmussen, a feisty and brilliant plein air painter (page 18). Step into the home of Renae Choo to get the goods on a delicious Oak Bay fundraiser (page 22); and catch the charm of a renovated Yale Street character home (page 10). Meet some Rotarians who do good works overseas (page 30), and famed historic Oak Bay writer Agnes Newton Keith (page 16). Or come hang out with me as I enjoy “tea with” MP Murray Rankin (page 33).

And if you are getting married this summer, count your blessings. Whether or not it’s your first, second or third, it’s actually not embarrassing at all — just very, very lucky.

Susan Lundy EDITOR

Born and raised in Victoria, Susan Lundy has worked as a journalist, editor and freelance writer for over 25 years. She is also editor of Boulevard Magazine and her columns on family life run in several Black Press newspapers. Her first book — Heritage Apples: A New Sensation — was published last spring. Follow her on Twitter @slundytweet

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CONTRIBUTORS ivan watson grew up in Oak Bay and is an alumnus of Glenlyon Norfolk School. He works as a freelance writer, historian and marketing and communications strategist. Follow him on Twitter: @watsonivan

ARNOLD LIM is a longtime photojournalist and videographer whose credits include the Globe and Mail, Sports Illustrated, the Toronto Star and Black Press.

chris causton is a former mayor, restaurateur and hotelier; and current Harbour Ferries captain and Rotarian. He’s a voracious reader who still enjoys a good game of tennis.

DON DENTON has photographed numerous high-profile events, including the Olympics, World Hockey Championships, European Figure Skating Championships and a Royal wedding.

ANGELA COWAN is a nationally published poet and award-winning fiction author who moonlights as a freelance journalist and feature writer.

KEN SAKAMOTO is an award-winning photojournalist, whose assignments include Queen Elizabeth II, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, first mission of the space shuttle, major league sports and famous people.

JENnifer BLYTH is an award-winning writer, photographer and editor, whose stories have appeared in BC Business, BC Home, WestWorld and Yes Magazine.

Natalie North is a feature writer whose words can be found on the pages of Monday Magazine, a comedy stage or inspired illegible notes in all of her pockets.

Group Publisher Penny Sakamoto psakamoto@blackpress.ca

Creative Design Lily Chan Circulation Director

Director, Sales and Advertising Bruce Hogarth Oliver Sommer osommer@blackpress.ca Editor Susan Lundy lundys@shaw.ca

Cover Photo: Don Denton

www.blackpress.ca 818 Broughton Street, Victoria, BC V8W 1E4 Phone 250-381-3484 Fax 250-386-2624

TWEED magazine is published quarterly by Black Press. The points of view or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher of Tweed. The contents of Tweed magazine are protected by copyright, including the designed advertising. Reproduction is prohibited without written consent of the publisher.

OAK BAY DIARY

June 16 to July 19 Eclectic Gallery

presents Taralee Guild’s unique exhibition, Airstreams: paintings based on on photographs of Airstream, Bowlus and Spartan polished aluminum trailers.

June 10 to July 5 Winchester Galleries presents Anachronisms with artists Tad Suzuki and Ronald Markham.

July 3 First Thursday Celebration at Red Art

Gallery: gallery open until 8 p.m.

July 5 to August 2 Winchester Galleries features Oak Bay artist Terry Fenton and Sheena Lott, with an opening reception July 12, 1-5 p.m.

July 9 / Aug. 13 / Sept. 10 Oak Bay Village Night

August 4 In celebration of BC day, visit Windsor Park and enjoy

live music and entertainment with an outdoor stage and performance areas throughout the grounds. The event runs from 11 a.m. until dusk.

August 10 Oak Bay Collector Car Festival features

between 250 and 300 collectable cars, representing a range of eras from some of the earliest cars to colourful hot rods. Oak Bay Avenue will be closed to regular vehicle traffic.

August 10 Red Art Gallery artist

Glen Melville paints classic cars in conjunction with the annual Oak Bay Collector Car Festival.

August 10 Annual Bowker Creek

runs the second Wednesday of each month, featuring over 100 local vendors selling in-season local produce, artisan bread, street food, jewellery, toys, pottery, wood turning, art cards, furniture and more. 4-8 p.m.

Brush Up. Plan to spend the day strolling along beautiful Bowker Creek, between Oak Bay High School and Hampshire Road, listening to music, enjoying refreshments, and watching demonstrations by featured international artists.

August Red Art Gallery features

September Red Art Gallery features

artists Jennifer Harwood, Susan Benson and Jan Henry. Opening reception and meet the artists, August 7, 6-8 p.m.

artists Lucy Schappy, Martha Jablonski Jones and Michael Robb.

Opening reception and meet the artists on September 4, 6-8 p.m.

Feature your business in the next edition of

Tweed Oliver Sommer

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Dianne McKerrell Advertising Consultant 250-480-3205 dianne@oakbaynews.com

SUMMER 2014

TWEED

9

Coming home House merges character, comfort and convenience

By Angela Cowan Photos by ARNOLD LIM

W

alking into the 1910 character home at 1534 Yale Street in Oak Bay is like taking a step into history.

Amid its old bones, the house on Yale is airy, light-filled, and exquisitely decorated: its old-world charm seamlessly combines with contemporary conveniences suited to a dream home.

With its nine-foot ceilings, expansive living room skylight, charming kitchen, and idyllic backyard, it’s no wonder its owners said “yes” the instant they stepped over the threshold.

“We must have looked at 70 houses in Oak Bay,” says Michelle Le Sage, manager of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

She and her partner, Earl Wilde, searched through the neighbourhood for weeks, finding houses that were nearly perfect. But when she opened the front door on Yale, she knew in an instant that it was meant to be.

Since the house had already been renovated by Leonard Cole of Urban Core Ventures, Michelle and Earl had only to sign the paperwork and move in. Interestingly, their purchase date was the same as the date the house was originally registered: April 8. Ninety-eight years later, they turned the key and stepped into a mélange of old and new worlds.

The melding of original design with modern advantages is what really makes this house appealing. Lending a unique elegance, crown mouldings cap off every room. The master bedroom’s windows are covered with 10

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Above: Elegant interior. At right: Michelle Le Sage and Earle Wilde.

Previous page: Yale Street exterior, and details of door to the wine room.

Following page: The wine room.

pristine white interior shutters; and a gorgeous original stained glass window, now past its centennial, still colours the sunlight shining into the office — all design elements that celebrate the house’s long history.

Michelle and Earl converted the bedroom right off the kitchen into a formal dining room, adding a touch of old-fashioned formality, and giving a sense of occasion to their meals.

But in place of the headaches, temperamental pipes, and fickle electricity that often go hand-in-hand with a house over 100 years old, heated tiles in the kitchen stand ready to warm cold toes first thing in the morning, recessed speakers sit flush against the walls in

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every room, and a remote control stands by to adjust all the lighting.

Cool linen mint adorns the walls, accented by a lush chocolate-poppy red. The colours complement the space beautifully, bold but not chaotic. And though it was love at first sight for Michelle as she walked into the kitchen, it was the projectiontheatre media room tucked away downstairs that Earl found irresistible.

“It’s really like In addition to being Pleasantville here.” a movie-lover’s paradise, the downstairs michelle le sage holds another delight: a wine room converted from a garden shed that once sat beneath the front steps. Walking into the wine room feels like sneaking into a secret treasure nook, accentuated by the fact the ceilings downstairs are only six feet high — a norm of houses at the time.

“It’s our own little hobbit hole,” says Michelle, laughing.

Leading the way to the vintages is a marvel of a door. Designed and made by a

❝ ❞

jewellery artist, its twisting wrought iron and copper set in a well-grained wooden frame whets the imagination for the cornucopia that lies within. The room itself is richly coloured in burnt terra cotta, with dozens of bottles beautifully displayed in wooden racks. The little cove emanates warmth, and heartily invites visitors to open a bottle and stay a while. The wines are certainly in loving hands, as Earl, manager of the Victoria Regent Waterfront Hotel, is also a sommelier.

Up in the kitchen, as the afternoon begins to give way to early evening, Earl slices onions upon onions for beef carbonnade.

The Flemish dish is essentially a beer and beef stew, cooked until the meat falls apart on the fork and melts like butter on the tongue.

At only 1,000 square feet upstairs, the entire house quickly becomes infused with the smells and sounds of supper.

The intimate nature of their living space suits the neighbourhood in which Michelle and Earl chose to settle. When they first moved in, they were heartily welcomed by their neighbours. Then one afternoon they opened their door to find then-mayor

“EVERYTHING IS AT YOUR FRONT DOOR.” CARLTON HOUSE IS WALKING DISTANCE TO SHOPS, BANKS, RESTAURANTS, THE LIBRARY AND SENIOR’S CENTRE. RETIREMENT LIVING IN THE HEART OF OAK BAY. CALL US TODAY 250.595.1914 | WWW.CARLTONHOUSE.CA

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Chris Causton on their doorstep. He made a point of stopping by and welcoming each new member of the community — just one of the personal touches that made Michelle and Earl feel at home right away.

“The location itself is so brilliant,” she says. Living close to Oak Bay Avenue, they shop every day, enjoying fresh fruits and veggies from the market just up the street, plus the goodies sold just around the corner.

“We open the door in the morning, and we can smell the cinnamon buns from Cob’s,” she says with a grin. “It’s really like Pleasantville here.”

This will be their seventh summer on Yale Street, and they’re already looking forward to the annual block party that comes every August.

Having lived all over Canada between the two of them, Michelle and Earl have come home to Oak Bay, and have settled in with the grace of life-long residents. As the nights grow warmer, Michelle heads out to the front porch with a glass of wine to indulge in the sounds and smells of their homey community.

“In the summer, it’s my favourite place to sit,” she says, smiling.

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OAK BAY REAL ESTATE REVEALED

HERE&THERE: What your dollar will buy around the world Sant Andreu de Llavanereas, Spain Listed for: €1,033,280($1,529,000 CDN)

1912 Oak Bay home Listed for: $1,589,000 CDN Features: This four-bedroom, four-bath, 1912 character home sits on a private 9,583-square-foot lot in Oak Bay’s Windsor Park area, just a short stroll to Oak Bay Village and Beach Drive. This level-entry Samuel McLure home offers more than 1,900 sq.ft. of luxury living on one level, including two bedrooms, a gourmet kitchen, living room and dining room/ sunroom. French doors lead to a spacious south-facing deck, mature gardens and century-old apple trees. The second level offers space for guests or family, with a second master bedroom, stunning bath and additional bedroom or den. Source: MLS/Realtor.ca

Features: Enjoy luxury living on the Barcelona Coast with this three-storey villa, steps from the town centre and beach. The 3,100-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-bath contemporary villa sits on a 5,400-square-foot plot with panoramic sea views from the upper terraces. Boasting parquet floors, double-pane insulated windows, air conditioning and an alarm system, a large ground-floor lobby opens to a large living room, dining room, fully-equipped kitchen and powder room. Upstairs are four bedrooms and two bathrooms, while the basement offers staff quarters and a garage. Source: www.rightmove.co.uk Boucherville, Quebec Listed for: $1,589,000 CDN Features: This five-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, contemporary home outside Montreal sits on more than 28,000 square feet of land, with outdoor amenities including a three-season veranda and heated pool.The spectacular interior boasts large main-floor living and dining areas, plus an office and a huge sunroom open to the kitchen. Upstairs are four bedrooms, including a master suite with large private bathroom. Enjoy lots of room for parking, seasonal vehicles or storage with a triple garage, plus geothermal heating and air conditioning. Source: www.remax-quebec.com

• MLS Gold Award Winner every year since 2006 • Team Leader for #1 Team in Victoria and Vancouver Island** • Leader of one of Top 100 Teams in Canada** •• Excellent Luxury Program available •• Outstanding reputation •• He is a family man that grew up in Oak Bay and still lives there •• He specializes in Oak Bay TM

Oak BayChronicle.com SPRING 2014

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE BINAB PROPERTY GROUP

STATE OF THE UNION 2014 is proving to be a fantastic year for Binab Property Group and the Victoria Real Estate Market in general. Lower inventory, increased sales and mortgage rates that continue to stay low are all helping boast the Real Estate market. The announcement of a new Property Transfer Tax exemption range ($475,000 to $500,000) quickly began to fuel sales of properties just under the new amount. In Oak Bay the inventory also remained low which is consistent with the rest of Victoria. What this meant is that the new listings that came on the market in Oak Bay that were priced well, and showed well, Sold fast.

Once again South Oak Bay continues to be the area with the most sales, although Henderson was not far behind. Uplands continues to see more homes being purchased and knocked down in favor of brand new homes to take their place. We are seeing more buyers coming to Victoria and especially Oak Bay from the mainland and China. Increasing home prices on the mainland are making buyers realize the value of a great market like Oak Bay. For the cost of your average Uplands home, you cannot buy a 5000 square foot lot in the Dunbar area of Vancouver.

Expect more inventory on the market as the spring weather gets better and more traffic at open houses and around town generally.

ISSUE TWO

OAK BAY - TOTAL UNITS SOLD DEC 1- FEB 28 Estevan Gonzales Henderson North Oak Bay South Oak Bay Uplands

Average Sale Price $726,750 Average Sale Price $1,180,000 Average Sale Price $645,650 Average Sale Price $577,388 Average Sale Price $671,386 Average Sale Price $1,386,500

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oak bay insider

Savoury summer Kiwanis Tea Room: good food and good deeds

H

ere are some sure signs that summer is on its way in Oak Bay: lawn bowlers in crisp whites laying down their bowls at Carnarvon Park; skippers preparing all kinds of vessels for opening day at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club . . . AND the smell of French fries at Willows Beach, drifting lazily from the Kiwanis Tea Room.

Opened on July 15, 1949, the tea room has been happily dishing out beachfront fare for 65 years, joining a very select company of Victoria restaurants, also open for that amount of time. Examples might include the Bengal Lounge at the Empress, Butchart Garden’s dining room, Dutch Bakery and Rathskeller Restaurant.

Back in 1949, the tearoom was built for $7,000 by the Kiwanis Club, but in a ceremony on that day in July the keys were ceremoniously given to Oak Bay Mayor R.A. Wootton, who then gave a cheque to Oak Bay Kiwanis for $1,750. In a photograph of the event, councillor George Murdoch (later mayor of Oak Bay and grandfather to current councillor Kevin Murdoch) is witness to the event. Since that auspicious day, 65 years ago, Kiwanis has leased the building.

Originally, the Kiwanis Tea Room was open only on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, all day Sunday and on special “picnic days.” There were men’s lockers underneath it and storage space for playground equipment. Over time, as the tea room became busier, the hours were expanded until it was open every day from spring until fall. Different requests over the years have meant changes to the menu — some successful, some not. In 2007, the foot-long hot dog was introduced with much relish, but its days were numbered (hard to eat) and it didn’t make the 2008 menu.

In 2006, Kiwanis hosted a successful salmon barbeque to celebrate the municipality’s 100th birthday. The last few years have seen a breakfast served on Sundays from January to March, with arguably, at $10, the best full English breakfast in the city.

All proceeds go to Kiwanis projects in Willows Park, to fund things like playground equipment, and to Kiwanis projects in the community. For example, the club donated the sign outside Oak Bay City Hall. But the club and its foundation’s biggest project, by far, is the122-bed Oak Bay Kiwanis Pavilion for the elderly on Cedar Hill Road.

After 65 years, what does the future hold? A deck, a new building, fish tacos, deep-fried Mars bars? The possibilities are endless as long as you can still smell those crinkly cut French fries on the beach.

BTW. Oak Bay Kiwanis holds its annual auction/dinner to raise funds for the Kiwanis Pavilion on Saturday, June 21 at Uplands Golf Club.

Christopher Causton was mayor of Oak Bay for 15 years, and now works as a Harbour Ferries captain. He is the founder and former owner of Jason’s (Camilles) and Rattenbury’s (Spaghetti Factory), and is a classically trained hotelier.

He is a keen tennis player, and member of the Harbourside Rotary for 29 years.

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historic oak bay

Agnes Newton Keith Famed Oak Bay writer captivated the world Story by ivan watson

“I believe that while we have more than we need on this continent, and others die for want of it, there can be no lasting peace. When we work as hard in peacetime to make this world decent to live in, as in wartime we work to kill, the world will be decent, and the causes for which men fight will be gone.”

— Agnes Newton Keith, Oak Bay, November, 1946.

L

ate one night several years ago, while flipping through television channels during a bout of sleeplessness, I happened upon a screening of the classic film Three Came Home. Within minutes, I was captivated by the dramatization of a family’s struggle for survival in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Borneo during the Second World War. The film was based on a true story contained in a book, and after further research, I discovered the book was written by Mrs. Agnes Newton Keith — the celebrated author and long-time resident of Oak Bay. The story of her life and her work is remarkable.

Agnes was born in Oak Park, Illinois on July 4, 1901 to a prominent and prosperous family. Her father was a founder of the Del Monte fruit company. Agnes attended the University of California and worked as a journalist with the San Francisco Examiner. Less than a year into the job, tragedy struck as she was attacked by a

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man who held a grudge against the paper. She suffered severe head injuries, which affected her memory and concentration, and caused temporary blindness. Her worried father sent her to Europe with her brother to aid her recovery. While struggling to regain her eyesight, she studied dance, modeled the latest fashions and considered becoming an actress. Not only did her sight return, she came home refreshed and focused on pursuing a writing career.

In 1934, Harry Keith, a British colonial official and old childhood friend, visited Agnes in California. They had not seen each other in 10 years, but their attraction was magnetic. Three days after reconnecting, they decided to get married, and three months later they sailed for a new life in British North Borneo (now part of Malaysia). Colonial life was peaceful and Harry was employed as Conservator of Forests and Director of Agriculture.

Harry believed strongly in conserving nature for the benefit of the local population and for ensuring sustainable ecosystems.

His efforts led to the establishment of the first forest reserves in Borneo. While accompanying her husband on trips into remote parts of the country, Agnes became fascinated with the region’s people, geography and cultures. Encouraged by Harry, she began to write down her impressions of Borneo life.

In 1939, the Keiths were on leave in Canada living at a house Harry owned in Oak Bay. Here, Agnes completed her first book, Land Below the Wind, which included her own drawings of nature scenes. She entered it in the 1939 Atlantic Monthly Non-Fiction Prize contest and to her surprise it won first place with the unanimous support of the judges. Serialized in the magazine for several months, Agnes’ exotic impressions of life in Borneo captivated the public as well. When Land Below the Wind was published in November that year, it sold briskly. Keith had attained her dream of becoming a writer, but there was little time to celebrate.

After the Second World War broke out, the Keiths decided to return to Borneo, leaving their young daughter, Jean, in Canada for safekeeping. In Borneo, Agnes gave birth to their son, George, in 1940, and despite trying to carry on work as usual, the Keith family, and the rest of the expat community, waited anxiously for the expected Japanese invasion. Once the Japanese invaded, everything changed. The men were separated from the women and children, and each group was interned in separate prisoner of war camps from 1942 until liberation in 1945.

In 1943, Agnes and George were transferred to a camp at Kuching. Here, she established an uneasy and delicate friendship with Colonel Suga, the camp’s commander who had read her work and appreciated the respect she demonstrated for Asian cultures. Colonel Suga ordered Agnes to write her memoirs of camp life; he returned her confiscated typewriter and released her from a few of her grueling camp duties. She reluctantly sent pages for his review every few weeks. But risking punishment, and even death, she wrote the unedited story of her family’s struggle for survival on scraps of paper and hid them in the lining of her son’s toys.

Returning home to Oak Bay at the end of the war, Agnes assembled the account of her prison camp experiences from her secret notes. Published in 1947, Three Came Home became a bestseller and in 1950, was adapted for the silver screen, starring Claudette Colbert.

Colbert considered Three Came Home her best film and

most effective performance. The emotional story of Agnes’ courage and triumph over adversity, told with style and honesty, captivated the world. Agnes wrote seven books in total, several of which were penned from the study of her home in Oak Bay. After postings in Libya and the Philippines, Harry retired in 1964, and the couple returned to their home in Oak Bay, where they lived for the rest of their lives.

Agnes Newton Keith never lost faith in humanity’s capacity for decency and compassion, despite surviving the harrowing ordeal of three years as a prisoner of war. She remains a popular figure in Borneo, and since 2004, the Keiths’ former home there has served as a popular museum and tourist attraction.

Agnes and Harry died within weeks of each other in 1982 in Oak Bay. Even today, the occasional tourist will stop outside her former home on Island Road to pay homage to the woman who wrote so eloquently and sensitively about the peoples and culture of Malaysia. The film version of Three Came Home is available online for viewing on YouTube and Agnes’ many delightful books are available for borrowing at the Oak Bay library. They make for fascinating reading and are a testament to the unfailing courage, curiosity and humanity of one of Oak Bay’s most prominent citizens from times past.

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At far left: Photograph of Agnes Newton Keith. Elsewhere on these pages: Covers of some of Agnes’ books, a movie poster, and an example of her drawings.

Do you have any personal memories, photos or stories of Oak Bay’s Royal Visit? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

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A passion for art The active world of Avis Rasmussen

By Natalie North Photos by Ken Sakamoto

A

s a teen in Sidney, Avis Rasmussen toted a sketchbook along on dates.

As a single mother of five, she put herself through art school. As the vivacious Oak Bay senior that she is today, she’s unstoppable.

She just keeps producing art.

“I taught school and worked in a bookstore and did a variety of other things, which I called my hobbies, but they made money,” says Rasmussen from the living room of her Estevan Village home. “Everybody always said, ‘Oh what a nice hobby; you paint.’ I’d think to myself, ‘I had to work hard to keep painting. I had to just do it when I could.’”

From early travels and painting en plein 18

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air in France and Greece to leading linocut reduction print workshops with GroundZero Printmakers Society in Victoria’s Chinatown, Rasmussen isn’t about to quit going allout now. She’s sketching on the Vancouver SkyTrain; she’s opening shows at Winchester Galleries; she’s submitting new work and cooking up plans too fresh to divulge prior to official announcements.

If you pass a snowy-haired woman on her hands and knees taking a pastel rubbing of a manhole cover on Oak Bay Avenue, or uncover a chapbook of poetry that feels particularly Rasmussenesque, you’d be right to assume the 77-year-old is behind it.

“I don’t just do one thing at one time,” she says. “If you have five kids and you’re a single parent, you have to balance quite a number of things, and if you want to keep

on doing your art or whatever it is — you just have to do it.”

Rasmussen’s home is dotted with tidbits of her creative life — a life that began well before she pursued her Bachelor of Fine Arts (and later, Masters of Education) from the University of Victoria. A piano and easel sit in the kitchen. The former is merely a vehicle for her own amusement, but the latter — currently holding a partially completed marine scene — has carried her from those early years painting her father’s two-acre garden in Sidney, to national recognition for her plein air work.

Her interest in painting was bolstered by an urge to seek constant exposure to art, first travelling Europe as a young woman driven to experience art classics in person, to periods over the last decade in which she has

At left: Avis Rasmussen painting en plein air at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. Below: Symphony Splash from the Fairmont Empress (top), and Ford Deuce Coups, also from from the Empress.

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ventured back to Europe, a month at a time, to recalibrate and focus solely on painting.

“As someone who had grown up on this coast, I thought [Europe] gave a different perspective,” she says.

Since moving from Sidney in 1974, Rasmussen has enjoyed the visual charms of Oak Bay — capturing scenes of the night market outside Winchester Galleries, or the seascapes by Queen’s Park — yet she thinks back on those early small-town days on the peninsula and finds their impact still remains.

Rasmussen says her father’s garden, dubbed “Arbourfield” by the family, was his art form. The garden emerges frequently in “…if you want to her work; for example, it appears in a linocut keep on doing your reduction print currently in progress and sitting next to the press in her home studio. art or whatever it Hanging on the studio’s walls are blocks is — you just have from Rasmussen’s linocut prints, depicting images as diverse as the seaside town to do it.” of Cornwall, England, and Victoria’s jazz AVIS RASMUSSEN scene. About the room are a series of tiny prints, figures in ink, many carved to the sound of her own local jazz favourites: Ian McDougall or George Essihos.

It’s in this space that she embraced linocut reduction printmaking as a way of continuing her art in those years when being a single working mother of five got in the way of her painting.

“The kind of printmaking that I do is sort of like knitting or quilting in the sense that a lot of it may be repetitive and it’s possible just to leave it,” she says. Among her many other successes, her wood cut print self-portrait appeared in the Ontario Art Gallery in 2006.

Rasmussen, last year’s artist in residence at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, is quick to compliment fellow artists in the area, including those with whom she founded the Oak Bay Community Artists Group, organizers of the annual Bowker Creek Brush Up. Rasmussen is devoted to her role as both audience and artist.

“People think it’s some exclusive group, but no,” she says of the community artists group, which formed following Oak Bay’s first studio tour in 2000. “We just started it ourselves and anyone can

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Philip Stirton, Investment & Retirement Philip Stirton,Planning Investment & Philip Stirton, Investment & 250-883-9033 Retirement Planning Retirement Planning philip.stirton@rbc.com 250-882-9033 250-883-9033 philip.stirton@rbc.com philip.stirton@rbc.com

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Avis Rasmussen with her work at Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay.

join. And you don’t have to be a painter — there are potters and silk

Looking for Investment & Retirement Advice? weavers — it’s for anyone who’s willing to take part.”

Adjacent to her printing press, a note on the wall catches the eye.

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Philip Stirton, InvestmentInitially & Looking for Investment & Retirement Advice? clipped from a magazine in 1972, and re-imagined with the Retirement Planning calligraphy of Sylvia Skelton, the paper reads: Talk to me today.

250-883-9033 philip.stirton@rbc.com

Financial planning services and investment advice are provided by Royal Mutual Funds Inc. (RMFI). RMFI, RBC Global Asset Management Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and The Royal Trust Company are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. RMFI is licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec. ® \ ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. ©2011 Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. 45808 (09/2011).

“It’s the artist’s job to create the sun where there isn’t one.”

A “job,” not hobby.

Meet Avis Rasmussen Aug. 10 when Oak Bay artists of all varieties line the edge of Bowker Creek during the annual Brush Up; or visit her Sundays at Fairmont Empress Hotel’s Artishow. Come September, Rasmussen returns to her post as artist in residence at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel.

Financial planning services and investment advice are provided by Royal Mutual Funds Inc. (RMFI). RMFI, RBC Global Asset Management Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Trustand Corporation of Canada andprovided The Royal Financial planningRoyal services investment advice are

by Trust Royal Company are separate corporate entities which are affiliated.

RMFI is Mutual Funds Inc. (RMFI). RMFI, RBC Global Asset Management Inc., Royal licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec.

Bank of Canada, Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and The Royal Trust ® / ™Looking Trademark(s) offor Royalcorporate Bank of Canada. and Bank are registered Investment & Royal Retirement Company are separate entitiesRBCwhich are affiliated.

RMFI Advice? is trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. ©2011 Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec.

45808 (09/2011) Talk to me today. ® / ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. ©2011 Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence.

45808 (09/2011)

Financial planning services and investment advice are provided by Royal Mutual Funds Inc. (RMFI). RMFI, RBC Global Asset Management Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Trust Corporation of Canada and The Royal Trust Company are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. RMFI is licensed as a financial services firm in the province of Quebec. ® / ™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. ©2011 Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence.

45808 (09/2011)

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One:06 TOPIARIES OF OAK BAY

OAK BAY LANDMARKS One:06 features unique Oak Bay landmarks as seen through a roving camera eye. “One” honours the uniqueness of Oak Bay and 06 gives a nod to its history — 1906, the year it incorporated into a municipality.

For this edition, photographer Don Denton’s camera eye explored some of the creative topiary in Oak Bay.

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ROMANCING THE STOVE

Romancing the Stove columnist PAM GRANT

Soup’s on!

Medewiwin Angels stage annual Oak Bay fundraiser

“Shirley Hunter is a no-nonsense powerhouse of social change.”

By PAM GRANT Photos by DON DENTON

A

fellow food writer recently described her lunch visit to a new restaurant one bitterly cold afternoon. After scanning the menu, she was approached by a server who asked if she was ready to order. When she asked what the soup was, the server intoned, “There is no soup.” “You’re out of soup?” asked my astonished friend. “The chef does not believe in soup,” replied the server.

Such culinary nihilism would make me laugh, had Nietzsche not written that the era of “the last man” would be marked by our existence as apathetic beings, devoid of commitment or passion, existing only to earn a living — and ironically — to keep warm. Remembering these words and the fact that as immigrants, my paternal ancestors practically survived on soup, I shuddered at my friend’s story.

New age food snobs aside, soup — accompanied by values such as commitment and passion — spans history and cultures alike. Recently, I was happy to meet some people who firmly 22

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believe in the power of all three.

I have been to my fair share of fundraisers, but upon arriving at the Beach Drive home of Renae Choo, I was immediately struck by the warm, welcoming energy. Choo generously opened the doors of her home this year to dozens of strangers and a cornucopia of delicious soups, giving über-volunteer Shirley Hunter a break from hosting duties at the annual event, which supports residents of the Medewiwin Apartments — one of several Pacifica Housing projects in Victoria.

One hundred per cent of the funds raised from the $50 per plate Soup Lunch go to the charity.

Choo’s house quickly filled with people who devoured a variety of homemade soups made and donated by the “Medewiwin Angels.” There was also enough bread to feed a small army, donated

by Oak Bay native Martin Cownden, owner of Chef on the Run. There’s a rib-sticking split pea and ham soup, a perfectly spiced curried carrot, a hearty seafood chowder and another made with sweet corn. All were divine. I had seconds of the chilli, and anyone with any doubt about the curative powers of chicken soup should try Pacifica Housing Vice President Terry Farmer’s version — or was it his wife, Leslie’s? Whoever made it, I could eat it everyday.

Crucial to this annual fundraiser is Hunter, a no-nonsense powerhouse of social change. In addition to sitting on the board of the Friends of the Royal British Columbia Museum, she has served as Honorary Governor of the Victoria Foundation, and

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Advice you can count on Above: Shirley Hunter dishes up a bowl of soup to Barbara Adams. Previous page: Seafood chowder.

spent stints of time as chair of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, Victoria Crime Stoppers and Treasure Island Nursery School.

So, it’s no surprise that Hunter served as chair for Pacifica Housing, as well as its offspring, the Medewiwin Support Group. She is quick to downplay her involvement, politely deflecting my question about how long she has supported this particular event to note that there are a dozen people at the core of the operation, in addition to scores of supporters.

Pacifica Housing is a first-rate provider of affordable housing, set apart by innovative support services, which help contribute to the successful transition from living on the street to a place that offers stability and sense of community. Hunter can talk at length about what works and what doesn’t work for people living with poverty and mental illness. She is keenly aware of the need for a safe and stable home as a foundation for a positive future.

Named for the Grand Medicine Society of eastern First Nations — and charged with providing both physical and spiritual health — the Medewiwin Apartments serve as home and community to 26 adults, who were once homeless or at risk of being homeless. Their housing situations have usually resulted from unfortunate circumstances, such as chronic unemployment, addictions or low education levels, and are compounded by the existence of mental illness.

The success of the project was acknowledged by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which honoured Pacifica Housing with the “Best Practices in Affordable Housing” award. It was noted that Medewiwin’s unique peer support community model

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From left to right: Hostess Renae Choo; David Black; Lorna Elder, Ross and Norma Williams.

emphasizes personal independence, a sense of belonging, wellness, harm reduction and self growth.

Initially, some neighbours weren’t supportive, but today, relations are excellent.

Tenants take turns ensuring the common areas are litter-free, and a once-deteriorating property now thrives. Pacifica Housing’s community garden initiative is underway there too, with a coordinator leading residents through planning, the construction of raised beds, sowing, weeding and harvesting. It’s no surprise that people who never had a garden enjoy spending time outside and caring for it in such a supportive environment. They have a barbecue there too, says Hunter.

Staff join tenants occasionally to create shared meals, and informal art groups — formed at each of Pacifica’s supported housing sites — to provide further opportunity for positive social interactions.

Back in Oak Bay, funds from the Soup Lunch help provide “the extras” that Medewiwin residents cannot afford. Thanks to the efforts of the Medewiwin Angels, there is money for decent

food, new clothing, gifts for birthdays, Christmas presents, haircuts and toiletries.

The annual Soup Lunch is a wonderful example of commitment to altruism, and a testament to Pacifica’s “housing first” philosophy that provides people with safe, secure housing, and then addresses other issues such as health, family and life skills.

Breaking the cycles of homelessness, mental illness and social isolation is a win for the whole community.

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Superhero Simon Roy rocks the comics industry By susan lundy Photos by DON DENTON

“On distant future Earth, changed by time and alien influence, John Prophet awakens from cryosleep. His mission: to climb the towers of Thauili Van and restart the Earth empire. But news of the Empire’s return brings old foes and allies out of the recesses of the vast cosmos . . . .”

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Above: Scene from Simon Roy's Jan's Atomic Heart illustrates the former Oak Bay artist's skill.

Left: Roy at a book signing in Victoria.

S

o runs the synopsis of Prophet, a comic book series cocreated by Oak Bay High School graduate Simon Roy — a 25-year-old artist who, in the five years since publication of his first book Jan’s Atomic Heart (2009), has become “one of the most heralded artists in the comics industry.”

According to Lloyd Chesley, of Victoria’s Legends Comics & Books, “Roy’s art has been compared to the legendary French master Moebius . . . and he’s one of the rare writer-artists in the medium. [Recently] he appeared in Seattle at Emerald City Comicon, one of the most respected comic conventions on the continent, with huge sell-out crowds.”

Jan’s Atomic Heart has now been reprinted with a larger publisher and additional stories, and Roy was featured at a booksigning event this spring at Legend Comics & Books.

“Simon’s writing is in the field of speculative science fiction, noted for its grounded view of humanity and sly humour,” Chesley adds.

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Indeed, Roy is smart, articulate, funny and surprisingly humble. Of his success, he jokes, “I’ve impressed like the two right people and made contacts with four to five steady clients. I’m making enough of a living to start worrying about paying taxes.”

As Chesley enthuses that Jan’s Atomic Heart gained Roy “international fame,” Roy responds with typical understatement, agreeing “people have read it [outside of Canada] in Britain and Australia and responded favourably.”

Roy currently has several projects on the go, including a job with Simon Fraser University, providing illustrations for animated I'm much more math problems for aboriginal audiences. interested in the ideas He’s also working on some ice-age adventure comics, set for publication later this …what do I want to year, and a comic series called The Field, talk about here? written by Vancouver’s Ed Brisson, who was also instrumental in the initial publicasimon roy tion of Jan’s Atomic Heart.

“It’s like a twilight zone story of a guy who wakes up in a field in his underwear,” Roy says.

On this particular day, he’s also cleaning his house in Vancouver in preparation for guests, who are en route to the city for the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival.

But Roy says it’s his work on Prophet — a series that resurrected a defunct character from two decades ago — that really opened doors for him.

“Atomic introduced my work, but no one paid attention until

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Prophet, when we rehashed this weird character from the 90s.”

Roy and Brandon Graham, a friend and fellow comic creator, launched the series in 2012. Considered a huge success, and currently in its 25th issue, the series has pushed Roy’s name to the forefront of the comic industry.

Born in Victoria, Roy split his childhood between Shawnigan Lake and Oak Bay, spending a few years at Monterey school, and graduating in 2006 (with the fine arts award) from Oak Bay High. His parents, Anthony and Jennifer Roy, and paternal grandparents, Len and Diane Roy, still live in Oak Ray. “I spent most of high school in the art room, drawing and watching Water World,” he says, recalling art teacher Bevin Bigalky’s top floor classrooms that came complete with television. “I drew lots of robots and soldiers wearing pouches.”

After graduation, Roy spent two years studying Russian and art at UVic, but later transferred to the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, where he completed a four-year degree program and “experienced a real Canadian winter.” But his continued interest in Russian culture, history and current events, provides a muse for some of his art.

“If you like science fiction, the tone of Russian history is kind of similar,” he says. “Visually there is an historic tension that you can see. It’s a rich mulch to grow stuff from.”

Likewise, he reads a lot of science fiction, popular science, current events, and magazines like The Economist: “If you fill your brain with interesting stuff, when it comes time to do art, you’ve got a lot to pull from.”

As a youngster, Roy read and drew comics, but didn’t consider it

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a realistic occupation: “I thought I might like to be a newspaper cartoonist, but trying to be funny every day is a thankless task.”

At some point in his childhood, he immersed himself in library comics, most influentially, “French stuff like Tintn and Asterix.”

But the discovery in university of Italian comic artist Gipi (Gianni Pacinotti) ultimately changed the course of his life.

“He has this loose sketchy cartoon style that is beautiful but quick,” Roy says. “I realized that you don’t have to draw like a Marvel artist, you can draw whatever you like. I could relax and enjoy it.”

While it’s unusual for a comic artist to also be a comic writer, Roy says the process allows him to “develop a personal, cohesive vision.”

“Instead of doing stuff that exists merely for its own sake, it’s nice to be confident enough to try both; most comic artists would gladly defer the writing to someone else,” he says.

Ultimately, it’s the idea driving the work that is important to Roy. “I’m not the best artist and I don’t really care to improve — other than what comes from doing it a lot. I’m much more interested in the ideas . . . what do I want to talk about here? What is the big theme that I can submerge in this?”

It seems to be working as the young artist has already received several nominations for Canada’s Shuster Awards and the US Eisner Awards, in both cases the Oscars of the comic book industry.

“I’m lucky to be doing something weird and pretentious instead of just dialogue-driven superhero punch-em-ups,” Roy laughs, adding that his work is more like “trippy 70s, French science fiction” comics. “It’s more about exploring larger concepts of scale and time and evolution. It’s about big ideas.”

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Oak Bay Rotarians offer helping hands in Guatemala

Jacqueline Mealing with handmade scarves.

By Angela Cowan

Photo Don denton

Heart givers T

his past winter, Dr. John Snively and Jacqueline Mealing flew south, returning to Guatemala to continue their efforts to improve education and dental and health services, buoyed by the efforts of their fellow Oak Bay Rotarians and the community.

Just two of the many Rotarians working overseas, Snively and Mealing have focussed their attention on the remote villages surrounding Lake Atitlan. Between the two of them, they’ve overseen the realization of two local Rotary Club projects, Scarves for Stoves, an initiative that supplied badly needed smoke-free and efficient stoves to local women; and hugely improved dental services that this year included the purchase of an x-ray machine.

Mealing grew up in Oak Bay, graduating from the local high school and going on to teach fine arts.

“My family came in 1887, I’m the only one that left,” she says, laughing. When she returned to Oak Bay three years ago, having already worked with the villagers around Lake Atitlan for nearly two decades, the Rotary Club immediately jumped on board with her fund-raising efforts.

One of the most influential projects was Scarves for Stoves, an initiative that helps villagers replace their traditional “three stone” unvented cooking fires, which — used in their windowless adobe homes — often lead to chronic respiratory infections and even severe burns.

Mealing helped the women design contemporary scarf styles

using their traditional weaving methods, and opened up a North American market for the fashions. With the money raised from scarf sales by Victoria and Oak Bay volunteers, and through Rotary fundraising, over 1,200 new stoves have been funded and installed.

“When the families receive the stoves, they pay nominal fees, and attend classes in health and nutrition, family planning, sanitation and dental hygiene. And since the introduction of these stoves and the accompanying classes, there’s been a noticeable improvement in their general health and welfare,” says Mealing, adding that it has also given villagers an international, sustainable project that allows them to take a proactive role in supporting themselves. “[It’s really about] finding out what they want and need, rather than what we think they need,” she says. “The most important thing is to listen to the people.”

Snively, a dentist since 1971 and an Oak Bay Rotarian for a decade, had been travelling to Guatemala for over 35 years, and already knew the country intimately when Mealing suggested he join her at Lake Atitlan to assess the dental health of the villagers.

“The first time we went down we had nothing,” he says. “I had a headlamp and a few instruments. I was working in the health centre

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Right: John Snively and Maria Consalvo in Guatamala.

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with a patient on the birthing table, with no suction…no water.

That’s how primitive the dentistry was down Photo by suzanne hamilton there.”

When they came back to Oak Bay, they worked tirelessly with Rotarians up and down Vancouver Island to fundraise for a state-ofthe-art, mobile dentistry clinic.

“By the next year, we had the full system set up,” says Snively, who is now able to perform full cleanings, fillings, surgery and oral hygiene instruction. But he says the most important aspect of their trips is dental education.

“They’ve lost touch with the value of their teeth. If they get sore, they get them taken out, or they live with the pain,” he says. “We see so much chronic infection. We’re just thrilled to be able to provide this service, but we’re just putting out fires with this clinical dentistry. We really need to educate, and get the villages sustaining their own health.”

The big breakthrough this year was the purchase of a portable, digital x-ray machine that will revolutionize the way Snively and others can practice dentistry in the villages.

“Trying to do surgery without x-rays is blind and scary. Now we can see where we’re going,” he says.

The handheld x-ray can plug into a laptop, take pictures of the patient’s jaw, and upload them onto a hard drive, making each patient’s history easily accessible to any dentist or medical professional who comes in later.

The Oak Bay and Nanaimo Rotary clubs were the most instrumental in fundraising for the portable x-ray, which even at wholesale, cost just over $20,000. Snively’s been amazed and moved at the support for the project, and at the people who have — in a heartbeat — given their time and money for the villagers around Lake Atitlan.

In addition to the community support, two other individuals have been invaluable to the project: Trisha Timmermans, Snively’s former

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assistant, who helped develop a patient database, and acted as a photojournalist; and Maria Consalvo, an Oak Bay dental assistant, who for the last three years has used her personal vacation time and paid her own expenses to travel to Guatemala to help in the clinic.

“She’s not even a Rotarian,” says Snively of Consalvo. “She’s just a heart giver.”

But even with all the support, there’s still a need to expand their services.

“I’ll continue to be a part of the clinical reality as long as I can do it, but there’s coming a point where we need to get some more people in there. Some younger people,” says Snively. “There’s no end to the number of patients that want to see us. We’re always looking for more dentists to contribute their time, money, energy, anything to help out the cause.”

In addition to funding the portable x-ray machines and Scarves for Stoves, the Rotary Club of Oak Bay has also committed to funding the building rental for one of two Lake Atitlan women’s centres, which will supply job training, nutritional cooking classes, literacy education, and other workshops.

Though an impressive undertaking, Guatemala is just one of many projects that the Rotary Club supports throughout the world.

Locally, there are dozens more Oak Bay and Victoria-wide projects dedicated to education, improved housing, heritage preservation and beyond. The Rotarians as a whole are passionately devoted to helping in every corner they can reach. And with the continued support of the community, Snively, Mealing, and their teams can carry on, lending their hands and spirits to help build a better quality of life for the villagers around Lake Atitlan.

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Photo Don denton

TEA WITH murray rankin

Tweed editor Susan Lundy interviews MP Murray Rankin.

Murray Rankin Claim to fame:

MP for Victoria (and Oak Bay!)

How long living in oak bay?

Many, many years ago, some friends and I fell in love with a beautiful old character house here in Oak Bay. My wife and I still live in part of that house.

We just love the Oak Bay community.

Where were you born and who is your family?

I was born in Ontario, where some of my family still live. I hail from the obscure, non-musical wing of the Rankin Family — and no, I am not related to the Harry Rankin clan from Vancouver either! In a family of five children I was the only boy; having four sisters has given me a clearer perspective on the challenges women continue to face today. And our mother was always a role model. I met Linda Hannah at one of the early meetings of a wilderness committee and we were married in the 1980s. One of my sisters, Helen, lives very near to us in Oak Bay, and we stay very close to her. We are very proud parents of Ben and Mark, now in their 20s.

What are some of the highlights of your career?

After many summers working in a canning factory and as a night watchman at an auto plant, I landed a job teaching law at UVic. I loved it immediately; but, even more than that, I think it helped prepare me for my current job as a recently minted parliamentarian. My academic interest in environmental law led to a practice in that field, as well as in aboriginal rights issues. For a decade, I negotiated treaties and economic benefit agreements with First Nations across BC and the Yukon. As well as doing volunteer legal work over the years, I chaired the West Coast Environmental Law Association, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and more recently, was community chair of UVic’s Environmental Law Centre.

What has been most challenging? Rewarding?

Achieving environmental sustainability while meeting economic imperatives is the defining challenge of our times. Whether negotiating agreements with First Nations or fighting in environmental lawsuits, nothing is more challenging than trying to get that balance right, and

nothing is more rewarding than finding a true win-win.

What do you see as your greatest accomplishments?

For sure, being a parent and watching our kids grow into fine, engaged adults. We have tried to lead by example and are very proud of Ben and Mark. From a career perspective, I led negotiations of land use agreements on Vancouver Island and in the Kootenays, which involved reconciling different interests in resource development and conservation. I also advised the Yukon on its selfgovernment agreements there. These were very satisfying experiences. I was also proud to be part of a legal team that won some landmark cases on human rights and aboriginal issues in the Supreme Court of Canada.

What brings you joy? What are your hobbies?

Bringing me joy: Miles Davis. Arcade Fire. Bill Evans.

Billy Holiday. Emily Carr. Alice Munro. A.S. Byatt.

Margaret MacMillan. Rick Mercer. Baseball and beer.

Outside of work, I love being outside. From backpacking in the Kootenays to biking the Kettle Valley Railway; from kayaking in the Gulf Islands to walking along Willows Beach. I feel so fortunate to live in this wonderful place. Hanging around with Linda. And family trips are special times to connect with each other.

Anything else we should know about you?

I am lapsed jazz pianist. I take pleasure in yoga and bicycling. I thoroughly enjoy being the Member of Parliament for Victoria — and Oak Bay. I am working hard on issues as far-ranging as GMO labelling, tax havens, pension reform and the Northern Gateway proposal.

And I understand, like never before, the richness and diversity of our amazing community.

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S ma l l space

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By Jennifer Blyth Photos by Don Denton

O

ak Bay is blessed with some truly stunning estate gardens, but it’s also home to beautiful, smaller lots, which brim with colour and texture, and prove that good things — great things, even — can come in small packages.

Brian and Evelyn Jones’ Oak Bay Village area garden is the perfect example. One of 12 stops on the ninth annual Teeny Tiny Garden Tour, which took place June 8 in support of Victoria Hospice, the garden is a quiet refuge of well-chosen trees, shrubs and perennials.

Evelyn’s creation continues to evolve after 18 years.

The Jones bought the property in January 1996, appreciating the proximity to the village and its quiet neighbourhood for their daughter, who was a toddler at the time.

The “garden” then really wasn’t much; there was grass, blackberries, fireweed and a few evergreens. Renovation of the space came as time and budget allowed.

“Because it evolved [over time], there’s young and old,” Evelyn says. “The first thing I built was a compost, tucked into the back corner of the yard.”

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Above: Evelyn Jones. Left: Curving slate pathway.

Learning as she worked, Evelyn called upon her creativity as a graphic designer to begin establishing her ideal garden — one that would complement the couple’s 1920 Craftsman-style home.

“I love being outside and for me it’s a great outlet physically and creatively. I think there’s a bit of a farmer in me,” she says with a smile.

Standing in the front yard of the 5,000-square-foot property, she says, “I think that this started with nothing, from nothing, and I’m proud of that. As I was learning and experimenting, things would change and evolve a bit. It started to be a passion and then [I was] compelled to do it.”

Next came a veggie garden in raised beds filled with garlic, kale, peas and raspberries at the south side of the home, near a hand-

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built trellis, climbing with white grapes. Opposite, alongside the house, is a sun-loving honey fig espaliered to maximize the narrow growing space.

Evelyn knew she wanted to create a welcoming space in the compact front garden, and began by jackhammering out the existing concrete and removing the grass.

“Once I got the slate for the path, my husband — sidelined with recent shoulder surgery — couldn’t hold back anymore and started arranging the pieces of slate,” she recalls.

Today, deep borders flank the gently curving pathway, filled with complementary colours, textures and aromas — rhododendrons, phormium Dark Radiance, a variegated wire netting bush, euphorbia Black Bird and thread leaf coreopsis. On the porch, several pots capture the eye with their bursts of colour.

“I love the front deck — it’s a lovely spot to have coffee,” Evelyn says.

Moving through the side veggie garden, a paver pathway opens up onto a generous patio whose sweeping curves echo the undulating beds of the garden beyond. Where angular lines would have made this space

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feel small and confining, the curving beds filled with layers of trees, shrubs and perennials create a series of spaces to discover.

Tall shrubs and trees blend with neighbours’ towering Garry oaks to create a quiet escape from the bustle that hums just a block or two away.

“I like privacy when I’m in the garden. I like a retreat,” Evelyn reflects.

A robust Patty’s Purple hebe has grown to more than eight feet tall and five feet wide in 10 years. Dainty columbines, heucheras, epimediums, potted hostas and other shadeloving plants are tucked here and there, with spikes of irises and brunnera, hosting delicate blue flowers and variegated leaves, securing a sunnier spot near a small fountain, built in a ceramic pot. Nearby, there’s wandering Chilean iris, with sprays of white flowers on narrow, rushy, copper evergreen stems and astrantias, producing long-lasting blooms of starry-shaped flower heads.

To the rear of the teardrop-shaped lawn area is their daughter’s re-purposed playhouse, built to complement the main house, now home to Brian’s art studio — an inspiring space tucked into a beautiful setting. By the fence, a hydrangea Incrediball thrives in

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“When I embarked upon renovating a new dog grooming facility, I was fortunate enough to find Garry at Reno-Men to take on that task. I wanted both form and function without sacrificing one for the other. The final product is exactly as I had imagined it—a highly efficient dog grooming shop with lots of style!”

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At left: Pots on the porch capture the eye with bright colours and myriad textures. Right: Splendid view of a flowering onion.

the south-facing location, producing huge white flowers in a ball shape, while a crocosmia’s spiky foliage reveals tropical-looking sprays of deep red flowers in the summer. A new, more compact Lemon Candy ninebark offers a lemon-yellow foliage that contrasts beautifully with the nearby smoke bush.

The recent addition of a dwarf apple and three blueberry shrubs reflects Evelyn’s wish to incorporate more edible plants into her garden — the garden and gardener are always evolving, after all — while a clematis is beginning to clamber up over the fence.

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“We love to have dinners out here so we sit here almost every night in the summer,” she says.

With this private, peaceful landscape to enjoy, it’s easy to understand why.”

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post cards home

shiva, sun and surfing monks Exploring a hidden monastery in Hawaii “For those of us seeking a little ‘namaste’ alohastyle, the famous Kauai Hindu Monastery is on the east side — if only I can find it.”

Photos by Ute Muller, www.fotoartphotography.net

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Above: Oak Bay resident Sharon StooseJohannknecht, preparing for her next trip to Kauai.

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quinting through violently slashing wipers in a sudden tropical monsoon, I’m looking for the elusive Kauai Hindu Monastery.

Just a passing note in most guidebooks, this traditional South Indian-style Shiva temple is home to Sivalingam, a 50 million-year-old crystal, and is considered a sanctuary with “intense spiritual energies and vibrations.”

The monastery is located deep in the jungle at the foot of an extinct volcano, Wai’ale’ale, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. While all the Hawaiian islands feature some version of sun and sea, the diminutive Kauai’s tropical landscape over its 890 square kilometres is uniquely stunning. Unlike other Hawaiian islands, by law, no building can be taller than a palm tree.

In the north sits the lush green grandeur of the Na Pali coast mountains. Secluded, blinding white sand beaches line the south, while the west offers the blood-red desert of Waimea Canyon — “The Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” And for those of us seeking a little “namaste” aloha-style, the famous Kauai Hindu Monastery is on the east side — if only I can find it.

“This Is Not the Hindu Temple,” read the only signs I can see. You would think that a Hindu monastery, spread out over 146 hectares, complete with two Shiva temples, gardens, ponds, waterfalls, groves and two dozen dedicated monks from six countries would be easier to find.

SUMMER 2014

Finally, a muddy dirt road leads to a tiny, halfempty parking lot and to the six-sided, bench-lined entrance gazebo. Here I take off my sandals and wrap myself in a bright red, hibiscus-patterned sarong, which is supplied. (No shorts, short dresses, tank tops allowed).

In the gazebo, visitors can write down and burn their worries in an urn before entering the sanctuary. I watch my handwritten SHARKS! burn inside the urn with a new sense of lightness on this family beach holiday. Then, using the provided self-guided tour map, I step into these sacred grounds. As if by divine intervention, the rain suddenly stops and the warm sun filters through the jungle canopy.

The tour map says the monastery is a cloistered home and seminary to the monks who “strive to fulfill the dual goals of selfless service and selftransformation through ashtanga yoga.” Founded in 1970, the monastery is now regarded among the world’s important Hindu holy sites, and the end point for serious pilgrimages, many from India. But curious, secular visitors are also welcome.

The grounds encompass a vast part of the jungle but offer a sense of intimacy, with only a small part of the estate open to the public.

Before walking up the 90-meter-long rainforest pathway to the Kadavul Temple, I’m invited to ring a loud bell, announcing my arrival, and to say a prayer to the black granite statue of the elephantfaced Lord Ganesha who blesses all visitors to the temple. I forego the bell and continue along the winding, fern-bordered path to a giant, ancient

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Above: The Iraivan Temple in the distance, overlooking the Wailua River.

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Indian Banyan Tree. Resting under the shadows of its sweeping branches and thick woody trunks, is the imposing grey granite sculpture of Lord Shanmuga, a six-faced deity, who invites meditation and yoga by his feet.

Three young women are meditating under Lord Shanmuga’s gaze.

While I would love to practice my “downward dog,” I’m more eager to experience the Kadavul Temple, one of two temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in the monastery.

Following the steaming concrete path through flowering trees, I encounter Nandi, a 14 tonne bull, meticulously carved from a massive block of black granite, who stands watching at every Shiva Temple in the world.

I respectfully kneel at the entryway of the main sanctum and peer in. A smallish, rectangular room, it is lushly carpeted and strewn with colourful satin pillows. An Indian couple kneels in prayer, while their two cheerful young children bounce around. The focal point of the room, directly in front of the golden statue of a dancing Lord Shiva, is Sivalingam, the 50 million-year-old crystal.

Discovered in Arkansas by miners in 1975, shortly after the monastery’s founder had a vision about it, the crystal was brought to Kauai

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in 1987.Weighing almost 320 kilograms and measuring just over one metre high, it is the world’s largest known six-sided, single-pointed, naturallyformed, white quartz crystal. Draped with vibrant purple orchid leis on this day, Sivalingam is the heart of the Kauai Hindu Monastery.

I am still kneeling at the entrance when a tiny, white-robed, white-haired volunteer invites me in, explaining that the “spiritual vibration of this temple is kept strong” through the monks’ continual worship. In fact, meditating monks have been rotating in the Kadavul Temple, in three-hour vigils, 24/7, since the temple was established. While none are visible, I ask the volunteer what they do when they’re not meditating. After the daily worship at 6 a.m., they have daily chores that include kitchen duty, gardening, teaching and administrative duties. Surprisingly high-tech, they use Macintosh computers and smart-phones to create books, courses, videos and websites. The monks are allowed to leave the monastery, but only in pairs.

“And they like to go surfing,” she says, grinning. Of course. This is Kauai after all.

Tours of the new Iraivan Temple, the second Shiva temple in the monastery, are by reservation only. Looking out over the Wailua River from the viewing platform next to the Kadavul Temple, I see the shimmering gold-leaf domes and the snow-white ivory towers of the new temple in the distance.

Under construction, the temple is being built entirely of hand-carved white granite by artisans in Bangalore, India. Some stones take up to seven years to carve and 4,000 will be shipped to Kauai to be erected by master Indian stonemasons. With a projected completion date in 2017, the Iraivan Temple will become the new heart of the Kauai Hindu Monastery, housing the sacred crystal.

I leave as soft, warm raindrops begin to fall. Walking back down the path, I finally see a monk. Dressed in a hand-spun, full-length, bright-

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IF YOU GO:

The temple is located at 107 Kaholalele Road, about 30 minutes north of the Lihue International Airport and 20 minutes from downtown Kapa’a. Free entry, but “love offerings” welcome. Self guided tours open from 9am-noon with public worship ceremony, puja, from 9:00-10:30am in the Kadavul Temple. Call 1-888-735-1619 to reserve a spot for the formal, guided tour of the temples and gardens, including the Iraivan Temple. See: himalayanacademy.com

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DOGS ON THE AVENUE

Love my dog!

Photos by nate clark

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Dogs [dawgs, dogs] 1. The best friend of men, women and children, bred in many sizes and shapes. The Avenue [thuh av-uh-nyoo, -noo] 1. A popular destination for those seeking funky eateries, awesome art galleries and trendy stores in Oak Bay.

Making pets feel right at home.

Clockwise from top left: St. Bernard Trudy on the Avenue; Niko, a five-year-old Mexican rescue dog; Moose, a three-yearold goldendoodle; Bentley, a 12-year-old poodle-terrier cross; Scotty, a Norfolk terrier; Skipper, a two-year-old, bichonpoodle cross; Nym, an eight-month-old mixed breed pup; and Tucker, a five-year-old longhaired dachshund

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M ee t o ur A d v e r t ise r s Athlone Travel is a full service locally owned travel agency – serving the community since 1986. Our experienced team would be delighted to assist with all of your travel needs.

See ads on page 39 & 40

Ponds Specializing in pond

OAK BAY VOLUNTEER SERVICES.

Bark, Bath & Beyond Pet Boutique A family operated

Morgan’s Fabrics & Interior

business specializing in taking care of your furry ones. We provide everything you need from grooming to foods and everything in between.

See ad on page 43

Gurmit Sandhu has owned and operated West Coast Brew Shop for four years. He is happiest when he is helping his customers make award winning wines and beer and playing cricket with the Oak Bay Cricket Club. See ad on page 24

Design Source Warehouse

OAK BAY PHARMASAVE

Woodcraft Furniture

Mandu Goebl has worked in the Victoria auto industry for over 10 years and is proud to raise his family here. He is delighted to offer quality vehicles to Campus Acura customers.

See ad on page 7

Jason Easton of RBC

Philip Stirton Investment & Retirement Planning with RBC Financial Planning. Looking for Investment & Retirement Advice? Talk to me today (250) 882-9033 philip.stirton@rbc.com See ad on page 20

Numa Farms Nursery

Pepper’s Foods,

Carlton House of Oak Bay

Allison Piano

red art gallery is the fun, small and unpretentious gallery where colour rules! Featuring contemporary, original art from award winning Canadian artists. Owners Bobb and Marion will help you find a work that will rejuvenate your living space. See ad on page 16

White Heather Tea Room

M&M Meats Shelbourne

Conrad de Palma Come in and

see us at your convenience! Why wait?

We can help NOW! Saanich Walk-In Denture Clinic. See ad on page 42

sunday’s snowflakes wants you to be extraordinary this summer with the latest in designer fashion for contemporary women The style you want, the quality you expect and prices you love. See ad on page 27

supplies, pond installation & maintenance. Offering great pond prices and service.

See ad on page 17

main focus is they offer unique, highquality items at the most competitive prices. Bruce Alexander, the owner, buys factory direct and avoids a broker or middleman so he can pay the savings forward. See ad on page 27

Tony Tucker has operated the store since 1985; he’s very appreciative of his amazing staff and the community of people in Oak Bay that make up his loyal customers. See ad on page 25

Dominion Securities has lived and worked in the Victoria area for the past 17 years. Jason enjoys the outdoors and spends most of his spare time with his wife Nancy and their nine year old son. See ad on page 23

Celebrating 50 years in the community!

See ad on page 48

We are the largest grower in the western communities with many large trees and shrubs. See ad on page 29

We buy, sell, rent and restore new and used pianos around Vancouver Island.

See ad on page 35

Originally from Calgary, Franchisee Richard Searle has been a proud Victorian resident since 2006. Stop on by the store and discover a vast array of mouth-watering foods to fill your fridge and freezer. See ad on page 24

Oak Bay SeniorCare

is built to stand the test of time heirloom quality. We are family owned and operated, offering built-in-BC fully customizable furniture, with an in-store designer to help you make your selection. See ad on page 13

satisfies expectations for a physicallyattractive, well-maintained and secure retirement residence, while fostering a supportive community of enjoyment, camaraderie and pride.

See ad on page 12

We live in Oak Bay – continuing White Heather’s long tradition of serving delicious lunches & Afternoon Teas to Oak Bay and surrounds.

See ad on page 24

Now 2 locations to server you.

We offer full service All-Breed dog and cat grooming. Self serve U-Bath and walk-in Nail Clipping. See ad on page 36

The Mucky Mutt Pet Salon

Jordy Harris, raised in Victoria, is

Oak Bay Optometry

Oak Bay Hearing Clinic

Cassie KangAS

With her doctorate in audiology and 17 years’ experience, Dr. Wright is well suited to improve your hearing, even in the most difficult listening situations. See ad on Page 19

BARTLETT. DISCOVER WHY WE’RE CALLED TREE EXPERTS.

We’re Bartlett Tree Experts and we’ve been exceeding our customers’

Buttons & Needleworksexpectations for over 100 years. No matter the size or scope Pacific of your Fireplaces Electric tree and shrub needs,Pacific our experts bring a rare mix of local service, wood, pellet, electric, We carry needlepoint kits, needlework fireplaces, global resources and innovative tree care practices that makes your supplies, crosstitch kits, knitting landscape thrive. Trees Fireplaces add value to our homes and natural our lives. gas and free standing. See ad supplies & more. See ad on page 31

And Bartlett adds value to your trees.

A-1 Carpet Care, Locally owned and operated with 35 and 15 years of experience respectively. See ad on pg. 34 TWEED

has been Oak Bay’s premier re-upholstery, slipcover and draperies provider for nearly 40 years. Family owned and operated.

See ad on page 6

“Our award-winning home support services are customized to fit your needs at any time.” See ad on page 3

has been providing eye exams, glasses and contact lenses to the whole family for over twenty years. See ad on page 11

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We provide one-to-one direct volunteer support to individuals of all ages in Oak Bay. Drives, visits, repairs, etc. See ad on page 31

SUMMER 2014

on Page 35

Bartlett Tree Experts Leader in Residential and Commerical Tree Care.

Pruning, fertilization, pest and disease management. See ad on page 35

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PRUNING FERTILIZATION PEST & DISEASE MANAGEMENT REMOVAL

CALL 877 BARTLETT 877.227.8538 OR VISIT BARTLETT.COM

a consummate professional with a proven track record for results and first class customer service. Jordy welcomes the opportunity to discuss your real estate needs in person, and is grateful for the chance to earn your business. See ad on page 11

As a lifetime resident of Oak Bay, I am your neighbour and an

Oak Bay real Estate expert

who you can trust to sell your home.

See ad on page 9

Arrow Painting Interior and Exterior, Residential and Commercial.

Family owned business, Proudly serving Victoria since 1977. See ad on page 15 Murphy Wall-Beds of Canada

Locally owned & operated. The only authorized dealer of Murphy Bed hardware on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. See ad on page 32

M ee t o ur A d v e r t ise r s BOORMAN’S

Megan Herlaar

Cheryl’s Gourmet Pantry

Sean Warren is a proud 3rd generation Victoria resident. Sean has been with the Campus Auto Group since 1999 and has earned a reputation for top quality service selling top quality products! He is an avid car enthusiast with a love of the outdoors and skiing.

See ad on page 5

ArtSee Eyewear carries eyeglass

Jason Binab understands people and Real Estate. He enjoys working with his wife Amber at the Binab Property Group. Together they have a son, Benson and two dogs Lily and Wilbur. Jason has lived in Oak Bay for over 25 years and specializes in Oak Bay. See ad on page 14

Mattick’s Farm is Victoria’s

Shannon Oaks

Ron & Greg Diamond Eyecare after serving Victorians for 20 years from the Douglas St. store, locally owned Diamond Optical has brought their commitment to quality and customer service to Oak Bay. See ad on page 8

Julie RusT is a realtor at Newport

Realty, born and raised in Victoria, and specializes in the Oak Bay, Victoria, Saanich East Real Estate Market. If you are considering buying or selling, contact her for competent and trusted real estate service. See ad on page 29

Locally owned and operated by Michael Hansen, Windsor Plywood Westshore strives to bring the most unique products to the market place. From Live Edge Mantels to hardwood floors we invite you to walk through our doors and walk on our floors. See ad on page 13

Renowned in the community with 25 years’ experience in the banking industry, Debra Wright now leads Auxilium Mortgage’s client care division. Offering exceptional service, innovative ideas and a personal approach, Debra can assist with defining, setting and achieving your mortgage goals. See ad on page 29

Don Wuest, owner at Wild Birds Unlimited, wants you to have the best bird feeding experience possible.

After all, it’s the most relaxing, fulfilling, educational and exciting hobby that everyone can enjoy. See ad on page 43

Miles takacs has Victoria home for more than 30 years. He knows the city well; from sought after waterfront luxury to quaint English charm he will find the right home for you. When time and money matter call Miles!

See ad on page 8

Dr. Finnigan has 18 years of experience and practices all aspects of general dentistry with particular interest in metal free restorations.

See ad on page 29

Ed Graham at Graham Kia has been in the car business in Victoria for nearly 40 years. Visit the Kia franchise in Victoria; Family Owned, Family Operated, Family Values. See ad on page 28

Vibes Fitness The body you want…

Reno Men Experts in custom home building and general contracting services. Installs laminate flooring & baseboards, replaces windows & doors & provides interior & exterior painting.

See ad on page 15.

George has been actively involved in the auto industry since 1975. Starting out as an award winning salesperson, George has raised through the ranks and is now the General manger of Volvo of Victoria. See ad on page 47

West Bay Mechanical Ltd.

Aero Furnace, Duct and Chimney Cleaning

Waters Edge Construction Ltd. Victoria based construction

Coast Home Improvement is

We are family owned and operated providing Real Estate, Insurance and Property Management services. A Trusted Name…it takes generations to build a reputation! See ad on page 6

premiere shopping destination with over 16 shops and boutiques to chose from. We can guarantee, you will find that one of a kind discovery, come and explore and see what we have to offer.

See ad on page 32

company offering complete renovations and additions. See ad on page 6

With over 18 years investment experience, Paul Holmes and his pre-eminent wealth management team at HOLMES WEALTH MANAGEMENT GROUP deliver strong, risk-adjusted returns together with the highest level of personalized client service. See ad on page 2

Earth’s Option

Megan has many years of experience specializing in Segregated Funds.

For personalized financial advice for retirement income planning call Megan.

See ad on page 17

frames and lenses that are anything but ordinary from fun and funky to simple and sophisticated, we have eyewear for the whole family. Our Opticians have the experience to help you find eyewear that will have everyone saying I love your glasses! See ad on page 20

Premier independent living reitrement residence.

See ad on page 37

…in the time you have. The perfect fitness solution for your goals and needs. See ad on page 37

We provide plumbing, heating & mechanical installation and repair service for residential and commercial clients. See ad on page 37

woodstoves, fireplaces, inserts, dryer vents and HRV’s. See ad on page 36

Oak BaY Custom Orthotics

the authorized CHIC dealer in Victoria and Oak Bay. Brian and his crews enjoy weatherproofing homes and buildings of all types, and helping these owners to “never paint again”. See ad on page 40

and splints are made on-site in our lab in Victoria. We carry attractive orthopedic, designer shoes for both men and women.

See ad on page 31

PnR Screens Ltd.

Transcendental meditation

Presenting the Buddhist and Shambhala paths of meditation and contemplative arts. See ad on page 34

Skylights, window repair, installation vinyl windows, mirror, glass doors, doors and windows.

See ad on page 30

Headway provides information, support and resources for those affected by Epilepsy and or Parkinson’s.

See ad on page 31

Mary Winspear Five minutes

Earth’s Option Cremation and

Tires Unlimited If you are looking for tires, wheels and or mechanical service you will come to the right place. See ad on page 32

Burial Service. See ad on page 30

Cheryl has been providing gourmet take out, catering services, and picnic baskets for over 25 years in Oak Bay. Personal favourite: Roast Chicken dinner. See ad on page 25

from Victoria International Airport.

Boardrooms, banquet hall & theatre are first class. See ad on page 41

The Camelot

The Camelot offers a warm, comfortable home environment in a quiet location, downtown by the Inner Harbour.

See ad on page 41 ICL Specializes in ready-mix concrete.

We supply concrete for patios, bridges, highways & more. See ad on page 16

SUMMER 2014

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Photo by Mark Vukobrat

Parting Shot

An Oak Bay Sunrise

T

his stunning, colourful photograph taken of an Oak Bay sunrise was submitted to Tweed’s Parting Shot by photographer Mark Vukobrat.

Here is what he had to say about it: “Experiencing a sunrise in Oak Bay is a must do, and each on of them is different.This one was taken in September of 2012 on one of those mornings where the strips of cloud cover were higher than Mount Baker. As the sun came up and shone through the clouds, the colours were among the best I've seen from this spot, which is the park bench with the green guardrail facing Oak Bay.” “Parting Shot” is a special photographic feature that runs in each edition of Tweed, and we want you — our readers — to contribute. This spot is reserved for the best images we can find

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of places, people and things in Oak Bay. We’re inviting you to “give us your best shot.”

We’ll consider all submissions for publication. Contributors should keep in mind the seasonal aspect of this feature, and be prepared to tell us a little bit about the photograph — where, when, what and/or who? Please ensure the resolution is high enough for publication.

And don’t forget — this is all about Oak Bay. Submissions should express something about this vibrant and beautiful community.

Do you have an Oak Bay image that may qualify as a “Parting Shot” photo? Tell Tweed! Send your image to Tweed editor Susan Lundy for consideration in an upcoming edition: lundys@shaw.ca

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