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Vol. 7 • Issue 86 Our greenhouse is now open! Come and see all our plants, veggie and flower starters and our hanging baskets!
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Cantanado comes to town See Page 2
Somewhere over the Nelson rainbow See Page 24 Nancy Corrin of the Queens Bay Residents Association says the upkeep of St. Francis-in-theWoods is a big job, but they’re blessed to have many skilled volunteers help care for the centuryold structure. Greg Nesteroff photo
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Wednesday, April 29 , 2015
Country church marks centennial
One hundred years after it was built, Queens Bay’s St. Francis-in-the-Woods is no longer a church but remains the heart of the community
GREG NESTEROFF Nelson Star ne of West Kootenay’s most picturesque churches is turning 100. The aptly-named St. Francis-in-the-Woods, tucked in the trees just off Highway 3A in Queens Bay, is today a community centre, used for weddings, memorials, dances, craft fairs, exercise classes, parties, and other social events. “It’s a great old building,” says Nancy Corrin of the Queens Bay Residents Association, who has lived there since the 1970s. “Certain parts of the bay have their neighbourhoods where we connect more closely, but this gets us all together. That’s what I really like about it.” She admits, however, the ongoing
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maintenance is a lot of work and relies heavily on volunteers: “You can see so many things you’d like to do. Keeping up a place that’s this old is difficult.”
Formerly All Hallows Queens Bay was part of the Anglican parish of Kokanee, formed in 1909, which also included Balfour, Procter, Longbeach, and Crawford Bay. According to the book Kootenay Outlet Reflections, almost all of Queens Bay’s early settlers were Anglicans, who worshipped in their homes or at the Balfour church until their own church was completed. Construction on what was originally called All Hallows Church began in 1914 on land deeded by the Bashford
family. A history compiled by Haroldine Copp says Harry Scott Lauder was “chiefly responsible for its design and construction.” “One evening when a meeting was held to discuss the erection of the church someone brought up the question of its design,” Copp wrote. “Harry Lauder took an old church calendar and in a few minutes drew a sketch on the back of it and said ‘It will look like this.’ From that point it progressed under his direction without the need of any blueprint, the builders working as a team in complete harmony of mind and purpose.” Hubert Mahood donated cedar for the foundations from his property, a considerable distance from the site, while Nelson merchants donated most
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of the other building materials. Nearly everyone in Queens Bay was involved somehow: prominent residents like the Aylmers, Attrees, Symonds, and Porteus family all helped provide for it, while Stephen Hollingworth handcrafted the altar, font, and pews in his mountainside workshop. Despite this seemingly sterling example of community co-operation, Kootenay Outlet Reflections says there was actually a lot of bickering: “First they couldn’t agree what to call the church, then they argued how to build it.” Then the work stalled for lack of volunteer labour due to the enlistment of many Queens Bay men in World War I. It wasn’t until April 4, 1915 — Easter Sunday — that the first services were held, under the auspices of Rev. Francis Peyton-Hughes. Despite the donated materials and volunteer labour, the building apparently carried debt until its official dedication by Bishop Alexander Doull on May 13, 1927, whereupon it was renamed St.-Francis-in-the-Woods. One of the best-remembered figures associated with the church was Rev. John S. Mahood, who came to Queens Bay in 1909 after serving as a missionary on various reservations in Saskatchewan. Kootenay Outlet Reflections says his service “terminated abruptly when a band of dissident Indians set fire to his dwelling, endangering the lives of himself, his wife, and their three small boys.” In poor health, he moved to Queens Bay. By 1920, he’d recovered sufficiently to serve four years as vicar of Kokanee Parish. Mahood was known for composing hymns, playing his coronet while standing in his rowboat, and performing “spectacularly on the tiny reed organ” at St. Francis-in-the-Woods. In 1937, a sanctuary seat was dedicated in the church in his memory. Electricity arrived the following year, but the church continued to be heated with a huge stove. Rev. William Edington, who arrived arrived in 1956, recalled the stove
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