Bowen Island Undercurrent January 7 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

COLD WATER RESET: COVID-19 has folks open-water swimming PAGE 9

Thursday, January 7, 2021 • A1

$1.50

inc.

GST

THURSDAY, JAN. 7, 2021 FROND REGARDS

VOL. 47 NO. 01

BIUndercurrent

BowUndercurrent www.bowenislandundercurrent.com

Bowen fern facts from the Nature Club PAGE 6

Yoga studio closes: COVID-19 THE WELL SHUTTERS ITS STUDIO

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com

HAIG FARRIS PHOTO

ENDOFYEAR SERENADE: Fairweather’s resident bald eagle (reportedly) sings ‘Come All Ye Faithful’ on

Christmas day.

The pandemic has claimed another Bowen Island business.

After six years, Bowen’s Artisan Square yoga studio is closing for good.

Chantal Russell, owner of the Well, in the midst of another mandatory shutdown, announced the studio space’s closure on Facebook last month. However, the Well’s online and outdoor (when possible) classes will continue.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. health authorities have imposed two mandatory studio closures over the past 10 months. When it was allowed to be open, the Well saw severely limited class sizes due to social distancing measures – six students where once there could’ve been 20.

“It just made it no longer viable,” said Russell, “and there was no end in sight for the next few months.”

As her teachers are contractors, Russell wasn’t eligible for the federal wage subsidies of 2020 and other government relief programs. “Even though I’m a small business, I was too small for the support that was being offered,” she said.

Though, under B.C. health guidelines, the studio could have reopened Jan. 8, the financial viability of the studio wasn’t there. “It was a hustle to do it before COVID,” said Russell.

The studio space’s rent was to return to the pre-pandemic rate as of January and Russell had to make a tough call.

Russell has taught yoga since 2005. When she moved to the island in 2012, there was no studio here.

CONTINUED ON P. 12

New Year, time for a change? Inventory is low, prices are high; it’s a great time to sell!

Let's chat.

SHANA RICHMOND SHANA@SHANARICHMOND.COM

604.338.3072

A2 • Thursday, January 7, 2021

Events January 11, 2021 6:15 pm Regular Council Meeting All meetings are online via Zoom and

open to the public, unless noted otherwise.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Have your say on the 2021 Budget

Chirstmas Tree disposal

All municipalities in BC must have a financial plan (also commonly known as the Budget) that is adopted annually, by bylaw, before the annual property tax bylaw is adopted.

Wednesday, December 30 - Saturday, January 8

A green bin for Christmas Tree disposal will be available outside the Recycling Depot from Wednesday, December 30 The Budget must set out the proposed expenditures, until Saturday, January 8. funding sources, and transfers to or between funds by the Municipality. Part of the process is getting feedback from Bowen Island Tree Service will be providing a chipping the community on the proposed Budget. service.

Questions? Please email Bowen Waste Solutions at info@bowenwastesolutions.com or call 604-947-2255

2021 Garbage Collection Schedule The 2021 Garbage Collection Schedule is now available.

Pick up a copy from Bowen Waste or Municipal Hall, or view and print your own copy here:

Bowen Island Municipality is using Citizenlab as a platform for our public consultation on the Budget. You can view all areas of the Budget consultation on Citizenlab, and we encourage you to create an account to leave comments and feedback on each component of the Budget.

A virtual Public Open House will be held for members of the public to receive a presentation on the proposed Budget, provide feedback and ask questions.

Thursday, January 14, 2021 6:00 - 7:30 pm Online via Zoom Meeting ID: 813 7203 5989 Passcode: 720562

www.bowenislandmunicipality.ca/garbage-collection

Help slow the spread of COVID-19:

Stay home if you’re sick

Clean your hands frequently

Questions? Please email Bowen Waste Solutions at info@bowenwastesolutions.com or call 604-947-2255

Drinking water advisory for people with compromised immune systems

www.bowenislandmunicipality.ca/2021-budget

The Provincial Health Officer advises all British Columbians with compromised immune systems (such as HIV, organ or bone transplants, chemotherapy or medications that suppress the immune system) to avoid drinking water from any surface water or ground water that is under the influence of surface water, unless it has been boiled, filtered, distilled or treated with UV. Bowen Island and other areas in British Columbia use surface water sources (lakes, rivers, streams).

Driveway runoff and culvert cleaning

This is not a general boil-water advisory for the general public, but rather is directed only at people with compromised immune systems. If in doubt about your immune system status, please discuss this further with your physician.

Dangerous road conditions can be created by the discharge of water, dirt and gravel from private property onto public roadways blocking culverts. Property owners are responsible for keeping these culverts clear of debris in order to reduce the risk of flooding.

Questions? Please contact Bylaw Services on 604-328-5499 or bim@bimbc.ca

2 m or 6 feet

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Keep a safe physical distance

Wear a mask in indoor public spaces

Contact Us Phone: Fax: Email:

604-947-4255 604-947-0193 bim@bimbc.ca

Find us on Facebook Bowen Island Municipal Hall 981 Artisan Lane Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G2

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Monday to Friday Closed statutory holidays January 7, 2021

Bowen Island Municipality

Subscribe to our mailing list bowenislandmunicipality.ca/subscribe

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Gillian Drake takes up a new challenge

Thursday, January 7, 2021 • A3

Lynda Jane Watson

MEET BIM’S NEW MANAGER OF RECREATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

May 3, 1946 to December 26, 2020

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com

Whether it be rugby, botany, or taking on the largest capital project in Bowen’s history, Gillian Drake is no stranger to a challenge.

Bowen Island Municipality’s newest senior manager – manager of recreation and community services – joined the muni in November, capping off a year of turnover in the former schoolhouse on the hill.

(Changes included the arrival of director of engineering Patrick Graham, CAO Liam Edwards, and appointment of Aaron Hanen as the permanent fire chief.)

Drake spoke with the Undercurrent back in December.

remarkable feeling to be standing on the field in a Canadian jersey, listening to the anthem before you play,” she said. “That’s an experience of a lifetime.” But she ultimately decided to pursue her career over rugby.

For the past decade, Drake has worked at VanDusen Botanical Garden as director of education while living on Bowen with her family. “There’s huge similarities between the demographic of participants at a botanical garden and the Bowen Island demographic,” said Drake. “A lot of Bowen, Islanders were engaged with our programs as participants and as teachers and volunteers.

“I’ve been roping Bowen Island into the VanDusen programs for a long time,” she laughed.

“The people are similar, the processes are different.”

Drake’s path to Bowen and to BIM wasn’t conventional.

At the beginning of her career, after finishing an undergraduate degree in botany at McGill, Drake needed to get her hands in the dirt. She’d set up an internship in the Caribbean but it fell through at the very last second. She’d stopped in Miami on her way to the Caribbean and wound up getting an internship at a botanical garden there.

“I always figured they realized I was never going to leave, so they created a job for me,” she said.

For the next 13 years, she worked at the garden growing their education department (which alone had 20 people).

“I got immersed in the ecological culture down there,” she said. “It’s a really weird dichotomy of people...a sort of lack of environmental mindset overall, yet incredible natural resources all around.”

Experiences at the Miami garden included running a nature club for youth inmates and working with abstract expressionist sculptor Mark di Suvero for an art exhibit But botany and learning weren’t Drake’s only passions. At the beginning of her Miami days, Drake was longlisted for Canada’s national women’s rugby team. “I actually ended up coming back to Canada for about five months for training for the national team,” she said.

Drake played one game in the Canadian jersey – it was against the U.S. “It’s quite a

Drake has two teenage daughters who’ve grown up on Bowen and has long been immersed in the island’s recreational activities – both through her children and playing herself with Bowen Island Football Club and in the Slopitch league.

“I’ve built my understanding of this community and who we are and what is important to people over the years,” she said.

Over her first few weeks at the new job, Drake’s been reading BIM’s many community plans. “What comes through so strongly is…our connection to the land as part of who we are,” she said. “That’s such a core part of our identity – our sense of place and connection to Bowen, the people and the ecosystems.”

As someone who has spent her career in ecological and environmental education, building on that cultural identity, making its connections with recreation tighter, appeals to Drake.

“We’ve got such amazing natural resources and we have such a community interest in exploring and being on our trails and on our beaches and in our parks,” she said. “It’s a massive opportunity for us to do things more purposefully out in these places.”

And it aligns well with COVID-19-caused limitations.

“Globally, COVID has caused all of us to rethink our systems and our assumptions, which is stressful on one hand but…places you in that land of opportunity,” she said.

In her role as manager of recreation and community services, Drake sits on the Community Centre Select Steering Committee, and is a key part of the project’s management team – along with fellow project newcomers BIM CAO Liam Edwards and Hearth executive director Jami Scheffer (and others).

The learning curve for the $14.5 million project is steep but Drake’s taking it all in stride.

“It’s so much new [to learn] and I am absolutely, definitely a lifelong learner,” she said. “I like to learn something new every day.”

BOWEN ISLAND MUNICIPALITY PHOTO

Gillian Drake and her family moved to Bowen Island in 2009 and Drake started at BIM in November, taking over from former rec manager Shauna Jennings.

On December 26th, we said goodbye to our cherished mum, Lyn Watson. After being in remission for over twenty years, our mum died of complications related to cancer. Thankfully, we were able to be with her every minute of the days leading up to her death and we were holding her hands as she passed from this life into the next.

Lyn was born in England, and lived all around the world with her family, arriving on Bowen Island in 1993, where she and daughter Karen Redmond, and son in law, Nick Faragher, opened the Snug Cafe.

Mum met her beloved husband, Keith Watson, in 1995. They were married in 2008 and together they have lived on Bowen Island in one of the original Dorman cottages built by Keith’s family in the 1930’s and rebuilt by Keith’s father in the 1960’s. Keith’s family, the Dorman family, were among the first families to live full time on Bowen Island.

Lyn’s youngest daughter, Sarah Redmond, said it best, “Mum could build a castle out of pebbles,” which so perfectly describes our mum’s energy and the enthusiasm she had for everything she did. She was incredibly resourceful, hard working and creative, and she owned several businesses on Bowen including: the Snug (1993), the SummerHouse (1997), Hearts Desire Antiques (2000) and Small Mart (2014). Lyn was incredibly proud of her work with Sutton Realty between 2000 and 2014 and she put her heart and soul into helping Bowen families buy and sell their homes. She had exquisite taste, and she could stage any home to look warm and inviting.

Our mum was quiet and shy, but she was always helping someone with something, whether it was volunteering at the Knick Knack Nook, doing dishes at the Legion, directing the Bowfest parade or helping with SwimBowen. She was a devoted mother and grandmother, and gave endlessly of her time. She was an incredibly kind and generous soul, and a passionate and avid animal lover. I have never known anyone who has saved more tiny creatures, including bottle feeding baby mice, feeding homeless cats and she rescued too many skunks to count. This year, our mum wrote a book about a feral cat named Ginger, who has lived underneath her house for five years now. The book is called, “Ginger’s Search For Affordable Housing” and it will be published sometime In 2021.

Above all, our mum cherished and loved her family. She is survived by her loving husband Keith Watson, her children, Mike, Karen and Sarah Redmond, her Grandchildren, Ashley, Bayley, Annie, Niklas, Gracie, Emylie, Alexa, Annik and Lucas, brothers Geoff and John Garden, great grandchildren Rylan and Jace, and many cousins, nieces, nephews and family around the world. She is predeceased by her parents, Jack and Eve Garden. Eve lived on Bowen Island with us, so at one point there were four generations of mum’s family, until Eve’s passing in 2002.

Our family is incredibly grateful for the love and support of the Bowen Island community. Her oncologist, Dr. Paul Klimo sent me a message today which embodies our mum’s energy and spirit: “Your Mom was a lady fighting her disease with all her might, fearless and resisting the evil empire not to cede an inch of her life. She succumbed with “her boots on”.

Everyone has been so kind to us. Please consider making a donation to the Caring Circle or the Bowen Island Health Centre Foundation.

The photo above was taken in Italy on mum’s 70th birthday. It is just one single shining moment of laughter and love in a life well lived.

Our beautiful mum Lyn Watson. We will all miss you every single day.

Karen Redmond, on behalf of Lyn’s family

A4 • Thursday, January 7, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

VIEWPOINTS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL There are weeks where I wish I could put Ron’s cartoon on the front page (as much as I like Haig Farris’ front page eagle). What a hoot.

If anyone else had a hard time Monday morning returning to ‘work mode,’ you’re not alone. I hid my work computer in my closet over the holidays and resolved to not answer any emails (and mostly succeeded – don’t talk to me about slow dancing and horseshoes) but the week swept by like days in isolation tend to do. (Ok, and regular holidays).

But I have been invigorated this week with the submissions – Chris Corrigan’s contemplative piece on breathing, Jen Ritchie’s fern break-down (I didn’t know there were two kinds of ferns on Bowen), Nerys Poole’s letter on why the OCP needs to factor into Cape discussions and coverage, former editor Meribeth Deen’s plunge into cold water. As Chris points out in his piece, we don’t have the social events that demarcate Bowen’s seasons nor the opportunities to socialize and we risk being set adrift from one another.

As I sit at my computer screen, now retrieved from its isolation (no COVID for it), I’ll be thinking of ways to connect with community without these events, without our informal meetings in the grocery store or gym.

I welcome ideas, stories, thoughts, jokes, pictures or random pieces of “Bowenia” as we plod into 2021.

At the beginning of the pandemic, someone emailed me to remind me this is “a marathon not a sprint.” We’ve got at least months to go in this pandemic, so here’s to a slow jog into 2021.

Bronwyn Beairsto Editor

How to make $500 last a lifetime

A note fromTheWell

DEAR EDITOR: Just in time for the giving season the BC Government is showering most adult residents of this province with $500 each. Undoubtedly, this is meant to stimulate the economy and help it recover from the effects of COVID-19. Now, I suspect there are people to whom $500 will not make an appreciable difference to their lifestyle or general well-being. Frankly, myself I do not need this money.

But what I do need, like everybody else on Bowen, is a Health Centre, such as proposed by the Bowen Island Health Centre Foundation. The board of the foundation has been running a campaign to raise $6 million for the construction of the facility and they

DEAR EDITOR: A big deep thank you to our amazing teachers and committed local yoga community, for truly making The Well the healing sanctuary that it has been over the last 6 years! My heart is overflowing with appreciation for each of you.

The Well has not run dry however, and we’ll continue to offer online yoga classes and wellness workshops through our membership site, The Well Way. Visit thewellbychantalrussell.com/membership to access a growing library of pre-registered classes and seasonal wellness tips.

Look forward to “pop-up” classes and Yoga on the Pier in the brighter months. To be added to our emailing list or for any outstanding pass inquiries, please write to chantal@thewellonbowen.com.

Chantal Russell The Well

are ever so close. So I have decided to apply for this government benefit and the moment it arrives will donate it to BIHCF. I look at this donation, however small in the great scheme of things, as a long-term investment in my future health. It will pay dividends forever. No longer will I need to take car and ferry to medical appointments that can be dealt with locally. Saves ferry fares, the stress of driving on busy mainland and city streets and the time to get there and back home. The donation is tax deductible, so there will be an immediate benefit come tax time next spring. Seems like a worthwhile investment to me.

Alfred Rahn

THE WRITE STUFF. The Undercurrent encourages reader participation in your community newspaper. You must include your full name and a daytime phone number (for verification only). The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity, legality, brevity and taste. Please limit to under 500 words. HERE’S HOW: To submit a letter to the editor, fax 604-947-0148 or mail it to #102, 495 Government Rd., PO Box 130, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G0 or email editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com.

All Advertising and news copy content are copyright of the Undercurrent Newspaper. All editorial content submitted to the Undercurrent becomes the property of the publication.

The Undercurrent is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, art work and photographs.

#102–495 Bowen Trunk Road, PO Box 130, Bowen Island BC, V0N 1G0 Phone: 604.947.2442 Fax: 604.947.0148 bowenislandundercurrent.com DEADLINE for advertising Monday, 4 p.m. DEADLINE for editorial Tuesday 5 p.m.

Bowen Island Undercurrent Subscription Rates: Mailed 1 year subscription on Bowen Island: $55, including GST. Within Canada: $85 including GST Newsstand (Single Copy) $1.50 per copy, including GST

ISSN 7819-5040

National NewsMedia Council.

EDITOR Bronwyn Beairsto editor@bowenisland undercurrent.com

ADVERTISING Tracey Wait ads@bowenisland undercurrent.com

CARTOONIST Ron Woodall

PUBLISHER Peter Kvarnstrom publisher@bowenisland undercurrent.com 2011 CCNA

CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2011

SPECIAL THANK-YOU Audrey Grescoe

The Undercurrent is a member of the National NewsMedia Council of Canada, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please email editor@bowenislandundercurrent. com or call 604-947-2442.

If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

OCP is a critical aspect of Cape future ITS IMPLICATIONS SHOULD FACTOR INTO NEWS COVERAGE

DEAR EDITOR: I read the article “What’s the Plan for the Cape?” in the December 17, 2020 Undercurrent with interest.

I wish to correct the statement in the article that the Cape On Bowen Development Ltd. (the developers) “is planning to submit a rezoning plan.” “Rezoning” implies that the developers will stay within the density as set out in the Bowen Island Official Community Plan (the OCP).

An OCP amendment is the first step for these developers, prior to any rezoning application.

The OCP is our guiding document for land-use planning on the island.

It is comprehensive; it considers the needs of the community and the future of our island from a high-level, island-wide perspective, considering community needs along with concerns about sustainability, the environment, and our responsibility in terms of climate change. We have an OCP because ad hoc, reactive decisions are never a good approach to land-use management; and an island needs to be carefully managed.

The OCP often provides a higher density designation for a particular area of land than the Land Use Bylaw (LUB), which sets the lot density for zoning. The reason for this difference is that it provides a valuable planning tool for the municipality to ask

for community benefits or amenities, like parkland, schools, community centres, etc., as an exchange for providing a developer with the density allowed in the OCP. In the early 2000s, the developers bought the 640 acres at the Cape knowing that the area was zoned for low, rural density – a maximum of one residential unit on a 10-acre lot. At that time, the OCP had a designation potential of up to 224 units on this 640 acres. In 2008, the developers submitted a proposal for the Cape that included a 350 plus residential development – the community and the Council of the day rejected this option and asked the developers to submit a proposal in conformity with the OCP numbers, i.e. the maximum 224. The developers refused to negotiate further and chose to proceed with their subdivision plan as allowed under the Land Use Bylaw, which resulted in the 59 10-acre lots at the Cape.

The OCP allows density to be moved from one area on the island to another. With the decision made by the developers at the Cape and, based on community consultation and our collective vision for our future, the 2011 OCP update reduced the designated potential from 224 to 59. The net gain in units moved to other places on the island – Snug Cove and Seymour Bay. These two areas are referred to in the OCP as “density nodes” where future amenities, like an additional school at Seymour Bay or affordable housing units would be

located. This is what comprehensive island-wide planning through our OCP accomplishes – it ensures that development is clustered in specific areas so as to minimize its impact on islanders and the island environment, and on our carbon footprint. Of specific concern on Bowen is transportation. The density nodes allow for higher density in locations that would minimize cross-island traffic.

It is important for our community to understand what the developers are asking for here – and what they are offering. The developers have been clear that they intend to sell the remaining lots at the Cape once they receive the density increase they want. There will be no guarantees that any promised amenities as stated in their proposal will ever occur. As a reminder of this fact, the Seymour Bay development area has a lot area zoned for a school, dating back about 20 years or more – there is still no school there.

If the developers are wanting to go above the 59 units allotted to them in the current OCP, they must first apply to amend the OCP. An amendment to the OCP requires significantly more public consultation as well as approval from the Islands Trust.

One-off ad hoc amendments to our community plan do not serve the island well.

Nerys Poole Retired lawyer and BIM Councillor 2008-2011 term

Places of Worship Welcome You BOWEN ISLAND UNITED CHURCH Now offering a youtube channel of reflections and hymn/songs with Reverend Lorraine Ashdown and Lynn Williams. youtubewatch?v=tejV7Y6jo

FOOD BANK DROP-OFF

Masses are live streamed everyday.

Times posted at holyrosarycathedral.org Contact Angela Powell 604-947-2515

www.cateshillchapel.com 604-947-4260 (661 Carter Rd.)

Now offering worship services via Zoom.

A link available on website.

Pastor: Phil Adkins

B.C. recovery benefit eligibility

Editor’s note: A community member suggested there may be local confusion over B.C. recovery benefit eligibility. The benefit is a one-time tax-free relief payment for families and individuals from the provincial government.

When the program launched Dec. 18, the provincial government warned of long wait times as people rushed to get the benefit before Christmas. It encouraged folks to apply online.

Anecdotally, locals have reported getting their money within a business week of applying.

Here are some other details: Eligibility includes: * $1,000 for families with annual incomes under $125,000.

Families earning up to $175,000 will qualify for a reduced benefit amount. Single-parent families also qualify for these benefit amounts. * $500 for single people with annual incomes under $62,500.

Single people earning up to $87,500 will qualify for a reduced benefit amount.

Applying online is the easiest way to receive the BC Recovery Benefit. To apply, British Columbians can visit: gov.bc.ca/ recoverybenefit.

For those without access to a computer or the internet, call centre agents are available to assist people who need help applying or those who want to apply over the phone: * toll-free within North America: 1-833-882-0020 * Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays), from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Pacific time) To apply and be eligible for the one-time, tax-free benefit, people must: * have been a resident of British Columbia on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020; * be at least 19 years old on Dec. 18, 2020, unless they are the primary caregiver of a child or cohabitating with a spouse; * have filed a 2019 income tax return; * have their 2019 income tax notice of assessment, and if applicable, their spouse’s 2019 income tax notice of assessment; * have their Social Insurance Number, and if applicable, their spouse’s; * have their direct deposit information, including branch, institution and account numbers; and * have their B.C. driver’s licence or confirm they do not have one.

People can apply until June 30.

Queen of Capilano Ferry Schedule October 13 to May 15 2021 DEPART BOWEN ISLAND DEPART HORSESHOE BAY

ST. GERARD’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

CATES HILL CHAPEL

Thursday, January 7, 2021 • A5

5:20 am except Sundays 6:20 am 7:30 am 8:35 am 9:40 am 10:50 am 12:00 pm 1:10 pm 2:55 pm 4:00 pm except Wednesdays 5:10 pm 6:15 pm 7:25 pm Mon Wed Th Fri 7:26 pm Tue Sun 8:30 pm 9:30 pm 10:30 pm

5:50 am 6:50 am 8:00 am 9:05 am except Wednesdays 10:15 am 11:25 am 12:35 pm 2:20 pm 3:30 pm 4:35 pm 5:45 pm 6:50 pm 8:00 pm except Saturdays 9:00 pm 10:00 pm

Note: Schedules subject to change without notice: Please check BCFERRIES.COM Schedule changes on statutory holidays

A6 • Thursday, January 7, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

NATURE CLUB

MERIBETH FLEETHAM PHOTO

This moonrise over the North Shore mountains enchanted Bowen Islanders Dec. 28.

Book your complimentary meet & greet and first walk or drop in. Rates are $25 for group hikes and start at $15 for drop-ins.

Dog Walking Group Hikes Individual Walks Socialization

778 898 5950 |

Cat Care

Home Visits Litter Maintenance Playtime

www.barkpetcare.ca

Western sword fern

JEN RITCHIE PHOTO

JEN RITCHIE

In 2020 the Bowen Island Garden Club turned the page on its 40th year. It began as a question from garden lover Jacqueline Bakker who wrote a regular column in the Undercurrent called “The Joy of Gardening.”

She wondered if anyone else would be interested in forming a garden club. Brenda Ethell and Joann Newdick jumped in and a plan was made. The first public meeting of the Bowen Island Garden Club was held on April 15, 1980 with 13 people in attendance.

The first Annual Plant and Bake sale took place four years later and has continued (minus the baking) since then except in 2020 due to the pandemic.

This year will see another change for the Garden Club: our first virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM), which will be held via Zoom on Monday, January 18 starting at 1 p.m. Garden Club members will receive their Zoom invitation automatically by email. The Club currently has a number of Director positions to fill on the Board.

If you have an interest, or would simply like to join the Garden Club, please send an mail to bowenislandgardenclub@gmail.com or contact Holly Cleator (778-984-7124).

Annual General Meeting (AGM) via Zoom on Monday, January 18 starting at 1 p.m.

JEN RITCHIE PHOTO

A tale of two fronds: Bowen’s ferns Bowen Nature Club

BOWEN ISLAND GARDEN CLUB TURNED 40!

Licorice ferns

In the depths of winter, everything seems dark and decaying, or hidden under a blanket of snow. However, two plucky local ferns remain green and cheery throughout the coldest and wettest days, reminding us that warmer, greener days are ahead.

Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum)

These stoic ferns seem to withstand anything nature (or mankind) can throw at them. While they prefer indirect light and moist soil, once mature, these ferns are tough enough to survive most conditions: snow, drought, flood – even the acidic soil under cedars. They can thrive in heavily disturbed areas, which is why we often see them filling in old logging roads or construction sites.

Indigenous peoples used these sturdy fronds to thatch structures, line beds and floors and separate food in storage baskets and cooking pots. The three-inch (8 cm) fronds are edible but apparently taste exactly like leaves. In fact, only a few animals, like mountain beavers, will eat sword ferns.

Their tubers are also edible, are said to taste like a sunchoke, and can be a good source of water, in a pinch.

Sword fern fiddleheads start appearing by late May and

by August they release billowing yellow clouds of spores.

Each frond may stay green for several years, and thus may keep some spores attached over winter and release them the next spring.

Grow them in your yard: To collect spores, place a frond in a paper bag and shake it. Sword ferns are also quite easy to divide and transplant if the roots are well developed. They require minimal maintenance, provide excellent groundcover, and help shore up steep slopes. Some people leave them completely au natural, although others like to keep them looking tidier and fresher by trimming off the older or

dead fronds once per year.

Licorice ferns (Polypodium glycyrrhiza)

Licorice fern fronds resemble sword fern fronds, so it can be difficult to tell them apart.

Both can grow off rocky bluffs. However, there are a few little tricks to distinguishing them: a big hint that you’ve got yourself a licorice fern is if it is growing off a big moss-covered broadleaf maple tree-- you won’t likely find a sword fern up there! Next, the licorice fern’s leaflets grow straight out from the frond’s main stem; the sword fern’s leaflets each have a tiny angled stem coming out from the main frond stem. Finally, the bright green fronds of the licorice ferns are usually only about 12 inches (30 cm) long.

The rhizome of the licorice fern can be just as long as a frond, and sprout many ferns along it. If you want to try eating the rhizome, you will probably need a pocket knife to cut a little piece off, because if you just pull on the root, you might get the entire thing, which can destabilize the whole system of ferns.

The lighter-coloured rhizomes are younger than the darker woodier ones, and thus better for harvesting. Normally, you wouldn’t actually “eat” the root, but rather just chew on it, or use it to make tea. It is surprisingly sweet.

In late spring into early summer, as the temperatures rise, the moss dries out and licorice ferns lose their reservoir of moisture. Then the fronds fall off and the fern rests for the summer. The fronds reappear with the autumn rains.

Grow them in your yard: To collect the spores, cut a frond in late winter and let it dry in an open paper bag. The spores will fall off as it dries. You can also buy the whole plant at a nursery. It’s best not to transplant a licorice fern from the wild, unless you are saving it from a maple tree that has been logged and will be destroyed. Then you want to collect a fair bit of the moss along with the rhizome. Also pick a spot to plant it that is naturally mossy, shaded and moist.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thursday, January 7, 2021 • A7

Happy New Year Bowen Island and beyond!

A huge thank you to all our clients and friends for your trust and loyalty during difficult times! We look forward to helping you with all your Real Estate needs over the coming year, and will be offering the same professional services as always, with local knowledge and global reach, from our licensed Remax office in the Cove. ReMax Crest Bowen Island is a proud contributor to the Bowen Island Community Foundation.

ACTIVE

ACTIVE

New build 3 bedroom oceanview home

$1,250,000

ACTIVE

3 bed 3 bath tasteful family home with 2 car garage

Opportunity knocks ! 3 bed 2 bath family home in the cove

Stunning 1.5 acre building lot

$999,900

$949,000

962 WINDJAMMER RD

413 CARDENA RD

1006 COWAN POINT DRIVE

$1,149,000

881 RUSSELL LANE

ACTIVE

OUR OFFICE SALES FOR 2020!

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

$830,000

$888,000

$1,025,000

$1,099,000

$1,270,000

1328 OCEANVIEW RD

962 HARBOUR VIEW PLACE

946 SPYGLASS RD

984 PRIVATEER RD

1211 OCEANVIEW RD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

$1,259,000

$1,349,000

$1,349,000

$1,349,000

$1,365,000

1600 WHITESAILS DRIVE

351 JOSEPHINE DRIVE

1693 MALKIN CREEK RD

985 SEAVIEW PLACE

542 ROCKMOYNE PLACE

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

$1,450,000

$1,599,000

$1,999,000

$3,099,000

$869,000

909 ELROND COURT

268 JASON RD

1663 WHITESAILS DRIVE

1693 OLD EAGLECLIFF RD

214 FINISTERRE RD

SOLD

$1,398,000 1778 FRANCES WALK

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

$889,000 LOT P EAGLECLIFF RD

$599,000 1620 EVERGREEN LANE

$930,000 1521 WHITESAILS DRIVE

FRANCES FROST & FELICITY BUSKARD

COMING SOON!

bowenislandrealestate.info • 604.947.9090 RE/MAX Crest Realty - Bowen Island

2016/17/19

A8 • Thursday, January 7, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

HAIG FARRIS PHOTO

A bird strips the last of the berries from arbutus tree in Haig Farris’s yard.

On the topic of birds, those wondering about the Audubon Christmas bird count, it took place Jan. 1 and Micaele Florendo is now compiling the data.

MICHELLE SHAW PHOTO

Though the traditional Polar Swim at Bowen Bay didn’t take place this year, the McMillan and Mountain families still dove into frigid 2021 waters at September Morn beach.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW HARRISON HAIG FARRIS PHOTO

A pod of orcas swim past Fairweather Christmas Day.

December RCMP statistics

The Bowen Island RCMP responded to 59 calls for service in December of 2020; • 5 of those files were impaired driving check stops; • 7 of those files were related to traffic complaints or enforcement; • 1 of those files was a licence suspension for impaired driving; • 2 of those files were requests to check a persons wellbeing; • 1 of those files was assisting the Fire Department with a house fire; As the children return to school after their Holiday break, please ensure that you use extra caution while travelling through the school and playground zones on the island. The posted speed limits from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. are 30km/h, and exceeding that speed limit could result in a fine of up to $253.

The wet and dark weather can make it difficult to see, so please slow down and take your time. Happy New Year!

Cpl. Adam Koehle, Bowen RCMP

Delivered to your mailbox!

Every week for $55 per year ($85 to off island addresses) 604-947-2442 ads@bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thank you for your support of local journalism now and always.

If you are not sure if you have renewed, please call us to avoid disruption

Sam Florin and Ethan Harrison playing violin outside the Ruddy Potato to raise money for their community service work for their school (Island Pacific School) before Christmas.

Their community service this year is to raise funds to purchase books for IPS that are more culturally diverse. Books specifically on racism and exploring different cultures. The objective is to build a more culturally diverse library.

Their original objective was to raise $400… and they raised more than three quarters of that goal in their three days in Village Square!

And so they are hoping to raise even more by their deadline in March.

It’s not too late to “toss some donation into the violin case.” Sam and Ethan are accepting donations at ethanandsamculturalawareness@gmail. com. They’ll return to Village Square on sunny weekends, now with a classical repertoire.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

PHOTO SUBMITTED

John Stiver and his daughter Wiley PHOTO SUBMITTED joyfully embraced the challenge of Manusha Janakiram, Mary Coleman and Jacqui Verkley swimming in the ocean over the head bravely into the water for a December dip. holidays.

Pandemic-busting trend: open-water swimming

‘GETTING IN THE COLD WATER OFFERS A NERVOUS-SYSTEM RESET’ MERIBETH DEEN

SwimBowen

If you’ve been fortunate enough to get through the tumult of 2020 without any devastating losses, you just might look back on the year and see your cancelled plans and life-shifts with gratitude and appreciation.

The year’s been like an extended version of Lent, with no chance to opt out, and people have been finding some interesting ways to fill the vacuum of what’s missing. Getting re-acquainted with the ocean is one of them.

“Ocean swimming has really exploded this year,” says long-time ocean swimmer, Debbie Collingwood. “I suppose it’s because public pools have been closed aside from a short period this summer and that’s allowed people to discover the joy of swimming in open water.”

Debbie was supposed to swim the English Channel this summer. Given the circumstances, the North Shore resident set her sights on a challenge closer to home.

“Everything had to be adjusted and adapted, but what I realized is that you can still make things work,” she says. “Mother nature can throw a lot at you for a long distance swim in the ocean and I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

On Aug. 31, she swam around Bowen Island in 11 hours and nine minutes.

“Also, I was having a hard time getting people in support boats and a number of Bowen Islanders who I didn’t even know offered to help. In the end, I didn’t need them but they still showed up to cheer me on. So that really restored my faith in people.”

People can be surprising sometimes. In 2020, they also surprised Debbie with how dedicated they were to getting in the ocean – even when the cold weather hit.

Bowen Islander John Stiver and his daughter Wylie are among those new ocean swimmers who refuse to be scared off by the cold.

“At some point last March, Wylie set a goal for us to get in the water for 150 days

straight,” says John. “Unfortunately, we had to break our streak due to a self-isolation period but on Christmas day she suggested we start again and keep going through to the end of the holidays.”

John says he’s always had a mild fear of the ocean but getting in the water is about facing that fear.

“Obviously, it’s hard to stay in for very long these days,” he says. “But when it’s warm out, I try to go a little further with each swim. Challenge yourself a little bit!”

Mary Coleman, another islander, is also trying to challenge herself to keep getting in the water, despite the weather. Mary says she’s inspired by SwimBowen, but can’t take on that challenge herself due to a previous injury, so she sticks to the simple goal of getting in the water.

“I never want to go in,” she says. “But I go on a regular basis with a few different women, and once you’re in the water you feel all giggly.

“When I get out, I feel the same way I did when I used to go on five or 10-km runs – I get a flood of endorphins.”

Mary says she sees a sort of “collective movement” forming with ocean swimming.

“I think people are looking for something to help them feel alive right now,” she says.

“In my therapy practice, I’ve seen a real shift since the pandemic started.

“At the beginning, we were in a state of anxiety and hyper-arousal but the nervous system can only maintain that for so long.

“Over the past few months we’ve slipped into a state of lethargy, and many of us are feeling hopeless and alone. Getting in the cold water offers a nervous-system reset.”

Maybe that’s the pandemic’s gift: a global, collective reset. Maybe 2020 got us started, and instead of stepping back to where we were, we can step forward anew. Maybe we don’t have to go back to the office or change out of our pyjama pants. Maybe we can hold on to the appreciation of what’s right in front of us, even if that means submersing ourselves in seven-degree salt water and emerging onto a rain-soaked beach.

Wishing all health and happiness in 2021.

SwimBowen is the only open water swim-specific event in the Gulf Islands. The funds we raise offer support and assistance to people in the midst of cancer treatment.

Thursday, January 7, 2021 • A9

Patient of the Week PI Meet Pi. Pi has called Cates Hill home after losing one of his back legs in a car accident in Vancouver. He’s an avid gardener and bird watcher with many friends!

He also enjoys sleeping by the fire, tuna and sunbeams. Pi recently visited us at Bowen Vet for his wellness exam and was sent home with a clean bill of health!

REGULAR HOURS Tuesday to Friday 9- 5 Saturday 9- 1 Closed Sunday and Monday

To schedule appointments, please call

604.947.9247

or email reception@bowenvet.com

Happy belated 90th birthday Pat Elliott.

Love Family and Friends

A10 • Thursday, January 7, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Your Community

MARKETPLACE

Call or email to place your ad, Monday through Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

604-444-3000 • 604-653-7851 classifieds@van.net

bowenislandundercurrent.com

COMMUNITY SUPPORT WORKER

SPROTTSHAW.COM

SUDOKU

BC WIDE CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

follow us on

MOVING

2 Guys With A Truck Moving & Storage 604-628-7136 ATTENTION

INVENTORS! Ideas wanted!

Call Davison today!

1.800.218.2909 or visit us at inventing.davison.com/BC Free inventor’s guide!

ANSWERS

ADVERTISING POLICIES

Join the

conversation at

www.facebook.com/BIUndercurrent

@BowUndercurrent

@bowenislandundercurrent.com

All advertising published in this newspaper is accepted on the premise that the merchandise and services offered are accurately described and wil ingly sold to buyers at the advertised prices. Advertisers are aware of these conditions. Advertising that does not conform to these standards or that is deceptive or misleading, is never knowingly accepted. If any reader encounters non-compliance with these standards we ask that you inform the Publisher of this newspaper and The Advertising Standards Council of B.C. OMISSION AND ERROR: The publishers do not guarantee the insertion of a particular advertisement on a specified date, or at all, although every effort wil be made to meet the wishes of the advertisers.

Further, the publishers do not accept liability for any loss of damage caused by an error or inaccuracy in the printing of an advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by the portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred. Any corrections of changes wil be made in the next available issue. The Bowen Island Undercurrent wil be responsible for only one incorrect insertion with liability limited to that portion of the advertisement affected by the error. Request for adjustments or corrections on charges must be made within 30 days of the ad’s expiration.

For best results please check your ad for accuracy the first day it appears. Refunds made only after 7 business days notice!

FLU SHOTS FOR OUR PATIENTS

Bowen Island Integrated Health Lifelabs at#101-495 Trunk Road Village Square

Tues - 6:45-8:45 am • Thurs - 6:45-8:45 am Book online at https://locations.lifelabs.com

Limited appointment availability Drop in available for all patients- arrive early

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thursday, January 7, 2021 • A11

COMMUNITY CALENDAR FRIDAY JAN. 8

TUESDAY JAN. 12

Christmas tree disposal ends BIRD Green bin for live Christmas tree disposal (no decorations/artificial trees).

Bowen Island Tree Service also providing chipping service by donation (donations for B.I. Health Centre Foundation).

BIHORA AGM Zoom 7 pm Email Trish Seaberly at seaberlystables@gmail.com for Zoom link closer to the date.

Drive-through Legion dinner Legion 4:30 pm until sold out. Pork loin with apple sauce, potatoes, gravy, veggies, green salad and chocolate chip cookie

Rotary Club talk: anthropologist Wade Davis Zoom 7:30 pm Check bowenrotary.com for the Zoom invitation.

THURSDAY JAN. 14

BIM 2021 budget consultation Zoom 6-7:30 pm “Join us for the 2021 Budget Consultation Virtual Open House, where you will receive a presentation on the proposed Budget, ask questions and provide

MONDAY JAN. 11

Regular Council meeting Zoom 6:15 pm

your feedback.” More information at bimbc. ca

MONDAY JAN. 18

Bowen Island Garden Club AGM Zoom 1 pm For details contact bowenislandgardenclub@gmail.com

WEDNESDAY JAN. 20

FRIDAY JAN. 22

Drive-through Robbie Burns Legion dinner Legion Full Burns dinner (minus the scotch and piper)

MONDAY JAN. 25

Stories from the Bay event Zoom 7:30 pm Howe Sound / Átl’ḵa7tsem Marine Reference Guide is hosting with SeaChange Marine Conservation Society and Bowen Island Municipality. More info bit. ly/33CbocW

Deadline to submit mini art for Mini Art Works event The Hearth Gallery Regular Council meeting Zoom 6:15 pm Have an event coming up? Email editor@ bowenislandundercurrent.com. Please refer to public health orders when organizing events.

BOWEN HOME SERVICES love the life you live NEW CONSTRUCTION

Landscape Lighting Irrigation

Seascape Bruce Culver

Office: 604-947-9686

Cell: 604-329-3045

RENOVATIONS RESTORATION ADDITIONS SECONDARY STRUCTURES UNIQUE OUTDOOR SPACES SUB CONTRACT WORK

BUILT GREEN BC BUILDER CONTACT US FOR A FREE QUOTATION WWW.WHITEHART.CA ADDRESS 302-566 ARTISAN LANE BOWEN ISLAND, BC PHONE 1 (778) 999-3434

Window Blinds BOWEN ISLAND SPECIALISTS! QUALITY SERVICE GUARANTEED! Keep Calm and Call Econo

604.980.3333

991 West First Street, North Vancouver, BC www.economovingandstorage.com

On Bowen 778-995-1902

live the life you love To reserve a spot on this page, contact us at 604-947-2442 or ads@bowenislandundercurrent.com

A12 • Thursday, January 7, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Paying attention to the rhythms of breath

FROM THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS TO THE FERRY TRAFFIC TO THE SEASONS OF BIRDS, EVERYTHING BREATHES HERE

CHRIS CORRIGAN

Contributor

When you live on an island like ours, there are rhythms that are like breathing. They come and go on cycles as short as an hour or as long as geological epochs.

Most mornings I begin my day on my covered porch, drinking a coffee, reading a meditation, spending some time in silence and contemplation. At this time of year the mornings are dark and, more often than not, wet.

This morning we are in day four of an atmospheric river, a massive steady plume of rain that extends northeast from the Hawaiian Islands up to our coast. Such a pattern is like a long exhale of moisture, a plume of breath from the tropics that brings warm air and rain and sometimes fronts with gale force winds, which we call the Pineapple Express.

From my morning perch I can see the ferry coming and going, every hour or so, our connection to “the continent.” The early ferries – 6:20 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. – are commuter runs, with workers

heading to the city on the earlier boat and high school students off to school on the later one. As the ferry approaches, the intensity of traffic on my road increases, and the closer we get to sailing time, the higher the speed of cars racing to make sure they don’t miss the boat, or to deliver a sleepy bus-missing teenager to the dock.

There is a period of stillness and then the flow reverses and the labourers from the city who have made an early start travel in their work vans and pick-up trucks through the arteries and capillaries of our island road system. As the ferry leaves, things become still and quiet again.

It is very much like the tide that comes and goes twice a day, sometimes bringing as much as 3.5 meters of water to our shoreline lifting the logs off the beach and floating them on the currents and eddies of Atl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound. This time of year we are coming into our highest tides, and the beaches will be cleared of the boom logs and torrent debris that has cascaded off the mountains into the sea during the past few

months of rain and erosion.

And there are the longer rhythms here as well. The world breathes birds onto our island with the seasons. Right now there are the winter residents having their run of the place. With a mild and possibly snowless winter at this near sea level altitude, the towhees, juncos, song sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches, and wrens are spoiled for choice. Flocks of siskins and kinglets swirl in the grey air and occasionally at night you can hear the calls of snow geese flying high above the coastline in search of their estuary winter feeding grounds south of here at the mouth of the Sto:lo/Fraser River.

Winter is short here, and the new year brings with it a month of rain and grey, with gradually brightening skies and then the first hints of spring weather in early February, more in line with the Irish seasons than the Gregorian ones. But of course there is already a calendar here, the Squamish calendar, that relates to the seasons of food and harvest. The land never really rests in warm winters like this, with the forest extracting as

much as it can from the dim light but the mycelial networks in the forest floor working overtime to break down nutrients and keep everything fed and flowing in the moist and nutrient-rich humus.

The forest itself breathes a rhythm from the sky and the earth, continuously growing the giant trees for which our coast is known.

Natural rhythms care little for the smoothing out of human life brought about by a pandemic. Our community rhythms have become a faint signal in the past 10 months, the peaks and troughs of gatherings, festivals and commemorative events flattened into mere bumps and barely acknowledged remembrances. In this sense it feels very much like our village has been holding its breath but I also have a small worry that with another year of lockdown, we will become severed from the rhythms of community life. It only means that we will have to create new ones, or resurrect the former ones in new forms.

But it does remind one of how easy it is to break the fabric of community life and set people adrift from one another, a dynamic used

against the Indigenous peoples here over generations, through the pandemics of smallpox and colonization, that ravaged community life and stole even the waiting breath.

And in my own life, a turn has been taken as my youngest child has moved out, into an apartment in the city where his 20-year-old life is also on hold. He has a job and will start a new set of university classes online this winter but being 20 and living in a city for the first time is supposed to be a time of socializing, living life fully and enjoying oneself, and that’s just not possible at the moment. Back on the island, Caitlin and I have become empty nesters, and have just spent a couple of weeks in quiet and still recalibration of our lives in a shared space that, after 23 years of parenting, is once again just the two of us. Another exhalation, a deeper one, and an intake of breath for what the next third of life will hold.

Happy New Year to you all. May you continue to breathe and find life in the rhythms of breath that surround you.

Wade Davis speaking at Rotary Club January 14 TOBYN ROSS PHOTO

Students and members of the Well community pose for a photo in pre-COVID-19 times.

The Well continues online and outdoors CONTINUED FROM P. 1

“I wanted to continue teaching,” said Russell, “but I didn’t want to commute to the city to teach.”

So Russell and Saskia Tait started the Bowen Island Yoga Studio in 2014 and in 2017 rebranded it as the Well. Since 2017, the Well has shared a space with Wren (which is still open) between Montessori and the Wellness Centre.

At its peak, the Well had 12 teachers, give or take a couple and ran 20 classes a week.

“It became a destination for people on Bowen,” said Russell. “We attracted master teachers from all over the world who came and taught workshops here.”

“It became a hive of activity for different modalities, not only Yoga, but we had Kirtan… we had meditation groups, we had all kinds of different people come in to use the space.”

Bowen has several yoga businesses but it was diversity the Well offered. “I think we were the most central, with the most teachers, where

people could buy a pass and go to multiple classes,” said Russell. “Most other places have one teacher.”

“I feel I feel a sense of sadness,” said Russell.

“But I feel at peace with it because it was beyond my control.”

“I did what I could, the best I could for the time that I could and then I was at an impasse.”

“I also feel optimistic that we’re a creative island, and I’m sure we’ll find ways to practise together.”

The Well Way online (www.thewellbychantalrussell.com/membership) will continue. The online membership includes a library of pre-recorded classes, meditations, seasonal wellness rituals. Live online classes will likely return once Russell’s had the chance to recalibrate to the new reality.

See a note from Russell on p. 4

Has your business closed because of COVID19? We’d like to know – editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com.

THE WORLD-FAMOUS ANTHROPOLOGIST IS ALSO A LOW-KEY BOWEN ISLANDER

PHOTO SUBMITTED

HILARY BUTLER

Wade Davis published Magdalena: River of Dreams last year.

The Rotary Club of Bowen Island is thrilled to announce that world-renowned anthropologist Wade Davis has consented to be our guest speaker at our Zoom meeting Jan. 14.

Many new Undercurrent readers may not be aware that this author of more than 15 books on an incredible variety of topics, whether it be the rain forests of the Pacific NorthWest, the rivers of the world, Indigenous cultures and the conquest of Mt. Everest, has been a Bowen resident for quite a few years.

Davis published Magdalena: River of Dreams last year.

Charles Nichols of The Guardian reviewed Magdalena as follows: “Davis is a powerful, penetrating and immensely knowledgeable writer…

Magdalena is a geography book about a river that is also a political history of

Colombia, an admonition of ecological disaster, an impassioned defence of Indigenous wisdom, and a memoir of the author’s various travels and friendships over the years… Evanescent…

Magdalena is steeped in a physical sense of Colombia: the landscapes, the disreputable backstreets, the irrepressibly resilient people.”

Davis is a Ted Talk veteran, a National Geographic Explorer in Residence and is a professor of anthropology at UBC. His wife, Gail Percy, is the owner of Maison Sanskar in Artisan Square, a boutique filled with beautiful textiles, clothing and art from around the world.

The Rotary Club Zoom meeting on Jan. 14 starts at 7:30 p.m.; the waiting room will open at 7:15 p.m. Please check the bowenrotary.com website for the Zoom invitation.

Rotary Club of Bowen Island