Bowen Island Undecurrent November 11, 2021

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CIDERY DECISION: Judge sides with BIM PAGE 3

Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A1

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VOL. 47 NO. 44

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No motor vehicles on Mt. Gardner: council

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO PHOTO

A FAMILY LOST, A COMMUNITY FOUND: “Fear was in the air that we breathed in our house,”

says Jack Resels who, like his wife Soorya Ray Resels, is the child of Holocaust surviors. It was on Bowen that they found an unexpected connection to a Jewish community. Their story begins on page 9.

Racers, prepare to get muddy IPS outdoor fundraiser even welcomes the rain BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com

Island Pacific School is swapping out suits and gowns for muddy track pants and t-shirts for this year’s annual fund-

raiser.

In pre-COVID times, the island’s independent school would host a grand gala to help raise funds for student scholarships. Last year, the gala was the virtual cyber soiree, with pre-recorded,

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347 Salal

live-streamed and interactive components.

This year, given the still-raging pandemic, they decided to hold an event entirely outside. And if there’s pouring rain – all the better.

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CONTINUED PAGE 16

CONTINUED PAGE 7

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Bowen Island council has re-iterated its desire to have motor vehicles banned on Mount Gardner.

Back in spring 2020, following public outcry, council had passed a resolution requesting the province ban motorized use of the Mount Gardner Crown lands.

In September, Recreation Sites and Trails BC came down with a decision that appeared to allow some motorized use but councillors criticized it for lack of clarity.

At least 16 islanders asked council to re-state their position against motorised use of Mount Gardner and ask the province to withdraw its decision.

“I think we made a good decision,” said Coun. Sue Ellen Fast at Monday night’s meeting. “We should find out whether we can actually follow through with our resolution.”

The climate emergency and need to reduce motorized vehicle use was on the mind of Coun. David Hocking since conomic development branding of Bowen is leaning toward nature-based, low-impact tourism. “Having visitors come here and want to head up Mount Gardner and finding motorcycles there as well… it completely destroys what we’re looking at from an economic development perspective.”

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A2 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Remembrance Day, November 11

Events

Request for volunteer Library Board members

Municipal Hall will be closed on Thursday, November 11, to observe Remembrance Day.

November 11, 2021

Bowen Island Municipality and Bowen Island Public Library are seeking applications from Bowen Island residents interested in joining the Bowen Island Public Library Board. We are looking for applications from members of the community with diverse lived experience, backgrounds, and skills who are committed to the ideals of open and equitable access to information through public library service.

Municipal Hall closed for Remembrance Day

November 15, 2021 11:00 am Environment and Climate Action

Key duties of the Library Board are:

Advisory Committee Meeting

• •

November 22, 2021 6:15 pm Regular Council Meeting

• • •

All meetings are online via Zoom and

open to the public, unless noted otherwise.

Setting the strategic direction and goals of the library.

Determining policy and rules for managing the provision of public library services and for regulating the use of the library facilities and programs by the public.

Appointing and reviewing performance of the Chief Librarian.

Preparing an annual operating budget to present to Council.

Reviewing the annual operating budget and monitoring revenue and expenditures through the year.

The Board meets 10 times per year on the third Thursday of the month.

Interested individuals are asked to submit a one-page summary of their background, skills and expertise relative to the duties and responsibilities of the position.

We’re hiring: Nature Programs Leader Bowen Island Municipality’s department of Recreation and Community Services is seeking a Nature Programs Leader for an exciting part-time temporary contract role. This is a grant-funded position, and must be filled by a youth between 15 to 30 years of age when employment begins.

Help stop COVID-19:

Get vaccinated - everyone over 12 is eligible

Reporting to the Manager of Recreation and Community Services, the position will be responsible for developing, leading and evaluating outdoor, nature-based programming for children and adults.

With a focus on environmental education, imaginative outdoor play and inclusivity, the Nature Programs Leader will create meaningful opportunities for the community to connect with nature and foster a positive sense of environmental stewardship.

The Leader will be responsible for developing all aspects of the programs, including identifying program objectives and pedagogy; creating and leading activities; developing, implementing and summarizing assessment tools.

Ensure the safety of participants is always maintained through preventative and operational measures.

Stay home if you’re sick

Leader will provide customer service to program participants and/or their parents during the registration process and programs.

Further questions can be emailed to info@bowenlibrary.ca.

Interested applicants are asked to respond in writing, via email, fax or regular mail, with the requested information by Friday, November 26th, 2021 at 4:00PM: Sophie Idsinga, Deputy Corporate Officer Bowen Island Municipality 981 Artisan Lane Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G2 FAX: 604-947-0193 EMAIL: sidsinga@bimbc.ca

Committees needing members BIM Council is looking for members for several advisory committees.

Committees meet several times a year and have an advisory function to Council.

Here are some of the committees looking for members: Advisory Design Panel, Advisory Planning Committee, Heritage Committee and the Transportation Advisory Committee.

For more information: www.bowenislandmunicipality.ca/committees

For more information and to apply:

www.bowenislandmunicipality.ca/jobs

Wear a mask in indoor public spaces

Contact Bowen Island Municipality PAID ADVERTISEMENT November 11, 2021

Phone: Fax: Email: Website:

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

Bowen Island Municipal Hall 981 Artisan Lane Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G2

www.bowenislandmunicipality.ca

Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Monday to Friday Closed statutory holidays

Find us on Facebook Bowen Island Municipality

Subscribe to our mailing list bowenislandmunicipality.ca/subscribe

bowenislandundercurrent.com

MUNI MORSELS

No home-occupation vehicle repair: LUB change; pesticide ban coming BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

Council made a firm stand against vehicle repair as a home occupation at its regular council meeting Nov. 8.

Sweeping Land Use Bylaw amendments — the bylaw formerly known as “housekeeping” — unanimously passed third reading but with some crucial changes.

First the contentious subject of automobile repair: instead of limiting home-occupation vehicle repair to one vehicle per calendar month (or, as it is now, one vehicle at a time), council opted to ban home occupation vehicle repair, period. Anyone wanting to conduct such business will need to apply for a rezoning. Any businesses operating now will be allowed to continue under the previous regulations – until they cease operations for six months or move.

Bowen Island Municipality had been flooded with letters in support of a business on the west side of the island that had opened under this loophole.

The main automotive repair shop on-island – which had had to go through an extensive rezoning to open two decades ago – maintained that the loophole that appears to allow home-based commercial repair relies on a staff interpretation, rather than actually allowing commercial repairs across the island.

“The question I’ve always had about this is what is the bottom-line intent,” said

Coun. Maureen Nicholson. “If the bottom line is we don’t want [vehicle repair] as a home occupation, then the bylaw should support that.”

However, islanders who collect or repair cars as a hobby can rest easy – “hobby” vehicle repair was removed from the home occupation section of the bylaw. Previously, hobbyists had been concerned they’d be held to the same standards as vehicle repair garages.

The changes also include a modification to the definition of “derelict vehicle.”

The bylaw will allow vehicles that are undrivable or unlicensed for more than a year to be kept if stored in a building or structure or covered by a tent with a means of catching fluid drips or leaks.

The vehicle in question also can’t be visible from the highway or other properties.

In another matter of public interest, domestic agriculture will still change from a principal use to a secondary use across the island. Councillors also opted not to fiddle with the definition of “domestic agriculture,” instead directing staff to review Land Use Bylaw regulations “with a view to permit low-impact sale of agriculture products.”

In an unusually divided vote back in September, council had opted to keep the Cape Roger Curtis Development Permit Area (previously slated for removal) in the Land Use Bylaw. Staff can start the process of reintroducing it to the Official Community Plan so that it may once again be enforceable.

The bylaw now just needs the formality of adoption.

Be gone pesky… chemicals

A cosmetic pesticide ban for the island unanimously passed first reading.

While BIM cannot regulate pesticide use on industrial, commercial, or institutional lands, the ban is to apply to “outdoor trees, shrubs, flowers, ornamental gardens, ornamental plants, or turf in, under or upon any public [residential] lands or private lands.” Non-residential lands such as the school or golf course wouldn’t come under the ban. (They’re not residential).

Under the bylaw, one may apply for a permit to apply pesticides. Some noxious weeds – such as giant hogweed and knotweed – will still be fair game for pesticides. The bylaw also doesn’t apply to non-synthetic biological pest control, pesticides applied to or inside buildings or pesticides that manage pests that transmit human diseases or affect agriculture or forestry.

The bylaw defines pesticide as “a micro-organism or material that is represented, sold, used or intended to be used to prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate a pest.”

A 2020 Bowen Island FoodResilience Society survey found 90 per cent of its 143 respondents would support a pesticide ban on Bowen.

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Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A3

Cidery TUP lawsuit dismissed BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

Riley’s Cidery will be allowed to continue operating under a temporary use permit following a B.C. Supreme Court decision released Nov. 9.

Justice Michael Tammen dismissed a petition from four cidery neighbours to quash a temporary-use permit that Bowen Island Municipality issued the cidery in March.

Petitioners – Margaret Underhill, Brian Buckingham, Josephine Link and Steffen Link – applied for a judicial review of the TUP in April.

Their petition said that council had failed to comply with Local Government Act-mandated mandatory notice requirements, breached duty of procedural fairness owed to two of the petitioners by not including their letter in the material for consideration at decisive March 22 council meeting, according to the written judgement. The petitioners also council’s decision to issue the TUP was unreasonable.

Justice Tammen found that despite an erroneous statement implying that all of the apples used in production would be sourced from on-site – up to 75 per cent can be sourced from off-site under the permit – the notice was adequate in that it described the nature, location and important features of the business. Tammen found that while it was unfortunate the Links’ letter was not considered before council made its decision, BIM provided “ample opportunity for comments to be submitted in a variety of ways.” In his judgement Tammen also said that council “considered the appropriate criteria for issuance of the permit, and was responsive to input received from the community.”

Justice Tammen found the respondent, BIM, entitled to costs.

GRATEFUL FOR OUR SPONSORS:

A 2 KM FUN OBSTACLE COURSE FOR AGES 11 TO 111

SIGN IN & REGISTER A TEAM

A fun, challenging 2 km obstacle competition, raced in teams of 2 to 4, from ages 11 to 111. Everyone is welcome! Prizes for winners by category and costumes!

FUN, FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT AND CELEBRATIONS

for spectators of all ages. Come out to cheer on the mudder teams.

DONATE

Online silent auction November 12 to 22nd.

Donate to the auction, bid online, contact us to sponsor the event.

PRIZE DRAW

Every individual registered in the Mudder Race will have a chance to win a (4) night Mayan Palace Mexico stay, at a choice of 4 locations! Parent(s) win when the racer is under 19. Draw taking place following race, 4pm, Nov 20th.

WHY ARE WE FUNDRAISING?

Through generous donations from Smooth Stones Foundation and Bowen Island Properties, IPS is in a position to build a dream community Field House, providing students with much needed shelter for their athletics and activities and offering Bowen a desirable community space. Our goal is to raise $400,000 to fulfill this dream.

A portion of funds raised will also support Student Bursaries and our commitment to ensure the broadest possible access to those who want to attend the school.

REGISTER to compete and more info: islandpacific.org Island Pacific School on Bowen Island, is a middle school and not-for-profit organization.

All donations $25+ qualify for a tax receipt.

A4 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

VIEWPOINTS EDITORIAL

In gratitude

I’ve made all too big a fuss about my own departure but, before leaving, I want to indulge in three thank yous: Tracey, Ron and Audrey.

Audrey Grescoe, with her practised and keen eye for editing — she’s basically been an editor her whole life — has been dutifully reading over my pages for the past year, cutting down a lot on typos and errors. (Last week she wasn’t here and I misspelled “committee” in a page three headline! Hopeless!)

Ron – you all know what Ron does for the community. Every once in a while he’ll mention a layout suggestion “like in the New Yorker.”

And I remind him that is the Bowen Island Undercurrent and we talk a lot about dogs, goats and councils mulling over pit toilets. It’s a nifty island secret that Bowen has the best newspaper cartoonist around.

The New Yorker would be so lucky. Our Monday afternoon chats have been among the great joys of this job.

And Tracey. I couldn’t have asked for a better shepherd through my first three years in the community news industry than Tracey Wait. Her experience and eye for advertising has kept this paper chugging along through challenge after challenge. Her passion for community news has kept me chugging along. She’s all too humble but please know that she’s been the backbone of this paper.

As of Monday, I’ll be editor at the Coast Reporter in Sechelt. I will still working with publisher Peter Kvarnstrom (who also deserves a great deal of thanks for keeping our paper up and running, as well as for taking a chance on a nervous intern.) Since I’m only a short boat ride away, maybe I’ll see some of you on the coast!

Bronwyn Beairsto, Undercurrent fan-at-large

In memory of Jennifer Davidson It is with sadness that I inform the community of the passing of Jennifer Davidson.

Jenn was a fixture in the Cove for many years and most islanders will remember her big personality, dreaded locks, funky outfits, and of course, the beloved ferrets she often walked on leashes or carried on her back.

She advertised herself for work as “Jenn of All Trades” and that she was. She had an impressive range of skills and talents which included gardening and foraging in the wild for edibles, mushrooms, and medicinals. She was also an accomplished sailor, having logged thousands of hours at sea.

Life was not easy for Jenn, but she continuously fought to make the most of it. She was never afraid of hard work. She was tough, but always kind to those she met and chatted with along her Bowen days.

After living rough for years and with little hope of finding permanent housing on Bowen, Jenn relocated to Powell River earlier this year. She had found herself a little apartment, and by all reports appeared happier and healthier than she had been in a long while.

Jenn certainly made her mark on this island and those who knew her are very saddened by her loss but are thankful her gentle soul has finally found peace. Our thoughts are with her family and her daughter Storm, whom she adored.

Jennifer McIntyre

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Let’s not become ‘Enduro Island’ Not content with 35 kilometres of trails at Radar Hill, dirt bikers could be tearing up Mount Gardner with impunity. What’s next? ATV tours to the summit! The province approved motorized use of

Mt Gardner. (Google BCORMA to see the celebration.) Get ready for other groups of bikers coming to “Enduro Island” as Bowen is advertised. The tourists coming to hike in a pristine UNESCO Biosphere

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 mail it to 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

are in for a shock!

Please let Mayor Ander and council know the reversal of this Recreation Sites and Trails B.C. decision must be a high priority.

R. Underdown

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

Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Whither BITS? A Mount Gardner trail perspective So where is Bowen Island Trail Society in all this discussion about Mount Gardner and the Recreation Sites and Trails B.C. decision? I will be frank in saying that the motorized/non-motorized discussion has taken a heavy toll on BITS over the past two years. Sadly, we have lost several dedicated and really excellent volunteers from our board of directors either directly or indirectly because of the conflict, That has been difficult to deal with in terms of maintaining momentum on our projects and enthusiasm for the society in general. In turn we’ve had some disappointed members on both sides of the issue either through our actions or inactions.

Prior to the municipality’s resolution, our directors were being dragged down by unending discussions of the issue and it was apparent to all of us that if the society was going to survive we needed to take a break while the decision was in RSTBC’s hands.

In 2021 we stepped back from the fray and our priority became a more positive approach to getting busy with work on the mountain, and to engage positively with our members and the trail community in general. We completed a major mapping and signage project on Mount Gardner. Now we have a uniquely Bowen Island solution to trail wayfinding that will help reduce the number of people getting lost and enhance the experience of the thousands of visitors that come to hike on the mountain.

The signage project is something we can all be proud of and I want to take this opportunity to be grateful for the hundreds of hours put in by people such as Bob Schultz

who designed and created a beautiful and resilient signage scheme, our board of directors and the many volunteers involved in implementing the project.

We also did our best to provide regular Covid-19-safe activities for members such as low-impact maintenance work on Handloggers Trail to address washouts and ponding, hosting a Rogaine (orienteering) event at Quarry Park, a 30 x 30 get-outside event and a trash pickup day. Many BITS volunteers put a significant effort into hosting two worldclass mountain trail races in September.

The plan is to continue with these member and trail-user engagement activities in 2022. Our project focus will shift from signposts to kiosks and mapping and ongoing low-impact maintenance.

Now that the RSTBC has a decision of sorts, positive energy is waning already as we debate the right stance to take. As we move towards 2022, BITS will be proactive in representing the interests of our extensive but highly diverse non-motorized trail-user community on this issue.

We are fully aware that this decision is difficult and unsatisfactory for many people in our trail-user community and we also recognize that we have a significant role to play in helping work towards a solution. We have already been at the table with RSTBC, the municipality and the other trail stakeholders.

Our directors are in agreement that, although we are a small society, we have a responsibility as well as a challenge to represent the many diverse viewpoints in a complex issue. While many of our members have spoken out about

Selling Community Lands isn’t the way forward The articles on ways to provide more affordable housing on Bowen in last week’s Undercurrent were timely and interesting. Thank you.

It would be hard to not realize that costs for everything are going up, with housing provision and maintenance at the forefront for most Islanders. I know several families who have moved off Bowen the last couple of years because of ever-more costly expenses to live here. These were not renters or persons looking for affordable housing but rather long-term homeowners who were afraid of the escalating property taxes and utility costs wiping out their retirement savings. Relocation locations include small towns in British Columbia and Alberta.

While the Community Lands may look attractive as a source of cheap land for more housing, the fact is that taxpayers on Bowen are going to be paying the costs of the Community Lands acquisition and water and sewer system improvements through property and parcel taxes for up to

30 years more. Any further sale of Community Land parcels has not been used not used to retire the outstanding debt and the capital and interest for these lands will all have to paid by existing taxpayers. Anything that council approves on the remaining Community Lands that increases ongoing municipal operating costs will also fall to the taxpayers to support, and this is not a bottomless well.

Of all the options discussed by the housing advisory committee, ones that take advantage of existing building stock, “gentle density” — for example secondary suites either in-dwelling or a second small house per property — seems to make most sense. Pro-active rezoning by the municipality to allow this would also make sense, in my view. Housing agreements as a portion of new developments in the Cove and Cove periphery area are also of low cost to the ongoing tax base; the DK Harris rental apartment building discussed in last week’s edition is a great example.

Bill Granger

Seventeen years later, an ‘urgent’water problem is being addressed Since there is a strong movement opposing the replacement of the water storage facilities in Tunstall Bay, I would like to point out some historical facts.

Tunstall Bay’s water system was built in 1970.

In 2004 the auxiliary 25,000-gallon tank collapsed and was not replaced. Brad Hawthorn, the public work superintendent at the time, recommended a 80,000-gallon US tank as a replacement to supplement the existing concrete 50,000-gallon tank for fire protection and emergency storage. Council requested the staff to immediately investigate funding alternatives to submit to the Tunstall Bay users for their urgent consideration. Seventeen years later, it is finally an option.

I am aware of several fires at Cap Roger Curtis since 2017.

Tunstall Bay water helped to put down those fires, just as it had previously helped Seileigh Park. Because those neighbours have wells, they do not have water storage in place when there’s a major fire. The fire chief (2021) admitted that he would get the water from the closest water source.

In the past few years, the number of residences using Tunstall Bay’s system has increased from approximately 120 to 140 houses, straining the system. Furthermore, numerous part-time residents have now become full-time users.

I share the resentment of some Tunstall Bay residents since we are shouldering the expenses of a new storage tank while also protecting our neighbours in case of a fire.

With the aquifer in danger, heat bombs, the new park at Cap Roger Curtis, skyrocketing tourism and little supervision, more fires are inevitable.

The island is divided into six designated water areas run by volunteers with one council member in charge. I feel the municipality should be totally in charge of the water system and every resident should share the cost of providing the entire island with much-needed fire protection. We are one island!

With climate change, we clearly need more water storage and more supervision of unprotected areas.

Denise Rankin

being firmly opposed to any form of motorized use on the mountain, we also know that there are some who believe that we should champion reasonable multi-use access with appropriate mitigations and restrictions in place. Equally, it must be said, there is a large number of non-motorized trail users who simply don’t want to raise their heads above the parapet to express their opinion one way or another.

We recognize that this issue could take considerable time to sort out and resolve between RSTBC and the others involved so we think it is prudent to adopt a strategy with both short- and long-term perspectives and objectives. One of the positive steps we have taken in that regard is to begin work on the details of a new Memorandum of Understanding with RSTBC, so that much needed maintenance work can continue in the short term. The recent heavy rainfall and winds have not been kind to the trees or trails on the mountain and we cannot afford to be fully distracted from the need for ongoing work.

We strongly support the idea that additional stakeholders need to be invited to the table to help provide input from different perspectives and help sort this out. We’re also going to embark on a process of gathering input on positive steps forward on those short- and long-term strategies from our members and the non-motorized trail user community. The issue is too large, too complex and too important to be left in the hands of a small band of trail walkers, hikers, runners, bikers.

But let it be known that BITS is one small band that is firmly and passionately dedicated to caring for the health and safety of the trails on a mountain we all love for the benefit of present and future generations.

Phil Osborne Bowen Island Trail Society

“Home Grown”

Water in the Garden! zoom Monday, November 15, 7:00 pm In the dry summer drought do you ever think about all the rain that falls on Bowen most of the year?

Have you ever considered water collection and water conservation?

Doug Elliot and Cathy Robertson explore 6 different Bowen Island Gardens and ask their gardeners how they collect and conserve water.

Garden Club members Ainslie and David Manson, Peggy Blackwood, David and Aubin van Berckel, the Vyner family, Virginia Penny, Phil Gregory as well as Doug Elliott showcase their methods of collecting water. Large tanks to drip irrigation and regenerative agriculture.

After each video segment there will be a brief Q and A period where you can ask the owners questions and get ideas. All of this from the comfort of your own home via the magic of ZOOM! Open to members of the Bowen Island Garden Club.

Membership info: bowenislandgardenclub.ca

See you on Zoom Monday, November 15, 7:00 pm

A6 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Why I left the Undercurrent and why I’m back MARTHA PERKINS

Interim editor

I was recently telling someone about how much I loved my two stints as editor of the Undercurrent.

“If you loved it so much, why did you leave,” she asked.

Why, indeed.

Both times I felt wrested away from an island and a newspaper that fulfilled so many things I crave: connection with community and a feeling that what I did had meaning.

The first leave-taking was my bosses’ idea. They asked me if I’d be interested in becoming the editor of the now-defunct North Shore Outlook in the sly way bosses often have: they pose it as a question but really they’re telling you that this is what they need you to do.

The second time it was breast cancer. I thought I’d be away for the month it would take to recover from a mastectomy but it turned out I also needed chemo and radiation. When my year of treatment and recovery ended, I was asked to become the editor-in-chief of the Vancouver Courier, which is where I met the very smart and very passionate Bronwyn Beairsto.

The Courier internship was her first journalism job but, as many islanders have since discovered, she had that spark that convinced us she’d be the perfect steward to guide the Undercurrent in its next iteration.

And now, life has wrested me back to the island.

My husband, Jean-Edouard de Marenches, died in September. He had successfully overcome cancer twice and when his lymphoma returned last December, he put every ounce of his formidable resolve and courage into trying to find new ways to outwit it. He had so much living left to do.

I met Jean-Edouard when I was a young reporter starting my career at another small-town paper, the Haliburton County Echo. He and his family had purchased an old hunting and fishing lodge on the edge of a lake in Ontario’s cottage country and transformed it, and the surrounding forest, into an amazing property. Guests could spend their day “mastering the art of doing nothing… beautifully” and reward their commitment to a life well lived by enjoying a fabulous meal prepared by chefs from France.

We both had jobs which consumed us — often in very positive and rewarding ways. Twelve years ago we decided to try something new. We settled on Vancouver and I was blessed to get the job on Bowen, commuting to work every day on the water taxi. After 25 years of being together, one of the first things Jean-Edouard and I did was get married on the upper deck of the Queen of Capilano.

Bowen became our grounding place in a way our downtown condo never could be. Islanders were so open and welcoming.

Friendships were quickly made and we were astounded by the

vibrant social life that exists here.

Just before my husband and I met, he had crossed the Atlantic by sailboat. When he found himself looking out onto the Howe Sound, he knew he had to return to the water. We bought a sailboat, which we kept at Union Steamship marina. Every time we drove down the hill towards the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay, we felt we were about to be transported to another world. Then, when winds proved too fickle, we traded the sailboat for a Grand Banks, using Bowen as second home, as well as a gateway to explore the coast.

In 2018 my husband’s cancer returned. Its main impact was extreme fatigue. We decided I would retire, especially since it was getting harder to pretend that I could devote the level of focus that being a newspaper editor required.

With my husband’s energy waning, we sold the boat, severing a physical tie to Bowen Island.

And then the pandemic happened. Each generation experienced its hardships and deprivations differently. For my husband, who was in his early sixties, it was the frustration of being cut off from a retirement that he had worked so hard to achieve as well as the sense that he didn’t have many years to sacrifice to being homebound. When the medication that had fended off the cancer’s return suddenly stopped working, it was a cruel blow coming on the heels of a cruel year.

Places of Worship Welcome You BOWEN ISLAND UNITED CHURCH E BOWEN ISLAND UNITED CHURCH Sunday Worship 10:30 am v l Rev. Lorraine Ashdown M Lynn Williams - Minister of Music.

Helen Wallwork leads Sunday School.

FOOD

FOOD BANK DROP-OFF

ST. GERARD’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 00 Sunday Mass at 9.30

Contact Angela Powell 604-947-2515

CATES HILL CHAPEL

A

6304

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

00 am W Now offering worship services via Zoom.

A link available on website.

Pastor: Phil Adkins

SHIRAT HAYAM (Song of the Sea) BOWEN’S JEWISH COMMUNITY Shabbat Gatherings ~ Holidays Contact aryana.rayne@gmail.com

o

My “journey” — I dislike the word but it is indeed apt — through those 10 months was parallel to but different than his. One of my quests was to find meaning in it all, searching for anything that could sustain me. That led me to reading Man’s Search for Meaning by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.

The deprivations and determined dehumanization that he and other concentration camp inmates endured defies all understanding.

As he describes those years, and how he kept his psyche intact, I took from him the message that when we are faced with circumstances we cannot change, the only thing we can do is change the way we deal with them.

That’s how in my mind I was able to try to switch the focus of my awareness. Yes, I was watching my vibrant, immensely intelligent, dreamer of a husband fade away beside me. I couldn’t do anything to stop the insidious cancer cells bullying their way into his life-sustaining bone marrow. But I could help him create an atmosphere of love and quiet fortitude. And that’s what we did.

I also vowed to say yes. Yes to new experiences. Yes to travel. Yes to former publishers who ask if I could help out during the transition between editors at the Undercurrent. I love being back on Bowen, truly I do. However, this time I am more at peace with the thought of leaving it when my month is over. Life beckons.

Jean-Edouard de Marenches rediscovered his love of sailing on Bowen Island. He died of cancer in September 2021.

I cry as I write this. I know I will cry at Bowen Island’s Remembrance Day service. It was on Nov. 11, 2009 that Jean-Edouard and I drove down the Sea to Sky highway for the first time, passing by Bowen Island’s night-shrouded silhouette as our cross-Canada trek to an exciting new life in B.C. approached its conclusion.

I’ll cry for him. I’ll cry for all the Viktor Frankls and all the men and women who fought against tyranny. I’ll also cry for those who, caught up in battles beyond their control, discover humanity’s innate ability to endure.

Queen of Capilano Ferry Schedule October 12, 2021 to March 22, 2022

DEPART BOWEN ISLAND

DEPART HORSESHOE BAY

5:50 am 5:20 am except Sundays 6:50 am 6:20 am 8:00 am 7:30 am 8:35 am 9:05 am except Wednesdays 10:15 am 9:40 am 10:50 am 11:25 am 12:00 pm 12:35 pm 2:20 pm 1:10 pm 2:55 pm 3:30 pm 4:00 pm except Wednesdays 4:35 pm 5:45 pm 5:10 pm 6:50 pm 6:15 pm 8:00 pm except Saturdays 7:25 pm except Saturdays 9:00 pm 8:30 pm 9:30 pm 10:00 pm 10:30pm Note: Schedules subject to change without notice: Please check BCFERRIES.COM Schedule changes on statutory holidays

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A7

What’s a challenge without a little mud?

This is the concept drawing for the Colin Ruloff Community Field House which is on property jointly shared by Island Pacific School and Cates Hill Chapel.

CONTINUED FROM P. 1

In the Monsoon Madness Mudder on Nov. 20, teams of two to four people (ages 11 to 111) will take on a two-kilometre course – down Carter Road, to the Meadow, up behind Bowen Children’s Centre and Cates Hill Chapel up to the waterfalls and back to the school – with six obstacles with physical challenges (such as climbing over or under things).

“Invariably, they’ll be getting muddy as they go,” says Scott Herrington, IPS’s head of school.

It’s not a mass-start event. Instead, waves of teams will run the course between 1:30 and 4 p.m.

Back at IPS, there will be a social gathering – outdoor tents, warming stations, light lunch and hot chocolate.

There’s also an online auction, raffles and draws.

The registration fee is $25 per person and, for that, one’s name goes into a draw for four nights for four people in Mexico.

“We want everyone to feel at the end like they’ve been through a nice challenge, but not an overwhelming one, and just embrace the beautiful outdoor environment that we have here at IPS.” Dress up as a team and come in your colours, advises Herrington. There will be best-dressed and best team spirit awards. “We really want people to come out and connect with their fellow community members.”

The big fundraising goal this year is $400,000, for the construction of a community field house (the site is just s giant pit right now – perfect for a mudder.)

The field house will be named in honour of former IPS student Colin Ruloff, who died in a tragic accident in 2018.

“We take ourselves to be community members. And we take this to be a great future venue for weddings and picnics and funerals and all sorts of things that go beyond you know, the boundary of a school day,” Herrington says.

IPS encourages everyone to sign up as early as possible (though registration is open the day of ).

Go to islandpacific.org for details.

Fieldhouse named for the late Colin Ruloff A shared space, a shared vision

ISLAND PACIFIC SCHOOL

Contributor

Island Pacific School is truly proud to announce that the future Community Field House will be dedicated to the memory of Colin Ruloff, Island Pacific School alumni class of 2010.

Colin was raised on Bowen Island where he lived with his parents, Walt and Laura Ruloff, and three younger brothers, Chad, Andrew and Charlie.

Colin loved music. He composed original songs and performed as a country blues singer and guitar player under the name Scottie Collins.

His early work can be found on SoundCloud under Colin Ruloff Country Singer. He was gentle, kind and able to see good and admirable qualities in everyone he met. He is greatly missed.

in this lasting and meaningful gesture,” says Phil Adkins of Cates Hill Chapel.

The Colin Ruloff Community Field House will be on property shared by Island Pacific School and Cates Hill Chapel. Not only will this covered outdoor space provide much needed sheltered space for student activities and for chapel events, the possibilities are endless in terms of broader community use — weddings, outdoor concerts, workshops and outdoor recreation. We are all very excited for the future potential.

“Our two institutions have a great relationship that goes well beyond our shared use of space. We are grateful that IPS will be naming this structure in honour of Colin Ruloff. The Ruloff family is loved by both of our communities and the chapel will be blessed by having such a wonderful person acknowledged

A school built on philanthropy Many hands have reached out since our earliest beginnings, supporting Island Pacific School in becoming a destination for self-discovery, inspiration and excellence. In particular, the Ruloff family, Smooth Stones Foundation and Wolfgang Duntz of Bowen Island Properties have been instrumental from the very start. Our vision for an outdoor covered space for the students and wider community has endless possibilities. Join us in making this vision a reality and support our Community Field House capital campaign by donating to our Capital Campaign for the Field House.

Visit islandpacific.org/support-us/

McTaggart Water is pleased to announce a change of ownership - Catherine and Chris Bell have taken over the business from founder Bruce McTaggart as of November 1st.

Cat has been with the company for 8+ years and will continue her role as service coordinator, while Chris brings years of experience as a carpenter and general contractor.

Bruce will remain with the company for some time to assist with the transition.

To our valued clients, we want to assure you that very little has changed - we appreciate your business and will strive to continue bringing you the level of service you’re accustomed to. Our amazing staff is staying with us, so it will be the same faces and voices greeting you. Even the name will remain the same.

We look forward to working within this wonderful community of ours for years to come!

604-947-2950 • info@mctaggartwater.com

PATRICK WEILER MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR WEST VANCOUVER-SUNSHINE COAST-SEA TO SKY COUNTRY

@PatrickBWeiler

Remembrance Day LEST WE FORGET

patrick.weiler@parl.gc.ca Tel.: 604-913-2660 Fax.: 604-913-2664

A8 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Finding community when your family tree ‘is a blasted stump’ Talking with the children of Jewish Holocaust survivors on Bowen Island BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

When Jack and Soorya Ray Resels moved to Belterra in 2015, they were looking for community. The co-housing development offered a communal experience that the couple, who married in 1969, long sought as they travelled the world.

But their love of and need for community reaches much deeper than the human need to be around people. It fills the deep hole violently ripped into their families – as had happened with so many Jewish families during the Second World War. Both Jack and Soorya are children of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Their parents escaped from Poland and Lithuania, respectively, fleeing to Uzbekistan.

Soorya’s parents, Leon and Betty Kamay, were from Vilnius, Lithuania. Her father arranged for a truck to take as many family members as possible out of the path of the Nazis in 1941. “Most people didn’t believe that anything that bad would ever happen,” she says. Her grandparents, some of her aunts and uncles decided to stay in Lithuania. They all died.

Jack’s parents, David Resels and Mania Krafchik, had been in Poland for generations when his mother and father fled independently to the USSR in 1939. None of Jack’s extended family — grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins — survived.

His parents met in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Jack was conceived. Though they’d escaped the Nazis, the situation was dire in Uzbekistan. “People were starving. They were starving and dying,” says Jack. His father told him stories of people with wheelbarrows and horse-drawn carriages rolling through the streets doing morning rounds

— picking up people who’d died in the night and throwing them into the carriage.

By the time Jack was born in 1947, the war had ended but going home wasn’t an option for many Jews. A pogrom (a violent riot meant to kill or expel religious or ethnic groups, particularly Jewish people) in Poland in 1946 killed 42 Jews. Instead, many Jewish people ended up in displaced persons (refugee) camps. For the first two years of his life, Jack lived in such a camp in Steyr, Austria.

“When I was born, I was sick,” recounts Jack. “They were all telling my mother, ‘Give him up. He’s not gonna make it.’

“My mother wouldn’t give me up. She wouldn’t let go.

“And she never let go of me. That was my mother.”

His parents had wanted to go to Israel – which, at the time, was Palestine – but there were quotas for how many Jews would be allowed in the British-controlled region.

Then, Canada opened its borders to Jewish people. The country needed tailors. Jack’s father was a tailor.

The family sailed the 11-day journey from Naples to Halifax, landing April 26, 1949.

They took the train to Montreal and, the next day, Jack’s father started working at a Jewish-owned factory making ladies coats.

“And he never stopped working,” says Jack.

“My father was a good worker.”

Soorya’s parents came to Canada via France; she was born in Montreal. “My mother was very depressed by the war,” remembers Soorya. “She had been very strong and capable during it. She kept it together.” However, when Soorya was young, her mother seemed to retire into the trauma of her memories.

The 2016 census enumerated only 25 peo-

UNDERCURRENT PHOTO

Jack Resels and Soorya Ray Resels moved to Bowen Island in 2015 – they came for Belterra but found an even wider community that helps fill a generational wound. ple who identified as having Jewish ethnic origin on Bowen Island. Peter Frinton – who has lived on the island for more than 40 years – estimates that there are closer to at least 100. “It’s quite interesting to me that there are so many who show up on the island here,” he says. “I don’t know why.”

Both of Frinton’s parents escaped the Nazis and lost family during the Holocaust.

“They didn’t view themselves as survivors.

[They thought] the survivors were the ones who were in camps and miraculously survived,” he says.

“These wounded people tended to get together with each other. And they were incapable, literally incapable, of doing some of the things that normal parents would do,” said Frinton.

There’s also always an unease, says Frinton, who grew up in the Lower Mainland.

“You don’t want to go around advertising that you’re a Jew in a lot of places.

“My parents changed their name. [Arnošt

and Lilli Frischler became Ernst and Lili Frinton]. There was no religious education.

There was no religious observance. But once a year my mother lit a candle for her father and she didn’t smoke that day – on Yom Kippur, on the Day of Atonement.

“She had nothing to say about it,” says Frinton. “She didn’t want to talk about what happened to her family.” Though in later life did write down snippets of her memories about growing up in Nazi Germany, including her first-hand experience of Kristallnacht in 1938.

Peter’s maternal grandfather made the decision to sacrifice his life so his family could survive. They wouldn’t leave Germany without him but he would have been denied an exit visa. Rather than have them all stay, his mother’s father died by suicide.

A short time later, in July 1939, his mother and remaining family fled Germany.

“They’d lived under the Nazis for six years so they saw the noose tightening,” says Frinton.

For those who never return. And those who never return the same.

WE REMEMBER Helping islanders since 1972

LEST WE FORGET

BOWEN BUILDING CENTRE 1013 GRAFTON ROAD • 604 - 947- 9622

CLOSED REMEMBRANCE DAY Open Monday to Friday 7:30 - 5 pm Closed Saturday & Sunday

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A9

Flying under the radar: ‘I still have that training of being cautious’ CONTINUED FROM P.8

“A month later, they wouldn’t have made it.

“She was heavily traumatized by that.”

But she never spoke of it.

“The only time she brought something up was when I said I was going to be a caddy at the golf course. And she said, ‘No, you’re not. They don’t let Jews be members there. I will not permit you to carry their bags.’”

In the wake of the Second World War, a lot of Jews came to Montreal and often settled together in neighbourhoods.

“There was discrimination,” says Jack. “A lot of Jews came all at the same time.

“It definitely created friction between the Jews and the people who were already settled there.”

Discrimination has not followed Jack throughout his life, but a caution did.

“My parents weren’t in camps but they were always escaping. They were always running.

“They always told me, ‘Don’t tell anyone you’re Jewish. Be careful,’” says Jack. “My mother, every time I left the house, her last words to me were ‘Be careful, Jackie.’

“In school, my mother didn’t want me to be too good at anything.

“She didn’t want me to be too good in my marks or too good in sports. They didn’t want me to make too much noise. They wanted me to slip into the shadows and not stand out.

“I was wanting to just have fun and play but they were always putting a damper on my life,” said Jack, “which created a lot of friction.

“Fear was in the air that we breathed in our house. They didn’t speak about it that much. But it was there all the time.

I always knew it.”

For Soorya, the caution was communicated less through words than atmosphere.

By osmosis and the few stories she had, Soorya had to carve her own way – to find where her peace and stability would be.

“I didn’t identify myself as Jewish. I did feel the connection culturally but I didn’t feel it through religious avenues” says Soorya. She didn’t enjoy visiting the synagogue – the separation of men and women with their children, the noise and commotion. She liked stillness and meditation.

“I didn’t really discover what it would be like if I lived out loud about it,” she says. “I can’t really say, if there would have been discrimination or not. I could pass by because of my blue eyes and blonde hair.”

While Soorya came from a culturally Jewish family and Jack grew up going to Jewish school two afternoons a week and Sunday mornings, neither are particularly religious.

“My inclinations were much more universal,” says Soorya, of her own spirituality. “I just thought bigger – out of the box.

There’s got to be something that really unites us, rather than divides us, and religion was always so divisive.”

For Frinton, and the Resels, there was no family outside

WE REMEMBER

of their home.

“The family tree is a blasted stump,” said Frinton. “I had one uncle that was it. My dad lost his parents, grandparents and only sister.”

For Jack, everyone was killed except a second cousin in New York. “There’s a big hole. A big emptiness. I feel 100 per cent Canadian but I still feel a part of me is not 100 per cent at home.

“All my roots for centuries were in Poland. I have no idea where. I have some names of some people and towns, but I was never there. Few stories were ever told. I don’t know anything about it.”

While Soorya didn’t get to know her relatives in Russia and the Ukraine, there are still some living there and in New York. “My family connections are long distance. And so I think that’s partly why we love community.”

“One of the things that I like about Bowen,” Jack adds, “is that I feel more Jewish on Bowen than just about anywhere.”

There is an element of flying under the radar – of hiding Jewishness, says Soorya. But on Bowen, they’ve found Jewish community.

“Here we have Jewish functions and I like it,” says Jack. “I like being part of that group.”

Frinton – who is also not religiously Jewish – too finds comfort in the Jewish Community of Bowen. “In Yiddish they call it a metzia, a blessing,” he says. “I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I think of or see [them].”

“I feel safe here,” says Jack. “But I still have that training of being cautious, being careful.”

When they heard of an antisemitic encounter with a Holocaust denier on Bowen this past summer, Jack and Soorya were affected. “You don’t think these kinds of things happen on Bowen. It’s hard to believe that somebody would think that the Holocaust is all fake; that it didn’t happen.

“It is very hard for people who have lost everybody and everything to hear this.”

“The tentacles of this big thing [the Holocaust] extend and are found on this little place,” says Frinton. “And it informs the psyche of any of the people involved.”

“Bowen should be known as a place that includes people, rather than brings old prejudices and old ways to divide and exclude people,” says Jack. “Nobody needs to fly under the radar. Everyone can say ‘Hey, I’m here. I breathe the same air that you do and I walk on the same land.’ And we can appreciate each other. We’re may be different, but we can still appreciate each other.”

Before the war, Soorya’s mother was in the Viennese ballet. “She was very, very sensitive. And she had a deep connection to her Jewish roots, to the spirituality of Judaism.

She was looking across the way from the window of the room where the ballet dancers were dressing. When she looked outside, she could see the Sabbath candles gleaming from a house across the way.

“It was the connection to the light that just drew her and she felt so close to it, yet here she was dancing, on the Sabbath.”

The connection to the spirituality of Judaism didn’t stay with Soorya but the connection to light did.

She also carries the tradition of her father. “He was culturally richly in Jewish tradition and humour, but he was universal in his heart. He always said, ‘My heart is as big as a hotel. I have room enough for all of your friends.’

“Luckily, those kind of things are what shaped me.”

Just down the road from Jack and Soorya, Matthew van der Giessen is in the Belterra woodshop, affixing driftwood to a plywood menorah. On Nov. 28, the menorah will light up in the Cove for the first day of Hannukah. That will be the topic of our third and final article in our series about the Jewish community of Bowen Island.

LEST WE FORGET.

Powell River Courtenay Cumberland Union Bay Bowser Bowen Island Texada Island Hornby Island 106-996 Dorman Rd. | firstcu.ca

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.

Without them humanity can not survive ~Dalai Lama Remembering those who paid the ultimate price. Thank you.

www.movementglobal.com

A10 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Praise for a more accessible Snug Cove CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Picking up the pesticide ban baton, the Environment and Climate Action Advisory Committee struck a subcommittee that researched and wrote the pesticide bylaw, based on similar legislation in neighbouring municipalities.

BIM will hold a public information meeting before second reading.

Snug Cove Cultural Corner

The final phase of the Cove Commons project is to start construction in the new year.

The nearly $400,000 town square – funded through grants – in the library and Hearth grounds includes covered programming space, a covered stage, new seating, a redesigned

courtyard, a small park outside of the library annex and an accessible path running between the blue cottage and the library.

Accessibility praise

Camp Bowen Division of the Canadian Organization of the Blind and Deafblind and the Bowen Island Accessibility Group thanked BIM for installing a tactile plate near the Cardena Road bus stop. “This makes the cove safer and has particular benefits to blind and deafblind Bowen residents and visitors,” wrote Jocelyn Gladysz, division president for Camp Bowen. “Thank you for continuing to increase Bowen Island’s accessibility and creating an island that is working

PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT

To borrow funds to finance Tunstall Bay water reservoir tank, subject to petition against This is a public notice under sections 213 and 217 of the Community Charter.

Bowen Island Municipality intends to install a new treated water reservoir tank to service the users of the Tunstall Bay Water System.

This tank will make the water system more resilient by increasing the water supply buffer and providing enough storage to support flows needed for fire protection.

We intend to borrow $655,530 from the Municipal Finance Authority with a 5-year maximum repayment term to fund this capital improvement. The loan would be re-paid in full by means of a local service tax. If your property is within the local service area (outlined in blue), you will be subject to a local service tax of approximately $950 per year, for the next five years (2022-2026).

Council may proceed with this service unless more than half of the landowners representing at least 50% of the assessed value of the land and improvements (buildings) that would be subject to the local service tax, petition against the service by December 16, 2021 (30 days after notice has been given).

You can get more information about Loan Authorization (Tunstall Bay Water Reservoir Tank) Bylaw No. 555, 2021, the financing plan and the treated water reservoir tank on the Municipal website www.bowenislandmunicipality.ca, or at Municipal Hall, 981 Artisan Lane, Bowen Island.

If you own property within the local service area and you are IN FAVOUR of the financing plan for this project, no action is necessary.

If you are NOT IN FAVOUR, you may petition against this financing plan: 1. Confirm that your property is within the local service area 2. Complete a Petition Against Response Form (available on the Municipal website) 3. Submit the form to the Corporate Officer by 4:00 pm on December 16, 2021 • In person or by mail to Municipal Hall, 981 Artisan Lane, Bowen Island, BC V0N1G2 • By e-mail to bim@bimbc.ca • By fax to 604-947-0193 This notice has been mailed directly to all properties in the Tunstall Bay local service area, and publicly posted as of November 4, 2021.

Questions? Please contact the Corporate Officer at 604-947-4255 or bim@bimbc.ca.

towards being more inclusive of everyone.”

Dorman Point

A preliminary concept plan for Dorman Point came to Metro Vancouver Regional Parks Committee Wednesday.

Metro Vancouver bought the land for $2.7 million in 2020, absorbing the previously private 1.21 hectares into Crippen Park. However, the land is not yet open to the public.

The plan includes a weather shelter, viewing platform, seating, fencing an access trail, beach access and signage.

The 2022 Regional Parks Capital Development allocates $500,000, said a staff report.

Fall 2022 is the target opening for public access, said the report.

Get to know your neighbour THIS WEEK MEET: JAE MATHER What year did you come here?

2015 How did you come to be on Bowen Island?

We moved here from the UK. I’m from Vancouver but I was living in Europe for 20 years. And I always said that if I’m coming back to Canada it would be to come back to the best of the West Coast. So we picked Bowen because we have friends here.

How did you know your friends who are here?

We’ve known each other from before they were on Bowen but they moved here long before us. When we would come back to visit Canada, we would visit them.

Where you do you live on Bowen?

Cates Hill.

What’s your favourite place on Bowen?

The forest path that runs up alongside Cates Hill on towards Mount Apodaca. There’s a little trail in there.

What do Bowen Islanders have in common?

We have, I think, a deeper sense of community than Vancouver does. And more of an openness. It’s a much friendlier place than Vancouver when it comes to people being more interested in each other.

What’s your favourite Bowen fact or story?

Probably that we used to be a holiday destination with a hotel and curling rink and ball dancing and camping and all that old stuff.

What do you do for fun these days?

Go for a lot of walks with my dog. And enjoying Bowen’s environment. Outside.

When you’re going around Killarney Lake, do you turn right or left?

Left.

You’re the first person to say left! Why left?

My wife does that walk a lot. And she decided one day that left was the way she wanted to go. We’ve always done it that way ever since.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A11

Take that, beavers

A great place to live, with caveats

BRONWYN BEAIRSTO

Editor

When Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane, Macduff’s army carried the trees.

Well, there’s no megalomaniac mad Scotsman making his power play in Crippen Park but the beavers are wreaking some havoc.

As a result, Metro Vancouver is carrying in some deciduous (such as red alder and big leaf maple) and some coniferous (such western red cedar and Sitka spruce) trees to Bowen to manage the effects of some of the big-toothed rodents’ waterway renovations.

As beavers chow down trees in Crippen Park, they plug streams, build dams and reshape the area.

“It’s part of a natural process and [the resulting] wetlands are really great,” says Robyn Worcester, a natural resource management specialist at Metro Vancouver Regional Parks. The problem comes when an area flooded is just grass, like the Meadow. “There wasn’t anywhere for the riparian edge — the plants and trees along the edge of the stream — to expand.”

Last year, Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver Regional Parks recently planted trees in Crippen Park to help mitigate excess water caused by beaver dams. PHOTO SUBMITTED

started the Crippen Regional Park Wetland Enhancement Project by planting trees on the far side of the dog park. This year, they expanded the tree planting along the edge of Terminal Creek – allowing a forest to grow. The existing alders are dying off and there isn’t a great understory coming in; a lot of it is the invasive English Holly.

The work will increase the ecological integrity of the lands, reads the project’s fact sheet, providing “water purification, erosion and

flood control, aquifer recharge, carbon sequestration, and climate regulation.

“It will also strengthen our relationship with the community for the provision of environmental stewardship as well as the promotion of health and wellness for residents.”

The grant-funded project connected with a number of on-island groups as well as off-island groups – IPS, Bowen Island Weed Warriors, the Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife

Club, Arc’teryx and BCIT’s Ecological Restoration program. Worcester roughly estimates 65 people attended eco-blitz events in October.

The project is still ongoing: trees need wrapping for beaver protection. As well, when planting trees, the payoff can be years away. “We never walk away from a planting,” says Worcester. “It’s something that takes many years to get going.

“We’re creating a forest and it’s going to take decades before it will be what we hope it will be.”

The Island Survey results are back – and most people still say Bowen is a pretty great place to live.

Respondents rated overall quality of life 4.45 out of five (weighted average), slightly higher than 2019’s 4.41. As a place to raise children, islanders gave Bowen a 4.5, which is down from the 2018 high of 4.62.

For working or operating a business, Bowen isn’t so popular, but slightly improving. It was given a 3.2 out of five (up from 2019’s 3.06) by those who work here. As a place to operate a business it was given 2.93 (up from the 2018 low of 2.76).

Satisfaction with emergency preparedness and the public notification system grew, while satisfaction with building and inspection permits, land use planning and protecting the natural environment dropped.

Of the respondents, 93.5 per cent were full-time residents and 84 per cent owned and lived in their homes.

See the entire results of the survey on the council agenda at bimbc.ca.

Thank you Nexwlélexm for your ENTHUSIASM, HARD WORK, & DONATIONS to the inaugural season of the Low Hanging Fruit Project.

Low Hanging Fruit aims to build local food resilience by harvesting fruit from trees that might otherwise go un-picked. The fruit then gets divided between the donors (who have fruit/nut trees on their property), volunteers (who pick the fruit), and the community (this year, most of the fruit was sold by Bowen Island Food Resilience, and proceeds donated to the Food Bank).

Patient of the Week

To connect with and support the Low Hanging Fruit Project, please contact: bowenfoodresilience@gmail.com and put “Low Hanging Fruit” in the subject line.

For more information, go to www.bowenfoodresilience.ca/lowhangingfruit And many thanks to the Bowen Island Community Foundation for their generous support, which made this project possible.

POPPY Meet Poppy! Poppy is a perfect patient of ours who will often greet you with a warm hug. She has visited us recently for some

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

skin issues and ear infections, caused by allergies. We are currently working with Poppy and her owner to find the best treatment for her, but we love every visit we get!

To schedule appointments, please call

604.947.9247

or email reception@bowenvet.com

All flourishing is mutual.

— Robin Wall Kimmerer

A12 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Picking Low Hanging Fruit Nurturing abundance in our Bowen Island backyards

MERIBETH DEEN

Contributor

All flourishing is mutual.

–Robin Wall Kimmerer Low Hanging Fruit aims to build local food resilience here on Nex̱ wlélex̱ m by using volunteer energy to harvest fruit that might otherwise go to waste.

This past August, we launched LHF as a pilot project. Apples were on my mind, and apples (harvested from a generous neighbour’s tree) were the inspiration.

However, 2021 was not a good year for apples.

Cates Hill homeowner Rilee McDonald described her apple trees in September this way: “Bare - naked - empty - desolate. This is the first time in five years that we haven’t had a crop.”

Meribeth Fleetham also reported a particularly rough year for apples. She counted five on one tree which typically yields between 20 and 30. She suspected the heatwave wreaked havoc with the tree’s production. Another tree, however, had branches heavy with apples by September and the Low Hanging Fruit project helped to harvest those.

Christine Hardy of Riley’s Cidery says that, since it is only her family’s second season on the property, she doesn’t have a long his-

tory of harvests for comparison. However, this year’s yield was definitely less than last year’s, which produced a bumper crop.

“This year it was really rainy in early- to mid-May, which is when the trees get pollinated,” she said. “And then, the heatwave left a lot of apples with scorched skins.

Basically, they end up with what looks like a big, brown bruise on their skins.”

This brings to light one of the unplanned side-benefits of the project: tracking the health and harvests of local fruit trees.

Measuring their harvests is a good way to do it. Quantifiable data will help us understand how the trees react to changing climatic conditions. Are droughts and heatwaves affecting the trees? Can we track their natural rhythms and cycles?

It’s hoped that next year Low Hanging Fruit will start earlier in the season and will include plums — and maybe even blackberries. We’d like to see the amount of fruit harvested grow year after year, as new people come forward to share their trees.

Even the idea of a highly localized food system, when mentioned, tends to be dismissed by many as “impossible” but, really, we have no idea. How many apples were grown in Davies Orchard at the height of its production? I haven’t been able to find that information but the Howe Sound Oceanwise Report from 2020 does offer a glimpse into

the abundance formerly available in the ocean ecosystem that surrounds us: in the 1930s, commercial fishers in the Georgia Straight could harvest 2,500lbs of sole in a single day.

Neither the bare apple trees many saw this summer nor the recent re-opening of sportfishing in Howe Sound reflects the potential for abundance that exists where we live.

By trying to support people who have fruit-bearing trees on their properties, and by sharing what is produced, Low Hanging Fruit aims to nurture and build abundance.

It’s not a magic bullet, just a simple project, leveraging what already exists and building upon it. Success will be determined by participation. The more volunteers, donors, organizers, and fruit recipients we have, the more successful this project will be.

So please check out the new Low Hanging Food webpage (www.bowenfoodresilience. ca/lowhangingfruit) and connect with BIFS to get involved.

If you have fruit trees on your property, you can also help us by filling out the following survey: https://www.surveymonkey. com/r/LowHangingFruit Let’s work together to build an abundant, inclusive and generous community.

Many thanks to the Bowen Island Community Foundation and Bowen Island Municipality for their support in this first

MERIBETH DEEN PHOTO

Fruit tree donor Brenda Morrison helps with a small harvest of apples off the trees in her front yard. pilot season. Many thanks also to our volunteers, donors and the many other people who offered ideas and support. Many thanks to the dedicated team at Bowen Island Food Resilience Society for their tireless efforts.

bowenislandundercurrent.com

Music is back at the Pub TERENCE MCKEOWN

Contributor

Bowen Island is a community of communities — including a surprising number of musicians. Many of them are current or past professionals who’ve spent their lives in the Vancouver scene. Others, like me, drifted to the coast from places east. But the music community is much broader than that. On any given night, houses around Bowen host assorted groups of singers and players with every level of skill and experience and every kind of musical taste.

At least that’s the way it was until March of 2020.

March 7 was the date of the annual Coffee House at Cates Hill Chapel. I played with two of my bandmates from The Sixties Band: Peter Clarke and Peter McLean. (Our fourth member, lucky for us, is David Graff ). It was a great evening, with performances by many of Bowen’s favourite forfun ensembles and solo artists. Talk of the pandemic was already in the air. But it was after The Sixties’ practice the following week that we learned something really bad was underway. That was our last rehearsal for 16 months.

Our band had got together a year or so earlier. We had just begun playing publicly when the pandemic hit. We’d played the Pub in January and had four gigs lined up. It was pretty exciting for a band that only accepts members in their sixties, or beyond, and plays only ’60s music.

We’re all aware that good health isn’t something that can be relied on after a certain age. Yes, the Rolling Stones are much older than we are and are still out there playing. But they’ve had the benefit of dedicating their ample free time and limitless resources to staying fit and healthy. (Okay, maybe not Keith.) And they have roadies, lots of them. We have to carry our own gear. It’s getting heavier.

So in March 2020 we were disappointed, to say the least,

Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A13

Here’s why you stop when a school bus’ lights are flashing October RCMP statistics CPL. ADAM KOEHLE

B.I. RCMP

Excited to play at the Pub in January 2020, The Sixties Band, like other musicians on the island, had to fall silent during the pandemic. They’ll be back at the Pub on Nov. 20. when we had to stop rehearsing and all our performances were cancelled. Our time left to do a decent job playing and singing is not unlimited. We had no idea then that this would last so long. But, finally, in August of this year, fully-vaccinated, we were able to start rehearsing again after happily agreeing to play a scaled-back Bowfest. And now, on November 20, we’ll be playing at what we hope will be a full Bowen Island Pub (with all health measures fully adhered to).

As Joni Mitchell most famously said, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. We’re grateful to be part of Bowen’s community of musicians. And we’re very happy to be able to play for the larger Bowen community again. So we feel it’s only right to use our Pub performance to contribute in our small way to all the communities on Bowen. We’ll be asking for donations for the Bowen Island Community Foundation in lieu of a cover charge.

Live music is back. Please join us Sat., Nov. 20, 7 p.m..

light UP

THE HOLIDAY SEASON DECEMBER 4th, 7 pm

As tradition has it the holiday lights will go on in the cove on the first Saturday of December, at 7 PM. A canon will signal the switch, the lights will go on and after there will be very small light show with a few of Santa’s friends on the USSC Marina lawn ~ a prelude to a POSSIBLE Santa Parade the following weekend. Check the Undercurrent & the Light UP facebook page for information.

The Bowen Island RCMP responded to 58 calls for service in November of 2021.

• six were related to traffic complaints or enforcement; • four were requests to check a person’s wellbeing; • two were impaired driving check stops; • four were driving suspensions that resulted from the check stops; • four were minor vehicle collisions.

Since the start of the school year, we have received complaints of vehicles passing school buses as they are offloading children.

Although it may seem obvious, the reason passing a school bus is illegal is because it can pose a risk to the children. The kids often exit the bus and cross in front of or behind the bus, which can make it difficult for them to see the roadway or for drivers to see them.

That is why school buses have flashing lights and stop signs to let drivers know that they are offloading children.

Failing to stop for a school bus is a $368 ticket but, more importantly, failing to stop puts kids at risk.

Please be patient, wait until the bus is finished, and we can all get where we’re going safely.

Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association AGM, 6pm, Nov 23, online, email shaxby@hotmail.com for a link.

Please put AGM in the subject heading.

Supporter of the ARTS Annual General Meeting Virtual & in-person

The Hearth Arts on Bowen (Bowen Island Arts Council)

Wednesday December 1st at 7 pm Hearth Gallery

Interested in helping LIGHT UP the COVE Please contact: lightupbowen@gmail.com or text Basia 778-957-0947 THIS IS an ALL VOLUNTEER EVENT

Review our past year of Arts on Bowen Financial Update Plans for our future For those who wish to join the virtual event, please email us at hello@thehearthartsonbowen.ca Links to AGM documents & Zoom invite will be sent via email

A14 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

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Thursday, November 11, 2021 • A15

Heart smarts: Get the skills to save a life this November If you witnessed a family member in cardiac arrest , would you know what to do?

AMANDA OCKELOEN

Contributor

This November you can be somebody who saves a life!

Do you know the ratio of compressions to breaths when performing CPR? Do you know where to place your hands for compres-

sions? Do you know the purpose of an AED? Take the online quiz at RedCross.ca.

With most (70 per cent) of heart attacks occurring at home, do you feel prepared to respond in a cardiac emergency? If you witnessed a family member in cardiac arrest , would you know what to do?

A heart attack happens when

the heart can’t get enough oxygen because of a blockage in one of the arteries feeding the heart muscle.

Although the majority of Canadians say they would recognize the signs if someone were experiencing a heart attack or another cardiac emergency, fewer than half say they have the skills to help in this common and life

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November is CPR Month and the Canadian Red Cross challenges everyone to get the training they need to help save a life. Effective bystander CPR, when used in conjunction with an AED and administered immediately following cardiac arrest, can double a person’s chance of survival.

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With blended courses now available — two hours online, two hours in classroom — it’s so easy to gain the confidence and knowledge to save a life. In the meantime, download the Canadian Red Cross First Aid App for free, giving you valuable first aid resources at your fingertips.

Be a Lifesaver!

Landscape Lighting Irrigation

Seascape Bruce Culver

Office: 604-947-9686

Cell: 604-329-3045

Window Blinds Licensed Electrical Contractor 778.266.6465 www.bowenislandelectrical.com

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

A16 • Thursday, November 11, 2021

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR SKY members and those interested in joining SKY, may be interested in knowing we are walking together on Wednesday afternoons. For further information please contact 778-886-3600

NOV. 2-NOV 11

Bowen Remembers Bowen Island Museum & Archives Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

NOV. 11 - NOV. 28

Hidden Gems Hearth Gallery

THURSDAY NOV 11

Remembrance Day ceremony Cenotaph 10:50 am Please adhere to COVID-19 health regulations

SATURDAY NOV 13

Book Sale of fiction/ handicrafts/house and home books

Bowen Library Annex 10 am-noon Deadline to apply for Hearth December art market Open to all designers, makers, crafters & artists that offer a selection of unique and diverse goods of thoughtfully curated items, creating a shopping experience for locals and visitors to our island.

SATURDAY NOV 20

Bring Your Own Book Club Bowen Island Public Library Noon-1 pm For Bowen Islanders 18-35 years old. A welcoming drop-in group where you can rave (or rant!) about a book you’ve read, find your next great read, and meet other young book lovers.

We will meet in the Annex but could move outside depending on the group’s preference (and if weather

permits). Questions? info@ bowenlibrary.ca

gmail.com if your interested in being a vendor.

Bowen Island United Chuch drive-through fall supper Legion 4 pm until sold outOffering ham and scalloped potatoes, veggies and pumpkin tarts.

Minimum donation of $15

BIHORA AGM Virtual or in person6 pm Check facebook page or email seaberlystables@ gmail.com for more details

Monsoon Madness Mudder IPS 1:30-4:30 pm Fundraiser for IPS' new fieldhouse / outdoor campus: bit. ly/31mFkeV The Sixties Band are back at the Pub Bowen Island Pub 7 pm Admission by donation to B.I. Community Foundation

MONDAY NOV 22

Regular council meeting 6:15 pm Rotary Club speaker: Kendra Patton for Bowen Westside Playscape Group Zoom 7:30 pm See bowenrotary.com for link

THURSDAY NOV 25

Shari Ulrich, Cindy Fairbank, Kirby Barber and Julia Graff Concert Tir-na-nOg 7 pm Part of Shari Ulrich's Trust Me series. Tickets on Eventbrite or Phoenix. Proof of vaccination and masks required SwimBowen 2019 Photo Credit: Mary Lynn Machado

Bye, Bronwyn. We're all gonna miss you!

SATURDAY NOV 27

Mosaic Art Workshop On Bowen 2-5 pm Transform your old dishes into art with artist Mariana Gassman.

Materials included, no experience required. For one class: $70; for 2 classes $135; for 3 classes $200.

More info / to register email: BowenMosaic@ marianartstudio.com Legion Craft Fair Legion 10 am-4 pm Email Maureen at rcl150manager@

SUNDAY NOV 28

Legion Craft Fair Legion 10 am-4 pm Email Maureen at rcl150manager@gmail.com if your interested in being a vendor.

THURSDAY DEC 2

Squamish Stories with Kung Jaadee Library Annex 10:30 am Live streamed. All-ages event with Q&A. "Kung Jaadee willshare her telling of Squamish legends popularized by Indigenous activist and poet E. Pauline Johnson's 'Legends of Vancouver.'

DEC. 2 -26

December Art Market Hearth Gallery "The 2nd annual December art market is meant to support our local artists providing a space for our December shoppers. Take this monthlong opportunity to sell your holiday gift items at the Hearth Gallery. A one-stop shopping Art Market."

SUNDAY DEC 5

CSA Craft Fair More details to come

MONDAY DEC. 6

John Reischman & The Jaybirds Tir-na-nOg 7 pm Part of Shari Ulrich's Trust Me series. Tickets on Eventbrite or Phoenix. Proof of vaccination and masks required

SATURDAY DEC 11

Book Sale of fiction/travel books Bowen Library Annex 10 am-noon

Mt Gardner controversy continues CONTINUED FROM P. 1

“This is becoming increasingly annoying and time-wasting,” was Coun. Michael Kaile’s irritated stance with the province. “It’s almost farcical that we’re having to go through this.”

Coun. Alison Morse was the lone councillor to vote against the resolution to request the province rescind its decision. “I think [Robert van der Zalm, RSTBC regional manager] is wanting the community to try and be inclusive and accommodate the needs or wishes or recreational activities of all the residents of Bowen,” said Morse. “[The letter is] talking about groups getting together and trying to work something out.”