THANKS, BRONWYN: Odes to an editor PAGE 6
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2021
A HEAD TURNER
VOL. 47 NO. 45
BIUndercurrent
BowUndercurrent www.bowenislandundercurrent.com
Tiny owl delights PAGE 3
Rain-drenched island digs out
Island spared most of damage rocking the rest of province MARTHA PERKINS
Interim Editor
the Vancouver Courier. Kurial’s admiration of the way his friend was managing the challenges of being half of a two-person newspaper took on a hint of envy when the pandemic hit.
It wasn’t just copious amounts of rain that fell on Bowen Island on Monday. The “atmospheric river” also caused rocks and debris to tumble down an embankment in Eaglecliff and block a culvert. With passageway under the road jammed near the S curve, the rain water went over the road, resulting in flood damage. “That’s where we focused most of our energy,” says Sophie Idsinga, Bowen Island Municipality’s communications co-ordinator. The road was closed from roughly 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with traffic reductions afterwards. There were about a dozen trouble spots for the municipality’s public works department. Another area of concern was Whitesails Road at Reef Road. Grafton Lake came close to spilling its banks but major problems were avoided. The municipality did receive calls from people whose houses flooded but none of the families had to leave their homes as a result. “Everything yesterday was just sheer volume of water coming from everywhere,” Idsinga says, adding “We were really impressed by the effort everyone put in. It was all hands on deck with our public works and fire departments. Even the mayor was out with his chainsaw.”
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MARTHA PERKINS PHOTO
A FATHER REMEMBERED: Sisters Tina
Neilsen and Pernille Neilsen share an emotional hug after laying a wreath in honour of their late father and his fellow Danish resistance soldiers at the November 11 Remembrance Day service at the cenotaph. More photos page 9
New editor arrives November 29 Alex Kurial has envied Island’s strengths from afar MARTHA PERKINS
Interim Editor
Alex Kurial always enjoyed reading about Bronwyn Beairsto’s life as the editor of the Bowen Island Undercurrent.
The two had met when they were both doing their master’s in journalism at Carleton University. Beairsto was a year ahead but their lives converged, if only briefly, when they were interns at
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