West Vancouver Beacon | January/February 2020 | Edition 38

THE No. 38

BEACON Shedding light on the communities from Lions Bay to West Bay

January/February 2020

A rarely photographed Horseshoe Bay winter scene taken by Chris Adshead.

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From the Inkwell

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TEAM

Chris Stringer

There is always room to dance Opinion

Publisher

chrisstringer @westvanbeacon.ca

Lindy Pfeil

Lindy Pfeil Editor

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melissabaker @westvanbeacon.ca Please note that all contributing writers for The Beacon retain full rights and that the full or partial reproduction of feature articles is unauthorized without the consent of the author.

Personal opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are solely those of the respective contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Beacon, the publisher or the editorial and creative staff.

Submissions for The Beacon The Beacon is delivered bi-monthly to 5000+ households between Lions Bay and West Bay. For submission guidelines and queries, please e-mail the Editor: lindypfeil@ westvanbeacon.ca Please note that all submissions are subject to space constraints and editing.

For advertising queries, please e-mail the Director of Marketing: pennymitchell@westvanbeacon.ca For all other queries, please e-mail the Publisher: chrisstringer@westvanbeacon.ca All editions of The Beacon (beginning in September 2013), can also be read online at: www.westvanbeacon.ca.

January/February 2020

T

hank-you to all of you who have, over the past months, stopped me in Caulfeild Village to ask after my mother– just one of the many reasons I love this community. She is much better. But, in addition to her other health issues, she has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

It’s a tricky one this, not least because PD manifests so differently in different people.

While there is no cure, there are treatments that are highly successful in relieving symptoms. So, I started investigating. And during one late-night cyber-search, I stumbled across Dance for Parkinson’s (PD).

Developed by the esteemed Mark Morris Dance Group in New York, Dance for PD is offered in more than 300 communities on six continents. The focus is on fostering confidence, creativity and grace.

Brain research has finally “proven” what dancers and teachers of dance have known for decades: music and movement can have profound effects on brain development.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe recently released a report looking at the impact the arts can have on health and wellbeing. It looked specifically at the Dance for PD programme, reporting: “Dance has repeatedly been found to provide clinically meaningful improvements in motor scores for people with PD. Dance involves basal ganglia structures, activating

similar neurological pathways to regular exercise, and also supports the psychological state by enhancing the concentration of serotonin. Improvements have been found in balance, gait speed and functional mobility” (culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk).

I dug a little deeper. And that’s when I found Megan Walker-Straight, right in our own West Vancouver backyard. Megan is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and pursued graduate training in Dance Therapy at Hunter College, University of New York. She danced professionally with the prestigious Merce Cunningham Dance Company in NYC, and has been a teacher at Simon Fraser University School for Contemporary Arts since 2000. She was awarded a fellowship to train with the Brooklyn Parkinson’s Dance/Mark Morris Dance Group in New York and has been teaching Dance for PD on the North Shore since 2015.

Megan explains: “It’s not therapy or an exercise class, although our class is both therapeutic and physical. Our goal is aesthetic rather than technical. We seek to move beautifully, with strength, expressing feelings and telling stories through movement while stimulating creativity and imagination.”

When Megan invited me to attend a class, I jumped at the opportunity. We started the class seated, our chairs arranged in a semi-circle. Then we progressed to standing, using our chairs for support, and finally we moved through the room, following Megan’s choreographed dance sequence.

Trained volunteers provided support for participants, if needed.

Photo provided Megan Walker-Straight leading a Dance for PD class during the BC Parkinson Society Movement Day outside the Vancouver Art Museum.

Megan’s dancers praise both the programme and her inspiring instruction. “I love my dance class,” says one. “There is no pressure to excel but rather I am encouraged to allow my body to experience movement in space.” Another participant, JC, adds: “Megan has created a beautiful place for myself and my fellow dancers to take a break from our Parkinson’s and just envelop ourselves in the music and move. It always feels freeing and meditative. Megan is intuitive to everyone’s needs and capabilities.

It’s more than a dance class. It has become

If you are not receiving home delivery of The Beacon please let us know at chrisstringer@westvanbeacon.ca

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January/February 2020

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Mary Bayes Community Rain Garden BY

Connie Spiers

S

trolling through Horseshoe Bay, you might come across the little park featuring the “Mary Bayes Community Rain Garden.” Mary Bayes, a proud Horseshoe Bay resident for over 30 years, was a volunteer at virtually every community event, either working calmly behind the scenes or in front. She was the first person to call if you needed a friend, dog sitter, or community resource. Anyone who knew Mary had a story to tell about her volunteerism and deep commitment to friends and community. She was the recipient of the 2016 West Vancouver Community Commitment Award.

I met Mary in 1991, when I opened an art gallery in Horseshoe Bay and she brought her visitors in on a tour. We spent time together (in 2017/18) on the Horseshoe Bay Park Revitalization Advisory Committee. I was, at that time, involved with a group of local musicians who wanted to put on a free Canada Day concert in the park. To break even was a challenge and I was tasked with finding sponsors and volunteers. Mary immediately offered to organize volunteers. I

Continued from page 2

a family.”

Megan’s goal is to nurture community and relationships. Family members and caregivers are welcomed and encouraged to dance along. No experience is required and participants can remain seated throughout the class, with modified dance moves, should they so choose. “Dance can offer

found out what a fan club she had when, in spite of the early start, Mary and her team showed up to get the tents, and their concrete anchors, from storage and set them up. At pack-up time, I was bombarded by people asking what to do. Amidst the chaos, a hand reached out from the crowd. It was Mary.

Without a word, she removed the keys from around my neck and organised the packing away.

That was Mary: seeing what needed to be done and doing it.

Mary’s unexpected passing left many shocked and saddened. It also left a significant void in our community. Ideas and Mary Bayes. funds poured in for a memorial to celebrate Mary’s life. Suggestions included a park bench or dog watering station, but finally a rain garden was selected as a fitting tribute.

Mary often walked her dog, Rufus, in

strength and extension, courage and expression,” Megan says. “It can also offer joyful musicality and time to be present with your body as it remembers to soar.”

I think I had a smile the entire class. It was the most fun I’ve had in ages. I only wish my mother could have been there too.

To try a Dance for PD class, contact meganwstraight@gmail.com or 604-313-0660.

A volunteer group working on preparing the Community Rain Garden.

Douglas Park and found it very muddy. She had suggested that creating a rain garden would be a good community effort, along with the District of West Vancouver and the support of the North Shore Rain Garden Project (NSRGP).

NSRGP is an initiative of the Pacific Water Research Centre in the Faculty of Environment at SFU. It has been running since 2016, under direction of Dr. Joanna Ashworth and in collaboration with all three North Shore governments, the Nature Trust of BC, the North Growth Foundation and Quad Real Property Group. They are working to expand understanding and use of green infrastructure, specifically rain gardens and their role in contributing to climate resilient communities. This mitigates flooding, roadway and stormwater contaminants in freshwater systems while extend-

Photos provided

ing capacity of municipal infrastructure through strategic partnerships.

The NSRGP aims to engage and support residents in rainwater management, including location selection and construction material design. The Horseshoe Bay project entails replacing the lawn and bare areas with organic-rich soils, dense plantings, mulch, and the diversity of mostly native plants. All of this assists in reducing contaminants to the sensitive marine environment in Horseshoe Bay. Funding for this rain garden project has been received from NSRGP, Nature Trust of BC, West Vancouver Foundation, WRA, HBBA and many of Mary’s friends and neighbours.

Thanks to this collective community group, the park provides a place for those who wish to stroll through or spend time in remembrance of Mary Bayes.

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January/February 2020

SCHOOLS

Outstanding Youth Philanthropist nominations BY

Jennifer Henrichsen Assistant Head of School, IPS

I

n November 2019, on National Philanthropy Day, Island Pacific School was nominated for a Giving Hearts Award for Outstanding Youth Philanthropist. The Association of Fundraising Professionals recognizes individuals and groups that make a difference in their communities.

Community service is one of the foundations of programming at Island Pacific School, aimed at inspiring middle school students. Each grade has a different focus. The grade 6 and 7 classes volunteer on Bowen Island, from the Bowen Island Children’s Centre to Collensia Community Farm. Grade 8 students individually choose an organization that they want to contribute to, through fundraising or action. Grade 9 students work

with Covenant House Vancouver by hosting Sleep Out Student Edition which raises awareness and funds for homeless youth.

Over five years, IPS students have raised over $40,000 for Covenant House Vancouver. Just before winter break, the school dedicates a day where the juniors bake and cook for the Bowen Food Bank and the seniors volunteer at Quest Food Exchange in Vancouver, putting together holiday hampers for families.

On a more global scale, IPS has a relationship with an orphanage and school in Ghana, West Africa. Students have been writing pen pal letters for ten years and have raised about $55,000 to send students to senior high school.

This involvement at a formative time in the students’ development, makes a lasting impression and they will grow into people who make positive change in the world.

Photo provided Jennifer Henrichsen and Pam Matthews of Island Pacific School accepting the Giving Hearts Award for Outstanding Youth Philanthropist at the Association of Fundraising Professionals National Philanthropy Day Luncheon.

Photo provided IPS students bake cookies to give to the Bowen Island Food Bank.

Another successful Ride for Rescue

T

he 2019 Rotary Ride for Rescue was a great success, with 244 cyclists raising over $94,000 to benefit North Shore Rescue, Royal Canadian Search and Rescue Stations 1 and 2, the West Vancouver Police Department’s Pulling Together Canoe Journey, West Vancouver Municipalities Summer Work Experience and Adventure Program, the West Vancouver Memorial Library’s Teen Summer Reading program and other Rotary supported projects.

The cheque presentation to North Shore Rescue for $51,000 took place at North Shore Rescue Headquarters last October. The event included Honorary Rotary Memberships being awarded to community members who are strong supporters of Rotary projects and values.

These included MLA Ralph Sultan, Mayor Mary-Ann Booth, Councillor Bill Soprovich and West Vancouver Police Department’s Anne Russell.

The next Ride for Rescue is scheduled for Saturday June 13, 2020. Interested participants, volunteers and sponsors will find information on the Ride website: https://www.rotaryrideforrescue.org,

Photo provided Mike Danks, team leader, North Shore Search & Rescue with Matt Gull, president, Rotary Club of West Vancouver, Sunrise.

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Stocking shelves with works by local authors BY

Sarah Barton-Bridges

I

t is well known that the North Shore is home to a burgeoning community of writers. Recently, the North Shore’s three library systems—North Vancouver City Library, North Vancouver District Public Library and West Vancouver Memorial Library—unveiled the first-ever North Shore Authors Collection.

Over 100 titles from almost 70 local authors, including some as young as 15 years old, have been included in the libraries’ 2019/2020 collections, showcasing the community’s varied and diverse literary talent.

The collection was presented at a special event, on November 21, at the West Vancouver Memorial Library. Pat Cumming, the library’s Head of Customer & Community Experience, welcomed the

crowd of over 150 writers and their families and friends. Sonia Garrett from the North Shore Authors Association also spoke, emphasizing the importance of public libraries in promoting local authors. Once the collection was ceremoniously unveiled, authors and their guests were invited to mingle and enjoy light refreshments.

One of the writers in attendance was Shelley Hrdlitschka, the author of 11 novels for teens. Her books Lost Boy, Dancing in the Rain and Allegra are included in the 2019/2020 North Shore Authors Collection. “This was my childhood library,” she said. “This is where I learned to love to read and write—so it’s a real honour to be here this evening.”

In the two weeks following the event, nearly a third of the collection had already circulated at the West Vancouver Memorial Library alone—and one title had been

Photo: courtesy of Abigail Saxton, NV City Library The North Shore Authors Collection at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

checked out twice.

The collection will be on display in all three North Shore library systems for the next year, until the 2020/2021 collection is announced. Applications for that collection will open at the end of April 2020.

New conflict resolution tactics for a new year Psyched Out Ian Macpherson

“M

y husband, Jake, insists my New Year’s resolution should be to not let my emotions affect any disputes we have,” Alice tells me.

“I do get upset and find myself pleading my case rather passionately, but I am not a screamer and he acts like a stone wall!”

I have seen the pair in action and must agree that while regulating wild emotions is a desirable goal, trying to keep our feelings out of conflict is psychologically impossible.

It used to be that even psychologists thought of emotions as pesky - to be controlled so that problems could be solved rationally. But we know better now. The emotional and reasoning areas of the brain are enmeshed. And it is possible to tell what a person’s general life beliefs are by looking at brain scans - not of the intellectual parts of the brain but of the emotional ones!

Research has helped us see just how

C U S TOM PLAN

The West Vancouver Memorial Library hosted Shared Journeys: Winter Celebrations on Saturday, November 23 to showcase both the unique and shared ways we celebrate winter. Attendees learned about Christmas, Yalda, Dongzhi and Squamish Nation customs, and created ornaments with a winter symbol or word to decorate the library’s tree at the Dundarave Festival of Lights.

Photo: courtesy of Layla Zhao, Gigglingphoto Studio

important our feelings really are when it comes to resolving the issues that create our most painful conflicts.

“Jake usually points out the errors in my logic and tries to set me on the right path whenever we disagree on something,” Alice sighs. “But no matter how much he seems to make sense, it often just doesn’t feel right to me.” As you can probably guess, their disagreements tend to recycle and even cool Jake then loses it. He too has trouble practicing what he preaches.

The problem is that our experience in getting our emotional needs met - or not -

heavily informs our thinking. Jake keeps his more vulnerable feelings hidden. When he senses a threat, he turns to explaining away Alice’s feelings, habitually bullying her with his “trial lawyer” type of approach to every problem.

So now Jake is considering his own New Year’s resolution: to learn to focus more on feelings - his own and Alice’s - instead of keeping them under cover.

Ian Macpherson is a psychologist who lives and practices in West Vancouver. More at www.westvancouvertherapist.com

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YOU’RE INVITED TO SHARE YOUR MEMORIES OF DAILY LIFE IN WEST VANCOUVER West Vancouver Stories is a volunteer-based oral history project, that collects and preserves the stories and memories of the people who built the community we enjoy today.

The West Vancouver Historical Society is looking for people to interview, and for interviewers, researchers and coordinators.

Experience is welcome but not required, as training will be provided.

Learn about the unique history of your home community, and learn new skills too.

For information go to www. wvhs.ca or get in touch at wvhs@shaw.ca / 778.279.2235

January/February 2020

Filtering furnaces, filtering lives BY

Kim Clarke

I

n my classroom, I have been known to say: “Nothing, in literature, is random.

Everything is purposeful.” I cannot for the life of me remember where this nugget came from, but I pull it out so often, that my students say it with me – charming rote memorizers and chanters that they are.

We have repeated it together so many times, that we have come to believe that it is true. We have started to believe, too, that purposefulness is not just relegated to literature, but to real life as well.

New age parlance would have us pay really close attention – be mindful – to

the connectedness of things. To see that life events and small world wondrousness is everywhere.

But when you open yourself up to the details, to see the connections between where you have been and the path you are currently traveling, it’s amazing what those footsteps foreshadow. It’s like the furnace filter that I had to change today. It had collected details from past lives that were so dense and fantastic that it choked the life out of the furnace. Heat was lost.

Frozen in our home, we were three unanimated humans, desperate to be connected to the memory of warmth.

Someone in the collective chill wheezed and here I am post filtered, basking in heat, reflecting on the connection

between forced air furnaces and our ability to breathe. We take for granted that the systems in our homes – in our lives – will keep us safe and warm or cool and lessthan collected. We forget that we are the keepers of the details, the synthesizers of the seemingly random info that proves to us daily, that all things are connected.

Everything is purposeful. But some things need to be deliberately filtered, or we risk suffocation.

Kim Clarke is a writer and teacher who lives in Horseshoe Bay. She is surprised and delighted by the inexplicable details of every day; and she wants to share sparkle, in all its forms, with the world.

Local Voices of West Vancouver BY

Laura Anderson

T

he West Vancouver Historical Society is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the history of our community. Its members work closely with West Vancouver Archives and West Vancouver Memorial Library, and with local community organizations.

Local Voices celebrates our community - as it was, as it is and as it can become - in the words of the people who make their home here. Through their work, studies and creative expression, our neighbours share their passion for, and dedication to,

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The first presentation of 2020, Shooting the North Shore, takes place on February 5. Mike Wakefield and Ralph Bower will talk about the stories behind their photographs. Mike is a photographer with the North Shore News, and Ralph worked for the Vancouver Sun. Both were born and raised on the North Shore, and both began their careers as summer jobs. Turns out they never worked anywhere else!

The following three Local Voices are scheduled for April 1, June 3 and October 7. All the presentations take place at 7:00 pm in the Welsh Hall at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

Photo: courtesy of Mike Wakefield Mike Wakefield and Ralph Bower will talk about the stories behind their photographs on February 5, at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

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January/February 2020

PAGE 7

The house that Gertrude built BY

Reto Tschan

A

West Vancouver landmark, Gertrude Lawson House was built by a remarkable woman. The youngest daughter of John and Christina Lawson, Gertrude was born in Donald, BC in 1892.

With her family, she moved to Vancouver, eventually settling on what had been “Navvy” Jack’s property at the foot of 17th Street in 1907.

Gertrude trained as a teacher and taught in the interior, at Barkerville and Naramata.

However, with both her father and brother overseas during the First World War, Gertrude returned home. She would go on to teach at Hollyburn and Pauline Johnson schools for over 30 years.

Gertrude never married, and when her father’s financial position took a turn for the worse, she assumed the responsibility of caring for her ageing parents. As a teacher with a modest income, she had to plan carefully for her future. In 1926, Gertrude struck

a deal to buy a vacant lot at the corner of 17th Street and Esquimalt Avenue for $800, paying for it in $200 installments over the next four years.

With the land hers, Gertrude convinced two other unmarried teachers to join her in building the “retirement home” she had begun to plan. But they both eventually backed out and Gertrude had to go it alone.

It was rare for a single woman to be granted a mortgage, but Gertrude was able to secure a $5,000 mortgage in 1939.

Her wish was for a large home, modelled on the country manors she had admired during a family visit to Scotland in 1911.

The stone clad house – two stories with a full basement – was originally designed with two kitchens, for the convenience of her parents who were to live with her. In addition to a living room, study and studio, the house had four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Council, however, turned down her request to rezone the property for multifamily use. The house had to be reduced in size, though Gertrude was able to retain the large living room, designed for Scottish

country dancing, which included a raised platform for musicians.

After her parents died in the mid 1950s, Gertrude rented rooms to female teachers, young couples and other “gentle women who had known better days.” These “housekeeping units” necessitated some alterations and additional plumbing, most installed without approval. The additional income helped cover costs and subsidized her small pension. Gertrude was thus able to live independently, in a home that was a hub of social activity, until her death in 1989 at the age of 96.

Hoping to preserve this link to West Vancouver’s past, the West Vancouver Historical Society convinced the District of West Vancouver to buy the house for $1.2 million.

A further $500,000 was raised by the Society to undertake an extensive renovation in order to create a home for the West Vancouver Art Museum and Archives, which opened to the public in 1994.

Photo: courtesy of WVA, 302.WVA.LAW Gertrude Lawson celebrates her 90th birthday in her garden, June 19, 1982.

Photo: courtesy of WVA, 194.WVA.LAW Gertrude Lawson House shortly after construction, circa 1940.

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January/February 2020

ARTS AND CULTURE

LIVE ARTS ARE ALIVE IN WEST VANCOUVER One does not have to leave West Vancouver for live arts entertainment. It’s happening right here.

It began in 1946, when Theatre West Van opened with its first play. The Silk Purse live arts programmes on the waterfront followed much later in the 1990s.

Our magnificent Kay Meek Centre opened its doors in 2004. And more recently, the Lion’s Bay home concert series opened and continues successfully.

The following pages provide a representation from the four organizations about their events and developments. Check them out and consider enjoying your next arts event, possibly right next door.

The Silk Purse, nearly 30 years of community service BY

Chris Stringer

M

any consider our waterfront playground, from the Capilano River to Dundarave Beach, to be the heart and soul of West Vancouver. A place where, year round, one can wander the seawall, explore beaches and linger in parks, while gazing across a Pacific Inlet at an old growth forest a few hundred feet away. And beside it, the elegant span of the Lions Gate Bridge reveals snowy Mount Baker peeking through.

While wandering, the sound of live music drifts from a tiny waterfront cottage in the park. It could be Mozart, Brahms or Chopin. Or perhaps it’s Count Basie, the Duke or Quincy Jones. One is compelled to stop, sit on a bench or a log on the beach, or rest on the grass, and question, “Am I really experiencing this?”

For close to thirty years this soulful experience has emanated from the Silk Purse, an historic beachside cottage, where live and visual arts meld with nature. One wonders whether something like this could possibly exist anywhere else in the world.

Musicians, including those from the

Photos provided

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Photos provided

Waterfront wanderers enjoying the live music.

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Vancouver Symphony, as well as local elite jazz performers, return year after year to what they call their “favourite place to perform.” They refer to it as their drawing room, where they can play surrounded by 60 or more friends. The drawing room walls are adorned with visual artworks created by North Shore artists from varied generations and cultures. The gallery is open during the week.

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PAGE 9

$4 Million Kay Meek renovation project under way ity and upgrade the theatre’s amenities.

With support from all three levels of government, construction began this sumhere is nothing quite like the thrill mer. of attending a live performance. It John Bannister is a West Vancouver is a social and communal gather- retiree who lives with a spinal condiing that brings people together for the tion. He is personally excited about the best of reasons – to be inspired as well as accessibility improvements under way at entertained. the Kay Meek Arts West Vancouver Centre. “With my is extremely fortuscooter, I’m able to nate to have one of travel all over, but I British Columbia’s have found attending finest performing the Kay Meek to be arts venues. Since a unique challenge. opening in 2004, the I am so pleased all Kay Meek Arts Centhese issues are betre has proven its ing resolved - with a value to the entire full-sized automated North Shore comelevator to all levels, - John Bannister munity with a home universal washrooms for outstanding enon all levels, and tertainment in two professional theatres. more accessible seating. Will I be attendOver those fifteen years, the site’s chal- ing the Kay Meek Arts Centre more oflenges have also become clear. ten? Absolutely!”

While the physical setting of the beauIn addition to government support, tiful Kay Meek Arts Centre is unques- private fundraising has included a leadtionably stunning, it has posed accessibil- ing contribution from PARC Retirement ity and safety issues, discouraging some Living and several major gifts from indimembers of our community from attend- vidual and corporate donors. Fundraising ing, especially those with physical or mo- commitments to date have reached 85 bility issues. A recent survey suggests that percent of the $4 Million goal. The board 37 percent of potential arts patrons cite is now actively canvassing the community “access” as one of the main barriers to at- for the remaining $600,000, while contending an event. struction continues toward completion, Last year, the Kay Meek board decided targeted for September, 2020. to take action by launching a $4 Million At this time, the elevator installation renovation project to improve accessibil- is in progress, along with redevelopment BY

Lenore Swenerton

T

“

“Will I be attending the Kay Meek Arts Centre more often?

Absolutely!”

of the programming and service areas displaced by the new elevator shaft. The new box office and coat check areas are roughed in, as are the new accessible washrooms on both the upper and lower levels. A newly designed gallery space will add to the lobby amenities, and a purpose-built dance rehearsal space will become available to meet the high demand of local community groups.

Outside the building, upgrades to the pathways, stairs, and lighting will improve safety and create more open space, where the courtyard will feature a newly commissioned sculpture donated in memory of Yulanda Faris. And inside the two theatres, important technical upgrades ensure the facility is properly equipped to serve the community for years to come.

Completion of the entire project is

now within sight, and the Kay Meek board stresses that the remaining work can’t happen without a final wave of contributions.

With generous support from sponsors and donors, this important work on West Vancouver’s beloved Kay Meek Arts Centre will make it the best it can be for the next generation: a welcoming and inclusive facility of the highest standards, serving our entire community.

Photos provided Kay Meek Executive Director, Rob Gloor, in the construction zone.

From her photo on the wall, Kay Meek overlooks construction manager Frank Shabrang’s shoulder as he arrives with the building permit.

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January/February 2020

ARTS AND CULTURE

Theatre West Van BY

Allison Jopson

I

n 1945, West Vancouver resident, Mrs. Edith Powell, put an ad in the local paper to try and spark interest in forming a local community theatre. People responded, and in March 1946 an executive of 20 members was formed. The first play, Distinguished Gathering, was presented in October 1946.

This is the origin of West Vancouver Little Theatre Guild – now known as Theatre West Van. The group has continued to be active in the community and is proud to be able to say that this year marked its 73rd sea-

son. Productions have covered many genres, from mysteries, thrillers, comedies and dramas and have won many awards from Theatre BC over the years. Never having a permanent home, productions have taken place in many different venues over the years.

Community theatre can play an important role in the social and artistic life of the local population so it was always a priority to remain in West Vancouver. When the Kay Meek Centre opened, Theatre West Van mounted the first production to be performed in the Studio Theatre, and they have made this their venue since. Recent productions have included Agatha Christie mysteries, works by Canadian playwrights and two

very popular productions of Fawlty Towers.

Everyone is a volunteer and finances rely almost solely on ticket sales. Theatre West Van welcomes anyone who wants to be involved, backstage or on stage. No experience is necessary. And due to increasing rental costs, sponsors are very welcome indeed!

The latest production, Gaslight, closed in November. Hilda’s Yard, a comedy by Canadian playwright Norm Foster, is planned for the spring, in the Studio Theatre of the Kay Meek. Information can be found at theatrewestvan.com.

Happy yourself at Lions Bay House Concerts

BY Tamara

T

Leger

here’s something special happening in Lions Bay and it combines world-class music, intimate private home settings and gourmet potluck dining. Everyone is welcome and the evenings run from 7 to10 pm, so you can be in bed by 10:30pm. How great is that?

Artists who’ve performed include Brazilian guitarist and 2020 GRAMMY nominee, Diego Figueiredo; Indie Awards Artist of the Year, Sarah MacDougall; JUNO winner Laila Biali; 2020 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees Andrea Ramolo and Leaf Rapids;

Maddie Storvold and Dylan Menzie (who were featured on CTV’s The Launch). Not international enough for you? Consider Jazz legend, Dan Brubeck; Argentinian jazz pianist, Gabriel Palatchi; Imagine Sweden Award Winners, The Dimpker Brothers; Australians Daniel Champagne, Tracy McNeil and Dan Parsons; and Nashville-based, Sam Lewis (named one of “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone Magazine).

“The formula is always the same - bring a homemade appetizer and come prepared to meet old friends and make new ones and to enjoy fantastic music,” says one regular attendee. “I have come to appreciate so many more genres of music as my musical tastes

are stretched by the many different musicians. There is nothing that has done more to bring people together in our community than Lions Bay House Concerts.” Another happy visitor adds: “I was blown away by the experience of live music from artists from all around the world in a home or garden. I don’t like large crowds which is why this format is such a gift.”

So, in 2020, happy yourself! Whether you enjoy classical, jazz, folk, indie, blues, country, opera or a 14-piece hip-hop brass band, there’s sure to be something at Lions Bay House Concerts for you. And you don’t have to cross a single bridge to get there. Info at lionsbayhouseconcerts.com

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January/February 2020

PAGE 11

FROM THE INKWELL

Haida Gwaii, U.N. Heritage site David Roberts

T

he government of Sir James Douglas, which administered the two colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island during the mid-1800s, ran an administration that struggled with the growing pains of a new province. This included the crime, commerce and disease that accompanied the influx of a monstrous population of prospectors, all bent on wresting fortunes from the gold that had been discovered in the Yukon.

Douglas built a reputation as a capable administrator. But his government also acquired a sinister reputation amongst the Haida.

My wife, Gill, and I were keen to visit Ninstints, the old abandoned Haida village north of Cape St. James, nestled on Anthony Island.

The old Haida name for what is now a UN heritage site, is SGang Gwaay Llnagaay.

U.N. Heritage site, S’Gang Gwaay Llnagaay

The Darwin Sound, the ketch which brought us down the coast, dropped anchor and we and our daughter, Kate, rowed ashore.

It was evident why this miraculously peaceful place had become a world heritage site.

Between high water mark and the forest, scattered amongst the trees, were dozens of weather-beaten totem poles and some mortuary poles. Many had collapsed, worn away by the weather. Some were leaning over, destined soon to join their mates on the ground. A few still stood, the visages carved into the trunks gazing fixedly out to sea. The mortuary poles, standing erect, cradled small coffins near the top, waiting to return their cargo to join the poles already recumbent on the grass. The outlines of several old long houses, covered with grass quilts, marked the place where the villagers had once lived, loved and held their potlatches.

Kate had visited Ninstints before, as a crew member of the Darwin Sound. The island is guarded by a Haida watchman who occupies a little hut, perched atop a small cliff. Kate had struck up a friendship with Wonnegon, the

Photo: iStock.com_milehightraveler

watchman. Short of stature, wide in beam and sturdily built, his broad smile radiated welcome to the people who had journeyed down to visit his sanctuary.

Kate took Gill to see another part of the Island. I stayed to talk to Wonnegon. Diffidently, I broached the subject of the rotting totem poles. I suggested that it was a pity that some attempt was not being made to preserve them. He gave me a look, tinged with pity at my ignorance. “Ah, well”, he said. “You see, the poles originally grew as trees. We cut them down and carved them, standing them up in our villages, as symbols of our people and our heritage, and the mortuary poles are where we house our dead. The poles are living beings.

They are born, they live out their lifespan and then, just as we mortals do, they wither and die. They go back to the earth, from which

they originally came. It would be wrong to interfere with their natural lifecycle. It is ordained.”

I wondered about the poles preserved in the museums around the world. I mentioned to Wonnegon that I had seen totem poles from Haida Gwaii in museums in Ottawa and Victoria. “That was Wilson Duff,” he said. “He came here years ago and cut down many of the poles. Cut them up and took them to Victoria. There were some of my people with him when he did it, Bill Reid for one.” He shook his head in mute disapproval.

As I learned more about the Haida, I realized that this expedition had sparked a bitter controversy: should the poles have been left, to return at last to the earth or was it right to

300-year-old totem poles at Ninstints.

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January/February 2020

And the near extinction of the Haida Continued from page 11

preserve them in antiseptic air-conditioned museums? I don’t know the answer. But Wonnegon surely did.

I told him that Gill and I had gone ashore at Skidans, a village abandoned by the Haida many years ago. While we were picnicking by a small clump of trees, I parted the branches behind us. I was startled to find, in neat rows, a collection of some two dozen human skulls.

Wonnegon nodded. “Those would be the people who died of smallpox in the 1860s. There were probably too few survivors to care for the bodies properly. Someone took the skulls and hid them all together where you found them.”

We fell to talking about the smallpox epidemic. I knew little about it, except that the smallpox virus is capable of existing in clothing and blankets and infecting people long after it has been introduced into the host material.

Smallpox had decimated the Haida population. Wonnegon was eloquent on the subject, keen that I learn what injury the white man had wrought on the Haida. It was deliberate, he insisted. Before the mid 1850s, the Haida

population had been estimated at between 6,000 and 8,000 souls. By 1915 it had been reduced to 588, ravaged by measles, dysentery, consumption and, worst of all, smallpox.

In the summer of 1863, Wonnegon said, a group of Haida had come south to Victoria to trade their furs for pots, pans, tools and blankets. They were encamped around Ogden Point. It was gold rush time. The Brother Jonathan, a ship full of prospectors from San Francisco, docked in Victoria. A mob of unruly Americans disembarked, some of whom were infected with smallpox. The disease spread amongst the population of Victoria, claiming many victims. These were all treated by the resident medical profession, though a number died.

The Haida, camped outside the town, were becoming an embarrassment. Wonnegon insisted that the Douglas government deliberately infected some of the Hudson Bay blankets with the virus and traded them to the Haida. Many fell ill. Deciding to go home, they bundled their trade goods into their war canoes and paddled off up north. Many died on the way, and those who did make it home

Photo: iStock.com_Varga Jones

Haida Gwaii at sunset.

brought the smallpox with them, infecting their families. It devastated the population.

In truth, the Haida came close to being wiped out completely.

I suggested to Wonnegon that no government would indulge in such deliberate genocide. Wonnegon was adamant: “It was definitely deliberate,” he insisted. “They wanted to be rid of us, so they infected the blankets and traded them to us, sending us off to die.”

I took this up with Connie Webb, a Haida woman we had befriended some years ear-

lier. She conceded that while it was difficult to prove that a deliberate policy of genocide was, in fact, the case, many Haida shared Wonnegon’s opinion. This, she asserted, was the reputation the Douglas administration had earned amongst her people. To this day, she told us, a significant number of Haida still harboured a deep resentment at the harm the government had wrought. It may account for the hard-edged negotiations the Haida conduct for the return of their hereditary islands, Haida Gwaii.

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A Bella Coola vacation BY

Ann Frost

Reflections from a diary

H

ave you travelled the ten hours on a BC Ferry from the top of Vancouver Island to the Chilcotins? Seen grizzly bears fishing for salmon as they fatten up for their winter hibernation? Visited 5000-year-old petroglyphs accompanied by a guide from the Indigenous peoples of the area, the Nuxalk? And then experienced your guide chanting and drumming his people’s stories of the Creator? How Raven helped the Nuxalk get the sun?

Have you bumped along a forest road, (emphasis on forest, not road), and then wandered on foot along a wilderness trail to a small stream where grizzlies are fishing?

Or donned a life jacket and rubber boots and floated on a raft down the Bella Coola river, enjoying the peace of the wilderness and more fishing grizzlies? Have you been

invited, through an accidental meeting in a gallery, to an afternoon concert featuring well-known Canadian fiddlers and then returned in the evening to join in country dancing with families including babes in arms?

Have you stayed in “Bear Cottage,” one of a collection of cottages close to Tweedsmuir Park, so comfortable and well equipped, that it feels like home? Or been on the spine-tingling drive up the slopes of Tweedsmuir Park, with its precipitous drop on the passenger side? And then emerged on the wonderfully wide sunlit roads of the Caribou where the temptation to put your foot down on the accelerator was irresistible?

All of these were part of our trip to Bella Coola and the Chilcotins last September, starting with the ferry ride from Port Hardy. It is most heartily recommended, with a few cautions. Book early, because it is a little ferry and it fills up quickly. Also look

Fishing grizzly.

for accommodation early. And it is best to go before Labour Day. We weren’t able to see the Bella Coola Valley Museum, the historic Tallheo Cannery, or the Norwegian Heritage House in Hagenborg.

We stayed at the motel operated by the Nuxalk people in Bella Coola and visited their ancestral lands about 20 minutes out of town.

At Acwsalcta School, an independent Nuxalk First Nations school (pre-school to grade 12), drumming, chanting and dance are taught, as well as traditional cooking. There is wonderful Nuxalk art in the foyer and a collection of totem poles outside. And outside the school, an amazing piece of Nuxalk art honours residential school survivors.

At the gift shop, Mamayu, we discovered some lovely indigenous remembrances to bring home with us. There are several gal-

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leries in the area.

One of them, the Copper Sun Gallery, is also the local Tourist Information Center.

Located on the main street in Bella Coola, that’s where you can book raft trips and tours of the petroglyphs. And all of this is blissfully close to home. Don’t miss it.

Photos: courtesy of Ray Frost

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January/February 2020 ANNE BAIRD

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Sharing more than space

Y

our home is your personal space, created by your experiences of living, loving, working, and meeting your basic human needs for shelter, food, and companionship. It’s an intimate place of memories.

Welcoming somebody new into your space may seem a potential intrusion.

Someone entering another’s space wonders, “Will I ever feel I’m a full partner in this new place? Will it ever feel like home?” These are legitimate concerns.

How you share space will determine the nature and quality of your sharing. It can be formal or informal. But it must work for both of you. Here are a few things you need to decide: • What is shared, common space, and what is private?

• Are there constraints on your roommate’s time and access to common areas such as kitchen, living room, laundry facilities and patio?

• Is your roommate to remain mostly in his or her own space?

• Or, will you share the space like family, with restrictions attached mainly to private areas such as bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms?

Janice and I chose to share the sandbox, family style. She paid her fair share of rent, split certain household expenses and responsibilities. This entitled her to a full run of the apartment.

We share our space like family. We respect each other’s bedrooms and need for privacy. But no common area is off base. We enjoy our apartment, together. This suits us.

We were already used to sharing our homes with family, friends, pets and even international homestay students (Janice) before becoming roommates.

Whatever you decide, it won’t always be perfect. When was living with family ever perfect? But it beats feeling financially stretched and lonesome!

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aving Ou

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January/February 2020

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January/February 2020