Bowen Island Undercurrent July 3 2015

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FRIDAYJULY 4, 2015VOL . 4 2 , NO . 2 3

How we got homeIslanders tell their story of the journeyto the place they now call home

Collins FarmKeeping the spirit of agriculture alive onBowen’s oldest farm

Hogweed updateMunicipality takes first steps

Jason Bennett, the winner of the stand-up paddleboard category of the Round Bowen Challenge, completed the race infour hours and 15 minutes.Matt Somerville, photo

MERIBETH DEENE D I T O R

The founder of the Round Bowen Challenge and this year’s Masterof Ceremonies, Martin Clarke says last weekend’s race aroundthe island conjured memories of the toughest race ever, in 2002.That year, he says, 10 foot swells meant even experienced paddlerscouldn’t finish, and the winner from the year 2000 was pushed intoretirement.“The waters around Roger Curtis were a mess,” said Clarke, fol-

lowing the race awards presentation and barbeque. “That’s alwayswhere you’re going to run into trouble whether it’s politically orclimatically.”Dr. Leah Kline, works on the rescue boat for the race each year

and says that while this year the swell was not as high (6 feetaround the Cape) as 2002, the waters were extremely choppy anderratic.“Leaving Tunstall Bay we saw the beginning of this water that

looked like it was in a washing machine,” says Kline. “There wasa following sea, wind at the back, and these reflective waves thatmade a super-sized effect.”Kline says that in checking-in with the various paddlers, she

noticed even the experienced surf skiers were forced to concentratehard to maintain their balance near Cape Roger Curtis. She says aman paddling an outrigger gave her the thumbs-up near the Cape,and told her after the race he had a great time. Another stand-uppaddleboarder who gave the her the thumbs up had, as it turns out,paddled to the race from Nanaimo.“He was clearly in his element,” says Kline. She adds that there

were a lot of people, stand up paddle-boarders and inexperienced

surf skiers in particular, that needed to be pulled off the water.“There was one woman, an inexperienced surf skier who started

the race in Tunstall and just couldn’t stay balanced in her boat anddidn’t have the strength to cope, she was quite happy to be rescued,”says Kline. “But another man, who it turns out was her husbandmade it past the light house at Cape Roger, but had capsized 25 timesalready. It took some convincing to get him in the boat, but by thetime we did it was clear he was showing signs of hypothermia.”Stand-up paddleboarder Arne Guttmann says his 14 foot board

just couldn’t hack it in the rough conditions, and he had to bepulled out of the water after 20 kilometers.“My friend and I had been training really hard for similar dis-

tances, but it was just too much work out there,” says Guttmann.“I remember a couple of times when a kilometer took me probably20 minutes to half an hour, when in good conditions I can cover akilometer in 2 minutes.”Like other experienced surf skiers, race-winner Ken Rice found

the area around Cape Roger Curtis to be a great opportunity toaccumulate speed. He figures he managed to travel at roughly 15km per hour. Rice, who competes at roughly seven internationalpaddling competitions per year and studies sports management inCapetown, South Africa, says he’s extremely pleased with how therace went.“This race is longer than normal, and I’ve never raced around an

island before. Racing around an island means you have absolutelyeverything involved, upwind, downwind, side-wind… and thatmakes it very exciting. And the whole way around it is exception-ally beautiful,” says Rice.Rice completed the 33 kilometers around Bowen in 2 hours and

31 minutes, with record-holder Wes Hammer finishing 17 minutesbehind him.

Wind and waves create challenging conditionsfor paddlers racing around Bowen


The owner of lot 17 at the Cape on Bowen, ShuLin Dong, filed a petition against the Municipalityof Bowen Island on June 23 in the Supreme Courtof British Columbia asking for a declaration by thecourts that Bylaw No. 381, which prohibits dock con-struction along the Cape’s coastline, illegal. The peti-tion says that the bylaw extends beyond the munici-pality’s legislative authority, is discriminatory, wasadopted in bad faith, and was passed in breach of itsduty of procedural fairness.The petition also claims there was a lack of con-

sultation and attempt to find a balanced solution,and sites the support of the mayor and three council-lors for the 2013 petition released by Stop the Dockscampaign asking for a prohibition against all dockconstruction on the shoreline of the Cape.Former councillor and Stop the Docks

Campaigner Doug Hooper says that the group issimply made up of concerned citizens who want toprotect the shoreline of the Cape.“It is unfortunate that this matter is going to the

courts, it takes away from council’s other priori-ties,” says Hooper. “Even if we win this, it can still becostly for the municipality. But I vigorously supportcouncil in their efforts to support the public and theshoreline.”He adds that according to the petition filed by Shu

Lin Dong, the province was approving dock applica-tions while the municipality was still sorting out thedetails of its land-use bylaw in relation to docks.“I think this lawsuit brings us the opportunity

to gain some insight into the role the province hasplayed in all of this,” says Hooper.The municipality is not making any statements

about the lawsuit at this time, but is preparing for thecourt hearing on July 24.

Legal petitionfiled againstmunicipality


A call by mayor Murray Skeels to the executivedirector of the Metro Vancouver Mayor’s Council,Mike Buda, brought good news for Peter King andthe people who ride his bus: TransLink has approvedthe contract that will allow the service to continueoperating for another year.Mayor Skeels says that he is really pleased about

the news, and sees it as a potential game-changer incommuting from Bowen Island.Peter King says this is still just a step, and is eager

to actually see a contract.“I submitted a contract and have not had anything

returned to me so I can only assume they are agree-ing to my conditions,” says King. “But I get the factthat TransLink is up to its armpits dealing with the“yes” and “no” question in the referendum. We’resmall potatoes.”

Through bus getsTransLink approvalto continue service

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FRIDAYJULY 3, 2015V O L . 4 2 , N O . X X

2 • FRIDAY JULY 3 2015 WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

→ D O G S I N S N U G C O V EBowen Island Municipality is considering an on leash dog area in and aroundSnug Cove (see map). Council’s deliberation to designate this area as an onleash dog area is based upon the disproportional numbers of dog aggressionincidents in Snug Cove as compared to any other area on Bowen Island. Offleash dogs are involved with many incidents that result in injury to human,dog, livestock and wildlife.

Community input related to the proposed changes to Bowen IslandMunicipality’s Dog Control Bylaw No. 30, 2001 is encouraged. Pleasesend your comments to Bonny Brokenshire, Senior Bylaw Services [email protected] .

→ C O M P L E T E F I R E B A NI N E F F E C T

NO Open BurningNO Camp FiresNO Beach FiresNO Fireworks

TO REPORT FIRES OR WILDFIRESCALL 911

→ B L U E W AT E R PA R KW AT E R S Y S T E M A N N U A LI N F O R M AT I O N M E E T I N G

All Blue Water Park Residents Welcome!

When: Friday, July 17th at 5:30 pmWhere: Bowen Island Municipal Hall, 981 Artisan LaneWhat: Overview of Annual Budget, Water Reports & Operations

→ S U M M E R D A Y C A M P SS T A R T J U L Y 6 T H !

Island Adventurers (5 ½ - 7 year olds)Day Trippers (8 – 12 Year olds)Monday – Friday 9:00am – 4:00pmwww. Bowencommunityrecreation.com604-947-2216

→ WAT E R U S A G ER E C O M M E N D AT I O N S

The following recommendations apply for all Municipal Water Systems:

NO LAWN SPRINKLINGNO CAR/BOAT WASHINGNO DECK/POWER WASHING

Please limit your water usage:

● turn the tap off while brushing or washing● use the dishwasher only when full● use laundry machines sparingly● embrace the dusty look for your car● water garden by hand-held hose or containers● equip hoses with spring-loaded shutoff devices● collect rainwater● flush only when necessary

Conserve water or have none.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Public Worksdepartment at 604-947-4255

→ D R I N K I N G WAT E R A N DP E R S O N S W H O A R EI M M U N O C O M P R O M I S E D

The Provincial Health Officer advises all British Columbians withcompromised immune systems (such as HIV, organ or bone transplants,chemotherapy or medications that suppress the immune system) to avoiddrinking water from any surface water or ground water that is under theinfluence of surface water, unless it has been boiled, filtered ,distilled ortreated with UV. Bowen Island and other areas in British Columbia usesurface water sources (lakes, rivers, streams). This is not a general boil-wateradvisory for the general public, but rather is directed only at persons withcompromised immune systems. If in doubt about your immune systemstatus, please discuss this further with your physician.

For additional information refer to health file http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile56.stm or contact your physician directly.

→ N O T I C E O FC O N S T R U C T I O NI N S N U G C O V E

June 30 - July 31, 2015Installation of an oil-water separatorVisit www.bimbc.ca for more information andconstruction updates.

→ N O T E T O B U I L D E R S ,C O N T R A C T O R S A N D B CL A N D S U R V E Y O R S

The Bowen Island Municipality Building Department requests that all BC LandSurvey (BCLS) forms include one geodetic reference point, clearly identifiableon the surveys, for staff to confirm that all building construction complieswith the applicable bylaws and issued building permits.

If you have any questions, please contact the BIM Building Department at604-947-4255.

Carter Rd

B o w e n I s l a n d

DormanRd

Mt. Gardner Rd

Miller Rd

Cardena Dr

Grafton Rd

T r u n k R d

BIM North andSouth Dock

Proposed On Leash Dog Area 1

Legend

Road Data - MOT

Proposed On Leash Dog Area 1

Property Boundaries

0 100 200 300 40050Meters

1:6,000Scale

WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM FRIDAY JULY 3 2015 • 3


On Tuesday of last week, the municipality’s parks and environment man-ager, joined by the new park operations and Snug Cove maintenance lead MarkEdmonds, who has a horticulture background, headed to the Scarborough neigh-bourhood to inspect a number of properties where Giant Hogweed has beenreported. Brokenshire says that a lot of plants were found on three particularproperties. She calling the neighbourhood a “hot spot” for hogweed.On Thursday, Edmonds and a team from Home Farm Gardens helped to

remove as many hogweed plants as possible from the properties.“There are some plants hidden among the brambles and blackberries so they

may have been missed,” says Brokenshire. “But I know we got many before theywent to seed. Many of the plants we saw were at the flowering stage.”Brokenshire says that this is just the beginning of a vigilant monitoring pro-

gram for hogweed and other invasives on Bowen.“Having the invasives email set up through the municipality has been very

helpful, and we have received a number of tips from the public that have allowedus to identify the plant on other parts of the island,” says Brokenshire. “Hogweedin particular is such a sinister plant that can be devastating both to human healthand our waterways, it is important that we do whatever we can to prevent it fromspreading.”

If you think you might have giant hogweed on your property contact themunicipality at: [email protected] or call 604-947-4255

Municipality tackleshogweed “hot zone”

The team that took down the Scarborough hogweed plants. From left:Michael Green, Davin Killey, Mark Edmonds and Chance Feist.Bonny Brokenshire, photo

Vendors Gloria July and Jane Ferguson at the first Farmer’s Market ofthe season at BICS.Meribeth Deen, photo

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Editor

MeribethDeen

EDITORIAL

The funny side of the OCP

Dear Editor,

In response to Bud Long’s letter, I join Dave Wittyin stating that my comments bore no relation toimplementing the Official Community Plan “in anextreme form.” I was simply making the point thatupholding our own democratically created OCPwould assist in avoiding polarization among BowenIslanders. In other words, when a plan has been for-mally and legally adopted by a community, it is moreconducive to harmony if that community workstogether in supporting and implementing the fun-damental objectives, policies and provisions of thatplan. It is particularly important when dealing withan official document such as the OCP which, in thewords of Mr. Witty, “is our Official Community Planin name and law.” In my estimation, islanders woulddo well to follow Mr. Witty’s counsel, as it lays thesolid foundation for peace, order and good govern-ment when dealing with community planning.

John Sbragia

Bowen Island

Dear Editor,

I appreciate our little Bowen Island RCMPDetachment. It’s kept us warm in the winter and coolin the summer. Many great officers have made itwhat it is today. However, I don’t think much thoughtwent into it when it came to aesthetics. We are look-ing for any local artists who would care to donate ortemporarily lend some of their work (photos, paint-ings, etc.) to be proudly displayed at the police sta-tion. If you’re interested please contact me.Sincerely,

Cpl Paulo Arreaga at 604 947-0516.

Summer ev’ning in the meadow,light and warm the breeze,tall the grasses,smell of hay.

Swallows flitting light and fast,this and that way,looks like play,but it’s serious survival,catching bugs to last all night!

They throw themselves up to the trees,sailing down again and again,white bellies flashing light,with fast, elegant flying.

I could spend the last hours of my life,watching the swift, skillful flyingof swallows over the meadow:This incredible lightness of being!

Imke Zimmermann

The more we acquire, the more werequire.

Ed Sanders

Lost and profound:

Help! Bring colour to the officeof the Bowen Island RCMP

Harmony and the OCP


Is our Official Community Plan (OCP) the sav-ing grace of Bowen Island or is it the document thatstops everything from happening and leaves islanderswith screaming all the way to the courthouse?This is a question to which I have no answer,

and the debate is likely to rage on until our fairisland sinks into the rising seas. However, in themidst of answering this heated question and manyothers there is one islander who always seems tocome from another place entirely with his perspec-

tive, and ALMOST always makes most of us laugh.Sometimes, though, we don’t get it. Cartooning afterall, is like jazz.The islander’s name is Ron Woodall and this week-

end, July 5, marks his 80th birthday.He has been penning cartoons for The

Undercurrent for eight years now, and in that hasstood the test of time.To celebrate, and to say ‘Thank You’ for all the

great work, we’ll be throwing a party at the SnugCafé at 3 p.m this Friday.Bring a smile and a small donation to CAWES, if

you can.


On the calendarSATURDAY JULY 4

Bowen Island Gives(BIG) fundraiser andhike up Mount Gardner

Bowen Island FilmFestivalGallery at ArtisanSquare 6 - 10 p.m.Admission by donation

Duplicate Bridge @Bowen CourtCall Irene @ 2955

Bowen Island RotaryMeeting 7:30 p.m.Collins Hall, all welcome

THURSDAY JULY 9SUNDAY JULY 5

Celebration of Life forMarg Witty 3 - 5 p.m.Lodge at the Old Dorm

Bowen Island FilmFestivalGallery at ArtisanSquare 5 -7 p.m.Admission by donation

Birthday Party for RonWoodall3 p.m. Snug Cafe

Bowen Island FilmFestivalGallery at ArtisanSquare 6 - 10 p.m.Admission by donation

Small GuitarTir Na Nog 7:30 p.m.

AA Meeting CollinsHall, 7:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY JULY 8FRIDAY JULY 3

Snug Cove HouseBurger Barbeque atNorma’s Dock with theWorld Famous SnugCove House UkeleleBand 5 - 7 p.m.

Steamship Daysbegins!

FRIDAY JULY 10

Concerned Citizens of Bowen Islandwant you to vote with your boat!

Save Our Sound flo-tilla to assemble betweenBowyer Island andHorseshoe Bay, 11 a.m.

SATURAY JULY 11

Concerned Citizensof Bowen Island,from left: SusanSwift, MartinClarke, Claire Allen,Peter Williamson,Fitch Cady, BrentO’Malley, and LesleyGaunt.Susan Swift, photo

FITCH CADYS U B M I S S I O N

Members of the group Concerned Citizens ofBowen Island have been working hard to organizea flotilla of boaters in Howe Sound, with the aim ofsending a message to Premier Christy Clark. Themessage is this:Woodfibre LNG and 1000 LNGmega-tankers are wrong for Howe Sound.It is the wrong place for a class A Hazard indus-

try. The wrong place for an LNG plant sited overtwo thrust earthquake faults, using a cooling systembanned in California, New York and parts of Europeand the wrong place for dangerous 1000’ mega-tank-ers which imperil the safety of population centresalong the Sound including Lions Bay, Bowen Island,Horseshoe Bay and West Vancouver.Bowen Island boaters are invited to join the flo-

tilla that will assemble Saturday July 11th at 11:00am between Bowyer Island and the mainland andto blow their horns in protest as they cross the pro-posed tanker route and then proceed up the sound

to arrive at Ekins Point (north end of GambierIsland) by 2:00pm for speakers discussing the chal-lenges currently facing Howe Sound and live musicby the Sunshine Coast band, Brothers in Farms.In February Bowen Island Muncipal Council

passed a resolution to the provincial governmentto ban the passage of LNG tankers in the watersof Howe Sound. Municipal Councils & RegionalDistricts around the Sound including have all passedresolutions questioning the wisdom of locating thisproject in Howe Sound.The recovery of Howe Sound from the previous

industrial resource extraction projects has cost mil-lions of tax dollars and hundreds of volunteer hours.Orcas, humpbacks, dolphins, salmon and herringhave returned. Antique glass sponge reefs, uniqueto the area, have been discovered. Howe Sound ishome, a place for everyone to enjoy and a touristdestination for millions of people from around theworld.To register, and for updates, go to www.myse-

atosky.org/sos

BOWEN ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS U B M I S S I O N

“It was a crazy idea, starting this school,” Ted Spear said. “But what really madeit work in the early years -- what really mattered -- was having people like MargWitty on the board. She became chair and her phenomenal personality and herreputation in the community were invaluable.”The Margaret Witty Bursary Fund has been created by the Witty family in

honour and recognition of Marg Witty’s contribution to Island Pacific Schooland the community of Bowen Island. Over the next five years the donation willgrow to $50,000, thanks to a commitment of annual donations from Dave Wittyand his children. The Fund will be managed by the Bowen Island CommunityFoundation and will provide an annual bursary to one or more deserving stu-dents of Island Pacific School.“Marg loved Island Pacific,” Dave Witty said. “She had been taught herself by

nuns and she loved the academic freedom of IPS – its emphasis on outdoor activ-ities, the focus on developing critical thinking, and the Masterworks projects forgraduating students. She also loved that sports at IPS are inclusive: that both boysand girls are involved, that you celebrate the other team – Ultimate Frisbee, theofficial school sport, is about everyone having fun.”Dave says that leaving an endowed bursary is a way to leave a legacy to Marg, a

way of ensuring that she will always be a part of this island that she loved.”As Head of Island Pacific School Ted Spear has watched the institution grow

from “a crazy idea,” to an economically sustainable school for children in grades6 to 9. Marg Witty was a critical catalyst for the School’s development, and as theIPS website noted, “it is small by design and distinctly different.” Small classes,civic engagement and a range of academic, artistic and recreation pursuits are thehallmarks of an education at IPS.Although fees at Island Pacific are much lower than those for most indepen-

dent schools, Ted Spear would like to be able to make Island Pacific more afford-able, particularly to adolescents growing up on Bowen Island. The Margaret WittyBursary Fund will help some youngsters to have that opportunity.“We have some of our kids who have gone on to Oxford and Cambridge, and

very good graduate programs, and that’s great,” says Spear. “But that’s not whatwe’re really most focused on. We want to ensure that the young people who leaveour school go on to become decent human beings, that they are intellectuallycurious --that they know how to ask critical and intelligent questions.”Marg Witty was pleased that she lived to see her grandson Jett become a stu-

dent at the school.“This is different,” Dave Witty says of IPS. “The way that education is under-

stood and delivered here was something that Marg really cared about.”Donations to the Margaret Witty Bursary Fund can be made through the

Bowen Island Community Foundation, and sent to Soren Hammerberg, Chair.P.O. Box 18, Bowen Island, B.C. V0N 1G0. Contributions can also be madethrough our website at www.bowenfoundation.com.The celebration of life for Marg Witty will be held at the Lodge at the Old

Dorm on Sunday July 5th from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Witty Family Donation to IslandPacific School: In memory of Marg

SS Master is coming to BowenALAN MILLSS U B M I S S I O N

Steamship Days is proud to announce that the last surviving steam powered vessel on the West Coast willbe part of the wooden boat show at the USSC and Bowen Marina. Built 93 years ago at the False Creek ship-yard the SS Master was originally intended for use as a WW 1 mine sweeper.At 85 feet long with a bottom that extends 19.5 feet down the only moorage for her on Bowen is at the very

end of the USSC marina on E dock.The SS Master Society, the current owners spend thousands of hours each year to maintain her in seawor-

thy condition.She will be open for tours on the Saturday & Sunday for Steamship Days (July 11 & 12th). Donations are

gratefully accepted.


It was a long journey from Seoul, South Korea to Bowen Island. Now thatJoong Kim is here, he thinks he never wants to leave.Kim arrived in Toronto in 1985 as a university student but he didn’t have

enough money to continue his education so, after one year, he quit and workedin the construction industry. Seven years later he got landed immigrant statusand opened a small variety store. He’d wake up early, go to a wholesaler’s tostock the store, return to the wholesaler’s during lunch to spend the morning’sproceeds on new supplies, work until night and start the whole routine againearly the next morning.When new laws governing cigarette sales took effect, he worried about the

store’s viability and headed west to Britannia Beach in March 2003. When a long-term relationship broke up, he sold the store and came to Bowen, where he knewthe owners of the General Store. He worked at the store until nine at night andthen took the ferry to the mainland, where he trained as a sushi chef for twohours every night. He opened Bowen Sushi in 2004 and moved here in 2009.Work doesn’t allow him much time to enjoy island life. He works 10 to 10 six

days a week and spends Sundays shopping, also going to town at least one earlymorning to buy supplies before the Village Square restaurant opens. Recently heopened another restaurant, Sushi Hub, at Main and 33rd in Vancouver. He puts inthe long hours to be able to send money to his 83-year-old mother, who lives inSeoul and has health problems.“Canada is a good country,” he says during a rare break. “Bowen is a very

nice place. All the time my heart says, ‘Thank you very much.’ Maybe my lifewill finish here.”

Joong Kim at his restaurant at Village Square.Martha Perkins, photo

On Canada’s birthdaywe ask Bowen Islanders...how did you get here?

Joong Kim owner of Bowen Island Sushi

MARTHA PERKINSC O N T R I B U T O R

Sarah-Jane Curry

Sarah-Jane Curry (formerly Hayes) was a week old when she bumped intoa hunchback whale — or, more accurately, the sailboat she was on nudged thesleeping whale out of its slumber. It might have been a sign that she wasn’t goingto have a “normal” childhood.When Sarah-Jane was nine, she and her six-year-old brother Will and four-

year-old brother Miles left Johannesburg, South Africa with their parents Piersand Joan aboard a 41’ sailboat. Anticipation was high, not for the journey aheadbut to be able to open the tin of homemade fudge that their grandmother hadgiven them to enjoy once they couldn’t see land any more.For the next two years they made their way past continents and islands, across

oceans and seas all the way up the coast of North America until they reached PortColborne on Lake Ontario.

continued PAGE 7

Adele’s

Great BIG Auctiona fundraiser for the

Annie Laurie Wood Annex & Gallery Project

SaturdayJuly 4Bowen Island Pub

Music by theFatback Players8 pm - midnight

Silent Auction: 3 pm - 10:30 pmLive Auction with Graham Ritchie: 9:30 pm

Auction items include: Bill Hoopes and Stuart Slind artworks, Canucks signedJersey and stick, Helijet for 2 toVictoria, feast for 8 hosted by John & JoanTennant, 2days at God’s Mountain B&B, wood chipper, vet services, boats, singing lessons, fire-wood, jewellery, backhoe services, massage, golf and much, much more!

Free Admission

AMAZING604-947-9266 or register online: bowenislandkayaking.com

Summer Kayak CampsFlexible for you,Fun for your kids!

Full days (9:30�3:30pm) of games, skill-building, fresh air & adventurefor kids 8-12. New session every other week thru August. Choose 2, 3or 5-days and the week (or weeks) that work best for your family.

RATES & DATESSession 1 June 29-July 3Session 2 July 13-17Session 3 July 27-July 31Session 4 Aug 10-14Session 5 Aug 24-28

5 Days: $359 M,W.F: $235 or T, TH: $159


from PAGE 6

It was a journey filled with many wondrous memories but of all the places she’sbeen and things she’s done, the memory Sarah-Jane hangs onto the most werethose quiet moments in the cockpit at night, cuddling up with the parent whowas on watch duty. In such cramped quarters, being able to spend one-on-onetime with either your mother or father was a special treat. “It was just the starsand the water and no land. So peaceful.”After two years in Toronto, Piers settled the family in Abbottsford while he

started a new job. It wasn’t the family’s happy place. One day they phoned thecouple who had sailed beside them for much of the journey, parting ways whenthe Hayeses headed for Canada and the other stayed in New Zealand. The couplehad some friends over for dinner, including someone from Vancouver. The manfrom Vancouver asked them where they were living.“Abbottsford? Oh, God, no,” he said. “You need to go to this little place named

Bowen Island. You’ll love it. It will remind you of home. Go there.”The Hayeses arrived on a Sunday morning and went to a church service at

Cates Hill Chapel. They were greeted by the then-pastor, Larry Adams, and hiswife Sylvia. The family was about to go on holidays for a month and invited theHayes family to live in their home and get a feel of island life. That was the sum-mer of 1997.Today, Sarah-Jane is married to Gord Curry — “he also grew up in a similarly

strange way” — and is enjoying maternity leave from the family-run Snug Caféwith seven-month-old Elijah.

Sarah-Jane and Elijah at the Snug.Martha Perkins, photo

Kate Coffey

“My first choice was New Zealand but it was too far from Ireland. I had threecriteria: it had to be relatively close to Ireland, English speaking, and close by theocean.”At 23, Kate Coffey owned her own home in Dublin, flew to Milan for weekends

on a lark, worked “crazy long” hours for Rothschild International and earnedoodles of money.At 29, she thought to herself, “Oh my God, I’ll be dead by 40.”The lifestyle was one thing; the pace of life needed in order to sustain it was

quite another.“I didn’t know what life was meant to be like but I knew it wasn’t supposed to

be like that,” she says, sitting in a Vancouver coffee shop almost kitty-corner towhere she’ll hop on Peter King’s express bus back to Bowen Island at the end of awork day.To the shock and horror of everyone, particularly her family, she decided to

quit Rothschild’s and apply for permanent residency in Canada.continued PAGE 12

For Kate Coffey all journey’s end on Bowen Island.Martha Perkins, photo

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The Bowen Island Arts Council and SylvaineZimmerman are offering Bowen Islanders a greatway to beat the heat this weekend with 7.5 hours ofscreen-time at the gallery at Artisan Square,. TheBowen Island Film Festival, will show a variety ofgenres from documentary to surrealism and four fea-ture length films – all with a Bowen connection.“I’ve tried to hook the short films to the features

categorically,” says Zimmerman, the festival orga-nizer. “Scott Rainards feature, Pristine Coast, is oneof the features I would recommend – it is the storyof what he discovered when he started to investi-gate the sea-lice epidemic in salmon and it has reallystunning visuals. I’ve linked that with BronwynChurcher’s short, We Rise Up, which was filmed dur-ing the protests at Burnaby Mountain. Both of theseare under the theme of ‘Protecting our Coast.’”Zimmerman says this festival was inspired in part

by a Bowen Youth Film Festival in 2008 that featuredmany Tir Na Nog graduates who have gone on themake a career in film. Among them are Sam andKaley Spear, as well as Natasha Wehn, all of whomwill be featured in this year’s festival.For scheduling information, check out the Bowen

Island Film Festival Facebook page.

Bowen Island Film Festival:No sunscreen required Bowfest to

welcomemythicalcreaturesSASHA BUCHANANS U B M I S S I O N

Thanks to the bright minds of Bowen IslandCommunity School (BICS) student council, Bowfestwas presented with a truly expert shortlist forthis year’s theme: Out Of This World vs. MythicalCreatures From Around The World. Time con-straints meant that this year’s battle for theme wasshort and fierce. The clash of themes raged on for aweek while Bowen voted through four outlets: thesmallest Bowenites had their say at Bowen Children’sCentre, we voted online via Bowfest Facebook group,tradition blind ballot was held and the General Store,and our trusted board put in their two cents.The outcome of this neck-to-neck race was any-

thing but expected (who are we kidding, this isBowen, it was totally expected). Breakdown of votes:

BCC 14.75% Myth 10.25% SpaceFB 18.25% 6.75%General Store 13.75% 11.25%Board 15.75% 9.25%Total: 62.5% 37.5%(Each group was given 25%)

And thus our theme was decided: MYTHICALCREATURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD.Time to dust off your unicorn horn and get the mer-maid tail out of the shed. This year’s theme is sureto get Bowen’s fanciful community pumped. As wellas a parade that is sure to be truly magical, Bowfesthas recruited some of our island’s many artisans andcrafters to create decorations, embellishment, andother beautifications to help amplify the theme andgeneral ambiance of Bowfest.

continued PAGE 12

BOWEN ISLAND CONSERVANCYS U B M I S S I O N

Now is the time when Oystercatchers are nesting on the coastal islets aroundBowen Island and elsewhere in Howe Sound. This year the only nesting site closeto Bowen Island that we are aware of is on Onion Island, close to Tunstall Bay.The population of Oystercatchers is limited, and restricted by habitat require-

ments and predation. Oystercatchers are ground nesters, often choosing a high,exposed location, and creating a shallow depression surrounded by shell frag-ments. Their eggs and chicks are camouflaged, but very vulnerable to traumafrom walkers or dogs.Nesting success this year is likely to be improved if you are aware of

Oystercatchers at this vulnerable time, and restrict your activities on local isletsuntil after the birds have fledged. In particular, please do not take your dogs onyour exploration trips.

The OystercatcherPhoto submitted by Owen Plowman

Leave your dog at homeon trips to local islets

Zombies, family drama and so much more atthe Bowen Island Film Festival.

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Get soccer balls into thehands of children inSyrian refugee camps!Michel Ibrahim has until July 22 to raise enough moneyto pay the custom fees on a shipment of donated soccerequipment destined for Syrian children living in refugeecamps in Lebanan. He’s offering several perks to donorsincluding a free haircut at his West Vancouver BarberShop, registration in an August 9 soccer workshop andan extensive soccer camp for an entire team of youngplayers. To contribute, go to

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Last fall, Charmaine Heffelfinger made daily tripsto Tunstall Bay to gather bags of fallen leaves froma maple tree. She piled them, along with sticks andbranches and whatever yard waste people wouldgive her onto a large grassy patch of her front yardthat now provides a home for young squash andzucchini plants.“It’s called Hugelculture,” she says. “It’s a way to

make soil.”With this new patch of garden, a 12x20 ft green-

house, 23 chickens, a small flock quail, an old truckand the spirit of co-operation with her neighbours,Hefflefinger hesitantly, but proudly, calls herself afarmer.Starting this spring, Heffelfinger and her neigh-

bours Deanna Adams and Susanne Armstrong-Bateshave started collaborating, working on each other’sgarden plots for two hours each week on a rotatingbasis, in order to get more done.“It’s like a garden round-robin,” says Armstrong-

Bates. “Three people working together for two hourscan just get so much more done than one personindividually.”Armstrong-Bates does not use the term farmer to

describe herself, preferring “stressed-out gardener,”instead.“I just can’t keep up with the weeding and the

watering,” she says. “Especially in such a hot drysummer.”Deanna Adams says she’s not sure she’s a farmer,

but she does spend a lot of time in the garden. Likeboth Heffelfinger and Armstrong-Bates, she also haschickens, but doesn’t sell the eggs because they getgobbled up too quickly by her teenage boys.Currently, the women focus on feeding their fami-

lies with their gardens, but also sell to a handful offriends.

We didn’t realize how much we could

produce once we put our minds to it

“We didn’t realize how much we could produceonce we put our minds to it, but now we are definite-ly in a position where we have to think more abouthow we’re going to sell all the extra food we pro-duce,” says Armstrong-Bates. “We got an old candy-cart from that the Candy Store didn’t want anymore,and if we can get around to painting it and makinga sign maybe you’ll see our vegetable for sale alongMiller Road on weekend’s. We’ve also tossed aroundthe idea of a Collins Farm Fall Fair, and maybe oneday making a pumpkin patch... but we’ll see.”

These three budding “farmers” are just one groupthat are keeping the spirit of agriculture alive onCollins Farm. This is exactly what the Collins sisters,Jean Jaimeson and Marion Moore, had hoped forwhen they started working on getting official farmstatus for their land back in 2002.While the sisters were growing up, Collins Farm

encompassed 160 acres. Their family had 9 cows andtheir father delivered milk to the Pie Shop, a smallgrocery store in the Cove, and individual summerand winter residents. They also had a large vegetablepatch, from which Jean recalls eating a lot of rootvegetables, and mangold - a plant similar to chard.“Humans ate the tops and the cows ate the roots,”

she explains.When asked why they sought farm status Jaimeson

and Moore say it just made sense to keep it as a farm.In the early days of Collinsia (not just a version

of the family farm name, but also the genus of localflowering plants, including the Blue Eyed Mary)as they call the farm, Sue Ellen Fast worked as thefarm’s manager, and the operation received a grantfrom the Ruddy Potato, where they sold the majorityof their produce.In 2006, the sisters teamed up with seven

local families to create a Community SupportedAgriculture (CSA) group.CSA member Heidi Kuhrt says that Marion and

Jean are the backbone of the group, offering guid-ance, and still digging right in to make sure the gar-den keeps growing. She makes sure people knowwhat to plant, she mulches, weeds and this yearhelped to lay-out all the drip-lines for irrigation.While 96 year-old Jean is unable to be as physicallyactive in the garden as she once was, she still startstomato and squash seeds in her greenhouse and con-tributes advice.Learning the skills Jaimeson and Moore have

acquired and put into practice over a lifetime issomething that Matt Matheson hopes Bowen youthwill get a taste of by working a roughly two acre ploton Collinsia this summer.Matheson and Sarah Haxby are supervising Bowen

youth, including the Young Farmers of Bowen Islandand a new group called Bowen Grows, to grow whatthey hope will be a substantial amount of food.“What excites me is that we’ve got one of the old-

est gardens on Bowen back in production,” saysMatheson. “And with the youth, the aim is to growenough to provide for the kids and their families, andalso to put on a community feast in the fall.”You will find the Young Farmers at upcoming

Farmer’s Market’s selling produce they’ve grown atCollinsia, and other gardens around Bowen Island.

Collins Farm: Growing with the spirit of co-operation

Top: Charmaine Heffelfinger, Susanne Armstrong-Bates and DeannaAdams.Centre: Marion Moore, Jean Jaimeson, Heidi KurtBottom: The Young Farmers of Bowen Island

Next week in theUndercurrent:

Check out our ocean swimming feature!Above, Billi Behm and Peter ScottMartha Perkins, photo

FIRST CREDIT UNIONIS HIRING!

First Credit Union is looking for a team-oriented individual toprovide a high caliber of service. The successful candidatemust commit to the service standards of First Credit Union andwill possess the ability to work in a fast paced environment.A high level of professionalism must be maintained at alltimes. Candidates must have excellent customer serviceskills, ability to foster business development, adhere tosecurity procedures and limits, be able to multi-task, haveexcellent organization skills, and be able to problem solve.Must be available to work on Saturdays. Please forwardyour resume and cover letter to HR Manager, Angie Poulsen([email protected]) by July 6th, 2015 (end of day).

Position: Teller (Bowen Island Branch, Permanent, Part time)

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With close to 50 items already registered for the Outof the Attic #3, the exhibit and sale is shaping up to bethe best yet. This fundraiser in support of the Galleryhas always been an exciting opportunity to see whatemerges “Out of the Attic”, or the back closet or underthe bed where artwork is sometimes stored.The last Attic show in 2013 revealed some real

gems. The collection included some astonishingoriginal art by Daniel Izzard, Nick Bantock, SamLam, Sam Black and J. Spillsbury, to name just a few.This year also promises to rediscover some fabulousartwork offering collectors excellent opportunitiesto purchase from a wide variety of oils, water colour,pastel, mixed media, etchings, engravings and more.Have some original work that you no longer love

or no longer have room for? Why not consign it tothe Gallery at Artisan Square? The majority of itemson offer will be sold on behalf of the owners withthe exception of some very generous islanders whohave donated their pieces. The Gallery’s commissionis 30% for items valued at $1,000.00 and under and20% for items over the $1,000.00 price.If you have items you are thinking about selling

please contact Betty Dhont ([email protected], 947-9237) or Greta Smith ([email protected],947-0853). We will be accepting original paintings,lithographs, etchings, sculpture and other items ofinterest for this show until August 7th. We do notaccept work by Bowen Island artists if they currentlyreside on island. The show will run from September18 until October 11th.

Award winning playwright and actor, David Kingis bringing his new solo show, Small Guitar, to theTir na nOg theatre on Friday, July 3rd. The playpreviewed in Gibsons in May and King continues todevelop the work over the summer on some of theGulf Islands before premiering it in Vancouver inthe Fall. It is a monologue with songs that tells thestory of retired ferry worker, Clayton Gilchrist, whorecounts his life in an Alternate Universe where hewas a major pop star.“The play straddles two realities and, consequently,

two streams of history. One in which most of whathappens can be construed as a natural evolution ofthe human struggle; and the other in which thingsare made to happen for all the wrong reasons” saysKing whose plays include Life Skills, Joey Shine, UpIsland and the Garage Sale. He’s also recorded twoalbums of his songs and has written a Libretto for achamber opera.Small Guitar is subtitled Celebration of a life in an

Alternate Universe. You may not get an opportunityto attend this celebration in an alternate reality soyou’d be well advised to experience it in this one.

Admission: $10 at the doorDoors open: 7:30 p.m. Show starts: 8 p.m.At Tir Na Nog Theatre

What’s coming outof the Attic in 2015?

David King, actor and playwrite.

Small guitar comes to Bowen Island

Distance:3 NAUTICALMILESCrossing Time:20 MINUTES

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from PAGE 7

Within six months, the embassy in London wason the phone, asking her about her plans, her workexperience and how she intended to provide for her-self in a place where she knew absolutely no one.When she mentioned Rothchild’s and told them she’dlive off the proceeds from the sale of her house, sheliterally heard the stamp of approval as her applica-tion was marked “good to go.”She chose Vancouver as her final destination

because of its weather but didn’t want to just plopdown in her new life. In April 1997, she flew toHalifax and boarded the train to Prince Rupert. Well,she got on lots of different trains, taking nine weeksto travel across the country.

She picked up a tourist brochure

which told her to discover Bowen

Island. Little did she know her second

OMG epiphany awaited her there.

After finding an apartment in the West End, shestarted taking a good look at her surroundings. Shepicked up a tourist brochure which told her to dis-cover Bowen Island. Little did she know her secondOMG epiphany awaited her there.Sitting on the bench by the lagoon and looking

over at the North Shore mountains, she realized, “Ohmy God, this is it, this is where I want to be.”There was only one small problem: money. With

no work experience in Canada, it wasn’t easy at firstto find a job. She went from a six-figures-in-a-Euro-pean-currency job to thinking that a once-a-weekStarbucks coffee was a treat on a $36,000-a-yearVancouver salary.She says her talent is to be able to process a hun-

dred things at the same time, “pick out all the sillybits” and then be able to communicate a strategy toboth the president of the company and a person onthe street.

Among larger international companies, those skillsare more highly valued than the university degree shedoesn’t have. The only problem is that not many ofthose companies are based in Vancouver. But one jobled to another and eventually she hung out a shingleas a consultant for boutique firms. “I knocked ondoors and said ‘Here I am.’”At the second door she was invited in for a year-

long contract. It was time to move to Bowen.The house she liked was, in Bowen parlance,

“Gordie Begg’s mother’s place” on Lenora. Gordiewas a big, tall man and he didn’t want to sell thehouse to just anyone. He wanted it to be loved andnurtured and told Coffey that she had to come foran interview. “They met me and came back and said,‘You’re it; you can have our mother’s house.’”Later, Gordie was moved to tears when she invited

him to see how she’d infused the house with her ownpersonality.Settled on Bowen, Coffey’s life went into overdrive

in town when a two-year contract put her smackdab into “the craziness of mergers and acquisitions.”Every week it seemed she was on a plane to some-where, her only requirement being that by Friday atnoon she was touching down at YVR for a weekendof being restored by life on Bowen.“It’s that sense of belonging and that Irish thing

of owning a house. To own land and a house is a bigthing for an Irish person. My parents were the firstgeneration to own a home,” she says.Although Bowen will always be home, her curios-

ity and quest for meaning will always be her pass-port to a world of discovery. After one of her workcontracts ended on a Wednesday, she departed forNepal the following Monday for a year of “mid-lifeenlightenment.” In Nepal she volunteered at a reha-bilitation centre for people with spinal cord injuries;in Bangladesh her focus was micro-financing. Whenshe left Nepal, part of her heart stayed behind and,after the devastating earthquakes, she’s been workinghard to raise money for the centre. (It’s chronicled onher blog, www.bowen2bangladesh.wordpress.com.)“Nepal is very close to my heart,” she says, just

before the bus arrives. “It’s another one of thoseBowen-like places.”

How we got here: Kate Coffey’s journey to Bowen Island

from PAGE 8

Who among us could possibly sayno to a visit to an “enchanted” beergarden? On 29th August Bowen willbe alive with the patter of centaurhooves, the beat of phoenix wings, androar of harpy calls.As well as the mythical creature

theme, Bowfest will be honoring

our 40 year anniversary by host-ing a 1975 tent filled with old timeBowfest games, including Hot Legs,neighborhood tug of war, and woodsplitting competitions. We are cur-rently looking for a volunteer MC forthese events. If you would like to getinvolved with this year’s Bowfest pleasecontact us at [email protected]. Bowfest is only possible throughvolunteer support.

Bowfest theme, 2015: Mythical CreaturesThis year’s first voter,Marley, hands herballot to Nancy Leeat the General Store.Sasha Buchanan, photo

Rotarians Denis Lynn and John Hazell recently presented the girls ofthe Bowen Island Gymnastic Club with $1,500 raised in OperationRed Nose, and Bowen Rotary caps, for their trip to compete in theWorld Gymnæstrada to be held in Helsinki, July 11–19.

Bowen Island Undercurrent July 3 2015

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Transcript of Bowen Island Undercurrent July 3 2015