Galiano Club Blog

20 11, 2021

The Community Hall Shed

By |2022-03-15T22:00:05-07:00November 20th, 2021|Categories: Club News, History|0 Comments

For as long as any of us can remember there has been an old wooden building located next to the Galiano Community Hall. It is a simple enough four-sided structure, thick wood boards nailed to unfinished posts rooted into the ground, sloping corrugated metal roof. A single door, no windows. The floor is made up of packed soil and one very old tree stump. One side of the structure seems to have been left open (to receive firewood?) and was eventually covered over with a number of reused wood doors. Originally built in 1931 as a “wood shed”, the structure has been used as a general storage shed since at least the late 1950s. Stage props, food stuffs, archival papers, garden tools, excess lumber, retired furniture, kitchen pots and pans, sandwich boards and much much more, all found temporary and even long-term storage there. In the last few decades the outer walls became a place to post old event signs (in the days when these were still made of wood with hand painted letters), signs that advertised a wide variety of Hall functions: dances, art shows, craft markets, etc. While the building probably served very well as a wood shed, it was never a satisfactory storage shed: drafty and uninsulated, rotting boards, rodent infested. Historic though the building was becoming, it has long been in need of replacement and relocating. Just this past month the Club Board decided to do both. Under the supervision of Club Director, Diana Burgoyne, the old building is being dismantled, the boards and poles saved for use elsewhere. (One of those helping with the dismantling is Barry New.  Barry’s grandfather, Donald New, was one of the founders —- in 1924 —- of the Galiano Club and was most active with the Club in the early 1930s. Mr. New quite probably helped with the construction of the original shed, the very one that his grandson is now helping take apart.) A stronger, more efficient storage building is soon to be constructed closer to the Hall itself.

Construction of the Galiano Community Hall began in 1925 with an official opening four years later. The main room of the Hall, known as the Club Room, was initially unheated but in 1930 the Club purchased a single wood-burning stove for use there. The construction of a shed for the storage of fire wood was completed the following year. A janitor was hired whose duties included lighting a fire in this stove whenever heat was needed. (His 1931 end-of-year report stated that 158 fires had been lit!) A gas burning stove was installed in 1941 as “extra heat”.

Later that decade an “electric light plant” was placed in the Hall but it failed repeatedly.

In 1949 a group of local entrepreneurs established the Galiano Light and Power Company. Initially the Company provided electrical power to some 30 customers in the Sturdies Bay area. In the early 1950s the Galiano Club agreed to invest in the Company with the arrangement including the bringing of electricity to the Hall. A single power line was eventually strung on wood poles (cut from the Bluffs) stretching from Sturdies Bay to the Hall. By the early 1960s, with the creation of both BC Hydro and BC Ferries, a more reliable supply to the island of both electrical power and of natural gas (originally named ‘rock gas’) eliminated the need, from the Hall, of all the oil lamps and of the wood burning stove, replacing them with electric lights, gas and electric heat. The need for a wood shed was no longer there.

Though the shed itself will soon be gone, many of its elements will live on. Some of the one inch thick boards will be used as shelving in the new building. Some of the event signs, removed from the outer walls, are being stored for use in the Galiano Club’s upcoming (2024) 100th anniversary.

(Photos by Diana Burgoyne)

1 06, 2021

A Hall Opens…

By |2023-09-13T12:55:44-07:00June 1st, 2021|Categories: History|0 Comments

By Allan Forget

(with notes from the archives of the Galiano Club & the Sidney Review.)

Photo by Mr. Donald New

Ninety-two years ago this month an event was held that is considered to be the “official opening” of the building we now know as the Galiano Community Hall.

The Galiano Club was founded in December, 1924. One of the Club’s main objectives was “to build a public hall”. Construction of such a building began the following year on land donated by Mr. Stanley Page; it was ready for occupancy by 1926.

Early in 1929 the BC Lieutenant Governor, His Honour, R.Randolph Bruce, accepted an invitation to visit Galiano extended by the Galiano Island Development Association. All island organizations were encouraged to plan events to occupy His Honour during the day-long visit. The Galiano Club decided to hold an official opening of the Hall and sponsor a formal evening dance.

The Lieutenant Governor and his party arrived by rented yacht named ‘Locaber No More’, at the Sturdies Bay wharf on the morning of May 29th, 1929. The Government House bagpiper, a Military Aide de Camp, accompanied Mr. Bruce as did his niece, Miss Helen Mackenzie. (Mr. Bruce was a widower. Protocol at the time required that the LG always have a female… and a serving military officer… at his side while carrying
out duties as the King’s representative.) Among those greeting them was Vice-Admiral Paul Scoones, Secretary of the Galiano Club Board. His Honour inspected a group of Sea Scouts and Girl Guides, toured the Galiano Post Office, and was driven along a “scenic driveway bordering the Bay of Whales”. Miss Mackenzie was later presented with a bouquet of “no fewer than fifty-two varieties of wild flowers” by Miss Edwina Morgan.

Mr. Scoones eventually escorted LG Bruce to the “newly erected Galiano Hall” (not until the 1970s would the building become known as the Galiano Community Hall) where he was welcomed by Galiano Club President, Mr. Arthur Lord. A brief ceremony followed in which His Honour declared that the Hall was “open for business and for pleasure”. Before leaving the Hall site His Honour inspected the “large and beautiful grounds adjacent, so tastefully laid out by members of the Galiano League of Mercy.”

Afterwards, the Sea Scouts took charge of the Lieutenant Governor, sailing him in their barge, Roaring Rip, to nearby Gossip Island where an afternoon tea was served … complete with shrimps!!

His Honour was rowed back to Galiano later in the day for his invited attendance at the Galiano Club sponsored dance. Held in the main room of the hall, the “Club room”, the dance was well attended, regarded as it was as the social event of the year. The dance event was recorded in photographs by Club member Donald New. An enlargement of one of these photos was eventually framed and now hangs on one of the Hall walls.

In this photo we see the men wearing formal “cutaways” and seamed trousers, the women wearing the fashionable waistless dresses, thick stockings and buckle shoes. The Club has hired Mrs.Eaton’s “far-famed” three piece orchestra to play, and has purchased “on trial” a Bosch gramophone to provide supplementary music. The hall ceiling is decorated with rows of an assortment of nautical signal flags and national flags.
Several windows and doors are draped with oversized Union Jack and Red Ensign flags, the window frames with looped bunting. Large bouquets of flowers are on stage where His Honour seems to be addressing the crowd, his niece and his ADC seating nearby.

Mr. Scoones had provided, from his own home, framed prints of works by the currently popular American artist Edward Hopper, and some “Mediciprints” to decorate the walls. Extra kerosene lamps (the hall, like most island homes, had yet to be wired for electricity) had been brought in to supply the necessary illumination.

After spending the night at the Farmhouse Inn, His Honour sailed back to Victoria having much enjoyed the island scenery and also, according to a local newspaper report, “professing a heart-felt admiration for the public spirit which had converted Galiano Island from an ordinary island to a
centre of commerce and tourist activity.”

1 06, 2021

The Bluffs: Notes

By |2023-09-13T12:46:55-07:00June 1st, 2021|Categories: Club Parks, History|0 Comments

by Allan Forget

The Bluffs was created in 1948 as a result of a land donation by Mr. & Mrs. Max Enke and by the financial donation of several dozen islanders. The Galiano Club accepted title to the 139 ha of land in October of that year. In 1951 a Deed of Trust was signed setting out just how the Bluffs was to be managed. This Deed was amended by the Club in 1988 re-designating the land as a Nature Protection Area. The Galiano Club continues to manage the Bluffs, on behalf of our island community, to this day.

In the early 1960s, as both the 1966 BC Centennial and the 1967 Canadian Centennial approached, the Galiano Club Board of Directors began to look for a way to commemorate these historical events. (The Club had commemorated the earlier 1958 BC Centennial having a water well dug in the Community Hall grounds, a first.)
The Board, under President Margaret Robson, eventually decided to erect a stone arch at each of the two roadway entrances to the Bluffs. Directors EJ Bambrick and L. Walton took on the project. After some investigation the expense and the difficulties of the project caused it to be abandoned. Fred Robson offered to instead locate and place two large sandstone slabs at each roadway entrance to the Bluffs; three of these stone blocks remain.

In 1988, for the 40th anniversary of the Club accepting title to the Bluffs, the Board of Directors, under President Bill Scoones, decided that something more was needed to identify the roadway entrances to the land. Under the guidance of Director Mike Sharp two cedar wood sign boards simply reading “The Bluffs” were created, the letters beautifully carved by Steve Oscko. One sign was installed at each roadway entrance to the Bluffs. In the late 2000s the Club Board, under President Don Anderson, arranged for Kurt Ziwicki to clean and repair both of these signs. Kurt also highlighted the letters with a red paint. These signs also remain in place, welcoming all to our island’s oldest community park, the Bluffs.

1 06, 2021

Active Page Article June, 2021

By |2023-09-13T12:37:16-07:00June 1st, 2021|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News, Club Parks|0 Comments

Galiano Club Update, June 2021

By Jack Garton

The summer is opening its door, and by the time of this publication we will have enjoyed some of its warm welcome. Hot spring days are a wonderful thing. The feeling of warmth on our skin, the smell of life everywhere, colours bursting from trees and flowers; a sweet relaxation starts to take over.
However, before long, the reverie includes hopes for rain and fear of another dangerous wildfire season. As someone who prefers warm sun, there’s an unease underneath these sunny days. Maybe even a tiny bit of guilt for enjoying the heat. No, I think it’s more a sense of responsibility that pairs with the enjoyment. These recent years of BC wildfires have driven home just how interdependent we all are, humans and our environment.

The Galiano Club manages some beautiful outdoor recreation lands on the island, which we hope islanders make use of, but it’s always good to mention that during the summer it’s important to check the Fire Danger Rating, and to be very cautious if it’s High or Extreme.

Thanks to the volunteers who helped pull Scotch Broom from the trails recently, it’s a job that really benefits from many hands. It’s also a chance to spend some time with fellow islanders, and enjoy some much-needed social connection. This community has always had a knack for pulling together to get hard things done.

A note that the Galiano Club’s 96th Annual General Meeting (via Zoom) has been postponed until June 27. Members will receive an email with further details.

29 05, 2021

A Bit of Club History

By |2022-03-15T23:53:40-07:00May 29th, 2021|Categories: History|0 Comments

There is a framed hanging on one of the Galiano Community Hall walls which displays a long list of beautifully inscribed names introduced with, “Galiano Club Charter Members for the Year Nineteen Hundred and Twenty Five”. Lots here is of interest to me. Most of these family names are quickly recognizable—Bellhouse, Burrill, Georgeson, Morgan, Murcheson, Page, Twiss—to mention just a few. The names are part of my island neighbourhood geography. Their descendants are amongst us; some continue the tradition of being Galiano Club members. The list is a nice mix of nationalities—Japanese, European, First Nation. A few oddities too: the married women have no individual name; the one Japanese name has no first name at all. And, the hanging does not contain the name of the artist/designer. I’ve decided the solve the mystery of the latter.

Several years ago the then Lieutenant Governor, Galiano native Iona Campagnolo, visited the island to attend a public event at the Hall accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Rosamund Hardy. Afterwards Mrs. Hardy and I had a chance to chat. Remembering that, of course, she too had spent some time living on the island, I drew her attention to this wall hanging asking if she knew any of the names. “Well, all of them!!”, she answered. There were the names of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Finlay Murcheson, the names of most of their neighbours. She also recalled attending the unveiling of this hanging, “in the 1970s”.Many years later I finally started a search through the Galiano Club Executive Meeting Minutes to find out more. I found that in October,1968, the then Club President, Margaret Robson, introduced the idea to create a “picture scroll commemorating the giver of the land which the Hall stands on and (to) all the pioneers who helped build and organize the Community Hall.”

The January, 1969 Executive meeting was told that “Mrs. George Templeman has kindly consented to do the picture scroll”. The April,1970, meeting minutes contain the announcement that “a Spring Tea is to be arranged for Saturday, May 2nd. Mr. James will be present to give a garden talk, and invitations to be sent out to all Charter members of Galiano Club to witness unveiling of plaque commemorating the founding of the Galiano Club 1925.” So, that must be the “unveiling” Mrs. Hardy remembered.Searching for info then on the scroll’s designer, Mrs. George Templeman, I find not much (even with the help of friend & researcher, Helen Russell). I do learn however that her first name was Ingunn, that her maiden name was Inkster. The longtime Galiano resident and watercolour artist Amy (Field) Inkster was her mother. A family relative reports on Google that “Aunt Ingunn was an excellent draftsperson when young, but after marrying and becoming a mother she turned to water colour painting, at which she excelled. She was quiet in her manner, but enjoyed a good joke and was a positive and gentle soul.” The same relative has her Aunt being born “about 1937” in Edmonton, Alberta, dying in Grand Forks, BC, “about 2016”. Friend Margaret Howell tells me that she owns paintings done by both women and that she likes the works “very much”. I discover too that Ingunn’s daughter, Katherine Templeman, remains in contact with several islanders, is a regular contributor to the Facebook site “Galiano Island Photo Album from the Past”. And … that’s about it.

Much later, after it had already been hanging on a Community Hall for almost a decade, the document got amended. In the early 1980s then Club Director Ken Hardy noticed that some Charter members had been left off the list. Mrs. Templeman had departed the island so amateur calligrapher Willow Jewell was hired by the Club to add the names. Willow remembers that she spent “many agonizing hours” trying to match Ingunn’s script; she succeeded.The Hall’s framed “picture scroll” will soon have added to it:‘An Oct.1968 Galiano Club Executive decision to create a “picture scroll commemorating the giver of the land which the Hall stands on and (to) all the pioneers who helped build and organize the Community Hall” was the result of an initiative of the President, Margaret Robson (Mrs. Fred Robson).

Eventually this framed “picture scroll” was designed/created by Ingunn Inkster (Mrs. George Templeman) and was unveiled at a public ceremony on May 2nd, 1970 attended by those listed & still surviving. In the early 1980s Club Director, Ken Hardy, noticed that the names of some Galiano Club founders were missing. Willow Jewell was hired to add the names, to complete in the same script as Mrs. Templeman.

1 05, 2021

Active Page Article May, 2021

By |2023-09-13T12:33:25-07:00May 1st, 2021|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News, Club Parks|0 Comments

Galiano Club AGM

While we hope that everyone is enjoying the spring and spending time outside, alas COVID 19 is still with us and this year’s Galiano Club AGM will be on Zoom, scheduled for May 30. If you would like to vote on any of our resolutions, contribute to the discussions, or get familiar with the many ways in which the Club stewards its lands and assists the community on Galiano, put it in your calendar! To vote in the AGM, all you need to do is renew your membership for 2021 at galianoclub.org/about/membership. It costs $10 for the year and all Galiano residents or property owners are eligible. Non-residents who wish to support the club are also welcome as Associate Members (without voting privileges). The last AGM included lively discussion and debate, with the highest attendance on record. Hope to see you there.

Easter Chocolate Sale

Our latest chocolate fundraiser was an egg-celllent success! A big thank you to the volunteers who helped make and sell the chocolates, we appreciate all your help. Like previous chocolate sales, everything sold out. The very last bag of chocolates went to…….Buzz!

Broom Blitz

It’s that time of year again when the blooming broom needs to be cut. We are going to focus on a couple of areas in the Community Forest. We will be going out several times in the month of May, so if you have any time to spare and would like to help please email Diana at dburgoy@gmail.com.

17 04, 2021

A Wider Lens: SGI Food Resilience

By |2022-03-15T21:49:06-07:00April 17th, 2021|Categories: Food Program|0 Comments

This report for the CRD’s Community Economic Sustainability Commission reviews two recent local GCFP projects through a regional lens, and identifies which issues raised on Galiano might resonate on other Southern Gulf Islands, and also which might best lend themselves to being addressed at a regional level. The first project was a pair of surveys of Galiano growers and restaurants and grocery stores to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on Galiano’s food system. The second project was an event that was organized to address some of the needs that were identified via the Covid Impact surveys, called Meet Your Maker, which was an opportunity for Galiano farmers, fishers, foragers, markets, restaurants and grocery stores to come together, make connections, discover opportunities and find new partners. The report then makes recommendations for ways to apply what was learned throughout the region.

A Wider Lens_ SGI Food Resilience Considerations

17 04, 2021

Meet Your Maker 2021

By |2022-03-15T23:54:04-07:00April 17th, 2021|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments

The Meet Your Maker event was held in January of 2021. It was an opportunity for Galiano farmers, fishers, foragers, markets, restaurants and grocery stores to come together, make connections, discover opportunities and find new partners. In attendance were 15 growers, 3 grocers, 3 farmers’ market reps and 9 restaurateurs. This report shares the outline of the event, gives an overview and highlights key takeaways, including next steps to address some of the issues raised.

Meet Your Maker 2021 External Report

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