by Allan Forget

The founding (1925) Constitution of the Galiano Club contained the objective, “to build a public hall”. Such a bldg began to be constructed that same year, was mostly complete & being occupied by 1927, had an ‘official’ opening in May,1929 during a visit by BC’s Lieutenant Governor. The Club, islanders, referred to the bldg as the ‘Galiano Hall’ for decades to come. In such a small-numbered community no external markings identifying it as the island’s public hall was ever deemed necessary. In the mid-1970s The Galiano Club’s Board of Trustees (now termed the Board of Directors) unofficially started calling the organization the ‘Galiano Community Club’. This lasted for just a few years. During that period a former Trustee, Betty Fairbank, offered to create a name board for the hall that read ‘Galiano Community Hall’. The offer was accepted, the board produced —- on a yellow cedar plank —- & was duly erected in October, 1976. This same board remains over the main entrance door to the Hall. It was removed once in the 1990s for a refinishing by Jordan Hartman. In 2018 the letters were highlighted with black paint by Heather Cruickshank.

At the same time Betty created a wood Bulletin Board which was also attached to the front of the Hall bldg. This lasted in place until a repainting of the Hall’s exterior in the late 1990s when it was removed. About 10 yrs later, then Club President, Don Anderson, built two new Bulletin Boards & these were attached to the Hall bldg where they exist to this day (April, 2020).

Betty Fairbank, a US citizen by birth, came to live on Galiano in the mid- 1970s. An artist in many mediums but specializing in photography, Betty opened a small ‘art & gift shop’ @ Sturdies Bay which happily operated for several years. Among other community involvements Betty served as a Trustee with the Galiano Club for many years. Betty had been involved with the feminist movement in Vancouver prior to her island residency. Her success on Galiano encouraged other Vancouver-based women to make the move. Two of those who did were the writer Jane Rule & her partner, the educator, Helen Sonthoff. Betty Fairbank died in May, 2016 , at the age of 93 yrs.