"16c17363-ccb4-4f5e-a3fe-cbaf15b7483d"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "[Coast News]"@en . "BC Historical Newspapers"@en . "2014-02-14"@en . "1980-05-13"@en . "Serving the Sunshine Coast since 1945"@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/xcoastnews/items/1.0176105/source.json"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " ^^^^^^^^mm^^m \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD^^^W^^^W^i \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDnmwh jfHH \ HR*\" 81.1 Sunshine Published at Gibsons, B.C. 15$ per copy on news stands Second Class Mail Registration No. 4702 Serving the Sunshine Coast since 1945 Delivered to every address on the Coast. May 13, 1980 Volume 34, Number 19 In U I C office Chained protest brings prompt results Paula Linden of Sechelt displays part of the chain she used to tie herself to the bench at the employment office. She also took the bed and supplies with her and was prepared for a long stay. Marsh Society petition Sechelt Council by Ian Corrance On Monday afternoon, May Sth, a mother of three chained herself to the job desk at the Sechelt Employment Centre. Paula Linden of Sechelt became so frustrated in her dealings with thc Employment Centre that she appeared at the office at 2:30 p.m. armed with a foam sleeping pad, a thermos of coffee, and sandwiches. She chained and padlocked herself to the bench and refused to leave until she received her overdue medical benefits. For the bulk ofthe past four years, Paula has been supporting her family, often working in two jobs. On January of this year she had to stop working due to a disc problem in her back. Afteradoctor'sexamina- tion which verified her ailment, she applied for medical benefits. Upon application, she was informed that there would be a two-week waiting period. A month later she enquired about her payments. The receptionist at the Sechelt office phoned Vancouver and was told Paula was on the pay-out list and would be receiving a cheque within ten days. On April6th the mail from Vancouver arrived, but did not contain cheques, but instead more application cards and medical forms were enclosed. During this time, Paula went to the Welfare department, asking if they could intervene on her behalf. This brought no results. Another application form was received, dated April 20. In the form it stated lhat unless it were filled out by March 7, benefits would be cut off. Tom Nishimura, Ihe local administrator, assured her that this must be a computer error and the forms were returned. There was no further communication from thc Vancouver office until May when Paula received another letter asking for further doctor's re ports, at this point she decided that things had gone far enough and she staged her demonstration at the Sechelt Manpower Office. While she was chained to the bench, Tom Nishimura phoned Vancouver explaining the situation and asked for the status of Ms. Linden's claim. Thc Vancouver office gave assurances that cheques had been processed and were on their way. At 4:30 p.m ihe RCMP arrived, having first obtained a set of chain cutters from thc Mcl.eod's Hardware store across the road and cut her free. Before leaving for thc police station, Ms. Linden stated that she would return Ihe next day if she had not received any assisiance. After a sliort reconsideration, she decided that she would give them a week and then return, but this time with boom chains. Al the police siation.shcwas advised lhat a repeat performance could result in a possible trespassing charge. On Wednesday two benefit cheques arrived by mail, she received additional cheques on Thursday and Friday. Thc claim is now up-to-date and cheques should be arriving regularly. Thc explanation from the Vancouver office was thai the woman who was handling Ms. Linden's case had been on holidays and had just recently returned. A delegation from the Marsh Society attended the regular meeting of Sechelt Council last Wednesday. Ex-village planner Doug Roy acted as spokesman for the Society and asked Council to consider preserving the head of Porpoise Bay as a natural wildlife feeding area. It was pointed out that this was not a new request. In 1978 the same proposal had come before Council. At that time several interested and conflicting groups had voiced their opinions, but there hud been no cohesive committee and the matter had been allowed to slide. In rejuvenating the propsal, Roy asked that an economic and biological study be made of the area, as per the guidelines in the Community Plan. Alderman Hall felt that as a property owner in the area, he should excuse himself from any discussion. Before leaving the council chambers temporarily, he mentioned that since he had moved into the A-frame adjacent lo the marsh, his views on what he had previously called the smelly mud at the bay head had softened and he was beginning to find the area interesting. Alderman Stelck felt that the biological study should include all, if any, effects the present development in the area had had on the wildlife patterns. He asked that Mayor Boucher pass the gavel in order that he might express his opinions. The mayor stated that after reading the report in detail he was impressed by the concern shown towards wildlife, but he would like lo see an equal amount of concern shown for thc children. As an example, he pointed out lhat there was no decent place for them to swim and a beach at Ihe head ofthe bay could provide this. This stand was refuted by Marsh Society member Ms. Steele, who pointed out that her younger relatives habitually swam in the ocean at Trail Bay. She added that on any gisen day children could be seen enjoying the marsh. Joyce Kolibas put a motion on the floor suggesting that Council as whole\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDminus Alderman Hall\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDact as a select committee to talk to all interested groups. The motion was carried. The formation of this select committee would enable Alderman Hall to provide input as a property holder. Beverly Northway from the SPCA petitioned Council, asking that there be more emphasis put on dog control in Sechelt and the surrounding area. She has been receiving numerous reports of dogfights in the school yard at the elementary school in West Sechelt and recently a child was bitten at Sechelt Elementary. Under the present system, the dog catcher is unable to answer all the complaints in the time allotted and she asked that Council meet with Vancouver SPCA officer Mr. Kicket when he comes in July. The mayor instructed the Clerk to write to Kicket inviting him to attend a Council meeting to discuss the problem and possible solutions. Northway asked that in the meantime Council look into including the West Sechelt Elementary School in the dog catcher's rounds. A request was forwarded from the Timber Days Committee asking for permission to hold a motorcycle enduro race. Council granted the request, providing that the committee carry the liability. This problem of liability came up again when the annual request to erect a gospel tent in Hackett Park was presented. Permission was granted after Alderman Stelck suggested that Council make it a policy that groups wishing to carry out their activities within the Village boundaries assume the responsibility for any liability. A letter was recived from Croft Construction asking Council to consider using Lot 7, block P on D.L 303 for the joint use facility building. The land is situated behind the Sechelt Building Supply. The matter was referred to the Joint Use Facility Committee. Parking continues to be a problem with ovcrparking at the Elementary School. As yet Council's letter to the School Board requesting that they meet to discuss the bottleneck has not been answered. It was explained that thc reason for this was that Roy Mills has been on holiday and now that has returned, the matter would be given consideration. It was decided once again that the School Board should be given another two weeks to reply. Zoning bylaw 214 was presented for scrutiny. This bylaw affects the land north of Ripple Way arc cast of DL 1472. Before adoption it will go to a public meeting. Arne Pettersen, the president of the Gibsons and District Chamber of Commerce, wrote Council asking that they support the Chamber in urging the Regional Board to appoint a commission for economic development. Council members felt they should examine the guideline pamphlet before giving support. Alderman Hall reminded Council that Pebble holdings had not as yet tidied up their property underneath the power line. Clerk Shanks said that he had been contacted by surrounding residents and they were willing to seed the area with grass if the property were levelled, Mr. Harry Lomax presented Council with a petition asking that a boat-launching ramp be built on the Trail Bay foreshore. He pointed out the need for a launching facility in this area by stating that his figures indicate that 46% of th/s residents in the Sechelt vicinity are boat owners. This, plus the fact that there was no safe way to launch a boat in foul weather, making rescue attempts difficult in the event of a marine accident. The mayor agreed that a ramp should be a priority, as there was virtually no place to launch a trailcred boat between Gibsons and north of Sechelt. Parks and Recreation chairman Hall asked Council's approval to allocate up to maximum of $3,000 to make a study of the foreshore for a suitable piece of shoreline close to an area with adequate parking. This was granted. - \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDl,,i,!.l Ferries indecisive A copy ol a memorandum from B.C. Ferries Corporation Communications Manager Bill Bouchard, issued in reply to the minutes of the March 19th meeting of ihe Ferry Advisory Committee, was received by Gibsons Council at Tuesday's Council meeting. The memorandum reiterates the Corporations's position on the matter of ferry schedules, noting that \"comments concerning ferry schedules are always going to be prominent,\" to the effect that the 0730 hours sailing will remain in place for the summer, but it is not planned for this sailing to continue year-round. The memorandum indicates that the Catering Manager will be looking into Ihe possibility of a baby change room on thc Ferries and may attend Ihe next meeting ofthe Advisory Committee to discuss food services. Decisions concerning possible increases in ferry rates, and the loss of commuter cards and special fares faced by residents of the Sunshine Coast, have still not been resolved by thc Cabinet though the memorandum states, \"We are expecting decisions at any time.\" Alderman Larry Trainor, Gibsons representative on the Ferry Advisory Committee, suggested that further commeni on thc subject of ferry scheduling and services should be submilled lo Area F Director David Hunter of the S.C.R.D. who represents the Regional Board and chairs the Ferry Advisory Committee. Gambier Mine One of the attractions at Timber Days will be parachutist Gerry Hallmark from the U.S. Coast Guard station at Port Angeles. Gerry will be performing airobatic stunts before landing in Hackett Park at approximately 1 p.m. on Monday. Piloting the Cessna 180 will be Bill Thompson from Garden Bay. Be sure to bring your binoculars for viewing the mid-air stunts. Gerry will be on hand to answer questions after his jump. Davis Bay students entertain The School Board's May Educational meeting took place at Davis Bay with a capacity audience of parents and siblings squeezing into the Kindergarten room to enjoy the primary grades choir and songs from the Kindergarten; a playlet about the Sasquatch from the Grade 3 reader and Robert Service's poem The Shooting of Dan McGrew recited by Grade 5 student, Garth Frizzell. This is the time for the annual report to the Board of the Learning Assistance programs in the District co-ordinated by Ed Nicholson and seven special teachers who work both as a team within the District and in their separate schools with teachers, parents, aides and tutors. The function of the Learning Assistance teacher is to help identify and meet the individual needs of children who, for a variety of reasons, may find it difficult to function in a normal classroom setting; and to help the child develop skills and abilities to become independent of assistance. This may include special programmes to meet the unique needs of a child, and will include consultation with parents, teachers, counsellors and sometimes the medical profession. Additionally the L.A. teacher will conduct diagnostic assessment and testing to identify as early as possible children with potential problems, as well as the assessment of cognitive ability and achievement, for correct placing within the school. It should be understood that children who require help are not necessarily slow learners. They often are children with average and above average ability. Helping the L.A. teachers are a number of adults from the community who tutor children in small groups or on a one-to- one basis, and some High School and Grade 6 and 7 students. The children develop a very close relationship and good rapport with their tutors and students and adults find it a rewarding experience. Reports were given to the Board by David Short from Chatelech, Mrs. Joan Aelbers from Gibsons, Ms. Virginia Douglas from Elphinstone, Mrs. Barbara Enns from Sechelt and Joe Brooks from Pender Harbour. Pertinent questions were asked by members of the board, Trustee Clayton wanting to know if the L.A. teachers had thc time to devote to the enrichment of program mes for gifted children. Trustee Lloyd was concerned that there would seem to be a need for additional help and suggested greater involvement be encouraged by people in the community with valuable skills and knowledge. Trustee Clayton was also concerned that with all our concern for children to be able to be literate in reading and writing, we are doing little if anything to ensure that they arc able to evaluate what they see and hear\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDa skill of equal importance as so much communication is visual and aural. Church opposition by Fred Cruice Following Sunday morning's United Church service, the congregation of about forty persons passed a motion signifying congregational opposition to a proposed liquor licence in the area close to the church. This license is sought by Ritz Motel owners who are proposing to open a larger hotel on the present site of the Rit/ Motel and adjacent property. One vote in opposition was based on a technicality. Trustee Hodgins, while understanding the need for diagnostic testing, emphasized the very real danger that a child's whole school life may be ad- versly affected by the results and that teachers may not expect enough of him if, for some reason he wasn't doing well in the tests. The Islands Trust will hold a public information meeting on the subject of metal exploration on the Island at 8 p.m. Monday, May 26th, in the Devon Room of Vancouver's Devonshire Hotel. The possibility of mining development on the Island will also be among topics on the agenda of a special meeting for West Howe Sound (area F) residents to he held this Saturday at 8 p.m. at Langdale Elementary School. Islands Trust Chairman John Rich will meet with Attorney- General Allan Williams to clarify the legal aspects of the Ministry of the Environment's decision to permit continued metal exploration on the Island in spite of thc Islands Trust Act, An exact date for the meeting has not been set. In addition to his open letter v\ to the Premier of British Columbia, which appears in the Letters to the Editor column of this week's paper,MLA for Mackenzie, Don Lockstead told the Coast News he has raised the question of mining dew upment on the Island three limes in the legislature and received no reply from the government. \"1 intend to continue to pursue this matter, on behalf of the residents of Gambier Island\", Lockstead said, \"and if necessary to debate it at length during debate on the spending estimates of the Ministries concerned.\" See Page 14 for our Tourist & Hospitality Guide Looking nervous but happy, Marty Meldrum. the pound keeper makes her biggest catch of the year. Village Clerk Jack Copland performed the marriage ceremony between Marty and Leonard Clarke of Wilson Creek. The best man was Don Clarke and the bridesmaid. Peggy Wray. mwiammmK? For 35 years the most widely read Sunshine Coast newspaper!] __^__*^___ muiSim^m WmW 2. Coast News, May 13, 1980 \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDCNA BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1978 A LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER Published at Gibsons. B.C every Tuesday, by Glassford Press Ltd. Box 460, Gibsons, VON 1V0 Phone 886-2622 or 886-7817 Pender Harbour enquiries, end all other*, II no imwer Irom S86 numbers call 185-2770 Editorial Department: John Burnside Ian Corrance John Moore Accounts Department: M. M. Joe Copysetting: Wendy-Lynne Johns SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada S20 per year. $12 tor six months United States and Foreign. S24 per year Distributed Free to all addresses on the Sunshine Coast Production Department: Mavis C Christmas Lyn Fabio Sonia Trudel Advertising Department: Allan Crane Fran Berger On Canada's future Ii is perhaps understandable that thc Quebec Referendum, slated for May 20 is attracting constant if often hysterical coverage in the newspapers of the land. Canadians are suddenly waking up to the fact that there is a very real danger of their country coming apart at the seams and the Quebec Referendum is a focal point for their sudden concern about Canada's future. Such concern though somewhat belated in arrival and still in a nascent and unsophisticated stage of its development is a welcome phenomenon. For what it is worth, it is the opinion here that the Non forces led by Claude Ryan will emerge victorious in the May 20th vote, possibly the rejection of Rene Lcvesque, however, will be followed by the re-election of Levesque as premier of the province shortly thereafter as the cagy Quebecers hedge their bets in traditional fashion by electing different parties to power federally and provincially. The rejection which will probably gieet Levesque's referendum on May 20 will not be of Levesque as premier, but rather the gut reaction of what is still a conservative population against what is after all a very radical departure. The real work that must be done if Canada is to survive will be done after the Quebec Referendum has been defeated. The premiers and the prime minister of this country will have to sit down and reorganize the structure of this country, an exercise long overdue. Included in those negotiations will be Pierre Eliot Trudeau, definitely intransigent on Ihe subject of decentralization, an equally intransigent Peter Loughccd of Alberta who seems quite prepared to dismember the country single handedly without any aid from thc prickly M. Levesque who will, we feel, also be in attendance. This is a country which has been built on a dream and the ability to compromise. We do not see in any of the leaders presently in command much that can be called visionary but we trust that the ability to compromise is still lurking in the Canadian breast. With disenchantment with the confederation as it now stands at least as virulent in Western Canada as it is in the province of Quebec, real changes are going to have to be made and the diametrically opposed positions of Alberta and Ontario, to use just one example, will not render the work to be done on the new constitution easy. What it comes down to in the end is that there is a very real possibility that the country which is Canada will be no more before we are halfway through this present decade even although the forces of separation will in all likelihood be beaten back in Quebec on May 20. If there is any relaxation after the referendum date in the efforts to be made to keep the country together or if the Canadian genius for compromise deserts us, all could well be lost. That would be the final tragic irony in this century which Wilfred Laurier said would belong to Canada. Apologies and a suggestion Apologies are in order this week to the Inglis family of Gibsons. A reference Maryanne West's column to the Inglis Trail unfortunately was proofread by someone new to the area and the pioneer name was mis-spelled. Another error in the same piece saw the Charman property referred to as the Chapman property. Apologies also to Maryanne whose mistakes these were not. On the subject of pioneers and names, we would add our support for the suggestion contained in a letter to the editor this week for the naming of an unnamed road in Roberts Creek after veteran writer Hubert Evans of that community. Mr. Evans marked his eighty- eighth birthday last week and this would seem to be as appropriate a time as any for him to be recognized by the area he has graced with his presence for many, many years. The writer, D.L. Wright suggests that other Roberts Creek residents might lend their voices in support of this suggestion and we would welcome an indication from the community in support ofthe idea in the pages of this newspaper. Blessed are the peacemakers At no time since perhaps the Korean War has the possibility of nuclear holocaust seemed more possible than it does today. The United States of America is being run at the present time by a hardline group which headed by Carter's advisor with Ihe unpronounceable Polish name Zbigniew Brzezinski. This same gentleman is the man who while at Harvard conceived the idea of an international group of prominent industrialists to be called the Trilateral Commission and whose purpose is to retain and perpetuate the awesome power and wealth they have accumulated. The idea was seized and instituted by David Rockefeller and Carter himself is an ex- member of the organization. Let us remember that it was David Rockefeller and cohorts who pressured President Carter into inviting the Shah of Iran into the United States in the first place, thereby precipitating the hostage crisis. It was again the advice of Brzezinski that Carter followed in the recent aborted rescue attempt and the resignation of Cyrus Vance as Secretary of State is an indication that Brzezinski has (he President's ear, not perhaps surprising in the light of their association on the Trilateral Commission. We may take as much comfort as we can from Christ's teaching \"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the earth,\" but it is apparent that they are not now in control of events. % .from the files of the COAST NEWS ementber & \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD FIVE YEARS AGO Alderman Denis Shuttleworth of Sechelt is to travel to Victoria to promote a comination arboretum and a bauhaus for the Sechelt Vicinity. A bauhaus is a school which would integrate such things as architecture, landscaping and general design under one roof. New superintendent John Denley is to explore and make recommendations to the school board on a new family life program to be incorporated into local schools. Denley says his main function will be to provide an avenue of communication. Talk of coalition among B.C. political parties with a view to defeating the government of Premier David Barrett is surfacing in Victoria. TEN YEARS AGO Elphinstone senior students in a Coast News editorial termed a referendum turn out of 13.2 of voters as disgraceful. Gibsons 1970 tax rate drops three mills as a result of a reduction in the school tax The drop was from 57 to 54 mills. Forty-two acres have been set aside for recreational use in the area south of Roberts Creek Golf Course. FIFTEEN YEARS AGO Bill Davis, Forestry Officer in Sechelt, is transferred to Lake Cowichan. A letter from a visitor maintains that Gibsons is a beautiful spot but that it needs cleaning up. This year's Smokey Stovers review at the Firemen's Dance features a cancan. TWENTY YEARS AGO Ed Connor of Midway Store announces that he will construct an eight-lane bowling alley at the rear of the store. Sunshine Coast Boards of Trade urge Highways Minister Phil Gagliardi to start work on the road to Squamish from Port Mellon. TWENTY/FIVE YEARS AGO Father Pierre Plamondon OMI, who built the Sechelt Mission in 1907 dies in New Westminster at the age of 86. Work will start in June on the paving of the highway between Gibsons and Port Mellon. THIRTY YEARS AGO THE Hamilton Report on hospitals maintains a clinic should be built in Sechelt rather than Gibsons. Harry Reischelt takes over the management of Jim Veitch's Men's Shop in Gibsons. >jifMW *\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD' \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD*\"' ~ii \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD mttii. Brigade Bay, 1935. Members of Howe Sound Women's Institute are visiting the home of Charles Wigand, seated at extreme left, next to Sidney Spencer, who transported the ladies to and from the Island. The house is rustic\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDshakes; stovepipe; fieldstone fireplace. The Wigand property was gladed, copsed, delled, pathed, and arbored. An aviary included birds from many parts of the world. Even residents of rural Gibson's Landing delighted in a recreational sojourn on bucolic Gambier Island. Waters from Brigade Bay north are already being so poisoned by licensed dumping of mercuric wastes that the taking of shell fish is permanently banned. If tailings were to be allowed to escape from a molybdenum-copper mine located anywhere on the Island, not only Gambier but all of Howe Sound would be irreparably damaged. Helen McCall photo, courtesy Elphinstone Pioneer Museum L.R. Peterson Musings John Burnside Slings & Arrows > George Matthews 1 have decided thai 1 have reached thai time of life when it becomes imperative to devote some attention to my physical being. I am moved to these reflections in the aftermath of what must surely be about my one millionth hangover. My dear, departed sister Marv initialed my drinking careei during a visit to her\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD home in Lincolnshire during my fifteenth year. 1 Had been regular visitor to her house in the picturesque village of Old Somerby since she had moved there some four years earlier. It was a lovely rural English place of quaint neighbouring villages with names like Boothby Pagnell and Ropsley The buses were blue and green and operated by two different companies. The green buses were operated by the Lincolnshire Motor Company and the blue buses were operated by a firm called Reliance Coaches. Reliance were a half-penny more expensive and their buses were old and run-down but with a decaying elegance and comfort thai the functional modernity of thc green buses could not match. Nor was it the interior furnishings alone which made me prefer the Reliance buses. There's the name for one thing. There's something warm and reassuring about Reliance Coaches as a name I'm afraid the Lincolnshire Motor Company had a uniformed, militaristic ring to it. The drivers ofthe green buses were bored and uniformed and sat in a glass cab by themselves separated from the passengers whilst the Reliance Coaches drivers were rumpled and casual and friendly, took the tickets and gave change and carried on a witty banter and general conversation with the entire bus. Then, of course, there were the colours. The blue and white Reliance Coaches matched the colours of my favourite soccer team, the Glasgow Rangers. . The green and while, on the other hand, were the colours of the hated rivals, the Glasgow Celtics, so all in all the Reliance Coaches were my clear favourites and if possible I always wangled my comings and goings on them. I found Old Somerby to be a place of great charm. The weather was much drier and warmer than thc weather in Scotland and the warm dry days lured one out about the woods and hedgerows on a blitz of exploration and deight. Then, too, there were the companions: bluff English lads with whom 1 played cricket on the green and explored the nests of wood pigeons and played cowboys and Indians with the hay-shed for a fort or livery stable or saloon or jail cell as the occasion arose. Lincolnshire grows stout contented men, hearty, beefy fellows with pleasant dispositions and the beefy, outgoing, friendly boys were kind to the strange, fierce, skinny little Scotsman who moved among them. As well as buses and boys there were the Sunday cricket matches between the villages when even the Squire would don pads and take his portly, balding, cheerful way to the wicket. It was a timeless place of rural yeomen where the countrymen in 1950 lived very much as countrymen had lived there for several hundred years. There was the old roofer with whom 1 worked one splendid summer. He had been gassed in the First World War and his voice was a throaty rasp to which 1 listened spellbound during the breaks from work as he recounted stories of that dreadful conflict into my eager youthful cars. There were the marathon table tennis tournaments in Alan's workshop, Alan being my sister's husband. After work and dinner he would set up the table and there was unlimited space to leap and lean and play with a fierce and friendly determination. To this day I am convinced that the world has a great lack of perfect places to play table tennis. Alan's workshop was such a place. Generations of swallows had built their nests high in the rafters in one corner ofthe high wooden shed and a window was always partially open to allow them to swoop in with provender for their clamourous young. One summer, I think I must have been that magical and perfect age of twelve because my father was still alive, we took an evening walk along the highway to the Crossroads then a couple of miles along the road that led to the sea, and then by a leafy path through some lovely beechwoods to the Ropsley road and so back to Somerby. 1 walked it with the adults listening to their talk and watching out for birds and rabbits and being told how Dick Turpin rode his horse for some reason not recorded in the tale up the steps of a pub we passed along the road. 1 did decide somewhat crossly that only grownups would be so silly as to walk so much on the highway where you had to have your day-dreaming interrupted by the harsh reality of close passing traffic. A car would come by every half an hour or so. So as a walk it was not a favourite but I saw it as a course to run around. I announced my intention at dinnertime and asked the assembled family how long they thought it would take me. Eyebrows were lifted when my father thought it would take about forty-five minutes but 1 made it round in thirty-nine minutes and he was easily the closest. It was in Old Somerby during the last short visit before I left for Canada my sister who was allowed out of hospital for the occasion, started me off on what has been a rather over-active drinking career because, as she later explained, she was going to miss so much of my growing up when I went to Canada that she did want to see mc get drunk for the first lime. Drunk I got. but more of that and my newfound determination to devote some attention to physical well- being anon. :<\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD The biggest tourist attraction in the lower mainland last week was, ot all things, the B.C. Penitentiary. The old Pen, built over 100 years ago is now out of business and the authorities opened it up for a week and gave tours. The first weekend saw more than 6000 visitors. I didn't go to see it, but I admit to a certain morbid curiosity concerning the place. For years, as a kid, whenever I drove by with my parents, one of them would say something like, \"Shall we leave you here?\" or \"How would you like to stay there for a few weeks?\" To this day, whenever I drive my own kids past the Pen, I say much the same thing to them. As a terrifying symbol of the power of the law, it sure discouraged me from J-walk- ing or pinching apples when I was young. The Pen opening received a great deal of media coverage. Pictures and vivid descriptions were seen in the press, the radio featured interviews with visitors describing prison conditions. Most of the people interviewed were pretty disgusted while some said conditions were too good for the likes ofthe criminals who were kept there. Like most people, the ideas of being locked up in a 9'x 6' cell for several years is a very frightening thought and while listening to the comments of the visitors on the radio. I couldn't help thinking about the time I almost got thrown in jail. Now this might come as a surprise to some of you, while others won't be amazed at all, but yes 1, your humble and honest correspondent, came near enough to thc slammer to remind me just how tenuous our freedom can be. Like many another poor sucker, I was totally innocent but under thc circumstances I could have ff.JJ.JJW.V.W.JW.V.WAW In A Lonely Place In a lonely place, I encounter a sage Who sat, all still, Regarding a newspaper. He accosted me: \"Sir, what is this?\" Then I saw that I was greater, Aye, greater than this sage. I answered him at once: \"Old, old man, it is the wisdom ofthe age.\" The sage looked upon me with admiration. *! Stephen Crane ended up in prison just the same. And this wasn't just your average North American prison either, the place 1 could have found myself in would make the B.C. Pen look like the London Hilton. I won't bore you with the details but a few years ago my. wife and I met a young fellow on a boat between Alexandria, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon. He was a handsome and charming young Frenchman from Marseilles who was taking his car to the Middle East for a vacation. We passed the time pleasantly and when we arrived in Beruit, he offered us a ride to a hotel. We stayed around the pier until his car had been carefully removed from the ship and passed through customs, then he| drove us to a little hotel in the town. He and an Englishman, travelling with us decided it would be cheaper if we all shared a hotel suite and so aftei a brief discussion we all, goi rooms together. We ;oured Beirut and stayed, about a week in the hotel before my wife and I decided\" to hitchhike to Damascus,, in Syria. We left our two friends and said we hoped we'd see. them again soon, and went on our way into Syria. About, a week later we got word that the young Frenchman had been arrested the day after we left Beruit. It seems the seats and door panels of his car had, been stuffed with weapons he hoped to sell in Lebanon on the occasion of the national elections. We had been with, him at the pier while he waited, for his car, we had stayed with. hint in Beruit; as much as 1 would like to think we would have been questioned and released, I have a strong feeling wc would have been sent straight to prison. As it turned out, our companion was sentenced to seven years and fined 25,ooo francs. In Lebanon, the prisons aren't as civilzed as here, he would have had to buy his own food and keep himself la- live while sharing a cell with God knows what kind of criminals. That all happened a long time ago and near enough to just how I explained it. Every time.- I hear a story about prison, Y am reminded just how close [!; probably came to spending a; long time there myself. I d\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDreS say that most of the fellows!; who spent some time in the'; B.C. Pen during the hundred: years of its history were guilty \ as hell but as 1 listened to the - final chapter of the prison on ; the radio last week, I couldn't. help thinking about the few' men who spent time there who were just as innocent as me. * \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD - --\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD- ^^^M^ \"^\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD^\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDi Coast News, May 13, 1980 \"...meanwhile, back at the Reach...\" Won't be long now Marge, looks like they found the camera Letters to the Editor The proposed Beachcomber Hotel Editor: With the recent publicity in the press concerning the intent and purpose of the public meeting held on April 28, it becomes necessary to further publicize a deeper interpretation of some of the stated facts and some ofthe assumed conclusions that were reached regarding the project. The press has reported that Mr. Jon McRae told them that \"most people went away from the meeting satisfied, once it was explained the hotel didn't plan on a pub, but a lounge\"\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD \"most were convinced this was the way to go.\" A group of citizens, who are concerned with the healthy revitalization of the lower Village of Gibsons applaud business ventures that will contribute to this end. It was sad to hear at village council a reference to a visitor's remark that the area looked \"tacky.\" We respectfully ask the residents of Gibsons to consider our assessment of the proposal and its influence on our life style and the social health ofthe community unless standards arc upheld apart from concrete, iumber and glass. The thrust of the objections at the meeting concerned the liquor licence and we feel that the matter, because it was not the subject for which the meeting was convened to discuss, was dismissed too easily. Many have had second thoughts and have admitted to not being very knowledgeable about liquor licences. We would ask you to consider the following: ON THE POSITIVE SIDE 1. A modern aesthetically designed hotel in a i area that may influence the renovation or replacement of existing older structures and promote better land use. 2. Such a hotel would he compatible with the proposed public marina...particularly, should the proponents provide the vacation package service with self-contained suites as touted at the meeting. 3. The project will piovide employment during and after construction. ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE A play on words can be used to explain the confusion that can enter a discussion. May we in all fairness, considering the recent announcement of the over-burdened RCMP that they are going to crack down on drinking in undesignated public places and their recognition of the drinking related social problems in Gibsons and area, mav we explain briefly thc LIQUOR LICENSING CLASSIFICATIONS in simple terms? A CLASS \"A\" licence permits the sale and consumption of all types of liquor. An example would be an existing hotel on 101. A CLASS\"B\" licence permits thc consumption of liquor when purchased in conjunction with a meal in a dining lounge, such as some of our typical restaurants. There are other classifications such as a Class \"D\" Neighborhood Pub (e.g. The Cedars Inn) and a Marine Pub classification (e.g. Gramma's Pub). These two latter classifications are not related to our concern as they are located in a solid core of commercial development and the noise element at closing time becomes fractional though sometimes objectionable when dispersed through neighboring residential areas. 1. The proponents of thc project decried the use of the term \"beer parlor\" by an enquirer at the public meeting and stated that the liquor dispensing facility would be a lounge. 2. A rose by any other name smells as sweet, and conversely a CLASS \"A\" liquor licence permits thc facility to be a \"beer parlor\"\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\"watering hole\"\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD \"pub\" (from the English term Public House)\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDbut also contains thc privilege to serve liquor with meals. (The foregoing synonyms arc not derogatory, but are in common use.) 3. This village has seen the ever increasing use of alcoholic beverages in open public areas not permitted by law, to the ever increasing annoyance of the residents. A take-out sale of beer at closing time directly adjacent to residences on all four sides will further aggravate this problem. 4. Night time traffic will be increased through what is very predominantly a senior citizen residential neighborhood. The driving habits associated with overindulgence will create disturbances which constitute an invasion of the resident's privacy. This CONCERNED CITIZEN'S GROUP does not necessarily represent the Carrie Nations (teetotallers) of Gibsons but believes in freedom of activity as long as one does not spoil another person's peaceful existence. A fine wine or a cool lager may enhance an excellent meal. We are however, of the opinion that the granting of a Class \"A\" Liquor Licence to this hotel will very much add to the social and traffic problems that now unfortunately exist in our general area. We endorse the concept of a hotel but we ask that thc liquor licence be a Class \"B\" which is for a dining lounge. We feel that the proponents as astute businessmen could make the operation viable under this condition without the residents of the lower village sacrificing their life style in the name of progress. If, however, on the off chance that this is a development program, based on the well known historical fact that hotels, once built and given full sale and consumption liquor licensing, become very attractive saleable assets & the common knowledge that such enterprises can become divisible i.e. liquor dispensing businesses can be sold apart from the main enterprise, then this would destroy any image we many have of what is good for Gibsons. If you believe as we do, that the proposed Beachcomber Hotel be limited to a Class \"B\" Dining room licence, then cut this article out of your paper and on the bottom sign your full name\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDthen PRINT YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BDand send it to: The Concerned Citizens' Group of Gibsons, P.O. Box 1144, Gibsons, B.C. VON 1V0 Copy to: Liquor Control & Licensing Branch, 940 Blanchard Street, Victoria, B.C. Committee: R.W. Maxwell R.B. McKenzie Doris Skellet Amy Blain A.S. Knowles Helen Kennaugh James Martin YOUR NAME ADDRESS Creek Suggestion Editor: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Mr. Harry Almond, Director of area D. Dear Mr. Almond, I have just bought property on a new cul-de-sac off Beach Avenue, Robert's Creek and plan to build my home there. I have lived in Robert's Creek for five years, so am not a complete new-comer to the area. This cul-de-sac appears to be unnamed at present. Therefore I would like to most strongly recommend the name \"Hubert Evans Road\" suggested to me by my cousin, D.M. Richardson. We feel that Mr. Evans, having been a much loved and respected member of this community for many years, should have some permanent recognition. While this road in question is a little more than a mile from his home, it is in Robert's Creek and thus should qualify for such an honour. Sincerely yours, D.L. Wright We would appreciate hearing the reaction of other residents of Robert's Creek to this suggestion. Thank you. More letters on Pages XX & 14 SB & 9H dtuULiiaru, CARPET, TILE ft SHEET VINYL P.O. Box 1092 Sechelt, B.C. VON 3AO We sell & install carpel, lino & hardwood. 17 YEARS EXPERIENCE ^ Phone lor appointment Scott Brooks 885-3681 Clark Miller 885-2923 DOING OUR BEST TO BE RIGHT FOTl YOU *mmv Gibsons SUNNYCREST ft CENTRE 100% Locally Owned & Operated BETTER...YOU BET GOVT INSPECTED - UTILITY GRADE frying chicken CANADA GRADE f\ BEEF cross rib roast Fresh Whole Boneless NEW ZEALAND FROZEN top sirloin steak WILTSHIRE OR FLETCHERS Boneless $1.89 $2.29 wemers 1 lb. Vacuum Pack METEOR-FROZEN beef burgers 1.5 kg. Ctn. $4.99 Blue Bonnet margarine 3 Ib. Pkg. *1.99 Super-Valu *%*%/* mushrooms 66 Pieces & Stems....284 mil Squirrel peanut butter 1.5 kg tin $2.99 Minute Maid orange juice 98 $ 3S5 mil tins Regular or Diet pepsi cola 2/89 c 750 mil bottles Plus Deposit $lr 3/*1.00 398 mil Tins cheese'n Q_ onion buns \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD sO Oven Fresh Mrs. Willmans f\ / In the house wilh the broken heart the ancient woman lives like a brown ghost bowed shuffling birdfrail a stubborn survivour brave at the brink with her memories. She is harried by time but her eyes still clear, float like berries in crinkled sockets as she drinks her ninety-four year and Iwo medicinal bottles of beer each morning to case the tremulous decline. For a dollar a day mid breakfast I watch over her life's spare winter in this backwater place where the clocks have frozen back in the breadline Thirties and the echoing talk of long-fled relatives hangs in the halls among the shadows. Sometimes in ihe nervous niglu I ready speeches for phantoms tense in my ticking room bin there is only the small sound of mice industrious between the walls and the old woman worrying through her dreams. Hut sometimes she plays thc piano arthritic fingers spring deft again and as I listen in a sad and speechless wonder she bridges the gulf beyond reckoning sends the defiant anthems of her youth rallying through the rooms. Jf. \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD^> \u00EF\u00BF\u00BD\u00EF\u00BF\u00BD^< Jf. .^. Jf. i^> Jf. jp. djb