After a very dry summer, followed by drenching rains, which revived lush greens, we are showered by one of the richest palettes in fall colours we have seen in a while. A walk today in the warm morning sun through Davies Orchard and up the Festival Meadow brought back memories.
In the early 1970s I received a phone call from the Vancouver Museum, who knew me from many visits as a new Bowen Islander, telling me that they had a world record leaf from a Canadian Broad Leaf Maple Tree, collected on Bowen Island in the early ’30s and wondered whether we would be interested in having this treasure returned to the island. “Gladly,” I said. For some reason I missed the appointed date and when I phoned it had been disposed of.
Its size, I had been told, measured 26” from lower tip to lower tip and 260 sq. inches in total area (about 65 cm and 1,625 sq cm)!
I now challenge all Bowen Islanders to collect the largest maple leaf they can find in the next two weeks and present it to a competition to be held in Davies Orchard at the BIHPA Museum on Sunday, November 4, at 2 p.m.
Tip: Find a newly fallen moist, yellow leaf and keep it flattened between plastic sheets in a cool place. When it is losing moisture, going brown, it shrinks.
Wouldn’t it be fun to be recognised as a place that is proud of its natural heritage
