Last Saturday August 10, the weather was beautiful and the community came out, some in 1920s costumes, to celebrate the 100th birthday of our most iconic heritage building - the Old General Store.
Between Noon and 3 pm more than 300 people stopped by to play games (thank you Bowen Cidery, Bowen Island Community School, and Community Recreation), to be entertained (thank you Bowen Jazz Quartet, Docs’n’Socs Pipe Band, Paul Stewart, and Charlie the Magician), and to mingle and reminisce with neighbours and some friends not seen for many years.
Thank you, David Smith, for making the 5,000 km trip back to Bowen to tell us about the Bowen Island Park and Store Use Society (BIPASUS or the Save the Store Society), the people involved and the work that went into saving the OGS from demolition in 1978.
Don Toffaletto added further details about BIPASUS via email, and I’m sure many others in attendance shared stories and memories of their volunteer work with each other.
Thank you to Mayor Andrew Leonard for offering some deeper history of the original Union Steamship Company and for recognizing the importance of this unique municipal building. Thank you to Peter Vaisbord for speaking on behalf of the Heritage Commission and to Adam Taylor for sharing stories of his childhood and the key role of his great aunt, Ellen Dorman, in the Save the Store Society.
Despite the heat, we managed to get everyone in attendance out by the road squinting into the sun, to recreate a community photo like those taken several times over the last 40 years. Many thanks to Tim Hausch for providing a fantastic vantage point and to John Dowler for being willing to be lifted up to that vantage point to take the wonderful photo you see above.
Along with the photos we were very lucky to have the drone piloting skills of Phil Gregory who captured the gathering from even further up – many thanks Phil for stepping in almost last minute! The photo above will join photos from 1984, 1994 and 2014 recording the history of the building and the changes in community and landscape. Let’s hope we will have another group photo in 2034.
After the photo everyone shared in 100 cupcakes, baked by the talented Shura Okell, and had a look at the slide show, outdoor heritage walk, art display and memory wall in the Library. The art, memory board and heritage walk will remain up over the next few weeks, so come by the Library if you missed it on Saturday.
Events like this seem to just magically pop-up, but of course, there are many planners, volunteers and funders that make it all happen. The vision for the decorations was thanks to the talented Tracey Hearst, with flowers from Home Farm Gardens and extra help and more flowers provided by Ender Tan.
Suzan Phillipe arranged for vendors for take away picnics and for the birthday cupcakes. General help anywhere we asked was provided by Susan Geist, Andrew Todd and Suzan Phillipe along with a number of kind and willing spouses – thank you all!
Kids activities were managed by Marysia McGilvray, Brynna Hourihan, Lucie Robichaud, Anita Schuller, and Marion from the Museum and Archives. Thanks to all of you and to the remaining Library staff (Leo Pedersen and Mia Casalese) who gave their all on an exciting but chaotic day.
Thank you to our funders: Bowen Island Municipality, Knick Knack Nook, Bowen Island Literacy Task Group, Friends of the Bowen Island Library, Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association, Bowen Island Museum and Archives, and the Bowen Island Library Foundation – we just couldn’t have done it without your financial support.
We are also grateful for the participation of Glenn and Meredith Cormier at Tippy’s and for donations from the “New” General Store coordinated by Nancy Lee.
