Dr. Keyser Soze Godot blames the Poblano Hot Chocolate. “I couldn’t get enough of it. I was going to Cocoa West five, six times a day. And that meant that I was walking up from the ferry terminal to Artisan Square five or six times a day. My calves are like beach balls. I can’t wear pants anymore so I had to switch to Lederhosen full time.”
Indeed, the tree-trunk legged Godot, who lives in the Blackwater neighbourhood on the north side of the island, looks more like a centaur than a human. But he insists that his plan to build a Gondola from Snug Cove to Artisan Square is no fantasy — and he’s applied for a Community Impact Grant from the Bowen Island Community Foundation to make it happen.
“The process was shockingly easy. All I had to do was write 500 words about how much the project will benefit Bowen Islanders. I could have written 10,000!”
Grants Committee chair Neil Boyd says: “It is a somewhat unusual project. I have reservations about the platinum gilding on the outside of the cable cars… and it might be a problem that semi trucks won’t be able to drive on the main Trunk Road anymore.”
Boyd was impressed by Godot’s presentation to the Grants Committee. “He did a short PowerPoint presentation. His budget was incredibly detailed, he already had support from a few other major donors, and just needs a bit of money to push the project over the finish line. There were even drawings of golden retrievers waving from inside the gondola!”
Richard Smith and Holly Graff, Grants Committee members, had never heard of the International Funicular and Gondola Creation Charity, but it is registered with the Canada Revenue Agency. The charity has partnered with Godot on the project. “These guys like gondolas. I mean… they really like gondolas. I’ll leave it at that,” said Graff.
The Grants Committee is still deliberating awarding this project a Community Impact Grant. In previous years they have supported the creation of the disc golf course, the mountain bike park, playground equipment at BICS, diversity training and awareness, the Garden Gateway and many other projects to improve the lives of Bowen Islanders. The Grants Committee determines its funding priorities by looking at the needs that Bowen Islanders themselves identified in the Vital Conversations Report (available here: https://bowenfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/Vital_Conversations/BICF-Vital-Conversations-Report-2017.pdf).
Do you have an idea to make life better for Bowen Islanders? Complete the application available on the Community Foundation’s Website. https://bowenfoundation.com/community-impact-fund/
DEADLINE: Applications must be submitted before midnight on February 15.
