by Allan Forget

The Bluffs was created in 1948 as a result of a land donation by Mr. & Mrs. Max Enke and by the financial donation of several dozen islanders. The Galiano Club accepted title to the 139 ha of land in October of that year. In 1951 a Deed of Trust was signed setting out just how the Bluffs was to be managed. This Deed was amended by the Club in 1988 re-designating the land as a Nature Protection Area. The Galiano Club continues to manage the Bluffs, on behalf of our island community, to this day.

In the early 1960s, as both the 1966 BC Centennial and the 1967 Canadian Centennial approached, the Galiano Club Board of Directors began to look for a way to commemorate these historical events. (The Club had commemorated the earlier 1958 BC Centennial having a water well dug in the Community Hall grounds, a first.)
The Board, under President Margaret Robson, eventually decided to erect a stone arch at each of the two roadway entrances to the Bluffs. Directors EJ Bambrick and L. Walton took on the project. After some investigation the expense and the difficulties of the project caused it to be abandoned. Fred Robson offered to instead locate and place two large sandstone slabs at each roadway entrance to the Bluffs; three of these stone blocks remain.

In 1988, for the 40th anniversary of the Club accepting title to the Bluffs, the Board of Directors, under President Bill Scoones, decided that something more was needed to identify the roadway entrances to the land. Under the guidance of Director Mike Sharp two cedar wood sign boards simply reading “The Bluffs” were created, the letters beautifully carved by Steve Oscko. One sign was installed at each roadway entrance to the Bluffs. In the late 2000s the Club Board, under President Don Anderson, arranged for Kurt Ziwicki to clean and repair both of these signs. Kurt also highlighted the letters with a red paint. These signs also remain in place, welcoming all to our island’s oldest community park, the Bluffs.