galianoclub

By Alison Colwell

Blackberry Festival

This year the Galiano Club’s Blackberry Tea will be on Saturday October 7th. Doors will open at 11am, and you can pick up your pies, or enjoy a soup, or a slice of pie and ice cream until 2pm.

We will be accepting pre-orders for pies again this year. Email the galianoclub@gmail.com with your request. We will have Blackberry, Blackberry & Apple, Blackberry & Peach, Apple Cinnamon, or Maple Pumpkin Pies. Pies are $20 each.

We will need volunteers to serve and help with the clean up on Saturday. Plus, pie making volunteers all week – contact Alison for more information.

The Galiano Club’s New Truck

Three years ago, the gleaning coordinator for the Community Food Program, asked if the Club would consider purchasing a truck. Moving the orchard ladders was sometimes challenging, plus hauling the rest of the equipment and the boxes of fruit. “A truck would make life easier,” said Emma.

It took two grants and two years but this winter the Galiano Club purchased a work truck.And we never anticipated how much we’d use it, or just how much easier it would make life. It’s being used for gleaning, of course. And the garlic co-op. But I also use the truck to pick up supplies for the food bank. The first time I took it to town, I got almost 1700 cans of salmon in the back, plus three carts of groceries for Soup Monday.

And thanks to the United Way and The Victoria Foundation for making life easier for all of us moving food around Galiano.

Galiano Club’s Annual Christmas Market

The Galiano Club’s Annual Christmas Market will be happening over two days again this year. Saturday Dec 2nd and Sunday Dec 3rd. If you would like to be a vendor, please send us an email at galianoclub@gmail.com with your preferred day. (Day requests will be accommodated on a first come basis.)

Galiano Players

By Sonia Baker

Not long after arriving on Galiano, I became involved with the Galiano Players and began producing a Christmas pantomime. Our first Panto was Cinderella, and very quickly the Christmas Panto became a fantastic success. I have directed seven Panto’s so far on Galiano, but now I’ve turned the tradition over to new director, Brahmi Brenner. The Panto is in very good hands, and we can look forward to a wonderful production again this December.

Now I’m moving in a new direction. I’m privileged to be directing a dark comedy with two very talented actors, Joy Wilson, and Christina Stechishin. Working on their character development has been fun for us all. This one-act play will keep you wondering about the outcome until the very end. Please join me Friday October 20th or Saturday 21st, at 7pm at the South Hall.

Come watch these two incredible actors in a play you’ll be talking about for a long time.

Annual Blackberry Tea

Galiano Island is home to several varieties of blackberries. The native Bramble type is often found on trails and the Himalayan variety (an invasive species) is often found bordering roads and gardens. The Himalayan variety has larger, later developing berries that are more protected by thorns.

For decades now, the Galiano Club has been holding a Blackberry Festival on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. The Blackberry Tea is the main fundraiser of the Galiano Club, and the money raised goes to support the community hall and parks. This year the festival happens on October 7th.

Volunteers spend the week up to the festival making and freezing a variety of pies. At the Festival you can purchase whole pies, which are fresh or frozen. Plus soup and bread are served along with slices of pie, and ice cream. Last year volunteers made 200 pies.

It looks like there will be an abundant crop of blackberries this year. (Thankfully the tent caterpillars didn’t get them.)

You can help support the Galiano Club by picking blackberries. Freeze on a baking sheet before transferring to a Ziploc bag. (Blackberries can be dropped off on Monday Soup Days, or by contacting Alison.) We also need pie-making volunteers in the week before the festival. No experience is necessary – and if you want to learn how to make a pie, I guarantee you will know how by the end of the day. Plus we need volunteers to serve and clean up on Saturday October 7th.

We will be accepting pre-orders for pies again this year. Email the galianoclub@gmail.com with your request. We usually have Blackberry, Blackberry & Apple, Blackberry & Peach, Apple Cinnamon or Maple Pumpkin Pies. Pies are $20 each.

It’s always a wonderful community event. Thank you to the Galiano community for supporting the Blackberry Festival.

Galiano Club

By Jack Garton

Hello, and Happy New Year from the Galiano Club. As I write this, 2020 is coming to a close, and I am settling into my first few weeks as a new member of the Board of Directors of this great organization. It is an honour to help with this group that has been serving the Galiano community for almost 100 years. It is also an honour to work with such an accomplished Board! The experience, skill and attention brought to the table in service to Galiano is humbling.

Our community has been rocked this year by the many challenges of the global pandemic, but The Galiano Club has worked hard to help us be resilient in the face of it all. Food Security and Affordable Housing have been at the top of the list, but also Social Connection (the Food Program is about to test its first virtual Games Night) and Land Management (with a climate change perspective) are areas where great work is happening. Often these two areas overlap these days, as more of our socializing happens outdoors. 2 new bike racks are being installed at the Bluffs, to help those spending time in the beautiful lands there.

With many Galiano islanders passionate about community issues, membership in 2020 ballooned to 420 members, with historic attendance at November’s ZOOM AGM. I’d like to remind everyone that many of the Club’s regular fundraising avenues have been curtailed, and renewing your membership for 2021 is a great way to help with the programs many of us rely on. The Membership Form can be found on the Galiano Club website, and it only costs $10 for the whole year.

A huge thank you to the donations of lights for the Hall and food for hampers that we received in time for the holiday season, they brought some much-needed midwinter cheer. Here’s to the new year, may it bring us even closer together.

A Note Of Reflection On The Past Year

By Judy Hayes

The turn of the year is always a time for reflection on the past year. And what a year it has been for everyone! It seems both an interminably long time since mid March 2020 and also amazing that 9 months have passed. There are many reasons to be grateful that we live on Galiano. Everyone has done their part, and, to date there has not been a case of Covid on the island.

Within a week of the first shut-down, the Galiano Club Food Program staff had developed a plan whereby, with the support of our dedicated volunteers, we were able to continue making frozen meals. These frozen meals, along with hampers filled with groceries, were delivered to those in isolation, quarantining or in need. The frozen meal deliveries continue to be available to seniors. By the end of April, staff and volunteers were able to open the Food Bank weekly and we have been able to expand to include fresh produce and other necessities not previously available. We are fortunate indeed to have such dedicated staff and volunteers associated with the Food Program.

These initiatives were supported by funding from the Victoria Foundation, United Way of Great Victoria, Food Banks BC and Mayne Island Food Bank. Support also came from the Mustard Seed in Victoria and from food and services donations from Galiano farmers, fishers and businesses. In addition, donations from individuals to the Food Program, the Food Bank and Food deliveries were substantial.

We were all able to enjoy the Bluffs, Mt. Galiano and the Community Forest. They were not affected by the order closing provincial parks and the Galiano Club made the decision to keep them open. Volunteers continued to patrol these lands and identify any issues. And for a bit of fun, the Galiano Players were able to put on an outdoor play on land made available for the event. Again, with the support of many volunteers.
We can now see some light at the end of the tunnel and look forward to a time when we can again get together in the Hall for lunches, events, plays, concerts and socializing with our friends and neighbours.