Galiano Club Blog

4 07, 2024

Centennial Geocaching

By Alison Colwell|2024-07-31T20:51:06-07:00July 4th, 2024|Categories: Club Parks|0 Comments

My kids were little when I started geocaching with them. It was a great way to explore other islands, as locals tend to hide caches in their favourite spots, so geocaching can get you off the beaten path and discovering hidden beaches, parks and trails that we’d never have found otherwise.

For anyone who’s new to geocaching – some basics. It’s treasure hunting with a GPS. We started with a handheld model, and just entered in the cache coordinates and set out. Nowadays most people use their phones. (And if you want to explore geocaching as a hobby or fun thing to do with the kids, head to geocaching.com and download the app.)

The Galiano Club has been a steward for island green spaces since 1948 when Bluffs Park came into being. The Club manages the Nature Preserves of Mt Galiano and The Bluffs, home of the Japanese Charcoal Pit Kiln and the Community Forest, and to commemorate the Galiano Clubs Centennial year we’ve created a geocaching scavenger hunt right here in the Galiano Clubs Parks.Two local artists, Simon Doty-Housden and Keirah Kerr, helped design a commemorative coin that will be given to the first 100 people who complete their passport and find at least 4 of the 6 caches. Passports will be available at the Jamboree, from the website and at Club or Food Program Events.

The passports contain the coordinates for each cache, and a spot for the designated stamp. (There will be a different stamp in each geocache.) Find the cache, stamp your passport, then re-hide the cache carefully. Collect at least four (of the 6) stamps and mail your completed passport to: The Galiano Club, 141 Sturdies Bay Rd., Galiano Island, BC, V0N 1P0. The first 100 completed passports will receive a commemorative coin.

The Galiano Club is always looking for volunteers to help in the parks, and we gratefully accept donations to help clear trails and support the work of our volunteer parks committee.

Download PDF Version

Centennial Cache Passport

1 10, 2023

Active Page Article October, 2023

By Galiano Club|2023-09-13T15:20:26-07:00October 1st, 2023|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News|0 Comments

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.

1 09, 2023

Active Page Article September, 2023

By Galiano Club|2023-09-13T15:23:24-07:00September 1st, 2023|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News|0 Comments

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.

3 08, 2022

The Jane Rule Commemorative Bench

By Alison Colwell|2022-08-03T10:05:33-07:00August 3rd, 2022|Categories: History|0 Comments

by Allan Forget

In the 2000s the Galiano Club Board began to rent the refurbished lower level of the Community Hall to a group of island parents looking for a space to locate activities for their pre-school children. Later in the decade the Board, under President Don Anderson, decided to create a kids playground on a nearby level piece of land within the Hall grounds.

(Part of this area had been cleared in the late 1980s when the number of Hall washrooms was increased and a new septic field was installed. An outdoor wood performance stage had been built adjacent but it wasn’t much used and was eventually dismantled and removed.)

A major part of the funding for the purchase of equipment for this playground came from a bequest of the Estate of recently deceased islander Jane Rule (1931-2007).

Jane’s home property had included an outdoor swimming pool which she opened to island children to use during the school holiday summer months. It was here, during almost three decades of operation, that many Galiano kids learned to swim.

Once the playground was completed, in the summer of 2009, the Board decided to commemorate Jane’s contribution by erecting a wood bench nearby. Remembering Jane’s attachment to the island’s younger residents a commemorative brass plaque was included which reads:

Remembering

Jane Vance Rule

1931-2000

Always a good friend

to the children of Galiano Island.

Author and equal-rights activist Jane Vance Rule came to Galiano in 1976 accompanied by partner, Helen Wolfe Sonthoff, both women having recently retired from teaching positions at UBC in Vancouver. Jane had decided to dedicate her time to creative writing; eventually she would have published over a dozen novels, numerous essays, magazine & newspaper articles.

Soon after moving into their Highland Road house, Jane developed serious rheumatoid arthritis. A life-long swimmer (Jane’s father, Art Rule, had been a member of the 1936 USA Olympic swim team) Jane decided to add a small outdoor pool to the property where she might swim and gain some relief from the arthritic pain.

Wishing to share this luxury with others Jane offered the use of the pool to island kids (and their parents). From then on during most every school summer holiday week day afternoon there could be found upwards of 20 kids enjoying Jane and Helen’s pool with many parents sitting and chatting nearby. Jane was always in attendance, initially as pool life guard and then later as swimming instructor. This summer afternoon treat continued for almost 30 years until the year of Jane’s death in 2007.

Both Helen & Jane much involved themselves in the island community becoming loved & respected members. Among the many local organizational responsibilities they took on, for many years, was Helen being the Secretary of the South Galiano Volunteer Fire Department, Jane being the Treasurer for the Galiano Club. Jane was eventually awarded both the Order of Canada and the Order of BC, the investiture ceremony for each being held, at Jane’s insistence, on the island. Helen Sonthoff died in 2000, Jane Rule in 2007. Their ashes are buried together in the Galiano Cemetery just a short walk away from their island home.

3 08, 2022

The Rees Family Commemorative Table/Bench

By Alison Colwell|2022-09-25T14:42:20-07:00August 3rd, 2022|Categories: History, Uncategorized|0 Comments

By Allan Forget

In 2010, the Galiano Club Board, under President Don Anderson, was approached by the children of the late islanders Helen and John Rees, who wished to place a bench on the Community Hall grounds in memory of their parents. The Board agreed to the idea but asked if a more useful picnic table might be installed instead.

The Rees family was put in touch with Richard Dewinetz of Bodega North Woodworks located on the island who had recently opened a business producing original design benches and tables using locally harvested woods. A couple of years passed before the Rees family and Mr. Dewinetz came back to the Board with a final design idea: a four-sided, cedar wood bench/table combo about 2m x 2m in size.

By the summer of 2013 the bench/table was completed and installed by Mr. Dewinetz in the Hall grounds near the kids playground where it was anchored to a wood/cement paving stone base. (Later, the Club added a shade umbrella.)

In August, the Club Board, by then under President Jane Wolverton, organized a dedication ceremony which was attended by many Rees family members including daughters Arlene and Roma, and several island friends and neighbours of Mr. and Mrs. Rees.

The attached commemorative plaque, remembering also deceased son Rod, reads simply:

In Memory of

John & Helen Rees

and Rod Rees

Immigrants from the UK after WW2, the Helen & John Rees family came to Vancouver in 1947. Property on Galiano Is. —- a 196 acre farm located at the corner of Montague Hbr Rd/Georgeson Bay Rd —- was purchased in 1965. Eventually the family came to live full-time on the farm, built a single-level brick house (which still stands). John grew hay, raised cattle & sheep; Helen became an active fruit/vegetable gardener. Somewhat involved in the community, John was an early member of the Galiano Golf Club, Helen served as a Director of the Galiano Club. As John & Helen aged they found the large property increasingly difficult to manage. Piece by piece the property was divided and sold, the house itself going in 2003. Mr. & Mrs. Rees retired to Victoria where they died —- John in 2008, Helen in 2010 —- and were buried.

3 08, 2022

The Galiano Community Hall Ceramic Mosaic Project

By Alison Colwell|2022-08-03T10:00:10-07:00August 3rd, 2022|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments

By Allan Forget

In 2004-05 the foyer of the Galiano Community Hall was refurbished, a project of then Galiano Club President, Sue Evans. Part of this improvement involved asking Janice Oakley, an island artist who had been leading ceramic mosaic workshops for several years, to create an art piece for display in this public space.

Janice accepted the commission and assembled a group of interested past workshop participants which included Shera Street, Deblekha Guin, Laurene Stefanyk, Hugette Benger, Kip Johl, Jean Way, Chris Gaylor, Kate Sherry, Nancy McPhee, Jean Jones. These members easily decided that the mosaic should include the island elements of sea, sky, arbutus and foxglove.

Visual artist Shera Street drew an initial design on paper which was then transferred to two pieces of plywood measuring, in total, roughly 3m x 2m.

All of the Galiano potters were asked to contribute ceramic “seconds” for use in the artwork, and a container was placed in the Hall entranceway for the public to donate pieces of broken pottery. An amazing assortment of ceramic pieces was collected containing many colours, shapes and sizes.

The plywood board and pottery pieces were then gathered together at Janice’s home on Georgeson Bay Road where assembly work began outdoors and under cover.

The assembly was truly a collaborative effort with no one individual deciding on colour or placement. Small areas were left blank for later use as points for attaching the board to the foyer wall; these were covered over & marked after the mosaic was installed.

The mosaic was placed on a Hall foyer wall in May, 2005, with spot lights later installed nearby by Eric Nelson. The mosaic has been much admired and enjoyed by Hall users and visitors ever since.

A small brass plaque nearby records:

Presented to
The Galiano Club 2005
Galiano Mosaic Collective.

6 05, 2022

Beginner’s Jam

By Alison Colwell|2022-05-06T15:06:57-07:00May 6th, 2022|Categories: Food Program, Workshops|0 Comments

Making jam can be daunting if you’ve never tried it. But there are different methods, and some are very easy. In this class we will be using commercial pectin and the only skills needed are the ability to measure a few cups of fruit, and the ability to time a boil—skills everyone has. That’s it. No thermometers, no wrinkle tests. Using commercial pectin also gives you the freedom to use honey or skip the sugar all together—things not possible with traditional long boil jams.

6 04, 2022

The Magnitude of All Things

By Alison Colwell|2022-04-14T15:44:35-07:00April 6th, 2022|Categories: Cinema Galiano|0 Comments

Join filmmaker Jennifer Abbott for a screening of her latest film hosted by Galiano Club/Cinema Galiano and Galiano Library.

When Jennifer Abbott lost her sister to cancer, her sorrow opened her up to the profound gravity of climate breakdown. Abbott’s new documentary The Magnitude of All Things draws intimate parallels between the experiences of grief—both personal and planetary. Stories from the frontlines of climate change merge with recollections from the filmmaker’s childhood on Ontario’s Georgian Bay. What do these stories have in common? The answer, surprisingly, is everything.

For the people featured, climate change is not happening in the distant future: it is kicking down the front door. Battles waged, lamentations of loss, and raw testimony coalesce into an extraordinary tapestry, woven together with raw emotion and staggering beauty that transform darkness into light, grief into action.

20 03, 2022

15th Annual Nettlefest 2022 – April 1st-3rd

By Alison Colwell|2022-03-30T16:12:10-07:00March 20th, 2022|Categories: Food Program, Nettlefest, Volunteers|0 Comments

Wild Kitchen – Cooking Class – 5:00pm on Friday April 1st

Learn how to make a variety of delicious nettle dishes so that you can take advantage of all of nettle’s incredible health benefits. This hands-on class includes cooking demonstrations and is suitable for all levels of cooking skills. We will create a delicious meal to share around a communal table at the end of the evening. Cost $25/person – RSVP to register.

Forest Foraging Walk – 10:30am Saturday April 2nd

With Sustainable Food Systems Coordinator Cedana Bourne from the Galiano Conservancy Association, $10-$20.
Meet at the Mistletoe Trailhead at the end of Georgia View Rd. RSVP by email.

Communal Nettle Harvesting – Saturday 10:00am

Morgan Road – Learn how to gather nettles, and take some home for your personal use. (Plus help gather all the nettles we need for the community dinner.)

Community Kitchen – Sat April 2nd – 1:00pm

Volunteers needed to start preparing the Nettlefest Dinner.

Nettlefest Community Gathering – Sunday April 3rd

Community Hall – Doors open at 5:00.
Volunteers Needed. Musicians Needed.
More details to come……
Current health regulations mean that attendees will need to show vaccine passports and ID for admission.

19 03, 2022

Meet Your Maker 2022 Report

By Emma Luna Davis|2022-03-30T16:13:10-07:00March 19th, 2022|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments

In 2021, the Galiano Community Food Program hosted our first Meet Your Maker event, which was held virtually. The most important theme to come out of the event was the desire for improved cooperation and communication, and so in support of that goal, in January of 2022, the Food Program hosted a 2nd annual Meet Your Maker, with a modified format: this time a series of events aimed at connecting Galiano growers with each other and with restaurants and grocery stores. There were three parts over two days:

Part 1 Growers Collaboration Wednesday Feb 2, 2022 1:00, Zoom Part 2 Presentations for Growers Wednesday Feb 2, 2022 2:00, Zoom Part 3 Tradeshow Meet & Greet Wednesday, Feb 14, 2-22, 3-5, South Hall

Below is detailed information about each event, feedback, and next steps. Use the arrows at the bottom of the document to browse through the report.

Meet Your Maker 2022 Report

Download Report [PDF, 1.8Mb]