Galiano Club Blog

17 04, 2021

A Wider Lens: SGI Food Resilience

By |2022-03-15T21:49:06-07:00April 17th, 2021|Categories: Food Program|0 Comments

This report for the CRD’s Community Economic Sustainability Commission reviews two recent local GCFP projects through a regional lens, and identifies which issues raised on Galiano might resonate on other Southern Gulf Islands, and also which might best lend themselves to being addressed at a regional level. The first project was a pair of surveys of Galiano growers and restaurants and grocery stores to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on Galiano’s food system. The second project was an event that was organized to address some of the needs that were identified via the Covid Impact surveys, called Meet Your Maker, which was an opportunity for Galiano farmers, fishers, foragers, markets, restaurants and grocery stores to come together, make connections, discover opportunities and find new partners. The report then makes recommendations for ways to apply what was learned throughout the region.

A Wider Lens_ SGI Food Resilience Considerations

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17 04, 2021

Meet Your Maker 2021

By |2022-03-15T23:54:04-07:00April 17th, 2021|Categories: Food Program, Growing (Garlic Co-op, Greenhouse, Gleaning Project)|0 Comments

The Meet Your Maker event was held in January of 2021. It was an opportunity for Galiano farmers, fishers, foragers, markets, restaurants and grocery stores to come together, make connections, discover opportunities and find new partners. In attendance were 15 growers, 3 grocers, 3 farmers’ market reps and 9 restaurateurs. This report shares the outline of the event, gives an overview and highlights key takeaways, including next steps to address some of the issues raised.

Meet Your Maker 2021 External Report

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2 04, 2021

Opening of Mt Galiano Trail — 1991

By |2022-03-15T22:00:13-07:00April 2nd, 2021|Categories: Club Parks|0 Comments

In 1991, following an energetic & creative fundraising campaign by the island, the Mt Galiano lands were purchased & title was given to the Galiano Club. The following summer a group of volunteers created the hiking trail — from the Active Pass Dr entrance to the summit — which exists today. Coincidentally, 1992 was the 200th anniversary of the historic meeting of the Spanish Naval Officer, Dionisio Alcala Galiano and the English Naval Capt. George Vancouver (each Captain was charting the western NA coastline for their respective nation) just off the coast of what is now called Galiano Island. It was decided to commemorate this event by naming the hiking trail after Dionisio Galiano, by inviting the Vancouver-based Consul General of Spain, His Excellency Jose Ayala & his wife Ceridad (seen here arriving in Ken Allen’s 1932 Roll Royce), to attend the trail dedication ceremony held on Oct.8th, Dionisio Galiano’s birthdate. Afterwards, a La Zarzuela — a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes — was held at the Community Hall MC’d by Galiano Club Director, Debbie Holmes &, Club Historian, Andrew Loveridge. As part of the ceremony, held during the Club’s annual Blackberry Festival, a portrait of Officer Galiano, completed by Galiano artist, William Beddels, was presented to the Consul as a gift for HM King Juan Carlos of Spain. Later, 232 daffodil bulbs were planted in the Hall grounds (232 being the number of years since Officer Galiano’s birth).

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1 04, 2021

Active Page Article April, 2021

By |2023-09-13T12:33:41-07:00April 1st, 2021|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News, Club Programs, Galiano Players|0 Comments

Galiano Club Update, April 2021

Making it through a pandemic winter is no small feat. Hope seems more tangible now, as the earth fills in with colour and warmth, and we hear optimistic news of vaccines and re-opening plans. Recent health regulations have relaxed to allow groups of 10 to gather outdoors, and the trails and parks in the Heritage Forest, Mt Galiano and the Bluffs are great places to gather in small groups and experience the beauty of spring on the island.

This spring also marks a year since the beginning of the pandemic, and it has been a difficult year for many. The Community Hall has been empty for much of the time, without the usual busy schedule of classes, workshops and events that make it such a treasured place. Everyone has risen to the challenge of finding creative ways to get things done remotely, but it’s not the same as sharing space together, and we miss it deeply.

Easter Chocolates

With Hall rentals being one of the mainstays of Galiano Club fundraising, one of the fun alternatives we have come up with is selling chocolates! The Christmas and Valentine’s Day sales were very popular, so we are planning an Easter chocolate sale on Saturday, April 3rd from 11-3 in front of the hall. There will be Almond Roca $6, Chocolate bark $6, Turtles $6, vanilla cream filled chocolates $7 and of course, Truffles $7. We are going to offer a box with a variety of chocolates for $15. If you would like to pre-order please send an email to galianoclub@gmail.com and put chocolates in the subject line. We will confirm your order and then you can pay by e-transfer. Pre ordering is recommended, we sold out quickly at our Christmas and Valentine’s Day sales.

Galiano Club Arts and Culture

Something to look forward to as the days grow longer, the Galiano Players will be presenting a series of short plays this summer, in outdoor garden venues around the island. Each performance will also be paired with some outdoor music. The events will be COVID safe, with small casts and limited audience capacity, and each will be an intimate and unique artistic experience. To make the plays more widely accessible, each one will also be recorded and broadcasted online as a “radio play”. Stay tuned for the dates, and more info on each play.

These will be the first initiatives of the newly expanded Arts and Culture mandate of the Galiano Club. We hope that, similar to the many branches of the Food Program, the Club can support a wide variety of creative and cultural programming. Let us know if you have ideas, and would like to volunteer in this area.

Don’t forget to renew your Galiano Club membership for 2021! It only costs $10, which can be e-transfered to galianoclub@gmail.com with “2021 Membership” in the subject. The Membership form can be found on the Galiano Club website. Members can help shape the many exciting opportunities the Galiano Club offers on the island, and help make the community beautiful and strong.

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1 03, 2021

Active Page Article March, 2021

By |2023-09-13T12:27:33-07:00March 1st, 2021|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News, Club Programs, Galiano Players|0 Comments

Galiano Club Update, March 2021

By Jack Garton

Sitting in the kitchen, watching icicles drip off the roof: as if we needed another reason to stay inside at home. Ok, going outside in the snow can be fun. Usually, once the effort is made to bundle up and venture out into the unreasonably picturesque forest, the cold air feels invigorating, the soft lines of the snowscape feel gentle on the spirit, and the pace of the slowly swirling flakes is refreshing, and sort of mesmerizing.

It always seems a bit unfair, though, when a cold snap comes after spring has already been promised. (But the snowdrops!) Winter can be isolating, especially on Galiano, and many folks are looking forward to the longer, warmer days coming when we can spend more time outdoors, in contact with nature and with other humans.

As the pandemic lockdown continues, social events at the South End Hall are still on hold for the time being. However, the Galiano Club board is working hard behind the scenes to keep its many community initiatives alive. The walking trails are all open, and work is always being done to make them easier to use and more accessible. At the top of the Wildfire Loop in the Community Forest, a plugged culvert is being repaired by Galiano Excavating, who also did a great job grading the access road to the Bluffs recently.

Many of you may have noticed more space and light (!) around the Hall. A huge rotting cedar was recently taken down. That tree was on board members’ minds every time a strong wind started to blow. Thank you Gord Palmberg, for all your work falling, bucking and chipping the tree. We’ll all sleep better, thanks to your work. We’d also like to thank Lief for his heavy equipment work, and our supportive neighbour for allowing much of the work to be done on his property.

Our Valentine’s Day Chocolate Fundraiser was a big success. Thank you to the volunteers who participated in several days of chocolate making leading up to sales on February 12th and 13th. Many braved the snow on Saturday to pick up their pre-orders and a few were able to purchase at the door. Apologies to those who arrived to find us sold out. We’d better make even more next time; clearly Galiano loves chocolate.

By the time this update reaches readers, it will be March, and there’s hope that nettles will have begun poking up, and the sound of frogs will be serenading us as the sun sets on warm (or just not-freezing) days. Making it through a pandemic winter is no small achievement. Social connection has always been necessary to coping through the long dark season, and this year we were unable to warm each other with hugs, laughter, stories, food and songs in the way we usually do. The Galiano Club will keep working hard this year to find opportunities for connection and community, come what may. Don’t forget to renew your membership for 2021 if you haven’t already! It only costs $10 for the year, can be done easily on the Galiano Club website, and includes the opportunity to vote at the AGM on important issues facing the island.

Galiano Players

By Sonia Baker

The players haven’t been doing much in the last year because of COVID-19, but we did manage to put on the play in the garden last summer and this year we will be hosting Shakespeare in the garden probably the end of June beginning of July with the hopes that the Covid restrictions will be lifted so we will be able to get more people and as it’s outside that will work fine. And if all is well this November, we will put be putting on the much-loved Pantomine again. Stay tuned to see what else the Galiano players have in store for you!

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14 02, 2021

Pierogi Workshop

By |2022-03-15T23:54:12-07:00February 14th, 2021|Categories: Food Program, Workshops|0 Comments

January 27th, 2019

Residents gathered to share perogy stories, songs, and traditional recipes, and then shared in a feast. It was an immersive experience in Ukrainian culture and cuisine. We pinched, cooked and ate together as our workshop presenters shared stories and songs from this rich traditional culture.

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1 12, 2020

Active Page Article December, 2020

By |2023-09-13T12:22:06-07:00December 1st, 2020|Categories: Active Page Articles, Club News|0 Comments

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.

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15 09, 2020

The Galiano Club Logo

By |2022-03-15T22:12:06-07:00September 15th, 2020|Categories: History|0 Comments

Logo - Illustration of South Hall with Vintage Truck

In the early 1980s, islander & artist, Keith Holmes, completed a series of ink drawings of old Galiano buildings which included the 1920’s-era Galiano Community Hall owned & managed by the Galiano Club. The Hall drawing, shown above, included a 1937 Chevy truck owned by Bruce Pearson.

All of the drawings were put up for sale except the Hall one with Keith keeping it for possible future use of the Club. In the 1990s, while serving as a Club Director, Keith offered the design for use on t-shirts to be sold as part of a fundraising project. Eventually Keith put the drawing into an oval and included the words, ‘Galiano Island Community Association since 1924’ commenting, “in order to counter the idea that this was an exclusive organization as implied by the word ‘Club’. Slowly this oval design began to be used by the Galiano Club as a ‘logo’, on stationary, on banners, on park signs. Finally, in 2020, the Club approached Keith for the rights to this design which he generously agreed to. The Board of Directors subsequently formally adopted the Keith Holmes design as the official Galiano Club logo.

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6 07, 2020

New School Garden Coordinator

By |2020-08-06T00:27:21-07:00July 6th, 2020|Categories: Club News, Food Program, School Projects|0 Comments

We are happy to announce that we’ve hired Tricia Sharpe as our new School Garden Coordintor. Tricia has been facilitating workshops and coordinating programs for youth since 2001.

She majored in Anthropology at SFU, and completed her minor in Education during a 2006 field school in Punjab, India. Her experience growing food and flowers has evolved over the years through many courses and workshops, including a Permaculture Design Certification, Linda Gilkeson’s Year Round Harvest course, and an internship at the Mason Street City Farm. For the last three years, Tricia and her partner have been working on intensive ecological restoration of 4.5 acres on Galiano; establishing fruit tree guilds and organic gardens for a small farm. Tricia says she’s “thrilled to be the new coordinator of the Galiano School Garden; combining her passions of experiential learning with youth and caring for plants, soil and pollinators!” While we’ll miss Patti Pringle and are so grateful she was able to steward the program through the last few months, we know the kids are in good hands with Tricia’s green thumbs.

Tricia Sharpe has been facilitating workshops and coordinating programs for youth since 2001. She majored in Anthropology at SFU, and completed her minor in Education during a 2006 field school in Punjab, India. Her experience growing food and flowers has evolved over the years through many courses and workshops, including a Permaculture Design Certification, Linda Gilkeson’s Year Round Harvest course, and an internship at the Mason Street City Farm. For the last three years, Tricia and her partner have been working on intensive ecological restoration of 4.5 acres; establishing fruit tree guilds and organic gardens for a small farm. Tricia is thrilled to be the new coordinator of the Galiano School Garden; combining her passions of experiential learning with youth and caring for plants, soil and pollinators!

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