by Allan Forget
(May 29, 1929 original photo by Donald New; this copy by Keir Briscoe)
Just over 91 yrs ago our Galiano Community Hall was officially opened with a formal dance organized by the Galiano Club which was presided over by a visiting BC Lieutenant Governor. (This event was duly reported on by the Sidney Review, an area weekly newspaper; many of the details come from that source. )
The Galiano Club had come into being in Dec.1924, held its first AGM in January of the following year. One of the Club’s primary objectives was to “build a public hall”. Such a bldg, a main hall with three rooms attached, began to be constructed that summer, was being occupied by the spring of 1926 … though additions & finishes continued for several years to come. By the end of 1926 a total of $1,189.71 had been spent on both building & furnishings.
Early in 1929 the Galiano Development Association, “an aggregation of public-spirited residents”, had invited the Lieutenant-Governor to tour the
island and help advertize its “development of island roads and public buildings”. His Honour, R. Randolph Bruce, BC’s 13th Lieutenant Governor (1926-31), sailed into Sturdies Bay early on the morning of May 29th in a “smart trim yacht lent for the occasion named ‘Lochaber No More’ ”. Three touring cars carried His Honour & guests up the dock which was lined with poles flying Union Jack & Red Ensign flags. The procession was preceded by a kilted bagpiper & a “tail-wagging beagle” and was cheered by “a multitude of Japanese fishing men” seated in nearby boats shouting ‘Banzai’ !
Once on land an ‘Address of Welcome’ was read by Vice-Admiral Paul Scoones, Galiano Club Secretary. (A man of no naval background the Vice-Admiral title was likely an honourary one.) His Honour, “with regal promptness”, then inspected a troop of Sea Scouts and Girl Guides, visited the nearby Galiano Post Office. A drive along “the scenic highway
bordering the Bay of Whales” followed with the Vice-Regal party eventually arriving at the “newly erected Galiano Hall”. (Not until 1976 did the bldg gain its current name, Galiano Community Hall.) After a tour “with the Chief Architect” His Honour declared the building “open for business and pleasure”. Before leaving His Honour also inspected “the large and beautiful grounds adjacent so beautifully laid out by the Galiano League of Mercy”.
Afterwards, the Sea Scouts took charge of the Vice-Regal party escorting the officials in their barge, ‘Roaring Rip’, to nearby Gossip Is. where an afternoon tea was served complete with shrimps.
His Honour was rowed back to Galiano later that day to return to the Hall for his attendance at the Galiano Club sponsored dance. Held in the main room of the Hall, the “Club room”, the dance was well attended regarded as it was as the social event of the year.
In the official photo of the event, shot by islander & amateur photographer, Donald New, we see men wearing formal ‘cutaways’ and seamed trousers, the women wearing the waistless dresses fashionable at the time, thick stockings, buckled shoes. The Galiano Club had hired Mrs. Eaton’s “far- famed” three-piece orchestra to play, and purchased, “on trial”, a Bosch gramophone to provide supplementary music. The Hall ceiling is shown to be decorated with rows of an assortment of nautical signal flags and national flags. Doors are draped with oversized Union Jack and Red Ensign flags, the window frames with looped bunting. According to the Sidney Review, the Club Secretary, Mr. Scoones, “had provided from his own home framed prints of works by (then popular American) artist, Edward Hopper and, some Medici prints” to help decorate the walls.
Extra kerosene lamps (the Hall, like most island homes, had yet to be wired for electricity) had been brought in to supply the necessary illumination. Again, from the photograph, we note that the Lieutenant Governor addressed the crowd from the stage where he and his niece, Miss Helen Mackenzie, had been seated in high-back wicker chairs. ( Miss Mackenzie was one of two nieces appointed by His Honour to act as official Hostess because the social etiquette of the time required that, even as a widower, the King’s representative must have a female at his side while carrying out official Vice-Regal duties.)
The next day His Honour and party sailed back to Victoria having much enjoyed the island scenery and also, according again to to the newspaper reports, “professing a heart-felt admiration for the public spirit which had converted Galiano Island from an ordinary island to a centre of commerce and tourist activity”.
An enlarged & smartly-framed copy of Donald New’s historic photo now hangs in a foyer of the Galiano Community Hall. Mr. New had been one of the founders of the Galiano Club, remained a member for decades, served several terms as its President. He and his wife Nan were eventually made Honourary Members of the Club.
Paul Scones, another of the Club’s founders, continued as Club Secretary for many years and, in 1930, served as its President. Mr. Scoones lived at Mary Anne Point and it was there, in the late 1930s, that weekly public gramophone concerts were held to help raise funds for the eventual purchase of lands which later became known as ‘Bluffs Park’. The Bluffs were made a Galiano Club responsibility in 1948.
