sec 2 - Salt Spring Island Archives

ednesday, February 16, 1983 GULF ISLANDS DRIFTWOOD Page 27
Down Through the Years 1
with Driftwood t
Twenty years ago
Dial telephone service was
romised to GuliTslands customers
y B.C. Telephone Company. The
ervice would not add to the cost of
ervice each month but would
liminate party-line ringing
nnoyance. Property for the
utomatic station had been
urchased on Lower Ganges Road.
The ewe gave birth and the two
tmbs had the normal complement
f limbs except they shared one
ead. The lamb died in birth and the
arcass was frozen for shipment to
!ie University of British Columbia
sr examination. The owner of the
ock thought the defect was the
2sult of radiation.
The Gulf Islands School Board
pproved a budget of $268,101 for
ne operation of the school district
ar the year. The previous budget
ad stood at $269,259 and the
;duction was accomplished by
;wer capital expenditures.
On an annual budget of $600, the
alt Spring Recreation Commission
jnded island groups in their
ctivities. The Commission did not
istrict would be reappraised with
he effort costing $500. The previous
ppraisal, in 1954, of buildings and
quipment
335,000.
showed a value of
Fifteen years ago
The Galiano Volunteer Fire
department fought fewer fires in
1967 than in the previous year. I he
iepartment ended the year with a
>401.78 surplus in its account but
;xpenditures for the coming year
vould include repair of a springand
eplacement of two tires on the fire
ruck. Galiano residents, permanent
ind part-time, learned that the
innual assessment of $2 for the fire
Iepartment was due.
Proposal for a recreation centre
m Salt spring was being put
orward by two island groups. The
rhamber of Commerce and the
-ions Club were interested in
instruction of the centre which
vould include a skating rink, a
:urling rink and a swimming pool,
fhe proposal had been considered
jreviously but had not been pursued
>ecause of difficulties in imposing a
ocal tax levy to pay for the project.
With Salt Spring as part of the
"apital Regional District, the tax
evy could be arranged.
The automobile hit the power
jole and drove it four feet out of
josition. ' The vehicle continued,
)ver rocks, past stumps and through
jrush for 83 more feet before
:oming to rest. The incident
tappened on the curve at St. Mark's
:hurch on North End Road.
3amage to the car had been
:stimated at $750 and when the
Iriver appeared in court he was
ined $150 for the incident.
When the visitors' book was
:hecked, the Salt Spring Island
"hamber of Commerce discovered
lames from across Canada, the
jnueo states and lrom as lar away
s England and New Zealand. The
isitors book had been signed by
,167 people between July I and
-abour Day.
^TflC^^Hrr*l5l8Tlfr5
1^9WroOr
1^BWrr^r
lecided not to go to England to hire
eachers for the local schools. The
rustees had hired three teachers
rom that country the previous year
iut only one remained with the
sland district.
Trustees of the Gulf Island
School Board would shun fourletter
words. As one trustee noted,
"Snow is a four-letter word and I
want nothing to do with it."
Ten years ago
The Salt Spring resident wanted
to build on his three acres. He was
told that no permit could be issued
because the land was for farming.
But the land had not been farmed
for many years and was not
registered as farmland, so the man
could not farm it. When he
attempted to find out the exact
status of his land he failed. The
provincial government had decreed,
through cabinet order, that
farmland in the province must be
farmland, but the federal land
inventory designated the category
for land. The owner wondered what
was going on.
The planning association
protested the proposed bridge
between Gabriola and Vancouver
Islands. The Salt Spring group sent
a letter to the minister of municipal
affairs outlining their objections to
the bridge and the proposed ferry
terminal, which would serve
mainland traffic to the islands.
The Independent Crown Colony
of Salt Spring Island was split in
two. The factions, Unionists who
wanted to rejoin British Columbia
and Separatists who wanted to join
nothing, were arguing hot and
heavy about the status of the island
colony. The prime minister could
not be reached for comment and the
foreign diplomats commented, "No
comment." A vote to determine
islanders' opinion resulted in a 50-50
split. No one knew what the future
held.
The Galiano Island community
plan was adopted at a meeting of
island residents. The plan was a
compromise between two plans
previously presented by two groups.
The accepted plan visualized a
population of 3,000. Different
categories of land use, such as rural
residential, wilderness and
wilderness forests were approved by
the meeting.
The water supply on Salt Spring
would be increased with the hookup
of St. Mary Lake to the North
Salt Spring Waterworks District.
The lake water would be available to
residents on the system by the end of
March.
The Ganges detachment of
RCMP told Driftwood that a dog
chasing a deer could be shot but a
deer chasing a dog couldn't suffer
the same fate.
Five years ago
The operating budget for the Gulf
Islands School District had been set
at a record high $2,615,530. The
previous year, the trustees had spent
$2,172,015. The budget included
$1.5 million for the instructional
portion of running the district as
well as almost $380,000 for debt
services to pay for improvements
and renovations already made.
The proposed school at
Fernwood on Salt Spring was put
on hold as a result of a tie vote for
acceptance of a contractor's bid oi
$552,676 to build the structure. A tie
vote automatically defeats a
motion. A trustee, later in the
meeting of the board, presented a
notice of motion for consideration
at the following meeting that a
tender lor construction be accepted
by the board.
The wharf at Miners Bay on
Mayne Island-was-heing rebuilt a Lacost
of $87,000. Although most of
the existing pilings could be utilized.
new pilings had to be driven and the
deck had to be replanked.
Readers of Driftwood were asked
to forgive and forget the printing of
the number $149,400. What readers
should have read was the figure
$1,049,400 as the cost of
construction of the intermediate
care facility which was to be built
near Lady Minto Hospital.
The gong was kept busy sounding
the end to four acts in the Gong
Show held in the Activity Centre.
The show had been staged to raise
money for renovations to Central
Hall. The scores for the 15 acts
which appeared ranged from a
perfect 30 to a ring of the bell. The
event added at least $500 to the
renovation fund.
Land, to be used for the Fall Fair
and as a location for a museum, was
the goal of the Salt Spring Island
Farmers' Institute. The group was in
the process of seeking a suitable plot
of land for the regular projects of the
association.
The Central Hall renovation fund
stood at close to $5,000 as a result of
donations, a rummage sale and the
Gong Show. The restoration
committee had estimated the cost of
improvements to the historic
building on Salt Spring to be
$10,000.
Dr. W. Charles Beale
CHIROPRACTOR
Corner of Fulford-Ganges
and Beddis Roads
Call 537-9512
for appointment
Phillip Swift
British Columbia Land Surveyor 653-4326
RR 1 Fulford Harbour
lin
GUopkiri
1983 INSURANCE AND LICENCE
Gulf Islands Insurance
Lancer
Building
Ltd.
Phone 537-2939
Box 185.
Ganges, B.C.
NOTE: GALIANO SCHEDULE
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8 am to 1 pm. Phone 539-2421.
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