The members of The "Gardeners" branch of The Olympic Torch Committee consisting of Sam Conway Mair, Sabine Jones, Susan Loutet,Trudi Luethy. Lisa Turpin and John and Rose Dudley wish to thank those people who gave up a Sunday morning to help them clean up the route of The Olympic Torch.

They were Zachary Turpin, Nicholas McLean, Myron Loutet, Tony Cox, Ken Miskin, Fran McNichol, Rudy Luethy, David Torrance, and Richard Lesinski.

Thanks also to Greg Turpin for providing, free of charge, the foam in which to "plant" the greenery in the boxes and a huge thank you to The Lions Bay Fire Department for making our job so much easier and quicker by hosing down the streets.

"A Prophet is unknown in his own country"

I met with Rafe over coffee at the Lions Bay Cafe for a short, convivial chat in late September. Soon an hour and a half had passed, during which time Rafe evolved in my mind into a solid Gibraltar of a man, in both physique and mind - the sort of man who does not gladly suffer those whom he considers to be fools. He is always forthright, usually brusque, gutsy and controversial - "we must make people think, question, criticise...".  He feels that pablum will achieve little when a peppery intellectual diet of good honest raw meat and hearty gruel* is required.

* Gruel: A concoction of boiled oatmeal considered fit only for large horses and strong dour Scotsmen.

We were soon comparing relative ages - the sort of thing that old men are inclined to do. Rafe quoted his time on this planet to the exact day, an indication that for him, now, each day is a day worth living. Not only is the day worth living, but our beautiful Province and our eternally unique Planet are worth living for. It turns out that Rafe is older than me by several years, and hence much wiser, because wisdom comes with age.

On May 16th, many Brunswick residents got together to plant a tree in memory of Noreen Copp, a long time Brunswick resident who passed away last year.  Many of Noreen’s family members were also able to be part of this event and the subsequent garden party.  Well over half of Brunswick Beachers attended the “Memory Tree Celebration” for Noreen.  Noreen had been a resident of Brunswick for many a decade and knew quite a bit of the local history of the Beach going back to the 40’s and 50’s.

Birgitta von Krosigk arranged the very successful party, obtained a very beautiful Japanese maple and planted it in one of two community gardens at Brunswick.  It stands now in Noreen’s name along with 7 or 8 other Memorial Trees in the area.  The area of the planting had been covered by unwieldy blackberry shrubs and had been a frequent hangout for black bears.  During the pitch-in clean up of the Village, residents got together and cleared the area.  Soil was donated from a nearby home construction site, and Noreen’s tree is now the centerpiece in a newly planted area with other trees, shrubs and perennials.

In addition to the planting of the tree, Birgitta, because of Noreen’s love of dress up parties, had the darndest selection of wigs to be worn for all those attending! And because of Noreen’s fondness for croquet, a game was immediately arranged. 

The rules were made up as the game progressed but the noisiest players seemed to prevail.  What ensued was a one handed game, as rules provided that each player was obliged to use the other hand to hold onto an icy glass of Margaritas.

Noreen’s daughters Janet and Dianne attended with other family members and agreed that Noreen herself would have loved this celebration in her honour.

Our thanks to Birgitta and family for a fantastic afternoon.