Mayne
Island Garden Club
We are looking for new Mayne Island gardens to
visit. If you would be willing to open your garden to very appreciative
members of the garden club please contact Trish Hoff or Liz Howard.
Garden
visits on Mayne Island
Picture by Brian Haller
A garden tour of Joan' s grass garden. See the Nov/Dec 2007 issue
of Gardens West magazine for the story of Joan's
garden Grasses to the Rescue.
Next
Meeting:
March
19, 2pm at the Ag Hall
Elizabeth
Whitelaw,
Landscape
Architect and Mayne Island resident
"Great
Gardens"
March 8th
-- Native
Plants
Join the Garden Club and the MI
Conservancy for a hands on workshop on Native Plants. The workshop
is from 10am to 3pm at Valhalla Gardens, 411 Village Bay Rd. This
workshop is open to everyoune. Bring a lunch if you wish.
The
April meeting will be held Wednesday, April 16,
2008
Agricultural Hall, 2:00 p.m.
The
speaker will be
Herbie Rochet "Attracting Birds to
Your Garden"
We
need volunteers to work with next years executive to help plan
garden club events and meetings for the upcoming year.
Updates and
changes to this schedule will be posted as soon as we have the
details. If you have any questions or suggestions please contact
Trish Hoff at info@valhallagardens.com
Emma & Felix
Jack Community Park
Monthly Work Parties
In order to upgrade the park and prepare it for the erection of
the Honouring Figure, the Gardn Club will hold a work party the
first Monday of every month from 9am to noon.
We plan to plant some more trees and continue rock picking and
broom, alder and thistle removal. There is lots of work to be done
for all levels of activity - even if you can just come with a plate
of cookies for the workers. Please help us make the park a source
of pride for the community. Bring a shovel or a weed digger and
some water (coffee).
March 3, 2008 - Despite the rain, a brave bunch turned out to plant
3 Himalayan birches, a Liquidambar, a Pink Pagoda Mountain Ash and
a King maple.
The Honouring Figure Update
A big thanks for your verbal and financial support for the Welcoming
Figure. To date $8000 has been raised and our first payment of $3000
has been made to the carver, John Aitken.
The cedar tree donated and cut by Richard Brown was delivered by
Matt Taylor to the carving site at John Aiken’s place. During
the winter months John will erect the shelter, strip the wood, make
detailed scale drawings, transfer the design to the log and be ready
for rough cutting.
John, with the backing of the Garden Club, is applying for an Aboriginal
Arts Development Award. This award is designed to support creative
development of emerging aboriginal artists. The support shown by
the community for John as an artist and a person, and the figure
being a cultural memorial honouring figure to the Coast Salish population
of Mayne Island is an integral part of this application.
We have honoured the former Japanese residents of Mayne Island
with our very well known Japanese Commemorative Garden. With this
sculpture we are taking a step towards honouring the original inhabitants
of the island, in particular, Emma and Felix Jack.
Thank you to donors who have provided
funds for this project.
Russ and Lee Anthony
Wendy Burns
Lloyd and Jay Crawford
Neil and Liz Howard
Ed and Dorothy Hunter
George and Sharon Koomos
Jim and Ingrid Marsh
Donations to the memory of Alisa Noda by friends, family and
husband, Mark Lucier
Hubert and Ursula Eckhardt
Michael Dunn
M C Robertson
Elaine and Jim Marlon-Lambert
Jon and Trish Hoff
Ann and Ed Wright
Gail Noonan
John and Jeanine Dodds
Peter Askin
Alan and Jeanne Cheek
The Welcoming/Honouring Figure
Is Coming to Mayne Island
A native Coast Salish 20 foot cedar sculpture will have a place
of honour in Emma and Felix Jack Park to welcome all to Miners Bay
Village. Sponsored by the Mayne Island Garden Club, the figure will
be carved by John Aitken, a direct descendent of Emma and Felix
Jack. This first public art sculpture will honour our first inhabitants.
John Aiken is an accomplished Salish carver. He has been influenced
in the design of this Welcoming Figure by other welcoming figures
found in Port Alberni and Vancouver. (see picture). Fortunately
for the people of Mayne Island, John has such a strong connection
to this project that he has agreed to carve and erect the finished
sculpture for a sum of $10,000. This is considerably less than a
sculpture of this size and importance would normally cost.
Two trees for the carving have been carefully selected by John.
These have been donated and cut by Richard Brown. The carving will
commence in November 2007 and the completion date is set for spring
of 2009.
The Mayne Island Garden Club will be spearheading the drive for
funds to pay for this monument. Consider this a great way to show
your support for our island or to honour the memory of loved ones.
A plaque will be included for donors or the names of those to be
honoured for donations of $250 or more.
To help fund the project you may wish to donate your 1% at the
True Valu to Emma and Felix Jack Park (#41).
One fundraiser already well in the works is our First Annual
Secret Homes and Gardens Tour. Mark your calendars for the long
weekend of July 2008.
Sadly, our first significant donations have been made in honour
of Alisa Noda, who suffered a brain aneurism at the age of 50 while
staying with her beloved husband, Mark Lucier and her dog Juba at
her Waugh Road home. The family has requested that donations be
made to the Welcoming Figure in honour of this beautiful person
who was planning on making Mayne Island her home.
Inquiries regarding the Welcoming Figure can be made to Ingrid Marsh,
539-5024.
Mayne Island Garden Club.
Why Not a Totem Pole?
This question has been asked several times since our article on
the Welcoming Figure appeared in the August MayneLiner. "A
totem pole is much more interesting; carved animal figures and bright
colours." The reason is: we want something to commemorate Emma
and Felix Jack. The Coast Salish peoples did not carve totem poles.
They carved figures. A totem pole would not be appropriate. In fact
it is unlikely that we would find any native carver that would do
one under these circumstances.
John Aitken is a well recognized and accomplished artist and carver.
He is also the grandson of Emma and Felix Jack. How much more appropriate
could it be?
The Garden Club needs to raise funds to pay for this project.
Please consider a donation to this project: A Welcoming Figure for
Emma and Felix Jack Park. All donations of $250 or more will be
recognized on a plaque to be mounted in the park beside the figure.
Please contact Ingrid Marsh for more details. 539-5024
. |
Garden club members clearing the alder saplings
in April 2005. Herbie Rochet is taking the picture. |
| |
|
| Digging out the boulders to prepare the planting
site for the lavender plants. November 2005 |
 |
| |
|
 |
200 daffodils - the start of naturalized flowers. Nov. 2005
300 more were planted in Oct. 2006
|
Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to work. And special
thanks to Mark McKay for removing the alder stump and to Harry Burr
for tilling the site.
You can help:
- by making a tax deductible donation to the MIPRC,
with a clear reference to EFJCP on the cheque
- by designating your Community Spirit points
at Tru Value to Emma & Felix Jack Community Park
- assisting at the work parties this spring
Scheduled Work Parties:
When the ground dries out in March or April.
Announcements of worl parties will be posted here.
|
