station y o u ’ v e
a r r i v e d
life in cowichan:
juice is
juice a clear
vision the interview:
will
millar
words with gary bauslaugh ISSUE NUMBER 5, JUNE 2014
2014 SUMMER
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what cowichan is watching station
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Delight your eyes
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inside
do you like them 6 how apples? 10 a clear vision 12 the interview: Will Millar 20 station street view 22 food & drink: true grain words with gary 26 bauslaugh
30 echoes of british children cowichan is watching 34 what 36 coffee with lonnie syme 38 final frame
COVER PHOTO of Will Millar by Andrew Leong
Unit 2, 5380 Trans Canada Highway, Duncan B.C., V9L 6W4 Phone: (250) 746-4471 Fax: (250) 746-8529 E-mail: editor@cowichannewsleader.com Web site: www.cowichannewsleader.com
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life in cowichan: Merridale Cidery STORY by Mike D’Amour PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
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et’s get something straight right off the hop: cider is cider and juice is juice. There are no soft and hard ciders, at least not this side of the border, said Rick Pipes who, with wife Janet Docherty, owns Merridale Estate Cidery in Cobble Hill. “It’s the Americans who made the distinction between soft and hard cider,” said the former Victoria-area lawyer. “It came from the days of prohibition when cider had alcohol and they weren’t allowed to sell it anymore.” Thirsty, enterprising folks purchased fresh-pressed apple juice and then took it home where they would ferment it, usually in the basement. “When alcohol became legal again, cider stayed as fresh-pressed apple juice and hard cider was fermented,” said Pipes. “In Europe and all the rest of the world, cider meant alcohol and juice is juice.” When a guy makes much of his living squeezing apples, well, you just gotta believe him. And he and Docherty have been doing it for some time now. They bought the 20-acre spread — a full 13 ½ of those are devoted to apple orchards — in 1999 and set out to make Merridale a destination spot in the Cowichan Valley. Although the business deals specifically in apples, it doesn’t operate under the auspices of a farm. “It was one of the first businesses in the valley to start under a winery licence,” said Docherty. Merridale has branched out a bit on the libations side with the introduction of spirits, including apple brandy, the culmination of a nearly seven-year battle to get it to market. “We were one of the first ones to start a distillery in B.C.,” said Docherty. While the various liquids are what Merridale is best known for, the business is also blossoming in the love department with more and more couples deciding to tie the knot at the cidery. Earlier this year, Huffington Post recognized the estate as one the best places to get married on Vancouver Island. “The weddings are great and are going over really well — we did 34 of them last year,” Docherty said. “In the summer we don’t open on Friday or Saturday evenings, we just focus on doing the weddings.” continued page 8
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How do you like them
apples?
Merridale Estate Cidery has spent 15 years at the core of Cowichan’s agritourism industry
2014 SUMMER
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“In Europe and all the rest of the world, cider meant alcohol and juice is juice.” — Rick Pipes
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from page 6 Cider and weddings aside, Merridale’s is also known for its food, served daily at La Pommerie Bistro where cider pairings and seasonal menu items are inspired by local food. “Everything is scratch-made,” said Bistro chef Ian Blom, who, along with chef Benni Kelly, keeps things tasty. And when Blom says everything is made at the Bistro, he’s not kidding. In addition to breads and cured meats, even the condiments — ketchup, mustard et al. — are produced in-house. And the chefs delight in pairing their food creations with the various Merridale ciders on hand. “We like to utilize them as you would wine,” said Blom, who still has that fresh dad glow because of the birth of his first child, David, born in late January. Family is something important to Docherty and Pipes as well. “We don’t just support our community; we want to be part of it,” said Pipes. “We live here, we raise our children here and we like it here.” That’s why it stung, and still stings, when they remember they were accused of umbral practises. The cidery used to — as in past tense — charge a nominal fee for tasting.
Some places likewise charge for tastings, some don’t. “Yet we’ve been slammed by Trip Advisor and others who said other places don’t charge,” said Docherty. What most don’t know is the tasting money didn’t go to Merridale’s bottom line. “We don’t keep those fees,” said Pipes. “We give them to local organizations.” Organizations such as the Vancouver Canucks Autism Network — a charity Merridale helped raise $140,000 for last year — Providence Farm, food banks and others. But the less-than-kind comments left a sour taste in the mouths of Pipes and Docherty, who have since stopped charging for tastings. “So, we’ll leave it open to donations,” said Docherty. Oh, there’s one more thing about Merridale — it has yurts! Two of ‘em! A yurt, as defined by Wikipedia, is a portable, bent dwelling structure traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia as their home. They are also the coolest dwellings in the valley and are available for very reasonable rent. Now, how do you like them apples?
S SUMMER 2014
a clear
vision Mill Bay couple inspired by an opportunity to bring sight where there was none before
STORY & PHOTOS by Janice Hayward
D
oug and Sharyn Higginson are neither optometrists nor opticians. But 10 years ago the Mill Bay couple began an adventure that opened eyes — their own and many others half a world away. Through south Cowichan optometrist, Rotarian, and volunteer Dr. Trevor Miranda they first became acquainted with one of Miranda’s favourite causes — the Third World Eye Care Society. TWECS is a Vancouver-based, non-profit organization that travels to third-world countries performing eye examinations and dispensing eyeglasses in communities with no resources or funding available for eye care. Fast-forward to 2011. During a sunrise Rotary meeting, Miranda reintroduced Doug to the idea of volunteering abroad. That was the
2014 SUMMER
beginning of what some refer to as giving back and others call paying it forward. Since then, their volunteer efforts have taken Doug to Nicaragua, Ecuador, and the Philippines, and Sharyn to Ecuador. They have found new depth of meaning in the words “clear vision.” Doug volunteered for the Nicaragua project in 2011 and both travelled to Ecuador in November 2013. Sharyn, inspired by Doug, was thrilled at the unexpected opportunity to join the team. “It was just by a fluke that I actually got to go, as somebody else had pulled out at the last minute,” she said. Volunteers for TWECS contribute time, money, energy, empathy, and ingenuity. The Higginsons own a business and were no different. “Organizing life to get away is a big challenge,” he said, but somehow he made it so. Being in a foreign country and on a mission meant coping with personal and projectrelated challenges. Despite knowing what to
expect, Doug and Sharyn nevertheless had to adjust to dietary and cultural differences, frenetic schedules, and sanitary surprises. Maintaining personal health was paramount. Volunteers travelled from hotel to the eye exam venue with a personal supply of TP and hand sanitizer. “You do not want to get sick and become a burden to the project,” explained Doug. He added that one less person on a station equates to extra work for the others. Besides, it’s no fun to be ill that far from home. Each day the project venue was sectioned into six stations: registration, visual acuities (eye chart exams), triage, auto refraction (approximate measurement of a person’s prescription), special testing (for diseases and other medical eye problems), and dispensing. The Higginsons supported the optometrists and opticians by conducting visual acuities and autorefractions, as well as dispensing prescription glasses. continued page 10
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from page 9 The Higginsons agreed TWECS volunteers inherently have a certain kind of personality. Every team member focuses on the same goal — help as many people as possible in what little time they have. In destitute and underprivileged communities, it was no surprise that a project challenge aroused the team spirit. If there were not enough translators for each of the six clinic stations, volunteers learned key phrases in the new language; if one station (registration, for instance) had completed for the day, volunteers moved to another. If optometrists in special testing required a darker room, volunteers improvised a fix. Doug and Sharyn were two of a team of 21 volunteers in Ecuador. They saw miracles happen and returned with a rich store of memories. “When you make a difference, you don’t forget that … maybe we just don’t get to do that enough in our world today,” suggested Doug. SUMMER 2014
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TWECS attributes its success to its volunteers, generous monetary donations, optometry equipment donations, and the thousands of eyeglass donors. Under the direction of optometrist Dr. Marina Roma-March and her husband Derrick March, TWECS has completed 25 projects worldwide since 1994. While she was in Ecuador, the ruinous Typhoon Haiyan smashed Roma-March’s Philippine homeland. Doug Higginson found himself on another TWECS project in January 2014, just two months after Ecuador, as TWECS mobilized to fill a gap in the devastated city of Tacloban. The couple eagerly awaits its next TWECS opportunity. “I now feel the need to continue supporting missions like TWECS,” said Doug. “I firmly believe we are all in this together on so many levels. The world is so small and our neighbours are now the poor in third-world countries. Not to help is to our own peril.”
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a rover
no more The wanderlust has faded for longtime Irish Rovers frontman Will Millar, who is well-settled and rooted to his paint brush in his heritage lakefront Cowichan home STORY by Maeve Maguire PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
W
ill Millar lives down a long country road in an early-1900s house on an acreage overlooking Quamichan Lake. This unassuming and quiet setting is home to the former lead vocalist of one of the longest-running and most famous bands in the world: The Irish Rovers. Originally from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Millar’s band of young Irishmen formed in Calgary in the 1960s and soon found success across North America. They are most famous for their songs Wasn’t That A Party and The Unicorn, which sold 8 million copies worldwide. In 1995, after 35 years, Millar left the band in an acrimonious split. While we may still picture him as the energetic red-head leprechaun on their 1970’s hit CBC television show, The Irish Rovers, Millar has moved on. Since leaving the band, he’s written three books, produced 10 albums, and dedicated his life to his real passion: painting. His oil paintings are displayed with pride next to his framed platinum and gold albums, while others are scattered around his brightly lit, lakeview studio. 12
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Millar is deeply connected to his country’s history. His colourful works depict scenes of an old-world Ireland, with hardworking countrymen in their fields or outside a pub with a pint of Guinness. His art is showing at the E.J. Hughes Gallery in downtown Duncan throughout the summer. At 74, his creative energy seems boundless. We sat together on sofas in the sunroom of that old farmhouse while the haunting sounds of tin whistle and bodhrán drum from the Chieftains sang out from the stereo in his studio below. We drank tea and ate a slice of his delicious homemade Irish raisin boil cake while Millar shared stories about touring as an Irish Rover, how art saved him, and how much he loves his wife. MM: When did it all begin? WM: Would you believe it’s the 50th anniversary? Fifty years ago the boys joined me in Calgary on a kids’ show on TV. Channel 4. MM: When there were three channels. WM: Two channels. We were lucky we had a series — there were only two stations in Canada. We had a captive audience: prime time Sunday night. When you were a baby. MM: Before or after the Wonderful World of Disney? SUMMER 2014
WM: After. It’s amazing how fast life goes by. I led the Rovers for 35 years. We started in ‘64. My brother was only 15. Now he runs the Irish Rovers with a different band. MM: You left the band in 1995. How did that happen? WM: We were starting to become a bit dysfunctional. Irish family 30 years together, how can anybody survive? People can’t survive with a wife that long let alone four other fellows. I guess my younger brother felt I was becoming a bit of a dictator but the only way to possibly get five Irish guys together was to be a bit demanding; there had to be a leader of some sort. We just got to be not friends anymore. The more I travelled, the less I liked it; my kids were growing up. I said ‘I’m just going to stay home and paint.’ Of course my poor wife, she thought I was bonkers. And, unfortunately, it wasn’t a smooth, peaceful parting. It was an unhappy parting with lawyers involved. I look back on it all now; it was so stupid. I wish him well. MM: So what happened 50 years ago? WM: I was in Calgary singing around tables in a pancake house, and doing a television show five days a week — ad lib. And then my brother and Jimmy Ferguson came out to Calgary for a two-week holiday and I never got rid of them for 35 years! They saw the life I had: I had an old Jaguar car, my own little apartment with red lights and lots of hot girls running in and out all the time. And they said ‘geez, we’re not going back.’ My brother was at school and Jimmy worked at a Scotch tape factory. I brought them onto the kids’ TV show and we’re singing Whisky, You’re the Devil and all this. The parents of the children, they started watching. MM: Even though you were singing about whisky to the kids. WM: In those days it wasn’t so politically incorrect. It wasn’t doing them any harm. MM: It was a happy jig. WM: After being at Phil’s Pancake House, 2014 SUMMER
and getting over a lost love at the time, I said ‘I’m leaving.’ MM: You worked at Phil’s Pancake House? WM: I sang around the tables. I had no money before the Rovers started. Phil was a great guy, and I told him what I was doing in Toronto — musical host — and it worked: people were coming in. My guitar was covered in pancake syrup from all the kids grabbing it. One little lucky thing happened. Phil said, “Look, you guys are great, I think you could make a good band together, but I can’t handle it. I know a guy in town.” Les Weinstein, head of Columbia Pictures in Calgary. Les took me on. To this day, Les is still my friend. He got the Irish Rovers going. He gave us a hundred bucks, and in my old car we headed to San Francisco. All I wanted to do was get an audition at Mecca: The Purple Onion and The Hungry Eye. MM: That’s why you went to San Francisco? WM: The folk club days were big. The Kingston Trio was playing at The Hungry Eye. I really absolutely believe it was fate because without things happening.... Here’s one of the typical things. I decided to take the coast road down to San Francisco. I wanted to see the ocean; I missed the ocean being in Calgary. The old Jaguar broke down in a place called Bodega Bay, where they filmed The Birds. And there is a little village there called the Valley Ford where there’s Denucci’s Italian Dinners, a big restaurant pub, where the car rolled in and broke down. The garage across the road knew nothing about Jaguars and they said there’s a guy in Santa Rosa, contact him. I couldn’t get on the phone to him so I had to hitchhike. I left the boys sitting in the Jaguar outside this pub. It took me to about 11 o’clock that night to get back. By then there were trucks and cars all outside. I could hear Irish music singing out of the pub. Here’s the first fate: Denucci’s Italian Dinners a month earlier had been bought by two guys just come out from Ireland. continued page 14
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from page 13 The boys rolled in there and they found compatriots who said, “Git up there boys, give us a song.” All of a sudden it was a plastic bucket on the pool table and it was full of dollar bills. And these guys kept us for a month. We lived there. MM: You stayed? WM: We still hadn’t made it to San Francisco, but we stayed with them because they fed us every night. They loved it. We filled the place up. Then in came a couple of booking agents from San Francisco. They said “You guys are great, what are you doing down here?” We said, “Oh we’re trying to get into the Purple Onion.” And they said, “We can get you into the Purple Onion, no problem.” They took us for an audition, is what they did. But they got us in there and all of a sudden we had made it. They booked us for New Year’s Eve and they kept us for six months. We sold more booze in that six months than the Purple Onion had ever sold for any band. Then we got booking at other folk clubs. We played at the Troubadour in LA. We went to Aspen, Colorado for the ski season. We played Aspen every winter for about four years. What a life. For young guys, it was amazing. MM: Was it lucrative? WM: We made about $400 per week, which was a fortune to us. And we never bought drinks because everyone used to buy us drinks. We used to be up on stage and there would be tray fulls of pints of Guinness and shots of whisky coming up to us. I SUMMER 2014
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remember all the Texans that came to Aspen. They used to send up $50 bills, and say “Sing Mother McCree!” MM: Where did the Irish Rovers get the name? WM: It’s the name of the song [sings] “In the year of our Lord, 1806...” I sang that song when I was 10 years old. I used to make a couple of bob in the pubs for singing. It was a perfect name for a folk band in those days, roving around. It was smart putting Irish in it. The Irish Americans loved us. We played in every Irish-American hall for every priest in North America. We rode in St. Patrick’s Day parade the first year we played in New York. We were riding with Ted Kennedy and John Glenn the astronaut in a five-hour St. Patrick’s Day parade through the streets of New York. MM: What other famous people did you meet? WM: CBC had a budget in those days when we did our weekly show so they could afford big names. I’ve got pictures of me with Johnny Cash, Mother Maybel Carter, The Carter Family, Waylon Jennings, Pat Boone, Roger Miller. MM: Were they good people? WM: They were all very nice. Waylon Jennings was stoned out of his brain all the time. Whenever he came out of his dressing room I could smell the smoke. Johnny Cash was the nicest guy. I have a picture of me and Johnny together; I’m playing the banjo for him. Those are the little treasures I’ve kept over the years. continued page 16 2014 SUMMER
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from page 15 MM: When did you come to Canada? WM: 1957. I was about 17. MM: On your own? WM: No with the whole family. Three years later my mother promptly left — homesick. I went back to Ireland four times, the last time I went, before I was married to Catherine, I restored an old Georgian house and I became the Lord of the Manor. I had a big old stone house. I had a Connemara pony with a beautiful little trap with two wheels and brass lights on it and I’d ride around the countryside, like right out of The Quiet Man. MM: When was this? WM: 1970-1973. MM: How did you do the show? WM: I’d fly back and forward. Unfortunately, that was the time of the Troubles. The bloody bombs were going off every time I went into Belfast. I said, “why did I pick this time in my life to come back to this country.? It’s insane.” Should have went to the south of Ireland where it was much quieter but oh no, I went back to the roots, to the home. MM: How did you meet your wife? WM: I was heading down to Hawaii. Our old record producer lived in Hawaii and I just wanted to get away. When I got to the airport, I saw this very pretty girl in a line-up and I wrote in my journal — before I’d ever met her — that I’d just seen the most beautiful girl. And then there she was sitting with my old girlfriend. I asked where they were going and they said they were going to stay with this pilot on Waikiki and they weren’t sure what this guy was like, and could maybe they stay with me. My little heart was pounding. So my big lie was I said, ‘Yeah I’ve got this big house on the beach.’ I didn’t think they would. Later that night they phoned and said, ‘This pilot’s a bit weird. Can we come stay with you?’ I got off the phone and I said to my producer’s wife I need a house for this week. She knew a real estate guy in Kona so she phoned him and he said — as fate would have it — a family just cancelled their house so I have a house on the beach. It was exactly like I had explained it, even with the palm trees with the hammock. MM: You predicted your own future. WM: I did. I got into that house and scattered all my stuff about. MM: You kept up the lie? SUMMER 2014
WM: I did. I was well entrenched in my oceanfront home. It cost me over $1,000 but I didn’t care. I wrote poetry and love songs. One week I spent with Catherine and I was absolutely smitten with her. She’s the sweetest woman in the world. She hasn’t got a bad bone in her body — unlike the Irish. MM: She stayed anyway. WM: She did indeed. MM: When did you two get married? WM: 1980. And our boy was born in PEI in 1981. The summer I met Catherine, I was playing in Charlottetown. I went down there and met an Irish folk group who took me around the province. They showed me an old house right out of an Andrew Wyatt painting. Nobody living in it. Stark. On a cliff. No trees around it, 15 acres of shoreline. Found out it was owned by a doctor in Boston. Phoned him. $35,000. I bought the house. MM: What did Catherine think of you moving there? WM: She came out with me for the summer. I was just longing for her to be with me. She sat there making up a daisy chain and I said I want to come out and live here. And she said, ‘I love P.E.I.’ Who would have thought it? We were out there four or five years a before we got married. MM: When did you leave P.E.I.? WM: Left in 1982 to go to Vancouver. The winters were so dreadful we just could not cope with them anymore. And then when the summers came even thought we had lots of fun there, mosquitoes were so bad we couldn’t go out at night. I was travelling back and forth to Vancouver from P.E.I.; that’s where the boys were at that time. So I said, ‘You know what, let’s go.’ We found a little house in White Rock. Eventually we moved to Brentwood Bay and then we were drawn here. MM: Why the Cowichan Valley? WM: We were living on the ocean, down at another old house, in Brentwood Bay. It was a wonderful old place but it became like millionaire’s row, and the taxes were going sky high. I’ve been all over the world and this is it; this is wonderful. Then, of all things, three old ladies arrived one day in a van. They were from California. They said they were little girls in this house. Their grandparents built this house when they came from Orknay, in the north of Scotland, and their name was Flett. And I looked at Catherine, my wife. continued on page 18 2014 SUMMER
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in a glass jar and I had cleaned my brush and it fell and splashed all over the drapes and the carpet. I was rushing for the airport and I tried to clean it as best I could. I used to travel on the road with paints and drawing. It was my kind of relief from touring. MM: I painted a little painting once — I’m not a painter at all — but I really enjoyed it. It was two hours... WM: ...and it feels like two minutes. The great thing about it was you were lost in the world. And that’s what happens to me with each and every painting, and I’ve done hundreds of paintings. I’m kind of a hyper person and, typical Irish, you hold grudges. But when I started painting, I painted an Ireland that doesn’t exist anymore. The Ireland I paint is of the ‘50s, and it’s old men making potcheen whisky. When I paint, it’s a perfect meditation for me. I say to people ‘if you learn how to paint, it’s the greatest stress reliever.’ Churchill said that. My art has been the savings of me. MM: How do you feel now that it’s 50 years on and you’re not part of the band? WM: I sometimes have pangs about it when I see they’re off on a tour and I think, ‘I should be in that tour,’ you know? Because I’ve gotten good success with my art, and I’m antsy. I couldn’t sit. I have to be doing something, whether I write a book, or paint a picture, or sing a song.
S 2014 SUMMER
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ruce Stewart isn’t exactly on a mission, but he does want to clear up a bit of the sticky confusion regarding gluten. The 42-year-old married dad of two daughters — Monica, 4, and twoyear-old Fiona — owns Cowichan Bay’s True Grain Bread with his wife, Leslie. He believes there is too much propaganda about gluten. “I love gluten; it’s one of the most wonderful substances going — it’s amazing to me how misinformed people are about gluten and what it is,” he said. In the 1950s, the incidences of celiac disease — an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine caused by a reaction to wheat proteins — was less than one in 100, said Stewart. “In 2014, the incidences of celiac disease
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is less than one per cent — it hasn’t changed.” In our modern world, many people with digestive, or gut, or fatigue issues believe they might be allergic to gluten. “In most cases, they’re not allergic to gluten, and that’s a big part of what our customer base is because people can eat our breads,” Stewart said. “Once people understand what we do from the field to the finished product, they can say ‘Now I understand why I can eat a loaf of True Grain bread and not get gut rot.” True Grain uses ancient grains, such as emmer, which was the first cereal grain cultivated by humans. Stewart said — and has put on brochures — that many people who suffer non-celiac sensitivity find they can easily digest
emmer because of its simple and natural gluten structure. “Even people who are really, really, really gluten-sensitive,” he said. Stewart, a product of Midland, Ont., was involved in various aspects of the food business in Ontario and, later, in Calgary, when he had a hankering for a change. “One day I was lamenting to my wife that I wanted to be self-employed — it was one of my goals and she said: ‘Well, do it or stop talking about it.’” After looking at businesses for sale from around the country, the Stewarts bought True Grain from Jonathan Knight, who started the bakery in an old fish packing plant in 2004. It was a great fit right from the get-go, said Bruce.
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“I love B.C., it’s where I’m meant to be.” Stewart hit the ground running and was quickly involved with his new community. He was a champion of the slow food movement and was vital in helping Cowichan Bay earn the Cittaslow designation in 2009. Cittaslow is a movement started in Italy to improve quality of life in towns by slowing the overall pace. Cowichan Bay was the first town in North America to be certified. With more and more information available about what we’re putting in our bodies, Stewart said he believes he knows what consumers want. “People want to be more connected with their food and where it comes from and I agree,” he said.
“We provide a real solution for people, in terms of their diet.” True Grain does that, says, Stewart, by going back to the basics. “We use only the finest certified organic grains and ingredients wherever possible and we freshly mill the organic grains onsite in our stone grain mill,” he said. “We seek heritage varieties of grain such as red fife wheat — which have not been hybridized over time — we favour natural leavening and slow fermentations to unlock the grains’ true flavours.” Simplifying the bread-making process means True Grain bread doesn’t have the shelf life of store bought, but that’s OK, says Stewart. continued page 24
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from page 23 “Just because you can make a loaf of bread that stays soft for five weeks, doesn’t mean you ever should,” he said, noting True Grain donates to local food banks anything that doesn’t sell the day it’s baked. In addition to creating jobs at his bakeries — there’s a second True Grain in Summerland, B.C. — the Stewarts are almost singlehandedly renewing a once-lost industry on the island. In the 1950s, Vancouver Island was a net exporter of grain. Cheap oil and the resulting reduced transport costs for the industrialized food complex are viewed by many as the villains that contributed to the demise of local grain agriculture. But in 2008, when the Stewarts purchased True Grain, oil prices went through the roof. “I thought, ‘Great, now I have to raise prices because the price of
flour doubled,’” recalled Stewart. That’s when he got the idea to try to revitalize local grain farming. “When I came to True Grain, we were experimenting with one farmer (in Metchosin) who was interested in growing grain,” he said. Now, four Vancouver Island farmers are growing for True Grain; another five farmers in B.C. are also growing for the Cow Bay bakery. In the milling room where True Grain stones grinds its grains, there’s a sign hanging on the wall with words from Robert Browning: If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens. “If we’re doing our job right — and I believe we are,” said Stewart, “when people taste and experience what we do for the first time, they’re seeing the moon and tasting the stars in the heavens.”
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Mercy killing, institutions and the fine points of ethical law provide plenty of material for humanist writer
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t figures author Gary Bauslaugh is a big fan of the Bard, despite penning seemingly disparate books about justice and mercy killing, an obscure Canadian law, and university reform. Those works frame the picture of a studiously curious guy, dedicated to fairness, and his literary craft. “I don’t have a schedule. I wish I did,” said Bauslaugh, who works closely with editors of his well-researched books. “I often get ideas walking around town, then sit down and see what happens at
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bauslaugh the keyboard.” What happens, as in Shakespeare’s probing plots, is the creation of brain food fertilized by a firm grip on tenets of common sense,and social irony. So it followed that the former longtime Cowichan resident, now based in Victoria, is finishing Travels With Shakespeare, about Shakespearean festivals. Perhaps Bauslaugh’s bent for the bard is a welcome escape from his penetrating 2010 work Robert Latimer: A Story Of Justice And Mercy. It chronicles Latimer’s trial and murder 2014 SUMMER
conviction for the 1993 mercy killing of his severely challenged and ill daughter, Tracy, 12 — igniting a national debate about euthanasia’s ethics, and rights of the very disabled. Latimer served seven years of a 10-year sentence before being granted day parole in 2007. “I want people to come away with the notion Latimer was a good man caught in a very difficult situation,” Bauslaugh states. “He did it out of human kindness and compassion. continued page 28
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from page 27 “How do we treat people who perform difficult acts of human kindness that are not legal?” he asked. “Do we treat them as terrible criminals, or with some degree of mercy? Mercy’s a really valued quality, but there aren’t many places in the legal system where mercy can be shown.” So Bauslaugh chased that painstaking project with his follow-up: The Secret Power of Juries. Juries explains a little-known, seldomused tool called jury nullification, whereby a jury’s verdict doesn’t necessarily have to follow the law. It applies in everything from deaths and weapons charges, to drug busts, self-defence cases and many other situations where juries deem the penalties too severe. “When the law is patently unfair, juries don’t have to find the defendant guilty, even if he (or she) is technically guilty,” he explained. Latimer’s jury didn’t know about nullification, which was allowed in Dr. Henry Morgentaler’s landmark early ‘80s trial and acquittal, which essentially decriminalized abortion. In the wake of that decision, the Supreme Court banned lawyers and judges from telling future juries of the little-known rule — putting the onus on education of citizens who may have jury duty. “It makes no sense to me,” Bauslaugh said “It’s like forbidden knowledge.” It’s a judge’s job to follow the law, he said, but defence lawyers ought to be able to tell SUMMER 2014
juries about nullification. He believes the outcome of the Latimer case may have been different but for the Morgentaler ruling. “They would have found him not guilty,” Bauslaugh said of Latimer, “if they knew they weren’t obliged to follow the law. “That’s why I wrote this book; I wanted more people to know about this. It established that juries are independent.” That view of fairness fits Bauslaugh’s non-religious beliefs as a humanist. “One issue that interests humanists is non-religious approaches to public affairs. Public business should be conducted in a non-religious manner,” he said. Now add his schooled background spurring another looming book about reforming university education, Moving The Graveyard: Confessions of an Academic Apostate. “Education should give kids the skills they need, not necessarily just specific training in an academic discipline,” he said, noting grads should know how to think, not what to think. “You need to be flexible, and adapt in understanding how to find out information. I know about the university system and that’s what I write about. But I don’t expect it to have much impact. “The book talks about how difficult it is to change curriculum; it’s harder than moving a graveyard.” His current spadework is also uncovering “why Shakespeare plays are so fascinating to amateurs, and why so many people go to these festivals.” “People can put on quite amazing productions just with local actors, and Duncan does a lot of that.” To Bauslaugh, Henry IV’s character Falstaff most symbolizes society’s foibles — inside and outside courtrooms. “Falstaff mocks the idea of honour that’s so misused by people in power. All of Shakespeare’s plays have their own fascination.” Fact, rather than fiction, fascinates Bauslaugh most; he searched for what he’d do if not writing. “I have no idea. It’s what occupies my time now.”
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STORY by Mike D’Amour PHOTOS by Andrew Leong
I
t sits on the prettiest street in the valley, just down the block from the house with a colossal, leafless tree supporting a twin-rope swing with a two-by-four as a seat Cowichan Station’s heritage Lady Houston House is also the place Denise and Constantine (Connie) Razis call home. The couple bought the house a few years back on the very same day they saw it because they simply fell in love with it, said Denise. “Well, we wanted a character home...,” she began. “....and this place has a feeling to it, a feel-good vibe,” said Connie, finishing her sentence the way couples sometimes do. “It’s very traditional, the layout, and it just feels right, simple as that.” “And, of course, we had all this inherited furniture from grandparents and parents,” Denise continued, gesturing to antique tables, sideboards and other furniture in the dining and living rooms. “We thought this shabby chic stuff will fit in here just fine.” The house, located at 4775 Fairbridge Dr., in Cowichan Station was originally built during the Great Depression as part of a larger community, the Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm School for disadvantaged British kids. For nearly 18 years, the farm was home to about 350 children, ages four and up from places like Newcastle, Glasgow and other distressed industrial cities. Many of the youngsters were selected from welfare institutions, but heartsick parents also surrendered children to the program with the hope Canada would offer educational and economic advantages not available in their respective countries. Fairbridge Farm School originally boasted 14 cottages, each large enough to shelter a dozen children and their resident cottage mother. The principal had his own house, and staff had quarters. A chapel, hospital, school and, of course, the massive dairy farm fleshed out the fledgling community. Built in1935, the Razis’ brawny, solidly built four-bedroom home with chest-high wainscoting, Douglas fir floors and feel-good vibe is now for sale. Arriving at the determination to sell was excruciating, said Denise. Ultimately, Connie’s failing health was the determining factor, Denise said. continued page 32
2014 SUMMER
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Evidence of close attention to the build is unmistakable in just about every nook and cranny of the home, from the master bedroom with a massive walk -in closet to the cozy den with a wood-burning fireplace to the staircase — with a landing almost large enough to host a flash mob — leading to the upstairs, it’s clear this is a home that was built to last. Yet one of the neatest things is outside the home, past the large, covered outdoor deck, down the gravel path to a 600 square-foot building that once served as Fairbridge’s laundry facilities, now a storage area and workshop.
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from page 31 “It took us a long time to come to the decision. I’ve always been very happy here. I really want somebody who really falls in love with the place to buy it.” There is much to fall in love with in the converted dormitory, which backs onto a wooded area that slopes to a creek. There’s the formal dining area that flows seamlessly into the living room to create a wonderful gathering for casual get-togethers with neighbours, drinks with pals or a family Christmas. “The acoustics are ideal,” Connie said.
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“This place has a feeling to it, a feel good vibe.” — Constantine Razis
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Receding funds and dwindling interest forced the closure of Fairbridge in 1952, and there’s little evidence left of the hundreds of youngsters who once ate, slept, learned and prayed there. But look up, up into the roof of the old laundry and you just might hear echoes of children’s laughter as you read some of their names, carved into the wood rafter with such attention so long ago. Fairbridge Chapel Heritage Society supplied source information for this article.
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Pema Wangchen,
development co-ordinator, Cowichan Intercultural Society Lord of the Rings I loved the imagination, creativity and fantasy. To accomplish this movie, an incredible amount of skills, expertise, and technical knowledge came together to create all the elements of sight, sound, characters and costumes. It clearly expresses the possibilities of modern human creativity. Superman As a kid, my biggest admiration was Superman’s super-power. I loved that he would be there to save others and work for all humanity. When I was a kid I dreamed of having supernatural powers to help others and be amazing. I am still impressed Superman was created by two high school students in the 1930s. Xi You Ji XiYouJi (Journey to the West, in English) is an extended account of the legendary pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, who traveled to India to obtain sacred texts and returned after many trials and much suffering. This film is based on a true story, though it is expressed through imagination, creativity, legendary characters, and their amazing deeds. SUMMER 2014
Jennifer Graham,
local fashion designer, Salts Clothing Back to the Future tt’s my growing-up classic, the movie we watched all the time as kids. Also I love 1950s style in fashion and the furniture. Who wouldn’t want to travel through time? Amelie I love the way this film is shot. It’s about finding love firstly but then also about serendipity and seeing the beauty in your everyday surroundings. I find it so uplifting. As a fashion designer I find this movie visually stunning. Slumdog Millionaire Everything about this movie is amazing from the story to the actors to the music. India always has a special place in my heart.
SEMI ANNUAL SALE Starts July 8 through August Kirsty Grant,
visitor services co-ordinator, Cowichan Regional Visitors Centre Mama Mia I love the energizing fun Abba music and real life issues. It truly makes me want to book a vacation to Greece.The Sound of Music This is one of my favorites since childhood. I know the lyrics off by heart. Mr. Poppers Penguins This is a very silly, funny and fun film. It gets lots of laughs.
2014 SUMMER
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Lonnie Syme has been a lifeguard for most of her life. As a sixteen-year-old she spent her summers guarding in Lake Cowichan before becoming a full-time lifeguard in Duncan. Lonnie is the aquatic programmer at the Cowichan Aquatic Centre. At 54 — she proudly admits — she is their oldest lifeguard! If she’s not busy teaching a private swimming lesson, or organizing the facility’s busy schedule, you’ll most likely find Lonnie spending time with her family and husband or organizing her next trip abroad. What do you do as the aquatic programmer? I organize the lessons and make lesson plans and the new brochures for each season. I also teach some private lessons too. We also have to keep our qualifications up and every two years we re-do all of our courses so that we’re up to date. If you don’t pass, you don’t work. How did you get to the position you’re in now? I started out as a lifeguard in 1976 at the duck pond in Lake Cowichan. I had planned to become a nurse and then got a call one day from the old swimming pool, offering me two weeks of work. I’ve been here ever since. What do you enjoy most about working at the Aquatic Centre? I like that everyone from all walks of life comes here to enjoy the facilities. It’s always an upbeat atmosphere
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warm and inviting
Discover Duette® Architella® shades. This patented honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb innovation puts three layers of insulating air at hot andCall bright your window. today to learn more. And reduce energy Discover loss at theDuette window ® up to 50%. Architella® shades.
warm and inviting
This patented honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb innovation puts three layers of insulating air at your window. Call today to learn more. And reduce energy loss at the window up to 50%.
Please call for an in home consultation
250-746-9901 © 2009 Hunter Douglas Inc. ® Registered trademark of Hunter Douglas Inc.
pools by
© 2009 Hunter Douglas Inc. ® Registered trademark of Hunter Douglas Inc.
AQUAFUN Enjoy the Water!
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AQUAFUN
FAMILY POOLS & SPAS 2014 SUMMER
www.aquafunpools.ca 5265 TRANS CANADA HWY., DUNCAN 250-748-2611 (1-800-496-2611)
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...and the last word, we give to award-winning photographer Andrew Leong 38
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SUMMER 2014
Lose those extra pounds and feel fantastic!
See in-store for more details on the Ideal Protein Protocol. We can show you real results from real people at Mill Bay Pharmasave who have continued to achieve significant weight loss on this program. M I L L B AY P H A R M A S AV E
Stop by or call our Natural Health Consultant, Rekha for more information or to book your initial consultation.
250-743-9011 Mon-Fri 9am-7pm Sat 9am-6pm Sun 11am-5pm Delivery Service Available
2014 SUMMER
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Summer Fun!
beautiful bedding and more...
Pots & Paraphernalia 863 Canada Ave. • 748-4614 Mon.-Sat. 9:30-5:30 SUNDAY 11-4 40
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shop online at www.potsandparaphernalia.ca
SUMMER 2014