The well-attended January Elphinstone Community Association meeting delivered a grilling for new director Donna McMahon, who reminded people that she has not been on the job long enough to adequately handle some of the many questions/concerns thrown her way. In addition to attending days of orientation, Donna reported on water, curbside recycling, emergency preparedness, the Fire Service report, SCRD parks, DL 1313, the Frank West Hall roof replacement and the upcoming transportation committee meeting. She was questioned about the Veterans Road subdivision, the state of our trails, the Esplanade and driftwood pileup, land use planning, community policing and maintenance of our roads and road shoulders. She handled it all with good humour but left at the break (good for you, Donna!).
Announced at the meeting was that Vel Anderson and Anna Vrkic recently arranged a get-together with outgoing director Lorne Lewis at his house to present him with a plaque in recognition of his many years of service as Area E director. He welcomed us into his home and offered freshly-baked cookies – he had baked them himself – Yum! I have heard from some of his many supporters about the ways Lorne helped them over the years. He worked very hard to preserve the critical Chapman Lake and our Reed Road Forest. Thank you, Lorne!
The ECA board has begun planning for a plaque to be mounted in the Frank West Hall commemorating all our past directors – there have been six in the past 50 years. Two, including Lorne, served more than 10 years.
A friend and I were recently walking along the beach in front of Gower Point and could hardly believe the amount of styrofoam (polystyrene) scattered everywhere. I guess it’s from docks breaking up in the storms, but whatever, it’s an awful mess and cannot be good for marine life. Why exactly do docks require polystyrene? They never used to have it. Honestly, let’s ban this stuff because it’s awful, ugly and hard to clean up, not to mention an environmental disaster! Styrene is a harmful chemical that can leech into food and drink and is classified as a human carcinogen. At the meeting, Gord Bishop expressed interest in this issue and was appointed to organize a beach clean-up. He’s been busy contacting local organizations and hopes to have this happen sometime in February. It’ll need lots of folk to pull it off, so please contact him at gjbishop172@gmail.com or 778-233-8250 if you can help. Stay tuned for more.
For Elphinstone news to share, contact me at: elphin@coastreporter.net
