The Sargeant Bay Society (SBS) celebrated the 25th anniversary of Sargeant Bay Park last Saturday, while commemorating the recent loss of Joop Burgerjon, a man instrumental in preserving the area from development.
“He was the driving force behind getting this park set up as it is today. He lived right over in the other side of the bay,” SBS president Rand Rudland said.
Burgerjon moved to Sargeant Bay from Vancouver in the 1970s. At the time there was a proposed project to develop the land for a marina and a condominium, which many of the residents opposed.
“There was a long struggle to get it stopped and then finally the BC parks – Land, Parks and Housing in those days – arranged to acquire the land,” Rudland said.
In 1990 Sargeant Bay was given class A status, meaning that, “Nothing goes. No construction, can’t change anything,” Rudland explained.
Burgerjon died this past May at age 91, just shy of the 25th anniversary of that decision.
NSBS holds an annual low-tide intertidal exploration on the park’s anniversary. Children come out to explore the fascinating marine life that inhabits the region of the beach that fluctuates between being underwater at high tide and mostly dry at low tide.
The Vancouver Aquarium brought out the AquaVan specially for this occasion – a mobile aquarium with hands-on displays for children and adults to touch and feel the various sea creatures.
Part of the day involved naming a trail after Joop Burgerjon: “Joop’s Triangle Lake trail, because he was responsible for getting that added to the park,” Rudland said.
An endowment fund in Burgerjon’s name was also announced to fund the activities of SBS. The Sunshine Coast Community Foundation has agreed to match the first $5,000 of that endowment raised by SBS.
“With that, we can get some steady flow, it gives us the option of doing some more educational stuff, and other projects that – up until now – we haven’t been able to do,” Rudland said.
