We gather at the statue of pioneer George Gibson – it makes a great meeting spot in Lower Gibsons. This is where home town guide Dale Peterson, who is steeped in the history of the area, starts his walking tour. I am standing with a select group of interested people while our tour guide warms up, ready for the summer season of historical tours that start on July 3.
Peterson is a walking compendium of knowledge based not only on the history books but on his personal experience growing up in the town. As a boy his home was the site of the town’s museum until the current museum was opened, and his father, Lester Peterson, wrote the definitive book on the subject, The Gibson’s Landing Story.
Last summer Dale played host to 16 to 18 people per tour, up to 30 sometimes, visitors and locals alike. The tour is by donation ($5 to $10 per person), and it’s full of interesting facts. He begins with the first settlers, the Squamish, who used the prominent bluff in Gibsons Harbour as their look-out to give warning of approaching warriors.
The story of George Gibson and his sons comes alive when Dale tells it. They were blown off course by a storm and their boat, the Swamp Angel, landed on our shores. They decided to stay and work the land. Dale sidetracks a bit from the story of George to tell us the history of the Finnish settlements, mostly farmers in Upper Gibsons, and the resulting fields of berries that made award-winning jam.
The next stop on the tour is the park beside the former Doctor Inglis house. If you’ve lived here long enough you will know that the Rev. J. S. Woodsworth once lived there, the founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (precursor of the NDP party). But did you know that his pacifist views came into conflict with other leaders in town? Your tour guide’s got the scoop. Doctor Inglis ran his clinic out of the house – it was the only one for the area, and if you had a medical emergency that required a trip to Vancouver, you just had to wait for a boat.
Speaking of boats, the next stop on the tour was the Persephone – Dale can tell you some of the stories around that interesting vessel and its role in The Beachcombers TV show.
Every so often Dale shyly gives a few personal details about his life, such as the fact that Sully’s Dine and Dance, situated at the waterfront where Gramma’s is now, was the dance hall where Dale’s father met Dale’s mother. I also enjoy his story about the opening day of the town hall in the 1960s, when young Dale became part of a photo op with Premier Bennett.
The government dock holds a rich share of the town’s history and we mosey down to its end, imagining what it must have looked like years ago when the Union Steamships arrived. In 1951 the first car ferry arrived at the wharf to a cheering crowd, then soon after work began on the Langdale terminal.
Our walk through Winegarden Park allows Dale to give us some recent history about the many prominent characters who have lived in the town. It’s a sobering thought – many of us are on our way to becoming part of the town’s history. Our walk ends at the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives, an appropriate resting place.
The first tour is on Sunday, July 3 at 10 a.m. continuing on three Saturdays and three more Sundays in July, then August and early September. Call 604-886-8232 to register or check out the Museum’s website at www.sunshinecoastmuseum.ca for walking tour dates and information.
