As the Town of Gibsons welcomes a new mayor, it's the end of an era for residents and for Barry Janyk, who held the chair for four terms.
After serving 12 years as the mayor of Gibsons and another three on council, Janyk recounted some of his fondest memories with a brand of humour uniquely his own in an interview this week with Coast Reporter.
"We were just lowering the Persephone and I was dressed like Relic [a character from The Beachcombers], with the tuque, and I had this gear that CBC had loaned me," Janyk recalled of celebrating the anniversary of the television series. "And this woman came up to me. She said, 'so what are you doing now?' I said, 'I'm the mayor,' and she said, 'no, no, what are you doing now?'" Janyk recounted with a grin. "I went, 'just having my picture taken,' and she said 'so the CBC let you go, did they?'"
Through the years as the Town's mayor, Janyk said he was proud of the accomplishments that form his legacy. He added that as mayor, his main focus had always been community building and developing a sense of Gibsons pride amongst residents.
One accomplishment he'll never forget is the international recognition Gibsons received in 2009 when it was declared 'Most Liveable Town' by an award program endorsed by the United Nations.
In 2005, Gibsons also managed to be recognized as having the world's best drinking water at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting contest. The Town sent samples of the water to West Virginia for the competition in a package that was damaged in transit. Luckily one of the samples survived and Gibsons was declared the winner.
"We have the best people working in this Town and I'm really going to miss them," Janyk said. "I'll miss the intensity of some of the meetings. If you're a political junkie, you feed off the emotions that exist in a meeting. You try to turn negative energy into positive energy."
One way he always sought to accomplish that goal was by bringing humour and a sense of levity to meetings, something he said always helped to diffuse frustrated citizens or council members.
For now, Janyk is looking forward to taking a step back, to trade in the late-night meetings for time spent with his family and motorcycles.
As to whether or not politics might again be in the future for the four-term mayor, "never say never," he said. "It's what I always tell the grads, every year."
Remembering some advice he received when he first took the chair, Janyk said it rang true that once elected as mayor, a person's life is forever changed.
For those following in his footsteps, his word of wisdom was that the easiest way to answer a question is always honestly.
While looking forward to shutting off the phones for a while to look towards a new direction, Janyk said it has been both an honour and a privilege to serve the Town of Gibsons for as long as he has.
"People come here from all over the place and they just marvel at what a neat little place it is," he said. "It's been really a lot of fun to do the things we've done and I thank [the residents] for giving me that privilege. It was a really wonderful ride. I really appreciate that a lot."
