Tag Archives: Bob Daly

Whistler’s Answers: January 27, 1983

It’s a new year, which means we are on to a new year of Whistler’s Answers!

In the 1980s the Whistler Question began posing a question to three to six people and publishing their responses under “Whistler’s Answers” (not to be confused with the Whistler Answer).  Each week, we’ll be sharing one question and the answers given back in 1983.  Please note, all names/answers/occupations/neighbourhoods represent information given to the Question at the time of publishing and do not necessarily reflect the person today.

Some context for this week’s question: In the midst of a recession in the early 1980s, the Ministry of Education cut back the funding to school boards. For the Howe Sound School Board (today SD 48 (Sea to Sky)), this meant cutting almost $700,000 from its budget in 1983. 37 teachers’ aides were let go and five teachers and services and programs were scaled back.

Question: Do you think the school board budget cuts have been reasonable?

Alexander Fordham – Grade One Student – Whiski Jack

I like the field trips we go on. Last year our class saw the firehall and the Children’s Festival. Now I know about those things. Mrs. King (teachers’ aide) helps me with my work a lot too. It’s too bad she will go.

Bob Daly – School Principal – Alpine Meadows

It makes no difference how they institute cutbacks because someone is always going to feel it. The board had to come up with a list of priorities. Teaching was at the top of that list and things farthest down on the list are the first to go. Unfortunately this meant the end of extra help and field trips, but there’s not really any other way they could do this.

Melanie Causton – Village Employee – Pemberton

Reading, writing and arithmetic are not all there is to a child’s education. I think the board should take a long look at other ways of cutting back before they eliminate field trips and other social activities which make up a big part of education. There might, for example, be certain other fringes the schools could do without.

This Week In Photos: July 26

This week, like last week, we’ve got photos from every year of the Question Collection!  From windsurfing to dentists, Doug and the Slugs to puppet shows, these photos represent what was going on in Whistler (and Pemberton) this week, many years ago.

1979

Windsurfers and sunbathers enjoy the Alta Vista dock.

Dr. Ann Crowley, the new Pemberton Dentist.

The chow line at the Ski Camp barbecue.

Doug and the Slugs perform at the Ski Camp barbecue.

The roads around Whistler Vale got paved this week.

Terry Minger shows the Resort Association chart to the Whistler Rotary Club.

1980

The Husky gas station in Creekside sees steady business no matter the season.

Arnold Palmer, former PGA Champion, explains some of the ideas intended for the course at Whistler, with diagram posted behind him.

The Resort Centre doesn’t look like much but it will eventually have an Olympic-size ice rink. Something to look forward to during the late hot weather.

1981

Flag footballers take advantage of a sunny Sunday to show off some of their moves.

Former Mayor Wendell Watson and Mayor Shirley Henry cut the Pemberton Village 25th Anniversary Cake.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s super skier!

Rain Coast Puppet Theatre group captivates an audience of young and old in Whistler Village Square on July 24.

A sunny summer day and lush new landscaping – Mayor Pat Carleton and his wife Kay take advantage of Whistler at its finest to enjoy a stroll through Town Centre.

One innovative sunbather found a unique way to beat the heat of Saturday, July 25 at the Rotary Wharf on Alta Lake.

Bob Daly, recently of Surrey, has been appointed the new principal for Myrtle Philip Elementary School. Daly has 12 years teaching experience as well as experience as the head of a science department. In addition to his administrative functions, he will be teaching Grades 6 and 7 at MPES.

1982

One of the first customers makes an inquiry at the reception desk of the newly opened Delta Mountain Inn last Friday.

Mayor Pat Carleton pushing lawn mower.

“Surviving A Personal Financial Crisis” – a handbook.

Competitors take aim during the First Annual International Dart Tournament held at the Longhorn July 23 – 25.

1983

Terry Booth, an electrician with Whistler Mountain (left), graduated at the top of his class at Pacific Vocational Institute and is presented a certificate by Peter Alder, vice president and general manager of Whistler Mountain. Booth studied electrical work at PVI in four two-month sessions over two and a half years. He is one of eight EMSC employees being sponsored for an apprenticeship program.

Spanking new span over Culliton Creek is due to open by July 29 according to Vern Dancy, structural co-ordinator for Goodbrand Construction.

Al Davis heads out for a sail on what he described as a “classic day” for windsurfing on Alta Lake. The weekend sun gave way to rain by Monday.

Diane Eby, of Inge’s Hole in the Wall Gallery, has a wide selection of limited edition prints, reprints and posters for sale. The present collection, which includes pieces from $18 to $600 include works of Markgraf, Bateman and Lansdowne. The works on display will change at least once a month, Eby said.

After the lesson on infant nutrition during the Mother-Infant Program, this group of mums headed over to the Sundial Restaurant to see to their own nutrition. (top row, l – r) Public Health Nurse Marilyn McIvor, Sheila Peters and Colin, Annie Sanderson and Patrick, Lezlie Lock and Jessica, Sandy Epplett and Patricia; (bottom row, l – r) Merrilyn Hoffmann and Christina and Karen Martin and Robyn.

1984

Master of Ceremonies Tom Thomson talks to Glenn Carlsen, the winner of Saturday’s 57 km Molson Lite Whistler Triathlon organized by the Alta Lake Sports Club.

For thirsty triathletes competing in 27+ weather Saturday, watermelons in Village Square were a needed source of water for dehydrated competitors.

Yes, the water was a bit cool Sunday morning for the first leg of the Junior Triathlon in Lost Lake.

If the hydro’s going in to the new municipal hall, can the staff by far behind? Construction is advancing quickly as the staff at Function Junction tidy their desks in anticipation of the move back to the village scheduled for mid August.

Christmas at Rainbow Lodge: The Musical

If you take a walk along the Village Stroll in December you’re sure to notice signs of the holiday season anywhere you look; there is snow on the ground, tree are lit up, wreaths have been hung, and beneath the voices of crowds of people strains of holiday music can be heard.  As in many communities, music plays an important part in Whistler’s holiday traditions, many of which began in the 1980s when the Whistler of today was still developing.  Events such as the Bizarre Bazaar (now the Arts Whistler Holiday Market) would not be complete without festive music in the background and for thirty-three years the Christmas Eve Carol Service has brought local residents and visitors together to sing carols as one community.  Though rarely performed, Whistler even has its own Christmas musical.

Molly Boyd with Myrtle Philip at the first performance of "Christmas at Rainbow Lodge".

Molly Boyd with Myrtle Philip at the first performance of “Christmas at Rainbow Lodge”.

“Christmas at Rainbow Lodge” was written by Bob Daly and Molly Boyd and first performed by the students of Myrtle Philip School in December 1984.  Daly was the principal of the school from 1981 to 1985 and returned to head the school twice more before retiring in 2002.  During her twelve years living in Whistler, Boyd was heavily involved in Whistler’s music scene and its holiday activities – she founded the Whistler Children’s Chorus, was involved in starting the Christmas Eve Carol Service and directed the Whistler Singers.  During December she could often be spotted leading the Singers caroling through the Village with her battery-operated keyboard balanced on a shopping cart.  The two were inspired to create a musical by Myrtle Philip’s stories of her life as an early European settler in Alta Lake as told to them over tea and Myrtle’s famous rum cake.

The musical tells the shortened and somewhat fictionalized story of how Myrtle and Alex Philip came to build Rainbow Lodge, beginning with Alex’s chance meeting of John Millar in Vancouver in 1911.  The story includes their first three-day journey to Alta Lake and meeting with loggers, trappers, railroad workers, miners and hunters who already lived or were working in the area.  Each group of people the pair meets helps them in some way as they begin settling and building.  To thank all these people for their kindness, they all are invited to share in the Philips’ first Christmas at Rainbow Lodge.

The dining room at Rainbow Lodge decorated for Christmas.

The dining room at Rainbow Lodge decorated for Christmas.

Unlike many holiday concerts, most of the music in “Christmas at Rainbow” is not about Christmas.  Instead, the majority are folk songs from the Pacific Northwest such as “Acres of Clams” and “The PGE Song”, many of which were collected by Philip J Thomas, a composer, singer, teacher and folklorist who founded the Vancouver Folk Song Circle and was instrumental in collecting and preserving the folk music of British Columbia.

Since its inaugural performance in 1984, “Christmas at Rainbow” has been performed only twice more: once by the students of the current Myrtle Philip Community School in the 1990s and once by the intermediate students of Spring Creek Community School in 2012.

Happy Holidays from the Whistler Museum!