Letter - Re: Construction begins

Regarding the article called Construction Begins by trudy chishwell in the September 2015 Beacon… she mentions “the one and only tree on Superior was ripped out by its roots with the merciless backhoe” and I had an immediate flashback.

A flashback to a cool early spring day in 1997… This tree, planted in front of the ‘Jameson Residence at 521 Superior,’ has an interesting history.

This house was a part time home to a Legion and they had agreed to ‘loan’ a floor of the house to the James Bay Youth Centre. Barry horn volunteered to be the “Project Coordinator” for the renovation in the house for the Youth Centre (YC). He worked on Saturday Mornings with the Harbourside Rotarians (he is not a Rotarian) to transform the house. There was an “Official” Grand Opening of the YC on the ‘cool’ spring morning. The president of the International Rotary organization at the time was Luis Vicente Giay of Buenas Aries Argentina. He was visiting Victoria on other business and became the “Honorary Hole Digger” for the tree to be dropped into.

The tree thrived for 19 years in front of 521 Superior Street, unfortunately the YC at this location had a short life. Who would have thought this ‘ripped out tree’ had a significant history in James Bay? (There was no plaque put in place to acknowledge the origins of the tree as any money would have gone into the YC and not plaques).

Anne Boldt – now retired JBCP Nurse Practitioner for 30 years