"I may be the only civilian in West Vancouver who was shot at - not once, but twice - during the war."
Of Ian Macdonald's first encounter with the Canadian military, a youthful escapade involving the Lions Gate Bridge, the less said the better. He is more forthcoming about the second episode.
"Old Man Forbes was a beachcomber. His name was Norman but everyone knew him as Old Man Forbes, and he always called me 'kid.' One summer day he said, 'Come out after supper, kid. We'll get some logs off Passage Island.'" Ian's job as apprentice beachcomber was to row, or swim, to the logs and tie on a rope. Forbes would haul the logs off the shore in his tugboat and add them to his log boom at West Bay. Dusk was shading to dark when the tug and its tail of logs passed Point Atkinson light station and the army camp.
"There was a cannon on the point, a small one, and we could see the soldiers were aiming that cannon at us. They fired across our bow and a geyser of water blew up 40 or 50 feet in front of us."
Next came a patrol boat to remind Old Man Forbes to use his running lights. "There's a war on, you know."
Three Macdonalds had settled in West Vancouver before Ian arrived in 1931. His father's brother and sister were already living in homes carved out of the forest west of Sentinel Hill. Together, Ian's father Donald and his uncle built the house in West Bay where Ian would grow up.
Ian bussed to school and back home every day. With children attending either Pauline Johnson or Hollyburn elementary schools, and converging at West Vancouver high school, lifelong friendships were formed in classrooms and on playgrounds. In the summers, Ian and his pals would be at the beach, not a parent in sight all day long. After school, they would stop at the Hollyburn Grill or Penguin Dairy before going off to play ball at John Lawson Park or to a rehearsal with the West Vancouver Boys Band.
"The best thing about growing up in West Vancouver is that you knew everyone. It was a more innocent time," Ian reflects.
On the bus going home to West Bay for supper, "we knew all the bus drivers by name, everyone riding the bus and their stops."
Ian graduated from West Vancouver high school in 1949, going into forestry like his father before him, spending his career flying in and out of logging camps along the B.C. coast, frequently at the controls of his own aircraft in the early years.
"I saw so much of the West Coast in my work. The loggers and tug boaters intrigued me and their stories got me interested in history. I joined West Vancouver Historical Society because of my interest in history and because I love West Vancouver."
When Ian retired from International Forest Products in 1991, he learned to express his love of the natural world in art, with wood as his medium. Of a cedar and copper mask he made, Ian says, "I found this fine piece of cedar on the beach at Courtenay. I like working with things from nature."
Ian's interest in history and love for West Vancouver led him to give back to his community. For almost two decades, he served on commissions and committees for parks, environment and heritage. He belongs to the Lighthouse Park Preservation Society and is a life member of West Vancouver Historical Society. This level of public participation carries its own history - another gift to the community Ian served so well.
The Ian Macdonald of today - pillar of the community whose volunteer contributions helped shape West Vancouver, gifted artist, and great grandfather several times over - is the boy who rode the bus to school and back to his West Bay home every day. Like others of his vintage, Ian is a keeper of West Vancouver's cultural and social heritage.
Their stories and memories, unique to each individual, are the irreplaceable threads in the tapestry that is West Vancouver, each one contributing to the legacy we bequeath to future generations.
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Heinz Berger, recognized internationally for introducing the concept of adventure playgrounds, and for his pioneering work in the horticulture industry, died Jan. 14 at his home in West Vancouver. He was 92.
West Vancouver would not look the way it looks, if not for Heinz Berger.
The seawalk. The pitch and putt golf course and the fitness circuit at Ambleside. The recreation complex and seniors' activity centre. Parks and children's "playscapes" from Glenmore to Horseshoe Bay.
Heinz Berger was responsible for creating or improving these amenities, and for many other innovations that defined the community during his 22 years with the municipality's parks and recreation department.
A founding member of the B.C. Society of Landscape Architects (Life Member No. 0004), Heinz and colleagues Philip Tattersfield and Ernie Pitt developed the horticultural apprentice curriculum at BCIT, the foundation of B.C.'s landscape and production training programs. His friend Frank Kuruscz worked with Heinz in West Vancouver's parks and recreation department. "Heinz Berger was a pioneer in using natural materials and highly respected across Canada for his work in parks. The best use for the community was always his priority."
A celebration of Heinz Berger's life will take place Feb. 25 at 3:30 p.m. at Amica at West Vancouver.
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. 778-279-2275 [email protected]
