The Whistler Museum and Archives Society is currently accepting artists’ proposals for a sculpture memorializing Whistler pioneer, and Finnish logger, Seppo Makinen.
“Just another day in paradise.”
The Museum is particularly interested in life-size, representational work in wood, but will consider all mediums and styles. The sculpture will be located at the base of Lost Lake Park near the Passive Haus, backing onto Blackcomb Creek and Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.
For more details, please click the link below to view the full RFP:
When: Thursday, October 13Competitors begin building at 6pmDoors Open to public at 7pmWhere: Whistler MuseumCost: $10 for competitors, $5 donation for partyWant to compete? To register, call the Museum at 604-932-2019; email programs@whistlermuseum.org; or download a competitor registration form.
Everyone played with Lego when they were growing up and let’s face it, when an adult is presented with a pile of these tiny rainbow-coloured blocks, it doesn’t take very long before the “big kid” is sneaking pieces away from the little ones.
The Whistler Museum and Whistler Is Awesome are excited to announce their first ever LEGO building competition for adults. Up to twenty adult competitors will piece together their masterpiece best representing the theme, “Off Season? What off season!?” for the glory of reigning as Whistler’s master builder of this iconic children’s toy.
“Autumn is the perfect time of year for an event like this,” says Alix MacKay, Whistler Museum Manager of Education and Marketing. “All of Whistler’s locals are coming out and reconnecting with their friends and neighbours after a busy summer so throwing some LEGO connecting in there as well seemed like a perfect fit!
Interested adult LEGO competitors need to sign up through the Whistler Museum by Tuesday, October 11 by calling 604-932-2019. Entry to compete is $10 while spectators are welcome to join in the party and cast their votes for the winning submission for a suggested donation of $5.
There will be a cash bar and everyone is welcome to mix, mingle and explore the Whistler Museum. Big thanks to event partners Whistler Blackcomb, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub, Scandinave Spa Whistler, Rocky Mountain Soap Co., Purebread Whistler and Prior Snowboards for donating some great door prizes as well as booty for first, second and third place.
Extensive (excessive?) development. Cutting-edge facilities. Running Water. It’s easy to take Whistler as we know it today for granted. With these mountains, these lakes, this snow, how could things have turned out otherwise? But it doesn’t work that way.
Everything around us is a product of the past. Stuff happens, and usually, people are behind it.
One of the most influential figures in the early development of what eventually became Whistler was the strong-willed and gregarious Polish immigrant Walter Zebrowski.
Zebrowski’s WW2-era skis now rest in the Whistler Museum Archives.
Born in Skierniewice, Poland in 1913, Zebrowski was uprooted from his quiet, small-town life as a soldier during World War 2. This fascinating story is far too long to tell here (his book-length biography In Search of Freedom is available at the museum for those curious for more details), but it led him from Poland to Portugal, England to Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Egypt and many points in between. By war’s end he had attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, escaped from the Nazis twice, and received various medals and awards from Poland, Britain, France, and Italy. Of special note to mountain-folk, he specialized in mountain warfare and many of his exploits were carried out on skis.
After the war, rather than return to communist Poland, Zebrowski traveled to Canada’s west coast to establish a new life. From 1948 until 1964 he lived in Burnaby with his wife Hanka and his daughter Eva, establishing a successful chicken farm among other business ventures.
His new home allowed him to re-visit his love of the mountains, often visiting the North Shore and Garibaldi Park. It was during one of his frequent ski trips to Diamond Head Chalet (near today’s Elfin Lakes huts) that he developed his vision for the potential development of a ski resort in the southern Coast Mountains.
Beginning in the early 1960s he began exploring for suitable lands. By 1962 he began winding down his farm and was preparing to move to the mountains, having purchased lots around where Creekside is today. Keep in mind that Whistler Mountain didn’t begin ski operations until February 1966 (some call this luck or “right place, right time”; others call it vision.)
Over the next three decades Zebrowski was one of the most active developers in the Whistler Valley. He started out alone in the woods, clearing the land and building roads with his bulldozer. By the time he was done he had developed most of today’s Nordic Estates neighborhood, played a central role in the establishment of the Whistler Water Works, the volunteer fire department, the Whistler Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and even brought television to the valley for the first time. If you’re outside, look up to the top of Sproatt Mountain where you can see his tv-signal repeater station.
Walter makes an appearance in the Squamish Citizen, circa 1985.
Of all his contributions to Whistler my personal favourite is the beautiful Eva Lake Park. Dedicated to his daughter, this pocket of wilderness hidden in the middle of Nordic was actually fully landscaped by Walter while doubtful onlookers watched in puzzlement. He even stocked the lake with trout, which, despite the naysayers, continue to thrive in the small pond to this day. Reading, writing, or merely soaking in the solitude is my favourite “quiet time” activity this town has to offer.
Still at it at 80!
A relentless booster of Whistler, his influence extended far beyond his own projects. Passionate and outspoken, he never hesitated to offer his opinion in all aspects of the community. His philanthropy extended to many local organizations including the museum, and his commemorative scholarship supports youth who exemplify his ideals citizenship. One of Whistler’s earliest champions, Walter Zebrowski passed away in 1996 but his legacy continues to thrive, built into the very landscape of his adopted home.
Wow. And just like that, it’s Autumn. In a matter of days everyone went from lounging at the beach to excitedly gossiping about snow at the Roundhouse, ski-movie premieres and the upcoming La Nina redux.
For our valley’s pioneer-era residents the end of summer was an equally momentous event, but for completely different reasons.
In Alta Lake’ early days, there were no grocery stores or farmer’s markets. Shipping fresh food up from Vancouver was expensive and unreliable, so Alta Lake residents procured as much food locally as possible.
Fresh vegetables were especially hard to import, so virtually everyone had a large garden. Today fresh local produce is treated like a delicacy; back then it was the norm. All summer long residents and visitors alike dined on greens mere yards from where they were plucked from the rich valley-bottom soil.
Where Myrtle grew the greens that kept Rainbow Lodge guests happy.
The alluvial fan between Nita and Alpha Lakes, near where Nita Lake Lodge is today, was one of the best growing sites. In the 1920s Harry Horstman had a small farm there, whose produce he sold throughout the Alta Lake community. Russ Jordan bought most of this land from Horstman, building Jordan’s Lodge (pictured here) in 1931. Jordan maintained a large orderly garden to help provision his guests.
Needless to say, winter was a different story. To fend off culinary boredom (not to mention scurvy), locals spent much of the fall preparing produce to keep through the cold, deep winter.
Most year-round residents kept root cellars, something which our Pembertonian friends are familiar with. With no refrigerator, Parkhurst Mill housewife Eleanor Kitteringham depended on this vital household appliance to keep her family well fed:
There was a door cut in our floor in the kitchen, with a leather handle to lift an stairs going down under our house to put potatoes, carrots, cabbages, etc. in, as well as shelves for canned goods.
Demonstrating pioneer-era resourcefulness, Eleanor remarked how the root cellar “also made a great dark room to develop pictures in.”
Much of the canned and pickled goods were produced locally, preserving excess produce drawn from backyard gardens. The museum has a recorded interview with Myrtle Philip, describing her preferred techniques for making jams and jellies (these were made primarily with boxes of Okanagan-grown fruit).
Myrtle made jams from wild, local berries, crabapples, peaches and much more. It turns out Myrtle thought most people used too much sugar, and that she preferred jellies to jams (jellies have the seeds and pulp strained out using cheesecloth). The most remarkable aspect of the interview is that Myrtle was making apricot jam while the interview was being recorded in 1982, at the ripe old age of 91!
Today we take such things as fresh pineapples in February for granted. Back in the day, if you didn’t work for it, you didn’t get it. With the recent “locavorian” resurgence, however, people are becoming reconnected to the hard work and dedication needed to bring nature’s abundance to our dining room table.
With our region’s agricultural renaissance in full swing, there’s no excuse for missing out. The easiest way to sample fresh, organic produce (of course, all farming was organic before the twentieth-century advent of chemical fertilizers and pesticides) and of the glorious creations by our community’s many talented culinary artisans–many of whom employ traditional food-preparation techniques–is at the Whistler Farmer’s Market. The market will keep running every Sunday until October 9th. Don’t miss out!
