Tag: Jack Bright

Whistler’s First ElectionWhistler’s First Election

September 16, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

On September 6, 1976, Whistler residents got to vote in their first municipal election and choose their first council representatives. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) Act, which created Whistler as a resort municipality, was passed by the provincial government in June 1975 and a cabinet order in July set September 6 as the day that the Act came into effect. However, some sections of the Act, specifically those that allowed for the preparation for an election, came into effect earlier.

Campaigning began in August with posters, buttons, and campaign platforms published in the Squamish Times. Four people offered their name for the position of mayor: Paul Burrows, Roy Calder, Pat Carleton, and Roger Lampitt. Though each of the four had their own views on the challenges and unknowns facing the new municipality, all promised that they would dedicate themselves and work hard if chosen. In his campaign, Carleton told voters, “I cannot promise miracles, I can only promise to do the best job possible.”

Whistler’s first council, 1975 – 1976. Watson Collection.

The three positions on council (at the time called aldermen) had seven prospects: Bob Bishop, Jack Bright, Frans Carpay, Julianna Heine, John Hetherington, Jan Systad, and Garry Watson. Whistler residents had three chances to cast their votes with two days of advanced polling leading up to the election. It was reported that around 80% of eligible voters took part in the election and a total of 347 votes were cast. All voting took place at the Highland Lodge and the results were quickly reported in order to be ready for the swearing in of council the following day. In what became a very close race for council seats, Pat Carleton, Bob Bishop, John Hetherington, and Garry Watson were voted into office.

Whistler’s first council was officially sworn in on Sunday, September 7 by Judge Walker of the Squamish Provincial Court. Along with those who were elected, Jim Lorimer, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, announced Al Raine as the provincial appointee to council, bringing the total number of council members to five. During the ceremony, Carleton was presented with a gavel from the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (the area had previously been under the jurisdiction of the SLRD) along with a set of Lismore crystal glasses and an inscribed silver tray from Minister Lorimer.

Minister Jim Lorimer speaks at the swearing in ceremony of Whistler’s first council on September 7, 1975. Love Morrison Collection

Unfortunately for Paul and Jane Burrows, they missed the entire ceremony. The original plan was for the ceremony to take place in the Roundhouse at the top of Whistler Mountain and the lift company was going to provide free rides for attendees on the gondola and and Red Chair. The location was switched on short notice to the base of Whistler Mountain (today’s Creekside area), after the Burrows had already started hiking up the mountain with their dog. They only learned of the change when they reached the top and, as their dog was not allowed to tide the chairlift, were unable to make it back down before the ceremony concluded.

Whistler’s second council, 1976 – 1978. Watson Collection

The first council had a lot to get started on, including hiring their first staff members, developing an official community plan, beginning work on a municipal sewer system and treatment centre, drafting bylaws and having them approved by the province, finding more sustainable long-term waste solutions, and much more. They also had only fourteen months before the next municipal election. While most municipal office terms at the time were two years, the Minister of Municipal Affairs dictated the length of Whistler’s first municipal council. Another election took place on November 20, 1976, though the second council looked very similar to the first. All of the incumbents who chose to run again were re-elected and only one new face, that of Frans Carpay, joined Whistler’s council.

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Lounging in WhistlerLounging in Whistler

March 25, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 2 Comments

Jack Bright first arrived in the Whistler area with his wife Ann in 1967 as the new ski area manager, responsible for everything for the lift company that didn’t move (mountain manager Dave Mathews was responsible for the things that did move, such as lifts). In 1975, while Jack was still working for Garibaldi Lifts Ltd., the couple opened the Whistler Inn, described in its first season as “ultra modern yet rustic accommodation,” right near the shores of Nita Lake within walking distance to the lifts. After a seemingly successful first season, a restaurant and cocktail lounge was added onto the Inn in preparation for the winter of 1976/77.

In its first year, JB’s Dining Lounge featured some familiar faces in the area, as well as some new ones. Roger Systad, who had previously worked at the Brandywine Falls Restaurant, the Cheakamus Inn and L’Apres, was hired as the head chef and John Reynolds, manager, barman and fixture of the Cheakamus Inn, returned to Whistler as the barman at the Whistler Inn. A few months after opening, JB’s also hired Michael D’Artois who, though he had been visiting the area to ski for years, was at Whistler for his first season as a full-time resident.

The Whistler Inn as seen from the tennis courts next to Nita Lake. Whistler Question Collection, 1979

Michael had previously worked in the front office at Chateau Lake Louise until the general manager heard him singing and playing guitar at a staff contest. He was hired as a resident entertainer at the hotel for the next winter, playing in various spaces throughout the day. In the fall of 1976, when he decided to move up to Whistler, Michael left a demo tape at the Keg restaurant at Alta Lake and then returned to Vancouver. When he returned to Whistler, the Keg asked him, “Where have you been? You’re hired.” Although the Keg had been known as the place to go for disco, apparently the staff were not disappointed to come in and find Michael playing folk music for a change.

Michael D’Artois, Laura McGuffin, Rod MacLeod & Mark Sadler entertain at the Alta Lake Community Club’s Children’s Christmas Party at the Keg. Whistler Question Collection, 1980

The early winter of 1976/77 is still talked about today as very dry and cold, with little snow. Michael played at the Keg while Whistler Mountain was operating through the holidays and the beginning of 1977, but the lack of snow forced the lift company to close down in January. With no skiing, not many visitors were coming to Whistler, though residents embraced activities offered by the frozen lakes.

When it had finally snowed enough for the mountain to reopen in February, Michael was hired by Jack to perform at JB’s, similar to the position he held in Lake Louise. He played three 45 minute sets between 9pm and midnight, mostly to a local crowd who soon knew his repertoire and were happy to put in requests. According to Michael, “Not infrequently, Jack would call last call [and] people would leave, except those people that knew they didn’t have to leave.” They would have one last drink and Michael would play one last set.

After Michael moved on to other opportunities, JB’s continued to hire musicians to perform. Here, Annette Ducharme, accompanied by Jamie Boyd, plays while regular performer Betsy Chaba took a leave to play at the Folk Festival in Vancouver. Whistler Question Collection, 1981

Not wanting to work late nights again the next winter, Michael opened the Valley Inn in a building on Nesters Road he rented from Rudy Hofmann. He stayed in the hotel business for a few years, even living onsite in the Whistler Village while still under construction, before getting his real estate licence and starting a long career in real estate.

The Whistler Inn and JB’s are still standing in Creekside today, though they have changed some over the past five decades. The Whistler Inn is today known as the Whistler Resort & Club and JB’s has changed names a few times. The space became Hoz’s Pub under Ron Hosner in the 1980s and Karen Roland began working there in the 1990s. She took over the space in 2008 and today JB’s restaurant area houses Roland’s Pub while JB’s bar area has been transformed into the Red Door Bistro.

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“The greatest job in the world”“The greatest job in the world”

February 25, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When Leanne Dufour came to Whistler Mountain for the 1971/72 season to teach skiing for a year, Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. was still a relatively small operation. Jim McConkey’s ski school had only seven full-time instructors and the lift company had only a few departments who divided up all of the responsibilities of running a ski hill.

Heading into the 1974/75 winter season, Leanne (who didn’t leave after that first season after all) was approached by Jack Bright, the mountain manager in charge of ticket sales, administration, image, publicity and much more, about establishing a new position, that of Mountain Hostess. Though Leanne was given some direction from Jack, she was also allowed a lot of free reign to start the program. She put together a small team; first hiring Judy Johnson and soon after Connie Cathers and Gail Morrison. Over the years, more Mountain Hostesses would be hired as the team grew.

Leanne Dufour, Kim Armstrong, Heather Lynskey, and Gail Morrison, the Mountain Hostess team. Photo courtesy of Leanne Dufour

According to Leanne, Whistler Mountain’s Mountain Hostesses “specialized in fun.” They led twice-daily free ski tours around the mountain, organized special events, worked on ski races like the McConkey’s Cup and World Cups, and in many ways served as Whistler Mountain’s public relations and guest services. For the Christmas holidays, they would dress up as elves and ski around with Santa; over Easter, one of the Mountain Hostesses would double as the Easter Bunny and they would hand out candy, which often led to them being followed around the mountain by crowds of children. On Sunday evenings the Mountain Hostesses would go to the different lodges in the ski area (there were still only a handful) and do a presentation about Whistler Mountain. They often showed the film “The Snows of Garibaldi” and even knocked on room doors to let everyone know that there would be a film screening.

Mountain Hostesses follow Santa down the hill. Greg Griffith Collection

Early on Leanne had made herself a nametag that read “Mountain Hostess Ask Me” by writing on a piece of paper with felt pen, putting it in a plastic case, and pinning it to her lift company uniform. Unfortunately, she then spent the day outside in the pouring rain and her nametag soon became illegible. In an effort to make themselves identifiable and differentiate themselves from other mountain employees seen on the mountain, the Mountain Hostesses needed their own uniforms.

A Mountain Hostess on the mountain in the one-piece navy blue Bogner suit. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection

Judy decided to approach Franz Wilhelmsen, the lift company president, to get one-piece Bogner suits as uniforms for the Mountain Hostesses. She and Leanne traveled down to Vancouver to put on a fashion show in his office and, as Leanne recalled, his response was “Sure, I’ll buy those.” Though the suits were expensive, Mountain Hostesses became easily recognized in their navy blue one-pieces with “Whistler Hostess” on the front and back and even written in Japanese on the arm.

As part of her work, Leanne also put together packages to bring ski groups to Whistler Mountain. Working with Penny Wright, who was the manager of the Highland Lodge and then other lodges in the ski area, they would combine airlines, hotels, and ski lessons or lift tickets (depending on the skill of the group) into one package and then approach tour operators such as CP Air. These tours were so successful that CP Air even took Leanne and Jim McConkey to Japan to promote Whistler Mountain, traveling to different cities and ski areas where they would put on presentations about the skiing, the accommodations, and more.

An updated Mountain Hostess uniform in the 1980s. Greg Griffith Collection

Leanne ran the Mountain Hostess program for five years. Before she left she hired Heather Lynskey, who would take over the program from Leanne before handing the program over to Karen Krivel. Over the years, as the lift company grew rapidly, some of the duties of the Mountain Hostesses were divided into separate departments, including Guest Services, Events, Races and more, while other duties such as the free daily tours were incorporated into volunteer positions, first known as Ski Friends and operating today as Mountain Hosts.

Though Leanne left the Mountain Hostess program, she didn’t quite leave Whistler Mountain, especially as her husband Bob Dufour still worked for the lift company. (Bob worked for Whistler Mountain and then Whistler Blackcomb for a combined 48 years before he retired.) She went back to teach private lessons once her kids were in school full-time and was part of the creation of a ski program at the local schools. Looking back at her years as a Mountain Hostess and their aim to “specialize in fun,” Leanne recalled, “We were very good at having fun because we had the greatest job in the world… being paid every day to go skiing with people.”

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Whistler’s Information StationWhistler’s Information Station

October 22, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In 1974, a booth appeared on the side of Highway 99 near the base of Whistler Mountain and began providing visitors and passes-by with information about the area. According to some sources, the booth had once been a ticket booth for the lift company that was moved “under the cover of darkness” as its location had not been officially approved. At our Speaker Series event in June looking at the origins of the Whistle Resort Centre (WRA, now known as Tourism Whistler), Drew Meredith described the “gravel parking lot at Whistler where we built an uninsulated plywood information centre,” located across the highway from the gas station. This booth was operated by the Whistler Mountain District Chamber of Commerce, which was founded in 1966, nine years before the formation of the Resort Municipality of Whistler.

Puzzled? The Whistler Information sign and map took a tumble Friday, October 22 during high winds, just missing the info centre. Foundation posts had apparently rotted. Whistler Question Collection, 1982

In the early 1970s, the Chamber was involved in a wide variety of activities, from sponsoring the annual Easter Parade to supporting the building of trails to advocating for train station stops in the valley to presenting Whistler’s “Citizen of the Year” award at their annual dinner/dance (which they continue to do today). The Tourist Booth was a new venture to provide information about accommodation, activities, travel and more. At a meeting of the Chamber in September 1974, director Jack Bright presented the idea of an area reservation service which could be located with the tourist booth and during the 1975/76 winter season the Information Centre also gave out information on which hotels and lodgings had bookings available. The Chamber continued to operate the Information Centre from this spot into the 1980s, though its schedule varied depending on the year.

During the summer of 1976, the Information Centre was open on weekends and holidays from 12-4pm under the care of Judy Johnston. As of the Labour Day weekend in September, Evelyn Cullen took over the running of the Centre, which offered rate sheets from the 1976/77 winter, information about the different specials offered by various hotels throughout the week, and a booking service. At a September meeting, Evelyn reported that the Centre had brought in $22,380 in the past year, which was about three times the cost of the operation of the Centre, which was supported in part by a grant from the BC Department of Tourism. Despite what would appear to be a small budget today, the Chamber had difficulties funding the Centre on fees from the relatively small business community. In 1977, the Centre received a total of 5,823 phone call enquiries and spoke with 5,143 walk-in customers.

Viv Jennings outside the Information Centre. Philip Collection

Over the years the services and staff of the Information Centre expanded, partly due to programs such as the Canada Works Grant. The Centre continued to offer brochures, as well as local publications such as a Whistler hiking guide produced by Vicki Vogler and Laura McGuffin that was sold at the Centre in 19979 for 75 cents. The building was also used to distribute community news, as in 1984 when a banner reading “It’s a girl” was hung outside to announce the birth of Chamber employee Sonya McCarthy’s daughter and in 1986 when the Chamber used a similar banner to wish Myrtle Philip a happy 95th birthday.

In 1984, the Chamber purchased an 1836 BC Rail caboose for $1,500 with plans to restore it and connect it to the Information Centre as an expansion. These plans were never completed, however, and the building remained quite small.

Caboose 1836 rolled into Whistler last Tuesday and was promptly lifted off the BC Rail track onto an abandoned sidetrack at the Sabre Trucking yard at Mons. Once refurbished the caboose becomes the new home of the Chamber of Commerce Information Centre. The Chamber purchased the old car at the bargain basement price of $1,500. Whistler Question Collection, 1984

It is unclear when exactly the Information Centre was shut down, but the duties and focus of the Chamber changed significantly as the WRA became more established and took over projects such as the marketing of Whistler and distribution of information, though the Chamber of Commerce continues to support and promote businesses and organizations in the area, as it has done since 1966. The building of the Town Centre also shifted many activities from the Creekside gondola base to the site of the Whistler Village. Today, the Whistler Visitor Centre and central bookings are operated by Tourism Whistler and see far more than the 11,000 visitors that had questions in 1977.

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