Tag: Jane Burrows

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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Retrospective and a New PerspectiveRetrospective and a New Perspective

April 8, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In the fall of 2011, Greg Eymundson was kind enough to donate the prolific archive of Whistler-related photography from his company, Insight Visual Solutions, to the Whistler Museum & Archives Society (WMAS). Through the Young Canada Works program, I was recently given the opportunity to arrange and describe the materials in greater depth as part of a five month internship.

I had recently returned to Whistler after graduating with my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, but found myself adrift and directionless after moving home. I was in desperate need of community and a sense of purpose. I found this and more during my time working at WMAS.

Families at the Meadow Park splash pad, ca. 2004. Insight Visual Solutions, Joern Rohde.

The material donated by Insight Visual Solutions primarily consists of over 25,000 35mm photo slides created from 1996 through 2006. Content of the photo slides ranges from thrilling sports photography, to documentation of nostalgic events and locations, to stunning aerial and landscape shots capturing the natural beauty of the valley. As the Assistant Archivist, I was tasked with preserving the original order imposed by Eymundson, while also making the collection intuitive for future researches to navigate. This involved an extensive process of assigning codes, physically labelling materials, and recording transcriptions and descriptions in a digital database.

The Insight collection has now been comprehensively arranged and described, preserving the record of a time in Whistler history that was previously under-represented in our archive, and one that shall remain forever golden in my memories of an idyllic childhood in the mountains. As someone born and raised in Whistler, I’m embarrassed to admit how easy it was for me to take the life I’ve had to this point for granted.

The Burrows’ A-frame cabin in Alpine Meadows. Burrow Collection.

When this lifestyle is all you’ve ever known, you don’t understand how exceptional it truly is; for example: “What do you mean other kids don’t go to ski school on Mondays?” It was only upon leaving the bubble that I could truly appreciate the gift I had been given by my parents, and by notable Whistler citizens Jane and Paul Burrows.

When the Burrows listed their classic A-frame in Alpine Meadows for sale over twenty years ago, they met a young couple expecting their first child. The Burrows told my family they wanted this baby to be brought up in their home and, rather than accepting a higher offer upfront, Jane and Paul waited for my parents to scrape together a down payment. If it weren’t for their selflessness, my family would likely have had no choice but to move elsewhere to raise me. It seems only fitting that I now find myself devoted to the preservation of local history that Jane and Paul Burrows influenced so heavily, considering I would not be here without them.

School photographs from Jane Burrows and posters of Paul, including his performances at Mt. Whistler Lodge and his election campaign featuring his distinctive silhouette.

Since completing the Insight Fonds, I have been cataloguing recent accruals from the estate of Jane and Paul Burrows. These include family scrapbooks, Myrtle Philip School photographs from Jane’s time as a teacher, and promotional posters from Paul’s election campaign.

My time at the Whistler Museum has given me a previously unprecedented level of gratitude for my home, my family, and those who have come before me.

Indigo Dipple was the Assistant Archivist at the Whistler Museum this winter through the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations (YCWHO) program.

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Questionable UFOsQuestionable UFOs

April 4, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When Paul and Jane Burrows began printing the Whistler Question in their Alpine Meadows home in 1976, they created an incredible resource for researching happenings in Whistler. The Question reported on all sorts of stories, which means that you never know what you’ll come across. Recently, while looking into a story about a strata that passed a bylaw banning owners from having tourists or employees as tenants, one headline from September 5, 1996 jumped out: “UFO hotline gets report of strange sighting in Whistler.” A few days later, while confirming the origins of a photograph from 1986, we came across another headline referring to UFOs in the issue from July 10.

It seems that in June 1986 Squamish RCMP had a higher than usual number of reported sightings of unknown objects in the sky around the area. It began with a report of what appeared to be meteor crashing behind Blackcomb Mountain on the night of Thursday, June 12. Two men were driving on Highway 99 when they saw “a small, spherical fireball” moving quickly to the northeast before crashing into the ground. According to the men, the object “lit up the trees like the northern lights” then flickered out after a few seconds. While the incident was reported to the RCMP and then the Squamish Forest Service office and the Rescue Coordination Centre on Vancouver Island according to procedure, there were no follow up explanations published.

Attaching a few lights to this paraglider would probably have created a mystery for those watching from the valley below. George Benjamin Collection.

Unlike the sighting on June 12, Squamish RCMP were able to give explanations for sightings reported later in the month. On June 27 a number of Squamish residents reported an amber light rising about the Stawamus Chief. One resident, however, was able to get a good view of the light using binoculars and described it as “a parachute device with three highway emergency flares attached.” A similar incident occurred a couple of days later over Garibaldi Highlands. Squamish RCMP concluded that both were probably pranks.

The last incident brought to the attention of Squamish RCMP in June 1986 came when a person walked into the detachment and described a UFO in the sky over Squamish. This one was cleared up quickly according to Sgt. Lee Joubert, who reported that “We were directed to the object which was obviously a star.”

The RCMP were not the first stop for people who saw something strange in the sky by 1996; that summer, a BC UFO hotline was set up and people could call a number in Vancouver to report any mysterious sighting. This is what a Whistler resident named Haley did when she, her friend Simon and her roommates saw strange lights in the eastern sky. At least two other people also witnessed the lights and called the hotline to report them. At the time it was unusual for the hotline to get calls from outside of the Lower Mainland and hotline coordinator David Pengilly was surprised to receive multiple calls from Whistler in one night. He thought at first that they might be looking at Venus but was told that they could see Venus in the background of the light. According to Haley, the light would “hover for a while and then go zipping around, spiraling from side to side” and “was so bright it was strobing.” She and her friend watched it for quite a while and then got her roommates up to see it as well. Like the supposed meteor in 1986, there was no follow up story to explain this sighting.

We often get questions about various aspects of Whistler at the museum and, depending on the type of question, the Question can be a good place to start to find answers. Because of the scope of the paper, however, you never know what other information you’ll find along the way.

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Framing WhistlerFraming Whistler

October 18, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Today you are less likely to come across and A-frame in Whistler than you would have been a few decades ago. However, the once widely popular structure can still be spotted throughout Whistler’s older neighbourhoods and found in many photographs of Whistler’s mountain resort past in the Whistler Museum’s archival collections.

While A-frames have historically been used for various purposes around the world, the A-frame did not become widespread in North America until after the Second World War. It then became a popular vacation home for affluent middle class households, especially in the mountains. A-frames were relatively simple to build and were soon available in prefabricated kits. This popularity continued through the 1960s when Whistler Mountain was first being developed as a ski resort, so it is no surprise that A-frames began to appear throughout the area soon after development began.

The Whistler Skiers’ Chapel at the base of Whistler Mountain. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

Some of the A-frames built in Whistler at the time were constructed right at the base of the Whistler Mountain lifts, including the Whistler Skiers’ Chapel, the first interdenominational chapel in Canada. The Whistler Skiers’ Chapel was constructed in 1966 after the first shortened season of skiing on Whistler Mountain. It was inspired by the memories of lift company president Franz Wilhelmsen who recalled small chapels in the ski villages of Norway where he had skied as a child. The lift company donated land near the gondola base and the A-frame design of the Chapel was provided free of charge of Asbjorn Gathe. Like Wilhelmsen, Gathe had been born in Norway. He studied architecture at the Federal Institute of Technology at the University of Zurich and then immigrated to Vancouver in 1951, where he worked as an architect. The Chapel was easily identifiable at the gondola base thanks to both its A-frame structure and its stained glass windows designed by Donald Babcock.

One of the A-frames built by the lift company to house their managers. Wallace Collection.

In 1966, the lift company also built two A-frames at the gondola base to serve as staff housing for its manager and their families (at the time, the Bright and Mathews families). The houses were situated right on the hill and Lynn Mathews, whose husband Dave was operations manager, recalled that their A-frame had seventeen steps up to the deck in the summer but only three in the winter when snow built up around them.

The Burrows’ A-frame on Matterhorn, where the first editions of the Whistler Question were created. Burrows Collection.

A-frames were popular away from the gondola base as well. When Don and Isobel MacLaurin built what at the time was their holiday home in the 1960s, they chose to build an A-frame themselves with help from local residents such as Murray Coates and Ron Mackie and beams from a 1915 school in Squamish that was being torn down. Similarly, when Paul and Jane Burrows moved to Whistler full-time in the 1970s they decided to build an A-frame in Alpine Meadows. Like many of the A-frame homes in Whistler, both these A-frames and the managers’ houses at Whistler Mountain later had extensions added onto them, changing the A-frame shape.

These are just a few of the A-frames pictured in the museum’s collections and while they may no longer look quite like the classic A-frame, some of them are still standing in Whistler today.

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