Tag: Joan Richoz

Cataloguing WhistlerCataloguing Whistler

April 16, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When Marcel and Joan Richoz first moved to Alta Lake (the area would not technically be known as Whistler until 1975), it was a move to a much smaller community and a rather different way of life than the Whistler of today.

Originally from Switzerland, Marcel began skiing at Whistler Mountain in its first season, having previously skied on Grouse Mountain and been told about the development happening at Whistler. In 1968, he saw lots for sale in Alpine Meadows for about $1,800. Thinking that was expensive, he put off buying a lot until the price had gone up to $3,500.

Marcel purchased the lot as an investment, but after he and Joan spent the 1971/72 season living in a small village in Switzerland they found it hard to return to city life in Vancouver again. Instead, they put up a big canvas tent on the lot in Alpine and spent the summer camping. Marcel, a fine woodworker, began learning carpentry and over the next couple of years he and Joan constructed a small round log cabin on the property, followed by a house that they built themselves with help from friends and neighbours. Looking back during an oral history interview in 2023, Joan recalled that they moved into their permanent home during a blizzard in November 1974.

The Mountain Inn crew take a break during construction in 1981. From left to right: Al Frumento (foreman), Dave Nickerson, Angelo Formolo (foreman), Sisto Marini, Don Shaw, Angelo Scopazzo, and Gerhard Klein (superintendent). Seated: Marcel Richoz and Jim Crichton. Whistler Question Collection, 1981

Though Whistler had been declared a municipality by the time their daughter was born in late 1975, there were still relatively few families around and services such as pediatricians and grocery stores were a drive or a train ride away. Joan and her baby would catch the train at the flagstop at Mons and be picked up by her father in North Vancouver in order to visit the doctor, run errands, and do the shopping for the next few weeks before catching the train back up.

Joan began volunteering for the Whistler Community Arts Council (today Arts Whistler) in 1983 when her neighbour, Margaret Long, co-founded the first Whistler Children’s Art Festival. She also began volunteering at the Myrtle Philip School, especially in the library and during lunch hour. When the Whistler Public Library Association was formed in December 1985, Joan served on that board as well, before becoming the library’s first (and for a time only) employee.

Like Whistler, the library that opened in 1986 was a much smaller and different library than the one that we know today. It was located in 1,400 sq ft in the basement of Municipal Hall and began operating in August with a collection of 4,600 books. The space had been furnished with custom shelving by members of the Rotary Club of Whistler, notably Andy Petersen and Bill Wallace, and was open to the public for a total of sixteen hours/week.

Librarian Joan Richoz rifles through the card catalogue before it was replaced by computer terminals in 1995. Whistler Question Collection, 1995

Joan had completed a distance education program that the provincial government offered to become a community librarian. Unlike a public librarian in a larger city library, community librarians were expected to do just about everything, from cataloguing each item in the collection to janitorial duties when needed. This meant that while volunteers helped process (cover and label) and shelve books, Joan was responsible for creating the catalogue cards. Each item required at least 3″x5″ cards containing all of its information and most items had more. One card would be kept back for inventory, one would be filed as a title card, and another would be filed under the author. If a book could be searched for under multiple subjects, Joan would create additional cards to be filed under each subject heading. Working with only an electric typewriter, each card was typed individually. The following year, the library got its first computer and Joan found an automated program that meant she only had to type out the information for each item once and could then print out copies of the cards as needed.

Joan reads to Craig Smith’s class from Myrtle Philip School during a field trip to the library. Whistler Question Collection, 1991

Along with cataloguing, Joan managed a busy library that also served as a community centre and meeting place for Whistler residents and visitors. Joan ran storytimes for kids and got to know almost everyone who came in, even remembering some of their library card numbers before circulation became automated.

Since opening in 1986, the Whistler Public Library has moved twice and grown a lot in its collection, its programs, and its usership.

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Whistler’s Answers: May 10, 1984Whistler’s Answers: May 10, 1984

May 11, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In the 1980s the Whistler Question began posing a question to three to six people and publishing their responses under “Whistler’s Answers” (not to be confused with the Whistler Answer).  Each week, we’ll be sharing one question and the answers given back in 1984.  Please note, all names/answers/occupations/neighbourhoods represent information given to the Question at the time of publishing and do not necessarily reflect the person today.

Some context for this week’s question: On Monday, May 7, about 50 people attended a meeting at Myrtle Philip School to discuss Whistler’s parks and recreation facilities. The meeting reviewed the work done so far and included a “before and after” slide show of completed and under construction parks projects. Lost Lake Park had been officially opened in September 1982, sections of the Valley Trail had been paved and more were underway, and more parks were planned.

Question: What do you think of Whistler’s parks and trail systems?

Peter Xhignesse – Ski Patroller – Tapley’s Farm

I use it. I think it’s nice to have an area off the highway for bikes to go through. They’ve done a fabulous job with Lost Lake Park, it’s a big facelift. I am a little disappointed at the lack of recreational things like baseball backstops.

Charlie Doyle – Commercial Artist – Alta Vista

It’s okay. It’s fun. I live in Alta Vista, so the bike trail’s right out my front door, so it’s a good way to avoid using the car. The parks I find I don’t use. I used Lost Lake prior to it being a park, although I recognize the improvements. Obviously they need more lakefront.

Joan Richoz – Homemaker – Alpine Meadows

I use the bike trails. They need to be a little wider or have a white line down the middle for safety. I use Lost Lake in the summer for swimming and in the winter for cross-country skiing. More beaches are needed – we don’t have waterfront property. I prefer Lost Lake Park, but you can’t get there in five minutes, as the neighbourhood parks are necessary.

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A Bizarre FundraiserA Bizarre Fundraiser

November 22, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

There are many options when it comes to holiday shopping in Whistler and, for many, craft fairs and markets are looked forward to as an opportunity to fine something unique while supporting local artists. For many years, the best known craft market in Whistler was the Bizarre Bazaar.

Ten years before the first Bizarre Bazaar was organized by the Whistler Community Arts Council (now called Arts Whistler) in 1987, the Alta Lake Community Club (ALCC) began hosting their annual Fall Fair fundraiser for the Club where local artists could sell handmade crafts among other activities. The first Fall Fair in 1977 was held in the gym of Myrtle Philip School and was so successful that it made a profit in its first year. By 1985, the Fall Fair had grown large enough that it moved into the recently opened Conference Centre.

Christmas decorations are sold at the Alta Lake Community Club’s Fall Fair in 1984. Some tables at the Bizarre Bazaar would have looked similar. Whistler Question Collection, 1984

Like the Fall Fair, the Bizarre Bazaar began in the Myrtle Philip School gym as a fundraiser, this one to support the Whistler Children’s Art Festival. At the time, the Arts Council was still young (Arts Whistler celebrated their 40th year of operations this year), had no office space, and was run by a group of dedicated and hands-on board members and volunteers, including Gail Rybar who coordinated the first Bizarre Bazaar in 1987.

Held on December 5, 1987 the first Bizarre Bazaar included sales of local arts, crafts and food, a raffle, live entertainment from flautist Dorothy Halton and Celtic harpist Theodore Gabriel, lunch and dinner, a “beverage garden,” children’s craft workshops with Pene Domries, and photos with Santa. Like the Fall Fair of the ALCC, the first year of the Bizarre Bazaar was reportedly a success and raised enough money to fund the Children’s Art Festival in 1988. According to long time Arts Council board member Joan Richoz, however, the first year was not without its challenges.

Gail Rybar, organizer of the first Bizarre Bazaar in 1987. Whistler Question Collection, Bonny Makarewicz, 1993

Looking back over 25 years of Bizarre Bazaars in 2013, Richoz recalled that the volunteer organizers had to put long hours and a lot of effort into the first market. They had borrowed tables from the Delta Mountain Inn (now the Hilton) and, though the hotel was located not far from the school had to transport the tables over snowbanks. A heavy snow on December 4 meant that some vendors from outside of Whistler were not able to make it, while others left the market early in order to make it home. Volunteers set up stalls and workshops and even made chili so that everyone working the market would have dinner to eat.

In the following years, the Bizarre Bazaar grew and also came to include a bake sale fundraiser for the Whistler Museum & Archives Society. Museum volunteers including Florence Petersen, Joan Deeks, Lil Goldsmid, Isobel MacLaurin, Kathy Macalister, Shirley Langtry, Viv Jennings, Darlyne Christian and more would spend weeks ahead of the market baking in order to raise money for the organization. Other community groups also got involved, with the Girl Guides running activities, the Whistler Community Services Society operating the food concession, the Whistler Public Library selling tickets to their own annual fundraiser, and both the Whistler Singers and the Whistler Children’s Chorus performing seasonal numbers.

When a new Myrtle Philip Community School opened on Lorimer Road in 1992, the Bizarre Bazaar moved with it and continued to run out of the school gym until 1996 when it moved into the Conference Centre. In the 2000s, the market continued to expand and change, moving to a weekend in November, partnering with Bratz Biz (a youth artisan market for local young entrepreneurs) in 2006, occasionally switching location to the Westin Resort, and changing its name to the Arts Whistler Holiday Market.

Mary Jones inspects one of the delicate and exquisitely crafted small wood boxes by Mountenay of Squamish at the 1994 Bizarre Bazaar. Whistler Question Collection, Bonny Makarewicz, 1994

This winter, though there is no Bizarre Bazaar or Arts Whistler Holiday Market, Bratz Biz and the Whistler Artisan Market will be taking place in the Upper Village on November 26 & 27. If you’re in search of archival images of Whistler, we will be at the Whistler Artisan Market and can’t wait to see you there!

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Completing the LibraryCompleting the Library

October 5, 2021 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 3 Comments

This is the third and final instalment of a brief history of the Whistler Public Library. Find Part One here and Part Two here.

When the Whistler Public Library (WPL) opened January 1995 in its portable location on Main Street, it more than doubled its space and was able to expand its collection and services. By the end of the year, visits had also more than doubled to 50,000 and the Whistler Public Library Association (WPLA) was already looking ahead to a new location.

WPL offered patrons more than the opportunity to borrow books. The new library had two public access computers that, for a charge, could be used for Internet access and word-processing. Patrons could also take home cassettes, CDs, videos, and magazines and the library continued to offer popular programs such as storytimes and summer reading club. The increased usage of the library and constantly growing collection meant that WPL grew out of its temporary space quickly.

Patrons check out a display at the entrance to the Whistler Public Library after moving to the portables doubled the available space. Whistler Question Collection, 1996.

The lot on which the library portables were placed had been set aside for parking and the library was meant to move into a permanent location by 1999. The WPLA and staff expected to stay in the portables on Main Street for only three to five years. In October 1995, WPLA board members attended a Building Planning Workshop, followed by a community workshop in November. Anne Townley, then the chair of the WPLA, said it was important to gather comments from community members and library patrons as “the Whistler library should be tailored to Whistler needs.” As an example of one such need, Townley mentioned that many people lived in “cramped quarters” and may be coming to the library because they didn’t have any place at home in which they could read or work quietly. At the November meeting, the WPLA was told that, to the community, the library was a space for “research, socialization, relaxation and education” and a “cornerstone of the community.”

Despite early planning, fundraising efforts, and a lot of hard work, the library remained in the portables past the 1999 deadline. Plans for the building went through various changes before the groundbreaking ceremony in 2005. In 1996, the WPLA and Whistler Museum and Archives Society formed a Joint Building Committee and went so far as to present plans for a shared building to Council before parting ways in 2003. In 1997, the WPLA voted to become a municipal library. When millennium projects were announced in 1998, the municipality chose to make the library building its project, though it was delayed until after the completion of the community project (a new Whistler Skiers’ Chapel facility) to avoid direct competition. Finally, plans were confirmed and a groundbreaking ceremony was held in June 2005.

Stories were often told in the children’s area of the portable library building. Whistler Question Collection, 1995.

Changes were made not only to building plans over this time, but also to the library portables. By 2000, the combination of multiple leaks and carpeted floors led to complaints from library patrons of a slight smell of mildew, though it did not stop library usage from continuing to grow. In the summer of 2001, the Municipal Building Department added an additional layer of shelves on top of the present stacks and then added new shelves to the children’s area that winter. To hold their growing collection in preparation for a new building, the library purchased a storage container in 2002.

To familiarize the community with the new building, the building plans for painted onto the parking lot outside the portables and patrons were able to wander (or play tag) through the future spaces of the library. Delays and cost increases related to a boom in construction, however, meant that they were not able to see the physical spaces until 2008.

TThe parking lot in front of the library and museum portables was used to show the scale and layout of the new library building.. Photo: Whistler Public Library

January 6, 2008, marked the last day of library operations in the portables. On January 13, patrons took part in Books on the Move, where a long line of community members moved one book each onto shelves in the new building (the rest of the books were then moved by a professional moving company). Just days before the official opening and ribbon cutting on January 26, library staff were still cataloguing and shelving books while electricians finished working around them.

Just like in 1995, library usage increased by over 100% during its first year in the new (and current) building. The library continues to grow its collection and programs each year and adapt to meet community needs.

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