Tag: Myrtle Philip School

Join the ClubJoin the Club

September 23, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In May 1976, the Alta Lake Community Club (ALCC) announced its first meeting since March 1972 and began recruiting new members. This was not the first time that the club had experienced a hiatus, only to re-activate.

In 1923, Grace Archibald suggested forming a social club. She, Lizzie Neiland, Flo Williams and a few other Alta Lake residents and regular summer visitors met at Rainbow Lodge to plan a picnic; from the resulting picnic, the ALCC was created. The ALCC started holding meetings in 1926 but it wasn’t long before the club took a break. In 1933, after almost seven years of inactivity, the ALCC started up again in order to raise money for a community hall, which they accomplished through weekly dances. Over the next few decades, the ALCC hosted dances, picnics, meetings, concerts, pot lucks, film nights, children’s parties and more.

Community Club Christmas Carol singers. From left to right: Andrew Roberts, Melanie Busdon, Clare Jennings, Rachel Roberts, Jessica Wilson, Sara Jennings, Roger Systad, Christopher Systad, Bishop children, Duncan Maxwell. Whistler Question Collection

The ALCC became inactive over the summer of 1972 and did not have another meeting until 1976 when a group of Whistler residents decided that, with Myrtle Philip School and its community space scheduled to open soon, it was time to revive the community club. They placed a notice in the recently founded Whistler Question to recruit members stating, “This is not a political or ladies only club. It is for single people and family groups interested in community recreational activities.”

About 35 people attended the ALCC’s first meeting of 1976 at the Mount Whistler Lodge. They elected a new executive and, with Frans Carpay as president, Ruth Howells as vice-president, BJ Godson as secretary, and Pat Beauregard as treasurer, the club was ready to plan new activities and events. Thanks to its previous activity, the ALCC already had $7,700 in the bank (just over $40,000 today when adjusted for inflation) and they decided to start by sending out a questionnaire to find out what kind of things people wanted to see from the club.

Dressed up at the Alta Lake Community Club Roaring Twenties Pot Luck Dinner, left to right: Max Maxwell, Kelly Maxwell, Diane Smith and Ken Domries. Whistler Question Collection

The ALCC hosted a “Soccer Ball” dance fundraiser that August to raise money for soccer balls and uniforms for the Whistler team, followed by an “old fashioned family fun and sports day.” In its first year back, the club hosted Halloween and Christmas parties (including a visit from Santa), supported the local Brownies and Cubs, held an Easter egg hunt, cooked pancakes for Mother’s Day, and even formed a drama club. They had used some of their funds to establish an annual scholarship for a graduating student from the Whistler or Garibaldi area and purchased sound equipment and tables that could be used by other groups. The ALCC had also started sponsoring events such as the annual ski swap and dance workshops because the club had the necessary liability insurance and were trusted renters of the school community space.

Margate Kogler ‘hams it up’ with a submarine sandwich in the kitchen at the Community Club Fall Fair. Whistler Question Collection

According to Ruth Howells, some of the most successful adult events hosted by the club were their suppers. These were so popular that they had to limit them to members and guests only and even then often ended up with a waiting list. Ruth summed up the success by saying, “Good food, good company and good music make for very enjoyable evenings.”

The ALCC continued to bring people together through events and fundraisers such as their annual Fall Fair into the 1980s. In 1981, they began hosting a “Welcome to Whistler” tea and in 1984 donated money to the RMOW for benches along the Valley Trail. As Whistler continued to grow, other clubs formed for different activities and interests and over time the ALCC wound down.

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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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Replacing Horses with BikesReplacing Horses with Bikes

July 25, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

There are many competitions and races that take place during Crankworx, which is back in Whistler for the end of July, however one bike-related event that you’re unlikely to come across is mountain bike polo. While bike polo is not overwhelmingly popular in the area today, in 1989 there were mountain bike polo championships held in Whistler.

Bike polo is similar to the traditional sport of polo, although the horses are replaced by bikes, in which the aim is to drive a ball through the goal of the opposing team using mallets. Traditionally, bike polo is played on grass courts, but over time hardcourt bike polo has become more popular. Though the rules vary depending on where the game is played, it appears to be consistent that players must hold the mallet in their right hand and their handlebar in the left and have no parts of their body touching the ground in order to touch the ball or attack an opponent.

Eric Crowe (left) and Jim Warren fight for control of the ball during a mountain bike polo game at Myrtle Philip School. Despite its apparent popularity, we could find very few images of mountain bike polo being played in Whistler. Whistler Question Collection, Mike Youds, 1988

The Whistler Question provided two different accounts of how the sport began: in the June 16, 1988 edition it claimed that the sport was invented in 1987 at a mountain bike competition in Colorado; in the August 3, 1989 edition they reported that a group of windsurfers from Quebec created the sport when there was no wind and they came across some friends playing croquet. The more widely accepted history of bike or cycle polo is that it was adapted by a retired cyclist named Richard J. Mecredy in Ireland in 1891. It was a demonstration sport at the 1908 Olympics in London and saw a resurgence in popularity in the 1980s.

Mountain bike polo came to Whistler in the summer of 1988. Games were played on Sunday evenings at Myrtle Philip School (then still located in the Whistler Village) and there were plans to form a local league. That first summer must have gone well because they were still playing in 1989 and even had plans to host a championship tournament.

The “World Mountain Bike Polo Championships” came to Whistler from August 17 to 20, 1989, coinciding with Labatt’s Can-Am Challenge held on Blackcomb Mountain. There was some controversy between the organizers from Quebec, who wanted to hold the matches on a gravel field at the bottom of the Wizard Chair, and the local players, who preferred the grass at Myrtle Philip School where they had been playing each Sunday. The local players won out and eight teams competed for the top spot on the school field. Though most of the teams came from Canada and the US, there was reportedly one team from Australia, kind of – it was made up of Australians who were living in Whistler.

While you won’t find mountain bike polo in this year’s Crankworx line up, other types of events that were included during Labatt’s Can Am Challenge weekend are still included, such as the dual slalom race. Blackcomb Mountain Collection, Unknown Photographer, 1989

In the end, Whistler’s Mountain Mutants placed first, winning various prizes including a mountain bike, a pair of television sets, answering machines, and, of course, Polo-Ralph Lauren gift certificates. According to Neil Collins of the Mountain Mutants, “Everyone had fun, but it was pretty competitive; we trashed a fair number of wheels, bikes and bodies.”

Bike polo is still played in cities around the world today, though its popularity waned again after its 1980s surge. There are currently (as far as we are aware) no mountain bike polo teams in Whistler and it seems unlikely that it will be featured in Crankworx anytime soon.

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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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