Donors' Stories
MARYANN AND BRYAN BIRD - WITH SUPPORTERS LIKE THESE ...
by Pat Burkette
 Maryann and Bryan Bird and the Salt Spring Island Foundation share
what you might call a “meeting of the minds” on a key component
of life on Salt Spring—celebrating and supporting diversity. “Salt
Spring,” explains Maryann, “is a dynamic place to be—an island
of diversity.“ The couple contributes financially to the Foundation,
and Maryann volunteers as a committee member, because they see
the Foundation’s support for a huge variety of island charitable
organizations as part of maintaining that diversity.
The Birds are long-time islanders. They originally resided in North
Vancouver, where Bryan, a pharmacist, had a drugstore franchise, and
Maryann worked as an administrator with non-profit organizations.
But by 1985, they were coming to the island as part-timers, to enjoy
a cabin at Rainbow Beach with their three sons. After spending five
years in Ottawa, where Maryann was the Executive Director of the
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, they bought their current home and settled here permanently.
“It was always our dream to live here full-time,” says Maryann as we chat over tea in her living room. Part of
the dream is right outside the window, where a red finch perches on a broadleaf maple tree and a calm bluesea stretches on forever in the distance. But it’s when we talk about another part of the dream, a desire to
belong to an interesting, vibrant community, that the Birds’ “made for Salt Spring” style comes through.
Bryan, who still works part-time as a pharmacist here, has the islander’s love of all things wild and wonderful.
Seeing an eagle using its wings to swim in the ocean outside his home, he hurried to rescue it and call the
Island Wildlife Centre. Of the eclectic Salt Spring citizenry he meets in his work, Brian says “I wouldn’t be
happy if I wasn’t talking to patients.”
Like many islanders, Maryann’s a critical thinker who isn’t ready to settle for the pat phrase or the conventional
concept. Take the phrase often used to describe the activities of charitable organizations—“helping people.”
“I’m not so keen on the Lady Bountiful approach to helping people. We’re all in this together. If we want
things like better transportation or better child care on this island, we’re going to have to help get it ourselves. The Foundation is a group of local people working with other local people to ensure that any contribution
you make is put to good use, and serves diverse needs on the island.”
“I’m hoping Salt Spring continues to be a very lively place,” concludes Maryann. With critical thinkers, and
generous Foundation donors, like the Birds, no doubt it will be.
GLADYS AND HAROLD PAGE —LIVING, LOVING, AND GIVING ON SALT SPRING by Pat Burkette
When Gladys and Harold Page talk about Salt Spring, they talk about love.
“We’ve had so much love and so many smiles here,” says Gladys. “ It’s a community of smiles. You can’t beat the place or
the people.”
To ensure that Salt Spring will always be a community
of smiles, the Pages donate regularly to the Salt
Spring Island Foundation. “The Foundation is local,” says Gladys. “It’s by Salt
Spring people for Salt Spring people. It helps out the
people that the big organizations can’t.”
Harold and Gladys became Salt Spring people when
they bought their waterfront property fifty years ago.
Visiting the island for the day, the Pages and their four
daughters missed the ferry. “We had a couple of hours
to wait, and drove up Isabella Point Road, where we
found a sign advertising lots for sale,” explains Harold.
They bought a lot, and over time their vacation home
progressed from a tent to a cottage, initially lit only by
candles, to a full-fledged house and garden.
"I’d run down here when we arrived, and I’d start to
sing,” says Gladys, whose own smile would take the grey out of any November day. “It was so free.”
Thirteen years ago, the couple moved to Salt Spring full time, looking to escape the mega houses being built in their
once-rural Victoria neighbourhood. Gladys still sings, and is a member of the Lost Chords choir. Harold, a retired
engineer, belongs to the Trail and Nature Club. Together, they attend “everything” at ArtSpring.
The Pages, who are both in their eighties, love Salt Spring, yes, but, no question, they’re still living their own love
story too. They began their courtship in grade eight, riding bicycles together, and staging plays as members of their
school’s marionette club. Gladys recalls that when she heard Harold’s voice, she knew he was the one. “His voice is very
soothing,” she says. Harold pats his wife’s shoulder and says “She’s always been my only lady love.”
Fortunately for islanders, the Pages are willing to share the love they feel for each other, and for their community.
In fact, they don’t just talk about love, they give it—through their ongoing donations to the Salt Spring Island
Foundation. That brings a lot of smiles to a lot of faces in our community.
GRACE AND PAT BYRNE – REMARKABLE ISLANDERS by Pat Burkette
The remarkable thing about Grace and Pat Byrne is that, when you first
meet them, they don’t seem remarkable. In fact, they seem just like you
and me.
A visit to their comfortable Brinkworthy home, with lovely landscape
paintings on the walls and well-stocked bookcases, is like a visit to the
home of any very pleasant, low key, retired couple just down the street.
But when you sit down and talk with them, you soon realize that they’re
actually more like the you and me we all should be, and that, of course,
is what makes them so remarkable.
Grace and Pat believe in community service. “We like to be doing our
part in the community,” says Grace. And for the Byrnes, doing their part
in the community means giving back by donating regularly to the Salt
Spring Island Foundation. “You are donating to a lot of important community organizations and projects
when you donate to the Foundation. It covers so much of the island.” The Byrnes know whereof they speak.
After retiring to Salt Spring in 1983, they gained first-hand experience about community needs through
volunteering, and saw the difference Foundation dollars can make.
The Byrnes are both dedicated volunteers at the Salt Spring Island Public Library, and Grace was recently
honoured with a Super Trustee award for outstanding service toward the development of the library.
As well, Grace and Pat have spent time in the thick of island politics, with Grace serving as a school trustee,
and both Byrnes serving as Islands Trust trustees. During Grace’s tenure, she fought for parkland, and there’s
a fire in her eyes when she says “On one occasion, they were going to dredge Ganges Harbour and dump the
dregs on the watershed. I fought that and won.” Pat, who was the mayor of Canmore, Alberta for six years
when the couple lived there, says public office is a way to make a difference. “You feel like you’re doing
something useful,” he says.
The Byrne's useful contributions to our community, including their ongoing, generous donations to the Salt
Spring Island Foundation, continue to help make a difference in the life and times of the island. We should
all be so remarkable.
GWEN RUCKLE by Charles Kahn 
There’s hardly anyone on Salt Spring who doesn’t know
the Ruckle name because of the family’s amazing legacy—
the island’s beautiful Ruckle Provincial Park. When Gordon
Ruckle sold the land to the provincial government in 1972,
his daughter, Gwen, was the strongest advocate for the sale.
And when she died in 2006, she left the Salt Spring Island
Foundation a very generous bequest to continue to help the
island she loved, yet another Ruckle legacy.
Those of us who knew Gwen admired her spunk, her
individuality, her many talents, and her intense loyalty to the
island—especially to the Beaver Point area where she spent
almost all of her life. Gwen was very proud of the fact that
she seldom left the island throughout her lifetime—and then
only to go to Victoria.
I first met Gwen in the huge barn where she regularly
presented a slide show throughout the summer. She told
the Ruckle story with a dry sense of humour and a loving
grasp of historical detail. From the time the farm became
a park to the onset of the illness that took her life, Gwen
worked with BC Parks to develop a master plan for the park
and the innumerable policies that guided the day-to-day
administration of the park.
Gwen’s bequest to the Foundation was the last of many contributions she made to our island community.
Gwen was a lifetime member of the Lady Minto Hospital Auxiliary, and for ten years, she served on the
Greenwoods Eldercare Society board. Her work with the Beaver Point Community Association was legendary,
and she took great pleasure in spearheading its annual bean-dinner fundraisers.
Most of us lucky enough to have known Gwen remember a sturdy figure in a brown forest-ranger hat and
uniform presenting slides in the Ruckle barn or just chatting with park visitors. We also remember her oil
paintings of the land she loved and the beautiful garden around the family home that she and her mother,
Lotus, fondly cared for. But most of all, we remember her fierce devotion to the island, the farm, and the park.
Her love of Salt Spring will continue to benefit all of us through her generous bequest to the Foundation.
LeeAnn And Sean Norgard (2006)
Charity begins at home — or at least, in your home community.
That is the reason that LeeAnn and Sean Norgard decided to
donate to the Salt Spring Island Foundation shortly after they
moved here. Sean and LeeAnn wanted to give something
back to the community that has met so many of their needs.
For a young couple with two small children, Owen and Davin,
aged 3 and 6, Salt Spring provides all the amenities of a larger
community (a hospital, a choice of schools, medical care,
activities for the children) and also has the advantages of
country life. Both LeeAnn and Sean are avid hikers who love
being involved in the natural world, especially the island's
wonderful trails and beaches.
The Norgards moved to Salt Spring Island from Calgary
almost two years ago to the bewilderment of their family
and friends who didn’t understand why two young people
with extremely active social lives in the city would want to
move to an island of barely 10,000 people. However, one
disadvantage of living in the city is the lack of exposure to
the natural world. The Norgards hope to instill love and respect
for nature in their children by exposing them to the natural
environment at an early age. Sean and LeeAnn are also
very interested in sustainable living and grow their own
vegetables. According to LeeAnn, last year’s tomato crop was
so abundant that almost every meal contained tomatoes!
Sean is a geophysicist who still "commutes" occasionally back to Alberta for his work, and LeeAnn is a geologist
turned potter. Both are active and interested in the creative arts. It was the marriage of rural living with a
sophisticated creative community that drew them to Salt Spring.
Although they enjoy and love living in a rural setting, they are also aware that Salt Spring is changing. They
feel that the infrastructure of the island must keep pace with the demands of a growing population without
losing the charm and simplicity of life here. Sean and LeeAnn see the Foundation as Salt Spring’s equivalent
of the United Way and hope that, in their own small way, they can contribute to the growth and health of
this community that they now call home.
A Tribute to Bob Rush (2006)
Born and raised on Salt Spring, Bob Rush is an islander through and through. Although he lived in Vancouver for 48 years, where for many years he worked as a professional engineer, his heart and soul have never left the island. He and his family came back every year to enjoy holidays and weekends at his boyhood cabin on Collins Road, and in 1991, Bob and Jinny returned home to Salt Spring—permanently.
In 1988, the Salt Spring Island Foundation asked Bob to join their advisory committee. Three years later, Bob, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, took up the challenge of becoming the chairman of the Foundation. Indeed there were times before that when the Foundation appeared to be floundering and could have folded, yet he never wavered in his dedication to build, in the words of a loyal donor, “one of the most valuable home-grown organizations in our community.” During difficult times of the Foundation’s growth, Bob attributes his perseverance to his rural upbringing, “When it was time to milk the cow, you milked the cow; when it was time to feed the chickens, you fed the chickens—whether you felt like it or not. If someone asks you for help, you help”. Bob established the policy of a self-perpetuating endowment fund, preserving the capital and distributing grants from only the income. At the time when Bob became chair, the Foundation distributed about $1,000 in grants to four charitable organizations. The endowment has increased to the point that in 2005 the Foundation was able to distribute $80,000 to 24 organizations!
People like Bob are hard to find. He has developed his own personal connection with donors, grantees, and trustees. He has worked hard to create an awareness of the Foundation, and he has personally increased the number of donors by the hundreds. Bob has given to the Foundation in so many ways. He also gives in many other ways, such as being a regular blood donor (257 times at last count).
Bob was constantly on the lookout for people to serve as trustees and committee members for the Foundation and handpicked those whose expertise and dedication matched what “his baby” needed to flourish and grow. One project that Bob is especially pleased with is the launch of the new SSI volunteer bureau (www.volunteersaltspring.com). He had been encouraging this for the last 12 years and now, largely thanks to the chair of our Foundation, Carol Biely, it is a “go.”
Eighteen years have gone by and Bob has decided that it is time to pass the torch. “It was perhaps the most difficult decision that I have ever had to make. I have given it my all. There has to be an end some time and that time is now. With the new committee structure in place, and seven other capable trustees on board, I trust ‘my baby’ has matured to the point where it is quite capable of carrying on without me.”
Wendy Kaye’s words seem to capture our thoughts: “You will always be ‘Mr. Salt Spring Island Foundation’ to islanders. There has been no one better equipped than you to carry the message of the Foundation into the community on a one-to-one basis and to further those relationships that you have so ably fostered on behalf of the Foundation.”
On behalf of the community of Salt Spring Island, we thank you, Bob, for all that you have done for each and every one of us!
Eileen Stubbe (2006)
"I support the Foundation for many reasons:
my home is here, my connection to the island
is long standing, and as part of the community,
I have a need to participate. Another reason
I support the Salt Spring Island Foundation is
because I'm lazy and often perplexed about
where to place my donations.... By donating
to the Foundation, I can rest assured that the
money will help meet a wide variety of needs
in the community."
An excerpt from donor Eileen Stubbe’s remarks at the grants presentation reception.
Roy Lamont (2005)
Roy was born in Swift
Current, Saskatchewan, in
1915. Twenty years later,
in 1935, he joined the
Army Reserve, then in 1940
changed service to the
RCAF. Stationed in England,
he transferred to the RAF
and for the duration of the
war served mainly in the
Middle East and North Africa as a pilot, air gunner,
and wireless operator.
After the war, Roy returned to Regina, where he
met Mollie. They were married in 1945. Two years
later he returned to the air force. Throughout
Roy’s career, the Lamonts were stationed in
Whitehorse; McDonald, Manitoba; Ottawa; and
finally, Edmonton, where Roy retired in 1964.
Next was a business venture, which Roy started in
Saskatoon. At the same time, he and Mollie conducted
tours for Western Farm Tours, which took
them to many countries throughout Africa and
Europe. As Roy recounts, “This was an exciting
time in our lives.”
In 1973, the Lamonts came to Salt Spring, staying
on a friend’s farm. Two years later they bought
their own farm in the Cranberry Valley, where
Roy began raising cattle, which had long been his
ambition.
Over the years on Salt Spring, Roy has been a
keen supporter of the Farmers’ Institute and the
Fall Fair. In addition, he has been a member of
the Legion, Masonic Lodge, Community Justice
Program, and Sailing Club.
When the Lamonts lost their only son in a vehicle
accident in 1998, they wanted to do something in
his memory. They decided that a special fund in his
name with the Salt Spring Island Foundation would
be most appropriate. Roy continues to support the
Foundation, and both his name and Mollie’s have
been added to the fund to reflect their generosity.
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