Irene Bushfield turns 98 on Sept. 24. She is the only surviving member of the little group that founded Harmony Hall in Gibsons.
“We were a little group of six,” she says.
“There wasn’t any place for us to meet, so we met in private homes. I was the treasurer. We didn’t have a meeting hall in the town.”
Today, several churches have meeting halls. But in the 1970s, it was different, Irene recalls. “I came here in 1973 and there was nothing. So we applied to the Town [of Gibsons] and they gave us a lot and let us build a hall. “People kept throwing money at us!”
Residents were so excited to have a place to meet, that fundraising for the small building that became Harmony Hall was easy. It was built with volunteer labour. Today’s hall is bigger, as sections were added later. Now the Gibsons Seniors Society (GSS) operates and maintains the hall as a seniors activity centre; the Town owns the land in Lower Gibsons, off the two-block-long Harmony Lane.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, GSS held an open house to welcome newcomers and showcase some of the centre’s activities. Irene came with Donna Johansen, GSS current secretary, to see what the hall looks like today. At almost 98, Irene is bright and enthusiastic, and rightly proud of what she and the other founding members accomplished.
The hall and six days of activities are still run by volunteers. There are no paid staff (except the cleaning woman). Harmony Hall has meant a lot to many people over the years as a good place to share a cuppa and maybe a few goodies and play a game or take part in an activity.
And that’s all possible thanks to Irene and the original “little group of six.”
– Submitted by Anne MacLachlan
