Islander

Leanne Rooney is trying to decide what to plant above her husband’s grave.

This column first appeared in the Victoria Daily Times on June 12, 1937. When eastern people think of Saskatchewan, I am afraid the only picture that comes to their mind is that of a dry country, parched and dusty.

Before achieving fame as North America’s beloved “Bard of the North,” the British poet Robert Service spent seven years on Vancouver Island, from 1896 to 1903, working at a variety of jobs from farm hand to road builder to bank clerk.

This is the first in a series of columns that will appear every other Sunday, leading up to the party on Aug. 23 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Victoria’s Commonwealth Games.

The public areas of the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel (126 Kingston St., 250-360-1211) are richly hung with canvases by Janet Etter, who is for the month of June the artist in residence.

Sandi Shoup is up to her ears in diapers these days, and she couldn’t be happier. Up until three months ago, the keen environmentalist and parent of seven children, two of them still in diapers, didn’t think much about using reusable cloth diapers.

‘The Doll Dressmaker Is In” declares a small red-and-white sign that catches your eye as you wander through what local town crier Kenny Podmore calls “Sidney’s hidden jewel.

Group organized by Saanich Baptist Church builds homes, schools and deep community ties

The tide is forever shifting when it comes to summer music festivals on Vancouver Island, with plenty of schedule alterations, lineup changes and festival inaugurations and cancellations each year.

When we heard a “dark night” social event was in the works, we assumed it might be Batman-themed, albeit surely not to celebrate Ben Affleck being anointed as Hollywood’s next Dark Knight.