Tow truck driver Peter Du Plessis says he’s lost track of the number of vehicles he’s moved since the snow started falling on Bowen Island. With a truck that only has front wheel drive, he says he’s used his winch four times to dislodge his own vehicle.
“This is such a rare occurrence, last winter there was hardly anything in terms of snow or ice on the road,” he says. “I think some people assume that because I drive a tow-truck I can go anywhere, but that is just not the case.”
Snug Cove, he said, was one of the hardest hit areas of Bowen, while Fairweather “was like Hawaii, with only an inch or so of snow.”
Du Plessis adds that he has been particularly impressed at how well the municipality has done in keeping the Bowen’s main roads clear.
“Other years, your car turns into a sleigh on Seven Hills, but it really has not been too bad,” he says.
That said, on Saturday afternoon, just after the snow started falling intensely again, a large moving truck got stuck halfway up Seven Hills.
Jaime Weismiller says he was at the school and got a call to help out, and used the back hoe (J&E Backhoe) to pull the truck up to the Legion parking lot.
“It was really no problem,” he said.
Despite the challenging road conditions on Saturday, the Bowen Island Community Choir still managed to pull off two shows to a nearly full-house for both.
Choir member Alfred Rahn says that when he left Schooner Lane in the morning to make the re-scheduled dress rehearsal at Cates Hill Chapel that started at 8:30am he got a ride with a neighbour.
“There were five of us in the car, and at least twice we held our breath, prayed that we would make it,” he says. “Later as we watched the snow fall, all we could think of was who is going to come to this?”
Rahn’s wife, Laura started walking in the hopes of attending the afternoon performance thinking the evening show would be cancelled for sure.
“She ended up getting a ride from Bowen Bay,” says Rahn. “And in the end, it was an almost packed house - the evening performance as well.”
Choir director Ellen McIntosh says that normally, the choir would warm up at IPS, but because of the snow they were forced to warm up right at the chapel’s entrance.
“We would end up cheering and clapping every time an audience member came in,” she says. “Really though, I would have had them sing in front of an audience of two, if necessary. The choir just worked so hard on this.”
She adds that Duncan Shaw, the principle horn player from the West Coast Symphony Orchestra came from town to join the choir, as well as other accompanying musicians Brian Hoover and Shasta Martinuk, Phil Atkins, Shelagh Sparks and Terry Oswald synthesizing the orchestra on keyboard.
“It was a very long day, but what could be better than beautiful choral music with the snow falling outside? After the first show, we got a standing ovation, and at the end of the evening performance, everyone sang Silent Night together.”
