Paul Hooson is a hero of mine and so I cheered when he most deservingly made his ‘last stand’ on the front page of The Undercurrent last week.
Sadly, one shouldn’t compare his Herculean struggle to get a community hall built on Bowen Island with the overwhelming victory of the Lakota tribes who beat Custer’s forces within an hour or so. No sir, this battle has taken the powers-that-be 22 long years to take down this honourable and most generous man’s tireless efforts.
Paul Hooson, you have indeed given this noble cause your best efforts. I want to thank you, personally, on behalf of those of us who dreamed that one day we could have a wonderful space dedicated to enrich and celebrate our amazing little island.
And to all of the other volunteers who, alongside him, contributed years of brainstorming, sitting on committees, producing handsome feasibility reports, attending endless meetings — keeping this humungous ball rolling up hill all the way — I want to say how much your joint efforts are appreciated.
As an actor and producer who has spent 12 years creating theatre here on Bowen, do I have a vested interest in seeing a community hall built before I die? You bet I do! We ALL do. The building of a much needed new medical centre seems to be just around the corner and there’s a new firehall being built close to the RCMP offices on the way as well.
Well done to all of who have advocated for these new facilities. And well done to those who succeeded in getting the soccer field built as well. Nobody seems to think that effort was such a bad idea these days, myself included.
So why on earth isn’t there talk of a community hall any longer? Not a peep. It’s almost completely disappeared from everyone’s radar, thanks to some council wrangling a few years back. But who will speak for it now that Paul has gracefully walked away? It’s certainly not an attractive task and only a fool would step up to the bat at this point.
Is it because the arts are considered by the silent majority (probably those same folks who come to every performance at the various jury-rigged performance spaces and love every minute) to be a frill here on Bowen, something unessential, a financial burden that we just can not afford any time soon?
As the German poet and playwright Bertold Brecht said, “All arts contribute to the greatest art of all — the art of getting through life.”
I think we, as one of the most artistic municipalities in the country, deserve it. Don’t you?
Heather Hodson
