The Way to say Thank you

Of the fourteen CERCA volunteers who spontaneously had offered their support in response to a call for help to clean up the property of the Elder Victor Thomas in Cowichan Bay, eight of them found the time to be available on a short notice.

You may recall that Victor actively supported CERCA in our efforts to prevent the re-zoning of Westcan Crown Leases in favour of metal manufacturing industry. He allowed us to prominently displaying a "Say No to Heavy Industry in Estuary: STOP re-zoning" banner on his strategically located property at the head of the access road to the terminal. After the banner had been illegally removed by PIM employees as the police investigation revealed, Victor was adamant to put it up again. In the end it had been in place for almost three years. We only took it down after the majority of the EASC Directors of the CVRD made their ill conceived decision to permit metal manufacturing in the center of the estuary against all better wisdom and knowledge.

The volunteers met on a bright sunny morning of February 22, fighting brambles and blackberries to remove garbage, stuff and treasures which had accumulated on the site over years. We took several truck loads to Bing's Creek dump and left Victor's place nice and tidy. Victor was extremely grateful for our help and appreciated CERCA's way to thank him for his support of our cause and to be there for him when he needed us following surgery, which left him handicapped and unable to solve the problem of clean-up on his own.

The happy crew after a job well done! Thank you volunteers to be available on a busy Saturday and a big "Thank You" to Victor for supporting CERCA in our efforts to restore ( in this case : to keep?) the ecological integrity of the precious Cowichan Estuary which historically has been of extreme importance to First Nations settling in the Valley thousands of years ago.