The gorgeous Saturday on Sept. 21 was like Canada Day for residents of Arbutus Ridge as Mother Nature provided sunny skies and warm weather for festivities fit for a holiday as residents celebrated renovations to the Village's Summit building and the reopening of their beloved town hall.
Former council vice-president Perry Mogus, council vice-president Myles Anderson, and council member Edward Kozicki cut the ribbon.
"We were hoping to have this work done by July 1 but it didn't work out that way," said council vice-president Myles Anderson. "So today's celebration is almost a replacement for Canada Day that we would normally have had in our village centre here. So this is a late July 1 to a degree, but also a day to reopen the building."
Unless you have looked to buy into the 55-plus active living community or visited someone living there you may not know much about Arbutus Ridge, which first opened in 1989. A town itself within the town of Cobble Hill, equipped with their own water system, a sewage system that is managed by CVRD, over 11 km of road, and 643 homes with nearly 1,200 people, the gated community has seen dramatic growth over the years. Another recent change is that the community now works alongside a property management company that Kozicki admits has made some things more structured compared to when they were self-managed in the past.
"We have been here 35 years and a lot of the buildings and infrastructure that is here is reaching end of life," said Kozickii. "In 2015 projects were started, and they are now starting to come to fruition, particularly since the new council came on board in 2022. We've pushed it forward and here we are today with probably close to three quarter of a million dollars in renovations on our town hall and our Summit building. Today is terrific because it proves to the community that their strata fees are being spent in the right direction and it's visual."
Kozicki said they are continuing to work on more projects including renovations to the upper portion of their Summit building. A survey will be sent to residents to see what they wish to have done to the interior of the building once they reach that stage. The Gathering Place, which is the smallest building in the heart of their village where the ladies do baking and serve coffee and tea, typically between 10 a.m and 2 p.m., will also see some upgrades.
"We are looking to put a new roof on it and the electrical needs ome upgrading," said Anderson. "It used to be a private business when we first bought the building from the former owner, the restaurant wasn't there until a group of volunteers got together and called it The Gathering Place."
After the three council members held up the cut ribbon Kozicki thanked all in attendance and said moving forward was going to be a very exciting and renovating era within the community.
Anderson, a retired chief fire prevention officer with the Victoria Fire Department echoed that it was a terrific feeling to cut the ribbon.
"I hope today's celebration gives our residents a sense of accomplishment and that we are continuing to move forward with our renovations in a positive way," said Anderson.
With his former career, upon moving to the community 10 years prior, he jokes he was voluntold to get involved with the emergency preparedness group which had a table set up outside of the village's town hall for the special occasion. People come from far and wide to live in the Arbutus Ridge community, which is divided into 12 blocks. Each block is assigned a captain, a co-captain, and a team within the area. According to Anderson this is in place so that there is a group available to start a response and perform first aid when needed. The Arbutus Ridge Emergency Preparedness group also holds lectures and hosts training courses for those within the community. Barbara Bertagnolli, who is originally from Calgary, has lived in the community for 18 years. She jokes she was also drafted to be captain of block nine when the former captain left the community.
"He brought over all the stuff, and told me to get to know my neighbours," laughs Bertagnolli. "I really enjoy it, it's been a great chance to get to know everybody in the neighbourhood. You get to meet all the new residents and find out where they come from, and what their experiences are, as well as how they can help you in an emergency. I also get to teach them what they need to know because a lot of them come from provinces that aren't used to earthquake preparedness."
Ken Ward, who hails from England and has been a community resident for 21 years, is prepared for anything. He came up with an idea for a ham radio station in 2010 that is out of the community's RV yard in case problems ever arise and the normal means of communication suddenly fail. Ward, who has 15 years experience with ham radio and manages the community's communication department, said it started off humbly with one radio and a coat hanger sticking out an office window for reception. Since, they have expanded to 10 radios with the ability to communicate worldwide at a moments notice.
"We have always tried to be as self sufficient as possible but if Hutchinson [Road] was to ever close down there is no services coming in here until however many hours it takes and whatever else is prioritized by the region," said Ward. "Because emergencies now vary so much we have now changed the terminology to disaster communication. As long as the authorities have the internet, phone and anything else they can communicate with they won't use radio but if we have a system that we can work on under the assumption that we have no power, internet or cell coverage than we can still communicate if need be."
Arbutus Ridge is truly a community that look out for one another and that was the common thread when speaking with residents of all walks of life who now call the ridge their home.
John Hill, who was once an avid golfer and is ex-military, said he and his wife Kathy Hill moved up from Sooke and were first drawn to the area when they first saw the golf course. While he no longer golfs he is proud member of the community's Roughly Singing club while Kathy belong to the Arbutus Ridge Art Club.
"We love it here," said Hill. "Everyone is super friendly, and we feel safe here. I live on the 10th tee of the golf course which I could have never imagined."
"The participation of the majority of the community is just fabulous," said Kozicki. "The great thing is you can be as involved as you want to be or not."
"It's more than just a neighbourhood, it's a real community here," said Anderson. "People wave to you on the street, or chat with you at their driveways or invite you in for an afternoon cup of tea. It's just a good place to live."
Arbutus Ridge didn't just celebrate their community buildings on Sept. 21, they celebrated building community with baked goods, live music, and flare that included crowning Dick Gold 'King Richard' as he was requested to do the honours of opening the time capsule that was closed in 2008.
The community has more than 30 clubs including a billiards club, golf club, motorbike club and many more. Some of the club displays set up in the town hall square included a kayak club, pickle ball and ebike club set up outside. John Gorrie, who has lived in community for two years, said he loves the peace and quiet of the community and when it comes to being a member of the ebike club, what he enjoys most is the sociability and the exercise.
Several other clubs set up shop indoors including the Roughly Singing Club and the Arbutus Art Club that has been active for three decades.
"It's been going a long time," said former club president Jackie Read. "There was a large community of residents who were artists so they decided to create a club where they could paint together, and support one another and offer courses and workshops."
The Arbutus Ridge Art Club will celebrate their biennial art show in the Baker room at the Arbutus Ridge Golf Club on Nov. 2 and 3 from 10 a.m., to 4 p.m., which will be open to the public.
"We do a lot of shows within our community, and have what we call an 'Art Walk' in the summer alternate to the year we do our public art show where residents do an art show in their gardens," said Read. "We have participants who put artwork out in their own homes and then open it up to the community and any guests they want to bring."
According to Read 15 community artists participated in last year's garden Art Walk, which was a huge success, and 16 local artist will participate in this year's art show that will feature 60 pieces in all mediums including oils, acrylics, pastels, and even mixed media — all of which will be for sale.
"It is a great opportunity for our members to be able to sell their work," said Read who has been painting for two years. "It feels really good to be back. Our last show in 2022 was the first one after COVID, and it was a very successful show so we are looking forward to an even bigger one this year."
Among the 16 artists showcasing their work alongside Read will be club president Sheila Pierce who has been a member since 2019 and said she used to work with oils when she was in her 20s.
"After a hiatus, I picked up the paintbrush again for the first time about 10 years ago and instead of going back into oils I began working with acrylics," said Pierce. "I find working with acrylics much easier."
Both Pierce and Read say they love being around like-minded people, and the social aspect of the longstanding art club, not to mention having the opportunity to wander around such a stunning seaside setting to do plein air painting.
"I really like to learn from our other members, and that there are so many opportunities here for artists to participate in," said Read. "We hope the public leave this year's art show with a better understanding of all the talent within our community and that there really are a lot of talented artists within Arbutus Ridge."
