As a youngster I recall my father driving the family Chrysler down Government Street along the causeway of Victoria’s Inner Harbour and being captivated by the sight of the Legislature Assembly Buildings lit up at night. Ever since then, something within draws me back to the city at least six or seven times a year. I assume it’s because of those happy memories although it could be the fact I was born there.
Last Wednesday was a sunshine filled fall day in the capital city. I’d driven down to Victoria in the late morning to attend a concert. Having a couple of hours to spare before curtain time, I partook in my obligatory stroll along the causeway. Passing the stately Fairmont Empress I noticed hundreds of people gathering on the hotel grounds. What could be going on? As I dashed across the street at the intersection of Belleville and Government to have a look, a PA system suddenly sputtered to life and I heard an unmistakable voice reverberating through the surrounding Arbutus trees. Vickey Gabereau, for many years Canada’s undisputed ‘Queen of Talk’ on CBC Radio, was holding court in the Empress Rose Garden, joyously roasting a number of Federal and Provincial political potentates with her dry wit as she introduced each individually to the assembled peasants.
The event I’d stumbled on was the unveiling of a 313-kilogram bronze likeness of the acclaimed BC artist, author and hometown heroine Emily Carr. After giving each politician their due, Gabereau introduced the legitimate honoured guests and the statue’s sculptor Barbara Paterson from Edmonton. Paterson, renowned for her Famous Five statue in Ottawa, spoke to the struggles that Emily Carr faced throughout her lifetime - the lack of recognition and having to run a boarding house just to survive. I thought to myself that the artist’s lot hasn’t changed much. Just across the street from the Empress, provincial politicians have been busy this last year systematically destroying arts groups in British Columbia through a series of ill-conceived funding cuts.
At the conclusion of the installation ceremony I just had time to trot four blocks east to the Royal Theatre to hear the Victoria Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial Salute to Canada’s Navy. Several soloists from the Canadian Forces Naden Band were featured with the orchestra. Chief Petty Officer Pierre Cayer played a beautiful oboe solo from M.C. Baker’s Vancouver Variations and Petty Officer Karen Shields performed a piccolo solo on Shanghai Sailor which left no doubt as to her masterful control of the tiny instrument. For me the selection showing the orchestra to best advantage was a medley from the movie soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean.
This was the second concert I’ve heard played by the Victoria Symphony recently. One morning last month I had a dental appointment in Oak Bay and before leaving home I checked online for the orchestra’s concert schedule and found an all-Gershwin performance listed for that very afternoon. I ordered a ticket online. To my consternation the concert turned out to be a bit of a circus. I kid you not. The headlining soloist, a women from New York City named Janice Martin, actually performed some of George Gershwin’s music (on the violin) while hanging upside down from a trapeze suspended above the orchestra. However all kidding aside, I must say that Martin’s playing in more normal positions was brilliant and the woman’s musical artistry was never in question. Multi-talented, Martin’s piano performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was as good as any rendition I’ve heard. Apparently based on a Youtube video submission, Martin was chosen to appear on Season four of the popular NBC television show America’s Got Talent. There you go. Whatever it takes to make a living in the music business, just go ahead and do it.
I digress. After the Naval Salute concert I hoofed back to the Empress Hotel to get some photos of the Emily Carr statue devoid of the milling crowds. The Carr event was actually the second statue unveiling I’d attended in Victoria during the last year. In May, I drove down to see the Naval Day Parade and as part of the celebrations a statue called the “Homecoming” was dedicated and unveiled in the Inner Harbour by His Honour Steven L. Point, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The statue by Victoria sculptor Nathan Scott depicts that magical moment of a sailor returning from the sea to his daughter’s welcoming home embrace.
Before leaving Victoria I stopped off at the new Uptown Centre on the site of the old Town & Country Mall. Phase 1 opened this past summer and the development is quite an eye-popper, at least in sheer largeness. The usual suspects like Shoppers Drug Mart and Best Buy are tenants. However anchoring the site is a Wal-Mart Supercentre with enough square footage to park a half-dozen 747’s inside plus an enormous Future Shop stocking just about every conceivable electronic gizmo imaginable.
Heading home in the rush hour I needed almost an extra hour to navigate a local dilemma known as the Colwood Crawl - a daily ballet of automobile gridlock, which I understand over time, causes the beleaguered Victoria commuter to go completely insane.
PHOTO: The Emily Carr Statue Committee raised more than $400,00 to complete the monument that features a seated Emily Carr with her sketchpad. Emily's Javanese monkey 'Woo' perches on her shoulder and her dog 'Billie' stands nearby.
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