Forest Grove 94 Lions: Climbing Mountains
Forest Grove is a small community in the Cariboo District of British Columbia. The main source of income for residents is related to the forest industry: logging, mill employment and businesses such as tourism. Retirees from the lower mainland are beginning to move into the area, taking advantage of an attractive real estate market and relaxed lifestyle.
Until recent years, the mountains were green, the valley forest thick with tall pines, firs and spruce. However, mountain pine beetles have invaded the area, leaving behind red and gray dying trees. A massive logging operation to salvage as much of the pine as possible before the wood rots is underway. It is however, a short term boom. The long term economic future of the forest industry companies in this area is uncertain.
Forest Grove is one of the oldest communities in the Cariboo, the center of a widespread rural area. Settlers first came to the area in the early 1900s. Because of isolation and necessity they formed a closely knit community, a bond that continues today. Newcomers slip into this family of diverse backgrounds and interests with ease. There are many organizations ranging from a Recreation Society to a Walking Club. All operate on volunteer power. Since some people belong to several organizations, community involvement can become very time consuming.
During the winter of 2003-4 a David and Goliath struggle began to develop in Forest Grove. Despite the failure of the local school to meet any criteria for closure, the Forest Grove School was slated to be closed at the end of June, 2004. Eighty-one children would be displaced and based unreasonable distances to an already overcrowded school in town. The heart of the community would be gone.
What ensued was an unprecedented stand that was made by a small group of people against a government that seemed determined to eliminate rural schools at whatever cost to the children. Protest marches took place. Health care workers and public employees joined the marches. The school had always had a significant First nations enrolment so people from the Canim Lake Band also took part.
Newspapers around the province began to take notice. Meetings that drew sixty or eighty people on short notice were held at the Community Hall. The meetings were held in an atmosphere heavy with apprehension as the group tried to decide what must be done. Finally it was decided that as Thoreau had written, when democracy fails the only recourse is civil disobedience.
On the last day of school, after the last bus left the schoolyard, the large crowd gathered outside the school learned that a group of eight protesters, parents and grandparents, had taken over the school and chained the doors shut. It was something that had never been done before, a courageous, defiant move that brought the media to Forest Grove within hours. A camp was set up next to the school. Volunteers occupied the school in shifts around the clock. Reporters, supporters of rural schools, educators and labor representatives visited the camp.
After a month, the school was vacated. On August. 9, 2004 a convoy of RCMP vehicles and school board trucks moved in. A large crowd dropped whatever they were doing and hurried to the school. They watched in stunned disbelief as school employees dismantled equipment in the school and on the roof. Computers were carried out to trucks. A well pump was pulled from the ground. Furnaces and boilers were removed, bathroom stalls taken out, wires and pipes cut. An arrest was made, four parents charged and a legal struggle began that saw the parents traveling back and forth to Court in Vancouver.
During the summer, a determination to keep a rural school presence in Forest Grove spread from a handful of parents to the community and beyond. After studying different school models, it was decided to start an independent school with a traditional curriculum an enormous challenge that took up an entire summer for many people, none of whom had had any experience in operating a school, much less in setting up a society to do so.
In September 2004, the school opened with ten kindergarten pupils, four volunteer teachers and donated furniture and materials in the tiny Community Hall Lions Room. Lions meetings were held amid easels, plastic bins and alphabet cards. Lions flags shared wall space with colourful artwork.
In 2005 the school increased to twenty-three pupils from Kindergarten to Grade Four. It became very difficult to operate the school at the hall. Whenever the building was scheduled to be used for an event, the entire school had to be moved to storerooms and hallways. At one point, a major flood occurred that damaged a large section of the hall. Classes were held in the curling rink for three months while repairs were done.
Next door to the hall sat the school building. Boarded up and silent its playground forbidden territory. It was then that the Forest Grove 94 Lions Club decided that they would step in. They would approach the Cariboo District #27 School Board to find out if they could lease the school building for use by the community. Two schools that had been closed in the district were already being used as community centres.
It was a courageous decision for the small club to make. They had few financial resources and little opportunity for fund raising other than pancake breakfasts now and then, and tending bar occasionally for social events. When a one year lease was signed on July 20, 2006, the agreement stipulated that the Lions would assume stewardship of the building "as is". The Lions would lease the building for $1.00 for one year. Much of the buildings equipment had been deactivated or distributed to other schools, some was in storage. The 94 Lions project to restore the school seemed like an unclimbable mountain at that point.
The Lions issued an appeal to the public for help. Their list of needed items was long and expensive. Four furnaces were missing as were boilers, washroom stalls and the submersible pump for the irrigation system. Toilets had been left to freeze up and crack. Wires to control panels had to be replaced. Shut off valves were needed throughout the basement. Most of all, volunteer tradesmen such as electricians, plumbers, a boilermaker and HVAC specialist were needed.
The response to the appeal for help came immediately. People from all over the area offered to do whatever they could. Materials were donated. A local plumber sent a plumber and new toilets. Teenagers, a retired principal, grandparents and older folks who had gone to the school years before, showed up to scrub floors and haul debris to the dump. Large photographs of former classes that lined hall walls were cleaned and straightened.
By the beginning of September 2006 the Forest Grove Independent School was able to move into a proper school building, a momentous occasion, one of tears and joy for everyone. It had taken over two years and the 94 Lions Club to reach this point. Sixteen students were registered from Kindergarten to Grade Five. A daycare center was opened in the building that offers day care for toddlers and convenient before and after school care.
Although the children were back where they belonged, the 94 Lions were just beginning their work to restore the building. It was starting to get cold with no furnaces in sight. Then something wonderful happened. A visitor to the area heard about the missing furnaces and not only arranged for the Lions to purchase two at a reduced cost, but also traveled down to the Coast to get them. The furnaces were installed and heat was conducted to the main part of the building.
Several lions began to spend every weekend and evening at the building. One crisis followed the other. There was a flood when pipes gave way. One member spent a weekend putting in shut off valves in the basement and crawl spaces. Equipment broke down. To conserve heat, a wall with regulation doors was constructed at the end of a hall to block off the unused section. Telephone lines had to be put in and windows repaired.
The handful of men dug in and did what had to be done with whatever they could find. As landlords the 94 Lions are responsible for the care and maintenance of the school building. At this time there are enormous expenses ahead. Exterior lighting and two more furnaces must be installed. The roof has begun to leak. The playground equipment is outdated and unsafe and a playing field must be completely done over. At one time the field was a beautiful green all summer due to an underground irrigation system with its own well. However, the pump had been removed and the field which had been sprayed with a toxic grass killer was left to dry out and become riddled with gopher holes. Future plans are to restore two fields. The school grounds and facilities will then be offered to the Recreation Society for ball games and other outdoor sports. The Canim Lake First Nations Band have expressed an interest in resuming a shared sports program.
On November 4, 2006, the official re-opening of the school building took place. A bright new yellow Lions' sign was attached to the front of the building which states proudly "94 Lions Academic Facility". Over the door is another sign, "Forest Grove Independent School". School Principal Karen Smith told the large crowd that had gathered to celebrate that "We believe that all children deserve to be educated in the safety and familiarity of their own community." That had been the guiding principle behind the protest and the formation of the Independent School. 94 Lions Vice President Ron Lister stated "The children are back where they belong."Everyone sang"Oh Canada" and the children proudly recited their school pledge; "I pledge to be a kid for character. I will be worthy of trust.....I will be a good citizen and always do my share."
The Independent School receives half funding from the ministry of Education which covers wages for a teacher and a full time teachers aid, plus the cost of materials and supplies. The school is operated by the Forest Grove Rural School Society which rents the facility from the Lions. The Society pays for a percentage of the costs of operating the building and contributes to restoration construction costs. The daycare center also pays a minimal rent. By far the heaviest expense is heating. Since both the Lions Club and the Society are non-profit organizations with a very limited public resource base, both groups operate past the extent of their funds. Both have applied for grants, unsuccessfully as yet. Maintaining the school building will be a constant expense.
The future of the Independent School is promising. With the closure of public schools in the District slated for June 2007, the enrolment at the Independent School will most likely rise. A 94 Lions member, John Shin, has operated an English as a Second Language program in Forest Grove for two years that introduced thirty students each year to a rural Canadian lifestyle. This ESL program may be expanded to include a session every season. The school building will act as a base for the program which may help with expenses.
Providing a building for a school and day care is not the only major project that the 94 Lions have undertaken. Ruth lake is a large lake about ten kilometres from Forest Grove. In a country of hundreds of lakes, it is the only one with a sand beach. Ruth Lake Park has been the center of summer activity for hundreds of people for generations. In 2000 the provincial government de-activated the park. A swimming platform, washrooms and picnic facilities were removed. As a community service, the 94 Lions stepped in to keep the park open. They removed dead trees, cleaned up the park and put in portable toilets. Since then they have continued to trim trees and remove garbage regularly. The grounds have to be raked and the beach cleaned periodically. Expenses from the park have been picnic tables, toilets, tree planting, cleaning and washroom supplies and gas for mowers and weed eaters.
Another 94 Lions community project is to provide firewood free of charge to the elderly and people in need. The Lions cut and deliver the wood. The Club also maintains the local cemetery, cutting and trimming grass and cleaning up in the fall.
At the present time, the 94 Lions Club is top heavy with projects to which it is solidly committed. Typical of all Lions Clubs, there is a wide range of ages and abilities. Each of the eighteen members does what he can as a volunteer, often at the expense of time spent at home. But there is one thing they all share, a genuine sense of responsibility to the community.
The Forest Grove 94 Lions are truly an example of what the motto, "We Serve" should mean to Lions members everywhere. They have managed to do so much good with so few resources. Any Lions Club that is able to do so might well consider lending their support to this remarkable group.
Submitted by : Marianne Van Osch
to Chaz Nelson, Editor The Border Crossing, Bellingham Washington
January 15, 2007
