Village Welcome

New residents, departures, and anniversaries of note

Hello Lions Bay.

Once again, we are delighted to welcome new residents to our community.

Winston Zhu will shortly be moving from Burnaby to Bayview Place. Winston has been studying and working as a tech professional in management in Toronto for many years and recently decided to move to BC. He's excited about his move to the village and wants to become an active member of the community. Winston is eager to lend a helping hand wherever he can, as he believes that volunteering and contributing to the community is the best way to integrate himself into his new surroundings.

Rebecca and Richard Vernon and their two sons moved to Panorama Road last fall. Rebecca has fond memories of her childhood fishing with her Dad near Lions Bay. More recently, she has been living with Richard in Hong Kong for the last ten years. Upon returning to Vancouver in 2021 they immediately chose Lions Bay as the place they wanted to raise their boys. Richard is British and loves quieter locations and mountains, so work from home provided the perfect balance for him to enjoy walking and his passion for photography. He works as an IT consultant, and Rebecca works in shipping and logistics, but both can most often be seen hiking around the village and environs, or working in their garden.

In early March when Adam Gruttner and his wife Catherine Haorei-Gruttner were preparing to move into Lions Bay, I gave you the wrong area where they would be moving. They have just moved into their new home on Cloudview.

Welcome to all!

Lions Bay's Municipal Accountant of 14 years, Hayley Cook resigned on March 23rd. Though the following Wednesday was to be her last day, many residents were unfortunately denied the opportunity to say goodbye in person.

Hayley’s dog Lego was also a regular at the office and greeted many of you. He will be missed too. During my time as Councillor and Mayor I got to know Hayley well. Her skill set, positive demeanour, and popularity are going to be long remembered. Contrary to what you may hear, Hayley did not resign in order to work closer to home. However, our loss is the City of Squamish’s gain. A fond 'goodbye' to Hayley.

I recently mentioned that our village’s nine-year Administrative Assistant, Shawna Driscoll and her husband Thomas, had told their 3-year-old daughter Hannah that she will have a new baby brother or sister this September. Due to issues arising at the office, Shawna has been absent on medical leave, with no indication as to when she will be returning. When she does return, please take a moment to drop in and extend your welcome back and congratulations.

Our Public Works crew has been down two team members due to resignations since early December. Those remaining are working extra hard to maintain service levels and keep us safe. Several of the team will be marking anniversaries with us next month.

• Garth Begley – joined May 3, 1999, 24 years service

• Alberto Urrutia – joined May 5, 2003, 21 years service

• Nai Jaffer – joined May 9, 2016, 7 years service

If you meet them, please take a moment to say thank you for their service, or recognize them with a honk and a wave as you drive by.

We are a caring community, and the best time to demonstrate this is when new residents arrive, additions to families occur, or there are good or bad news events that deserve recognition or compassion. Please contact me at ronmclaughlin@telus.net with any news you would like to share.