HE-TIN-KIS PARK, Ucluelet, B C, The Summer of 1971

The HE-TIN-KIS PARK Story

Today, one can find the name in various sites from Ucluelet
Tourism to other sites relating to British Columbia to the
history of West Coast trails.

This will be a history story that dates back to the Summer of '71.
but the importance of the story today is it was an example of how the Federal Government and local communities can work
together to provide jobs for University students, stimulate the economy and create a legacy that folks in the community and
tourists can enjoy many decades later

Like any good story, there are many chapters. But,
the important starting point is the planning stage.

At the Canadian federal level, it began with
a program called"Opportunities For Youth.

In the recent year,USA President BARACK OBAMA
focused on thesesorts of positive programs
during the election campaign

The next important step was for the Community of
Ucluelet to seize an opportunity to be a positive part
of the program.

The prime force behind the Ucluelet project was the
local judge and director of Public Health Myrt Saxton.

From thepromises of Federal Politicians to a
women of vision, a local committee was formed.

Members of the committee included some key individual
in the community consisting of Ron Burley, Bill Sutherland,
Jim Coke, Roger Sparks, Bud Tugwell, Bruce Francis,
Jim McFarlane and George Trachuk.

In the early plans, college and university students
would be hired for the park project, and local high school
students would be hired later to build a running track
at the community centre and assist with the park
development.

The location for recruiting students was a Nanaimo
student job placement office. In the beginning, those
responsible in Nanaimo screening gave Myrt Saxton
a short list, but my name was not on the list. However,
Ms. Saxton went through the short list and the deleted
list and picked me to be in charge of the students.
Why she picked me is another story. But at the end
of the process nine of us were selected for the project.

During the three months or so, there were many interesting
stories or chapters in this ongoing story that continues today
in the ongoing West Coast trails project..

In 1991, the main story of the He-Tin-Kis park project
was revisited following my finding some old film of the
project that was presented at a community meeting in the community centre in 1971. Also, I had a copy of film
of the opening ceremonies that took place at the end
of August 1971. I had the old film put on a cassette
so I could watch it. A local Ucluelet student and myself
were recorded as the producers. But after viewing the
film, I put it away and forgot about it until 1992.

In 1992, while travelling on a B C Ferry from Vancouver
to Victoria, I noticed a brochure advertising the park.
That little discovery caused me to telephone the local
folks at the Tofino-Ucluelet "The Westerly News".

Staff member Cori Howard ran with a story in the paper
on June 3, 1992 titled:
"Remembering He-Tin-Kis 21 Years Later"
Cori put new life into the story by writing about some of the
other community things that we did during our months in
Ucluelet.

A example of a few things includes hosting a dance
at the Community Centre. One of our members had
friends in a band from the Nanaimo area that offered
to come to Ucluelet and perform for free.

Looking back 38 years, I still recall the dance.
It was something else, with some of the tourists
grooving at Long Beach in attendance, the locals,
some of the fishermen and loggers in the region,
the band and seven of us of the original nine
dropped by to swing to the sound of Seventies music.