MEMORY ISLAND

by BRUCE OBEE

British Columbia Magazine

Summer 2011

This tiny, crowd-free island in the middle of a lake has a storied past.

First day of autumn. The water-skiers have retired into winter hibernation and the cacophony that summer brings to Shawnigan Lake is gone for the season. I'm alone here, perched on my usual rock, canoe tied to a pine tree, recalling my own memories of Memory Island.

There’s the midnight paddle, of course, during my musical youth, when I played my flute here under the stillness of a full moon. From somewhere in the distant darkness I was rewarded by the applause of a lone appreciative listener.

Then there was my courtship with Janet, my wife of 30 years, the romantic sojourns along the lakeshore to this tiny island park where it is possible to be truly alone. To this day, I've only shared the park with Janet and our two daughters. I fondly remember the girls bobbing about in their life jackets off the beach where we’d spread our picnic lunch.

Thinking of my children, I find my eyes watering as I read the old BC Parks plaque that tells the story of Memory Island. It’s odd that the horrors of a war more than half a century ago are the cause of the peace I enjoy here today.

Two young airmen from nearby Victoria, Kenneth Scharff and Alan Mayhew, "had spent many happy days on this lake" before they died during the Second World War. Their legacy is this lovely provincial park—at less than a hectare, it’s one of our smallest—given by their families to the people of British Columbia.

My friend, Anne Mayhew, is the daughter of Alan Mayhew. She only truly realized the significance of her family’s gesture in buying the island for the two young men as an adult. She was struck by the "caring of my grandfather and my grandmother for their lost son."

Anne, who wrote numerous articles for the former Beautiful British Columbia magazine, was only three years old when she last saw her father, going off to a war from which he never returned. His lifelong sweetheart, the late Elza Mayhew, a well-known Victoria sculptor, was left to raise their two children alone.

Memory Island was often the setting for special family gatherings. "I used to have my birthdays there," says Anne. "We would chug down the lake—it took ages—with an angel cake in the back of the boat."

Anne’s memories of Memory Island are still vivid. "It has a special place in my heart, for sure."

I agree, recalling my journeys here over the years. It’s a park with a fitting name.