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November 1994 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Page 7 Point Atkinson's (Foggy) Red Letter Day By: Peter HaU cp OINT ATKINSON LIGHT I The stately tower stands like a crown on the M headland of Burrard Inlet The flashing light and foghorn's mournful sound are a colourful part of the history of West Vancouver. It is to those lighthouse keepers, whose timeless vigilance, often beyond the call of duty..... that all who sail these waters, express a neverending gratitude. fVesI Vancouver Historical Society and Friends September 1994 Brttk, break, break Oa thy eaU gray tSoaes, O Sea! Aae I wauU that aty toagae eoaU uUer The Ihoughls lhal arise ia ate. Alfred, Lord Teaaysoa For days ahead, Hugh Johnston had been saying that he was going to get Don Graham to blow the fog horn during the September 18th ceremonies commemorating the naming of the Point Atkinson Lighthouse as a National Historic Site. Well, the foghorn blew alright - and blew and blew as the real stuff came in and the horn had to do its duty - which it did to the great pleasure of the 100 or so visitors and guests. ______________________ _____________________________________________ Of course the current sound is not the one that we grew up with as children. The old one had a shorter short and a longer long blast than now, and it was the long blast of the old one which produced that mournful howl coming at us through the fog that we remember so well. The ceremony was comfortably brief, with our director (and light keeper) Don Graham doing a splendid job, without reference to a script, of providing the historical background. He reminded us of the great job that light keepers have done over the decades in keeping the sea lanes open and in rescuing those in distress. He recalled the Woodwards, the Erwins, the Graftons, and the Dawes. It was an unexpected pleasure to have Larry and Gordie Grafton present. Their father, Thomas Grafton, had been the keeper there from 1909 to 1934, and Larry followed his father briefly. The Grafton’s were well known and respected in West Vancouver as some of our members will recall. The Historic Sites & Monuments Board bronze plaque setting out the factual history of the light was unveiled with the assistance of Anna Terrana, MP who substituted for Minister Dupuy. It is not often that an event of national historic interest takes place in our community, and to recognize it the Historical Society agreed to provide a plaque to be placed in the stone wall which stands at the entrance to the light station precinct Our Laureen Jones, a professional artist and designer, drew up the design with input from Don Graham. The result was translated into a 2 foot by 4 foot granite plaque by John Peachey & Associates. This plaque is designed to remember the contribution of the keepers, and the affection that West Vancouverites feel for the Light Laureen did a superb job in selecting the words as well as the drawing as may be seen in the design below and we owe her a debt of thanks. Most of the cost was covered by private donation. To close out the day, BCTV chose to run the remarks our President, Ian Macdonald, as their main story of the event on their Weekend News at 6pm! The Historical Society was an active participant in this historic event In his remarks Don Graham uiged that the station become an interpretative centre, telling the story of the coastal light stations and the people who manned them. Now there is a challenge for us! Maybe we can help make it happen, and further enrich our historical legacy. Pt Atkinson Commemorative Piaque - Piaced by WVHS and Friends Continued from Page 2 Society President Fired On At Pt. Atkinson He watched with innocent interest as several soldiers ran down the rocks ashore and opened the doors of the garage size building on the point. To Ian’s surprise there was a cannon inside the building and the soldiers set to furiously turning cranks, changing the direction and elevation of the long barrel “Gee”,thoughtIan, “this is justlikethemovie newsreels - theanti-aircraft guns in London and that sort of thing.’’ Suddenly the air was split with an explosion and a geyser of water empted no more than thirty feet in front of the tug. “Hol-lee Geez’’, said Ian as he flew from astride the bow, “they fired that .... cannon at us!” In a second he was back at the wheelhouse. Old man Forbes bad thrown the clutch in reverse (an evasive tactic for the next salvo?) Unfortunately this only caused the tug to back into the logs behind and wound the two inch towline around the propeller. They were dead in the water, a sitting duck for the gunners ashore. A quick glance off shore, however, told them the next attack was to come from the sea. The patrol boat, always anchored a mile or so off the point was bearing down on them at top speed. What now? Were they going to launch a boarding party? - or worse, ram them! How were the old man and the boy going to defend themselves from the combined land and sea forces of the Canadian Military? The patrol boat slipped alongside the disabled tug, a tall officer looming on the foredeck. “Hi there Sir,” he said, “do you realize it’s nearly dark and you are sailing without running lights? I mean it’s wartime, eh, and you just can’t do that - You gotta have lights so we can see your registration number.” “Oh God,” said the old man as he fumbled with some loose hanging wires on the wheelhouse wall. Miraculously, in a minute, there was a dull glow from two or three outside lights. The officer shook his head and said, “Oh well, I guess that’s good enough - have a nice evening sir.” As told to a stqff reporter with only slight literary Ucence.