Dancing and 1970s fashion at the Renaissance Faire

Dancing and 1970s fashion at the Renaissance Faire

by | Feb 10, 2015

Dancing and 1970s fashion the Renaissance Faire

The Comox Valley’s counter-culture came together during the 1970s for the annual Renaissance Faire. There was music, dancing, arts and crafts and, to the horror of The Establishment, smoking of marijuana — done secretly in those days, of course. Fashion trends seem to favor long skirts and dresses for women, while the men went topless over old jeans.

Do you recognize anyone in this photograph? if you do, please leave a comment below. Or just share your memories of the Renaissance Faire. You can also join the conversation by “liking” the Decafnation Facebook page.

Keep on truckin’

George Le Masurier

Decafnation | Feb. 10, 2017

Farmhand — at Knight Road potato farm

by | Jan 28, 2015

Potato farmer on Knight Road

I knew Robin and Danny Woodrow, and sometimes visited the Woodrow brothers potato farm on Knight Road. On one of these visits, in the late 1970s or early 1980s, I snapped a photograph of a farm worker in front of a warehouse full of their recent harvest. But I never even knew his name. I would like to know more about him.

Leah Woodrow contacted her uncle, Robin Woodrow, in Arizona who provided this information: “This is Gerry Scott, ex-armed forces. Worked for Danny and myself, very loyal employee. Always arrived half-hour early and stayed half-hour later than he had to. Wendell Kline now lives in his house on the Tsolum River Road.”

George Le Masurier

Decafnation | Feb. 6, 2017

Dave Hardy, chopping a wood pile in Cumberland

Dave Hardy, chopping a wood pile in Cumberland

by | Jan 27, 2015

Dave Hardy, in Cumberland

I bought a house and moved my family from Comox to Cumberland in the late 1970s. The village had become an enclave for a new wave of artists emerging from the newly formed Comox Valley Arts Alliance, and others in search of affordable housing.

One of the first people I met there was a commercial fisher named Dave Hardy. He had a trawler moored at the Government Wharf in Comox (I can’t remember the name of his boat) and worked local waters. He was a kind person. When my father visited from Minnesota, Dave  offered to take him on as deckhand for a day. It was an experience my dad talked about for years.

I walked by Dave’s house one late-summer day and found him working on an enormous pile of logs in his yard. He heated his house with wood, as did many in Cumberland. The way he trimmed his beard always made me think of Abe Lincoln, but better looking and living the west coast lifestyle.

George Le Masurier

Decafnation | Jan. 27, 2017