As senior citizens, we moved to Qualicum Beach nearly 30 years ago, and it did not take us too long to recognize the problem. I agree with Dallas’ letter. This was particularly noticeable when I was patrolling downtown and beach areas with Citizens on Patrol. Groups of young people were just hanging-out, looking for something to do.
I realize that a house was made available a number of years ago — the table tennis set that we donated seems to have disappeared, along with the house. While this was a great idea, it is my opinion that the location was simply too far from the downtown area, the natural gathering place for students.
During my teenage years in Halifax in the war years and after, we were fortunate to acquire, at no cost, a vacant double garage from a citizen who no longer had a need for it. We teenagers upgraded the building, laid a used hardwood floor for dancing, installed toilets for girls and boys, built a music booth from which a volunteer played music for dancing on Friday and Saturday nights.
Surely somewhere in Qualicum Beach there is an empty structure that would accommodate a teen-age club. Surely there are responsible teenagers who can upgrade and manage their own club without expecting a hand-out from the town.
Bud Stevens
Qualicum Beach
