It’s not often long-time community activist Hazel Beech doesn’t know what to say, but it happened last Tuesday.
Beech was named a freeman of the town, during the Tuesday, May 24 Town of Lake Cowichan council meeting.
“This is a very rewarding evening for me and council, because we get to reward an outstanding citizen,” mayor Ross Forrest said, introducing Beech.
A former alderman of the Village of Lake Cowichan, as well as a volunteer member of too many organizations to count, Beech has certainly made an impact throughout the Cowichan Lake area over the years.
Beech’s latest volunteer efforts have been accomplished as a member of the Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society and the Town of Lake Cowichan’s Advisory Planning Commission.
When asked after the meeting why she’s spent so much time volunteering, she said that it’s all about the greater good.
“The things that want to do good,” she said, of her selection of groups to be a part of. “I’m feeling well and I hope I can keep doing things for a while.”
“She’s done an awful lot in her civic duty for the Town of Lake Cowichan,” Forrest said.
Beech was taken aback by the award. Her daughter, Rolli Gunderson, had tricked her into going to the meeting by telling her that there was an item to be discussed by council that needed her support.
“I’m speechless,” Beech said, surrounded by family after receiving the award from Forrest and his fellow elected officials. “I’m pleased and thankful… I’m flabbergasted.”
After the meeting, Beech said that up until the last batch of grandchildren walked into the council chambers, she didn’t realize she was about to be awarded as a freeman of the town.
“I think she’s always worked hard to get what’s good for the future of the lake,” commission chair Chris Rolls said. “I admire her for how she sticks with things… She’s always there, but it’s never for her, it’s for everybody.”
Overall, Beech has spent 70 years living in the Cowichan Lake area, with various chunks of time spent elsewhere, including Cuba, where she still tries to go at least once a year.
“I got attached to it like I did Cowichan Lake,” she said, of her Cuban friends.
Her father worked at the Youbou Mill, alongside her two brothers. Beech went on to work at the Honeymoon Bay Mill, travelled with a carnival, and took on various other jobs over the years.
She’s also taken to writing, and has written a number of books, including a well-received one in 1977 about her work in the carnival business.
“I’m still writing books,” she said. “I’ve got one on poetry, and I’m going to get around to getting that published.”
She’s also working on an autobiographical account of herself and her father, Harvey, who brought the first carnival to the Cowichan Lake area in the 1940s.
Beech said that she plans on staying in the Cowichan Lake area.
“You’re so used to being here it’s home,” she said, adding that she’s related to much of the town, at this point.
Beech is the fourth citizen to be named a freeman of the town, and is also distinguished as the first woman freeman.
Barry Volkers, Tom Gordon, and Archie Greenwell have all received the distinction.
