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1. Santa Claus!2. William H. Pierce3. Thomas Crosby V4. Aiding and abetting at Pulteney Point c. 1970 |
 Santa at McInnes  Santa at McInnes 1977 with our son Graham  Our children, |
1. Santa Claus! Besides the mail, the other most important event on the lighthouses was the arrival of Santa Claus!* One cannot imagine the excitement of the kids for the week before the scheduled Santa arrival. Depending on the station, this could take place anywhere from December 6th to December 18th. Couldn't leave it much later otherwise Santa wouldn't get all his other work done. Cookies were baked, rooms were cleaned (really!) and the best clothes laid out. By the way, Santa had his own special helicopter! In the early days he was transported by ship and flown off the ship by a small helicopter so that he could visit the lighthouse children. Later he had his own private Coast Guard helicopter for the day and night, which flew him out of Victoria, BC  or Prince Rupert, BC .
On the day of the scheduled arrival nobody could settle down, especially the children. With two young families on a station there could be from 2 - 6 children for Santa to share mysteries with. Usually the two families got together in the preparation of eats and drinks. Santa was OK, but we could not give the pilots anything with alcohol! Lots of coffee! The Coast Guard radio usually radioed ahead that Santa was on his way. "Estimated time of arrival about 10:30". Everybody was standing up at the helicopter pad waiting in anticipation. "McInnes Island . McInnes Island. This is Coast Guard 358. Will be landing in 15 minutes and shutting down. We don't require the tractor but we do have a small mailbag for you. In case anyone is interested we also have Santa onboard!"
"358 McInnes. Roger. Thanks. Everybody is waiting for Santa." When the chopper landed the pilot shut down the engines and Santa emerged from the left door all dressed in red and white with a big bag of toys* for the kids. Once the blades of the helicopter had stopped moving the children were allowed on the helicopter pad to greet Santa and escort him to the house. Incoming mail was picked up and also outgoing mail was placed in the chopper's cargo area. Once the pilot was free of the helicopter he was escorted to the house as well. A decorated Christmas tree* usually greeted the guests and Santa sat down to talk with the children and dig in his bag for the gifts. The pilot was entertained, coffee'd and fed until he was full. No need to pack a lunch today! (And he still had more lightstations to go to!) Depending on weather and time, the visit usually lasted about 1/2 to 1 hour. The pilot was in charge and set the schedule depending on where he had to go and the weather conditions. (remember, this is December!) Upon departure all personnel escorted the guests to the helicopter, sorted out the departing mail and Xmas parcels for other stations and stood back to watch the helicopter wind up and slowly rise into the cool December air - Santa and the children waving to each other as the helicopter became a small speck in the sky on its way to another lighthouse. ********************************************* * For many years in the Victoria District, Santa Claus was played by Pen Brown from the Victoria Coast Guard Base and former Pine Island lighthouse keeper. He was not your normal Santa Claus shape but a bit of padding disguised his lack of obesity and his friendly manner made up for the rest.
In the Prince Rupert District, for 37 years [2006] Jim West, sign painter, has been the Santa Claus for the kids without fail. His portly shape and friendly smile made him the perfect Santa. In earlier years he used to powder his beard white but in later years this has not been necessary! * Depending on the district, the toys were paid for by the parents and purchased by people in town. A lot of times there were also voluntary gifts and surprises for all. * On stations with no trees like Green Island , a couple of Christmas trees were usually flown in on the December grocery run.
- John Coldwell (Retired Keeper from Pulteney, Kains, Pachena, Green, and McInnes 1969 - 2001) This is the flight from December 2006 - photos from Susan "the elf" This unique video with music from fliptrack |
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 Picture #1  Picture #2  Picture #3  MV Wm. H. Pierce |
2. William H. Pierce The following guestbook entry was received by Ron Ammundsen, webmaster of the BC Lighthouse webpages and forwarded to me. It was signed by Michael Gallagher. Between 1952-56 in the summers, I was aboard the "William H. Pierce" with Dr. George Darby out of Bella Bella (now Waglisla) . We went ashore at most lighthouses from Boat Bluff south to Egg Island , sometimes for medical reasons, sometimes to take magazines, have tea and talk . . . mainly listen.
After Ron forwarded the entry to me I contacted Mike and asked if he had any stories for the "Memories" webpage. He said: I probably have too many stories of my four summers with Dr. Darby, so I'll mention a couple as they relate to lighthouses. Dr. Darby set up a first aid station at Wadhams on Rivers Inlet and staffed it with a medical student. We'd go there almost weekly with supplies and assistance. Keep in mind that Dr. Darby was a physician/surgeon, a minister for the United Church of Canada, a Justice of the Peace, a counsellor and believe it or not, the game warden.
We visited logging camps, fish camps, canneries, native villages, and lighthouses.We went ashore at all the lights from Butedale to the north to Margaret Bay in the south. As I'm sure you know, that included Boat Bluff , Ivory Island , Dryad Point , Pointer Island (now automated) , Addenbroke , and Egg Island . Egg Island was my favorite to visit. We'd anchor in the lee cove and take magazines and news and have long talks with the isolated couple there. I took their old dog at their request to put him down before burying at sea.
I remember there being oodles of children at the Boat Bluff station. Lastly, I nearly hit Pointer Island in the fog one time. There was no radar in those days, and oftentimes the good Doctor couldn't wait on the fog to lift, and on that day there was some emergency at Namu. We were headed south from Bella Bella copying the course and speed at twelve (12) knots from the log book. Must have been a little off that day because suddenly the cliff at Pointer Island appeared out of the fog. Hard to port we went and missed her. These memories are rich. Thanks for listening. Having a few more questions I wrote again. One of my queries was why he had not mentioned McInnes Island (my last station). His reply:
Yes, we were Inside Passage folks . . . Butedale south to Margaret Bay on Smith's Inlet. As most of the folks from Bella Bella left for the fishing grounds (primarily Rivers Inlet ) Dr. Darby followed them . . . Namu , Wadhams , R.I.C.(Rivers Inlet Cannery), Duncanby Landing , etc.
Another query I had was why there was no mention of the "William H. Pierce" on the United Church website and he replied: The "William H. Pierce" probably went with the hospital [at Bella Bella], and not the Coastal Church Mission. She was only 41 ft. . . . a bridge-deck cruiser*, who went about twelve (12) knots with her Buda diesel. I found three pictures, which are attached.[see photos on the side panel] The one broadside of the Pierce is probably 1953 at Pointer Island Lighthouse.[picture #1] Another is of the "Pierce" loading up for a Rivers Inlet trip at the dock at Campbell Island, Bella Bella.[picture #2] The third picture is the Pierce tied alongside the "Thomas Crosby IV", probably at Margaret Bay. That's Dr. Darby on the stern of the "Pierce" with his grandson. On the stern of the "Crosby" is the engineer/skipper . . . I think his name was John . . . he had his aged mother aboard that trip. [picture #3] As a bit of extra news he said: Incidentally, one summer I saved the Union Steamship fare to Vancouver by taking the wheel of the "Thomas Crosby IV" from Bella Bella to Menshen's Boatworks in North Vancouver .
Also incidentally, I was so moved by Dr. Darby's mentorship, I finished college and became a physician myself. Mike Gallagher - deckhand and acting skipper "W. H. Pierce" - mate on "Thomas Crosby IV". His words say it better than I could ever write it. These were some of the people we welcomed as visitors to our lighthouses. J.A.C. * "Wiliam H. Pierce A 45-foot diesel-powered cabin cruiser purchased by the United Church hospital at Bella Bella about 1947 and used by Dr. George Darby" . . . [the name] "honoured a Tsimshean worker". (quotations from Godships by Oliver R. Howard, © 1984 United Church Observer) For more information on William Henry Pierce, see this Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia article on the man. |
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 MV TCV underway  TCV with a  TCV at dock 1993 |
3. Thomas Crosby V - one of the "Bookboats" The following article is used with permission from the Prince Rupert Library (PRL) website. The article below, complete with more references and photos can be found on this page of the PRL website.
A Brief History of Mission Boats on the Northwest Coast. Mission Boats are ships that exist all over the world, with the main purpose of spreading the word of God to various isolated communities. Mission Boats travel to all sorts of locations, with various goals in mind. Mission Boats have quite a history along the Northwest coast of BC, with the Thomas Crosby being the main one. The Thomas Crosby V is a traditional ministry that began with a canoe in 1874 when Rev. Thomas Crosby, a Methodist missionary, worked out of Port Simpson , to as far south as Victoria. There were 5 Thomas Crosby's built, with the first one being built in 1912, the second in 1920, the third in 1923, the fourth in 1938, and the fifth in 1967 in New Westminster.
The Thomas Crosby V was a 80 foot vessel, had a 21 foot beam, and a 10 foot draught. The crew was made up of seven, and was licensed to carry 40 passengers, and sleep 25. The Thomas Crosby V was capable of year round sailing and was fully equipped with radar, depth sounder, Citizen Band radio, chart room, intercom throughout, complete alarm system, radio, waterlight compartments, two inflatable rafts, one diesel inboard and one Canova inflatable boat powered by an outboard engine. The first steel vessel used for mission work and built by the church at Star Ship Yards in 1967 after designs by G. Talbot. It was put into service in 1967 out of Prince Rupert. Since 1977 it has been under the command of missionary-skipper Oliver Howard and operated out of Prince Rupert. In 1990 The United Church decided that due to changing times, and better faster ways of serving isolated people it would be sold. The ship was then sold to a Cayman Island based company, Kennford Limited. They stated that the ship was going to be used to uphold the principles of living and acting for the good of others. - author unknown More photos and history of the BC coast mission boats can be found on this British Columbia Conference United Church webpage.
A list of ships of the Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Churches of British Columbia can be found on this Prince Rupert Library page. |
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| John Coldwell (retired BC lighthouse keeper) Galvanistrasse 8 A-4040 Linz, Austria Tel: +43 (732) 750515  |