The Passing of Past President W. Court Haddock

Posted on September 28, 2017 by unionclub

It is with sadness that Club Management reports the passing of Past President W. Court Haddock. Mr. Haddock was 81 years old.

W. COURT HADDOCK – PAST PRESIDENT 1991-1992

A CAREER IN RETAIL MANAGEMENT…

W. Court Haddock was born in Vancouver, BC. At the age of 16, his family moved to victoria, BC where his father J.C. Haddock opened the first Woodwards store in the city. Mr. Haddock attended Victoria High School and Victoria College and shortly after, returned to Vancouver to study at the University of British Columbia, where he affiliated with a fraternity, and as house manager learned an early lesson in Club life.

In 1959, at the age of 23, he too joined the Woodwards organization and ended up spending his entire working career with the firm. As a senior buyer for the company, Mr. Haddock travelled around the globe when in 1978, at the age of 40, he received an administrative post. He then was transferred to Calgary, Alberta, to Manage a Woodwards store and to open a new location.

Court Haddock remained in Alberta until 1985 when he was transferred to Victoria to manage the Woodwards Mayfair location. It was at that time, he joined the Union Club of BC. Court served three years on the General Committee, was elected as vice-president in 1990 and as President in 1991 he dedicated his term to renovating the Club’s hotel rooms.. Although now retired, President Haddock remains a keen and loyal supporter of the Union Club of British Columbia. He, in retirement, with his wife, has visited and reported on Affiliate Clubs in the U.K., Ireland, Holland, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Court is currently a Member of Uplands Golf Club, as well as a director of Camosun Gyro.

Court Haddock passed away on September 25, 2017 at the age of 81.

3rd Annual UC Open – THANK YOU!

Posted on September 26, 2017 by unionclub

Yesterday, September 25, 2017, saw the Union Club host it’s 3rd annual UC Open at Gorge Vale Golf Course. Approximately 80 golfers enjoyed the tournament, and Mother Nature did her best to ensure a dry, mild climate was delivered, too!

On behalf of the Club, we would like to thank Tournament Organizers Barrie Hewstan (Past President), Gary Kirk and Keith McCallion; Event Coordinators Grace Van den Brink (Vice-President) and Lyle Soetaert (Finance Chair), and, last but not least, our SPONSORS:

TITLE SPONSOR
Dev Wood Consulting

PLATINUM SPONSOR
Winchester Galleries

GOLD SPONSORS
Browns Social House
Collins Barrow

SILVER SPONSORS
Harris Victoria Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
Hendry Swinton McKenzie Insurance
Intact Insurance
Knappett Projects Inc.
Lee & Lorraine Ferreira
Paul Mara Fine Jewellery & Watches
Wallace Driving School
Wellburn’s Food Market

BRONZE SPONSORS
10 Acres Bistro
Catalano Restaurant & Cicchetti Bar
Five Star Whale Watching
Garyali Architect Inc.
Jeff Bray, Capital Public Affairs
Magnolia Hotel & Spa
The Maritime Museum of British Columbia
Past President Bernard Beck and Family
Phillips Brewing & Malting Company
Rick Arora, 5th Avenue Holdings
Sam’s Deli

SUPPORTERS
Kerry Gibson
Mike Kynaston
Grace Van den Brink
Paul Vanden Brink

WE THANK YOU ALL!!

The Union Club’s Coat of Arms

Posted on September 25, 2017 by unionclub

The Significance of the Union Club Coat of Arms:

In Canada, a coat-of-arms granted by the Crown is an honour akin to an appointment to the Order of Canada or other decoration for meritorious service. In our case, the Governor General’s office has seen fit to honour our club in recognition of our history of contributions made to Victoria and the wider community.

At the centre of our arms is a depiction of the keystone over the main entrance to our clubhouse. As its purpose is to hold a structure together, it represents unity, and thus our club’s name. It is surrounded by an open wreath of golden maple leaves, in a ‘U’ shape, recalling the political goal of our founders: a ‘union’ of the Crown Colony of British Columbia with the Dominion of Canada. The artist has painted six maple leaves in the wreath, suggesting that B.C. was the sixth colony to join Canada.

Above the keystone and maple leaves are the waves and the sun-in-splendour from the Royal Arms of British Columbia. They directly signify our club as a club of British Columbia, and also the successive Lieutenant Governors who have been members. As design elements, they appear in the top portion of our shield, as they did in B.C’s arms at the time our club was founded.

A helmet sits atop our shield, as is traditional in heraldry. It is crested by a coronet of maple leaves and Pacific dogwood flowers (the provincial flower of B.C.). This coronet serves to again emphasize our name and origin, as advocating ‘union’ with the dominion. And from this coronet a lion’s paw extends, grasping a sword in a blue scabbard. The lion’s paw suggests the lion in the Royal Crest of B.C. The sword was inspired by the replica weapon borne by our modern presidents, as a symbol of their office (nicknamed, ‘Excalibur’). As a whole, the lion’s paw issuing from a coronet and grasping a weapon suggests the crest of our founding president, Sir Matthew Begbie. He bore a crest of an armoured arm issuing from a coronet and grasping a spear. Depicting our sword sheathed also recalls the badge of Knights Bachelors, which Sir Matthew would have borne.

Supporting the shield are a wapiti deer and cougar. The former is a supporter in the Royal Arms of B.C. And both are animals native to Vancouver Island. Each has a ‘collar’ of laurel, recalling the laurel wreath used to encircle our club’s monogram. And they stand on a rocky mount, reminiscent of the rocky outcroppings around Victoria and her harbour, strewn with local Douglas-fir branches. The waves beneath allude to our location at Victoria’s Inner Harbour.

Our motto is Latin (a traditional language for heraldic mottoes) can be translated as, ‘Friendship In Unity and In Strength’.

We have also been granted an heraldic badge and flag, for use by our members. These are a depiction of the club’s keystone, and (for the flag) that same badge on a flag of royal blue. To represent the club as a body, we use the design depicted on our shield as a flag (just as the provincial government uses the design from the Royal Arms of B.C. on their flags).

Stephen Lowe – A Bridge Between Cultures

Posted on September 20, 2017 by unionclub

Stephen Lowe was born in Quangdong and was long a resident of Victoria before his death from lymphoma at the age of 37.

Lowe spent most of his life in Victoria, beloved by students and collectors here. It’s inexplicable how he achieved such skill and produced so much in the short time he had. And it is even more surprising to realize that his work and his example are enormously appreciated in the burgeoning world of Chinese art.

Stephen, the eldest of five children, made his way to Hong Kong at age 17, and his determination to study art led him to Zhao Shaoang, leading exponent of the “Lingnan school,” a progressive and atmospheric style of painting that is the distinctive expression of South China. At the request of his grandfather, Lowe emigrated to Canada in 1956, at 18 years of age. He arrived to find his grandfather living in a lean-to in a ghost town, one of the few surviving emigrés still living in Cumberland.

Lowe’s talent and personality brought him valuable support in Victoria. Through connections from his first job, as a room steward at the Union Club, he was sponsored for a year in Hong Kong, where he continued his studies and met Eunice, his wife-to-be.

Fast forward over 50 years, to present day, and Club member Eunice Lowe is celebrating the release of the book she has been working on since 2005 – “Stephen Lowe – A Bridge Between Cultures”.

As Robert Amos states: “The book is a delight. The 330 pages include reproductions of 125 paintings in colour, some of the reproductions 50 centimetres across. The Chinese-language version has been published by the People’s Fine Art Publishing House of China, and the English-version, privately published. The quality of layout, paper stock and binding are beyond anything available in this country.”

Eunice Lowe has recently supplied the Club with copies of the marvelous book (in both English and Chinese), which are now on display and for sale in the Club’s display case.

Amos concludes: “What a story: A penniless immigrant lad, with nothing but native talent and the support of Victorians, created a timeless body of work in a few short years, far from home. And now Stephen Lowe’s reputation is reaching heights we just can’t imagine. Victoria’s art culture is rich.”

Members’ Town Hall Meeting

Posted on September 19, 2017 by unionclub

TOWN HALL MEETING

Date: Saturday, September 30, 2017 Time: 2:00pm

Topic: Dress Code at the Club

As the Club’s Dress Code nears its 6-month anniversary, Club members are invited to join President Lawrence Graham, Vice-President Grace Van den Brink and members of the General Committee at this Town Hall Meeting, to provide input, receive updates and discuss the Dress Code.

For the sake of planning, reservations are requested.

Please visit the Front Desk, call 250-384-1151 (ext. 0) or email .

Get to Know a Golf Course Like the Back of Your Hand

Posted on September 18, 2017 by unionclub

With the Club’s UC Open coming up on Monday, September 25, we thought it would it would be neat to introduce you to the newest golf gadget that has all the Pro Shops talking!

If you’re in the market for the newest in on-course technology, Johnny Miller has something you’ll want to consider!

If you’ve listened to Johnny Miller often enough on NBC golf, you’ve probably heard him say that when he was playing his best, he used to ask his caddie to give him yardages in half yards.

If you are old enough to remember watching televised golf in Miller’s prime, which was the 1970s, you’ll know he was probably not kidding. Anyone who saw those desert victories in person or on TV will recall that Miller was able to hit it to within three feet of the pin on many occasions. He was that accurate, at least for a while.

We should not be surprised that he’s involved with a golf equipment company that has put GPS on the back of a golf glove: Zero Friction DistancePro.

Miller’s not just a spokesperson for Zero Friction, he’s part owner of the company. But he has the kind of track record that makes him an expert. If you look at his victories, you’ll see that he was a Tiger Woods type player in his era. In 1974, he won eight tournaments. In 1975, he won four times. In 1976, he won three, including the Open Championship.

Because so many of Miller’s victories were in the desert, he got a nickname: The Desert Fox, previously attributed to the WWII German general Erwin Rommel.

Miller won back-to-back-to-back at the Dean Martin Tucson Open (and then NBC Tucson Open) from 1974-1976. He won the Phoenix Open back-to-back in 1974 and 1975. And he won the Bob Hope Desert Classic back-to-back in 1975 and 1976. His strategy was simple. Hit it close to the flagstick.

Miller’s accuracy was uncanny, and so if he said he needed distances to within a half yard, who can disagree. Perhaps in the spirit of needing to know better distances, Miller and Zero Friction came up with the Zero Friction DistancePro GPS Glove. Yes. That’s right. GPS has migrated from your phone or watch to the back of your hand.

The DistancePro GPS device is a matchbox sized – for those who remember matchboxes – or a third of a credit card-sized GPS unit that attaches to the back of the golf glove with Velcro and a special metal dowel to hold it in place. The DistancePro GPS unit gives distances to the front, center and back of the green on more than 35,000 golf courses. To activate it, you download the Zero Friction DistancePro app and sync the phone to the GPS unit. When you get to the course, you’re ready to go.

You have to be within a 100-foot range of your phone for the distances to show on the GPS. So put the phone in the back pocket or park the cart close. The battery lasts for 400 hours, and it’s very easy to change as Joe Jung, the National Sales Director for Zero Friction demonstrated at the ING Conference at the World Golf Village earlier this season.

When you wear out the glove, you take the DistancePro GSP unit off that glove and put it on a new one. You’re ready to go again.

What will they think of next!?

UC Walking Club

Posted on September 17, 2017 by unionclub

Many members have commented that they enjoy nothing more than a decent walk in our fair city. The Union Club figured: if so many members are out and about walking, and more and more health benefits from walking are being realized, why not form a Walking Club?

Please join Past President Barrie Hewstan for any of the following walks, all departing the Union Club’s front stairs at 9:00am:

FUTURE WALKING CLUB DATES:

Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Time: 9:00am
Walking Area: To West Bay Marina & Village, along the West Bay Walkway.

Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Time: 9:00am
Walking Area: To Ross Bay Cemetary, via Beacon Hill Park and Cook Street Village.

Date: Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Time: 9:00am
Walking Area: To Selkirk Trestle, via Vic West and the Galloping Goose Trail.

Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Time: 9:00am
Walking Area: To the Bay Centre, Empress Hotel, Grand Pacific and Laurel Point Inn to view Christmas displays.

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Time: 9:00am
Walking Area: To Government House, via Rockland and Fairfield.

If interested, please register at the Front Desk.

New £10 Note Featuring Jane Austen Enters Circulation

Posted on September 16, 2017 by unionclub

The new, polymer £10 note featuring Jane Austen comes into circulation today.

Austen is the only woman – apart from the Queen – to now feature on an English bank note, following the withdrawal of the old £5 notes in May, which featured Elizabeth Fry. Fry was replaced with a picture of Winston Churchill.

Paper bank notes – £5, £10 and £20 – are slowly being replaced by plastic notes, which are more secure and resilient to counterfeiting, more resistant to dirt and more durable.

The paper fiver is no longer legal tender, and once the new £10 note enters circulation, its paper predecessor will be withdrawn from circulation in Spring 2018.

What Does the New £10 Look Like?

The new £10 note features English novelist Austen with plump cheeks and a calm expression, taken from a portrait which was commissioned after her death at the age of 41.

The note has already attracted some criticism due to the fact that Austen’s portrait appears to be “airbrushed”. It shows her noticeably prettier and less drawn than she appears in the only contemporary painting of her which exists (and is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.)

As well as Austen’s portrait, the tenner features a quote from Pride and Prejudice when Miss Bingley exclaims: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment but reading!”

Use of this particular quote has caused controversy as it isn’t spoken by Austen, but by one her most obnoxious characters, a woman who doesn’t actually like reading books at all.

The new note is around 15pc smaller than the current £10 and is the first Bank of England banknote to be printed with a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner to help blind and partially sighted users.

This is in addition to the elements already incorporated in the banknotes for vision impaired people, which include tiered sizing, bold numerals, raised print and differing colour palettes.

The new £10 is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer than its paper predecessor – around five years in total, the Bank of England said.

Why Jane Austen?

Austen’s presence on the new £10 note was one of the first announcements made by Mr Carney after he took up his position as governor of the Bank of England.

He said: “Jane Austen certainly merits a place in the select group of historical figures to appear on our banknotes.

“Her novels have an enduring and universal appeal, and she is recognized as one of the greatest writers in English literature.

“As Austen joins Adam Smith, Boulton and Watt, and… Churchill, our notes will celebrate a diverse range of individuals who have contributed in a wide range of fields.”

What Will the Note Be Made Of?

The Bank of England has refused to bow to pressure to make its £10 plastic bank note tallow-free, despite anger from vegans and vegetarians. But the central bank has backed the use of palm oil in its new £20 note following the backlash.

More than 136,000 people signed a Change.org petition calling for the Bank of England to cease using animal fat in the production of currency.

When Will the Old £10 Note Cease to be Legal Tender?

The Bank of England says that the old £10, which features Charles Darwin, will be gradually phased out and officially withdrawn from circulation in Spring 2018, with notice given at least three months prior to the withdrawal date.

When Will the £20 and £50 Notes Be Replaced?

The new polymer £20 banknote will be issued in 2020, with the face of J.M.W Turner printed on it. The Bank has not confirmed whether the £50 note, featuring Boulton and Watt, will be replaced.

How Much Would a Tenner Have Been Worth in Jane Austen’s Time?

£10 in Jane Austen’s time would have been worth the equivalent of £786 in today’s money, according to analysis by Aviva.

If the Bank of England had wanted the new £10 banknote to have the same purchasing power that £10 enjoyed 200 years ago, it would need to be revalued as the £786 banknote. But thanks to the eroding impact of inflation, £10 today has a relative purchasing power of only 13p, compared with what it could have bought in 1817.

According to Mr Carney, £10 was half the annual allowance she received from her father while he was alive. A £10 note may also have had a symbolic meaning to her, as it was the amount she was paid by publishers Crosby and Co. for her first novel, Susan, he said.

Donate to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Posted on September 15, 2017 by unionclub

In advance of September 23rd’s ART+FARE3, Club members are invited to donate to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, in support of the Children and Family Programs at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

For this reason, a donation station has been set-up in the Club’s main lobby. All donations received will be entered into a draw to win 6 bottles of Burrowing Owl Pinot Gris!! The draw will take place during Art+Fare 3.

For further information relating to Art+Fare 3, please visit the Art+Fare website.

Irish Times Nominated for Best Irish Pub in North America

Posted on September 15, 2017 by unionclub

A local watering hole may turn out to be the best Irish pub on the continent.

Victoria’s Irish Times has been nominated by Irish Pubs Global for the best Irish Pub in North America. The tavern has been the recipient of multiple awards, including Victoria News’s Best Pub award in the Best of the City for eight years and runner-up for four, placing every year since the category was created 12 years ago.

Manager Darragh O’Malley said being nominated is an honour, especially in such a large market.

“If you think of the amount of Irish pubs across the States and in Canada, to be nominated is just an insane thing to happen,” he said.

O’Malley has seen his share of Irish pubs, having lived in Dublin until just over two years ago when he moved to Victoria. He thinks this is one of the better ones he’s seen outside his country of origin.

“The Irish Times would be one of the more authentic Irish pubs that I’ve ever been in outside Ireland,” he said, adding that live Irish music, televised sports, food and cozy, warm decor and friendly atmosphere all add to the experience.

The pub has also been nominated for the best craft beer, best food, best chef and best bar person in North America.

The Union Club of British Columbia

Monthly Archives: September 2017