Beacon Hill Park tree to honour city’s first female mayor
Victoria plans to plant a tree in Beacon Hill Park to honour Gretchen Brewin, the first woman to be elected the city’s mayor.
The tree is to be planted this spring in the Mayor’s Grove in Heywood Meadow east of Arbutus Way. The species of tree is yet to be determined.
Coun. Marianne Alto made the recommendation to plant the tree, which was unanimously approved by councillors without debate. The decision has to be ratified at Thursday’s council meeting.
“She was the first woman mayor that we had. That was pretty momentous. Now we have another woman mayor, but there’s been a huge amount of time between the two,” Alto said.
“I just felt it would be nice to do something to commemorate her service.”
Brewin, who now lives in Vancouver, was elected mayor for two terms from 1985 through 1990. After her time in civic politics she went on to be elected as MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill.
Too often, Alto said, organizations wait until after someone is dead before honouring them.
“We don’t often enough, I think, appreciate our leaders while they are still alive and it’s kind of nice, I think, to make a gesture of appreciation for service [while someone is still alive],” Alto said.
The mayor’s grove was established during a 1927 convention of western mayors in Victoria. At the time, nine mayors planted trees, according to a report submitted to councillors by Alto.
In following years several visiting dignitaries planted trees, including Winston Churchill (a hawthorn in 1929), the king of Siam (an oak in 1931) and Lord Baden-Powell (an oak in 1935).
Alto said the grove fell into decline during the 1950s but was restored in the 1960s by former mayor Richard Wilson.
In 1963, a refurbished Mayors Grove sign was erected northeast of Goodacre Lake listing 25 dignitaries, the tree species they had planted — oak, maple, fir, ash beech, copper beech, linden or hawthorn — and the dates.
Alto expects a planting ceremony will take place in April, including installation of a small commemorative plaque.