Molly’s Reach has global fame

Molly’s Reach is still in Gibsons, B.C. — serving Beach combers themed menu items like Nick’s Lamb Burger, The Constable omelette, and Relic’s Big Breakfast — which of course features the option of ham.

And the original Persephone — Nick Adonidas’s famous Beachcombing boat — is drydocked forever around the corner for tourists to pose with.

“I will bet anyone right now that Molly’s Reach is the most recognizable B.C. building in the world,” Jackson Davies (a.k.a. Constable Constable) said.

“We could show a picture of Molly’s Reach in Australia or Germany or Italy, and say, ‘Do you recognize any of these buildings? You’ve got the parliament building, you can have the convention centre — which building would you recognize?”

Molly’s Reach manager Wheath Ralla seems to confirm Davies’s theory: “Pretty much every second customer mentions The Beachcombers,” says Ralla, “and they’re from everywhere.”

Ralla is displaying some of Relic’s costumes from the series.

Duane Burnett, who runs a popular culture website devoted to promoting events on the Sunshine Coast, said, “I grew up watching The Beachcombers, and I am a huge fan. I looked forward to it every Sunday at 7 p.m. on CBC right after Walt Disney. I spent many a summer on the Sunshine Coast watching the cast and crew film episodes, then eagerly tried to spot the segment in the show.”

Barnett, who has created a special video on his site to celebrate the show, says he grew up dreaming of being in the series.

“So my cousins and I devised a plot to walk into Molly’s Reach while filming and order a pop, pretending we didn’t know it was only a television set.”