Dear Editor:
At the time last weeks Historical Lens photo was taken, the Hotel Windermere was owned jointly by Edgar Stoddart; his brother James widow, Rose Stoddart; and Maud Stoddart Chisholm the sister of Edgar and James, who was married to A.M. Chisholm, a local magistrate and author.
As you mentioned, the original log building (at one time a stage coach stop) was pictured to the left and the two buildings were connected by a closed walkway.
As a young child in the 1930s, I visited there often. It was then being managed by Maud Chisholm, since Edgar died in 1934. I especially remember exploring the third floor where my friend and I found things like boxes of shirt collars and other memorabilia of bygone days.
Across the street was a huge empty space where baseball games were played in the summer. I remember the lobby area of the newer building being quite lovely with a curving staircase. There was a huge old stove in the kitchen of the old section that had been the domain of a Chinese cook for many years.
Reg and Ethel Wannop of Calgary purchased the property in the early 1940s and Mrs. Wannop ran a dress shop in the old log portion. Her daughter Gloria and I were thrilled to be models when she sponsored fashion shows in the main hotel.
I think the photo in your paper captures the hotel at its finest!
Bernice Stoddart Hathaway
Parksville, B.C.
