Community People Profiles are a series on the Salt Spring Exchange featuring local personalities on our island home. These profiles are short interviews, with one answer questions to share with you a little about what each of these folks are thinking about as they go about their lives living on Salt Spring Island.
This weeks featured local people profile is: Suzanne Little
Here’s a bit about Suzanne;
When we first moved to Salt Spring in 1992 my husband Tom Hooper and I were in our 20's. Our friends in Vancouver thought we were crazy - they said "What will you do there?" Well we started by building an organic garden, making our own preserves, wine, beer, all the homesteading stuff. We learned how to fix things, bring in our own firewood, live without electricity at times, and hitchhike into town for provisions during snow storms. All new for me, having grown up in a suburb. And at night, with no distractions of the city, we would write music. I think this really helped our music careers having the time and space to write without distraction. Soon the kids came along and we became thoroughly involved with the schools and met many great families this way. Volunteering has been a big part of our lives here, and it has been really rewarding for us. We feel extremely fortunate that our kids Owen and Shane Hooper have gotten to perform on stages here since they were little guys. They have been supported by our community in a way that has given them confidence and a sense that the community is rooting for them, and I am grateful to Salt Spring for that.
What brought you to Salt Spring Island?
Tom and I were looking for a more authentic way of life, away from the music industry scene that we were in. We looked in the real estate section of the Vancouver Sun and saw an ad for Salt Spring Island which we had never heard of before. We met our realtor Jan MacPherson at the Fulford Ferry, and immediately upon pulling into the harbour we were charmed. We bought our house on Salt Spring that first day! Salt Spring was the place I had always dreamed of but never knew existed. We continued to travel for our musical careers, but now we had this peaceful homestead and amazing community to come home to. We have never stopped loving it.
What one thing about Salt Spring would you tell someone who has never visited the island?
Experience the Art, The Music and The Local Shops -- The art galleries and studios are phenomenal. Go to a local music venue for a magical experience. The Treehouse Cafe on a summer music night with the twinkling tree lights on and the best sound you will hear anywhere, courtesy of owner Mark Lecorre who is one of Canada's best sound engineers. And Moby's dance floor where you can "dance like no one's watching" because everyone else is. My visitors alway get into the groove there and have a blast. AND the local shopping here is a breath of fresh air. Boutique shops, markets, farm stands, and farm stores, craft fairs are totally unique. This is in sharp contrast to everywhere else you go in the world these days, where you see the same store brands, which make you feel like you never left home.
If you had a magic Salt Spring wand, what island thing would you change?
Governance. For a long time I was in love with the notion that Salt Spring was different - outside of the normal governance structures and that was romantic/ free. I voted against incorporation in the past. But I am seeing problems with our lack of structure that has caused hardships for our local businesses and community projects. There have been groups pitted against other groups due to a lack of clear protocols. We need better transparency and systems in place for our governance/ public bodies. I hope we can come to a good understanding of what will serve us best and work together in a less polarized way to find a solution.
Which well known person, living or dead, do you think would be a good addition to the island?
Randy Bachman, we miss him. Come back!
Is there a special project, business or initiative you are working on that islanders should know about?
I am working with Salt Spring Tourism to promote Salt Spring's February Festival 2016. Tons of fun stuff happening in Feb and we are doing outreach to people in the lower mainland and Vancouver Island to come visit -- helping shore up the shoulder season for our local business community. There are some incredible events Janet Clouston at the Chamber is pulling together. Stay tuned for more info!
Is there a really good interview question we should have asked you?
What community organization has helped you?
How would you have answered your question?
Salt Spring Toastmasters Club. It is great that we have one here on such a small island. It helped me when I needed to get better at speaking in front of audiences for my work. Made a huge difference for me. Check it out!.
