Reminiscences about Lund’s most colourful era will be centre stage in the community during the August long weekend.
On Sunday, August 2, the Lund reunion, reliving the tie-dyed hippy days of the late 1960s and early 1970s, will bring together a number of those who experienced the culture and counter-culture of the times in that coastal town.
Tai Uhlmann, one of the organizers, said there have been a couple of reunions previously in Lund, and last summer, there had been discussion about those who had lived in the community but moved away over the years. The discussion centred on how important it was to get everybody together again. Also, the documentary film that Uhlmann and her husband Theo Angell are producing: The End of the Road, would benefit greatly from reconnecting with people who had lived in Lund during the 1960s and ‘70s.
“We decided to have it a year from last summer and the reunion part is for people who were here in the ‘70s, who are still here, or who moved away and are coming back.”
The reunion itself will be an event exclusively for those that were living in the community in the hippy era, plus their families and friends. The count for the celebration is about 150 adults. People are coming from Vancouver and Vancouver Island, California and many other places.
“There’s a lot of people who feel connected to this place,” Uhlmann said. “I think people stay connected. I think it’s because many of them were in their early 20s when they came here and your friends start to become your family when you are that age.”
While there are many people coming back to Lund for the reunion, many have remained in the community. Those from out of town may have heard about the reunion through the promotion that was undertaken for the documentary, plus, a website was created for the reunion, and there has been other outreach.
The reunion weekend will begin with a beach day on Savary Island on Saturday, August 1. The following day will be the formal reunion, which begins at the old Lund Elementary School, now the community centre. While the dinner will be catered, it will be potluck style because that was traditionally how gatherings in Lund were arranged.
Participants will mingle when they arrive. After an opportunity for some social interaction, those attending the reunion will form in a big circle. They will share their stories and memories with the rest of those in attendance.
“It will be a time to talk together and share experiences, sing songs and give thanks for being together,” Uhlmann said. “People will reconnect and we’ll party.”
She said many people moving to Lund in the ‘60s and ‘70s left their families and came for political or lifestyle reasons. They found likeminded people that shared beliefs.
“They experienced this new way of life together which was probably really hard,” Uhlmann said. “They built houses together and raised families together. They were tightly knit.”
Some of the existing Lund residents such as Courtney Cressy and Fred Pihl were “lifesavers,” in helping some of the new residents find their way in their new community. While a number of people migrating here were highly educated, the movement here was certainly was not about money or career. Just setting up places to live could be a huge challenge for the newcomers.
“People salvaged stuff and made it happen,” Uhlmann said. “It was a different mentality.”
After the formal reunion festivities at the community centre, the public is invited to head out to Lund to participate in a dance. The Wildwood Social Club is going to play at the Lund gazebo from 7 pm to 1 am. There is a suggested $10 donation and proceeds will go toward the music for the evening. Children are free.
