How delightful it was to read the announcement of Conde Nast’s choice of Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino as the No. 1 Resort in Canada and the U.S.A.
A Sooke girl, Leah Van Beers, granddaughter of a longtime early family here, Elmer and Evelyn Stolth of Sooke River Road, is part of the Wickaninnish Resort family. Married to Bruce McDiarmid, Leah numbers among her Sooke connections, her aunts, Karen Brooks and Elinor McClimon, and cousins Laurie Szadkowski, Doni Eve, Bonnie and Lorna Hay.
The Conde Nast announcement comes as no surprise to the many Sooke and worldwide residents who have visited the Wickaninnish Inn and found it to be a fabulous experience.
The name Wickaninnish comes from a First Nations chief located at Clayoquot Sound in the late 1700s and early 1800s. In 1955, a newly minted physician, Howard McDiarmid, arrived at Tofino to take over the brand-new Tofino hospital, where as the only doctor in town, he was kept busy delivering 100 babies a year.
Attracted to the natural beauty of the West Coast scenes, such as Long Beach and Chesterman Beach, and taking an interest in the community’s advancement, he won a seat in the provincial legislature in the 1960s, and was also instrumental in lobbying the federal government to establish Pacific Rim National Park.
The McDiarmid sons, Charles and Bruce, treasured the environment and history as well, and in time, on the family property, they began working for a family dream. The two hard-working brothers did much of the physical work themselves, retaining as many trees and as much of the natural environment as possible, to establish the now-famous Wickaninnish Inn. By 1996 the place was ready for guests, and it seems they’ve never looked back. Awards began and have followed over the years.
One of the points of interest for Sooke visitors to Tofino is that right out the inn’s windows one can view Lennard Island, the site of a well-storied West Coast lighthouse. It was to build the keeper’s residence at Lennard Island that the Sooke carpenter firm of Fred Oakes and John Wilson hired a barge at Sooke Harbour in 1959, loaded it with building supplies, and spent the summer camping on the island to carry out the construction.
Many of our Sooke folks are sure to be pleased and excited at this singular honour bestowed on Wickaninnish Inn and join in celebrating the West Coast families who have worked so hard to make it all happen.
Elida Peers is the historian with Sooke Region Museum.
