Today we are here to remember Mary Bindig - born in 1936 and returned to the sphere of our universe in this year of 1999 on May 28th. Mary settled in Anmore in 1966 but came from a pioneering family that called their first home Fort Henry. An amazing person- Mary Bindig - a person who had an abiding love for all living things: plants and flowers, animals and even slugs, and, of course, people. For several years Mary knew of her illness, and the termination of her life. In the style of her mind, she persisted silently in her goal - protecting the beauty of our environment - a goal that would enhance the lives of us all - a vision which she never surrendered.
She was an amazing person. I can remember her remarks in council - always polite but always to the point. The point was sometime sharp, but the scissors of her comments always resulted in the idea of beauty and of how we can protect this place in which we live. What a clear memory I have of Mary, sitting in the front row of our Council chambers, hands folded, quiet and polite. But passion lay behind that politeness and at public meeting she was always strong in her support of the Anmore concept, a concept of peace and tranquillity within a rural setting.
When it came to her concept of Anmore she could be imposing, articulate and, like a very strong wind, could sweep aside contrasting views of the Anmore as a model of the future. She madesure that we, as Council, and we as the citizens of this village, maintained out commitments to a respect for the environment, and for each other - she was almost always there and, as much as anyone is, was always right. I remember, on many occasions, heading toward the Village Hall, in the odd hours of a weekend, or at some weird time when everyone had left, thinking Mary will be there. She was there almost always - caring for the garden she loved - making the world feel good when entering our place of bureaucracy - the beauty of her world made us all feel good. And then there were the walkways and the entrance to our village, and the fire hall - one could go on to list the whole of her efforts, willingly done without fanfare or claim, but for the whole of us. The inspiration for her vision of the Village must have derived from the love of her gardens, which were designed around the concept of Naturescape. I can remember her coming to Council and dropping this idea - the idea that a manicured environment is not a natural environment. The idea that the chaos of nature is nature, and because of that has a beauty of its own, and the idea that we should incorporate that into the vision of our future - into this village of ours. This idea was not accepted by all but, in Mary's quite but persistent style, she led us all in that direction and left the legacy of a beautiful idea that makes the space in which we live a beautiful place. Mary wanted to always be part of this place, part of her gardens and of the mountains and springs of life that are all about - and she is.
She rests in spirit within the flowers and the growing things about us and, as part of that will always be with us, in our memories and in our thanks for what she contributed to our peace of mind and our peace of place. In the Village garden stands a stump that Mary wanted, a stump moved there - a sort of demonstration of our dedication to a natural environment. That stump will always be known as Mary's stump. This plaque will be placed on that stump as a dedication to Mary so that her contribution will always be a part of this place. In future years to come children will say, "who is that person, Mary Bindig - the person on this stump?" For those of us who are still here we will say, "If you look hard enough you will see Mary everywhere"
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Hal Weinberg, Mayor,
Village of Anmore 20 June, 1999
