[BCMA] Media release - 2019 Maritime Museum BEAVER Medal Presentations

Tue Nov 12 13:44:26 PST 2019

News Release  
For
Immediate Release  
12
November 2019  

The 2019 Maritime Museum BEAVER Medal Presentations  

On
November 8, 2019, three British Columbians and a heritage steam tug were awarded
the Maritime Museum of BC’s Beaver Medal. The ceremony took place at Government
House in Victoria. The Honourable Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin, the
Museum’s Honorary Patron, dropped by briefly to congratulate the Beaver
recipients, but laryngitis prevented her from making the formal presentations.
She turned over that duty to Beaver Committee Chair Commodore Jan Drent (rtd)
and MMBC’s Board Chair Don Prittie.  

“These
annual awards spotlight extraordinary contributions by British Columbians to our
province’s oceans sector,” said Barry Rolston, a Beaver Medal committee member.
“Similar to the past seven years when the MMBC began conferring the Beaver
Medals, the 2019 winners are a great example of how diversified our BC marine
contributors are, and how important our waters, coast and nautical industries
are to the well-being of our province.”  

The 2019
recipients represent various marine-related organizations.  

Yvette
Myers has had a 20-year career in the Coast Guard, serving
ten of those years at sea. After holding multiple management positions,
including that of Vancouver Harbour Master, she most recently held the post of
Executive Director of the $1.5 billion federal government’s Oceans Protection
Plan—the first person to serve in this role.  

Publisher David Rahn has spent his life in
the marine industry, starting as a commercial fisherman.  Using his hands-on experience on salt water,
he transformed himself into a writer and photographer for commercial
fishing publications. Subsequently, he launched  Western Mariner,
The Magazine of the Coast  with his wife Anthea Cameron in 2003.  Western
Mariner now has the largest circulation among commercial marine
publications in Canada. One of  the
magazine’s  hallmarks has been its coverage of BC’s maritime heritage
by publishing often overlooked or forgotten aspects of coastal history.   

Kenneth
Harford, using his mechanical engineering expertise, developed a particular focus
on reducing noise and vibration in towboats, with his research resulting in new
noise control regulations in the industry. After founding a consulting firm and
holding many engineering positions, he moved to Robert Allan Ltd., the renowned
naval architecture firm, eventually serving as its president.    

Steam
tug SS Master  of Vancouver won the special industrial
Beaver award in 2019.   She is the last fully operational
wooden-hulled, steam-powered tugboat in North America. Built in False Creek in
1922, the famous tug is still using her original First World War Royal Navy
surplus steam engine. She’s managed by the SS Master Society. During the
ceremony, Robert Allan presented a $15,000 cheque to Barry Martens, the
Society’s president. The Society is raising funds for a major refit for the
ship’s centennial (ssmaster.org/).  

The
Beaver Medal is a gold-plated decoration cast from metals salvaged from the
wreck of the pioneering SS Beaver— the
Hudson’s Bay Company’s first steam-powered ship on the west coast of North
America. She operated for 52 years along BC’s coast.  

The 2019 recipients (left to right, Rahn, Myers, Harford, Martens),
with Maritime Museum of BC Board Chair Don Prittie (right) and Commodore Jan
Drent (left)  

-30-      

For further information, please contact: 

Brittany Vis, Associate Director 
Maritime Museum of BC 
250-385-4222 ext.106 
  mailto:bvis at mmbc.bc.ca?subject= bvis at mmbc.bc.ca       

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