2010 Community Stewardship Award - Recipients

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2010 
ISLANDS TRUST COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP AWARD NOMINATION 
 
 
TEKLA DEVERELL 
6641 Razor Point Road 
North Pender Island, BC 
tekla@deverell.com 
 
Born  and  raised  in  Saskatchewan,  as  a  child  Tekla  received  training  in  what  
was  then  considered  the  “women’s”  work  of  the  farm  (gardening,  baking,  
spinning, small animal care) through Farm Girls’ Club, which was sponsored by 
the  women’s  section  of  the  Farmers’  Institute.      As  a  teenager  she  was  
selected to attend the Farm Girls’ Camp,  which  was  associated  with  farm  
expositions  in  Saskatchewan.    At  the  camps,  she  learned  about  exhibiting  
and  judging  agricultural  exhibits  and  about  the  values  created  by  staging  
such  events.    She  came  to  British  Columbia  to  the  University  of  British  
Columbia  to  study  and  stayed  in  Vancouver  to  work  and  to  raise  a  family.    
When Tekla and her husband bought property on Pender Island in 1974, I’m 
sure  she  was  not  thinking  of  how  complete  a  return  to  her  roots  this  move  
would be. 
 
On  Pender,  gardening  organically  quickly  became  her  passion.    This  interest  
led to her involvement in the farming and gardening community of the Pender 
Islands.   The   Farmers’   Institute,   the   Saturday   Farmers’   Market,   the   
Community Hall committee, the Fall Fair and the Pender Island Garden Club 
all benefitted from her energy and experience.  She committed herself not 
to  just  grow  things  but  to  share  with  and  support  others,  to  teach  and  to  
create a viable rural community. 
 
The  idea  of  a  Garden  Mentorship  Program  for  Young  People  came  to  her    
when she was serving on the Fall Fair Committee.  Previously, she had lobbied 
for and then developed a young people’s agricultural section in the fall fair.  
About five years ago, she created the Gardening Mentorship Program within 
the young people’s agricultural section and set about involving people from all 
parts  of  the  community:    children,  teachers  and  the  school,  parents,  and  
mentors.  Mentors were recruited from her connections in the Pender Island 
Garden Club, the Farmers’ Institute and beyond.  As a result, this initiative 

takes the positive work of the Farmers’ Institute and the Women’s Institute 
to a new generation. 
 
Through  the  program,  children  at  the  school  are  given  seeds  to  plant  and  
grow  in  pots  at  the  school.    There  are  obvious  learning  benefits  as  they  
plant, then observe the germination and growth of their seeds.  Children are 
encouraged  to  sign  up  with  Tekla  to  have  a  community  mentor  as  they  
cultivate  a  section  of  their  garden  at  home,  planting  seeds  and  the  plants  
that  have  grown  in  the  pots  at  school.    Soil  test  kits  are  provided  and  the  
mentor  oversees  the  development  and  planting  of  the  garden.    Continuing  
learning,  based  on  organic  method

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