MLHS holds celebration of
Mack Laing's 135th Birthday at Shakesides
Friends of Mack Laing gathered behind Shakesides in Mack Laing Park on February 6 to celebrate his 135th Birthday. Visitors enjoyed cake and hot drinks on a wet and chilly day, and raised a toast to the man who devoted his life to education about local birds, and was also a gifted artist and storyteller. He built Shakesides in 1949 and deeded it and his property to the Town of Comox in 1973. On his death in 1982, Laing left the Town of Comox over $50,000, in trust, to turn Shakesides into a modest nature museum.
Court hearing regarding Shakesides
scheduled for March 2018
The Town of Comox will appear before an assizes court judge in Courtenay, on a yet-to-be-determined date after March 9, 2018, where it will request permission to overturn the trust and demolish Shakesides - which it was prevented from doing by the Attorney General of BC in August 2015, when it demolished Mack Laing's original home, Baybrook.
The Town also wishes to deny the MLHS standing in this case, so that the six affidavits and 116 exhibits the MLHS has produced cannot be presented to the court. The MLHS will file a response and counter petition, requesting standing from the presiding judge. All MLHS exhibits are sourced from Town and MLHS archives and clarify the history of Shakesides and the Town's management of the house, the Mack Laing park and the trust fund. The evidence raises a great many questions and should be made public.
Anyone interested in knowing more about this should attend the MLHS meeting on Thursday, March 1, 2018 - see notice below.
MLHS meeting to provide information regarding upcoming court appearance by the Town of Comox
on the issue of the Shakesides Trust:
The MLHS is continuing its efforts to save Shakesides and has an ongoing mandate to educate on
the achievements and wishes of Hamilton Mack Laing.
Please support us by donating to our GoFundMe campaign ..
For a comprehensive series of articles about the importance of Shakesides and Mack Laing, visit:
Singer-songwriter Robert Cordrey's song about Shakesides has gained a lot of attention.
If you missed it, you can listen to it on Souncloud OR read the article on the MLHS website
