A ceremony this week for the unveiling of a new interpretive panel at Eva Lake will celebrate the legacy of a Whistler icon, Walter Zebrowski.
The public ceremony is set for 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 26 at Eva Lake Park in Nordic, honouring the many contributions the Polish-born Wladyslaw "Walter" Zebrowski made to the resort town. Mayor and members of council will be in attendance, and the event will include talks from Mayor Jack Crompton, Freedom of the Municipality holder and former councillor Garry Watson, and Zebrowski's daughter, Ewa.
“Walter Zebrowski’s vision, hard work and dedication were key factors that enabled Whistler to develop into one of the world’s great mountain resort communities,” said Crompton in a municipal release. “This panel that he donated to the community celebrates his legacy.”
Born in Poland in 1913, Zebrowski immigrated to Canada in 1948 after serving in the Polish Army under British Command in the Second World War. He moved to Whistler in the mid-1960s, where he remained until his death in 1996. Zebrowski was deeply involved in his newfound home, including helping to establish Whistler's first water supply system in 1965, and bringing in the community's first TV reception in 1970. He was also a founding member of the Whistler Volunteer Fire Department, the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary Club of Whistler. In 1971, he was named Whistler's Citizen of the Year.
Eva Lake was created in 1973 and named after Zebrowski's daughter. An avid fisherman, he stocked the lake with rainbow trout and taught many young Whistlerites how to fish over the years. In 1991, he donated Eva Lake Park to the community and "today it is home to abundant wildlife including ducks, fish, dragonflies and salamanders," the release went on.
A rotary scholarship in Zebrowksi's name was launched by his daughter in 1997, and carries on to this day, awarding two scholarships a year to graduating Whistler Secondary School students who exemplify academic achievement, good citizenship, community involvement and leadership.
"The scholarship emphasizes community service because my Dad was passionately dedicated to the Whistler community,” Ewa Zebrowski said in the release.
The Walter Zebrowski panel is one of approximately 130 outdoor interpretive panels throughout Whistler designed to create awareness and understanding of the area’s natural history and heritage.
