Remembering Arvid Chalmers: Mr. Salt Spring Island

For some people, a handshake usually suffices when meeting someone new. For the late Arvid Chalmers, not even a hug was enough, it would have to be two hugs at the very least.

Ask anyone that’s lived on the small island community and they’re likely to have some sort of memory or connection to “Salt Spring’s Unofficial Ambassador/Mayor.” A real estate agent by trade and comedian by night, in his 35 years as a resident of Salt Spring Island, Arvid Chalmers would make such an impact on the community that you would be hard-pressed to find someone that didn’t have some sort of connection to him one way or another.

As one local resident recently wrote on social media, “Salt Spring Island is among our planet's most amazing places, and Arvid Chalmers embodied everything that we all hold dear in our little slice of heaven; if you lived on Salt Spring, you knew Arvid. Even if you didn't want to.”

For writer, former radio host, and longtime Salt Spring resident Arthur Black, that assessment perfectly sums up the Arvid he came to know.

“I first met Arvid in the winter of 1989. I'd come to Salt Spring to look at some property and I was to meet a real estate agent on arrival, but the only person at the ferry terminal was a scruffy guy wearing a plaid vest, gumboots and a goofy smile,” he recalled.

“I tried to step around him but he grabbed me - grabbed me! - in a smothering bear hug. It was, of course, Arvid. And he sold me a house.”

In the years that followed, Black became friends with the island’s unofficial ambassador/mayor. Asked how Arvid came to be known by that title, Black attributes it to his enthusiasm for all things Salt Spring.

”I don't really know. Force of personality I suppose. I do know that had Arvid ever run for mayor he'd have won in a landslide.”

As for Black’s favourite memory of Arvid, it would have to be his trademark laugh. “An elegant hiccuppy giggle, really. A feature of every conversation I ever heard him have.”

Arvid Chalmers: 1947-2016

Arvid Chalmers was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 11, 1947, but he wouldn’t be in Scotland for long. Two years later, the family moved to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of his father’s work, a change that also wouldn’t last long. Two years later, the family were back in Edinburgh, ready to make a go at life in Scotland, or so it seemed.

With his early years seeing so many changes in scenery, it wasn’t until his mother took him and his siblings on a family trip to Canada that things would eventually settle down. While initially in Canada just to visit relatives, it was only when his father arrived partway through the visit that the vacation became permanent, and it was decided that Ontario would be their new home.

Following the death of his father in 1958, Arvid and his brother took up jobs through high school to help support the family.

In his college years, Arvid met Kerry Doole, and they were wed two years later. Taking up carpentry rather than an office job, the two began their lives together. It was during this time that Salt Spring Island entered their lives.

After taking a vacation to the little island off the coast of British Columbia, Arvid and Kerry fell in love with the place and decided to make it their home. Five years later, leaving carpentry behind, Arvid and Kerry both became realtors and a part of the Salt Spring community.

Never lacking for passion, Arvid threw himself into all facets of the community, becoming a voice in local politics, the arts and more. He and Kerry would later separate, but remain friends.

Along with others on the island, Arvid became a regular traveller to Mexico, where he would ultimately pass away. After years of making the journey down south during the winter months, in January 2016 Arvid suffered a fatal heart attack after performing onstage with a band at a Mexican bar.

Always a part of Salt Spring Island

While he may be gone, Arvid will always be a part of Salt Spring Island’s history. In keeping with his title as the “Unofficial Ambassador/Mayor of Salt Spring Island” there is no official memorial of Arvid on the island.

“I think Salt Springers are reluctant to admit he's really gone,” said Black, “But right behind the fish store in Ganges just up from the Harbour I came across a huge laminated photograph -- a billboard really -- of Arvid. No explanatory plaque, not even his name. Just that big smile.”