He’s known variously and affectionately as the unofficial mayor, president, king and Dicta-thor of the “Republic” of Brackendale, but Thor Froslev started out his life in Canada pretty much as a pauper.
“When I first came to Vancouver, I had $20, a packet of crackers and a tin of sardines in my pocket,” said the 81-year-old Froslev, his eyes glinting beneath bushy white eyebrows. The native of Denmark – who is known for his white wizardly beard, ponytail and denim overalls – has been integral to the development, history and character of the Squamish area, Brackendale in particular.
Originally from Copenhagen, he moved to the West Coast in 1957 at the age of 24.
“I originally left Denmark because I couldn’t find a decent job there,” he said.
Canada had always appealed to him, he explained.
“When we were kids in Denmark, we used to play a game called ‘countries,’ and whenever we played I always wanted to be Canada,” he said. “When I decided to move here, I asked around about where I should go, and people said, ‘Don’t stop until you reach the West Coast.’”
After arriving in Vancouver, Froslev worked in a shoe factory and as an elevator operator before eventually finding work and a career on the docks as a longshoreman.
But his life’s work really began on a fishing trip to the Squamish area in 1969.
“After the road opened up from Horseshoe Bay to Squamish, I used to come up here a lot to go fly fishing,” said Froslev. “I also used to talk to my fishing companions a lot about this dream I had to build an art gallery in the woods. I don’t know really where I got the idea. Something in my gut said I should build an art gallery. I had hung out a lot in Vancouver’s Gastown with artists and musicians at a coffee house called the Classical Joint and saw there weren’t a lot of venues around for artists, musicians and actors at the time. One day I was fishing with a friend of mine – Jack Grundel, who went on to start B.C. Fish and Game Magazine – and I was talking about my dream again and where I should build it, and he told me ‘It doesn’t matter where you put it, Thor, as long as you do a good job, they will find you.’”
So, Froslev spent time scouting locations, but it was in Squamish that it all came together, on a day he had been fishing with a friend.
“We walked from the river up to Brackendale and the Alpine Café that was here for some coffee and their famous pumpkin pie. While we sat and ate our pie, I looked out the window and there was a sign advertising a half-acre of commercial land for sale. I took that as a sign that the time had come, and I called the number and bought the property.”
Froslev then spent time exploring old barns and structures around B.C. so he could learn how to build his dream art gallery on the land in Brackendale.
“I had never built anything before in my life,” he said. “When I started understanding the ‘two-posts-and-a-beam’ design of barns, it was a revelation.”
Froslev gathered discarded wood and materials from docks around Vancouver, started building in 1972 and opened the Brackendale Art Gallery in 1973.
“My proudest moment was when we held our first art exhibit and hosted our first band,” he said. “I remember our first band was A Horse Called Bill. Nine people came to the show but eight of them were friends of mine, so only one person paid for the show. That was the first and last time I worked at the door.”
Since then, the gallery – known as BAG – has hosted a wide range of art exhibits, theatre productions and musicians, becoming a popular community and cultural hub for Brackendale. It’s also where the idea for a Brackendale Eagle Reserve began.
“One day, a friend of mine came to the gallery and said he had just counted 80 eagles in one place,” Froslev said. “I didn’t believe him, so I went out myself and ended up counting 200 eagles… I was flabbergasted. Another friend, Len Goldsmith, said the government was setting up parks, and we got together and said we needed to have some sort of eagle park here.”
With 17 letters from various local community groups and 20 from Brackendale residents, Froslev and Goldsmith petitioned the provincial government in support of the concept.
“I eventually got a call telling me that the Brackendale Eagle Reserve was a reality,” he said. “But I wasn’t satisfied. We had heard that in places like Manitoba, people were still logging provincial parks, so we felt that the eagle park still wasn’t secure. So we pushed for more. I wanted some sort of preserve.”
Finally, after much lobbying, the Brackendale Eagle Reserve, now a Class A park, was approved as part of the B.C. Protected Areas Strategy in October 1996. The 550-hectare reserve now protects important eagle habitat, keeping it off limits to logging, mining and other development.
The Brackendale Art Gallery is also home to the annual Winter Eagle Festival and Count, as well as The Eagle Tower, an aid centre and transfer station for sick or injured raptors and other birds.
But Brackendale’s eagles aren’t the only thing Froslev has been intent on protecting from logging and development.
The Brackendale Farmers Institute Park, 50 acres of forested land south of Brackendale Elementary School, has long been one of his pet projects.
“I originally started the Brackendale Farmers Institute as a way to bring together the community,” he said. “A ‘ratepayers’ association’ sounded too Vancouver, too urban…”
He collected 50 cents each from neighbours to form the institute.
Part of the BFI’s activities was to put on an annual fall fair at a local farm.
“When they sold the farm, we were looking for a new place for the fall fair, and the local folklore was that that land had been deeded to the BFI,” he said. “But, it is actually deemed Crown land, so we have been fighting ever since to get that land park status. It’s important, because people need green spaces where they can walk their dogs, or relax from the hustle and bustle of the day. If we are not careful, there’ll be 200,000 houses and no trees.”
For Froslev, it’s about taking care of his adopted community.
“You have to have roots,” he said. “It is all about friends and neighbours. When you come here as an immigrant, you leave all your family and friends behind. I’m proud to say I can knock on any door in Brackendale and people know me. I am also honoured when they call me the unofficial ‘mayor’ or ‘king’ of Brackendale.”
But Froslev also held official titles in the community, as well, serving as a local alderman, a role in which he initiated the creation and construction of Brennan Park Recreation Centre.
“When I was on council, after we were all elected, Mayor [Pat] Brennan came in and asked us what we wanted for the community,” he said. “I told him what we needed was a community recreation centre, so I was the guy that got that together… which not many people know.”
Although he only served one term in municipal government, he continued to remain an active voice and presence in local politics, most recently supporting mayor-elect Patricia Heintzman’s successful campaign and lending the gallery as location for her post-win celebration.
“I’ve spent the day helping her remove and collect her election signs,” Froslev said Sunday, the day after the election.
Froslev reflected on why he does so much for Squamish and Brackendale.
“Really, I do all this out of love. I love my community and my neighbours. I look around Brackendale, and I see my roots. I see the results of my dream. So, I am grateful for all the people who have contributed to or continue to contribute to the gallery… and I hope they feel it was all worthwhile.”
