Duncan will be a different city following its centennial celebrations, says a city councillor.
"There's apparently a giant statue of Confucius coming to our garden, from an early Chinese pioneer," said Coun. Sharon Jackson. San Francisco resident Virginia Lee is sending the statue in honour of Duncan's 100th anniversary.
"Her father was Mr. Chow, who went to school here as a young boy in the early part of the 1900s," Jackson said.
"They lived and worked in Chinatown, which no longer exists. We have a little park commemorating the old Chinatown."
Along with the statue, Duncan's celebrations include the installation of a new fountain near city hall and burying of a time capsule that will be opened in 25 years.
Jackson, chairwoman of Duncan's centennial committee, said it's important to mark the city's milestone.
"Unlike, say, countries in Europe or Asia, our history is a very recent thing," she said. "[The centennial] is a reason to celebrate and it's a benchmark for the future."
Duncan has had about one event per month for the centennial, Jackson said, and the committee has been planning for at least a year.
It received more than $150,000 in funding, including contributions from the provincial and federal governments, as well as grants.
"I'd never trade this experience," she said.
"The first event was the centennial song competition that we threw open to anyone in the Cowichan Valley."
Out of 15 entries, Paul Ruszel won with his song Love This Town in March. Contestants had been judged by a panel of music professionals. On the same day the song was first performed, Duncan unveiled its new flag.
"There were 1,000 people packed into one block alone," Jackson said. "We were gathered together to celebrate our new flag and the centennial - it almost made me cry."
Jackson, originally from West Vancouver, moved to Duncan 20 years ago. She said she wouldn't live anywhere else.
"Duncan has all the amenities of a larger urban centre, plus if I need a city, it's less than an hour to Victoria and Nanaimo," she said. "Within five minutes, though, I can be in the middle of the woods where I can't hear a car."
She added that the community is family-focused in many ways.
"By choosing a smaller community, you're offering your children the kind of childhood you could've had in the '50s and '60s but can't anymore."
Jackson has been a city councillor since 1996 and said this year is a personal milestone as well.
"In some way I feel vindicated, all my work is coming to a focus," she said. "Since I joined council, I wanted two things. I wanted a new flag for the city and I wanted a fountain - we have the best water in the world."
The fountain will be just over two metres tall, designed as a totem, and will include a raven on the top to occasionally squirt passersby, "because he's a trickster," Jackson said.
Thirty copies of the fountain will be sold to places that could include Canadian embassies abroad, she said, adding that the profits will go back to the centennial projects. She said she hopes the fountain will be unveiled in October.
For more information about the centennial, go to duncancentennial.ca.
