Remembering ‘The Cougar Lady’

by Bigpacific.com Webmaster
Laurie McConnell

Many newcomers to the Sunshine Coast may not be aware of the legendary ‘Cougar Lady’ of Sechelt Inlet and her unique presence in our community. Bergilot Solberg lived ‘up Inlet’ most of of her life, logging and trapping in solitude, coming into town by boat for supplies once or twice a month. In her younger days she had not only trapped, but had worked in log camps, blowing whistles, setting chokers (a very dangerous job), working the boom, which made her larger than myth in many people’s eyes.

Bergie was a striking figure, with her hawkish nose and weathered face, and gnarled hands as big as a man’s. She wore an old leather hat of no fixed brim line, being so bashed and worn, and brown men’s utility pants with the fly sewn up and side zipper installed. She carried a big buck knife on her hip. Her shirts were of various descriptions but tended towards the western style.

A common trick of Bergie’s that many fell for, myself included, was to sidle up to a car getting filled up at the Shell station in the centre of town, and say in her Norwegian-accented mumble, ‘…get a ride to them docks in Porpoise Bay?” An initial recoil from the surprise of the request from a complete stranger would evolve into the mental gymnastics of figuring that everyone knew her… though she was seen as wild and a bit barmy by some there was an implied sense of safety in saying yes, after all, didn’t I see her in John’s truck just last week?

So, the Samaritan says yes, and Bergie says, “Be right back. Gettin’ ma bags,” and then would proceed to disappear and do all her grocery shopping now that a ride was assured! You’d wait in your car, feeling absurdly obligated to hold to your word even though she’d clearly changed the terms from her side, watching 15 minutes, and then 30 and finally perhaps 45 minutes go by. Eventually she’d amble and hitch her way across the crosswalks from Clayton’s with her foodstuffs – or ask you to drive over to the store entrance to pick everything up – and you’d pack the food, Bergie and a few full cans of gas into your car and off you’d go to the docks, an olfactory extravaganza wafting through town.

A local reporter went to visit her once and was shocked to see all the animal hides, it being modern times and all, and walked out with her on her trapping line. She let him know what to do should a cougar jump them – basically get out of the way and let her take it by gun or knife, no difference to her – and he came back bushwhacked and pop-eyed and telling eye-raising anecdotes for days.

There were mixed opinions about Bergie around town, as there always is with people who are out of the mainstream. She muttered while she walked. She cursed the twenty-five cent prices in the St. Mary’s Hospital Thrift Store, offending the lavender-scented grandmothers mightily and getting tossed out for her troubles. Some people found her refusal to blend in disturbing, while others loved her fiercely for it. Many were comforted by the sight of Bergie stomping around town, throwing tools down at the till at the hardware store, looking for day-old bread on sale, and basically claiming the town as her own. Bergie didn’t move off to the side on sidewalks – you did – and we loved it. When Bergie was alive, it was the old Sunshine Coast, when we argued fiercely over the first stop light that went in at North Road in Gibsons (and still counted them, those days are almost gone) and more than six cars in a row at any time of day or night could only mean ‘ferry traffic’. Seeing Bergie meant the Coast still hadn’t changed in some essential way.

Some people got to know Bergie in ways most of us didn’t. There used to be a great blog online called by Ken Collins about Bergie. He visited her a number of times, despite her ‘difficulty in baking a cake’ and habit of offering years-old cans of pop in corroded tins for non coffee drinkers – or for those who had the temerity to decline goat’s milk.

The one side of Bergie very few will know of, oldtimer or not, is the story of her trip to the beauty parlor. Yes, it’s true, and I have the pictures to prove it.

It was back in the 80′s and Patti Lunan (link to your hair salon site) was working as a hairdresser at Teredo Hair Motions in Sechelt. Patti was responsible for makeovers for 3 models for the ‘Women in Trades’ show at the Rockwood Centre. Patti didn’t know anyone in town and was very curious about Bergie, having seen her around town all autumn. Patti’s mom made a $2 bet with her that she wouldn’t have the nerve to ask Bergie to be one of her models. “She was all over it,” Patti says. “The woman LOVED glitter, which I thought was charming, because who would have thought. It showed on that ratty little hat band that had a grimy line of sequins with no sparkle left. She lit up with sparkles.” Patti took her shopping and Bergie chose the outfit. The day of the show Bergie was late in arriving as she had needed to “jimmy up dat der boat”.

“I don’t know why anyone would bake widdout sugar” was her response when offered a scone before her turn on the stage, so they sugared it up with enough jam to satisfy her sweet tooth. She walked in to the tune of Natalie Cole’s “Once in a lifetime” and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house of the standing-room only Rockwood Centre. The rumour had gone out around town ahead of the event and Bergie’s scheduled appearance packed the house – they came for her. It was a true illustration of how beloved she was in the community.

I found the idea unthinkable when I first heard the story, and couldn’t imagine the outcome. It seemed a sacrilege to picture Bergie as anything else than the wild woman of the woods with her rifle and skinning knife.

But here, dear readers, courtesy of Patti, who shot the photos as a keepsake from the day, are the before and after images of ‘The Cougar Lady of Sechelt Inlet’. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen these with my own eyes.

RELATED READING:

Forest History Newsletter Story about Bergie
Bright Seas, Pioneer Spirits: A History of the Sunshine Coast (google excerpt)
Buy the Book by Betty Keller & Rosella Leslie on Amazon