In 1983, plans for a community centre that included daycare space and the need for more childcare options in Whistler led to the founding of the Dandelion Daycare Society (DDS). Though the community centre did not come to fruition, the DDS raised funds for the community centre that were then put towards its own daycare facility. In January 1984, the DDS began operating out of the former Beau’s Restaurant at the Rainbow Ski Area while working towards its own purpose-built facility. The DDS ran a “licensed, cooperative daycare” and could take up to 35 children ages three to five.
By the summer of 1984, talk of a community centre had died down, but plans for a daycare building were moving ahead. In June, the Baxter Group offered the DDS two A-frames it had been using for its development in today’s Creekside area, if the society could find a site to move them to. Whistler’s mayor and council considered a site for the buildings at Meadow Park, which was under development; however, the use of this site was not approved by the province.
Still searching for a permanent home, the DDS continued to explore various sites and fundraise, beginning with its first annual Children’s Walk-a-Thon in August 1983. Forty-four children aged one to eight (and their parents) participated in the one-kilometre walk from Alta Vista to the Myrtle Philip School and raised more than $1,000 for the building. The daycare also held auctions (in June 1984, Jon and Sue Paine won a year’s worth of overnight babysitting courtesy of Sophie Trouwborst, while Dave Cathers bid on his own contribution of babysitting when he learned how many children he and Connie could end up responsible for) and had fundraising tables at community events like the Fall Fair.
Following the publication of a Community Facilities Study in March 1985 that called for expanded daycare facilities in Whistler, the municipality asked the province for a Crown land grant for a daycare site located beside the BC Telephone building on Lorimer Road. Their application was successful and, with a confirmed site, work on a new preschool facility moved quickly. By the time the first Whistler’s Night, a gala dinner and auction that raised more than $12,000 for the building, took place in April, construction had reportedly already begun.
By November 1985, thanks to continued fundraising efforts and a lot of volunteer construction work, the DDS was planning an open house in the new building, as well as preregistration for December and January spots. It also hosted a party for everyone who participated in the construction of the building on Nov. 29, though the official opening of the daycare facility was delayed by a week as organizers and volunteers had to complete the building before it could be licensed. According to DDS president Connie Cathers, they still needed to finish the interior plumbing and wiring and were also looking for donations of educational toys.
The Dandelion Daycare Society opened its first purpose-built preschool facility in Whistler on Dec. 9, 1985, with an official ribbon-cutting in January 1986. The facility was built entirely from community contributions, whether through fundraising efforts or donated labour, and some businesses and the Whistler Rotary Club continued to fundraise to help outfit the new building with more equipment and supplies.
Seventeen children attended the first day of operations, though it was expected it would quickly reach capacity. It wasn’t long before planning began for another facility, the Whistler Children’s Centre that opened next to the Dandelion Daycare building in 1991. Other programs and facilities have also opened in the valley as childcare needs in Whistler have continued to grow, with waiting lists a common phenomenon for families.
