When the only mixed-race group at Wrights Beach Camp in Penticton was evicted from their campsite for alleged noise complaints, those in neighbouring sites couldn鈥檛 help but question why.

Andrea Klaver and her group, which consisted of three mixed-race families from the Vancouver area, had set up camp at their beachfront site beside Monica Thiessen and her family, as well as Steve Wikkerink and his family from the Central and North Okanagan. Both groups arrived at the two sites on Saturday, Aug. 29, and were planning on staying for a week.

From the perspective of Wikkerink and Thiessen, it鈥檚 alleged Klaver鈥檚 group was not only treated unfairly but possibly targeted because of the colour of their skin. Among Klaver鈥檚 group were seven Black children and two Black men.

The eviction came after a series of alleged noise complaints against Klaver and her group, several days before they were due to leave.

鈥淲as a racial slur ever said? No. But when you鈥檙e treated differently, and you鈥檙e the only Black people there, I think, you know, assumptions can be made鈥� it鈥檚 really disgusting,鈥� said Klaver.

One of the men in Klaver鈥檚 group was playing some tropical tunes on the beach in the afternoon. Wikkerink found the music relaxing and enjoyable; he noticed others around him must have liked the melody as he spotted an older couple, on the other side of Klaver鈥檚 site, dancing together. However, that night, the group was given a noise complaint.

鈥淲e could just make out what the songs were, and we were just beside them. Never at any point would I ever say they were excessively loud with it (music) whatsoever. In all honesty, I would have never thought that they would have gotten a noise complaint about the sound of their music,鈥� said Wikkerink.

The next night, at about 6 p.m., Klaver鈥檚 group was again told to turn off their music. Wikkerink said this surprised them, as they were also playing music in their site, possibly louder and were not spoken to. Throughout Wikkerink鈥檚 time at the campground he said his group did not receive a single comment, warning or noise complaint.

鈥淲e had a tiny little speaker with soft music, and they came to us and said your music is way too loud, even though the people beside us were louder than us, we were the only ones singled out. It was a little weird,鈥� said Klaver.

鈥淭he same thing happened every time - they would drive by our campsite and just glare into our campsite to see what we were doing. It was the most peculiar thing I鈥檇 ever seen.鈥�

Again the following night at about 6 p.m., the campground owner visited Klaver鈥檚 site and demanded their turn their music off. Wikkerink stressed to him at the time that they weren鈥檛 bothering anyone, and that all of their families were enjoying themselves. However, he recalled the owner insisting he had received multiple complaints about Klaver and her group.

The following night again, the group received another noise complaint. Wikkerink again insisted their family didn鈥檛 hear the group beside them.

鈥淚 did not hear them, no music, no talking, no nothing,鈥� he said.

By this point, children in the two campsites had gotten to know each other and were playing games throughout the day. Outside of the noise complaints, Wikkerink said Klaver鈥檚 children, the only children of colour in their group, were allegedly singled out from the other Caucasian children they were playing with.

鈥淥ur kids were all up on a hillside, there were other kids from the campground up there as well. Klaver鈥檚 kids were told to go back to their campsite鈥� when they were told to get off that hillside, and all the other kids were fine to play there, we just couldn鈥檛 wrap our heads around it all,鈥� said Wikkerink.

鈥淚t鈥檚 rather coincidental, but is it?鈥� said Klaver about the incident.

This continued until the group was evicted from their site early Thursday morning.

In response to a request for comment, Wrights Beach Camp representative Paul Lionello detailed the timestamps of warnings given to the party in question. He said loud music at any time is not tolerated, and that if their policies are ignored, customers may be asked to leave. He also detailed another eviction due to multiple noise warnings on Aug. 30.

The warnings, he explained, were given from August 29 through September 3, several times between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. as well as around 6 p.m.

Thiessen said she received the same response and denied that her neighbours were loud or disrespectful, especially this late at night.

鈥淭heir timeline is absolutely false, one hundred per cent,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey did not get the complaints like he said they did, that did not happen.鈥�

Come Thursday morning Klaver was having her morning coffee outside when she was told they had to leave and that they were not welcome back.

鈥淚 was flabbergasted, like what?鈥� said Klaver. 鈥淪everal people tried to speak up for us because they realized we weren鈥檛 the loud ones, and the campground staff was completely unwilling to listen.鈥�

She said news of their eviction spread quickly around the campground.

鈥淧eople I鈥檇 never met before, adults, an old man came to me to hug me, and he was crying because he couldn鈥檛 believe that he witnessed what he witnessed. Countless campers came up to us to say how disgusted they were.鈥�

Within 15 minutes of them departing their campsite that morning, Klaver said their campsite, and the one beside it was already filled with a new group.

鈥淚t is our belief that it was pre-planned to kick us out, and they had people waiting in the wings to take our spot,鈥� she said.

Lionello furthered in his response that throughout this season, they have asked several customers to leave due to violations of their noise policy.

Wikkerink said their neighbours鈥� eviction was unexplainable. He and another parent say they tried to reason with the park authorities but their opinions were ignored.

This prompted Thiessen to pen a social media post about the incident, which has gained traction. As of Wednesday, Sept. 9, the post had close to 1000 shares.

鈥淚t was wrong. It was wrong and it needs to be addressed,鈥� she said.

After the incident, two children in their group, 15 and 17 years old, were quite distraught.

鈥淭he word he (17-year-old boy) used over and over again, was that he was so embarrassed he got kicked out for being Black,鈥� said Klaver. 鈥淏ecause they (kids) are raised to accept people and look at their personalities. He鈥檚 like, if I have a good personality, and I鈥檓 a nice kid, why does he hate me?鈥�

She added that the Caucasian children in the group are also confused.

鈥淚t鈥檚 my understanding that鈥� it鈥檚 not just our Black kids who are affected, but the white kids also, especially those from the Okanagan. They feel they鈥檝e never really seen racism in front of their eyes before.鈥�

In response to the alleged racism, Lionello said discrimination of any kind is against their values.

鈥淒iscrimination of any kind is against our values and policies both professionally and personally. We at Wright鈥檚 Beach Camp do our best to promote a positive experience for all of our guests and to ensure rules and/or enforcement thereof are communicated clearly, proactively and equally,鈥� he said in an email.

Thiessen said that following her post, she has been private messaged by several mixed, bi-racial families that have also been evicted from Wrights Beach campground.

鈥淗onestly I can鈥檛 say it鈥檚 racially motivated, but from my point of view looking at it, there鈥檚 no other justification for it.鈥�

As for Thiessen and her group, who have been camping at Wrights Beach campground since 1998, say they will never return. Despite this being their family-favourite beach. Wikkerink echoed this.

Perhaps a silver lining, Wikkerink and Klaver both explained, is that they have made new lifelong friends. The families are already planning another time to meet up.

鈥淥ur kids are all friends on social media now鈥� they are super close. It鈥檚 been really cool to see,鈥� said Wikkerink. 鈥淲e鈥檒l probably be friends with them for a very, very long time. I don鈥檛 see that ever-changing. I think that it came down to a group of people that stood up for each other, helped each other out, and worked each other through a crappy turn of events.鈥�

editor@pentictonwesternnews.com
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