Distant Oak Support Services

About Us

Our Name

You may be wondering how we got our name: its from some poetry written by Mary Ashley Townsend called "Down the Bayou":

...
From distant oak groves, sweet and strong
The voicy mocking-bird gave song, —
That plagiarist whose note is known
As every bird's, yet all his own.
As shuttles of the Persian looms
Catch all of Nature's subtlest blooms,
Alike her bounty and her dole
To weave in one bewildering whole,
So has this subtle singer caught
All sweetest songs, and deftly wrought
Them into one entrancing score
From his rejoicing heart to pour.
...

You see, it’s not so much about the distant oak which is simply the setting. It’s about that “voicy mocking-bird” whose sweetest songs pour from his rejoicing heart. Similarly, we provide the setting but it is the people that we support who produce the sweetest songs. They are truly worth listening to and cherishing.

We’re a small organization serving southern Vancouver Island targeting the smaller, rural communities such as Port Renfrew, Cowichan, Cobble Hill etc. because these communities provide a unique pastoral setting that cannot be replicated in the bustling city.

Back