Jim Culbert was born and raised on a farm in Bradford.
At the age of 15, his parents sold their farm and moved into Bradford proper. Jim started his school studies in a one-room schoolhouse and, by Grade 5, was into a consolidated school. (This was an amalgamation of many small schools). Graduating out of Grade 8, he moved into Bradford District High School, where he graduated from Grade 12.
During the time at home, he met an old lady, Mrs. George Green, who lived across the road from him. He visited many nights there and, through his visits in an antique-filled home, he listened while Mrs. Green talked of the Bradford of old. Gas lamps lit every night and balls in the larger homes. When Mrs. Green sold her home to move to her daughter’s, she asked Jim to take some drapes off the wall and cover a small occasional chair for her daughter. This was the beginning of a lifelong career in reupholstery.
After high school, Jim went on to receive his journeyman apprentice papers for reupholstery. It was a three-year course he took in Barrie under the direction of the late Lorne Carter, owner of Barrie’s Upholstery.
After the course was finished, Jim stayed on another year, and then, when he bought his first home on the outskirts of Bradford, he left the firm and opened up his own reupholstery shop, Bradford's Furniture Doctor.
Jim’s first home was built by Tom, Frank and Bill Whiteside for their mother in 1921. Polly Whiteside soon made it the show place of the community and enjoyed it for many years. He had lots of energy and hand stripped the woodwork and floors and redecorated it to house his antiques. Many people looked forward to the once-a-year wine-and-cheese party the first weekend in June.
His first partner, Kerry Wade, formerly of Ottawa, moved in with him and many people were welcomed by them over the three years together. Besides a three-storey brick house, the property had a large shop in a separate building. He had a successful business bringing in work from far and wide.
Throughout the year, he had numerous friends come to visit and stay for weekends. Thus came to the back of his mind the idea of a bed and breakfast.
In 1977, Jim had surgery and had a kidney removed and, like Adam, in the Bible, gained a wife. After a short marriage of three years, Jim sold the house and moved to an abandoned cottage in the woods a little farther south of his former home. Taking that place and turning it into a great country home, he lived there for four years. A fitting setting for summer garden parties, it was situated looking over the Holland Marsh and south to Toronto.
During this time of his life, he met Allen Hutchinson and he moved in with Jim. After four years, Jim and Allan moved into Bradford proper to a modern, two-storey house. Again, after many renovations, he had it to his liking.
Because of chemicals used in refinishing and the loss of a kidney, Jim decided to sell the refinishing end of his business and just concentrate on reupholstery.
In 1987, a former client, Ms. Katherine Curry, and her friend, Alice, had just come home from a trip to the East Coast of Canada, where they bought a Victorian farmhouse and were moving there to open a B&B. They asked Jim if he would like to accompany them when they went to set up the house. Jim jumped at the chance and off they went via car to Prince Edward Island. From the moment Jim saw the red cliffs of P.E.I., and the ferry ride across to this mystical island, he knew he was “home.”
After helping “Lady Katherine” set up and renovate her house to accommodate three bathrooms and four bedrooms, he left for Ontario, but not for long. In another month, he was back looking for a home to open his own B&B.
In spring of 1988, back on the island after looking all over the province, he finally found the place, an old, three-storey on Orwell Bay in the little village of Vernon Bridge and “Blair Hall” was formed.
When he announced it to his friends in Ontario, they asked, “What are you going to do in P.E.I.?” He responded, “I am going to turn P.E.I. into a gay island.”
Again, taking an old tenement house and bringing it back to its former beauty was the task of the day. Carpenters, electricians and plumbers were at Jim’s beck and call for almost two months. On June 16, 1988, Blair Hall was open to the public and 65 curious friends and former tenants of the house came to view the new look. Jim’s mother and father arrived for the opening and, during the time they were visiting his mom, noticed that there were a great number of cars travelling by and she remarked that it would be a great place to sell ice cream.
They were hardly back in Bradford when Jim purchased an old Orange Julius building and had it moved to the property. He put out his sign and, very soon, many islanders and tourists were stopping to have ice cream. Jim decided to sell burgers and hot dogs and, again, out went the sign. The local health inspector came and said he couldn’t sell prepared foods unless he had three sinks and hot and cold running water. He told Jim to stick to ice cream. Jim’s remarks were, “Come back on Monday and I will be prepared for you.” With sinks in and water running, the little canteen was becoming a visiting place in the evening for the surrounding neighbours.
Looking at the lost land down to the water, Jim again had ideas rolling in his head and called the powers that be and started landscaping the grounds to the bay. At last, he had his own park.
People came and ate and enjoyed the goings-on of the fisherman and boaters in the bay. All the time, his business was growing and he was receiving people from all over the world. The old garage was the next on the list and was raised, straightened and added to and became a two-bedroom cottage used for guests with families. It was rented in the winter as a housekeeper’s suite.
Now the fun began. Remember his mission for coming to P.E.I.? Well, a large flag pole was erected between the house and up went the rainbow flag.
Soon, Ryan Pierce called from the Charlottetown CBC Radio and wanted to do an interview with Jim about the flag and his newly designed URL, Gaypei.com. Ryan wanted to know why he was flying that flag and why he was maintaining the GayPEI website. Jim told him that after he opened the B&B, he would occasionally have a gay or lesbian couple who were so happy to see a rainbow flag flying in the yard. They said it was very unusual for P.E.I. and the places they stayed were not really excited about the same-sex couples sleeping in the same bed.
In 1986 and 1987, Jim participated in the national walk for AIDS awareness and he was top fundraiser in Canada both years, giving the foundation in excess of $15,000.
Fast forward to 1990. He had a list of B&Bs in the Maritimes that were run by gay or lesbian couples, so he phoned them and invited them to come for the Thanksgiving weekend. The house was full.
They talked about networking because it was the only way they were going to get any advertising as gay-owned and -operated B&Bs. By the end of the weekend, they had designed a “calling card” Atlantic Rainbow Connections (ARC). One couple from the group had them printed and sent a box to each participant to hand out if they had same-sex couples travelling the Maritimes. Soon, other gay and lesbian couples called to see if they could join the group. After the rush of travellers left, the ARC group would go around and meet the other couples, see their establishments and the group grew even to Newfoundland.
Not having enough to do in 1990, the local area lost a prominent businessman, Dan Cummings, and his establishment, D.R. Cummings General Store, was up for sale. Jim bought the store and attached warehouse and detached house and ran the store for five years, renting out the home to different families. It was truly an old country store with a wood interior and gas pumps out front. Jim introduced video rental, magazines and opened a bake shop as well.
During this period of time, Jim and Tom Blickslager gutted and renovated the Cummings house, or should I say Tom thought he was coming to do a few repairs discussed the previous week and, when he arrived on the first day of work, he found that Jim had gutted the whole house and a dumpster was in the yard. So began the job of rebuilding a home from outside walls.
New electric, plumbing, insulation, gyprock walls, refinished interior trim and sanded and finished floors, a new kitchen and bath were completed and the house was rented once again.
During this time, the larger food chains were bombarding the island with food stores, so Jim decided to close the store and turn it into an upholstery shop and antique store. Here were many flea market items and people could watch him work at the furniture.
In 1998, Jim sold Blair Hall and, under his direction, had the talented tradesman Michael Wilson come and turn the vacant store into a wonderful, homey “lodge.”
When Jim arrived home from a visit to Ontario, it was spring and the weather permitted painting. Pink side walls, burgundy and white trim and the front — the rainbow colours, of course. Thus, “Rainbow Lodge” was formed. Rainbow Lodge was a safe haven for gay women and men, transgender folk and bisexuals to come and be at home.
Stated in any advertising was “the most out” accommodation east of Montreal. It had two large bedrooms with private baths and gardens. Full breakfast was the order of the morning, and then off to explore the island. In the evening, the great room was a cozy place to curl up and visit people from far and wide.
Looking out on the landscape, Jim had another idea and with the help of friend and webmaster Mike Motorbike and a dear friend, Jenny, they began building gardens. A fish pond was next on the list and every year the gardens became a magnificent display of colours from early spring to late fall. Jim lived in the unfinished attic of the barn that year as the house was still rented to tenants.
In 2000, Jim again looked out over his land and decided it was time to renovate the old warehouse. He had it lifted and then, with the help of his trusty friend, Mike Wilson, they transformed it into another wonderful-looking building. The old building was cleaned out, and a new insulated floor put down. Next came the stud walls and wiring and plumbing. Following this relatively clean part of the renovation came the dirty job of blowing in the insulation to make it nice and warm, ceilings, all walls and attic. Gyprock was next, followed by the taping and seam filling. Special little effects were added to give it some character and then the paint was applied. The pine trim and base were installed and the carpets and hard surface floors put down. To finish the job, a kitchen was needed in the unit, so plans were made and cupboards installed. After many years of being called “the barn,” the barn has a new look. The upper floor, “the loft,” is a one-bedroom apartment with a fireplace for a little ambience. The ground-floor unit, “the stable,” is a two-bedroom apartment rented year round.
In 2001, because the group grew so well, Jim decided it was time to have a conference, so he approached a couple who owned a large gay tourist establishment and asked them if they would host our group. They were delighted. On the weekend of April 17, 2001, there were speakers, meals out, tours over the weekend, and by time it was ready to close, they had an executive picked out and, soon after, formed a non-profit organization called ARBA — Atlantic Rainbow Business Association.
Gay life in the Maritimes was now out in the open. After about five years, the group petered out as we became too busy to travel around the four provinces in the summer to meetings, and in winter the weather was not conducive to travel.
Coming on Pride Week 2001, Jim decided the week should be opened with a church service in Charlottetown, so he called Spring Park United Church and approached the minister there, asking if there was a possibility we could have a service there. A meeting was held with the church group looking after requests like his and they agreed to the use of the sanctuary. Guest speakers were two ministers from the Maritimes — Rev. James Crooks and Rev. Leslie Jay.
The sixth annual Pride church service July 7, 2006, had a theme: Meeting Your Church Neighbours. Jim invited clergy from across the island to come using a Bible verse and speak for five minutes. Have you ever heard a clergyman speak for only five minutes? It was sort of “church shopping for gays.” Clergy from the United, Anglican and Presbyterian churches came and, unfortunately, when he approached a Catholic priest, his remarks were, “I would love to come, but I need a job.” A TV network called to see if they could tape the service as they had never heard of this happening in Canada before. Jim’s home church, Vernon Bridge United, ministered in music selections.
In May of 2001, Prince Edward Island finally grew up and realized that they could not discriminate against gay and lesbians, according to the Canadian Human Rights Act. This was because, in 2000, Jim was awaiting guests arriving from Quebec. They never showed up that night. In the morning, they called and said they were sorry but they lost the address, so they had to stay in Charlottetown. Was it still OK to come out? Of course, come on out.
When they arrived, they told of their harrowing first night on P.E.I. They checked costs of hotels that were too much, so they looked for a B&B. After calling around, they found a place in Stratford, so they requested a room with a queen bed. Reassuring them they had one, the owner said to come out, check in, and then they could go out and visit the town at night and come back when they wished.
Upon arrival, the hostess was working in the garden. She got up and went into the house. When the guys knocked at the door, it was opened by both the hostess and host. They expressed that they had only one queen bed in the room, so they would have to take two rooms. Why? Because they did not allow same-sex people to sleep in their rooms together. “That is discrimination,” said the guest. “Take it or leave it,” said the host. The boys left and ended up in a hotel.
So, he called Ryan Pierce from CBC and told him what happened. He said he was off for the weekend but was going to come right out and interview the boys. Monday morning, he arrived at work with his presentation and the boss said, “Great. Now go interview the hosts.” It ran on the news at 5:30 p.m. with the B&B owners saying they were sure it was the express view of all of P.E.I. that people of the same sex would not be welcome in their B&Bs.
After that radio interview aired, a TV camera headed out to the B&B. When they knocked, the hosts came to the door and were greeted with cameras flashing and they quickly locked their doors. I am sure some lawyer told them to say “no comment” as they could be in a lot of trouble saying that all P.E.I. operators were like them. For the next few days, Rainbow Lodge looked like the scene of a kidnapping or something. Media folk from across the Maritimes — newspapers, television, radio — were in the yard interviewing in person and, if not, they were calling on the phone from across the country to do interviews.
The boys took the B&B owners to the Human Rights Commission and the decision was the owners had to take a sensitivity course or close their doors. They closed their doors. A settlement was made by both parties.
Jim had been in the news a lot, trying to get people at tourism to realize that even though we have a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we are still a ways away from being able to feel comfortable about coming to someone’s house with a partner and asking to have a room with a double bed. He feels that the gay and lesbian traveller should have the chance to select a gay or at least gay-friendly home to stay in while visiting the island. He figured that letters to the P.E.I. tourism minister may help them make the necessary changes in the visitors guide for future years. Jim was very happy to see in the visitors guide for 2002 a listing under July events: P.E.I. Gay and Lesbian Pride 2002. A beginning.
In 2003, Jim was asked to be a judge at the Maritime Atlantic Canada leather meet. Each year, a group of leather men try to become the leather ambassador for the Maritimes, going across Canada to meet and participate in other Mr. Leather contests.
In 2006, Air Canada put out a gay and lesbian Canada vacation planner and, on Page 15, they featured the Rainbow Lodge and The Dunes Gallery at Brackley Beach.
In August 2006, Liberal candidate Hedy Fry came to the island and stayed with Jim. Between the two of them, they discussed the issues of same-sex marriage.
In 2007, Out In Canada, a gay and lesbian magazine, put out a travel magazine and throughout it you see Jim’s picture and a write-up about his B&B.
While living at Rainbow Lodge, Jim was asked by a TV program, Careers TV, if he would be a guest on one of their shows showing a day in the life of a gay entrepreneur. It was a fun day and the show turned out great.
On Oct. 19, 2010, Jim was invited by University of Prince Edward Island to be guest speaker at their remembrance of those who died due to homophobic violence. He spoke of personal happenings of a homophobic nature while being a spokesperson for the LGBT community on P.E.I.
In 2010, Jim was approached by Bill and Mary Kendrick, who are members of PFLAG, and asked if he thought a new tourism site for LGBTQ folk might be a good idea. Well, they started recruiting members and the P.E.I. Gay Tourism Association was born. They had a good group of members for the next 11 years. They worked as partners with Tourism P.E.I. and, with their help, they built a website, brought guests to the island through contests coming up to Pride Week, advertised in many publications, started a program of sensitivity training for businesses on P.E.I. and made awareness that P.E.I. was a welcoming destination. In 2021, they felt that their work was done and they disbanded.
In June 2010, Jim was approached by the Pride committee to be their Pride marshall for the Pride 2010 parade.
In 2011, Jim was approached by the Canadian Pickers TV program saying they heard there were a large group of dealers selling their wares at the 70-Mile Yard Sale in September. From 9 to 9:30 a.m., they were out taping a segment of their show. It was great publicity for Jim as the background was the Rainbow Lodge. It is still repeated as a trip to P.E.I. every so often.
In 2012, Jim again was packing up and moving, this time across the river to an old Victorian home on three acres of land with 149 feet of water frontage. Moving in, he said, “There is nothing to do to the place.” Yeah, right. Six months in, he started stripping the paint off the hall and stairs and it went from there. Kitchen renovations, the addition of a new back entrance and a sun room. Then, the upper floor had new paint in all bedrooms, and a major renovation to the bathroom.
The house was ready to greet guests to Green Gay Bulls. When he went to register the name, he was told he would have to get permission from the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority, but he was in luck. They were accepting new ideas to sell. He wrote and sent in his $50 and waited. A few weeks later, the letter arrived. Enclosed was his cheque and a note saying he could call it whatever he wanted as it did not interfere with their authority. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s daughter-in-law, Ruth MacDonald, was born a quarter-mile from Jim’s mom (corner of 14th Concession and Highway 11, West Gwillimbury) and had quite a chuckle over the whole thing. He told her he thought of changing his name to Stan — Stan of Green Gay Bulls. In 2023, he renovated the exterior with new shingles all around the house and new shutters — bright orange with, you guessed it, Green Bulls in the centre of each shutter.
2016 found Jim beginning to be followed around for two days by a television cameraman and presenter from British Columbia. Favorite Places was a gay TV show where a gay or lesbian person was asked to pick five of their favourite places in their neck of woods and take them to the venue and describe it on air. Jim picked Point Prim Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the island and one of only two round brick lighthouses in Canada.
Next was Orwell Corner Historic Village, one of five museum sites on P.E.I. It is not a village of buildings moved to a site, but the actual Village of Orwell beginning in 1861. Fifty-some years ago, the church was amalgamating, the school consolidating, and the farmer wanted to sell his property, which had the general store attached, and along with the blacksmith shop, town hall, school and carpenter shop, it became a gem of P.E.I., depicting how our ancestors lived from 1861 forward. Jim is now on the board as director-treasurer.
Next was Route 3 Eatery, which has unfortunately closed, and then off to the North Shore featuring The Dunes Gallery and Café and gardens, a real gem with buildings designed by owner Peter Jansons. It is a must-see while visiting the island. It truly is world renowned as Jim’s guests from Europe even ask for directions.
It was released to the public in 2017 and can still be seen on 435 OUTtv Shaw Direct.
In April 2018, Jim and Nola, both implants from off the island, shared their personal struggles and triumphs with gaining acceptance on P.E.I. It was part of shOUT! P.E.I.’s Gender and Sexuality Awareness Conference. Jim and Nola have been trailblazers in their fight to create equal rights and a healthier atmosphere for the gay and lesbian community.
A letter from a previous guest addressed to “the rainbow man P.E.I.” arrived. That was all it said on the envelope and it arrived safely.
Jim owns a 1931 Chevrolet and gets great pleasure in taking his guests to town for an evening tour of Charlottetown. On good days, you may find him on the North Shore showing people this fair island.
Jim has been many things in his lifetime — a son, brother, uncle, nephew, great-uncle, husband, stepfather, employee, employer, newsmaker, friend and lover. He now has another couple of titles to his name as he was ordained in the Universal Life Church in July 2005.
In 2006, after writing letters to MLAs of P.E.I. and making many calls to Vital Statistics of P.E.I. telling them that they have to accept the possibility of gay marriage on P.E.I. if they want Canada to be an equal rights province in the Dominion of Canada, it happened.
Jim became Prince Edward Island’s first marriage commissioner in 2006. Jim now has the ability to civilly marry couples both straight and gay. He has married many happy straight, gay and lesbian couples. Give Jim a call and he can arrange your marriage with service, cake, food, photographer and even witnesses if need be for that quiet wedding. Weddings have been performed on beaches, in boats, at lighthouses, on farms and on his three acres of waterfront property.
Jim received a phone call from the Hon. Steven Myers, stating that he had nominated him for a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for the year 2022. Jim was very surprised and said he would be honoured to accept the medal and realized that it would be a long time until another queen would be on the throne for many years. A treasured memory of a great lady.
On Feb. 9 at Government House, the home of our provincial lieutenant-governor, the Hon. Antoinette Perry invited Jim to Fanningbank to present him with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for Prince Edward Island. He very humbly accepted the award given him for the work he has done through the years for the LGBTQIA2S+ community of P.E.I.
He loves to have people come to visit at Green Gay Bulls and everyone is special. As the sign outside the door says, “There are no strangers here, only friends we have yet to meet.”
Come and enjoy our Island way of life. Who knows? Jim may even show you a house or two that may interest you as a summer home or permanent one. Jim would love to see more gay people move to the island and enjoy what he is enjoying in this the last tranquil place in Canada.
Come play on my island: Green Gay Bulls, Vernon Bridge, P.E.I., Canada, C0A 2E0.
