People of the Passage
October 2025

Photo: Myra Haughian in front of a collection of her one-of-a-kind cards you can find at the Buffalo Club.

by Gail Haarsma—Some people see broken old things. Others see potential.

Myra Haughian is one of those people who can create beauty from almost anything—old chairs, driftwood, seashells, or discarded fabric.

Although she doesn’t call herself an artist, everyone who has seen her hand-drawn, one-of-a-kind cards at the Cow Bay/Eastern Passage Buffalo Club, or her framed drawings at her home, agrees that she is.

She admits she has been drawing since childhood—on everything from the cardboard in nylon stocking packages to the inside covers of telephone books.

“I was one of five children, and we didn’t have art supplies. I would get in trouble because I did artwork on everything,” Haughian said in an interview with The Beacon in her backyard. She sat on a chair covered in her hand-painted pink flowers, beneath a flower-painted sun umbrella—both items rescued from the trash and turned into art pieces. “I see treasures in some of the things people don’t want anymore or put out to be recycled.”

Haughian first discovered she might have a gift for art when she was seven years old at Alderney Elementary School. For a school assignment, she created her own design in wax crayon, blending the colours to give the drawing a unique texture.

This wasn’t because she had learned a new technique, but because “I just didn’t want it to be waxy.”

Her work was sent to a competition, which she won.

“It gives me joy to create something,” she said, reflecting on her philosophy of life. “I don’t have that attitude of ‘I can’t.’ If you say you can’t, then you won’t do it. I’ve learned to say, ‘thank you’ when people say my cards are art, understanding there is no guarantee someone will like what you are drawing.”

For the past 15 years or so, Haughian has been supplying the Buffalo Club with her cards. It started, she explains, when she heard someone was sick or needed a boost. Even if she didn’t know them, she would make a card.

Soon, people began asking for them.

“All the cards are one-of-a-kind, like people; they are all unique. I don’t charge, and if I’m there, I can write whatever you want in the card.”

People often take her up on the offer, noting her elegant handwriting. “The Buffalo Club added a jar for donations, and it took off. The money people give is saved all year and put towards providing Christmas dinner for those who need it.”

Haughian also spreads her joy at Ocean View, where she creates cards for residents on one ward with Alzheimer’s disease. She makes them for Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s Day, asking staff to put each patient’s name on the envelope so the message is personalized.

“Apparently, Santa calls out people’s names and presents the cards at Christmas. They are displayed on the bulletin board,” Haughian explained. “I will keep doing it as long as I can.”

She is also a strong supporter of the Buffalo Club, which she says does a great deal for the community that often goes unmentioned—from school lunches to filling oil tanks for families in need.

“The Buffalo Club has been my second home. I feel like I’m a part of them. They look out for me.”

Haughian is long retired after 23 years working with people with developmental challenges. She has two adult children and two grandchildren, and has lived in Eastern Passage for 24 years, “doing things to keep me happy.”

If you’re at the Buffalo Club, pick up one of her cards, leave a donation, and, if you have the time, ask if Haughian can come down to write in it for you. If not, consider making a special trip to the club on Cow Bay Road to see what you’re missing—and to help out a good cause.