Welcome to our winter 2025 issue. Our theme is Dig, and as always, when I was assigning stories, I invited the writers to interpret the theme however they wished—literally or metaphorically. A marvellous blend emerged: stories about grit, courage, and determination; some that mention actual shovels and excavations; and some about building homes, creating community, and place making.
I was touched by our Elder Valley story by longtime local Peter Gibson, who reflects on the many significant changes that have occurred in the Comox Valley in the 60-plus years he’s lived here.
His piece made me nostalgic, both for a version of the Valley I’ll never know, and for the places and people of my own youth.
As far as we know, nostalgia a uniquely human emotion—and one we all feel sometimes. No matter where we grew up, many of our personal landmarks live only in our memories. The schools we went to as kids, the restaurants we hung out in as tweens and teens, the bars we haunted in our young adulthoods—either they’re gone now, or the years have changed them beyond our recognition.
When you discover you share a memory with another person, it’s a powerful shortcut to building a connection. I hope many Valley old-timers will enjoy Gibson’s reminders about decades past, and relative newcomers will be as curious as I was about the places and names he mentions. We should all know at least a little bit about our shared recent history.
Another story this month goes much deeper: that of the Pentlatch people, whose descendants are now part of the K’ómoks First Nation. I had the opportunity to visit the remains of an important Pentlatch village in the heart of Comox with archaeologist Jesse Morin, who showed me how to see the evidence of their presence for countless generations.
Standing in the area now known as Mack Laing and Baybrook parks, I’ve often wondered what the place looked like before a single explorer, naval vessel, colonizer, or settler ever set foot here—before clearcuts, roads, and buildings were gouged into those mountains across Comox Harbour.
Pentlatch people knew that landscape, and looked after it; their traditions and stories live on today with their descendants. We should all know at least a little bit about the Indigenous history of this Valley.
The present is built on countless levels of history. To understand today, we need to do some digging—not necessarily literally, but by talking to people who know and remember the “olden days,” and/or people who’ve studied and researched history. It helps put things in perspective.
Our present is fleeting. As a community, we’re always changing. So I’m glad we have stories in this issue about local people actively building a better future. In 20 years, someone will marvel at the fact that their cohousing neighbourhood was just shovels in the ground in 2025, or that there wasn’t always a Queer Centre here.
As for us at CVC, we’re going to keep telling stories about this Valley for as long as we have readers. Understanding our community’s past, present, and future deepens our understanding of our home, and reminds us that shared memories are the essence of human connection.
