Explore By Region

Browse our growing collection of articles from current and previous issues of both the CV Collective and Strathcona Collective magazines by region.

Wild Kelp Harvesting

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, What, Strathcona, Environment & Nature, Volume 8

My name is Shaelynne and I am in my fourth year of running a wild kelp harvesting operation off the coast of Port ...

Words by

Shaelynne Bood

Photos by

Kimberley Kufaas

KEEP IT GREEN

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Environment & Nature, Volume 35

Communities in the Pacific Northwest are essentially human settlements in logging clearcuts. Whack down trees, lay ...

Words by

Andrew Findlay

Opening photo by

Jen Groundwater

FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, History, People & Places, Volume 35

A curtain flutters through broken glass as fiery flakes litter the snow-covered ground. Despite the cold, ...

Words by

Bevin Clempson

Photos by

Sara Kempner

10,000 Volunteer Hours of Urban to Alpine

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Adventure & Sport, Environment & Nature, Volume 8

My phone is set to a special sound just for Search and Rescue calls and, while I have learned over the years to be ...

Words by

Tim Fairbank

Photo courtesy of

Daniel Gelson

DRIPPING IN CULTURE

CV Collective, Fall, Mainland & Beyond, Health & Wellness, Travel & Discovery, Volume 35

As the owners of The Lost Faucet Sauna House in Courtenay, we are constantly seeking out more knowledge and ...

Words by

Lisa Jaster

Dan Webb

THE SEA IN THEIR BLOOD

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Environment & Nature, Volume 35

In the fall and winter, most people don’t immerse themselves in the Salish Sea, but for geoduck divers, it’s ...

Words by

Serena Kerr

Photos by

Coast Seafoods

A CARING PRESENCE

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Culture & Art, People & Places, Volume 35

PHOTOS BY GWEN MONNET, SANDI PHYE, & CRAIG SOROCHAN We respectfully acknowledge that the land we gather on ...

Words by

Ni’nox¯sola program Elders

Elder Valley: Nesting Instinct

CV Collective, Elder Valley, Fall, Comox Valley, People & Places, Volume 35

Reflections from an older resident. I grew up and lived for much of my life in northern ...

Words by

Doloris Paquin

Photo by

Jenn Dykstra

FROM VENTURE CAPITALIST TO VINTNER

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, People & Places, Volume 35

Alex Guertin is the newest proprietor of Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery. On a warm evening in July, he tours ...

Words by

Dave Nowak

Photo by

Michelle Bucher

LITTLE VALLEY: FROM ONE NEST TO THE NEXT

CV Collective, Fall, Little Valley, Comox Valley, People & Places, Volume 35

Reflections from a younger resident. Nests are everywhere when you spend lots of time ...

Words by

Azalee Banks, age 11

Photo by

Jen Rollins

Listen to the Whisper

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, People & Places, Travel & Discovery, Volume 8

Nestled among the trees on Cortes Island is Hollyhock, gently nurturing the ancient lands of the Klahoose, ...

Words by

Mary Ruth Snyder

Photos courtesy of

Hollyhock Retreat Centre

Drawn to the Water

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Culture & Art, People & Places, Volume 8

My draw to the water started at the age of 17. My stepfather owned a tugboat company just outside Victoria, and he ...

Words by

Suzanne Jolly

Photos by

Stan Novotny

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: CHUCK BURDICK

CV Collective, Fall, Featured Photographer, Comox Valley, Culture & Art, Featured Gallery, Volume 35

Chuck Burdick is a self-taught photographer working in multiple genres including macro, landscape, and abstract ...

The Heriot Bay Inn

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Culture & Art, People & Places, Volume 8

WORDS BY LOIS TAYLOR, TRACY SINCLAIR, & JUANITA MACLEAN PHOTOS BY CARLA DUFFEY Established in 1895 by Mr. ...

FEATURED ARTIST: SARAH CLARK

CV Collective, Fall, Featured Artist, Comox Valley, Culture & Art, Featured Gallery, Volume 35

As a creative generalist working in an array of art practices, Sarah Clark is less interested in becoming an ...

CAMP ROAD SPECIAL

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, History, People & Places, Volume 35

It was late summer when my husband and I first rolled into Cumberland in our old Ford pickup. The year was 1996 ...

Words by

Simone Gingras-Fox

Photos by

Luke Phillips

Exploring the Roots of Midwifery

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Health & Wellness, People & Places, Volume 8

There is a mystery that surrounds pregnancy and birth—a real sense of wonder. Cross-culturally, the practice of ...

Words by

Lindsay Wells

Photos by

Nycky-Jay Vanjecek

WHY WITCHCRAFT?

CV Collective, Fall, Environment & Nature, Learning New Things, Volume 35

Many witches, including myself, when asked how and why we became witches, will answer that they didn’t become a ...

Words & Photo by

Catriona Richardson

Little River: Clementine & Pepper Wiltsie

Fall/Winter, Little River, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, People & Places, Volume 8

We used to live in Cumberland when we were little. It was fun! We would walk to our friends' houses to play. One ...

Words by

Clementine & Pepper Wiltsie, ages 6 & 7

Photo courtesy of

Caitlin DeMill

Discovering Ancient Coastal Migration Patterns

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Environment & Nature, Volume 8

Ancient DNA (aDNA). The term immediately brings to mind visions of dinosaurs, ancient civilizations, megafauna, ...

Words by

Camilla Sampson

Photos courtesy of

The Hakai Institute

The Journey is the Gift

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, People & Places, Volume 8

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATHLEEN O’REILLY & FAMILY My husband, Michael (Mick) Taylor, was an avid traveller, ...

Words by

Kathleen O’Reilly

BOW HUNTING: A MULTI-GENERATIONAL LIFETIME OF LESSONS

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Environment & Nature, Volume 8

Adam Swift has been bow hunting and fishing on the West Coast since he was a kid growing up in Campbell River. “My ...

Words by

Alison Bell

Opening photo by

Scott Bell

CREATING COMMUNITY BY THE KEG-LOAD

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Food & Drink, People & Places, Volume 8

It takes a special kind of person to teach. If you're teaching in the public school system, you're likely signing ...

Words by

Ross Bodenmann

Photos by

Amanda Rentiers

UNCOVERING THE MYSTERIES OF TWIN ISLANDS

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, History, People & Places, Volume 8

Twin Islands, tucked against Cortes Island’s southeast shore, has been a haven for a fascinating cast of ...

Words by

Jeanette Taylor

Photos courtesy of

Cortes Island Museum & Archives

ANODIZED DOWNHILL DAYS

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Adventure & Sport, Volume 35

The year was 1990. On the steep, raw edge of a Mount Washington ski slope, summer wildflowers stood in stark ...

Words by

Mike B

Photo by

Liam Wallace

GIVE BEETS A CHANCE

CV Collective, Fall, Food & Drink, Volume 35

I’m writing these words in the height of summer, when I barely have enough time to juice a cucumber. But it will ...

Words by

James McKerricher

Photo by

Jenn Dykstra

THE SEA AS MUSE

Uncategorized

Nature, specifically the ocean, has long been the undercurrent of photographer and sailor John Kelsey’s life. It’s ...

Words by

Camilla Sampson

Photos courtesy of

John Kelsey

A DECADE OF DUELLING RÉSUMÉS

Fall/Winter, Strathcona Collective, Mainland & Beyond, Strathcona, Adventure & Sport, Volume 8

Seated in one of my college classrooms, I received an email from Canada Olympic Park—a confirmation that I would ...

Words by

Ryan de Milliano

Photo by

Sara Kempner

OLD HOUSE ON THE RIVER

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Food & Drink, People & Places, Volume 35

Darren Howlett is sitting in Locals Restaurant, a place he has a long history with. He’s worked in this dining ...

Words by

Allie Jenkinson

Photos by

Jenn Dykstra

FOSSIL FASCINATION

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, History, Learning New Things, Volume 35

It is a universal truth, I think, that the further you move through adulthood, the more you’re aware that life is ...

Words by

Mac Newton

Photos provided by

Experience Comox Valley

A WORK OF COMPASSION

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Health & Wellness, People & Places, Volume 35

Since 1983, Comox Valley Hospice Society (CVHS) has been working to support the physical, psychological, ...

ECHOES IN CHINATOWN

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, History, Volume 35

At Cumberland Chinatown’s peak in the years just after the end of World War I, around 1500 residents bustled down ...

Words by

Erica Keen

Photos courtesy of

The Keen Family

CREATING SPACE FOR TRADITIONS, OLD AND NEW

Fall/Winter, Intro, Strathcona Collective, Strathcona, Volume 8

At its root, tradition is the sharing of stories. Perhaps our oldest tradition is exactly that: storytelling. ...

Intro by

Camilla Sampson

Photo by

Matt Newfield

THE ART OF DRYING FLOWERS

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Makers & Innovators, Volume 35

The practice of pressing and drying flowers and herbs dates back centuries and is part of many Indigenous cultures ...

Words by

Karen Bezaire

Photos by

Meredith Rose

FALLING IN LOVE WITH FUNGI

CV Collective, Fall, Comox Valley, Environment & Nature, Volume 35

“Fungi make worlds. They also unmake them. There are lots of ways to catch them in the act. When you cook mushroom ...

Words by

Meaghan Cursons

Photos by

Shawn Pigott

THE NEXT RIGHT THING

CV Collective, Fall, Intro, Comox Valley, Volume 35

My husband and I sometimes travelled with our kids when they were tiny. If we ever stayed in a motel, we would ...

Intro by

Jen Groundwater

Photo by

Ron Pogue

REMARKABLY UNSINKABLE

CV Collective, Summer, History, People & Places, Volume 34

It was April 1912 when Hilda Mary Slayter packed her travel trunk with an elegant trousseau in preparation for her ...

Words by

Claire King

Opening photo by

Alan Hustak

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

CV Collective, Summer, Comox Valley, Makers & Innovators, Volume 34

Paige Whitehead was 13 years old when she saw bioluminescence for the first time, during a midnight dip in the ...

Photos courtesy of

NYOKA Design Labs

BRIDGING THE ART/TECH GAP

CV Collective, Summer, Comox Valley, Makers & Innovators, People & Places, Volume 34

Did you know that in the heart of Courtenay, a local recording studio—decked out with audio and video gear, and ...

Words by

Jennifer Casey

Photos by

Caresse Nadeau

ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT

CV Collective, Summer, Comox Valley, Food & Drink, Volume 34

In my opinion, no fruit or vegetable epitomizes all that is sweet and ephemeral about summer better than the ...

Words by

James McKerricher

Photo courtesy of

Shamrock Farm