Explore The Comox Valley Collective Magazines
The Comox Valley Collective is our inaugural magazine and is created and published by ROAM Media Inc. Launched in the winter of 2014, it is a quarterly publication focused on the Comox Valley region that releases on every solstice and equinox (mid March, June, September, and December).

ON SMOKING AND PICKLING
SIMPLE PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES PROVIDE FOOD SECURITY—AND FLAVOUR.
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INFLUENZA’S DEADLY TRAIL
At the close of World War I, the so-called Spanish flu claimed lives all over the world, even in the Comox Valley.
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THE BEAUTY OF THE BURN
Buddhist wisdom tells us that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Try telling your body that.
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THE SUSPENSE WON’T KILL US
COVID-19 has changed global tourism forever. Here on the island, local operators and residents need to imagine a new future for the industry.
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ALL FIRED UP
Award-winning potter Gordon Hutchens may be in his seventies, but he’s still got plenty of clay to shape, students to teach, and ideas to pursue.
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FEATURED ARTIST: RICHARD MRAVIK

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: GLYNNIS GREY

FEATURED WORDS: DISTANCE
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PLAYING WITH FIRE
On a hot summer day in 1938, a few sparks from a locomotive caused Vancouver Island’s largest blaze.
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COURTENAY AFTER COVID
Twenty years after the pandemic, a local historian looks back.
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DRAWN TO THE FLAMES
Because our personal relationship with fire is a cautious one, we love the excitement of fire shows.
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ART, A HARVEST, AND A BLESSING
Public Place / Sacred Space leaves a meaningful legacy in downtown Courtenay.
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SWEAT IT OUT
Bathing in the benefits of hot-cold rituals.
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VERACITY OF THE VESPIDS
Wasps are a family of insects truly to be loathed. Or are they?
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PUTTING THE SUN TO WORK
Vancouver Island’s first Passive House Plus is healthful, comfortable, beautiful—and costs nothing to heat.
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FORGED IN TOUGH TIMES
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COVID DISCOVERIES

COVID MOMENTS
Reflections on going with the flow with a young family in this unusual time
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COMOX VALLEY SCHOOLS AND CORONAVIRUS
Pivoting with compassion

COLLABORATING AGAINST COVID-19

NATION OF STAIRS
Dogs, donkeys, and other delights of trekking in Nepal.
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THE EGG EQUATION
Not all eggs are created equal—here’s some straight-up clucking about which ones are best.
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EASY, BREEZY E-BIKES
Rad new rides give biking a boost.
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LITTLE VALLEY: SAM GOLDBY
Our young residents reflect on the home they’re growing up in.
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FED UP NO MORE
Edible Island and the evolution of alternative eating in the Comox Valley.
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FEATURED ARTIST: JO PAYNE

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: MATT NEWFIELD

BELTANE
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ON THE SHARP EDGE
Local swordfighters get medieval at the Comox Valley Combat Guild.
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AIMING FOR ZERO
From circular to linear and back again: the human economy on a finite planet.
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THE CURVE OF TIME
The classic story of a BC family’s sailing adventures still thrills modern readers.
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TURNING DOWN THE TEMPERATURE
Cumberland 2040: How Cumberland reached carbon negative
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THIS PLACE IS FOR THE BIRDS
From fresh waters to the salty sea—the K’ómoks Important Bird Area.
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THE ART OF THE ARCHTOP
At the pinnacle of guitar making, you might just find Comox Valley luthier Wyatt Wilkie.
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NO FEAR OF FALLING
BASE jumper Angelique Vinnedge loves being airborne.
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LEARNING TO FLY
MARS’s newly expanded rescue centre is a haven for Valley wildlife.
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HOME IN THE HILLS
It took a community to build Vancouver Island’s backcountry hut.
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IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL LAND
The history and community behind Courtenay’s beloved Airpark.
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DOWN IN THE PIT
Inside the unseen world of musical-theatre musicians.
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BLANKETED IN HOPE
A meeting of art, reconciliation, and the law in the K’ómoks Bighouse.
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