Explore The CV Collective Magazines
The CV Collective is our inaugural magazine and is created and published by ROAM Media Inc. Launched in the winter of 2014, the CV Collective is focused on the Comox Valley region and is a quarterly publication that releases on every solstice and equinox (mid March, June, September, and December).
PUTTING YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN TO BED
After our vegetable gardens has pumped out all of the food and flavour it can, one very important job remains: ...
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BLACK AND RURAL
As a Canadian living in Hong Kong in the late 1970s, I was regarded as a gweilo, a “white devil.” Even though I ...
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ALL HAIL THE MAY QUEEN
The merry month of May is highly anticipated in the Village of Cumberland. Since 1888, Villagers have gathered on ...
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FRASER CAIN’S UNIVERSE
Many people might be surprised to learn that one of the most successful astronomy news sites on the Internet is ...
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THE NIGHT RIDE
Night riding can be eerie, there’s no question about that. Casting shadows as I pedal through the forest ...
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THE SURROUNDING BLUE
I first sensed how landscape affects us while studying writing at the University of Saskatchewan. The ...
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ADVENTURES IN PADDLING
As we rounded the northern tip of Nootka Island, we were struck with sizable swell, wind, and refracting waves ...
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MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Strolling through Macdonald Wood Park, with its giant trees and verdant flora within town boundaries, is one of ...
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GLOOM AND BEAUTY
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVING A LIFE:
PAY ATTENTION.
BE ASTONISHED.
TELL ABOUT IT.
– MARY OLIVER
In the ...
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THE ELEVENTH HOUR FOR OLD GROWTH
The Beaufort Range sits temptingly in our backyard. If you’re a backcountry skier, then you’ve probably gazed at ...
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BUSINESS IS BLOOMING
Have you ever noticed that the flowers you see in local gardens—maybe even in your own yard—are rarely available ...
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TUNING IN TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES
I first heard of silent disco headphones while working in Toronto’s music industry several years ago. When the ...
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ALWAYS HERE FOR US
No vegetable family is as diverse and versatile as the brassicas. While you may not know the word, you’re ...
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THE COOL OF CURLING
Curling saved my life. Sounds like an outrageous statement to make, but in 1999, the year I first threw a curling ...
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FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: LUC ANTAYA
Luc is a transplant from the prairies who made his way to the Comox Valley seven years ago in search of the ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: SHANNON FORD
Shannon Ford is inspired by the magic of discovering beauty in chaos: “Walking up to a huge, empty canvas is pure ...
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ELDER VALLEY: REFRAMING REST
Restful interludes are integral to the rhythm of life.
In the natural world, winter is ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: THE QUIETNESS OF THE SEASON
The dictionary says rest is “to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.” ...
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A BENEFIT FOR ALL
Except for Indigenous people, Canadians are settlers—immigrants themselves, or the descendants of immigrants. ...
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A TALE OF TWO WOODLOTS
There are two basic ways to look at a forest you manage—as a tree farm or an ecosystem.
To see the difference, ...
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STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Homelessness can happen in many ways: job loss, injuries and accidents, mental health issues, and substance use. ...
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A THEATRICAL FORCE FOR GOOD
Music and theatre provide an environment where, through collaboration, we are encouraged to celebrate diversity, ...
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THE GIFT OF LIFE
In the early morning hours of the winter solstice, December 21, 2021, my life and health changed forever. I was ...
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FAREWELL TO THE DENTAL BUS
Things are often done a little differently on the Gulf Islands. Partly by necessity, partly by inclination, these ...
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THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
The legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship doomed to never enter port, has been told and retold since the ...
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GOOD AS GOLD
I first became drawn to mead because of my Scandinavian heritage: mead plays an important role in many of the ...
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BY DESIGN
While some of us were out celebrating Valentine’s Day this past February, Eugen Sushko was feverishly drawing at ...
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BETTER BULLETINS
Colin Garritty has an enviable job. Four days a week, all winter long, he gets paid to ski and snowmobile the ...
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FORAGING FOR FLAVOUR
When we think about hunting and gathering, the season we usually think of is fall. For many of us, there’s nothing ...
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CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
My husband and I moved to the Comox Valley four years ago. From the start, we’ve enjoyed navigating our way around ...
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GIVE IT A REST
When I was a kid growing up in the ’70s and ’80s in Montreal, stores were closed on Sundays. Every single store. ...
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FEATURED ARTIST: LAURIE MARTZ
Laurie is a “late in life” painter who moved to the Comox Valley after retiring in 2015 from a busy career as a ...
FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: JIM WHYTE
Jim is a fifth-generation Comox Valley resident, born and raised here. His interest in photography began in junior ...
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FOLLOW THE MOUNTAIN HOME
It is usually late May when I embark on the first mountain trip of the season. In this particular year I was ...
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THE COAL BENEATH OUR FEET
Starting in 1888, a vast labyrinth of extraction tunnels was carved beneath the village of Cumberland, the old ...
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DINNER IS SERVED
Eating local is a popular concept in the Comox Valley, with its long growing season and wealth of farms producing ...
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MAGIC IN THE DYE POT
When I was a kid growing up in the northern boreal forest, my mother took me and my siblings out foraging for ...
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EVERYTHING WE KNOW IS WRONG
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
– Søren Kierkegaard, 1843
I don’t ...
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WERE IT NOT FOR THE BIKE
This past January, I received an email from the organizer of the BC Epic thanking me for my registration.
Which ...
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ELDER VALLEY: RETIREMENT REDEFINED
Opening up, embracing new ideas, and making time for wonder.
I spent most of my career trying ...
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LITTLE VALLEY: DAKOTA BLOMGREN
Hi, my name is Dakota Blomgren. I was born in the Comox Valley and I am nine years old. I am a proud member of the ...
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THE DAY THE PRINCE CAME TO TOWN
Over a century ago, on a Monday in late September, crowds of young and old thronged Vancouver’s sidewalks. Mothers ...
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ALTERED LANDSCAPE
My first home in Cumberland was on Camp Road, in a row of rough cabins that were built in 1888 when the coal mine ...
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FEEL LIKE A KID AGAIN
What an ugly night. It’s dark, pouring rain, and there are still remnants of slushy snow melting in the driveway, ...
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WHALE BREATH AND ANGEL WINGS
You don’t need to be an oyster farmer or sport fisherman for the daily ebb and flow of the ocean to impact your ...
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JUMP SCARES AHEAD
Decades ago, I was sitting in a cinema seat in Toronto, gripping the armrests as the tension heightened, and ...
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A DOORWAY TO HOPE
When David and Angela Mackenzie open the door to their new home, they will bring with them an unwavering ...
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SUNSET AT SMITH LAKE FARM
As I pull through the gates of Smith Lake Farm, I’m greeted by the sounds of chickens clucking and disc golfers ...
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MISADVENTURES IN BAKING
Back in 2013, I started shopping around for healthy nutrition options to supplement my gym goals. I’d never given ...
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THE SCIENCE OF SASQUATCH
Do you laugh when you hear the word sasquatch? Do you believe that sasquatches exist? Do you think that a ...
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VIVA LA TRASH PANDA
I’ve occasionally yearned to wear a Davy Crockett-inspired coonskin hat. The reason I don’t isn’t that I fear I’d ...
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CHEERS TO THE LAZO BARREL COLLECTIVE
It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon as I make my way through Alex Blais’ yard, following the sound of laughter toward an ...
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THE WOMAN IN THE FLORAL DRESS
Our new Cumberland home came with a view of the crisp Beaufort Range mountains, Mount Apps standing tallest above ...
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RIDING DRAGONS ON THE SALISH SEA
The very first time I dipped my paddle into the Salish Sea, wedged awkwardly in the belly of a dragon boat, I was ...
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ALL IN THE SAME BOAT
On Friday, May 13, 2022, a group of paddlers from many backgrounds made their way, in two interconnected voyageur ...
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CHEERS TO THE LAZO BARREL COLLECTIVE
It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon as I make my way through Alex Blais’ yard, following the sound of laughter toward an ...
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BRANCHING OUT
Like most woodworking spaces, Sandpiper Studio is an organized-but-dusty collection of equipment designed for the ...
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GET THEE TO A GALLERY
I-HOS GALLERY
K'ÓMOKS FIRST NATION
Owned and operated by the K’ómoks First Nation, I-Hos Gallery showcases a ...
LITTLE VALLEY: DARRAGH TORMEY
Hi, my name is Darragh Tormey, and this is my love essay.
Love can mean a million things, and it means ...
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CREATING A CANOE
K’ómoks First Nation (KFN) members Sean Frank and Trevor Hardy, assisted by master carver Joe Martin of ...
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