ALL HAIL THE MAY QUEEN
The merry month of May is highly anticipated in the Village of Cumberland. Since 1888, Villagers have gathered on ...
Words by
Photo by
ALL History
THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
The legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ghost ship doomed to never enter port, has been told and retold since the ...
Words by
Photo courtesy of
WILD SPACES BELONG TO EVERYONE
Some of my dearest early memories involve water. My dad would tie a rope on my sister’s and my life jackets as we ...
Words & featured photo by
CHANGING TIDES
One of the most iconic locations in the Comox Valley is Goose Spit, a long finger of land that shields Comox ...
Words by
Photo by
A LIFE LIVED WITH VOLUME
Everyone remembers the first time they met Thomas Dunn. He was a rare individual who made an impression—mostly ...
Words by
Photo by
FROM SECRET KNOWLEDGE TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT
If you take a moment to reflect upon the immense amount of organization, dedication, and perseverance required to ...
Words by
Featured photo by
WELCOME TO HISTORIC CUMBERLAND
A few years ago, there was a local kerfuffle because a new sign on the Inland Island Highway proclaimed: “Welcome ...
Words by
Photo by
LEAVING OLD ENMITIES BEHIND
I enjoy the practice of traditional karate for many reasons, including what it teaches me about Japanese and ...
Words by
Photos courtesy of
SUPERSONIC MEMORIES
Editor’s note: Rick Zyvitski, now retired, used to fly fighter jets out of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox. We ...
Words by
Featured photo by
Don’t Look, SEE
Most Campbell Riverites know the iconic blue cottage, nestled by the beach in Willow Point. For Sybil and Walter ...
Words by
Photos by
Strathcona Park Lodge and Outdoor Education Centre
When you drive west along the winding road that skirts Lower and Upper Campbell Lakes, as it hugs the rock face of ...
Words by
Photos by
INFLUENZA’S DEADLY TRAIL
By all accounts, Johnny Bannerman is a very nice young man. He’s a member of the Cumberland Volunteer Fire ...
Words by
Photo courtesy of
COURTENAY AFTER COVID
The third in our series imagining how the Comox Valley’s communities could look 20 years from now. ...
Words by
Photo by
FED UP NO MORE
We got together in the living rooms of cabins, converted barns, half-finished homemade houses. We ate date ...
Words by
Photos courtesy of
TURNING DOWN THE TEMPERATURE
The second in our series imagining how the Comox Valley’s communities could look 20 years from ...
Words by
Photo by
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL LAND
When my kids were younger, I logged long hours at the Rotary Skypark, going half-dizzy as they performed endless ...
Words by
Photos by
YOU’LL BE GLAD TO HEAR: UNION BAY 2040
This year, we’ll be exploring possible futures for the communities of the Comox Valley based on current community ...
Words by
Photo by
WAIT ’TIL THE SUN SHINES, NELLIE
While looking at a 1931 photo of a crew of men seated on a logging raft, long-time Cumberland resident Karl ...
Words by
Photo provided by
THE FOREST AS OUR WITNESS
The idea that the dead remain with us in spirit is ancient. Cultures the world over document the presence of ...
Words by
Photos by
GENERATION GAP
In 1927, it was a day like any other for Peter Bardesonno as he clocked in alongside his father Jossepi for ...
Words by
Photos provided by
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, thriving mining, logging, and fishing industries in the Comox Valley led to ...
Words by
Photo by
CRUMBLING CANNERIES
It was the 1880s and “The Great Salmon Industry” was in its golden years on the British Columbia coast. Entire ...
Words & Photos by
HOME BASE
Under the steady gaze of the Comox Glacier, looking east to the Strait of Georgia, the airfield at Canadian Forces ...
Words by
Photo by
WHAT TIME LEAVES BEHIND
Have you ever wondered about parked cars at the side of Highway 19, near the bridge about three kilometres south ...
Words & Photo by
LONG MAY YOU RUN
Jane Wilde and Monika Terfloth are waiting for me at a patio on 5th Street. Not far from here, Terfloth once ...
Words by
Photos courtesy of
A SELFLESS PROTECTOR OF ALL THINGS WILD
If you could divide people into two categories, there would be those who spend their lives taking from the planet, ...
Words by
Photos by
DEATH OF A WORKER’S FRIEND
Near the end of July 1918, the blackberries were just starting to ripen, a welcome development for the hungry ...
Words by
THE CONSTANT GARDENERS
I grew up in a cheaply thrown together subdivision in Fort McMurray, erected during Alberta’s oil boom. Surrounded ...
Words by
Illustration by
COMOX MARINA
The Purple Martins swirl and swoop in the air above my head, their bright chirping punctuating the sound of the ...
Words by
Photos supplied by
AT JOURNEY’S END
It's 5:30 a.m., April 15, 1942. The full dark of night is just lifting. Suitcases are packed and weighed and ...
Words by
Photo by