The selection of products Thaddeus Conrad carries at his table reflects his eclectic interests, knowledge base and travels.
He makes some of his own herbal medicines, such as tinctures and topicals. “I import organic arnica butter from India and I make a tiger balm,” he said.
A grant of eReaders from Rakuten Kobo has translated into a monthly book club on Cortes Island where readers use both print and digital media to access titles.
Late last year, 20 Kobo eReaders came under Cortes Literacy’s stewardship. Through the partnership, a regular book club is now being held: readers have access to the devices and subscriptions to the Kobo Plus book library included with the grant, as well as public library’s offerings.
Cortes Island is a noteworthy location for the number of annual warranties claimed through the Darn Tough brand of socks, which are guaranteed for life.
Although the 2022 claims total was only 21 pairs for the island, per capita this is 24.75 times higher than the Cities of Vancouver, North Vancouver and West Vancouver combined. Cortes and Quadra Islands together added up to 43 pairs claimed under warranty in 2022, which is the same number as all of Campbell River, said Carly Murdoch in the warranty department of the Canadian distributor, Interex Industries.
Twigroot Botanicals is a young business, steadily building a reputation for high-quality body care products that began with a garden.
”I wanted to do something different because there is so much skincare out there,” said Cortes Island-based owner and formulator Tamlyn Collingwood. “My preference is to only use herbs that can grow in our climate and in particular, in my garden here.”
BC Ferries’ two-ferry service that began on the Quadra Island-Campbell River route on Jan. 18 was deployed for convenience and speed, but some Cortes Island passengers are concerned with their recent experiences.
The loss of a priority loading lane for Cortes-bound traffic was mentioned in a news release by the company Jan.16. Traditionally, vehicles en route to Cortes were directed into lane 7 at the ferry terminal in Campbell River, and they board and disembark first. This would assist the drivers in arriving at the other ferry terminal on Quadra in time to catch a connecting 45-minute ferry home to Cortes—ferries that only sail every two hours.