Tag Archives: Cortes Island Museum

History, Rivers & Oceans

Gumboots in the Straits Comes To Gorge Hall

Book #4 of the Gumboot series, ‘Gumboots in the Straits’ is coming to Gorge Hall on Cortes Island on Saturday, September 20.

From 1:00 to 3:00 pm, six Cortes Island authors featured in this volume will give free public readings from their contributions.

Later in the day, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, food and drinks will be available for purchase, followed by an evening of dancing to Cortes Island’s own He Said; She Said. Tickets for the dance are $25 and can be purchased at Marnie’s Bookstore and the Cortes Island Museum.

In this morning’s interview, we’ll be joined by Jane Wilde, the originator of the Gumboots series. She’ll also share short readings from some of the Cortes writers featured in Gumboots in the Straits.

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Animals

Earthday & the New Exhibits at Wild Cortes

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It was Earth Day at Wild Cortes, Cortes Island’s centre for natural history, community science and collaborative conservation.

“It is a very exciting place to be, with new displays coming in every year, always on Earth Day. That’s probably the most important thing to say. It’s Earth Day, so let’s celebrate,” explained Sabina leader Mense, a professional advisor to Wild Cortes. 

The centrepiece of this year’s displays is the ‘Humpback Comeback’ section highlighting the stunning recovery of Humpback Whales in our local waters. 

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Arts, Gardening, History, Housing

Cortes Island Museum 2025 AGM

The Cortes Island Museum had their AGM on March 30th.

“We had  52 people come out despite a really nice gardening day. You could see people having conversations and lots of hugs.  Nice to see everybody out after the winter. Coffee and treats were available, a nice wide selection of home baked goods. So it’s like the social atmosphere was really positive,” explained Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum.

“The museum AGM business meeting takes maybe half an hour and then Iris Steigemann gave a really wonderful visual presentation of her travels in Greenland. Donations are up and membership is up, so we’re very pleased about  those facts.” 

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Education

Visit 2040 with The Cortes island Academy

The Cortes Island Academy’s third semester is wrapping up and in this year’s end showcase the students are taking the audience on an imaginative visit to the year 2040. It starts at 7:00 this Thursday, January 13, 2025 at Mansons Hall.  

 “A really important part of the Cortes Island Academy is our year end showcase where the students are  given the task of finding a way to share some of the  learning that they’ve gone through in the semester in a form that is digestible for the community at large. So they put on this big event which is supposed to be fun and compelling and also spark the imagination of the citizenry of Cortes and the surrounding islands.  We are really hoping that a lot of people will come out. I’m quite proud of the way the students have really taken things a different way this year,” explained Executive Director Manda Aufochs Gillespie.

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Animals

Cortes Island’s Biggest Christmas Bird Count Ever

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The Audobin Society has been holding Christmas Bird Counts across North America for the past 125 years.

On Cortes Island it is co-sponsored by the Cortes Island Museum and Birds Canada. Thirty-nine walkers, cyclists, boaters, and people in cars participated in the Cortes Island 2024 Christmas Bird Count. This was the third time that more than 4,000 birds have been counted since the islands first Christmas Bird Count in 2001. A new record was set: 4,545 Birds were listed.

Donna Collins explained, “We had more birders out, more areas covered and lots of birds counted.”

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