On January 30th, Kate Maddigan, Rose Fitcyk, and Sadhu Aufochs Johnston joined host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie, to talk about the state of Cortes Island, the recent Vital Signs survey, CHS’ Rainbow Ridge housing project, and the stories and data of “now”. This is an important community update!
Continue reading Folk U – Vital Signs Round Table
Around the time President Donald Trump started threatening to start a trade war, Cortes Currents reached out to Dr Kushank Bajaj from UBC’s Institute for Resource, Environment and Sustainability and Marc Doll, from Foot Forward Forest Farm on Quadra Island.
The topic was food security and Dr Bajaj is one of the developers of a website called Canada Food Flows, which traces the amount of fruits and vegetables coming into British Columbia from other provinces and nations.
Continue reading Food Nutrition, Prices And Security: Local And International PerspectivesCortes Island’s dream of having a makerspace has become a reality. The Cortes Wood Makerspace is being set up in the Orchard Village Shop, 671 Sutil Point Rd, Mansons Landing.
“This idea has been around for a long time. I have heard people talking about it for at least 15 years and some old timers apparently remember even longer. We have lots of people who are woodworkers or building their own homes and not everyone has to build a shop for themselves and equip it with machinery,” explained Hannu Huuskonen, the Shop Master.
Continue reading The Cortes Island Wood MakerspaceClose to 50 people turned up at Mansons Hall on January 24, for an update on the construction coming or already underway in the downtown Mansons area. The Cortes Housing Society, Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA), Cortes Island Community Foundation and Cortes Island Pickleball Society were on hand to describe what’s taking place at Rainbow Ridge, the multipurpose courts and the Village Commons.
Regional Director Mark Vonesch exclaimed, “The big news here on Cortes is that the Housing Society is going to start building houses this year.”
Sandra Wood, who’s been at the heart of the Rainbow Ridge affordable housing project from the beginning, added, “It’s exciting to finally get shovels in the ground. We feel like we’ve been shovel ready for years.”
Manda Aufochs Gillespie, from the Cortes Island Foundation, described another focus of the meeting “More and more, it’s clear that the Village Commons is really this whole area and all the things that we gather in the heart of Mansons to do.”
Continue reading Construction coming to the (Many) Common Areas of Mansons LandingBy Dancing Wolf
Last Thursday, Jan 24, many of us were witness to some great visionary ideas and concepts regarding our near future in 2040.
I was deeply moved and inspired by this remarkable presentation created by the Students of the Cortes Island Academy and wonderfully supported by their Teachers.
So much so that I wrote a short poem to express my gratitude.
Continue reading Teenage Breakthrough: A Poetic Response To The Cortes Island Academy Year End Presentation
