Tag Archives: Doug McCaffry

From The Ground Up: The Story Of Cortes Island Dwellings

A new exhibition in the Cortes Island Museum looks at the island’s housing from pre-colonial times up until the present. ‘From the Ground Up: Cortes Island Dwellings And Their Histories’ combines photographs and artifacts from the museum’s collections, stories and images from the community and a display from the Cortes Housing Society. Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Museum, took Cortes Currents on a tour of the exhibit. 

Continue reading From The Ground Up: The Story Of Cortes Island Dwellings

Doug McCaffry’s Heaven: Coffee and Films

 The first time many Cortes Island residents heard of Doug McCaffry was when he and his wife, Melanie, took over Becca’s beans. Prior to that they were living in central Saanich.

“We came  for a vacation. It was a beautiful August, and I’d always wanted to come to Cortes.  I thought, ‘hey, just for fun, let’s look at some real estate.’ The place we’re at now had just come up for sale and came with  the optional coffee roastery.  I thought, ‘well, I love coffee, let’s learn coffee roasting.’  It all happened so fast. Two of the things I love most in life, coffee and film, and I’m in heaven,” he explained.

Continue reading Doug McCaffry’s Heaven: Coffee and Films

Cortes-roasted coffee expands off-island, now brewed at Quadra eatery

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Becca’s Beans, a Cortes Island-based coffee roaster, has expanded with its first new off-island partnership as the new coffee supplier to Island Farm to Table, a café in Quathiaski Cove on the neighbouring island of Quadra.

Continue reading Cortes-roasted coffee expands off-island, now brewed at Quadra eatery

George Sirk & the Cortes Film Festival

Cortes Island will be holding its very own film festival in Mansons Hall on Sunday, July 17, 2022.  George Sirk produced Cortes Cinema’s films, all but one of which was originally shown at either Mansons or Gorge Halls during the 1970s and early 80’s. The exception is a video of Ann Mortifee’s performance at Manson’s Hall on October 23, 1981. This has not previously been shown in public. Doug McCaffry came up with the idea of holding a film festival, when he was digitalising Sirk’s films for the Cortes Island Museum.  

Continue reading George Sirk & the Cortes Film Festival

Local coffee roasterie has new owners at the helm

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Becca’s Beans, a local coffee business started by Becky and Scott Knutson in 2008, is now in the enthusiastic care of Doug and Melanie McCaffry.

The couple moved to Cortes Island from Central Saanich at the end of October, and their very first days on the island coincided with a marathon power outage. Undeterred, they consider it “an initiation,” and are overwhelmingly pleased with the warm welcome they’ve received as well as the pace of life and wild beauty.

Continue reading Local coffee roasterie has new owners at the helm