Tag Archives: Read Island

Education

Cortes Island Academy has students for next semester; needs funding

The Cortes Island Academy appears to have its full quota of 20 students for 2023/24.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie, the Academy’s principle Board member, explained, “We’ve let the first 20 students know that they have a spot if they want it, and then we’ll start taking students off our wait list. This time last year, we were still like, ‘Oh no, we don’t know if anybody will sign up for this crazy new program we have.’ This year, not only is it an established program that’s going to keep continuing into the future, but we had so many applicants that we had to have a wait list.” 

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Politics

Elizabeth May coming to Campbell River for local Green AGM; Jessica Wegg to run in next election

Elizabeth May, co-Leader of Canada’s Green Party, will be the guest speaker at the North Island-Powell River riding AGM in Campbell River this Saturday, May 6, 2023.

This is the first riding in Canada to announce its candidate for the next Federal election. Jessica Wegg (JW) was also the Green candidate for this riding in the 2021 election.    

Cortes Currents asked her, “Is this meeting open to the public?” 

JW: “Yes, it’s open to the public. If you want to vote on anything, you have to be a member of the Greens, but you can join today, or tomorrow. If you’re not a member,  you can still come.” 

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Animals, Forests

Earth Day 2023: Wild Cortes Displays (P 1 – the Mother Tree)

Wild Cortes celebrated Earth Day, on Saturday April 22, with the opening of the new Mother Tree Exhibit. One of the advantages of being among the first to arrive, is that the facility was not too crowded. There were only half a dozen people when Wild Cortes opened at noon. Local biologist Sabina Leader-Mense agreed to give Cortes Currents a walk through.

She was making some last minute touches to the exhibit when I asked some of the first viewers, ‘What’s your impression of the exhibit?’  

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Forests, History

Early Logging on Cortes Island and Vicinity: Local History with Lynne Jordan

Lynne Jordan has contributed to historical booklets available at the Cortes Island Museum and is currently researching the history of early logging activity in Whaletown.

In the course of an extensive 3-part interview, Lynne draws on original documents, archives, and oral histories to paint a picture of early settler loggers on Cortes — their equipment, their floating camps, the economy in which some prospered and some failed.

The logging community was always a really mixed bag… Much of the logging was done by hand. Some of it using horses.

Logging was not a good way to get rich.

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Community, Politics

Area C matters at the March 29 SRD Board Meeting

A number of Area C Initiatives were passed at the Wednesday March 29, 2023, Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board Meeting. 

The only audio clip I am using in this broadcast comes from a segment dealing with Grants in Aid. Chair Mark Baker is speaking throughout most of it. He brings a levity to the board that I do not remember witnessing in four years of observing SRD meetings. You can hear an example in the podcast. There is usually some laughter, even if only for a few moments, in most meetings. As none of the directors had anything they wished to say, this segment is almost like a drum roll: “Discussion: All in favour? Opposed? Seeing none the motion is carried.” 

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