Tag Archives: Toronto

Michael Keith & Iris Gildea: Leaving Cortes Island

Michael Keith and his wife Iris Gildea are leaving Cortes Island. 

 “This was a decision we made a while ago.  My wife teaches at the University of Toronto. It’s quite the communte between semesters and we started investigating the possibility of libving somewhere a bit closer to her work. We found the ideal situation in the Maritimes. The commute is about a fraction of the time and we can get the place that really suited us. So we made that decision. It was tough, but  it’s time for the next part of the journey,”  he explained. 

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The making of ‘Sacred India’: a personal pilgrimage & investigation of plastic waste

Local filmmaker Jennifer Pickford found more than the spiritual paradise of her expectations, when she first visited India in 2008. She subsequently embarked upon the personal pilgrimage, 2,500 kilometres down the Ganges River, chronicled in the documentary ‘Sacred India: Plastic Revolution,’ which comes to Mansons Hall on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.  

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A New Season For The Whaletown Garden Centre

Noah Davidson traces his gardening itch back to the family plot in Ontario  but prior to his arrival on Cortes Island, he worked in restaurants. He started out behind the cash register of his father’s restaurant in Toronto and went on to work in a number of fast food establishments. This continued after his move to British Columbia. Noah worked at the Floathouse Restaurant, in Gorge Harbour Marina, during his first two years on Cortes Island.  

“A couple of seasons after working with them, I decided to experiment with the possibility of starting a business on my own property. I remember asking the Gorge, ‘if this doesn’t work out, would you mind hiring me back, because I don’t know whether this is going to be a grand success or a grand failure.’  They said, ‘you know, you’ve given us two good years and we’d certainly take you back,” he explained.  

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Kim Paulley (part 1): Quest for the Ultimate Free Voice

The audio version of this story opens with a clip of Cortes Island’s own Kim Paulley singing in what may be the first music video release of Bryan Adams’ ‘Straight from the Heart.’ That was in 1980. Adams originally thought it should be sung by a woman and did not make the song famous for another 3 years. 

Paulley has been entertaining Cortes Islanders for the past three decades and in 1994 gave a special unscheduled performance for Queen Elizabeth on Twin Islands. In the first broadcast of a two part series, she talks about the beginnings of her career.

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Vijen Vijendren: ‘My Life in three Chapters’

The next show in the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery promises to be a treat. Vijen Vijendren is a retired art teacher, whose resume includes nine years at the Royal Palace in Brunei. He was also an elementary school teacher serving First Nations communities in Northern Alberta. ‘My Life in Three Chapters’ is his artistic autobiography, covering the period from his time abroad to settling on Cortes Island.

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