Tag Archives: Whaletown Cemetery

Family

The Cortes DeathCaring Collective

(A five part series airing daily on CKTZ ,89.5 FM, April 4-8, 2023.)

For the last several years, a small but dedicated group of Cortes Islanders have been taking practical steps towards an ambitious goal for themselves and their community: a healthier relationship with death and dying. Their projects include regular meetings for discussion and support, humane and family-led funeral arrangements, and green (natural) burials in our local cemeteries.

The DeathCaring Collective was kickstarted by Margaret Verschuur, in collaboration with Quadra Island’s similar effort (Way To Go). The two groups share an informational website, communityleddeathcare.ca, and the Cortes group now includes over a dozen volunteers and a larger membership connected by email list and regular meetings. The core group of volunteers offer several kinds of assistance for islanders dealing with a death (or anticipated death) in the family.

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Community, Family

Reflections on what 2022 meant for the Cortes DeathCaring Collective

Editor’s Note: Cortes Currents asked Margaret Verschuur, Lead Steward of the Cortes DeathCaring Collective, for her reflections on this past year and thoughts as we enter 2023. This is an edited transcript of what she said.

By Margaret Verschuur 

When you asked me about doing an interview, Roy, I hesitated. But then I thought of Jennifer Stevens, and her courage, and thought: I can do this. Jen was someone who really showed up in community, and she let the DeathCaring Collective be a part of her experience. 

Of course, confidentiality is something important in everything we do in the DeathCaring Collective, but Jennifer was always very open and her daughter Darshan has been generous and eloquent in sharing her experience with her mom and has given us permission to talk about Jen as well. 

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Community, Health

Gorge Hall hosts first New Years event during pandemic, fundraises for hall maintenance

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

Locals on Cortes are hosting an all ages New Years Eve event with live music and food at the Gorge Hall for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Whaletown Community Club (WCC) for the maintenance of the Gorge Hall. The organization owns and manages the Gorge Hall, the Whaletown Cemetery, the Louisa Tucker Library, the Old Schoolhouse Gallery building, and leases Avery Park from the government. The funds will be managed by the WCC board, the WCC President, and the WCC treasurer Izabelle Perry.

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Forests

Bruce Ellingsen: 2022 recipient of the Jo Ann Green Award

Every year, the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) give the Jo Ann Green Award to a Cortes Islander who has made a significant contribution to the environmental wellbeing of the community. Bruce Ellingsen is this year’s recipient.

“Jo Ann Green was an exemplary environmentalist who came to Cortes in 1969, and she immediately became involved in social environmental activities on the island,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI. 

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