Have you ever wondered what life was like in a small island community in simpler times?  Imagine: no ferries, no electricity, few roads or cars, no medical services, ambulance or firefighters. Back then life was what you made of it, with the help of your neighbours. Local self-reliance meant gathering and growing food, rowing and walking to get around, and generally having a great deal of practical knowledge and skills. And making your own entertainment. But that doesn’t mean life was dull. Not at all.

Vintage Vignettes, a joint project of Cortes Community Radio and Cortes Island Museum and Archives, brings you “radio snapshots” of local life in simpler times. We focus on colourful characters and memorable events, from winter sledding to major earthquakes.  These brief episodes feature dramatized voices from the past with archive recordings of music from the “Old Timers”, a dance band that played locally for several decades.Cortes Radio and Cortes Island Museum and Archives thanks the whole crew of volunteers who bring Vintage Vignettes to you:

Museum Research: Bonnie McDonald, Nancy Kendel, Lynne Jordan.

Scripts: Brittany Baxter

Production: Greg Osoba, David Rousseau, Andy Vine.

Voice Coach: Anne Wasyliw

Voice Actors: Elizabeth Anderson, Connie Brill, Andy Ellingsen, Bobo Fraser, Oriane Lee Johnston, Lynne Jordan, Patricia Leroux, John Nursall, Greg Osoba, Kim Paulley, Amy Robertson, David Rousseau, George Sirk, Sheryl Thompson, Anne Wasyliw, Rex Weyler.

If you would like to sponsor a Vintage Vignette, please contact Cortes Radio at cortesradio@gmail.com, or call the museum at 250 935-6340.

Top photo credit: Picnic excursion for Spencer’s Employee Association – “Lady Alexandra”, “Lady Cecilia” and “Lady Cynthia”, all three vessels shown at Union Steamship Co. dock in Vancouver, BC, during the 1930s – courtesy City of Vancouver BC archives CVA 374-140 via wikipedia (public domain)