Cortes Currents

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents Part 4

Choices in dying: the idea of a “good death.” MAID, alternatives.

Importance of planning.

Limits to choices: legal restrictions on burials. Rehearsing one’s own funeral.

“Perpetuity” of grave sites, green burial meets conservation?

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - This is the 13th annual cycle for Dr. Emily Ellingsen Memorial Bursaries.

She passed away on February 19, 2010 at the age of 31. Applications for two $2,000 Bursaries will be accepted until midnight on August 15, 2022.

Her husband, Aaron Ellingsen, explained, “I think it was actually her dad, John Woolley's idea, but the two of us felt the bursary just represented her attitude and her enthusiasm for life and for just grabbing the world and doing things. It seemed like a good way and very much in the spirit of her education and approach to life.”

He added, “She was one of the most incurable optimists I've ever met, not in an unrealistic way, but just in a ‘living in the moment’ kind a way.”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents -Part 3

What inspires a person to take on this emotionally demanding work?

Natural Burial: what is it, how does it work? How is it different?

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Part 2

Finance, relationship with other Cortes organisations; not a BC nonprofit society.

Transport of bodies; bodies often released from medical care in distressing condition.

Industrial vs humane practises. Challenges of “alternative” practise.

Hope for wider acceptance, becoming the norm not the alternative.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Author, leadership coach, and therapist Deena Chochinov joins host Manda Aufochs Gillespie to discuss her new book HomeWork: How to be a Leader in the Boardroom and the Living Room on Folk U Radio. Friday at 1 p.m. on 89.5 FM and CortesRadio.ca (repeats on Mondays at 6:30 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m.).

Are leaders born or made? Can leaders transfer their skills from family to work and vice versa? Deena brings years of experience working with leaders well known and less known to demystify what makes effective, sustainable leadership. She brings lessons that everyone can practice to become more integrated and whole leaders.

Send your questions to [email protected] or call with questions day-of at 250-935-0200.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 and Mondays at 6:30 p.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Part wo contains:

Part 2

Finance, relationship with other Cortes organisations; not a BC nonprofit society.

Transport of bodies; bodies often released from medical care in distressing condition.

Industrial vs humane practises. Challenges of “alternative” practise.

Hope for wider acceptance, becoming the norm not the alternative.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There are many stories of tree hangups, but one of the most colourful comes from Cortes Island. According to local tradition, the Survivor Fir would not be standing if it were not for a steam donkey’s explosion in 1923.

The tree is hundreds of years older, but there are evidences that support this identification. Olsen & Mundigal logged this area back in the era when loggers chopped a notch into the trees they chose to cut. A wooden springboard was inserted into the notch, to stand on. They used a crosscut saw to fall the tree. Look closely in the photo above and you will see both the notch and, above it, where they started to saw. They may have stopped after the explosion, because it was no longer possible to haul trees to the lake.

A second, possibly separate, component to this puzzle is a dead cedar hung up in the Survivor Fir’s branches. This tree has stood there long enough for the bark to become spongy rather than firm.

Has this tree been hung up since 1923?

A steam donkey used to haul the logs out of the bush to the edge of Gunflint Lake.

They were dragged through the narrow channel into Hague Lake, then floated across to the creek that drains this watershed. Another steam donkey dragged them to a ‘Fore & Aft’ chute that emptied into Manson’s Lagoon. At that point they were in the ocean.

A few days before the accident which brought this operation to an end Harry Hazel, the donkey’s engineer, visited a machine shop at Squirrel Cove. He wanted a caulking gun and some advice on how to fix a leak in the boiler.

The explosion took place between 10 am and 11 am. Parts of the boiler were blown out into the middle of Gunflint Lake. Hazel was so badly scalded that he died that night. One of the especially sad parts of this story is that in a week Hazel was supposed to leave for Vancouver, where he was to be married.

The Survivor Fir and remains of the steam donkey are in Cortes Island’s Kw’as Park.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - 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.

In Part One:

Part 1

What is the death care collective; what’s a regular meeting like?

How did it begin (history from 2016-today) — Denman, Quadra, Salt Spring, Cortes

An alternative to the funeral industry. Death-phobia in our culture.

Catharsis and grieving. Kinds of help the collective can offer to bereaved families.

Costs involved in a community-led funeral?

Photo credit: Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There appears to have been a recent in increase in the number of violent crimes reported in Campbell River.

According to Cst Maurey Tyre, “For the last three or four years, we have seen a general spike in calls for service in Campbell River. One of those years actually saw roughly a 12% increase. A lot of those increases based on things like calls for service, checking wellbeing and things like that. But effectively, when there is an increase in calls for service, you're also going to have an increase in violence.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Friends of Cortes (FOCI) have just released their summer program of daily offerings for 2022.

“It's about educating people about the natural environment, but also really having people getting out there, having fun and enjoying themselves. So whether it's locals or visitors, we’re really pleased to welcome anyone who's who wants to come along,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI.

Their program starts on at 1:30 PM on Friday, July 8, with a four hour exploration of the rich intertidal life in Mansons Lagoon and neighbouring islets. This is the first of two activities that FOCI is offering in partnership with Cortes Kayaks.

On Tuesday July 12, marine biologist Deb Cowper and history guide Jane Newman will be leading another ‘gumbooting the lagoon’ There were extensive die-offs, especially amongst sand dollars, during last year’s heat dome.

“It will be interesting, to find out if people can still see the effects of the heat dome,” said Hall.

On Saturday July 16, the Hakai Institute’s Kelly Fretwell will be teaching people how to use the iNaturalist program in Mansons Lagoon.

“This is an app you can get on your smartphone, which allows you to photograph plants and animals and up tho load them to a website and a data set that you can share with other people,” said Hall. “We're hoping people might use it through the summer because we'd love to get more data collected from the island.”

FOCI’s monitoring technician, Autumn Barret Morgan, will be leading another ‘Wonderful Wetland tour’ of the Dillon Creek Wetland Restoration on July 18.

She will be “showing people around the wetland, explaining how it was constructed and seeing how much wetland wildlife people can spot.”

On August 1, Cortes naturalist George Sirk will be leading people on a hikle through Kw’as Park. He’ll be teaching people how to identify birds and discussing the natural history of the park.

There is a tour of the gardens and the farm at Linnaea Farm on August 8.

“It gives people a chance to get out and see where all the veggies from the Friday markets come from,” explained Hall.

At 8 Pm on August 13, FOCI and Cortes Kayaks once again team up for a ‘Bioluminescence Tour’ of Mansons Lagoon and the surrounding islets.

There will be another ‘Gumbooting the Lagoon,’ with Deb Cowper and Jane Newman on August 27.

“Quite a lot of the activities we have are already fully booked. It's a great way for people visiting the island to learn about the natural history and get out to do some fun stuff, said Hall.