Podcasts about Comox Valley

What do baseball games, river floats, parades, and Schitt's Creek trivia have in common? They're all things you can do to celebrate pride on the island this summer! On this episode we talk about what pride is like in island communities, and about celebrating queer joy, honouring history, and fighting for future freedoms. The first of nearly 20 pride festivals on the island start this weekend -- with events in Cowichan, Port Alberni, and Victoria. The final events will be in the Comox Valley in August. This episode's guests are organizers Cristin Elle (Cowichan Pride), Crysta Stubbs (Alberni Valley Pride), Nick Luney (Victoria Pride) and meika johnson (Queer Centre Comox Valley).There are also pride events this summer in Ladysmith, Parksville, Nanaimo, Langford, Saanich, Gabriola, Sidney, Tofino, Campbell River, the North Island, Qathet, Denman, Pender, and the Discovery Islands.Check out this handy list to learn about events in your community.

I first met Chef Ronald St. Pierre on the first night of COOKSCAMP three years ago. He was part of a contingent from the North Island Chefs Association, preparing for their lunch service the next day. At some point, Chef Ronald came to me looking for the pork loin he had ordered. I stood there, straight-faced but internally panicked, realizing I had made a massive mistake—I hadn't ordered what they needed. But as any good sous chef in that situation will tell you, you find a way to fix it. A few hours later, that pork loin materialized out of thin air. It was late, but it was there, ready to be cooked for their sandwiches the next day. Chef Ronald gave me a knowing glance—the kind that says, “You screwed up but you made it happen anyway”—and from that moment, I believe I earned his trust. We've been friends ever since.Chef Ronald is a culinary icon in the Comox Valley, known for his dedication to local and sustainable food. He grew up in a small town east of Montreal, surrounded by farmland, and began his culinary career at the Relais & Château Resort Les Trois Tillieuls. In 1982, he moved west to Vancouver, drawn by the opportunities of the West Coast, and by 1990, he and his wife, Tricia, put down roots in the Comox Valley. In 2008, they opened Locals Restaurant, a place dedicated to celebrating the region's incredible bounty and culinary talent.Under Chef Ronald's leadership, Locals became a standard-bearer for the farm-to-table movement. He built deep relationships with farmers, foragers, and producers, crafting menus that highlighted the best of what the Comox Valley had to offer. His commitment to local ingredients not only shaped unforgettable dining experiences but also strengthened the local food economy and championed sustainable agriculture. His impact was recognized in 2019 when he was inducted into the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame as a Local Champion—a fitting title for someone who has done so much to elevate BC's culinary landscape.Beyond the restaurant, Chef Ronald has been a leader in the industry, serving as Chair of the North Vancouver Island Chefs Association and playing an integral role in Comox Valley's tourism scene. After 13 successful years, he and Tricia passed the torch of Locals to new owners in 2023, ensuring that its legacy of celebrating the Comox Valley's food culture lives on.I'm thrilled to have him on Mise en Place – The Podcast today to share his journey, his philosophy on food, and his thoughts on what it truly means to cook with a sense of place.Send us your feedback

Two days before Emilly Johnston won the Argentario instalment of the Internazionali d'Italia Series, she chatted about all the new changes that have occurred in the past seven months. As the 2024 mountain bike world championships began at the end of this past August, Johnston signed with the team she'd race with in 2025, Scott-SRAM MTB Racing, the squad of Nino Schurter and Filippo Colombo. The two-year contract came just as the rider from Vancouver Island's Comox Valley was nearing the end of her final under-23 season. Her first year in the elite level would truly be with the elites of the sport.Johnston covers a wide range of topics In this in-depth interview. How had the geography of her home region shaped her as a rider? Why did she do a cool trick in a high-stakes race? Does she tie her own flies for fishing? Johnston talks about some of the people who've had a big effect on her career, including an innovative bike builder on Quadra Island. She shares her insights about the current state of Canadian women's cross country mountain biking and how, in a sense, she has two lives: a European one and a Comox Valley one.Also in this episode of the Canadian Cycling Magazine Podcast, editor Matthew Pioro and writer Jake Williams chat about recent races. Milan-San Remo, men's and women's, were stunning events. XC racers had many successes in the UC Cup races in Fayetteville, Ark. Gent-Wevelgem is coming up. It's a race that Williams, a Luca Paolini doppelganger, has a particular fondness for.For more on one of Johnston's cycling influences, head to the podcast's back catalogue. In August 2020, two-time world champion Catharine Pendrel was featured. The episode, quite rightly, is titled “Catharine Pendrel is awesome.” Check it out. 

“For five years, I was out on the streets homeless, and I struggled coming to the hospital because I never had anywhere to use,” said Comox Valley resident Heather Edward, who has been sober for eight months. “I procrastinated coming to the hospital for infections and stuff because I was scared that I was going […]

In this episode, hosts Chef Jonathan and William dive into the story of the Courtenay Country Market, a beloved staple of the Comox Valley. They're joined by Dean Garrett, the former owner who helped shape the market's success. Dean shares stories from his years in the grocery business, offering insights into the challenges, rewards, and community connections that come with running a local market. Now a mortgage broker in the Comox Valley, Dean reflects on his journey and the enduring impact of the market on the community. Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at this local treasure!

On this episode of The Edible Valley Podcast, we explore the HABIT Cookbook with the dynamic husband-and-wife team behind it, Josie Boulding and Ryan Stuart. HABIT Cookbook is a unique tool designed to help anyone reset their relationship with food. Josie, a social media influencer known as “Restless Josie” with over 55,000 followers, shares her firsthand insights on cooking with health at the forefront, featuring recipes that are as enjoyable as they are nourishing. Ryan, a widely published journalist specializing in outdoor adventure and environmental topics, walks us through the research and development of HABIT, explaining how even small changes in diet and mindset can have lasting health impacts. Together, they offer a fresh approach to sustainable eating, inspiring readers to build healthy habits that are impactful and easy to maintain.   Ryan and Josie call the Comox Valley home, where they continue to inspire and innovate both in and outside the kitchen. Website and Book Link: restlessjosiecooks.com   https://www.amazon.ca/Habit-Bases-Recipes-New-Cooking/dp/1068814209   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/habit_cookbook                    https://www.instagram.com/restlessjosie/   #EdibleValleyPodcast, #HABITCookbook, #HealthyHabits, #SustainableEating, #FoodIsMedicine, #HealthyLifestyle, #CookingWithPurpose, #NutritionMatters, #FoodiesOfInstagram, #MindfulEating, #WholeFoods, #EatClean, #RealFood, #HealthJourney, #WellnessTips, #RecipeInspo, #FoodForWellbeing, #CulinaryCreativity, #WellnessWarrior, #FoodEducation, #MindBodySoul, #GoodEats, #EatForLife, #HealthyLiving, #WellnessCommunity, #InTheKitchen, #FoodInnovators

Austin Charlton, Assistant Captain of the Comox Valley Glacier Kings joins the boys (26:50) this week to discuss his Junior career, his move to Vancouver Island, and the changes of playing in the VIJHL. Owen and Joe also give their full Central division preview and standings predictions and recap all the junior leagues, the MLB playoffs, the NHL, and much more! Hosted by: Owen Elson and Jozef Kuchaslo Network: @hockeypodnet Sponsored by Draft Kings - Use promo code THPN at sign-up for exclusive offers. https://tinyurl.com/DRAFTKINGSPROMOTHPN Sponsored by Gametime- Need Tickets to a game concert or show? Checkout http://Gametime.co and use promo code THPN for $20 off your first purchase! (Terms Apply) #pjhl #kijhl #vijhl #juniorhockey #bchl #nhl #draftkings #gametime #hockey #hockeypodcast #ad #sponsored

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, you'll hear from three different authors: Lara Jean Okihiro, Janis Bridger, and Jordan Scott. Lara and Janis wrote the book Obaasan's Boots, and Jordan wrote My Baba's Garden. In the summer, these three authors participated in our Storied video On Writing About Family. These are their reflections on how writing about family can be one of the most complicated things, and how they each approached it in their work. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/ View the full Storied: On Writing About Family: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11316134?share=copy ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Lara Jean Okihiro is a writer, researcher, and educator of mixed Japanese Canadian heritage living in Toronto. Intrigued by the power and magic of stories, she earned a Master's (Goldsmiths College) and a Doctorate (University of Toronto) in English. Living abroad inspired her to learn about her family's experience of internment. Lara writes about dispossession, hoarding, social justice, and carrying the important lessons of the past into the future. Janis Bridger is an educator and writer who has many creative outlets and a love for the outdoors. She lives in Vancouver, Canada, close to where her Japanese Canadian grandparents lived before being interned. Janis earned a diploma in Professional Photography (Langara College), a Bachelor of Education and General Studies (Simon Fraser University) and a Master of Education (University of Alberta), specializing in teacher-librarianship. Social justice, diversity, and kindness are paramount in her life and embedded in her everyday teaching. Jordan Scott is a poet whose work includes Silt, Blert, DECOMP, and Night & Ox. Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering, is the subject of two National Film Board of Canada projects, Flub and Utter: a poetic memoir of the mouth and STUTTER. Scott was the recipient of the 2018 Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize for his contributions to Canadian poetry. He is the author of I Talk Like a River, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. He lives in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island with his wife and two sons. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Jordan Scott. Jordan co-created My Baba's Garden with illustrator Sydney Smith, which is a won the 2024 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation, Jordan talks about collaborating with Sydney Smith, he also talks about how the book opened up opportunities to share stories of his Baba with his kids. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About My Baba's Garden: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/my-babas-garden/ ABOUT JORDAN SCOTT: Jordan Scott is a poet whose work includes Silt, Blert, DECOMP, and Night & Ox. Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering, is the subject of two National Film Board of Canada projects, Flub and Utter: a poetic memoir of the mouth and STUTTER. Scott was the recipient of the 2018 Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize for his contributions to Canadian poetry. He is the author of I Talk Like a River, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. He lives in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island with his wife and two sons. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

Brayden Candy, captain of the Comox Valley Glacier Kings joins Owen and Joe this week to talk about his experience so far in the VIJHL! He also talks about his playing career for the Mission City Outlaws, the move to Comox, and what it's been like wearing visors this season. The boys also begin their NHL previews and predictions starting off with the Metropolitan Division. Lastly, Owen and Joe get into the Jungle Sports segment to talk Cole Palmer, Shohei Ohtani, the passing of Pete Rose and Dikembe Mutombo, and more!Hosted by: Owen Elson and Jozef KuchasloNetwork: @hockeypodnetSponsored by Draft Kings - Use promo code THPN at sign-up for exclusive offers. https://tinyurl.com/DRAFTKINGSPROMOTHPNSponsored by BetterHelp - Visit BetterHelp.com/THPN today to get 10% off your first month. https://www.betterhelp.com/THPN#pjhl #kijhl #vijhl #juniorhockey #bchl #nhl #draftkings #hockey #hockeypodcast #ad #sponsored

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - There was a familiar face behind the Wild Things Seafood booth at Manson's Friday Market last week. In addition to being our former Regional Director, Noba Anderson's family has a connection to Cortes Island that stretches back to 1978. So Cortes Currents asked Noba about the new business she is undertaking with Peter Schmidt. “It's Peter's passion, there's no doubt about that. Peter owned his first fishing boat when he was a teenager off Saturna Island and has been fishing on and off with his own boat in younger years, and then on other people's boats more recently. So last year he was out on a tuna boat and took his payment in fish rather than money and had it processed. You can't just sell tuna, so then he bought some other things and went on the road last winter,” she explained.   “Then I started  getting a few things from his supplier and went to Denman and Hornby islands last winter, just once a month kind of thing.  We teamed up more considerably this spring and summer season.” Cortes Currents: How did you come up with a name for your enterprise? Noba Anderson: “Wild Things Seafood? -  Peter came up with it. It speaks to the fact we only carry wild products, only BC products and that great old book ‘Where The Wild Things Are,' just a little bit of play.”   “We set up in the Comox Valley for May and June, but we either didn't do enough marketing or whatever. It didn't really pan out as fast as we needed it to.” “So we pivoted and we've been  selling on six Gulf Islands every week all summer. Hornby,  Denman, Gabriola, Salt Spring, Pender and Maine, and then the odd little place in between and then having one day to  recharge and regroup and restock. So we direct source as cash flow and storage allows.” Cortes Currents: So you sleep on the road? Noba Anderson: “When we're on the road, we sleep in the fish truck.  We carry four big freezers full of product, generators, and rope to the front bumper. It's a traveling fun show a la Pete for sure.”

Comox Valley woman credits self-defence classes in preventing devastating attack. Guest: Adam Morden - Owner and head instructor of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Courtenay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comox Valley woman credits self-defense classes in preventing a devastating attack. A shocking StatsCan report finds that over 100,000 short-term rentals could be homes! An injured tail-less humpback whale swims on in the Salish Sea. How long will it survive? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Chef Jonathan Frazier and William Stringer in Episode 235 of "The Edible Valley Podcast" as they dive into the 2024 BC Seafood Festival held at Mount Washington in the Comox Valley. This event marks the 16th anniversary of the largest seafood festival in Western Canada. The Comox Valley, known for producing over 50% of British Columbia's shellfish, is the perfect backdrop for this celebration. Tune in for insights on seafood-filled dinners, competitions, Master Classes, and tastings, all spotlighting the best of BC's award-winning seafood producers and culinary talents.

We talk about where to see live music in the Comox Valley, how you can watch it affordably, and why it's worth getting off the couch to see something in person. Plus, why some local cultural organizations are lobbying for better public transit in the region.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Dave Blinzinger has toured Canada, the United States and Europe but, by choice, primarily plays his saxophone at local venues. 
“I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. My father had moved up to Cortes Island in the 70s. I lived there from 88 to 1990. At that time, well, there wasn't very much happening on Cortes. You could go up to the Cortes Cafe on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, hang out with the fishermen and that was about it. So I moved to Quadra in 1990, basically to get a job,” he explained. 
 He has lived on Quadra ever since.  
 “I love both islands, but Cortes is special for me because it's the place I went to as an eight year old boy. I lived across from what's now Linnaea Farm in 1976. It was my first visit and it was magic. I just fell in love with the place! I think this place has its grip on me.”  
 “The summer of '76 was my first summer on Cortes, when I was a kid, so I did a composition called '76.'”    Cortes Currents: How and why did you become a musician? 
 Dave Blinzinger: “I started when I was a teenager, because my father was a saxophone player and so was my uncle. I really admired them. That's what got me into playing the saxophone and into music, really.”  
 “My father was a Choir Director and I spent many years in choir. I did vocal jazz. I play a few other instruments. I play hand drums. I play the flute. I play a bit of piano and then I have several different saxophones to choose from, depending  on the situation.” 
 Cortes Currents: When did you turn professional?  
“I really started in about 1991, with a band called ‘the Valiants.' They were a large 11 piece rhythm and blues band based out of the Comox Valley.  I stuck with them for about 9 years and played probably two to three times a month, sometimes once a week.”  
 “My unspoken goal is to be a working musician. I didn't want to be a pro to try to ‘one up' anybody. I really just wanted to  play music professionally, eight days a week.” 
 “My father came from that breed of people. He played in dance bands in the 60s in the United States. In those times, the 40s, 50s, and 60s, you could work as a musician, get picked up by big bands and you could gig for a living, almost like a job. That's what I wanted, to be involved in my music full time.” 
 Cortes Currents: What will your second song be?  
 Dave Blinzinger: “One that had airplay on Cortes Radio and is on the Quadra Compilation CD. ‘Smoke From A Distant Fire' is one of my original compositions.”  
 “The idea of this song is that you're laying out at night on Cortes Island under the stars, looking up at the stars, looking up at the universe, contemplating the cosmos, which we've all done a lot of. The distant fire is not the forest fires that we have. It's the fire in the sky, meaning the fire from distant galaxies, the light that we see.”

WeCan Shelter Society is a Comox Valley organization that builds homes inside shipping containers for people who had previously been experiencing homelessness to move into. Charlene Davis, one of the group’s founders, spoke with People First Radio. She said it takes between $25,000 and $30,000 to build a unit and get a person living in […]

Letting Jesus shepherd us into renewed courage and contentment when our vision for success has been broken is a wrestle many of us are familiar with.  It's a path that our guest this week, Evan Allnutt, has walked at different moments in his vocational journey. Through changing careers from teaching to ministry, taking on a Lead Pastor role at a new church, and navigating the changing cultural dynamics in the last 4 years, surrender and re-surrender to Christ's leading has been a red thread through it all. In moments where he felt like a failure, Evan shared how God stirred fresh hope in him as he situated himself within the rich legacy of the 87-year-old church he pastors, and the global Church as he heard stories of revival in his denomination, and witnessed the Church full of vibrancy and life in London, U.K.  For the pastor who feels discouraged or alone, this episode is drenched in Kingdom imagination & vulnerability. We hope that it emboldens you to press into where God has called you, as you look left and right and see who is running the race alongside you.Bio | Evan and his wife Kendal, along with their three children Izzy, Hardy, and Nola, have been proud residents of the Comox Valley since 2015. After dedicating five years as Youth Pastor and one year as Associate Pastor at Coastline Church in Victoria, Evan sensed a divine calling to assume the Lead Pastor role at Northgate. For the past 7 years, Evan has joyfully served this community, overseeing its growth from a single service in one city to three services across two cities. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Give⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ today⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to CCLN and help seed a hopeful future for the Church in Canada. Partners:  Download a free PDF on Improving Your Giving Statements from Generis or get in touch with Jon Wright from their team ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Show Notes: ⁠Northgate Church Get Connected! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Blog & Episode write-up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our Mailing List! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Share a Canadian Church Story⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spring is stirring, and I'm excited to announce the next offerings with my good friend and collaborator Deus Fortier.After two successful immersive weekends for men held last year, formerly titled MXM, we're pleased to announce our next one is coming soon April 5-7, 2024 in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.You're welcome to listen to our conversation recorded after our first weekend, which is how we were inspired to rename this offering Awakening The Wild Erotic.This weekend is a mythosomatic immersion for men who wish to heal their sexual blocks, liberate their essential nature, and embody the archetype of the Lover. We will draw on modalities of breathwork, mythology, ecstatic dance, council & more to journey through this container.We're 50% full already. Don't miss the chance to attend if you're lit up with excitement and fear (a good combination).Apply for Awakening the Wild Erotic The second offering is the first fully original online men's course I've ever co-created, and it's a 12 week exploration titled The Deep Masculine.Also developed with Deus, this course draws upon the elements of myth, archetypes, & somatic practices to explore the deeper realms of masculinity and lay a foundation of self-trust and vitality.In 3 months, this cohort will enhance their ability to skillfully navigate their full spectrum of emotions, integrate their shadows & addictions related to sex & erotic energy, and cultivate a meaningful connection to a like-minded community of men.The journey begins April 11, 2024.Apply for The Deep Masculine. Get full access to The Mythic Masculine at themythicmasculine.substack.com/subscribe

Right now on Vancouver Island there are several projects underway to turn urban or industrial spaces back into natural places or parks. But what does it take to go from asphalt and buildings, to water and plants? In this episode, host Kathryn Marlow dives deep on one such project in the Comox Valley: Kus-kus-sum.

Syd Bosel is no stranger to laughter.  This light-hearted, fun-loving comedian thrives on bringing smiles to her audience, and she has entertained thousands of people.  From her home in the Comox Valley, Syd works hard behind the scenes looking after everything from scripts and performance notes to social media and promoting fun.  A well-known performer on Vancouver Island, Syd made islanders proud with her performance on Canada's Got Talent in 2023.  It takes courage to get up on stage, especially on national television!    Behind the scenes, Syd is a real person, and in today's episode she shares some of the challenges she is facing as a wife, life-time partner and performer.  With her husband diagnosed with dementia, time is of the essence for this beautiful lady and her loving spouse. Syd knows how to make each moment count.*Audio Episodes:  https://www.lindysaudiocafe.com*Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lindysaudiocafepodcast*Support the Show - Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lefhxiyfbCourtesy Links - March 2024 ShowsMarch 14th: Opening for Julie Kim at the Mary Winspere theatre, Sidney: https://tickets.marywinspear.ca/TheatreManager/1/online?performance=2563March 15th: Opening for Julie Kim at the Sid Williams theatre, Courtenay:https://www.sidwilliamstheatre.com/events/julie-kim-live/March 19th: The Beginning of my "Hot Flash Comedy" tour. Opening for Cathy Boyd at the Millstream Beverage Company, Langford;Millstream Beverage Company, LangfordMarch 20th: With Cathy Boyd headlining at The Mint, Victoria.March 21st: Opening for Cathy Boyd at Small Block Brewery, Duncan.March 22nd: Hosting for "Hot Flash Comedy" with Cathy Boyd and Scarlet Chen at Gabriola Theatre Centre;https://allevents.in/gabriola/hot-flash-comedy/200026162882450March 23rd: Headlining, "Hot Flash Comedy" at the McPherson Playhouse Theatre, with host Patricia Ellen and guest, Cathy Boyd.https://www.rmts.bc.ca/production-detail-pages/2024-mcpherson-playhouse/hot-flash-comedy/March 28th: Headlining, "Life is Funny" with guest Ray Morrison and Host Josh Litche at the Cumberland Legion.Tickets available only at the Cumberland Legion: 2770 Dunsmuir Ave, Cumberland, BC.March 29th: Headlining on Hornby Island with host Josh Lichte, and guest Megan Rose.https://hornbyisland.com/event/hies-fun-draiser/This podcast is not intended to provide any legal, medical or personal advice, and is recorded for fun and entertainment purposes only. Thank you for listening. Support the show

What is a FHSA? (First Home Savings Account) A first home savings account (FHSA) is a registered plan which allows you, if you are a first-time home buyer, to save to buy or build a qualifying first home tax-free (up to certain limits). Guests Rudy Chung is a Senior Wealth Advisor & Robert Mulrooney is an Senior Investment Advisor with iA Private Wealth – their parent company, IA Financial Group is one of Canada's largest and oldest financial firms – IA Financial was established in 1892, and manages over $200 Billion in assets for over 4 million clients across Canada. Rob and Rudy, along with their partner Russ, run a practice within IA Private Wealth called Mindset Wealth, with offices in the Comox Valley and Vancouver, as well as in Ontario. Mindset Wealth - https://www.mindsetwealth.com addy - https://addyinvest.ca addy Origin Story - https://addyinvest.ca/about/ Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Listeners should consult with a qualified advisor before making any financial decisions. The podcast assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information presented, and investing involves risks. Listeners are encouraged to conduct their own research and consider individual circumstances.

Today, we are releasing the fifth episode in our series titled ‘The Art of Booking' where we speak with Artistic Directors of music festivals from across Canada. In this week's episode, we chat to Doug Cox, the Artistic Director of Vancouver Island MusicFest in the Comox Valley in Courtenay, BC.Doug discusses the format of this campground festival, which includes six distinct stages. He also explains his process of booking artists for the festival each year and dives into why he looks for artists that want to engage with the festival in more ways than just playing their set on stage.Find Vancouver Island MusicFest online:FacebookWebsite____________________Doug Cox is a Vancouver Island-based Musician, Producer, Instructor and event organizer with 42 years in the Music Industry. He is the long-standing producer (28 years) of Vancouver Island MusicFest. In 2017, Doug was inducted into the BC Music Hall of Fame as an industry Pioneer. In 2018, he guested on a Grammy Nominated album by San Antonio's Los Texmaniacs and in 2019, produced a Juno nominated album (Trad. Roots Album of the Year)  for April Verch in Nashville. He is also busy producing projects from his studio on Vancouver island. Recently, Doug has agreed to take on acting as Theatre manager/Artistic Director for Courtenay's Iconic Old Church Theatre. Doug is a catalyst among musicians and organizers for many fascinating collaborations. He believes in the power of music and community. ______________Presented by Folk Music OntarioHosted by Rosalyn DennettProduced by Kayla Nezon and Rosalyn DennettMixed by Jordan Moore of The Pod CabinTheme music “Amsterdam” by King CardiacArtwork by Jaymie Karn

Roy L Hales. Cortes Currents - On the surface, one might ask how relevant an article about immigration is to people living in the Discovery Islands. The vast majority of us either came from more urban parts of British Columbia, and/or are the descendants of an earlier wave of immigrants. Many non-Indigenous Cortesians trace their roots back to the era when most immigrants were ‘British,' European or from the United States. There are undoubtedly many reasons why this predominantly ‘white' population is now found in more rural areas. Some of us are the descendants of the first settlers in this area, others sought a more rural lifestyle and many moved here because of real estate values. According to Statistics Canada, a new wave of immigration has become the principal driver of our nation's population growth. “Over the past 50 years, the share of new immigrants from Europe has declined, with the share of new immigrants who were born in Asia (including the Middle East) increasing. Over time, Asia has become the top source region of new immigrants, and this trend continued in 2021. The share of new immigrants from Africa also increased.” 23% of the people listed in the 2021 census were born outside of Canada and more than half of them came here for economic reasons. A significant number ‘were selected through skilled worker programs.' Only 15% of the immigrants who arrived between 1980 and 2021 were refugees. (This number may change as the climate crisis and global political tensions worsen.) British Columbia's transformation to a more international population is largely occuring in the Lower Mainland. According to the 2021 census, 60.27% of the inhabitants of Richmond, 51.26% of Vancouver and 48.97% of Surrey are immigrants. A large proportion of them came from Asia, (as did the parents or grandparents of much of the Canadian born population). The next largest ethnic block of immigrants was Europeans, followed by people from the Americas (North, Central or South) and a significantly smaller number of Africans. The latest wave of immigration has reached Vancouver Island, but in much smaller numbers. According to the 2021 census, immigrants made up 26.02% of the population in Victoria and 16.2% in Nanaimo. As was the case in the Lower Mainland, the biggest ethnic group was Asian. There was a decided ethnic shift further north on the island. Only 13.64% of Courtenay, 12.65% in the Comox Valley and 10.49% of Campbell River residents were born outside Canada. More than half of them came from Europe. This is also true of Powell River, where 12.79% of the population are immigrants. There were smaller numbers of people from Asia, America (North, Central and South) and Africa in all of these cities. The percentage of people born in the United States increased in the Discovery Islands. 19.22% of the population of Area C (Quadra, Read and most of the other Discovery Islands) were immigrants. 175 came from the United States, 155 from the UK and 125 from other parts of Europe. There were also 20 Latin Americans, 20 Asians and 10 Africans. The majority of immigrants on Cortes Island came from the United States (100 out of 195). Other significant ethnic blocks were 40 from the UK, 30 other Europeans, 15 from Asia and 10 from South Africa. (These numbers are slightly out of sync because Statistics Canada rounds numbers off to the closest multiple of 5.) Overall, the 2021 census found that 18.48% of Cortes Island's population was born outside of Canada. While the percentage of immigrants in the Discovery Islands is higher than the surrounding cities of Campbell River, Courtenay and Powell River, more of them come from the United States and the percentage of immigrants is still significantly lower than the Canadian average of 23%.

Valerie Wiens, a nurse with a geriatric specialty and a 'sandwich generation' caregiver joins me in this episode. Valerie is a colleague of mine and when I heard her caregiving story, I invited her to be a guest on the podcast. When caregiving, she found herself being pulled in all directions and through the observation of her husband, she learned the importance of boundary setting. By creating boundaries she not only could manage her roles better, but they provided a sense of freedom and gave her the ability to give fully within the boundaries she set. Within her career as a nurse, Valerie is often asked questions of how to navigate challenges facing aging parents. Out of those questions, Valerie put her personal experience, professional knowledge of the healthcare system as well as creative problem-solving into a book called ‘What Do We Do About Mom?'. In addition to writing the book, Valerie is now the owner of Keystone Eldercare Solutions. Through her business she is able to provide care locally in the Comox Valley and remotely – helping guide families in their decision making and identifying problems to solve creatively. Valerie is also proudly certified as a Teepa Snow Care Consultant which is our foundational approach for dementia care. On her days off, Valerie aims to get out in her kayak and stare at blue ocean with her husband Les or their 3+1 grown children if they come join.

KIm Paulley/CKTZ News -The latest salmon returns are in for 2023 and two streamkeepers from the region have made observations about the different populations. A great year for Pink Salmon was the good news. Poor returns for Chum were noted by both streamkeepers. Janet Gemmell, a streamkeeper, president of Courtenays Morrison Creek Streamkeepers, and a former resident of Carrington Bay on Cortes island, spoke with CKTZ about the Comox Valley. Gemmell highlighted why Morrison Creek is a very important salmon habitat and also spoke about her recent visit to Carrington Bay this past summer where she spotted Coho fry. CKTZ also caught up with Christine Robinson, Streamkeeper for Friends of Cortes Island. Robinson provided data for this year's Cortes Chum Run and reflected on Gemmell's Coho-spotting in Carrington Bay. For more information on the state of salmon, go to the Pacific Salmon Foundation's website for further information.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - It's been a month since hundreds of Campbell River residents were shocked to learn that their city council appeared to be punishing the local art gallery for not confronting the homeless people camped outside its doors.  As city councilor Ron Kerr put it, :We certainly don't need to give them tax deferrals if they're not working with us." Local MP Rachel Blaney referred to the incident in the House of Commons when speaking about the housing and homelessness crisis: "My region has seen the largest increase of unhoused people on record. There was a 106% jump in the Comox Valley and almost 70% percent in Campbell River. This is a catastrophe. The Prime Minister says housing is not a federal responsibility, as people and communities move beyond a crisis point. This while Conservative council members in Campbell River have begun targeting non-profits who provide essential services to the unhoused. When are the Liberals going to be an actual federal partner and build people homes? "   Peter Fragiskatos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, responded, "This federal government has been a partner to, namely, not for profit organizations that are doing outstanding work on the ground." Rachel Blaney is my guest on Cortes Currents this morning.   Her statistics on homelessness in her riding are correct. According to the most recent Point In Time count, the unhoused populations of the Comox Valley and Campbell River have grown to 272 and 197 respectively.  Even more alarming, a significant number of them appear to have had homes last year and said they can no longer afford to pay the rent.    The homeless crisis is also found in rural areas. On Cortes Island for example, at least 46 people are known to have couch-surfed or found some other temporary shelter last year, and another 11 lived outdoors.   Cortes Currents: "So Rachel, why are you holding the Liberal government responsible?" Rachel Blaney: "If you think back before 1997, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) used to have a particular branch of that department that built between 15,000 to 20,000 units across the country every year. If we had seen that continue,  I think we would still be in a bit of a housing crisis, but it would not be anywhere to the extent that it is today."   "Neither the Conservative or Liberal governments have really replaced that.  A lot of the money that's going out for so-called 'social housing' is based on the market value.  That means investors are getting money to build what they call 'social housing,' but right now we know the market is really high. I think at this point it's $2,500 to $3,000 a month, just for a one bedroom apartment. It's really not making sure that we're seeing housing that's affordable." "We've also seen  a lot of corporations buying up what used to be social housing or low income housing. They're renovating it, evicting everyone and then renting out at a much higher rate. This has been happening since 1997 and I think the cumulative effect has really left us across this country in a significant housing crisis."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - (An opinion)“Scapegoating: the act of blaming a person or group for something bad that has happened or that someone else has done. Example: the scapegoating of immigrants for the country's economic problems.” – Cambridge Dictionary While it is easy to blame the unhoused population for their predicament, ‘Point In Time' (PIT) counts, throughout the surrounding area, all point to low wages. When asked why they were homeless, the #1 response in Campbell River, the Comox Valley, Parksville/Qualicum, Powell River, Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons was insufficient Income. None of these PIT counts identified a greater cause. If you believe the oft-touted 30% rule, the surpising thing is that these numbers are not larger. According to the 2021 census, 3,450 Campbell River residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The PIT count only found 197 homeless people. The disturbing thing is close to a third of them have been unhoused for less than a year. Prior to that, they were presumably either renting or owned homes. While the numbers vary, this essential pattern is repeated in every one of the communities named above. What could have caused so many people to lose their homes? In September the BC Government reported that during the past year the cost of renting a house had risen 6.1% and the overall cosumer price index was 3.3% higher. This slight raise may have been too much for families already teetering on the brink. The second biggest cause of homelessness in many, but not all, of the communities mentioned above is ‘substance abuse.' In Campbell River, a quarter of respondents reported this, but 34% said they were homeless because of conflicts with either their landlord or spouse. Sue Moen, who worked with the unhoused sector when she was with the Salvation Army, once told Cortes Currents that most of the addicts she encountered did not have an addiction before they lost their homes. Another disturbing finding, for those who like to portray the unhoused population as recent arrivals seeking handouts, is that more than two thiirds of their number in Parksville/Qualicum, Powell River, Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons have been in their communities for more than five years. In Campbell River and the Comox Valley that statistic fell to 65% and 66%, respectively. Many unhoused people were also born in the communities where they live. One would think their city councils would feel a responsibility for them, rather than treat the as a problem to (hopefully) be removed from sight. There are fewer statistics for remote areas like Cortes Island, but 75% of the respondents to last years “Collecting Stories Of Where We Live” survey spent more than 30% of their income on shelter. Many were not aware that this meant they are classified as ‘at risk.' The 2016 census was more precise: 85 renter families and 50 house owning families pay higher shelter costs than they could afford. This explains why 11 Cortes Island residents lived outdoors and another 45 ‘couch surfed' last year. Statistics are even harder to find for Quadra Island, where the 2016 Census identified 20% of the population as at risk. It seems the homeless problem will be with us until we solve the housing crisis and everyone has a liveable wage.

Derek Kaufman is a trail runner and business owner who lives in the beautiful Vancouver Island running local of Comox, BC.  He began running in 2017 with the goal of completing a ½ marathon goal and steadily progressed into long distance trail running. Although Derek has experienced races in Utah and Kelowna, he states he absolutely loves running on Vancouver Island where he has twice completed the Finlayson Double (50 miles on Sat followed by 28K on Sunday). Derek recently opened a new running store in the Comox Valley called Foveo Running, and is the Race Director of Perseverance Trail Run and Co-Director of Devil's Ladder Ultra. As if that isn't enough, he organizes Run to Beer Comox Valley, a casual, local run club that attracts 40-60 runners weekly.Connect with Derek:Foveo RunningIG - @foveo.run (https://www.instagram.com/foveo.run/)FB – Foveo Running (https://www.facebook.com/foveo.run/)Run to Beer Comox ValleyIG - @runtobeercv (https://www.instagram.com/runtobeercv/)FB – Run to Beer Comox Valley (https://www.facebook.com/groups/runtobeercv)Devil's Ladder UltraIG - @devilsladderultra (https://www.instagram.com/devilsladder/)FB – Devil's Ladder Ultra (https://www.facebook.com/devilsladder/)Perseverance Trail RunIG - @perseverancetrailrun (https://www.instagram.com/perseverancetrailrun/)FB – Perseverance Trail Run (https://www.facebook.com/perseverancetrailrun/) Connect with Carolyn & Kim:Email us with guest ideas: inspiredsolescast@gmail.comInspired Soles InstagramKim's InstagramKim's FacebookCarolyn's InstagramCarolyn's FacebookCarolyn's websiteWe love hearing from you! Connect with us on Instagram @inspiredsolescast or email guest ideas to inspiredsolescast@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, subscribe or leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

CSA's (community supported agriculture) or just 'farm boxes' are a great way to help your local farmers and yourself, with the freshest local produce available. This week Jon and William welcome Arzeena from Amara Farms back to the show and Courtney from Peas and Love Produce. We discuss how you can get involved with your local Comox Valley farm, how it's done and what to expect!

This week we go to the very origins of farming in the Comox Valley, we talk about seeds! Good Earth Farms Seeds based out of Black Creek take things back to basics with a non-nonsense approach to farming and growing a truly local product. Join us, as we explore our Edible Valley!

Lesley Stav is the President of an organisation that provides leadership, education and certification on North Vancouver Island. Their work runs through every aspect of the Comox Valley‘s food scene, often behind the scenes and and unsung , this week we shine a light on the North Vancouver Island Chefs Association.  

Niji is one to watch, with two sold out restaurant takeovers so far and a permanent location on the way, Niji is a Comox Valley institution in the making. In this episode we meet the owners and discover their journey so far, and where they are headed!. 

We are back! In this ‘3-3-1' episode, your ‘3' presenters Jonathan, Darren and William are back together! We also have 3 great guests, and 1 HUGE suprise! Join us for one episode of the Edible Valley Podcast you cant afford to miss!   Locals at the Old House stays Local   When Chef Ronald and Tricia St Pierre started Locals 13 years ago, they set out to create a restaurant that highlighted the range and depth of amazing foods grown and produced in the Comox Valley, sourcing as many local ingredients as possible. Within a scant few years, the restaurant was so successful, that they needed to find a larger location.    Serendipity stepped in, as the very restaurant that Chef Ronald established his esteemed reputation in, ‘The Old House', had come available. Since then, the restaurant has been cemented as the Heart of Vancouver Island.     Chef Jonathan, Darren, Sean and Erin all grew up in this community, and the North Island, and all have strong backgrounds in food and hospitality. Aside from being a celebrated Chef of the Comox Valley for over 20 years, Jonathan started the Edible Valley podcast 10 years ago to get to the heart of the food he was featuring in all of his dishes, and the people behind that food. Darren quickly joined with his perspective as a hospitality-centered entrepreneur. Between the two of them, they have run, operated, and owned many key Comox Valley hospitality and food based establishments.    Sean made his mark in Vancouver Island hospitality by running the largest dining and entertainment venue in Victoria, and other successful restaurants for nearly a decade. His wife and partner is a Marketing, branding, and design professional, with experience in both in the public and private sectors – including hospitality. All 4 are eager to ply their trades and talents to further Locals' reach.   With a love of the menu, the atmosphere, and the culture, the new owners have no intent of changing anything, except to present the best and most polished version of Locals that it can be. A touch of modernization, a little experimentation, the introduction of a Market  Sheet – featuring  new items that highlight the best of what is available a la minute, Local's will be the same but better.   They wish Ronald and Tricia all the best in their retirement – although they won't be straying too far, as they are making themselves available to mentor the crew where required.       They invite you down to the restaurant to meet them yourself – or make a reservation today at 250-338-6493        

The Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce is a professional, membership-based, business organization. The Chamber collaborates with its' members to foster growth, community, and best business practices. The Chamber works on behalf of its' members to provide opportunity for Chamber members and employees.The Comox Valley Chamber's mission is to:​​Advocate for local business: Represent the unified voice of local business to all levels of government- your #BizChamp; Strive to ensure future prosperity via a pro-business climate - Powering the people who power Comox Valley;Promote the business community and not-for-profit organizations who are Chamber members; Connect with other organizations to establish rapport and well-functioning networks within the community;Work from a 2018 strategic plan; andBuild a solid resource for members.For more information, please visit: www.comoxvalleychamber.comParis' Final 4:Book: Finding the Space to Lead - Janice Marturano.Best advice: "The biggest challenge is changing old ideas."Apps: Garmin Connect.Favourite restaurants: Atlas Cafe | Gabriel's Cafe | Tacofino | Boom + Batten Restaurant & CafePodcast Publisher: Business Examiner News GroupFor more local news impacting business in British Columbia, visit businessexaminer.ca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let's Ask Arzeena! Lu gabs with Arzeena Hamir, agrologist and professional market gardener answers questions and shares her best gardening tips. Arzeena and her family own and operate Amara Farm, a 26-acre certified organic farm in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. They grow over 40 different fruits and vegetables!

Mark Nine: Biblical Discipleship by William Klock I grew up where white oaks grew everywhere, but here they're relatively uncommon.  The Comox Valley is right on the northern edge of their native growth zone.  Apparently, in the latter half of the 19th Century the climate here was more ideal for them.  Acorns that fell to good soil had a pretty good chance of becoming trees.  Now the climate's changed and getting those acorns to turn into trees is much more complicated.  Every year—except this year!—the oaks around the church here drop their acorns and time and again I've tried to grow trees from them.  I've never had any success.  But trying to grow acorns into trees has a lot in common with the subject of discipleship and that's the last mark of a healthy church to be covered.  Brothers and Sisters, a healthy church will have a concern for discipleship, for its members to grow in the faith.  But back to my attempts to grow oak trees.  The first year I  was here I gathered several handfuls of acorns on a Sunday morning.  I left them on my desk, figuring I'd do something with them later.  I was gone for a few days and came back to discover little worms crawling all over the place, building little cocoon-like webs around my lamp and between my books.  I tossed them all in the garbage.  The next year I did a little research—emphasis, I suppose, on little—and put the acorns I'd collected in damp potting soil in the refrigerator.  I took them out in the spring only to find the potting soil full of little dead worms and rotten acorns.  A few years later I researched how to collect acorns and how to sort out the good ones that the worms hadn't got to yet.  I put them in the refrigerator over the winter and in the spring I planted them in little plastic cups to sprout.  And sprout they did.  But they were outside, there was a late freeze, and they all died.  I had better luck the next year.  They sprouted in the little cups, then I transferred them into gallon pots.  They grew for a while, then stopped.  I did more research and found it was because the little cups and then the gallon pots had caused the roots to curl up into a ball.  Oak trees need to start with a long, straight tap root.  Instead of using small cups and then gallon pots, I should have planted them in 2' lengths of PVC pipe and then transplanted them into the ground when the roots emerged from the bottom.  I did transplant several, but none survived the winter.  At that point I decided it was too complicated.  But that was, I think, the most success I'd ever had with growing anything from seeds.  Usually, I plant seeds at the wrong time of year, or I forget to water them, or I water them too much, or the rabbits come and nibble away the stalks when they emerge.  It takes the right conditions for plants to grow.  They need sunlight and water and oxygen.  They need to be given the proper space to grow.  They need the right temperature.  And they need to be protected from the critters that eat them.  But given those things, they grow, because that's what God made them to do. God's people aren't all that different.  Listen to the first three verses of Psalm 1: Blessed is the man          who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners,          nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord,          and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree          planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,          and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.   This was written in the context of the old covenant so we might change it a little bit here and there, but it's basically true for the Christian.  Plant yourself in God's word—which is itself an act of faith and obedience—and steer clear of wickedness, sin, and the ungodly, and the Spirit will cause you to grow.  God gives us means of grace: his word, his Spirit, his sacraments, his Church, and they are to us what sunlight and water are plants. We're like plants in other ways, too.  Things that are alive grow.  We were once dead, but God has grafted us into his Son, he's filled us with his Spirit, and we grow.  Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.”  Live vines grow, don't they?  So should Jesus' people—and not just individually.  Together we're this vine called the Church.  We grow together, rooted in Jesus, and supporting each other.  St. Paul, in Romans 8, describes the growth that God gives his people as being “conformed to the image of his Son”.  Or, as he writes in 1 Corinthians 3:18: We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.   God has made us alive and living things grow.  And growth is essential.  Think of our study of Revelation and Jesus' repeated exhortations to his people there to persevere in faith and holiness in the face of persecution and even martyrdom.  Brothers and Sisters, that kind of perseverance not only requires life, but it also requires growth.  Think of a salmon.  It spends its life in the ocean, growing and building strength so that it can return to the river where it was born, wage a vigorous battle upstream, fighting the current all the way, so that it can spawn and reproduce itself, creating the next generation.  God's people aren't all that different.  The salmon remind me of the well-known quote from Nikolaus von Zinzendorf: “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”  We grow strong over time on God's grace by word, by sacrament, by prayer, by fellowship and we persevere, fighting against the currents of the world.  We raise our own children to do the same and we proclaim the good news about Jesus, we witness his kingdom, and by that the Spirit raises up the next generation to continue the battle.  If we have produced a new generation of disciples, Brothers and Sisters, we have done well.  But take away the means of grace, and we die before the mission is ever accomplished.  Some years ago I went to an ecumenical clergy breakfast at the hospital.  They had a morning prayer service led by some liberal Presbyterians.  Another pastor said to me afterward, “What was that?”  They prayed and they sang, but it all felt utterly dead and completely disconnected from God.  The feeling was palpable to many of us there and it made sense.  It was sad, but it made sense.  These were folks who had given up on the authority of God's word and, like dead salmon, were floating downstream—floating with the world's currents, wherever they might lead. And that highlights the importance of discipleship.  Our growth as disciples, our growth into Christ's likeness, our growth in the fruit of the Spirit and in holiness is essential—and a healthy church will have a healthy concern for it.  Living things grow.  Living things fight the current.  Dead things don't.  And so Paul writes to the Ephesians: Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16) If we will lean on God and immerse ourselves in the means of grace he has given, he will grow us.  To quote Paul again, this time as he wrote to the Colossians: Jesus is “the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:19). Notice: Jesus is the head.   We don't cause the growth.  The best preacher or the best Bible study leader in the world cannot grow Christians.  Only God's word and Spirit can do that.  Paul again to the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthian 3:6-7).  Even when Paul congratulates the Thessalonian Christians on their growth, he gives the thanks to God for it.  Look at 2 Thessalonians 1:3: We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.   And knowing that it is God who grows his people, Paul prayed for them to grow.  For the Thessalonians he prayed: May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else….May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13) He prays similarly for the Colossian Christians: And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10) Or let's flip over to 2 Peter and hear what he has to say.  Here's 2 Peter 1:5-8: For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.   And if we flip back to Peter's first epistle, in 2:2-5, he writes this: Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.   Brothers and Sisters, our growth in the Lord, our growth in faith, our growth in holiness ought to be a priority—for each of us individually, but also collectively as the Church.  As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).  Christian growth, discipleship, whatever we want to call it, will always be a priority for a healthy church. Now, in case I haven't been clear, Christian growth—and, again, by that I mean discipleship or Christian maturity—that is not the same thing as Church growth, by which I mean the numerical growth of the Church in general or of the local church.  Our age has developed an obsession with the latter, and while we don't usually outright ignore discipleship, we often inadvertently sacrifice it for the sake of church growth.  We put the cart before the horse.  And, sometimes as I've said before, we confuse the things that are our responsibility with the things that are God's.  Discipleship—the growth and maturing of God's people—needs to come first.  That doesn't mean we sideline missions and evangelism until we're all mature.  It just means that we trust God to do his part while we do ours.  When we prioritise evangelism and mission, we usually end up compromising the very things that are needed to grow God's people—like tree-planters who want a huge forest and plant a ton of trees, but don't properly prepare the soil, or neglect to water them.  When we put evangelism or missions first, we often downplay things like expositional preaching, a biblical understanding of the gospel and of conversion, we downplay the need for commitment and discipline—because we want to see bigger numbers and these other things have a tendency to scare people away.  If you plant oak trees, they will make more oak trees if you plant them and care for them properly in the first place.  If you just poke a ton of acorns into the ground—at least around here—you'll end up with very few full-grown trees capable of reproducing themselves.  But that's often how Christians do things these days.  Friends, real Christians who truly know the love, the grace, the mercy of God revealed in Jesus will enthusiastically proclaim that good news and, with the help of the Spirit, make new Christians—but we'll do it God's way and trusting him to bring the fruit.  It's relatively easy to fill a church with people; it's a lot more work to fill it with actual disciples, but that's what we've got to do, because only true disciples will go out and make more disciples.  This is why understanding these marks of a healthy church is important. And all these other marks we've looked at over the last two months will grow disciples.  To briefly recap: A healthy church will have a commitment to expositional preaching, whether that's preaching the lectionary or preaching through whole books or parts of books.  The point is that such a church's preaching will be rooted in God's word.  The preacher's agenda will be God's agenda.  The words and ideas preached will not be the preacher's, but God's.  There will always be parts of the Bible that Christians would rather avoid, but expositional preaching challenges the preacher and the church to hear those hard things, to wrestle with them, and to be obedient to them.  Brothers and Sisters, my thoughts will not give you life.  Only God's word can do that.  And that's what we must preach. An expositional ministry in the pulpit also establishes where our values lie.  A people who value Bible-centred preaching is more likely to be a people who are themselves Bible-centred—who invest time in reading and study and praying the scriptures themselves and who gather together to read, and study, and pray them.  And we do this knowing that God's word give life.  It's the raw material the Spirit works with to grow us in faith, in obedience, and in holiness. Preaching grounded in the Bible will give a church biblical theology.  It will bring us closer to the God who has saved us, because it ever more reveals who he is.  Biblical theology also reveals who we are and what God wants for us.  Biblical theology tells us the story into which God has called us.  Biblical theology causes us to grow in our love for God, our love for each other, it causes us to grow in holiness, and it gives us our mission—to proclaim the good news about Jesus and to make disciples. Biblical preaching and biblical theology will lead us to a right and biblical understanding of the gospel—of the good news about Jesus, crucified, risen, and ascended.  A biblical understanding of the gospel reminds us that human being stand before God as rebellious sinners condemned to death, but it also reveals God's loving faithfulness at the cross, and as we look on the risen Messiah we are reminded that by faith, that God has redeemed us and made us his own sons and daughters.  A biblical understanding of the gospel reveals the sinfulness of sin and the amazing graciousness of grace, it teaches our hearts and minds to love the one who sacrificed himself for our sake, and it drives us out those doors in to the world to proclaim what he has done. A biblical understanding of the gospel, like these other things, lies at the root of discipleship.  Getting the gospel wrong undermines everything else.  If, for example, we confuse the gospel with messages of prosperity, we will never understand the meaning of sacrifice.  We will never understand God's discipline.  When life is difficult or persecution comes to the Church, the prosperity gospel will turn out to be rocky soil and those planted in it will wither and die, while those who have put roots deep into the soil of the biblical gospel will thrive in the midst of trials.  There are many false gospels.  Many confuse good works for the gospel, many today are preaching self-love or self-esteem or self-actualisation as the gospel.  None of those messages will save and none will make disciples of Jesus who will persevere hardship and make new disciples of Jesus who will carry on the mission Jesus has given us. A biblical understanding of the gospel will ensure that we have a biblical understanding of conversion and as we understand conversion, we'll understand that to be a Christian is to be transformed by God's word and Spirit.  It's to understand that the change that takes place in our lives is the fruit of God's grace at work in us.  A biblical understand of conversion will make us a humble people, not proud of our works, but a people ever more reliant on the grace of God.  And the more we rest in his grace, the more he will continue to grow us. A biblical understanding of evangelism ensures we know what a Christian actually is.  Mark Dever makes this observation, “The lack of spiritual growth in people who call themselves Christians is often an evidence that they have been wrongly evangelized.  We have taught people who are not Christians to think of themselves as though they are…The church is not finally a booster organization.  We're telling people a serious message about their condition before God, and about the tremendous news of the new life God is offering them in Christ.  And we're inviting them to enter into that life by dire and desperate means—repentance and faith.”[1]  Too often we throw acorns on the ground and call them trees.  We not only ignore the hard work needed to make them grow, but we're too ready to call them trees when there's no evidence of transformation and growth.  Filling pews isn't the same as making disciples, but it's a lot easier to do the former than the latter.  In a culture obsessed with numbers-based success, it's easy to just count noses and pat ourselves on the back.  But a biblical understanding of the gospel, of conversion, and of evangelism will ensure we're actually making disciples.  It also ought to prompt us to be growing as disciples ourselves, because you can't make disciples if you aren't one yourself. A biblical understanding of church membership, which is rooted in God's sacraments is also essential to discipleship.  The sacraments remind us that we are God's people.  We have taken hold of his promise by faith in our baptism and we come each Sunday to the Lord's Table, where we participate again in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  God renews his covenant with us.  That not only strengthens our faith and renews our hope, but in reminding us that we are his covenant people, it reminds us of God's faithfulness to us and of the obligations covenant membership has for us.  Biblical church membership reminds us of our commitment to God—just as it reminds us of his commitment to us.  And it commits us to one another, to walk with each other, to exhort and rebuke each other, to experience joy and sorrow with each other, to love and to forgive each other. Biblical church membership leads to biblical church discipline, without which we have little accountability to grow as disciples of Jesus.  God has made us his people that we might give him glory and cause the nations to give him glory as they see our witness.  Church discipline holds us accountable to that mission and keeps us faithful witnesses. And, finally, biblical worship that is centred in word and sacrament brings all these things together as it gathers the people of God together to hear him speak, to be reminded of his covenant grace, and ultimately to give him glory in response.  All of these marks send us out into the world to be the people God has called us to be, to do the work he's given us, to be salt and light and to proclaim the good news about Jesus, but all these marks also draw us back together in corporate worship so that we can be refreshed and refilled, so that we can be reminded once again of what God has done for us in Jesus, and—most of all—so that together we can give him glory and have our faith and hope renewed.  And then we go back into the world again to do and to be the people Jesus has made us. And that's the note I want to end on.  A healthy church tells the story of God and his people, draws us in, and makes each of us integral parts of it.  A healthy church binds us closely to Jesus and to each other so that we can accomplish the mission he has given us.  Let me close with a quote from Tom Wright's little book, Simply Christian. “According to the early Christians, the church doesn't exist in order to provide a place where people can pursue their private spiritual agendas and develop their own spiritual potential. Nor does it exist in order to provide a safe haven in which people can hide from the wicked world and ensure that they themselves arrive safely at an otherworldly destination. Private spiritual growth and ultimate salvation come rather as the byproducts of the main, central, overarching purpose for which God has called and is calling us. This purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator; that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it. The church exists, in other words, for what we sometimes call ‘mission': to announce to the world that Jesus is its Lord. This is the ‘good news,' and when it's announced it transforms people and societies. Mission, in its widest as well as its more focused senses, is what the church is there for. God intends to put the world to rights; he has dramatically launched this project through Jesus. Those who belong to Jesus are called, here and now, in the power of the Spirit, to be agents of that putting-to-rights purpose. The word ‘mission' comes from the Latin for ‘send': ‘As the father sent me,' said Jesus after his resurrection, ‘so I am sending you' ( John 20:21).”[2] Let's pray: Almighty Father, when we rebelled against you and corrupted your creation, you could have destroyed us and wiped us from its face, but instead you set forth to make yourself known to a people who had forgotten you and to restore us to your presence.  You established a people to be your light in the midst of the darkness, and you gave your own Son to humble himself as he became one of us and lived and died and lived again to give life to this people—to us, to your Church.  Keep us faithful to you, to what you have made us, and to the mission you have given us, we pray.  Grow us by your word and fill us with your Spirit.  Give us the grace to persevere and courage to proclaim your good news.  Make us good stewards of your grace and cause our labours to bear fruit and your kingdom to grow so that you are glorified.  Through Jesus we pray.  Amen. [1] Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2004), 209. [2] Simply Christian (New York: Harper Collins, 2006), epub edition.

Talk Art special episode!!! We meet Andrew Moncrief (b.1987), a visual artist from Comox Valley, Canada. We speak on the eve of Gucci presenting his first exhibition in France at their Saint-Germain boutique, during the men's fashion shows in Paris.Influenced at an early age by a rigid and immobile interpretation of masculinity, Andrew's work explores depictions of the male identity, questioning idealism, queerness, and representation. The Canadian artist, now based in Berlin, questions masculinity and the representation of queer bodies in his surreal and powerful canvases inspired by existing images, reworked as collages where colours and shapes intermingle.For this exhibition, Andrew Moncrief has chosen to create his 5 new paintings inspired by images photographed for this occasion. In collaboration with photographer Julien Barbès, the Canadian artist created a fashion series around five queer Berlin personalities wearing pieces from the Gucci Love Parade collection and offering a diversity of approaches to masculinity. These images, in which bodies move in soft and sensual choreographies, served as the original material for the collages in preparation for the paintings presented this summer in Paris.”My work deals with my identity as a gay and queer man”, explains the artist. “To compose my collage-like paintings, I usually use existing nude images, but here, everything was built from fashion photos made for the occasion. I am sensitive to clothed bodies, classical drapery and Renaissance painting. Clothes generate tension and folds, as a metaphor for the body and the tensions it is capable of feeling."In Andrew Moncrief's paintings, the male body seems to be in perpetual metamorphosis. Dislocated and intertwined, he melts into his environment and dialogues with other bodies as much as with colours, textures and clothes. The fluid and hybrid body thus escapes all the categories and norms that society imposes on it. The artist's painting forms an act of freedom and canvases are queer safe spaces where all attitudes and representations become possible. The liberated and phantasmagorical body is celebrated through a palette of delightful colours that explode across the canvas. This new work is also a reference to the famous painter Francis Bacon, and more particularly to his representation of the body crossed as much by the beauty as by the grotesque.Since graduating with a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Concordia University in 2013, Andrew Moncrief has presented his work internationally in Canada, the U.S.A., and Europe, where he currently lives and works. He has been featured in numerous international publications, is part of respected private collections, and has received a Professional Development Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to pursue a full-time mentorship with Justin Ogilvie to study classical techniques and anatomy in 2019. Andrew has two upcoming shows at New Art Projects and Beers, both in London, UK, as well as a collaboration with GUCCI and Numero Art Magazine, all taking place in the first half of 2022.Visit Andrew's website: http://andrewmoncrief.com/Follow on Instagram: @an_drew_moncriefSpecial thanks to GUCCI and Alex Malgouyres for supporting this episode.Follow: @Gucci @GucciEquilibrium See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There has never been a time in history when educators have felt such overwhelming levels of stress, burnout, and exhaustion. Still, we depend on teachers to be a positive guiding force in our children's lives – often playing simultaneous roles as educator, parent, mental health counselor, and caring friend. For educators to fulfill these vital roles, it's abundantly clear that they need to develop resiliency both inside and outside the classroom. Lisa is a published author of Self-Compassion for Educators as well as, the creator of the AWE Method — Awakening the Wellbeing for Educators — which merges self-care, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Lisa has a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and a bachelor's degree in Physical Education. She has taught internationally and locally. Much of her vast teaching experience was gained in classrooms across British Columbia — from Fort St. John to the Comox Valley. Currently, she is a high school counselor in the Greater Victoria School District. Trained by mindful self-compassion pioneers Chris Germer and Kristin Neff, Lisa is also a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher. You can learn from her by taking an eight-week online MSC course, explore a half-day AWE retreat, or join her Year-Long Mindfulness for Educators program.  No matter the setting — classroom, counseling session, or teacher development — Lisa incorporates concepts of positive psychology, self-compassion, and mindfulness. Check out her blog for ideas on how to incorporate aspects of mindfulness, and positive education into your classroom and the new curriculum. https://lisabaylis.com/ Within Self-Compassion for Educators, busy and overwhelmed teachers can learn how to: Reduce feelings of shame, criticism, and self-doubt Anchor themselves to the present moment Develop greater compassion for themselves and others Mitigate the effects of chronic stress and develop resilience Cultivate a sense of gratitude Practice self-care routines that create sustainable well-being Avoid exhaustion and burnout Lisa Baylis has been sharing wellbeing strategies for the last 20 years. A natural born connector with an innate ability to make people feel valued and heard, she is an instructor, a counselor, a facilitator, and a mother.  More about the Host - Dr. Karin Jakubowski is an elementary public school principal and certified life coach. She is passionate about helping moms first take care of themselves to be their best for their kids. She helps moms with a problem solving process when their child is experiencing challenging behaviors. She practices mindfulness personally and at school teaching students breathing and awareness techniques to help them manage their own stress to be happy and healthy! Check out her NEW Course - Happy Kids, Not Perfect Kids (Click Here) Follow Karin on social -  https://www.facebook.com/educationalimpactacademy Karin's YouTube Channel Instagram - JakubowskiKarin Twitter - @KarinJakubowski Click here to get her free video course “First Steps to Happy Kids” www.educationalimpactacademy.com  

Welcome to this second episode of The Edible Valley Podcast with Gerry Pattison of Pattison farm. In this episode we talk about organic farming , the rewards and challenges of this farming practice. Some may have said in the beginning this would be a fad, but we are lucky to learn some of the tricks of the trade that have help this farm long running farm become such an icon in the Comox Valley. 

I am excited to share this wonderful podcast with Roz MacLean. Part of what I love about podcasting is getting the opportunity to talk with interesting people who are helping to change the world. Roz is one of these people! Her projects reflect a passion for diversity, inclusion, and telling a story. I learned about Roz when writing a review and interviewing the author of I am Odd, I am New. To check out that podcast, click here. Roz MacLean is a visual artist, children's book author/illustrator, and educator living and working in Comox Valley, British Columbia.  Roz believes the opportunity to engage in art-making should be accessible to all regardless of socioeconomic status, background, or ability. In her work, she investigates ideas of human nature and relationship, community, mental health, interconnection, and the natural world through an anti-oppressive and LGBTQI + inclusive feminist lens. Roz also develops and facilitates art workshops and projects for children, youth, and community members. Past workshops have centered around themes of inclusion, emotional well-being, skill development and material exploration, beautification of public space, storytelling, and bookmaking. To learn more, visit my website here!

After two years of daily morning dog walks (and weeks of debate and analysis) Joe delivers his Top 10 dog walk locations in Greater Victoria. Also in this episode we'll introduce you to one of the Comox Valley's most popular Latin restaurants.

This week on The Rural Woman Podcast, you will get to meet Kimberley Allan. Kimberley owns Gather Farm & Kitchen in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. Along with her partner, Dennis, and her daughters, they operate a 5 acre farm and business. Kimberley grew up in Vancouver and launched her gourmet food business, Kimberley's Kitchen, in 2010. She moved to Vancouver Island a few years ago, with the goal of evolving her food business and farming. Now on their small farm, Kimberley and her family farm vegetables and fruit, specializing in garlic, tomatoes, squash and apples. They are vendors at the farmers' market and also operate their seasonal farm store. They host farm events, school groups, and on-farm cooking workshops where Kimberley shares her decades of professional cooking and baking experience to inspire her community to eat local and in-season food. Kimberley now hosts A Year on the Farm podcast where she shares her small farm experience and hosts interviews with experts in the field of small-scale farming. With weekly episodes, Kimberley interviews women, BIPOC farmers, and LGBTQ2S+ folk to offer a platform for their knowledge and provide a small-scale farming resource for those often under-represented and who face challenges in the agriculture industry. City girl turned Rural Woman Vanessa Wrubleski spent years and plenty of dollars trying to find the perfect garden planner that worked for her. She was fed up with spending money on garden planners that either didn't cover all the bases or contained too much unnecessary “fluff”. So she decided to make her own.    Show Sponsor: Regardless of your experience level, planning out your garden is incredibly important. You do not need to be living rurally to grow your own food; you don't even need a yard! You just need to be Rural At Heart.   In addition to major planning space, The Rural at Heart Planner is a workbook that contains a number of exercises and oodles of tips to get you started on the right foot. What it doesn't contain is all the extra fluff of typical garden planners/workbooks.   This workbook contains: -Exercises -LOADS of planning and logbook space -Undated monthly calendars -Information on science based companion planting -AND SO MUCH MORE As Vanessa likes to say "Anyone, anywhere can grow food. You just have to be Rural At Heart."  Listeners of the Rural Woman Podcast can receive a Free gift with purchase (packet of seeds) when using the Promo code “RWPGift” at checkout. Head to the link in today's show notes to grab your copy. For full show notes including links in today's show, head on over to WildRoseFarmer.com https://www.wildrosefarmer.com/129 (https://www.wildrosefarmer.com/129) Join The Rural Woman Podcast Community on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/groups/theruralwomanpodcast (Here) Get Patron-Only Extended Content & Bonus Episodes |https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/2908106 ( Listen Here) Support my work on Patreon | https://wildrosefarmer.com/the-rural-woman-podcast/patreon/ (Learn More) Patreon Executive Producer | Sarah R. | https://happinessbytheacre.ca/ (Happiness by The Acre) Editing | Max Hofer |https://www.instagram.com/mixbaer_studio/ ( MixBär Studio) Shop our Show Sponsors | https://wildrosefarmer.com/2020/05/21/show-sponsors/ (Here) Before You Buy The Mic | Podcast Coaching | https://wildrosefarmer.com/before-you-buy-the-mic-podcast-coaching/ (Learn More) Positively Farming Media | a hub for creators in the food & agriculture space | https://www.subscribepage.com/positivelyfarmingmedia (Learn More)

What's the most iconic meal in Victoria? That's the question we put to our guest in this week's episode. Bonnie Todd from Off the Eaten Track Food Tours has compiled her list of the 15 most iconic dishes and drinks in the City of Victoria. (43:25) Also in this episode, we showcase an extremely popular donut shop in the Comox Valley that's preparing for a big move.

Time to bring in the experts. In this roundtable, we asked the team behind Zambri's and Big Wheel Burger to lay out what THEY think are the Top 10 restaurants in the capital city. They've turned their restaurants into staples in Victoria and know the chefs and staff at some of the finest restaurants in the region, so they understand quality food. After a brief history of Zambri's we dive into their picks and then we head up to the Comox Valley for this week's Order Up spotlight featuring Pizza Guerrilla in Courtenay.

Not one, not two but three different locations have their stories told on the Season Two opener of Ghosts N Bears.  We talk about The Fort (Petter House), Sandwick Manor and HMCS Quadra and has first hand tales from Jason!  Come with us as we head UpIsland to discover the ghosts tucked away in the Comox Valley just waiting to be revealed in the quiet towns of Courtney and Comox. 

Mackenzie Gartside & Associates is an award-winning team of energetic, customer-focused mortgage professionals who want to make your mortgage experience as positive and smooth as possible. They are based in the Comox Valley (many of their team are 2nd or 3rd generation locals) and they are dedicated to building our place here in the community through long-term, positive relationships with their clients.Currently Mackenzie is involved with promoting the 2021 Everyone Eats Dinner Series, an initiative of the Rotary Club of Comox Valley, details are available at this link.Learn more about Mackenzie Gartside & Associates by visiting: www.comoxmortgages.com.Mackenzie's Final 4:Audio: Podcast or YouTube Murder mysteries.Best advice: "Fake it till you make it."App: Google Sheets.Restaurants: Atlas Café.For more local news impacting business, visit: www.businessexaminer.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's show I am talking to Ana Fleck, Principal Broker/Owner at Invis Pacific View Mortgages in the Comox Valley. Ana is here to discuss navigating her journey in the mortgage business, from starting out while raising 2 young boys to having her own office, assistant, and team of brokers. When Ana first started her...