The Stories That Brought You Here

This time around, I speak with the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich North and the Gulf Islands, Adam Olsen. Having grown up on the Saanich Peninsula as a member of Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), Adam will speak at length about many of the unique experiences he and his family had during those early years. This will include the story of how his parents developed a business involving...

When Paul was a young boy, he spent his summers visiting his grandparents at their home on the Sunshine coast. The memories from that time have influenced him greatly. So much so, that he was inspired to build a home on Pender Island similar to the one his grandparents had. Paul tells a short story about the importance of being able to provide similar experiences for his grandchildren today.

Joanna met her friend, Barbara Ann, at the age of three while living on Pender Island. They reconnected years later while attending the same high school in West Vancouver. This led to a lifetime of friendship between the two. Joanna describes some of the many shared experiences they had. Some of those as young mothers, each raising families of four children and spending summers together on Mayne I...

Richard tells the story of helping to preserve the Saturna Island community hall, which was build in 1933. He also shares some details about other original community halls in the Southern Gulf Islands, their historical significance, acoustic qualities and why we should care about keeping them standing.

Carol began her experience of living on Galiano Island at the age of two. After moving off the island at age twelve, she eventually returned in 2001 to care for her ailing mother during the last six years of her life. Carol will speak about her memories of those years and what it meant to her to have returned home to Galiano.

In 2005, Shelley and her husband, Steve, purchased property on Pender and started building a house. By the following year, they had moved in and began living on the island.  We start the interview with Shelley (who was also a new Mom at the time) reflecting back on those years and detailing some of the experiences she had as a new resident. From there, Shelley speaks about how she developed a pass...

This time around I speak to Jonny Miller. In this interview, he will describe the music scene on the island, and how he found his people through it. Jonny also talks about his long and winding road before coming to the island. Including time spent as a teenager going back and forth to California, attending Rainbow Gatherings, having a child while living in the Kootenays and...lots more about music...

In 2015, Steve Dunsmuir began teaching an outdoor education program to a group of elementary school students on the island. The Pender Ecological Education Class (PEEC), engaged in many incredible learning adventures with Steve at the helm. He discusses aspects of those five years when he led local students through amazing creative experiences. Steve's teaching career started in the Peace River Re...

In this episode, Linda describes what it was like growing up on Pender Island in the fifties and sixties. She will share how those experience shaped her and many fascinating details about what life was like on the island at that time. Linda will also explain how she got involved in the hardware store business, what owning a farm is like and how she met her husband, Don. Come along for this deep di...

In this episode, I speak to an Arbutus Tree from Greenburn Lake. In this wide-ranging conversation, Arbutus opens up about the experience of being rooted in a single place it's whole life. The connections it shares with the land, wildlife and people of the area. Plus, so much more in this delightful interview with a beloved member of our island.

In the summer of 1963, John went on a trip with his family to South Pender Island to stay with his aunt, Bea Freeman. For a twelve-year-old boy, it was an adventurous summer exploring the outdoors while swimming, fishing and rowing. However, it was during the last week of that trip that things really got interesting. That week, John made a new friend and a magical time ensued.

In 1944, when Mary was six years old, her family moved from Los Angeles to a log cabin on Saturna Island. She and her and younger brother, John, grew up experiencing what island life was like at that time, including riding horses to school, interacting with nature, the realities of emergencies involved in isolated living and many other fascinating details that Mary recounts in this story.

In the spring of 2013, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Judith Guichon, visited Mayne Island. Brian was asked to organize events and escort her for the nine-hour tour of the island. Members of the community came together to create a very memorable time for her. This is Brian's story of that day, which he has titled, 'The Visit'.

When Carol was sixty years old, she decided to get her motorcycle licence. Just a couple of months later, she rode her 250cc motorbike from Ottawa to Galiano Island to visit her daughter. Carol describes what that journey was like and the experiences she had on Galiano island upon arriving. 

What does Roe Lake sound like in the hour before sunrise, on the longest day of the year? From the morning silence, a trickle of birdsongs slowly begins to flow, then builds to a crescendo, before ending with the majestic descending rhythm of nature. Please enjoy this field recording that begins at 4 am on June 21, 2020 and hear what Roe Lake has to say.  

In this episode, Barb will speak about her family's lengthy history on the island and how deeply important her visits to Pender were as a young girl. She will also describe her many recent walking adventures, her involvement in the creation of Solstice theatre and give some insight into her time working at the Pender Island Medical Clinic over the past twelve years. All that and much more in a fun...

Straight up, what a crazy time it has been the last few months. There are so many emotions, worries, thoughts and ideas I've had since the inception of this altered reality. At the start of it, I wondered how I would like to participate in the world with meaning and carry an authentic expression of myself. I personally believe that we are truly the creators of our reality, so how can I help create...

In this episode, Joy will describe what it was like for her to spend the first 17 summers of life at an isolated fly-fishing tourist camp owned by her parents in Northern Quebec. She will speak about her time teaching screenwriting at the Vancouver Film School and what it was like backpacking around the world for a year with her husband Evan and two children. Plus, Joy will go in-depth describing...

In this episode, Patrick will discuss his nearly forty year career as a journalist in radio and television. He first began working as a reporter in Montreal in 1976. Four years later, he would be offered a position working out of London, England. The following decade would see him reporting from various war zones, natural disasters and civil uprisings. From Warsaw, Beirut, Manila, Berlin and a hos...

In this episode, Lester will describe how he developed an intense passion for snowboarding while living in Edmonton as a teen in the eighties. He will share how he first became interested music and go in depth explaining how his music career unfolded over a number of years and experiences. Lester will also talk about his recent interest in yoga, which has led him to becoming a yoga instructor on t...

In this episode, Steve will give a detailed description as to what it was like growing up as a young boy on Vancouver Island during the fifties. He will speak about why he felt it was important to grow his hair long, become a hippie and hitchhike his way back and forth across North America throughout his twenties. He will talk about more recent travel adventures which include high elevation hiking...

In this episode, Lauren will discuss how she first began playing piano as a child and how it developed into her writing, singing and performing her own music. This would eventually lead her from playing music as a hobby, into becoming her profession. She will go in-depth describing her career in music which includes touring North America multiple times and recording a number of albums in the proce...

In this episode, Monica will speak about her early years on South Pender, which first began when she visited during the summer at the age of ten. She will go into detail about the years of collaborative fundraising and work involved in purchasing Brooks Point to make it a public space. She will describe her work with POD (Pender Ocean Defenders) and chronicle her thirty-four year career as an earl...

In this episode, Paul will describe the events of a medical emergency he had shortly after moving to the island. Through that experience, he came to new realizations about himself and soon changed how he was participating in life. He will talk about living with his wife, Charlene on their boat in Browning Harbour, the very recent death of his father and the bold decision to move from New Brunswick...

In this episode, Sandy will share stories about growing up in Sackville, New Brunswick, speak about her fifteen year career with Legal aid BC, as well she will describe how she created a book of poetry using the words her father wrote in a dairy he kept for five months while working as a merchant seaman in 1936. Sandy will also detail how she was responsible for starting the Poetry In Motion proje...