Memories of Christmas past

Manda Aufochs Gillespie. Folk U - Memories of Christmas Past. December 18th and 25th.

Today’s show is in collaboration with Jane Newman and the Cortes Island Museum and Archives. I am already anticipating when we will tell tales of Christmas 2020 as one of our memories of Christmas past. The Museum and Archives are working to archive and memorialize the Pandemic of 2020.

Jane Newman reads a story from Gilean Douglas written in her cabin in the Caribou Country about the unexpected pleasures of spending the holiday alone, from the book Writing Nature, Finding Home by Jill Milton and available for sale at the Cortes Island Museum and Archives shop.

Gary Cork. Gary found his way from Toronto via travels in Mexico and Guatemala to BC. Where he got involved in food coops, alternative communities, and helped start Edible Island in the Comox Valley. Along the way he also became an acupuncturist. He and his wife Elinore moved to Cortes in 1998. Gary tells a story about meeting Roald Dahl and then shares a poem about him and then a story from the Archives about what it takes to bring a dog home for Christmas when one lives boat access only.

Monica Nawrocki hails from the urban bustle of downtown Mansons Landing. She is the author of three books and literally thousands of to-do lists. She earns her living as a substitute teacher at the Cortes Island School, happily impersonating someone different every day. I also know Monica as one of my all-time favourite authors, especially of young adult books and as an adult that reads hundreds of young adult books, I consider myself a good judge. It’s an honour to have you in the studio with me Monica who reads a story from the archives about a Christmas past on Cortes Island.

Listen in on these readings via podcast!