BUSINESS IS A LIFESTYLE
VEGAN BAKING FOR ALL Decadent desserts with Flourchild Vegan Baking
TAKING CHANCES 10 Questions getting to know Bree Meckling
COMOX
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WINTER 2019 - comoxvalleyrecord.com
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10 14 EDITOR ERIN HALUSCHAK
PUBLISHER CHRISSIE BOWKER
erin.haluschak@comoxvalleyrecord.com As a full-time journalist at The Comox Valley Record, Erin looks forward to bringing these stories to you in a variety of different ways.
chrissie.bowker@blackpress.ca Director of Product Development, Black Press Media.
GRAPHIC DESIGN TAMMY ROBINSON tammy.robinson@blvdmag.ca An award-wining full-time graphic designer for Black Press with over 15 years experience.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR ALI RODDAM ali.roddam@blackpress.ca An experienced photographer, writer, and entrepreneur based in Black Creek.
Trio is produced by:
CONTRIBUTORS ALISA HOWLETT A journalist and communications professional based in Victoria. KRISTINE SALZMANN A freelance writer based in the Lower Mainland ROB MANGELSDORF A writer and editor in chief of The Growler.
CREATIVE SERVICES SUSAN GRANBERG, Manager production@comoxvalleyrecord.com 4
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a division of
Available online: comoxvalleyrecord.com/eeditions/ PHONE: 1-250-338-5811 MAILING ADDRESS: 407-D Fifth Street, Courtenay V9N 1J7 Trio magazine is published quarterly by Black Press. The points of view or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher of Trio. The contents of Trio magazine are protected by copyright, including the designed advertising. Reproduction is prohibited without written consent of the publisher.
26 22 44 WINTER 2019 EDITION 6
NOT RABBIT FOOD
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Lily Harned is looking to break misconceptions about veganism, one dessert at a time.
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THE POWER TO HEAL WITH ART
CONTENTS
SERVING OTHERS
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A NEW TRADITION IN COMOX
A former commanding officer at 19 Wing Comox and his family embody service before self.
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Comox artist Shelley Vanderbyl's work seeks to heal and ease pain.
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GLOWING INSIDE AND OUT Carley Nolan draws upon years of experience for Cumberland's only plant-based cafe.
LEAVING A LEGACY
A DIY spin on one of the Valley's newest breweries.
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FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS Boot Hill Performance finds a key market for motorcycle repair in the Comox Valley.
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10 QUESTIONS WITH ... Elevated Beauty's own Bree Meckling.
Overhauling the Kingfisher Oceanside Resort and Spa a passion for its owner.
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Lily Harned of Flourchild Vegan Baking — gingerbread bundt cakes and chocolate ganache tarts with toasted meringue — #NotRabbitFood.
VEGAN BAKING FOR ALL BY KRISTINE SALZMANN
PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
With her new home-based business, Lily Harned is looking to tackle that perception, taste buds-first.
She bakes 100-per cent plant-based baked goods and pastries; no eggs, dairy, honey, gelatin or any other animal products can be found in the cinnamon buns, maple vanilla donuts, salted chocolate chunk cookies, plum tortes and any of the other mouthwatering treats at her market stall.
Harned launched Flourchild Vegan Baking at the Cumberland Farmers’ Market this past summer, and was also on hand at a few market days on Denman Island.
“I love taking a [conventional] recipe that’s traditionally really egg or dairy heavy, like lemon meringue pie, and making a vegan version and it tastes delicious,” Harned says.
There exists a few common misconceptions about veganism: that it’s difficult, restrictive and involves eating a lot of salads.
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Decadent desserts that are definitely #NotRabbitFood
Holiday indulgence vegan style: flavours of dark chocolate, blood orange, caramel, buttery shortbread, cranberry, ginger and almond frangipane.
She credits growing up on Denman Island with “hippie” parents who valued homemade over processed foods and consumed milk produced by a cow kept on their property. Her mother was a vegetarian but her father was not; while Harned was raised as an omnivore, she eventually transitioned to vegetarianism for environmental and animal welfare reasons. It was only in the past few years that she decided to eat an entirely plant-based diet. (Her husband is also a vegan and their two young children are vegetarian, although Harned has observed that they are increasingly gravitating toward vegan choices due to their love for animals). The family lived for a number of years in Vancouver, but moved to Comox Valley in 2015, just as vegan options were becoming more popular in the big city. “There are vegan pizza places and ice cream shops popping up everywhere, and here I was in a small town with not very many vegan choices,” Harned recalls. “And it just occurred to me, hey, I’m baking all this stuff for my family, why not bake it for other people too? And not just for vegans.” Harned has a background in art history, graphic design, and as a swing dance instructor, but has long had a passion for food and the creativity involved. She lists some of her go-to swaps to replace the fat, dairy and eggs found in many baked goods; an unexpected one is using the liquid from canned chickpeas in place of egg whites. Aquafaba, as it’s called, has a similar protein profile to egg whites and can be whipped with sugar and vanilla - which means open season for egg-based desserts like meringues, macarons, and marshmallows.
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Above: Mini vegan moon and star walnut shortbreads. Below: Rich and decadent vegan hazelnut chocolate torte.
Harned says the commitment involved in running a one-person, home-based business for the first time this past summer was worth it.
guests last year: a stuffed, high-protein seitan roast (a meatsubstitute made out of wheat gluten), vegan gravy, sticky toffee pudding, and hazelnut torte.
“It’s really rewarding. People are so excited when they find me, especially the ones who didn’t know I was going to be there they’re just walking along and suddenly their eyes light up and they’re like, ‘Oh, is this vegan?’ Oh yes, everything is vegan, and they can’t believe it.”
It’s desserts like those that can be found in the photo gallery of her Facebook page, where she has playfully tagged some posts with #NotRabbitFood.
With the summer market season behind her, our conversation turns to the holidays. When asked what their Christmas dinner might look like without the traditional turkey or roast, Harned thinks back to the dinner she and her husband prepared for
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As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and in this case quite literally: Harned is proving vegans can enjoy rich, indulgent things, too. Flourchild Vegan Baking can be found on Facebook (facebook. com/FlourchildVegan) and Instagram (@flourchild_vegan_ baking).
“I THINK PEOPLE REALLY LIKE THE NOVELTY OF, FIRST OF ALL, WHAT? A HOMEMADE POP TART? AND WHAT? IT’S VEGAN? AND WHAT? IT’S DELICIOUS? SO THAT WAS FUN.” – LILY HARNED
The most popular item at the Flourchild market stall? Pop tarts. “I kind of call them politically correct pop tarts, because they are vegan, they’re organic and I use fair trade organic chocolate. They are almost like anti-pop tarts, quite different from a supermarket variety.” A scroll through Harned’s Facebook page highlights pop tarts in lemon lavender, caramel apple, brown sugar and cinnamon, s’more, and peanut butter and jam - as well as the tag #veganforthepoptarts.
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WINTER 2019 | TR IO MAG A ZI N E
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SHELLEY VANDERBYL’S ’PRESCRIPTION’ ART HOLDS THE POWER TO HEAL BY ROB MANGELSDORF
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At the Seal Bay studio of Comox artist Shelley Vanderbyl, battered antique medical tins take on new life, yet retain their original purpose—to heal and ease pain. Where there were once prescription pills, pain tablets or throat lozenges, there is now the healing power of art.
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PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
Inside the two inch-square tins Vanderbyl paints tiny landscapes, shimmering with light and movement, and offering the owner a doorway into another world. The idea is that if life ever becomes overwhelming, if you are ever in need of quiet reflection, you can take your tin from your pocket, open it and for a brief moment, experience beauty.
"I TEND TO THINK IN PICTURES...SO THIS IS MY IDEAL WAY TO COMMUNICATE" – SHELLEY VANDERBYL “I believe that art can heal,” she says. “Art has helped me make sense of things that have happened in my own life. It’s brought me comfort, and I hope it brings others comfort too.”
personal expression of empathy, she gifted them the tins so they could access the calming, meditative effect of art, anytime.
The project began as a way for Vanderbyl to help the people in her life who were going through difficult times. In a deeply
“I tend to think in pictures … so this is my ideal way to communicate,” she says.
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Soon, the project took on a life of its own. A gallery curator in Winnipeg, where she was based at the time, approached Vanderbyl to exhibit her work. A number of hospitals in Sweden began to purchase the tins for display. To date, she has created more than 100 tiny worlds inside vintage medicine tins. If you purchase one, Vanderbyl will even write your order up on an antique prescription pad—a prescription for art. While Vanderbyl’s work is meant to evoke comfort and calm, not all of it is small in scale. Her recent abstract impressionist fresco series features floor-to-ceiling pieces that evoke shadows and light, offering viewers— she hopes—a sense of encouragement and inspiration. The images aren’t so much painted as they are constructed, then deconstructed. Layers of paint and
plaster make their way on to the canvas, only for Vanderbyl to strip, scrape and scratch off, revealing layers of colour and texture underneath. She takes her inspiration from unlikely places, like the peeling pieces of plaster from a home she renovated in Winnipeg. The process of creating these works is cathartic and therapeutic for Vanderbyl, but it is rarely intentional. “It’s a very visceral experience,” she says. “My work is so emotional and I put so much of myself into it. After I’m done, I often have a cry about it, and try to make sense of it. I’m working backwards, in a way.” Shelley Vanderbyl is available for studio visits and artist talks. You can see her work at her upcoming show at the Comox Valley Art Gallery in 2020. For more information, visit www.shelleyvanderbyl.com.
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RAISING THE BAR WHILE LEAVING A LEGACY Overhauling the Kingfisher Oceanside Resort and Spa a passion for its owner BY KRISTINE SALZMANN
The Kingfisher Oceanside Resort and Spa has been undergoing a multi-million dollar, seven-phase overhaul for the past few years, with each phase assiduously implemented to disturb guests as little as possible.
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accommodations room-by-room to create 550-square foot luxury suites.
The first three phases are complete: the renovations of the resort’s two restaurants and spa, a redesigned wing, and extensive outdoor gardens inspired by The Butchart Gardens in Victoria.
Forty-pound light fixtures have been commissioned from a company that designs lighting for Disney hotels and the bathrooms of select suites will be fitted with black, veined marble tubs and windows that go from opaque to clear with the flick of a switch, depending on whether you are in the mood for the ocean view.
The next phases include an underground steam cave system, another wing of new suites, and the gutting of older
The grounds can be enjoyed by the public as well as guests. Starting mid-November, locals and tourists alike are invited to
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explore the new Serenity Gardens by donation (charity to be determined), which will be lit up with thousands of lights and dubbed the Winter Gardens for the season. Given the scale of the undertaking, you may have wondered: who is behind the vision? Bill Brandes didn’t start his career as a resort owner. In fact, he first came to the Comox Valley as an orthopedic technician to sell knee and hip implant technology and train orthopedic surgeons at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
The then-22-year-old lived in Vancouver but would travel to Comox where he worked in operating rooms by day and stayed at a hotel by the 5th Street bridge at night. Tired of trying to sleep next to the sounds of traffic, he followed a friend’s recommendation to stay at the Kingfisher, just south of Royston. Brandes woke up to the view of the ocean, and recalls, “All you could hear were the birds, and being from the big city it was just a great experience.” He eventually purchased a strata unit at the Kingfisher, and as WINTE R 2019 | TR IO MAGA ZI N E
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Kingfisher Oceanside Resort in numbers: • 175 full- and part-time employees year-round • The Winter Gardens will be decorated with $150,000 in lighting • Some of the new suites will be up to 550 square feet • An estimated five more years until renovations are complete • Ranked among the top 50 best hotels in Canada by Hotel-Addict.com • Voted 2nd Best Spa Getaway in Georgia Straight’s 2019 Readers Choice survey
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Your day is about to get a little bit better
a resident he received notification when the owner decided to sell. Brandes ran into the owner in the lobby one day and asked him how much the property cost. “I was kind of young and he kind of just pushed me off and said, ‘Here’s the realtor, if you’re really serious you just contact them’ … So I did.”
ESPRESSO | BAKED GOODS
Little did the former owner know that the orthopedic technician had an entrepreneurial spirit. Brandes was also the owner of a development company in Vancouver and a number of stores in a pet food chain. “I just decided to take the leap over into hotels,” he says. He considered the location unparalleled and the property unbeatable: “I could foresee what this could be like as a fivestar hotel.” The realtor visited him in Vancouver on a Sunday, where Brandes looked over the numbers and decided to make an offer. The deal closed in 2005.
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Owning the Kingfisher has allowed him to bring together two of his passions: business and architecture. As a child, Brandes would draw homes with the enthusiasm another child might devour trains and trucks.
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To this day Brandes lives in Vancouver and continues to travel to Comox almost every week. He plans to build a future home on the land he owns adjacent to the Kingfisher, and contemplates adding beekeeping to the property to support the honeybee population.
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After graduating high school he says he was accepted to an architecture program in Ontario but could not afford the cost of studying away from home; instead, he chose to take sciences at the University of B.C. However, he continued to find opportunities to indulge his passion, designing the interiors and exteriors of luxury homes he lived in and sold in Vancouver. Now, he is overseeing the interior and exterior redesign of the Kingfisher with the goal of making the rooms and facilities “higher-end than anything I’ve seen in British Columbia.” When asked what his favourite part of the resort is when he’s on site, he says the peace and tranquility of the Serenity Gardens (“Even now in October, I came in [from Vancouver] last night and people are sitting by the fire pits,”) as well as the “phenomenal” food at the Ocean7 Restaurant and Aqua Bistro & Wine Bar (a pet peeve of his as a traveller is poor quality hotel food). “I want to create a property that will be here when I’m gone,” Brandes says. “That people will enjoy and can come and recharge their batteries and have nature and the ocean and have the bald eagles and the wildlife - and no noise.” While he’d rather not make public the total cost of renovations during the course of the seven to 10-year project - it’s estimated to be tens of millions - Brandes says, “I’ll never make the money back before I die. But it’s a project that I wanted to leave something here behind in the Comox Valley that will bring tourism here for the foreseeable future.”
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SERVING OTHERS IN COMOX AND BEYOND BY KRISTINE SALZMANN |
The tough thing about moving to Comox, Lt.-Col. Bryn Elliott told his wife Janis as they prepared to leave Winnipeg, is once someone lives there they don’t want to leave.
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PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
throughout the world since joining the Air Force nearly 20 years ago.
Frequent moves, however, are part and parcel with having a military career.
For his last operation abroad, in 2011, he was a detachment commander supporting Canadian and NATO coalition fighters as they imposed a no-fly zone in Libya.
Elliott says his family, which includes three sons age 11 to 16, has lived in Trenton, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and, since 2016, the Comox Valley. Not to mention Elliott has been deployed
For the past three years, Elliott has served as the commanding officer of 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron located at the local Canadian Air Force base (19 Wing Comox). In August, he
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relinquished command to Lt.-Col. Rhonda Stevens. Soon, the time will come to move again. 442 Squadron has 250 personnel who provide search and rescue operations throughout B.C., the Yukon and as far as 600 nautical miles offshore with two fleet of aircraft (six CC-115 Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft and five CH-149 Cormorant helicopters). The base is also home to two flight schools, where pilots, navigators, maintainers and flight engineers from throughout Canada train to fly and work on the Cormorant and Buffalo. Elliott estimates he will be at the base for another six months. Since handing over the reins this past summer, he has been “strictly a French student, which is both wonderful and difficult” as he attempts to be as incognito as possible to avoid being a distraction for the new commanding officer.
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He spoke of his time in Comox over the phone prior to the start of one such French language class. Promotions depend on how well he can communicate in Canada’s other official language to determine where his family goes next. He says he is growing more confident each day: “Luckily there are francophones on base. Just yesterday I went to a coffee break with everybody on the base, and I spoke French the entire time with francophones, and they didn’t kick me out of the mess.” There is also the possibility of joining an operation abroad so that his wife and children can live in Comox a bit longer. Putting service before self is a common theme in our phone call: Elliott, recognizing someone else needs the opportunity to command a squadron; Janis, putting her career on hold (her certification as a Registered Massage Therapist does not transfer to all provinces); and the personnel, ready to leave on a moment’s notice to conduct a search and rescue that could take weeks. When asked if any particular rescues will stay with him, Elliott thinks back to when the crew went to Anahim Lake to find an aircraft that had crashed through a canopy of snowcovered trees. “When you saw the pictures of it, the crash looked absolutely horrible,” he says. The crew spotted an area on the treetops that did not have snow on it - the team
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investigated, found the crash, and were able to save four of the five people. Elliott also represented Canada abroad during his time as commanding officer. In 2017, he and a small team travelled to Japan to exchange best practices with Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force.
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He recalls being impressed with their refuelling capabilities, and remembers his search and rescue technician sharing Canadian safety and redundancy protocols for searching mountainous terrain. Elliott says his time in Comox has “absolutely” been rewarding. “The squadron holds a mandate where - 24-7/365 - they are responding to the needs of Canadians. And I was amazed by how well the air crews and maintainers did their job so professionally and selflessly,” he says. “I was astounded every day at the dedication of the squadron and it was an honour to work with them.”
THE STORY BEHIND THE MASCOT According to Lt.-Col. Bryn Elliott, it’s traditional for a squadron to have a mascot. 435 Squadron in Winnipeg, for instance, has a four-foot tall fibreglass Chinthe, a lion-like creature that is a part of Burmese mythology and became their mascot to represent the squadron’s formation in Burma during the Second World War. It’s also traditional for squadrons to attempt to “borrow” each other’s mascots. “It’s a little bit of a game, and a little bit of esprit de corps among the Air Force. And you can take photos, send letters from the mascot to the squadron, saying ‘Hey, I miss you guys, come and get me’,” says Elliott, who once took the Chinthe to Nevada and sent back photos of the mascot in Reno. Yet when he arrived in Comox, 442 did not have a mascot. Their crest depicts a lightning snake (the Haietlik) from Nootka First Nation mythology, so Elliott asked his deputy commanding officer to commission a statue by local chainsaw artist Kevin Lewis. The base is now home to a sixfoot-tall, 350 pound Haietlik carved out of cedar, with eyes made from lapis, a deep blue stone one of the squadron’s engineers had brought back from tour in Afghanistan.
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Notes Elliott: “No other squadron has stolen it yet.” WINTER 2019 | TR IO MAGAZI N E
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GLOWING FROM THE INSIDE OUT BY ALISA HOWLETT
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If you’ve worked a day in the hospitality industry you probably know quite well how challenging, but yet rewarding, it can be, so after serving for 25 years, Carley Nolan decided it was time for a slight change. “I didn’t want to serve forever; I wanted to cook and make food,” says the owner of Whole Glow Café. Nolan worked at a family restaurant in Comox for the last 14 years and while she served there she would occasionally bring 2 2
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PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
her coworker-turned-friend a meal she prepared. “You need to cook and feed people, seriously – this is so good,” her friend would say. So at the time Nolan considered opening a juice bar, but she knew it wouldn’t be sustainable throughout the chillier months. Expanding on that idea, Nolan worked on a menu that catered exclusively to her palate and in July 2018 she opened Cumberland’s only plant-based café.
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“Well I enjoy eating and cooking plant-based food, but not everyone is like me. I find everyone has this misconception that vegan food or plant-based food doesn’t taste good, but it’s all about preparation,” Nolan says. She focuses on making wholesome, nourishing food that tastes good and makes you feel full and satisfied – and that just so happens to be plant-based.
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“A lot of couples will come in because the wife wants to eat WINTE R 2019 | TR IO MAGA ZI N E
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"BEING ON THE OTHER SIDE IN THE KITCHEN IS A BIT OF AN INTERESTING CHANGE FROM SERVING; IT'S A TINY, LITTLE KITCHEN, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY A LOT OF FUN AND REWARDING SERVING PEOPLE HEALTHY FOOD THAT TASTES GOOD.” – CARLEY NOLAN
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here, but the husband is skeptical because it’s too healthy and by the time they leave we have completely won him over,” Nolan says with a laugh. “I think people who stumble upon the café are just surprised at how good things taste.” One such item is the Mediterranean bowl. It’s mixed local greens, brown rice, hemp hummus, avocado, tomato, red onion and cucumber with a falafel waffle topped with lemon tahini dressing. Nolan calls it “bomb proof.” Nolan does all the food prep, cooks everything herself and bakes daily. Everything is microbatched – from sauces, to curries to dressings – to ensure the food is as fresh as possible, but also because it’s all the tiny kitchen at Whole Glow will allow.
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“Being on the other side, in the kitchen, is a bit of an interesting change from serving; it’s a tiny, little kitchen, but it’s definitely a lot of fun and rewarding serving people healthy food that tastes good.” In the future, Nolan says she would love to expand Whole Glow, such as offering takeaway plant-based meals for people to cook at home, and even branch out to Comox. You can try Nolan’s plant-based recipes Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Whole Glow Café, located at 2713 Dunsmuir Ave. in Cumberland.
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A NEW TRADITION BEGINS IN COMOX BY ROB MANGELSDORF
For the past 20 years, Pat Savard has been brewing beer for himself, his family, his friends and anyone he can send home with a bottle or two. Now, as co-owner and brewer of New Tradition Brewing in Comox, his passion has finally become his profession. The humble family-run craft brewery and tasting room at the Comox Centre Mall opened earlier this summer, and the taps have been flowing ever since.
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“Growing up my dad always homebrewed, so that’s how I got into it,” Savard explains. “My wife and I always wanted to open a pub, but as time went on, the rules changed and it became easier to run a brewery lounge, so this was a natural fit.” The tasting room itself is bright and welcoming, with rustic handmade touches throughout the space. In fact, everything in the brewery was hand built by the couple, from the bar, to the tables to the chairs. “It’s 100 per cent DIY,” says Savard, who was previously a
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LIVE... THRIVE... ENJOY contractor. “We wanted to draw attention to natural building practices, so we didn’t let anything go to waste.” Wooden pallets were chopped up and became a part of the bar. Empty bottles were incorporated into an earthen “bottle wall” that throws colour around the room. The end result is a space that is both unique and effortlessly inviting, where on any given night you’re likely to find a record swap meet, an open mic jam session or even a costume party. “We wanted it to be a very low-key, inclusive space, and keep
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it interesting and fun,” he says. “Kids are allowed, and it’s very family-oriented. It’s a hangout space!” New Tradition comes by its family-friendly vibe honestly: on any given day, you’re likely to find Savard brewing beer in the back, his wife, Tammy, serving customers and their 11-year-old daughter quietly doing her homework at the bar. Like many of the Valley’s recent new residents, the Savard family was looking to escape unaffordable Vancouver in favour of somewhere that offered a better balance between work and life. “I have family on the Island and we’ve always spent a lot of time in Victoria and Tofino,” Savard explains. “But we fell in love with the Comox Valley instantly.” As for the beer, with six to 10 beers on at any time, there’s sure to be something for every palate.
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For lager-lovers, Cure For The Common Kölsch is Savard’s take on the traditional lagered ale of his mother’s hometown of Cologne, Germany. However, the deeper you delve into New Tradition’s beer list, the more surprises you’ll find, like the Juice Caboose Wild Session Ale: this fruity, funky little number utilizes multiple strains of wild yeast for plenty of flavour despite the modest 3.0 per cent ABV. Meanwhile, the Noon Patrol IPA offers the best of both worlds: the hazy, full-bodied tropical goodness of an East Coast IPA, paired with the grapefruit notes and dryness of a West Coast IPA. “I don’t like any one thing to stand out,” says Savard of his own personal brewing philosophy. “I don’t like too much sweetness, I don’t like too much bitterness; I like balance.”
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MAKING THE HOLIDAYS A LITTLE BIT BRIGHTER - AND MORE SEQUINNED Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular returning to the Sid BY ALISA HOWLETT | PHOTOS BY MCKINNON PHOTOGRAPHY
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With Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular now in its 13th season, it’s most likely you know the show well, but what you might not know is the inspiration for Vancouver Island’s holiday tradition comes all the way from London, England.
Producer and director of Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular Katy Bowen-Roberts is a performer herself. For three years she sang in a Christmas Spectacular production in London, along with a cast of 100 others.
For the last nine years, the singing and dancing extravaganza has graced the stage at the Sid Williams theatre in Courtenay – bringing a mix of music styles, genres and eras, all tied together with storytelling, poetry and a sea of sequinned costumes.
“It’s kind of a big thing in England; it’s a massive production, a Christmas tradition. It’s this idea where the show is rewritten every year and then just a huge wash of sequinned costumes and stunning dancers.”
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During her second and third years in London, Bowen-Roberts watched closely behind the scenes, taking notes for the future – when she would bring the show to her small home community of Yellow Point, near Ladysmith. “I came back in January 2007 and started trying to find money and planning and writing the show – it was so sparse,” BowenRoberts says with a laugh. “I actually went to elementary school with the music guy, we had never worked together before so he had no idea what I had gotten him into, but we started small and just kind of grew it. We like to think we grew up a bit.”
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Now Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular tours the Island, stopping at three venues: McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, Port Theatre in Nanaimo and of course our local Sid Williams Theatre. A team of 20, including 14 performers, put on 14 shows in the run. “I rewrite it every year – I work on it all year ‘round – and we rehire every year,” says Bowen-Roberts. “Our returning audience members know what they’re going to get, but it’s always new – new styles of dance, the costumes, everything.” While Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular is a wee bit smaller
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“OUR RETURNING AUDIENCE MEMBERS KNOW WHAT THEY’RE GOING TO GET, BUT IT’S ALWAYS NEW – NEW STYLES OF DANCE, THE COSTUMES, EVERYTHING.” – KATY BOWEN-ROBERTS
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than that of the one in London, there are two big ways the local production compares: the talent and the costumes. Bowen-Roberts hosts a rigorous audition process in Vancouver, attracting talent from all across Canada; she says these auditions can even be a starting point for performers in their careers.
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As for the costumes, Bowen-Roberts selects everything herself and even orders the same sequinned outfits straight from London, England, where she previously worked. Dancers have about eight to 10 costume changes during one show. “People often say it starts the holiday season for them. I wanted to create a family tradition for people at Christmastime and also provide work for people on the Island so they could be in their communities during the holidays.” This year the family-friendly Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular opens at Sid Williams for three shows: Monday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
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FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS Boot Hill Performance finds a key market in the Comox Valley BY ALISA HOWLETT
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For Graydon Peebles, a future in motorcycles seemed like a natural fit, but for his partner Isha Matous-Gibbs – maybe not as much. Peebles grew up on bikes in the Comox Valley and his parents’ yard was actually filled with car parts, bike parts and other projects of his. “Twenty of them were mine and maybe like five of them belonged to my siblings and parents,” Peebles says. He got his first bike from his great uncle when he was only three. 3 6
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PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
“I’m third generation I guess,” says Peebles. “My great uncle who raised my dad used to race British bikes and was a big part of the motorcycle scene in Vancouver when it started and my dad has been riding his whole life.” Matous-Gibbs, on the other hand, had a much later introduction to motorcycles than her counterpart. “I just remember I was sitting on the back of a plastic fender in flip flops, wearing a tank top and light cotton pants, ripping through six-lane traffic with no dividers and I was loving it,” Matous-Gibbs says fondly.
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She was in Nepal, where motorcycles and bikes are far more common than cars, and asked a friend for a tour around the dusty streets and hills of Kathmandu just after nightfall. “I got back to Victoria and I was like, ‘that was really fun and I’d like to do more of that.’” So she got her motorcycle license, primarily for commuting to and from work, and slowly met more people in the motorcycle community – including Peebles. “When I started riding with Graydon, suddenly, my little bike couldn’t keep up; so I bought a bigger bike so I could be more competitive,” says Matous-Gibbs. After watching the market in the Comox Valley for a while, Peebles and Matous-Gibbs decided it was time for a motorcycle shop. So in March 2019, the pair opened Boot Hill Performance, a performance-oriented American V-twin motorcycle service and repair shop. Peebles has 10 years of both after-market and dealership experience diagnosing, servicing and repairing motorcycles, including on Harley Davidson bikes. Before Boot Hill Performance opened, Harley riders looking for warrantyapproved work would either have to ride down to Victoria or have a trailer shuttle-service their bike for a fee. While Peebles handles all the bikes, Matous-Gibbs oversees the operations and future endeavors. “There are a lot of different groups and cliques in the riding community, I don’t think they avoid each other on purpose, but they just don’t meet up,” Matous-Gibbs says. “We want to help bring the community together.” Peebles adds: “We haven’t decided what that’s going to look like yet, but maybe starting with something simple, like do a Saturday evening group ride that starts here, fire up the barbecue so everyone can eat and then go for a ride.” Stop by 2729 Moray Ave. for all your motorcycle needs – or just to say hi to the owners and their two pups running around the shop.
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AT THE HEART OF CUMBERLAND Waverley Hotel ‘one point in the star’ BY ROB MANGELSDORF
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PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
If Cumberland has a beating heart, it’s likely the pounding bass coming from the historic Waverley Hotel’s stage, where touring acts from across North America regularly play to sold out crowds. The charming little pub began its existence in the 1890s as a hotel for the bustling mining boomtown. But for the past 35 years, “the Wave” has served as Cumberland’s communal living room, providing a welcoming space where young and old can share a beer and a meal and dance the night away. Don and Louisa McClellan bought the pub in 2011, and credit the previous owners—former Cumberland mayor Harvey Brown and his wife Shannon (who are still regulars)—with setting the legacy of the Waverley in motion. Meanwhile, local music promoter Vig Schulman has been instrumental in bringing in acts as diverse as alt-folksters Elliot Brood, Chali 2Na of hip hop group Jurassic 5 and indie rockers Wolf Parade.
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“Places like this, there’s less and less of them then there used to be,” says Don. “[Small music venues] are such an asset to the community, so it was important to us to keep that going.” One of the secrets to the Waverley’s success, according to Don, has been that unlike many smaller communities in B.C., Cumberland is totally walkable, allowing locals to leave their cars at home. “It’s easy to get a crowd out when so many people live so close by,” he says. There have been some changes at the Waverley over the years, too—but thankfully they’ve been positive ones. Recognizing the growing demand for craft beer, the bar now has 20 taps of draft on offer from breweries all over the province. A greater focus on the pub’s food program has resulted in an ever-changing seasonal menu. “When we took over, we tried to establish ourselves as a food
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destination,” says Louisa. “The idea of what a pub is has changed. So everything was updated and everything is made in-house now.” Since purchasing the Waverley, the McClellans have seen the once sleepy village explode with life. Where there were once boarded up windows and empty buildings on Dunsmuir Street, there are now coffee shops, chocolate shops, clothing stores, restaurants and even a brewery. Most of all, there are people—especially young people— attracted by Cumberland’s historic charm, funky vibe and active, outdoor lifestyle. “There’s a lot that makes Cumberland great,” says Louisa. “But we’re just one point in the star.”
Makes a Difference Be part of a local organization that makes a difference in the community. Become a member of First Credit Union! First focuses on giving back to communities while empowering members with the knowledge they need to feel confident about their banking choices. www.firstcu.ca (250) 336-2272 2717 Dunsmuir Ave.
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NO ELECTRICAL BILL, NO PROBLEM FOR NET ZERO COMOX VALLEY HOME BY DAVE FLAWSE
Justin and Carla Black live in a home unlike almost any other on Vancouver Island. The high-efficient, certified Net Zero home produces as much energy as it uses. That means the Black’s electrical bill may as well be nonexistent. A 9KW array of solar panels is part of what makes that possible.
consumption is neutral. “An energy advisor did all the calculations,” explains Justin. “They look at everything, like how many windows and what kind of appliances you use.”
Slanted skywards, the 20-foot by 10-foot array, sits amongst the vegetable garden of their Lake Trail Road home.
The family has only lived in the two-story home for a few months, but Justin is confident they will have a neutral power consumption by the end of the year.
In the summer, the panels produce more power than the family can use and the excess is sold to BC Hydro. In the wintertime they buy power back, and over one full year, their power
The other part of a what makes a Net Zero home possible is the home itself. The Black’s home has super efficient appliances and is well insulated.
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Justin and Carla say living in the three-bedroom 1,474 square foot home is exactly the same as any other. The only sacrifice they made was an area indoors apart from the main living room for their children to play. But they aren’t too concerned about that. “We live in a climate where I can send my kids outside,” explains Carla. The province is taking steps to ensure that by 2032 all new builds will be Net Zero energy ready. Any contemporary fully electric house (one with only electrical heating and appliances) can have a net zero energy consumption. The issue is having large enough solar panels to power the home. The panels are expensive and take up a fair amount of real estate. The new standards will force builders to build efficient homes which will require fewer solar panels. The Black family didn’t know they wanted a Net Zero home before building and didn’t think they’d be ahead of a new standard. It wasn’t until hiring Jim Zsiros of J. Zsiros Contracting that their plans changed. After speaking with the local builder, they decided to get certified as Vancouver Island’s second Net Zero home. Zsiros says it costs around $35,000 more to build an averagesized energy-efficient home compared to a normal house. And depending on the home’s power needs, installing solar panels would add around another $30,000 to the build. The extra cost of building a Net Zero home is offset over the long term by having no electricity costs. Living in the house for a long time is exactly what the family plans on doing. “We designed the house for all stages of life,” says Justin. “It will feel small when we have two or three teenagers, but when they move out it won’t be too big.”
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By the time their kids move out, the Black’s home may no longer be unique as well-insulated efficient homes with solar panels will become standard. One thing won’t change though, Justin and Carla still won’t be paying for their electricity.
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10 Q U E S T I O N S WITH BREE MECKLING BY KRISTINE SALZMANN PHOTOS BY ALI RODDAM
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Those who follow Bree Meckling on Instagram (instagram.com/breemeckling/) will have seen firsthand the courage and vulnerability exhibited in a number of her posts this past year. In April, she posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed after undergoing breast reduction surgery. On July 1, she launched her own waxing business, Elevated Beauty, out of Clinic No. 5 in Courtenay. And in September, she gave herself permission to be photographed by a professional: waistdeep in the ocean, embracing her body, and allowing herself to feel empowered in the way she makes others feel with a Brazilian.
Why did you decide to start your own business? Everyone - for many, many years - said, ‘Why don’t you do your own thing?’ And I was always nervous to do it. I think everyone has a bit of self doubt on whether they can accomplish something like that. When you’re really passionate and good at a trade skill, sometimes you question your ability to do business things ... I was always a bit scared, but I decided to go ahead and do it and it was the most terrifying three months of my life. How did you overcome that self doubt? My passion for my job. I love, love what I do, I love my clients … I love what I do, and I knew if I took too long to figure it out then I wouldn't have any clients anymore [laughs]. Why waxing? Everyone asks me all the time how I got into wanting to wax vaginas for a living. It’s about the experience for me - like, people come in and do this activity that is incredibly vulnerable and scary, and they feel comfortable enough with you to let you do it. And then after they leave, and they feel really empowered because they did something that beforehand was really scary to them, and they feel badass. And that’s super nice to be part of that experience with somebody. I think we just need more things that make women feel good without having that social pressure. Can you tell me about your decision to have breast reduction surgery? I had always wanted to do it and I knew that it was going to be super helpful to me. It’s always scary to alter your body, but when pain overrides you from doing things, I think you know it’s the right decision. So I just had to work through the anxiety of being afraid to have surgery … Having friends around you that have had it or experienced it is definitely super encouraging, so now I try to share as much with other people who are going to experience
that surgery or want to so that I can help them too, because I got so much help from other people.” What do you want others to know about breast reduction surgery? That they shouldn’t wait. If they thought about it and they want to do it and they’re just putting it off because it seems hard or they don’t know where to start with the steps - to just start with the first step because they’re waiting regardless. You might as well have that first conversation with your doctor to get that first bit of information to move forward on that journey. Since having my surgery and having talked to so many people who have had it, I don’t know a single person who regrets having it. It’s the most life-changing thing ever. Aside from pain, just to wake up in the morning and get dressed and feel differently about your body - I think when something on your body causes you discomfort, you sort of have this resentment toward it that doesn’t allow you to fully accept your body the way you want to even if you’re trying to. And so yeah, I just think, take that first step. You recently posted on Facebook that women should be able to wear whatever they want without being shamed for it. Can you tell me more about the body-positive posts you share? The past few years of being here I got frustrated with being in pain and just stopped doing exercise - I just had a low time in my life ... During that time of not being a tiny person and trying to be comfortable in my own skin, I was always frustrated … I had a huge chest and always had to wear a bra and all these layers, and to go to the gym I’d have to wear all these sports bras. And everyone always laughs at me because I never wear a bra anymore - and I’m like, ‘Why do I have to wear a bra? For the first time in my life I've been able to have free boobs - who says I have to?’ … I just think, no matter what shape, size, anything you are you should never feel that you can’t wear whatever you want to be comfortable everyday in your life.
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FIND
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What lessons will stick with you from the experience of setting up your own business? I’ve been on a journey all year about doing things that make me uncomfortable. I posted a photo shoot of myself ... [and] it was a big thing for me, and so part of my work journey, too, was trying to see myself how other people see me. Because I think if we were all to look at ourselves in our own eyes we could all pick apart so many things about ourselves we don’t like, but if we really saw what other people saw I think we’d love ourselves a lot more. And I think I doubted myself and my ability to have clients follow and not really sure what that would look like … [A]nd now being here and seeing that people have [followed] and want to, it was really awesome and I was really proud of myself. Can you tell me a bit more about the photo shoot?
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Karen McKinnon offered me a photo shoot a couple years ago, and I put it off for a really long time … But this year was a huge year for me and I just vowed to myself I'd do as many things this year that make me uncomfortable, even if it was something as small as approaching a conversation in a less routine way or something as big as doing a photo shoot. So I thought after surgery was the best opportunity to follow through with that … Doing that with them was really, really special and I don't regret it for a minute. Is there a book you’re currently reading? My stepmom and I were talking about all my self development because she’s also going through a huge journey this year as well. And we were talking about our love for Brené Brown, so she - just in the mail the other day - sent me the I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) Brené Brown book.” When you have a day off work, where can you likely be found?
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With my dogs and my cats. I have two Border Collies and two cats and I am obsessed with them, as everyone who knows me knows, so I spend a lot of time with those guys.
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WINTER 2019 | TR IO MAGA ZI N E
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QUALITY WORKMANSHIP
•
Just add
E XC E P T I O N A L S E RV I C E
Water! When you switch to a QUALIFYING CERTIFIED
NATURAL GAS ENERGY STAR® HOT WATER TANK receive up to
1000 REBATE
$
*Rebate from FortisBC. Conditions apply.
Replace your old gas
Furnace
with an eligible, high efficiency
ENERGY STAR® NATURAL GAS MODEL and you could qualify for a
REBATE OF
800-1000!
$
Full details can be found at www.fortisbc.com/furnace https://www.fortisbc.com/furnace if you’d like to learn more.
RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL HOT WATER TANKS TANKLESS WATER HEATERS PLUMBING | WATER PURIFICATION HEATING | GAS | FURNACE FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED
Call us TODAY: 250.792.1165