By Roy L Hales

Managing Director Jane Newman talks about one the Cortes Island Museum‘s biggest loses during the pandemic.

“We miss our community. We had a lot of visitors this summer, most of them from Vancouver Island or [other parts of] British Columbia and we had some people from Cortes Island – but we really do miss that regular interaction,” she said. “The culture of the museum is a gathering place and story telling space.”

In a normal year, people drop in when they go shopping, or visit the health centre etc.

“A lot of people didn’t do that this year," she said. "People had an adversity to enclosed spaces, which I totally understand. We were lucky to see 50 per cent of our [normal] numbers this summer, but there were fewer locals and more visitors to the island.”

She misses the story telling and regular visits from people who have been members of the museum for years.

“It was mask wearing and a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. You don’t spend as much time talking when you are wearing a mask. If you don’t want to wear one, you wouldn’t even come to the museum because we did require everyone to wear a mask,” she said.