Issue 1
We use the word community constantly. We rarely ask what it costs.
Volume 1 (our first quarterly issue) explores what community looks like when you stop talking about it and start building it, through nine stories about loneliness, street design, Indigenous art, vanishing childhoods, local history, and the people in our backyard doing the quiet work of showing up.
Table of Contents
Where is our promised village?
A look at what happened to the so-called village we were always told about growing up, and whether it’s actually missing or if we are.
From Isolation to Integration: A New Way to Understand Community
What if the way we think about community is the reason we can’t seem to fix its biggest problems?
Gaawayikaajgan – Quillwork
The painstaking craft of embedding porcupine quills into birch bark, and Dillon’s journey to carry forward what his grandmother started.
Why Don’t You Know Your Neighbours?
It turns out the design of your street might have more to do with your friendships than you think.
When Feeds Replaced Forests
Kids didn’t choose screens over the outdoors. We took the outdoors away first.
The Maker’s Circle: Where Art and Community Connect
Local artists interpret what community means to them through paint, canvas, and mixed media.
The Lost Log Canal of Lake St. John
In 1869, fifty men carved a canal through frozen swamp with picks and shovels. You can still paddle through it today.
The Trees Remember Everything
Wendy Wilson, a retired music teacher, picked up oil painting and found friendship, memory, and beauty in the white pines of Georgian Bay.
Take a break from your screen. Be inspired by thoughtful conversations in beautiful print.
Savour it slowly – We publish a new issue every quarter
Hyper local – In depth stories around Simcoe North
Community – Content is suggested by the community, for you
Limited edition – We only print our issues once
Truly indie – Supported by readers and advertisers
Community contributors for this issue
Sarah Patterson
President of Common Earth and Sustainable Orillia, two not-for-profits focused on systems thinking and community-driven responses to the climate crisis.
Dillon Bickell
Dillon Bickell is a local quillwork artist from Rama First Nation.
Instagram: @QuillinByDillon
The Maker’s Circle
A collaborative art gallery and teaching studio at 17 Peter St. S. in Orillia’s Arts District, co-owned by Tracy Ho and Melissa Van Dam.
Wendy Wilson
An oil painter living on an island in Georgian Bay, known for her vivid landscapes of white pines, Canadian Shield rock, and Muskoka waterways.
Shane Ross
A construction and real estate industry professional with over 25 years of experience, Shane is a local history enthusiast fascinated by the unique geopolitical features of our community.
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