Vroom Vroom! what a lap of luxury at Vancouver Island’s Motorsport Circuit. Yes, that’s me in the photo.
“Luxury” is a difficult word to define. It’s all down to perception, I guess. Some would consider luxury to be the purchase of obscenely expensive items, those rare treats for special occasions only. Others may consider those luxury items a necessity; after all, why work hard if you can’t enjoy yourself? But for me, after driving down Highway 1 through Duncan to the Cowichan Valley and turning west onto Highway 18 en route to Lake Cowichan, I found my hidden gem: three luxurious laps around the racetrack at Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit.
We are celebrating our Men To Watch in this issue and some of those men joined Seaside Magazine for a tour of this beautiful facility and for a photoshoot for the cover of our June issue. What a thrill! I love cars and owned a BMW for years, but now with a Jeep, I’m far from racing my own vehicle on the track. So I tried a few laps in a Mercedes AMG GT with a 25-year racing veteran at the wheel. It was indescribable. You just have to try it to understand the “luxury” of it. Deborah Rogers, Seaside’s editorial director and a true car enthusiast, gives us a real account of her experience on page 29; she got to drive in pairs on the roads of the Cowichan Valley and then try “dynamic driving” back at the racetrack.
From there, we head south to the Victoria International Airport where our writer discusses “Lost Airmen of the Empire,” a new memorial commissioned by YYJ and located at Hospital Hill that honours local WII
airmen who died in training at Patricia Bay Station. See the full story on page 41.
Our June issue is carefully and generously packed as we are also very excited to launch a new column called Stories from the Sky. Writer Jo Barnes describes with words, and staff photographer Joanne Way captures with her camera: “The Victoria International Airport is a busy place where people come and go as daily flights arrive and depart. Travellers move with determination to make connections or wait anxiously for loved ones to arrive. Airports are places of joy and sadness, departures and reunions. Everyone has a story, and it’s here that we’ll be sharing some of them.”
Now, with the longest day of the year approaching, it’s time to get out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors and there is so much to look forward to this summer on the Saanich Peninsula, especially as Sidney celebrates its 50th Anniversary and Canada’s sesquicentennial (150th birthday). Check out Paula Kully’s column on page 47 for up-coming events.
Summer means more time outside in our community enjoying markets, festivals and many lazy days at the beach … or even another trip to the track!
