Edible Notables: Courtenay Garage
Sometimes life is comfortably predictable. But other times, unforeseen circumstances can create unexpected opportunities.
Cameron Yee, a Canadian citizen, and his family of five, were living in Bend, Oregon until November 2018. He was a hemp and cannabis pioneer who founded one of the first medical and legal cannabis companies in Oregon. But after pouring so much of his life into that process, he decided it was time for a change. In November of 2018, he and his family sold their company, their house and many of their possessions, all to prepare for a round-the-world-trip in July 2019.
The trip began with a two-month excursion around Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England in a small Ford Transit van. From there, the family flew to Estonia before boarding a bus to Russia, where they took the Trans-Siberian train across Russia, Mongolia and China. They continued their travel through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before they ended up in Sri Lanka.
They loved Sri Lanka. “We had a house on the beach and could surf two to three times a day,” reminisces Cameron. “The kids were working in the local fruit market and even had a pet baby monkey to play with!” But then they started to hear the reports about COVID-19 in China and began to worry about being trapped on the other side of the world. Although they did not want to leave, they made the sudden decision to do so—but they didn’t actually have a home base to return to. So they decided to go to Courtenay, where Cameron’s sister lived. They landed on March 13th, 2020—just days before the Canadian border closed.
In the middle of the pandemic, Cameron and his family began to settle into their new life. They saw the Courtenay Garage soon after they arrived, and decided that instead of buying a home, they would gamble on purchasing one of the most complicated commercial properties in the City of Courtenay. “We felt if we could navigate the red tape, we would have a perfect location for a community-driven project in a perfect location,” explains Cameron.
What kind of community-driven project? “During our travels, we saw that street food and street food culture united people and promoted diversity and choices in food and culture,” says Cameron. “We envision a Granville Island here in Courtenay…a community-driven waterfront venue in the heart of the city surrounded by parks.”
Hanging out at Courtenay Garage; Churro Chica truck; pizza from Jackknife Pizza
His mission is to empower creative people and build a place for people, food, music, arts and culture to thrive. Courtenay Garage currently has five popular food truck vendors set up (Phat Parrot, Churro Chica, Jackknife Pizza, Pupusaria Las Gemelas and Aloha Cart Shave Ice) and has begun scheduling live music on the weekends. They offer open mic for musicians Monday through Thursday, and they’ve started a local craft fair on Sunday to bring interest to local artists.
As far as Cameron is concerned, this is just the beginning of realizing the area's potential. He would love to see local performing arts groups entertain the crowds and more artists displaying their talents; he envisions large community events, seasonal festivals and car shows being held there. “We want to turn the building into a place where the weather will not impact the experience; we will start construction on the building after summer,” he adds.
There are a lot of challenges facing Cameron’s ultimate dream for the area. The property is comprised of about five different lots located in a flood plain with drainage culverts from Lewis Park, and the old garage itself has been around since the ’50s. And navigating the red tape to advance the venture and development with the City of Courtenay is a long and drawn out process.
But ultimately, Cameron is confident that the Courtenay Garage is exactly what the community needs: “a vibrant centre of community, driven by food, arts and culture."
The Edible Notables Series is proudly sponsored by Beacon Law Centre.
