Wild Creature Injured? Big to the Rescue
by Jayson Biggins
When an injured bald eagle needs urgent transport to the mainland, North Saanich residents Jayson Biggins and Natalie Foley wheels up in minutes.
Winter 2025
Editorial – Winter 2025
Welcome to the winter 2025 edition of North Saanich Currents, your free-to-read quarterly community newsletter. This issue brings bright and illuminating stories written by local North Saanich residents. Longer nights spark in us an appreciation of light, from the starry winter sky (and the stray Aurora Borealis), to the thousands of colourful lights brightening yards, driveways, and trails in our community. We also appreciate the low soft lighting on sunny days, creating the shadows of Douglas firs on leaves littering the paths, trails, and beaches throughout North Saanich.
Our top story of this edition is about the rescue of injured furry (as well as feathered and scaly) friends by Jayson and Natalie, who run an animal rescue organization out of the airport called Big to the Rescue. The photos are amazing.
The next story is about The Friends of North Saanich Parks, a volunteer organization that meets every single Saturday for an invasive species plant pull, fresh air, and a few laughs as you will see.
Other articles include an update on the North Saanich Harvest Hub, Jazz Vespers, The Repair Café, a story about snowberries that serve double duty as nature’s natural tree ornament and food for birds, an update from the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation, the Victoria Green Team working on the forest near the airport, a beach extravaganza walk through Ardmore (7 beaches, trails, and a regional park in just 8.5 km), and if you are craving chocolate, we’ve got an unusual solution using a microscope (!).
Our next issue is the Spring 2025 issue, which will appear around the spring equinox in March. It won’t be long until the native osoberry trees (NIȽ E TŦE ȾEX̱EN¸IȽĆ) flower in mid-February, signalling as they have for W̱SÁNEĆ peoples for millennia, that spring is on its way. Last year, we noticed flowers on February 15. Please enjoy the issue, and as always, drop us an email at NSC.community@proton.me with comments and suggestions. See you in 2026!
Your NSC Team
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Repelling the Green Invaders: The Friends of North Saanich Parks
by Mark Brownlie
When you walk along some trails around North Saanich, you would be excused if you thought that English ivy and Himalayan blackberry plants were naturally occurring, since they look so at home here.
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Coming Soon to North Saanich – a Harvest Hub
by Meenal Shrivastava
Food makes the world go round. More than a necessity for survival, food is the bond between communities and cultures, for sustenance, medicine, and ceremony.
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Jazz Vespers Welcomes the Karel Roessingh Trio
by Bernadette Greene
Jazz pianist Karel Roessingh returns with his trio to Jazz Vespers at St. John’s United Church on January 4, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.
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Repair Café North Saanich: Repairing More Than Just Things
by Michelle Clement
Every third Saturday in the month (except December), Deep Cove Elementary opens their door to welcome neighbours carrying lamps that won’t switch on, sweaters missing buttons, wobbly bikes, laptops that run just a bit too slow, broken toys, Blundstones that need a second life, knives that are dull, jewellery with a broken clasp, and, occasionally, a mystery object missing all context…
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Snowberries: Natural Festive Ornaments & Food Sources for Native Birds
by Jillian Buriak
Now that most of the deciduous trees and bushes have lost their leaves, festive displays of native white snowberries (PEPKÍOŦ, Symphocarpus albus, also called waxberries) have become evident. -
Chocolate Lilies of North Saanich: Beauty on the Smallest Scale
by Michael Henshaw
When we think of North Saanich, we tend to imagine the big scale features – tall Douglas firs, or the view out over the Saanich Inlet. The pictures in this article, on the other hand, offer a view of North Saanich on the much smaller scale of native pollen samples seen through a microscope.
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Investing in Better Surgical Services for Our Community
by Tabatha Golat
Care at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital has always been a team effort. Skilled healthcare staff deliver exceptional care every day, and for more than four decades the community, through the Saanich Peninsula Hospital and Healthcare Foundation, has helped ensure they have the tools and spaces needed to do their work well.
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Greater Victoria Green Team: Building Community in Nature
by Kaitlin Warren
On Saturday, November 29, the forest at Dickson Woods on Willingdon Road in North Saanich (near the airport) was filled with laughter, teamwork, and muddy gloves as community members came together for a morning of environmental restoration and connection.
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North Saanich on Foot: Ardmore Beach (and Trails) Extravaganza
by Jillian Buriak and Kym Tribe
This winter issue’s route takes you on a beaches-and-trails walk through the Ardmore neighbourhood of North Saanich….
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