I wrapped my hands around the bottom of my pink “Jilly Mug” and let the heat from the hot tea begin to melt away my stress. It had been a long day. I was travelling home from Ottawa after a visit with my daughter. Stormy weather caused delays and the drive from the airport to my home in Pictou, N.S. reminded me that spring was still a few weeks away. The trip had offered a nice change of scenery, but I was happy to be back on home base.

It’s a privilege to have the security, love and welcoming that comes with truly feeling a sense of place — that feeling of being home. 

I think it’s why this issue of East Coast Living resonates with me. Our cover story introduces us to the Hercun family. Originally from Halifax, but with a life in Alberta, Debbie and Jason Hercun have always felt the gravitational pull towards the East Coast. When I met them at their summer residence on P.E.I. last August — when I was scouting for properties to feature in one of our 2022 issues — I knew as soon as I met Debbie at the door of their waterfront retreat that I wasn’t just stepping into a summer cottage, I was being welcomed into a home. Even though it was a new build, their place already resonated with memories made and summer dreams yet to be fulfilled. 

The Hercun family make up four of more than 2,000 Canadians who return to P.E.I. every year. According to recent provincial population reports, there are another thousand international summer residents. For the last two years, that annual pilgrimage to the island — or any summer abode in Atlantic Canada — has been a challenge and, in many cases, not a possibility. Last year, the island’s seasonal residents banded together to create their own community from afar as they tried to figure out how to get back. An association was formed and a Facebook page created where people shared facts and information about how to apply for a return to the island amidst the pandemic restrictions. It was also a landing page where many expressed their sense of longing for the places where they feel at home. 

There is a lot of truth to the old proverb, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” We have all experienced distance and separation from the things we love most about the East Coast and as we ease back into our pre-pandemic lives, I think we all hold a greater appreciation for what we have and for what was. There is a great allegiance to things made in our region and not only a renewed sense of place, but also a pride in place. We are in search of the symbols, the brands and the handiwork that make those statements.

In this issue, we get a taste of this with another P.E.I. story and the almost overnight success of Village Pottery and a trendy pink coffee cup that fans are calling the “Jilly Mug.” (I was lucky enough to have a friend stand in line, not “online,” last summer and gift one to me.)

We also take a closer look at what’s happening with the burgeoning skincare industry in Atlantic Canada. As we become savvier about the “what and where” of the everyday things in our lives, it only makes sense that what we put on our skin also comes from a local source.

We also meet Alex Rice, and find out how a marketer working on the West Coast six years ago has become president of one of Atlantic Canada’s most successful and rapidly growing beverage companies.

We wrap this issue up with a story about the Mindful Maple Leaf Project in N.L.. The project co-founders remind us to “be mindful, to stay in the moment and to be grateful for what we have.”

Even if you don’t hold the keys to a summer residence, if you live or spend time on the East Coast, I know you hold something very special in your heart.

Crystal Murray,
Editor