Volume 3 Issue 1 January 2016

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The Puck Stops Here - Peewee Mariners Goalie Oliver Bray

Photo By Janice Hill Bray

Happy New Year from the Eastern Shore Cooperator!

Eastern Shore

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NOTE: Prices Do Not Include HST

Extended lane & 1 side of bridge on Hwy 107 by Exit 18 (Phase 1) is completed. Phase 2 (other side of bridge) fixed in 2016.

Seacoast Physiotherapy has reopened across from Twin Oaks

A new Eastern Shore Junior C hockey team for 2016/17?

Conrad’s Beach Boardwalk should be fixed by end of February

A new Birches announcement is delayed indefinitely.

Students at Eastern Shore District High upset at lack of parking

Musquodoboit Valley Co-op closes for good

Littering along Hwys 7 and 107 is bad no matter what season

Surf’s Up

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News 3

A new rural vision for HRM’s towns and villages By Councillor Waye Mason – District 7 Halifax South Downtown

News……..………………...................................................3, 4, & 5

New East River Bridge.………….….........................................6

Community……..……...................................................................7

Local Sports..….…………………………………..……...…...8 & 9

Opinions………………………....………………...…………......….10

History………………………………………………………………...11

Councillor’s January Communiqué….......................…....12

Community…….....….…..………….…….…….…….……13 & 14

January Events PIN IT Up …….............................................15

While I am proud of the 2014 Regional Plan, it is not per-fect, and the area I feel needs the most work is the way the regional plan talks about rural development.

The language used in the plan creates division and con-fusion. The myth of rural lifestyle does not match the reality of rural development today. Because of these two things, rural Halifax has no idea what kind of devel-opment could be coming at them.

Rural Halifax is considered to be the area that is largely beyond of city water or sewer, and has historically devel-oped in a rural form, where towns were largely distinct fishing and sometimes transportation or logging commu-nities with their own jobs, history and identity.

We are not the only place where language that creates that stops us from having meaningful discussion about rural development. Ruth Miller at UC Berkley wrote an article called “Rejecting the Narrow Framework of ‘Urban’ Planning.” She said that when planners call themselves “urban” and “city” planners it excludes rural.

Another great article from 2013 said it all in its title, “How To Talk About Cities Without Ticking Off Folks Who Don't Live There “ and was subtitled “Because ‘smart growth’ can sound like code for ‘the rest of you are dumb.’”

In Halifax instead of a “city service boundary” we have an “urban service boundary,” we have a Rural District Growth Centre instead of a town, Rural Service Centre instead of village, Rural Local Centre instead of hamlet. This language keeps people from easily understanding what is planned for where they live.

My second point is that the power of the myth of rural lifestyle does not match the reality of rural develop-ment.

During our two year debate around RP5 we heard over and over again from Rural Councillors and rural interests that they just wanted to be left alone and that they were tired of the “city” dictating what could be built in their communities.

When we talk about rural development rural residents are justifiably angry that their community will be bossed around by the city. They don’t want to be told how to grow their village or town and don’t want to lose oppor-tunities to grow their communities.

The problem is that most of the development is actually exurban (or farthest suburban) growth, which is very low density development that is auto dependent and is entirely differently from the historic rural pattern.

So this is my third point – for the most part both city dwellers and rural dwellers have no idea what could be coming at rural Halifax.

The regional plan calls for up to 25% of growth to hap-pen in rural HRM. Most of that growth will happen close in to the city and most of it will be this exurban style de-velopment. Maybe 12,000 or more dwellings… maybe 25,000 or more people. I am not saying all development in this model is wrong, but we sure are planning to en-able a lot of it.

Were the planning is not adequate is in the towns and villages. We should be planning for walkable community forms in these centres. Why are we encouraging ex-urban growth that is swamping the historic communities of HRM? Why can’t we build or expand satellite towns and villages with appropriate rural design. Rather than a new urbanism, let’s talk about a new ruralism!

It is not too late to make sure we get this right when the next review of the regional plan happens in 2019. What matters is getting it right and building sustainable, com-plete rural communities we can all enjoy.

Easternshorecooperator.ca

We need you to send us articles, pictures,

stories, etc from around your community

EMAIL to:

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News www.easternshorecooperator.ca 4

Next Round Coming Up In Cell Phone Tower Fight By Richard Bell

Opponents countered with many of the same concerns that had floored Eastlink in the two previous rounds, starting with the intrusive effect that a tower would have along a coastline celebrated for its beauty. There were also concerns that the tower would cause a drop in property values, and questions about the adequacy of existing regulations against electromagnetic radiation.

The next round in this fight starts no later than January 12th, the deadline for Bell’s response to the concerns raised at the public hearing. HRM staff will then prepare a report with recommendations to send to the Harbour-East Marine Drive Community Council, which will in turn send its recommendation on to Industry Canada.

For updates about the status of this fight, see the Face-book page “Stop Tower Scapes.” The HRM Planning page for the Bell proposal (Case # 19207) is located at http://www.halifax.ca/planning/applications/Case19207Details.php.

To fight Eastlink’s tower, local residents set up the Facebook group “Stop Tower Scapes,” and began vig-orously organizing, including creating an anti-tower poster and paying for highway signs with the poster.

On March 31, 2014, a new contender jumped into the ring. Bell Atlantic submitted an application for a 75-metre tower off Three Fathom Harbour Road in Three Fathom Harbour. Bell said demands from summer

visitors were straining local capacity, especially with re-gard to 911 emergency calls. Bell offered to also solve Eastlink’s problem by sharing its tower with its competi-tor.

On October 29th, 2015, the Harbour-East Marine Drive Community Council finally held a public consultation on Bell’s application. Bell’s consultant said the growth in traffic, especially during the summer, was straining its network and raising concerns about 911 coverage for cell phones.

Bell Atlantic will be throwing the next punch in January in the seemingly never-ending fight by phone companies to locating cell towers on or near the famous beaches of Lawrencetown.

The rules of this fight are heavily titled in the direction of phone companies. In Canada, the federal government’s Industry Canada - Spectrum Management & Telecom-munications has complete control over the licensing and location of cell phone towers,

In a toothless sop to the concept of public input, Indus-try Canada does allow municipalities to conduct a “public consultation” process. In Halifax, phone compa-nies must go through a “Telecommunications Applica-tion process. ” In most cases, HRM will hold a public con-sultation. Then HRM staff reviews the application and submits recommendations to the local Community Council. The Community Council in turn sends its recom-mendations on to Industry Canada. But here’s the kicker: Industry Canada is free to completely ignore the Com-munity Council’s recommendation.

Bell is following in the footsteps of another telecom heavyweight, Eastlink, which started fighting in January 2011 to locate a 76.5 metre tower at 185 Leslie Road in Lawrencetown. HRM staff and what was then the Ma-rine Drive, Valley and Canal Community Council recom-mended against the Leslie Road site.

Industry Canada responded by asking for “further dia-logue” between Eastlink and HRM. Eastlink then pro-posed another site, off Crowell Road, Once again, HRM staff and the Community Council opposed this site. Com-menting on the Crowell Road site, HRM staff wrote:

“Staff is of the opinion that Eastlink has not identified an alternative to the originally proposed Leslie Road site that is less intrusive on the community values sought to be protected, as the proposed Crowell Road site is on a higher contour of land and closer to the Lawrencetown Road and beach. Staff believes the tower is not compati-ble with the community character, that the scenic views are materially adversely affected and that the landscape aesthetics are diminished by a visual incursion in the un-obstructed scenic view.”

Liberals Delaying Plan for Replacing The Birches By Richard Bell

The Liberal provincial government continues to delay settling the future of The Birches Home for Special Care. Last summer, Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine announced that the department would issue an RFP for bids to replace The Birches and operate the new facility.

But Glavine has now retreated from what was shaping up to be a controversial move. In an interview, Aud-rey Engbersen, the executive director of The Birches, said she had been told that the government was not going to put out an RFP at all.

The Cooperator submitted two questions to Minister Glavine: first, was his department going to issue an RFP to replace The Birches; and second, if not, what were the components and timeline for an alternative plan for replacing the aging facility

In response to these two questions, a spokesperson for the department released the following statement on January 6, 2016:

“We know that The Birches has infrastructure needs, and we are working with its management to assess what those needs are. We anticipate the assessment will be complete in the spring.”

As The Cooperator reported in November (“Are the Lib-erals Going to Privatize The Birches?”), Glavine’s an-nouncement meant that the nonprofit that has owned and operated The Birches would be thrown into compe-tition with out-of-province for-profit nursing home cor-porations. The potential privatization of The Birches was consistent with the Liberal’s controversial propos-als to privatize the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Land Registry, and the Registry of Joint Stocks.

People can share their concerns about the fate of The Birches by contacting Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine at (toll-free in Nova Scotia) 1-800-387-6665.

Eastern Shore Cooperator

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News 5

Porters Lake C&D Dump Reaches Ottawa By Richard Bell

The controversy over the proposed rezoning of a site on Highway 7 in Porters Lake for use as a construction and demolition processing site has now reached the halls of Parliament in Ottawa.

In his first major remarks before Parliament on Decem-ber 8, 2015, newly elected Liberal MP Darrell Samson (Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook) specifically mentioned the issue. In his speech, he said that wanted to talk about five key issues related to the recent throne speech, one of which was a “clean economy and a strong economy.” Samson then noted that “the two main environmental issues that are important in my riding are the Lake Echo dumping site and the Fall River quarry projects. In both cases my constituents feel that these projects will have a negative impact on their lives. What kind of pollution will it bring? What effect will it have on the water, prop-erty value, noise, etc.?”

Samson did not answer his own rhetorical questions. But Deb Day, the chair of Concerned Residents of Porters Lake, Lake Echo, Preston and Mineville, said that while the organization had not yet met with Samson, they were very pleased to hear Samson express their con-cerns on the national stage.

“We haven’t heard anything from the city about the re-zoning appeal,” Day said. But her members have been busy digging up stories about problems with C&D sites in other places, both in the province and in the U.S. For example, it took a total of 11 fire departments and 2 mil-lion gallons of water to bring a fire under control at a C&D site in Pictou County between August 5 and August 16, 2010.

Day said that as Concerned Residents has learned more about the multiple problems C&D sites can produce, they have become increasingly convinced that it is time for a comprehensive C&D plan involving all 3 levels of government.

“We would like to get municipal, provincial and federal authorities working together to develop a strategic per-spective on how to deal with C&D waste,” Day said. “We need a strategy that benefits everyone, the whole prov-ince, not just HRM.”

For more information about the controversy, there is a Facebook page (Concerned Residents of Porters Lake, Lake Echo, Preston & Mineville), a website (www.nodumponhwy7.org), a Twitter account (www.twitter.com/nodumponhwy7), and an email ad-dress, concernedresidentshwy7@gmail.com.

3. Please don't stop writing the letters. We can even do

that after the Public Meeting occurs.

HERE IS THE IMPORTANT THING:

When the meeting date is announced, make your plans

to be there. Get your name on the list to speak, and

show up. If you can't, let us know. Your voice will never

be more important than at the Public Meeting and again

at the Community Council meeting when the vote oc-

curs.

UPDATE from Concerned Residents via Facebook

Here is an update for those who could not make it to the

Informal Community Conversation on January 12

1. HRM municipal planners are hoping to schedule their

Public Meeting some time February/March. We will be

posting information here, through our website, and

email list as soon as we have the dates.

2. The municipal planners had requested additional in-

formation from Kiann Management. Those documents

are expected to be posted on the HRM website with the

other documents pertaining to the application. Again,

we will let you know.

T

H

A

N

K

Y

O

U

New East River Bridge 6

considerations, is a much needed successor and has been designed for a 75 year service life. With the total cost of the project being approximately $19 million, it has brought work into the area which has helped our local economy.

I am happy to welcome our own Senator Tom McInnis, our newly-elected Member of Parliament Sean Fraser, our MLA the Honorable Lloyd Hines, Minister of Natural Resources and our Councillor David Hendsbee, Halifax District #2, Mr. Ed Tawill, Project Coordinator for Dexter Construction and Mr. Tim Jordan, Project Engineer with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

So let us celebrate both bridges as we walk across the old one to say ‘Goodbye’, and then the new one to say ‘Welcome’.

who successfully built the magnificent new bridge described as a critical link for the Eastern Shore be-tween Halifax and Cape Breton.

SHEET HARBOUR: East River Bridge Ceremony Opening Remarks by Susan Boutilier

"At a suggestion from a local resident, the Sheet Har-bour and Area Chamber of Commerce and Civic Affairs were pleased to lead a committee to organize a ‘walk’ and celebration to commemorate the opening of the new bridge. I am delighted to have you here to partici-pate and thank you all for coming.

After requesting and receiving permission to name the latest bridge, the overwhelming response was to have it remain the same – The East River Bridge.It will be sad to see the steel-arch of the almost 60 year old current bridge, with its engineering ties to the Angus L Mac-Donald in Halifax and the Lion’s Gate Bridge in Vancou-ver, disappear, but the new bridge, for safety

East River Bridges Celebrated by Janice Christie

An estimated 500 people walked across the 60 year old East River Bridge in Sheet Harbour to com-memorate the closure and to celebrate the opening of the new East River Bridge on December 17th. The weather was perfect as residents of all ages in-cluding seniors, children and infants joined in this community's historic event. All of the area's officials were

Present: Senator Tom McInnis, MP Sean Fraser, MLA Lloyd Hines, Councillor David Hendsbee, Sheet Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce President Robert Moser, and Event Co-ordinators Susan Boutilier and Jody Taker.

Prior to the official ribbon cutting the officials had an opportunity to speak to offer congratulations and praise to the residents, various levels of govern-ment and the construction workers at every level

Photos By Janice Christie

Community 7

Local Refugee Sponsor Still Waiting By Richard Bell

The organizers of this fall’s effort to sponsor a refu-gee on the Eastern Shore are well on the way to meeting their fundraising goal, and are hoping to be able to select a family soon. But they’re concerned about signs that the effort to meet the Prime Minis-ter’s goal of bringing in 25,000 Syrian refugees is overwhelming the ability of the Immigration De-partment to service other refugee programs. “We’ve raised almost three-quarters of our goal,” said Adrian Blanchette of the Musquodoboit Har-bour St. Philip Neri Cath. Church & United Church of Canada Refugee Sponsorship Committee. “We’re working under the BVOR (blended visa officer refer-ral) program. Immigration had been publishing a weekly list of refugees who’ve been cleared for en-try by the United Nations and by Canada. That’s the list we would select from, but Immigration hasn’t published that list for over a month. We’re worried that immigration officers are so overwhelmed they are ignoring the program we’re working in.” [The Cooperator asked the Immigration Department for comment, but did not receive a reply.] But despite the slowdown, a family may arrive sud-denly. “We’ve been told it could happen very quickly, once you’ve put in an application, which we’ve done,” Blanchette said. “I heard of one group that found out their family was in the country when they got a call telling them their family was at the airport, just waiting for someone to come and pick them up.” Blanchette said that he was encouraged by the out-pouring of support. “All of our seven teams are up and working on housing, clothing, furniture, and personal effects. We’ve found doctors and dentists and eye doctors. We’ve got an email list of 54 peo-ple who’ve signed up as volunteers. And I’m getting almost daily emails asking about how to donate.” Under the BVOR program, the sponsoring group has to put up $29,700 to get a family of four through their first year in Canada. But after that, families are expected to support themselves.

Blanchette had good news on this front as well: “The Superstore gave a donation in gift certificates for food,” Blanchette said, “but they also said they’re open to employing someone when the time comes. And we heard from Murphy’s Campground that they’d take someone on for their 21-week sea-son this summer.” Blanchette said that one of the most remarkable things about his group’s experience was the ab-sence of negative remarks, even after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and the U.S. “I haven’t heard a negative remark from anyone for weeks,” he said. “All of the negative vibes have gone away. We all know there are millions of displaced people out there, we can’t change that. But we can change the world for one family. We can inject a bit of loving and caring in the world, instead of bombing them more efficiently.” To volunteer or contribute, send an email to shore-fuge@gmail.com, or call 902-889-3086. For more informa-tion, go to the group’s web-page, https://stphilipnerirefugeecommit-tee.wordpress.com.

Submissions

Deadline is

January 28 escsubmissions@eastlink.ca

Time to book your Annual Servicing now

that the cold weather is here again!

$116.99 includes nozzle and oil filter.

Local Sports www.easternshorecooperator.ca 8

Eastern Shore High School Sports Scene ESDH has a strong sports scene. We’ve listed the schedules below in case you

would like to catch the action.

Boys Basketball Schedule

Home games played at ESDH Gym

January 18 at 5:30pm: Armbrae @ Eastern Shore

January 19 at 5:30pm: Eastern Shore @ Sackville High

Playoffs Start February 1

Boys Hockey Schedule

Home Games on Wednesday 7pm at ES Arena

January 17 at 1pm All Star Game @ Sack Arena

January 20 at 7pm: Lockview @ Eastern Shore

February 4 at 5pm: Eastern Shore @ Cole Hbr

Playoffs Start in February

Division 2 Boys Basketball standing as of January 8

Wins Losses Pts against

Pts scored

Lockview 6 1 331 362

Grammar 4 1 166 228

Fountain 3 1 221 267

Armbrae 3 2 305 306

ESDHS 3 4 237 272

Cole Hbr. 1 4 298 241

Sackville 0 6 368 293

Girls Basketball Schedule

Home Games Played at ESDH Gym

January 22 at 6pm: Halifax Grammar @ Eastern Shore

February 1 at 6pm: Sacred Heart @ Eastern Shore

February 3 at 4:30pm: Eastern Shore @ Dartmouth High

Playoffs Start February 8

ESDHS Sports Photos by Jill Bellefontaine: Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Basketball , bottom photo: Sledge Hockey ESDHS vs Halifax Grinders

Local Sports - In The Rink 9

Madisyn Dominix, Age 5

This is Mady’s 2nd year in-

volved in the Eastern Shore IP

ALL Girls Minor Hockey League

and she absolutely loves it!!

Special thanks to all the

Coaches

Eastern Shore Mariners Peewee A wins GOLD at the

Bluenose 50th Anniversary Tournament in Amherst.

The team was undefeated in their 4 games, outscoring

the opposition 37-5.

The PWA team will be competing in the International

PW tournament in Quebec in February. Have Fun!!

Jackson St-Hilaire of the Eastern Shore Atom A Mariners

Photo By Michele Henneberry.

We would love to publish your sports photos. Please

send to escsubmissions@eastlink.ca or send via our

facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/easternshorecooperator/

We are always interested in

sports stories as well, past or

present.

Please contact us if you are

interested in helping to

cover sports along the Shore

Opinions www.easternshorecooperator.ca

Association for the Preservation of the Eastern Shore: Response to New Aquaculture Regulations By Wendy Watson Smith

10

You say the CCVA haven't been secretive. Then how come I'd never heard of the Association until I read about it in The Cooperator?

You say Mr Bell is using scare tactics to frighten people off the idea of a campus. But then, your own words are “You can be sure of one thing, if you lis-ten to those opposed, there will be no new school...” Isn't this a scare tactic? Or even a threat?

You say our community includes Grand Desert, Chezzetcook and Porter's Lake. Then why do I need transport to get to these areas from Musquodoboit Harbour?

You ask the naysayers to envision seniors walking to watch a game, use a fitness facility or meet in a cafe. But they can do all of that now by using the fitness centre at HRM, watching a game at the ice rink across the road and visiting one of the many cafes thriving in the Harbour and all within walking distance.

You say this says it all “I will not say where I am from, that doesn't matter...” But I think it matters a great deal. It's usually people who don't live in the community that have no interest in it's future.

Yes, these facilities need updating and/or replacing. But please don't move them out of our village as I fear it will begin the ringing of the death knell for many local businesses run by local people. All of whom count on passing trade from both directions on the No. 7, including the lunchtime throng of young people from the school.

Sue Higgs Concerned Musquodoboit Harbour Resident

The provincial government cannot continue to say that the recently presented aquaculture regulations, as they refer to ocean based salmon/trout feedlots, reflect the implementation of the Doelle-Lahey report. The Doelle - Lahey report was a comprehensive report that was built with extensive input of all parties affected by this indus-try. From the start of the writing of these regulations the spirit of the Doelle-Lahey report has not been imple-mented. The Doelle-Lahey report called for an ongoing Regulatory Advisory Committee that included coastal communities. Coastal communities are not represented on this committee. We are the people who have to live with the destructive nature of this industry. We are the communities who are left with dead zones in our har-bours, and whose lobster and wild catch fishery is dis-placed. The few, part-time low paid jobs are all that we can expect from this industry. Our communities have a vision of development that includes the lucrative lobster and shellfish fishery and tourism that are dependent on a pristine environment.

The minister states that there is more transparency in the new regulations, but the requirements for a public meeting is the same as the old regulations whereby a proponent, along with the government come in and tells us what they are going to do. This is not what we con-sider to be meaningful consultation. The new regulations have missed the basic premise that there had to be a fundamental overhaul of the regula-tions which took the concerns of citizens at face value.

In the Doelle/Lahey proposals there was the ability for communities to have input into the licensing, enforce-ment, and monitoring process, including revocation of leases. Communities would have been part of the as-sessment of whether there was a net community socio-economic benefit from the proposed operation. This is not the case in the governments new regulations. In the Doelle -Lahey proposal there was to be an assessment of the applied for site that was to be much like an environ-mental impact study. This is missing.

The regulations are based on the industry regulating it-self, and communities will still be in the dark when it comes to disease outbreaks, medications and antibiotics used, escapees of feedlot salmon into the wild, and stocking densities." Tax payers in our communities will still be heavily subsi-dizing an industry that destroys our harbours, threatens the lobster and wild catch industry, tourism and our clean waters.

Wendy Watson Smith Association for the Preservation of the Eastern Shore Spokesperson

Contact: wendy.watsonsmith@gmail.com 902 225-9896 or 902 477-0918

FUTURE OF THE SHORE – response to Jean McKenna's comments By Sue Higgs

History 11

WHAT PART DID SILVER PLAY IN THE WELCOMING OF OUR ANCESTORS’ BABIES?

By Maelissa Watson

In this technological age, parents are not worried about superstitions surrounding childbirth. The imme-diate christening of the baby, or christening the baby at all, much less the supernatural signs or omens of other eras. Their parents and grandparents were fa-miliar with these beliefs. Still we are “a part of all that we have been”. The Celtic (Scotch and Irish) pioneers in Nova Scotia held many beliefs and customs that date back several centuries from pagan times to mid- twentieth century. A German writer said “The past is never dead, in fact it’s not even the past”. These su-perstitions were followed in the Canadian Maritimes. The Irish poem “The Stolen Child” by W.B.Yeats 1865-1939, memorializes the anxiety and fear of a child be-ing lured to perpetual bliss in the fairy underground magical world.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery hand in hand

For the world’s more full of weeping than you can un-derstand.

Non-believers in Yeats mythology say it was “crib death”, not being lured away by the fairies. Still non believing mothers put an iron tongs over the baby’s cradle to ward off spirits. The Scottish and the Irish both worried about “changelings”. Changelings are fairy babies that can be exchanged for the newborn, hence the immediacy of having the baby baptized. Unlike today, when we say “what a beautiful baby”, in yesteryears, it was obligatory never to utter those words in case the fairies overheard and came to steal the baby. Furthermore, precautions were taken not to move the baby from the house and to keep it hidden from the fairies. In Scotland the cradle should be made of rowan wood and have iron nails, as these were amulets against magic.

In ancient Scotland there was the “Howdie” who as-sisted the mother prior to birth. The name stems from an old Scottish term for “handy woman”. She also functioned as a midwife and her role was to educate the parents on the rituals that would keep mother and baby safe. In the house, all mirrors had to be turned with reflecting surface hidden so the baby’s soul would not be captured by evil spirits. Baby should be placed for its first sleep in a new cradle. Give the mother an herbal cocktail of rowan berries

from the rowan tree which traditionally was consid-ered sacred and warded off the Evil Eye and dark spir-its. The Howdie must bury the afterbirth, and a tree should be planted on that spot.

Giving the baby a silver coin was customary and de-signed to bring good luck. Observations were made how the baby reacted, called “hanselling”. If the baby grabbed the coin, he would become miserly, a scrooge. If the baby dropped the coin he would be an irresponsible spendthrift.

The emphasis on the christening mug and silver came with the Victorians. The Protestant Reformation in Scotland had disavowed pagan practices but the Vic-torians adopted the luck of silver and added it to wed-ding ceremony, “a lucky sixpence in your shoe”; coins then were real silver. Silver spoons and cups were considered something of value and a keepsake for the baby. Hence we hear maxims such as “he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth”, and it later em-braced the middle class not just royalty and lairds. This custom of giving sterling silver, silver baby

rattles, and teething rings where the baby left his tooth print in the soft metal, were continued until mid-twentieth century.

It is this writers’ opinion although not found docu-mented, that the silver cup mirrored importance placed on cups in ancient pagan rituals. Trust and community bonds were reaffirmed when our ances-tors drank from the communal cup. The Druids used drinking vessels, the Scottish the Celtic Quaich, a shal-low two-handed drinking cup. Northern Europeans drank from an animal horn. The world’s most cele-brated cup is the Holy Grail. Ancient historian transla-tions claim that “this was the cup used by Christ at The Last Supper and later by Joseph of Armalthea to catch Christ’s blood at the crucifixion. It features Ar-thurian myth and countless legends imbued it with its great power.” Should it be re-discovered at Oak Is-land, Nova Scotia, we may have occasion to examine it. A baby who receives a christening cup as a gift re-flects beliefs and customs from our ancient past. These customs symbolize a bygone era of the luck of silver, indeed, traditions of a bygone era of Canadian life.

Life and Death on City Council: A Vital Decision By Wyn Jones

Community 13

Some disconcerting facts for the New Year. We pay our seventeen local HRM councillors on average a higher salary than most other cities in Canada. But most of the time, Council shows little sign of the forward, innovative thinking we see in more progressive Canadian cities.

But oh my, get out of the way when the Council does decide to act! Led by Councillor Linda Mosher (Halifax West Armdale), our Councillors took up an issue this fall that’s been burning up (our stomachs) for decades: What should be the “OFFICIAL” food for HRM?

As you may have heard, the Council in its infinite wisdom chose to anoint the humble donair. It was a close call. Only the heroic tie-breaking vote from Mayor Savage saved us from the embarrassment of being an “official foodless” city.

Like you, I felt a great heave of peristalsis sweep through my innards at the elevation of the donair. I am hoping that Councillor Mosher will follow up her legislative leg-erdemain by persuading Council to designate December 8th as “Donair Day,” with a statutory holiday on which we can all stand around with sauce and grease running through our fingers.

Because after all, the average donair does contain close to four thousand calories, almost double the recom-mended total daily caloric intake for a healthy Nova Sco-tian. Add to that the extra sauce so beloved by donair aficionados, and the calorie count heads for levels of “Please call 911 now” proportions.

But not the donair. Why did we not consider the Lobster Roll, or our delicious Fish Cakes, which have the advan-tage of supporting our local fishing industry as well as being tasty and nutritious while still going well with a beer al fresco?

If our Council fails to reach a consensus on anything else over the next twelve months, we can abide happily in knowing that the “Donair “ is ours alone. We can only suggest that once each year, preferably on “Donair Day,” they can all bend proudly forward outside City Hall with foil-wrapped donairs in hand, sauce running down their chins, and accept the kudos they so richly deserve.

As I understand its noble history, the donair began life as a simple, nourishing street meal in Turkey. The doner kebab, as it is properly known, hit Nova Scotia shores in the early 1970s. To suit the Nova Scotian craving for sweetness, purveyors concocted a sauce by blending together an unholy mix of evaporated milk, vinegar, powdered garlic and sugar--the evaporated milk was just not sweet enough.

But why choose the donair as our official food, you might ask. This is a food item that has not travelled well through the rest of Canada. The Montreal Smoked on rye, The ‘Peg perogie, even that other great concoction, Le Poutine, have all become beloved across the land. Some of the major fast food chains even include these items as part of their “Canadian” menu content.

Gerald Hardy Memorial Society celebrates 20 years by Deanna Currie and Janice Christie

Community 14

The clients, staff and Board of Directors of The Gerald Hardy Memorial Society were pleased to host an Open House to celebrate twenty years of success recently in Sheet Harbour. The celebrations began early in the day with the opening of the Thrift Shop offering hourly spe-cials. Cake and refreshments were offered to guests from 1-3 pm.

For a fundraiser the Society partnered with Scotiabank who sold tickets at the Bank during November. $1020 was raised of which $510 went to the lucky winner, Susan V. Boutilier. Scotiabank matched the Society amount of $510 bringing the Society's share to $1020. Susan generously donated half her winnings back to the Society. The Door prize of a Christmas Skate Hanging decorated and beautifully made and donated by Kim Kenney was won by Robin Kenney.

The Gerald Hardy Memorial Society is a local charity in-corporated in October 1995. It was named for a young man, Gerald Hardy Jr. whose disability was the direct result of a brain injury. GHMS is a non-profit organiza-tion offering social and work place skills and experience to adults with intellectual disabilities and mental health concerns. The mission of The Society is to assist adults learn meaningful life skills within Society or through community placements. There are currently eight clients attending.

The Society began as the need was identified and inter-est of concerned families and residents at the closing of the local chapter of Canadian Association for Community Living. Its first home was in Bluewater Building.... moved a few places in community and now is located at 22657 Hwy 7, Sheet Harbour.

GHMS is a member of DirectioNS Council for Vocational Services Society which is ‘a non profit organization rep-resenting 29 agencies through Nova Scotia, who assist and support member organizations in delivery of ser-vices promoting abilities and inclusion of persons with disabilities in their everyday activities of their commu-nity’.

The Society is partially funded by Nova Scotia Depart-ment of Community Services; donations and through social enterprise, Cascades Thrift Shop, contracts and fundraising. The Society employs a fulltime manager, Deanna Currie, and 2 part-time employees: Administra-tive Assistant, Christie Fraser and Program Assistant, Alisa Jollymore.

Deanna has been with The Society since October 1, 1999. She attributes the success of the Society to clients and former and present staff; along with the guidance of the 10 member volunteer Board of Directors. Deanna has witnessed much growth over the years of Society and the development of clients’ abilities.

The Gerald Hardy Memorial Society proudly houses and administers the Rainbow Food Bank, a much needed service in the communities from Ship Harbour to Ecum Secum. The Rainbow Food Bank, has been a member agency of Feed Nova Scotia (formerly known as Metro Food Bank) since 1996.

Throughout the years, clients have enjoyed learning skills as cooking, sewing, making crafts, built garbage boxes, fundraising, hosted card parties, daytrips to vari-ous venues from New Glasgow, Eastern Shore and Hali-fax and Dartmouth. All were activities that enriched their lives immensely and prepared them to where the Society has evolved today. continued on page 15

The Gerald Hardy Memorial Society celebrated their 20 year anniversary with an Open House on Saturday. Among the many visitors and guests were: Back row L to R : Susan Foote, Linda Fleet, Gladys Westhaver, Betty Ann Hartling, Debbie Zwicker, George Hape, Janet McKinnon, Kenny McKinnon, Christie Fraser and Bill Armsworthy. Front Row : Alisa Jollymore, Ian Rafuse, Candice MacKean, Deanna Currie and Gervaise Currie. (Janice Christie photo)

January Pin It Up’ 15

Porters Lake Seniors Group Wednesday 1:30pm in the Porter's Lake Commu-nity Centre. Music, games, etc. Everyone wel-come! Contact: Ruth 902 827-2814.

Eastern Shore Garden Club meets the second

Tuesday of every month at the Lions Club, 89

East Chezzetcook Road at 7pm. All are wel-

come.

FREE Community Listings Page Submit your event on our new web site under events Deadline January 28 for paper, anytime for online. Paper & Online - more info about the event online.

Updated List of community events on our web site www.easternshorecooperator.ca

Prior to 2011, the community donated clothing and items, which were passed on to others in need. As the word spread, more clothes and items came to their doors and with the closure of other second hand shops they realized this was an opportunity to open a Thrift Shop.

The Thrift Shop became a training program for clients to develop workplace skills such as customer service, greet-ing customers, sorting, stocking and displaying merchan-dise and balancing cash.

In May 2011, the Society proudly opened the doors to their Thrift Shop, a social enterprise opportunity, offer-ing quality clothing, shoes, household items, books, CDs, DVDs, games, toys, and craft supplies. In 2015 they re-alized how, over the years, everything evolved to better serve the community and its needs. With the tremen-dous response from the communities with donations, in goods and monetary, it was then the name ‘Cascades Thrift Shop’ was chosen to best describe it.

GHMS 20th Anniversary ...Continued from Page 14

An opportunity arose to assist the Sheet Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce to coordinate and post events to the Events Sign which is a beacon lighthouse sign in the middle of Main Street. In 2014 and 2015, the Society was awarded summer contracts doing property maintenance at Canada Post and East Coast Credit Un-ion.

In July of this past summer, Gerald Hardy Memorial Soci-ety was excited to partner with ‘Seacoast Trail Arts Asso-ciation’ to display the creative arts and crafts in the newly opened ‘Arts Room’. All products are locally made by talented artisans of the Eastern Shore. There is an assortment of photography, paintings, handmade jewellery, Christmas ornaments and chocolate lollipops, wooden toys, knitted, crocheted, and quilted items as well as dream catchers and wooden shelves. These are just a few wonderful items you will find.

The Society relies upon and is very grateful to accept monetary donations or merchandise for the Society and

non-perishable grocery items or monetary gifts for the Rainbow Food Bank. Charitable tax receipts are pro-vided. There is a Donation Drop Off Box at front door of building.

The hours of operation are: Cascades Thrift Shop - Mon-day-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (unless otherwise posted). Rainbow Food Bank is open the Wednesday after the second Tuesday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Donations for Rainbow Food Bank may be dropped off from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily.

If you or someone you know may benefit from becoming a client of The Gerald Hardy Memorial Society, please call or visit to discuss how they may be able to help. Telephone 902-885-2300; Email: ghms@ns.sympatico.ca or at 22657 Hwy 7, Sheet Harbour.

The Gerald Hardy Memorial Society looks forward to many years of continued service and support from com-munity.

LOVE TO DANCE?

Dance @ Petpeswick Yacht Club featuring … The "PROPHETS” Band

Greating Dancing … Classic Rock – 60s, 70s &

80s

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Door & Bar Open: 8 pm Dance: 9 pm - 1 am

Tickets & Group Reservations: Paula @ 902

889 2435

$10/member & $15/non-member

Musical Interlude Feb 14th 7:00 PM (storm date Feb 21st)

St Denis Hall East Ship Harbour

Come on out and be entertained and enjoy deli-cious refreshments

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Group Meeting, St. James Hall, Dolby Hill, Jeddore, meets every Tuesday evening.

Weigh-in is from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m. Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

First United Church Musquodoboit Harbour 2nd an-nual Memorial Hearts Event: Service Feb.14,2016 @ 11:00am. ALL WELCOME. To remember a family member, neighbour and/or friend, register your memorial before Feb.7,2016. For more information contact: Edyth Shuman 902-889-2802 Melvin/Bonita Day 902-889-2884 Marion Worthing 902-889-2600 Don/Marina Withers 902-889-2874 Brenda Baker 902-845-2299 Phil Muirhead 902-889-2096

Bingo every Monday @ 7:30 held at Sheet Harbour

Lions Centre, 183 Pool Rd.

Books 5.00, specials 1.00, cookie jar 2.00, jackpot and

Bonanza.

Canteen and gift cards. The Lions truly appreciate

your support.

Musquodoboit Harbour Farmers Market Sundays 9am - 1pm

Winter Market (every 2 weeks until May) January 24, February 7 & 21

67 Park Road, Musquodoboit Harbour at the Bingo Hall. www.mhfarmersmarket.ca. info@mhfarmersmarket.ca.

February 21 - Speedy Sunday Workshops, a seed exchange, seed companies, prizes, and all things gardening. Storm date next market March 6th.