Last night we made it in to Shelburne for a musical evening at the Osprey - it seems like forever since we've gone to anything there. We lucked out and got seats at a front row table (someone was ill and had turned their tickets in to the box office).
We started our evening with a Chinese meal at Luongs - very tasty as usual. The restaurant was fairly busy as there were several visiting families from a hockey tournament, and for that age group Charlotte Lane and Lothar's aren't really an option. so Luong's and Scotia Lunch were getting the business. Dinner in Lockeport would have been impossible - The White Gull is closed for the season, The Town & Country has cut way back on its hours (likely closing mid-November), and The Parrot's Pins is closed for a 2 week vacation - at least they plan to stay open again this winter.
Anyway, I digress. The concert was wonderful - Shelly had her daughter Natalie Lynn open with 3 of her own songs - one of which is on her first EP. Pretty girl with a lovely voice. Shelly sang a set with Bob Vacon - mostly blues; she sang gospel a capella with 2 of her sisters (wonderful harmony on Amazing Grace); she sang a number of songs with a small band - Chet Buchanan, Ed Benham, Anthony Gosbee - accompanied by Lisa Buchanan and Merrie Howe as the do-wap girls; she sang solo with Ian Andersen accompanying her on the piano and her niece, Jennifer Bell (and friend Mark), did a short set of more modern stuff including Megadeth - all-in-all a lot of variety and some very talented folks. As usual, it was a good chance to see lots of friends and acquaintances and we lucked out and were able to share our table with Marian and Herschel who are leaving this morning to return to White Plains for the winter.
It's amazing what you can get here for $15.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Lockeport Revitalization Event Oct 8-9, 2009
Last Thursday and Friday, the Town of Lockeport held a 2 day conference on revitalization. It was a "next step" in the development and implementation of the town's sustainability plan. The draft plan was completed the end of September by our ICSP coordinator, Dale Eshelby and she is now seeking input for the final revised plan which is due by the end of March, I believe.
The conference was jointly run by a team from the Nova Scotia Community Colleges which plans to partner with Lockeport in implementing some aspects of the plan - a valuable learning and research tool for students and faculty which will be of great benefit to Lockeport. They did an awesome job. The meetings were held in the high school gymnasium/auditorium with coffee, tea and muffins provided by the Anglican Church ladies who also catered lunches. There was a plethora of speakers from various government, private and non-profit agencies willing to get involved in helping with various aspects of our "revitalization".
The key-note speaker, who attended throughout, was Storm Cunningham from Washington DC - a world-reknowned expert in the field. His addresses both days were etremely inspiring - maybe we do have a future for this town.
The turnout was very good - there were many in attendance from other towns and municipalities and a reasonably good turn-out from Lockeport of both citizens, politicians and business leaders. Allendale Electronics had a very strong representation. Unfortunately, some of the small businesses couldn't spare anyone during 2 weekdays to attend and the usual lethargy amongst many of the populace kept them from putting in an appearance. It will be the major challenge of the entire project to engage the rest of the town in whatever is the result of this process.
There were extremely good displays at the Firehall by students on the history of Lockeport (younger ages) and the environment and sustainability (older ones). There were also business displays and booths from most of the presenters about their work, grants, products etc.
Round table dialogues were held as part of each day's programme - many good ideas were brought forward and I hope have some future chance of being implemented. There is an opportunity, for instance, to have our schools become UNESCO partner schools which would be a very enriching move for the students and the area.
Well done Dale!
The conference was jointly run by a team from the Nova Scotia Community Colleges which plans to partner with Lockeport in implementing some aspects of the plan - a valuable learning and research tool for students and faculty which will be of great benefit to Lockeport. They did an awesome job. The meetings were held in the high school gymnasium/auditorium with coffee, tea and muffins provided by the Anglican Church ladies who also catered lunches. There was a plethora of speakers from various government, private and non-profit agencies willing to get involved in helping with various aspects of our "revitalization".
The key-note speaker, who attended throughout, was Storm Cunningham from Washington DC - a world-reknowned expert in the field. His addresses both days were etremely inspiring - maybe we do have a future for this town.
The turnout was very good - there were many in attendance from other towns and municipalities and a reasonably good turn-out from Lockeport of both citizens, politicians and business leaders. Allendale Electronics had a very strong representation. Unfortunately, some of the small businesses couldn't spare anyone during 2 weekdays to attend and the usual lethargy amongst many of the populace kept them from putting in an appearance. It will be the major challenge of the entire project to engage the rest of the town in whatever is the result of this process.
There were extremely good displays at the Firehall by students on the history of Lockeport (younger ages) and the environment and sustainability (older ones). There were also business displays and booths from most of the presenters about their work, grants, products etc.
Round table dialogues were held as part of each day's programme - many good ideas were brought forward and I hope have some future chance of being implemented. There is an opportunity, for instance, to have our schools become UNESCO partner schools which would be a very enriching move for the students and the area.
Well done Dale!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Provincial 55+ Games
This weekend the Nova Scotia 55+ Games were held in Yarmouth. This event is held biannually and this was the third time the games had taken place. In the off year, there are national games (next year to be held in Brockville, Ontario).
The games consist of lots of different competitions - cerebral like crib, scrabble, crossword puzzles, sudoku, lexicon, moderately active like darts, pool, horseshoes, and vigorous activities like bowling, golf, baseball and hockey. There are opening ceremonies as well as closing ones and a banquet. All participants get a goodie bag (reusable PharmaChoice ones - very useful) filled with info, pins, samples, coupons, a T-shirt for the games, some magnifying devices, health and safety brochures and pill containers (they knew their audience). Event winners got medals and it was strange to hear senior citizens doing rousing cheers for their area of the province. The number of active participants this year was 333, which seems like a good number for a small province - next year they expect 1500-2000 at the national games.
The hotel where the activities were centred was the Rodd Grand on Main Street - 7 floors, restaurant, lounge, meeting rooms, pool, sauna, exercise facilities and extremely friendly and helpful staff.
From our room on the 5th floor, we had a lovely view of the harbour and could watch the Cat arriving from Maine and docking and then returning out to sea. We could have taken our kittens with us, but opted to leave them home with Shirley (next door neighbour) feeding them - probably a wise choice given how little we were actually in the room. The restaurant was excellent - Friday evening I had planked salmon and Wayne had scallops, Saturday breakfast Wayne had the buffet and I had Eggs Benedict. The banquet was a roast beef buffet with a variety of fresh salads and hot veggies and several dessert choices (pie, mousse, cakes, squares). On Sunday morning, the Knights of Columbus put on a free breakfast for the whole group at their hall a few blocks away.
Wayne played hockey for the Barrington team - 4 games from Friday at 6:00PM to Sunday at 10:15AM - a true test for senior hockey players. His team was 1-2-1 with the tie occurring in the last game on Sunday and knocking the Halifax team out of an undefeated tie with the Valley team for the gold medals. I saw the Friday and Sunday games (Saturday I wandered around downtown Yarmouth and did the tourist thing - Yarmouth is a pretty city with lots of amazing old buildings) and his team improved greatly just playing 4 games together. They had an amazing skater, Jack, who is well into his sixties but could skate rings around the Halifax defenders. The uniforms were cute and everyone had fun too.
This week the Shelburne County 55+ games are underway. Wayne was supposed to do a Tai Chi demo this morning (but I was the only participant), this afternoon we have a hike, this evening a Coffee House, tomorrow bowling and Friday a golf scramble. The closing banquet is in Birchtown on Saturday evening.
Wayne put down his name as interested in playing hockey next year in Brockville for the provincial team - apparently there are 2 divisions- one for over 55 and the other for over 65, so maybe we'll be going to those games next Fall. Forever young!
The games consist of lots of different competitions - cerebral like crib, scrabble, crossword puzzles, sudoku, lexicon, moderately active like darts, pool, horseshoes, and vigorous activities like bowling, golf, baseball and hockey. There are opening ceremonies as well as closing ones and a banquet. All participants get a goodie bag (reusable PharmaChoice ones - very useful) filled with info, pins, samples, coupons, a T-shirt for the games, some magnifying devices, health and safety brochures and pill containers (they knew their audience). Event winners got medals and it was strange to hear senior citizens doing rousing cheers for their area of the province. The number of active participants this year was 333, which seems like a good number for a small province - next year they expect 1500-2000 at the national games.
The hotel where the activities were centred was the Rodd Grand on Main Street - 7 floors, restaurant, lounge, meeting rooms, pool, sauna, exercise facilities and extremely friendly and helpful staff.
From our room on the 5th floor, we had a lovely view of the harbour and could watch the Cat arriving from Maine and docking and then returning out to sea. We could have taken our kittens with us, but opted to leave them home with Shirley (next door neighbour) feeding them - probably a wise choice given how little we were actually in the room. The restaurant was excellent - Friday evening I had planked salmon and Wayne had scallops, Saturday breakfast Wayne had the buffet and I had Eggs Benedict. The banquet was a roast beef buffet with a variety of fresh salads and hot veggies and several dessert choices (pie, mousse, cakes, squares). On Sunday morning, the Knights of Columbus put on a free breakfast for the whole group at their hall a few blocks away.
Wayne played hockey for the Barrington team - 4 games from Friday at 6:00PM to Sunday at 10:15AM - a true test for senior hockey players. His team was 1-2-1 with the tie occurring in the last game on Sunday and knocking the Halifax team out of an undefeated tie with the Valley team for the gold medals. I saw the Friday and Sunday games (Saturday I wandered around downtown Yarmouth and did the tourist thing - Yarmouth is a pretty city with lots of amazing old buildings) and his team improved greatly just playing 4 games together. They had an amazing skater, Jack, who is well into his sixties but could skate rings around the Halifax defenders. The uniforms were cute and everyone had fun too.
This week the Shelburne County 55+ games are underway. Wayne was supposed to do a Tai Chi demo this morning (but I was the only participant), this afternoon we have a hike, this evening a Coffee House, tomorrow bowling and Friday a golf scramble. The closing banquet is in Birchtown on Saturday evening.
Wayne put down his name as interested in playing hockey next year in Brockville for the provincial team - apparently there are 2 divisions- one for over 55 and the other for over 65, so maybe we'll be going to those games next Fall. Forever young!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Going Site-seeing
Today our plan was to take our van to Bridgewater for some minor repairs at the Saunders Collision Centre on Auto Row. Originally we then planned to head back to White Point and the Liverpool Golf and Country Club for a round of golf beside the ocean (our own little Pebble Beachish course). However, early this morning it was very foggy and rainy, so we left the golf clubs at home.
After dropping off the van, we drove around Bridgewater and did some shopping. Really Wayne was very patient, even though I dragged him to Bridgewater Mall, Eastside Plaza, Canadian Tire and Wal-mart. He did buy himself a new hockey stick and some tape so he was pretty mellow.
On the way home, we decided to site-see a bit and turned off #103 at exit 17A to visit Port Medway and its 2 lighthouses. By this time it had cleared up and turned quite warm so even out on the rocky shore it was very nice. We admired Port Medway park and realized we had never made it down there before, having turned farther up the road. It is a very lovely little park, right beside the marina and fishing wharf - great views out to sea. We then followed Long Cove Road - which becomes a gravel road and saw the Long Cove Light and more fantastic
scenery.
Long Cove
Light -
- Port Medway
Light
Continuing along the coast, we visited East and West Berlin and their wharves, then stopped at Beach Meadows Beach.
- WOW! What a beautiful spot!
The trip was capped off by a late lunch at the Quarterdeck at Summerville Beach - lobster club sandwiches and fries - Wayne had a Garrison draft and I had a Mango Pineapple Breeze (basically a mango smoothie with vodka and triple-sec- yummy!).
A great Fall day!
After dropping off the van, we drove around Bridgewater and did some shopping. Really Wayne was very patient, even though I dragged him to Bridgewater Mall, Eastside Plaza, Canadian Tire and Wal-mart. He did buy himself a new hockey stick and some tape so he was pretty mellow.
On the way home, we decided to site-see a bit and turned off #103 at exit 17A to visit Port Medway and its 2 lighthouses. By this time it had cleared up and turned quite warm so even out on the rocky shore it was very nice. We admired Port Medway park and realized we had never made it down there before, having turned farther up the road. It is a very lovely little park, right beside the marina and fishing wharf - great views out to sea. We then followed Long Cove Road - which becomes a gravel road and saw the Long Cove Light and more fantastic
scenery.
Long Cove
Light -
- Port Medway
Light
Continuing along the coast, we visited East and West Berlin and their wharves, then stopped at Beach Meadows Beach.
- WOW! What a beautiful spot!The trip was capped off by a late lunch at the Quarterdeck at Summerville Beach - lobster club sandwiches and fries - Wayne had a Garrison draft and I had a Mango Pineapple Breeze (basically a mango smoothie with vodka and triple-sec- yummy!).
A great Fall day!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
September Bliss
The last few days have been lovely here. Some fog this morning which rolled in and out most of the day but it was warm and sunny, little breeze, just a perfect start to Autumn.
Wayne finished his storage shelves in the upper part of the shed - now we need to go through all the junk up there (and do some massive purging) and sort it out onto these new shelves. After that he started trimming back the pair of apple trees in the back yard which don't produce good apples, are too tall and, worst of all, block the view of the fireworks on Canada Day.
For supper, we decided to go down to the White Gull as it will likely be closing soon. It was almost warm enough to eat on the deck but with the angle of the sun putting the entire deck in shade, we opted for inside. We had the 2 specials: Wayne's was a seafood platter of fish, clams and scallops, mine was a scallop casserole with caesar salad. I tried one of Liz's blueberry dumplings for dessert and discovered a gem I have been missing for the last 8 summers! A good meal altogether.
Wayne finished his storage shelves in the upper part of the shed - now we need to go through all the junk up there (and do some massive purging) and sort it out onto these new shelves. After that he started trimming back the pair of apple trees in the back yard which don't produce good apples, are too tall and, worst of all, block the view of the fireworks on Canada Day.
For supper, we decided to go down to the White Gull as it will likely be closing soon. It was almost warm enough to eat on the deck but with the angle of the sun putting the entire deck in shade, we opted for inside. We had the 2 specials: Wayne's was a seafood platter of fish, clams and scallops, mine was a scallop casserole with caesar salad. I tried one of Liz's blueberry dumplings for dessert and discovered a gem I have been missing for the last 8 summers! A good meal altogether.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Lots of mileage, lots of fun!
This morning started out with the monthly Sandy Point breakfast - tea, coffee, juice, eggs, bacon, sausage, hashed browns, beans, pancakes, toast - delicious as always and a great start to the day.
After that, about 9:30. we headed back to Sable River to the Farmers ' Market. Today's purchases included carrot pasta, baguette, sliced smoked ham, sirloin steaks, Italian sausage, and a 2-person sized cabbage. As we were about to leave, Wayne noticed a fish truck so we got 2 lbs of fresh haddock as well.
We returned home for an hour and a half, then headed out to Islands Park for the kickoff picnic for the Shelburne County 55+ games. It's a really lovely park - empty of campers this time of year, so the picnic was held at the end of the park where there is a superb view of the Shelburne waterfront. There was an assortment of games like giant chess, horseshoes, ring toss to try out and while we were there instruction in geo-caching was being held. The Longboat Society (in full Loyalist costumes) gave demonstrations of their rowing skills and there was a BBQ of hamburgers and hot dogs (but we were still too full from breakfast to eat again).
It was pretty blustery and cool, so we didn't stay long - we headed into Shelburne to see the Annual Whirligig Festival. The traditional spot which the festival uses on the waterfront was not available - it is occupied by a movie set of a church constructed in the last couple of weeks for the filming of "Moby Dick". Another building is going up as well, just across the street - also a set for the filming. So the whirligigs were down by the Cox warehouse, most of them in the outdoor theatre area of the Osprey.
The wind conditions were ideal for the whirligigs - they were spinning merrily away. Lots of new creative entries this year - Wayne's favourite was called Suspended Animation and I quite liked a new circus entry. There was even a whirligig made from LEGO! Herschel and the rest of the committee did a fine job!
Cold by now, we stopped off at Tim Horton's, then returned to Lockeport. While I thawed out, Wayne put on his boots and headed out into the wilds to dig up a nice red maple tree for our yard - he just loves to move trees. While we were in Ottawa earlier this month he moved 2 from our son's yard to our townhouse and also a ton of hostas from our eldest son's yard, half of which ended up by our front door here in Lockeport. Yesterday, Wayne played in the dirt some more and set down a path of 10 stepping stones from the side door to the driveway to eliminate the Spring mud problems.
It's only 3:30 now but I thiink that's enough for today.
After that, about 9:30. we headed back to Sable River to the Farmers ' Market. Today's purchases included carrot pasta, baguette, sliced smoked ham, sirloin steaks, Italian sausage, and a 2-person sized cabbage. As we were about to leave, Wayne noticed a fish truck so we got 2 lbs of fresh haddock as well.
We returned home for an hour and a half, then headed out to Islands Park for the kickoff picnic for the Shelburne County 55+ games. It's a really lovely park - empty of campers this time of year, so the picnic was held at the end of the park where there is a superb view of the Shelburne waterfront. There was an assortment of games like giant chess, horseshoes, ring toss to try out and while we were there instruction in geo-caching was being held. The Longboat Society (in full Loyalist costumes) gave demonstrations of their rowing skills and there was a BBQ of hamburgers and hot dogs (but we were still too full from breakfast to eat again).
It was pretty blustery and cool, so we didn't stay long - we headed into Shelburne to see the Annual Whirligig Festival. The traditional spot which the festival uses on the waterfront was not available - it is occupied by a movie set of a church constructed in the last couple of weeks for the filming of "Moby Dick". Another building is going up as well, just across the street - also a set for the filming. So the whirligigs were down by the Cox warehouse, most of them in the outdoor theatre area of the Osprey.
The wind conditions were ideal for the whirligigs - they were spinning merrily away. Lots of new creative entries this year - Wayne's favourite was called Suspended Animation and I quite liked a new circus entry. There was even a whirligig made from LEGO! Herschel and the rest of the committee did a fine job!
Cold by now, we stopped off at Tim Horton's, then returned to Lockeport. While I thawed out, Wayne put on his boots and headed out into the wilds to dig up a nice red maple tree for our yard - he just loves to move trees. While we were in Ottawa earlier this month he moved 2 from our son's yard to our townhouse and also a ton of hostas from our eldest son's yard, half of which ended up by our front door here in Lockeport. Yesterday, Wayne played in the dirt some more and set down a path of 10 stepping stones from the side door to the driveway to eliminate the Spring mud problems.
It's only 3:30 now but I thiink that's enough for today.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Ragged Islands Historical Society Garden Party
A perfect day for a Garden Party!Yesterday the Ragged Islands Historical Society held a Garden Party and House Tour at the Locke Homestead in our Provincially Registered Streetscape. It is Sea Derby weekend, so it was an added event for families and tourists who were not out fishing.
The weather was perfect with a lovely clear view of the harbour, a light breeze to keep the bugs away, and a fine temperature in the low 20's (or 70's depending where you are reading this blog). There were bountiful donations of fancy sandwiches and tasty squares, cookies, cakes etc. Elizabeth had made a refreshing rhubarb punch and there was tea and coffe available as well. The food was set up under a tent on one side of the front lawn (sorry, Wayne didn't take a picture) and on the other side were the new outdoor tables (picture above) which the town bought and we used at both Canada Day and Harmony Bazaar - they are really proving useful and were an extremely attractive choice.
The event was held from 1:00 to 3:00 - the turnout was very rewarding, 104 paid guests (farthest from home were from New Zealand), many of whom partook of the tour of the Locke house offered by Fred Partridge and his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
It was a perfect day for the activity and the hard work of a great number of people resulted in a wonderful fund-raiser for the Historical Society and a fun afternoon for both the guests and volunteers. Thanks to Fred and his family and Barb for opening their yard and home for us and for all their hard work.
In my costume (a century too early for the house) greeting Bob and Kathy Czerny
Betty Williams, Barbara Barnes (Happy Birthday!), Maggie Mitchell enjoying their tea
(Rolf Hicker - photographer)The Locke Homestead built in 1876, with colourful wooden outdoor furniture on the lawn, in Nova Scotia's first Provincially Registered Streetscape in the town of Lockeport, Highway 3, Lighthouse Route, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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