Brown Paper Bag show opens Aug. 8

Free admission to the opening on Aug. 8 at Yarmouth County Museum

Yarmouth rug hooker Meredith Baxter had jewels and jewelry in her paper bag that had to be incorporated in her entry. Her hooked rug is called ‘Her Treasure Chest.

A travelling exhibit of hooked rugs, created with various items provided in a brown paper bag, opens Aug. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Yarmouth County Museum.

There will be free admission to the museum for the opening.

The creative and imaginative exhibit called the Brown Paper Bag Show was at Petite Riviere last month and will be going to Sydney, Cape Breton for September and part of October, at St. Patrick’s Church Museum.

Curator Penny Ridley, from Lunenburg, says what the hook- ers found in their bag, pretty much determined where they should go.

“One hooker received a long roll of wire, so she made hair curlers for the woman in her piece,” she said.

Each hooked rug has a picture of what was supplied in the bag beside it, so viewers can see how each was used.

Some people received a steel pot scrubber, gloves, jewels, small pieces of cloth, buttons and other items.

“They didn’t have to use everything, but pretty close to everything,” said Ridley.

The hookers were also able to add materials of their own.

“So many hookers do patterns and there are many hookers that don’t have the confidence, and this is not a competition, it’s just a fun thing.

The province says innovation and immigration are two key ingredients that will be used to respond to the province’s unique labour market needs through the creation of a new, responsive stream.

The new Labour Market Priorities Stream is a flexible and innovative approach to addressing market demands by proactively seeking skilled professionals in specific sectors where there are recognized needs.

Initially, the stream will be used to target early childhood educators and future professions will be targeted based on specific labour market needs.

“Our immigration system must be responsive to meet the unique labour needs of the province,” said Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration. “Attracting and retaining skilled workers will help increase access to important services such as early childhood education, while also helping grow our population.

This will strengthen our communities and our provincial economy – benefitting all Nova Scotians.”

This new approach complements the Office of Immigration’s existing streams.

The stream launches Aug. 8 and will utilize the federal Express Entry system by inviting qualified candidates to apply directly to Nova Scotia.