Looking back at Yarmouth County history

FROM 1969

There was good news for a new ferry service between Nova

Scotia and New England. The word from Ottawa was that the Treasury Board had approved a loan of at least $400,000 to the province of Nova Scotia for the construction of terminal facilities in Yarmouth to accommodate the new vessel, which was under construction in the German port city of Bremerhaven. The service, which would be run by a Swedish company — Lion Ferry AB — was scheduled to begin in June 1970 between Yarmouth and Portland. This would give Nova Scotia two ferry links with Maine. The Bluenose — operated by Canadian

National — had been sailing between Yarmouth and Bar Harbor for 13 years, since 1956.

With a new ferry service on the way connecting Nova Scotia and the U.S., the operators of Yarmouth’s Grand Hotel were planning to add two floors to their five-storey, 94-room facility. Meanwhile, there was talk of more potential expansion in the Yarmouth area’s accommodation sector, several operators saying they would look at expanding their facilities, depending on how things went with the new ferry. Hubert Lynch, chairman of the local tourism association, said he was pleased with the sailing schedule for the new service, saying it would benefit the Yarmouth area’s tourism industry. The plan was to have the ship sail from Portland to Yarmouth overnight, arrive in the morning and then leave Yarmouth at 10 a.m. for the trip to back to Maine.

An official opening had been held in Yarmouth for the Western

Counties Regional Library, where Gerald J. Doucet, Nova Scotia’s education minister, spoke of the importance of the library and, in particular, how it was hoped the regional library — through its new books and special services — would help encourage people of all ages to read and learn.

Major construction projects underway in the Yarmouth area included the new vocational school that was taking shape in the town’s north end, at the corner of Pleasant and Hibernia streets. Described as an “ultramodern” facility, the school was scheduled to be open for the start of the 1970-71 school year.

In sports, Arcadia Consolidated School’s boys and girls varsity soccer teams were Yarmouth district soccer champions. On the boys side, Dennis Fitzgerald scored all three of his team’s goals in Arcadia’s 3-2 title-clinching win over Port Maitland. The Arcadia girls, who had clinched the title earlier, defeated Port Maitland 6-0, Wanda Cook leading the way with three goals.

FROM 1979

Would a tin mine be developed in East Kemptville? A spokesman for Shell Canada Resources Ltd., which had been doing exploratory work in the area, offered little information, saying the company had started drilling in the area in February and would close down in mid-December. There reportedly was plenty of activity at Shell’s site and two senior company officials — one from Calgary, one from Toronto — recently had visited the property. Should a mine be developed, a story in the Vanguard said, there was little doubt it would have an “immediate and significant” impact on the area, including about 250 long-term jobs, economic spinoffs and more. But, at least for now, the story noted, it was all “pure speculation.”

There would continue to be a passenger train service in and out of Yarmouth, at least for another year and a half, according to a decision by the railway committee of the Canadian Transport Commission. The committee wanted to see “modest improvements” to the service in terms of schedules, station facilities, equipment, tariffs and promotion, the paper reported. Also in the Vanguard in 1979:

It was a municipal election year in Nova Scotia and among the triumphant candidates was Bill Mooney, who was re-elected mayor of Yarmouth.

While just 38 per cent of eligible voters had cast ballots in the Town of Yarmouth, voter turnout in the Municipality of Argyle reportedly was 70 per cent.

Concern over the impact of a proposed third shopping mall in Yarmouth had prompted a downtown business group to see what it could do to have the project stopped or at least delayed.