Looking back at Shelburne County history
Why were some areas of Nova Scotia getting more money for education while others – including Shelburne County – were not? That’s what the Shelburne area’s municipal leaders wanted to find out and, in an effort to do so, they hoped to meet with Terence Donahoe, Nova Scotia’s education minister at the time, to discuss the situation. The local mayors and wardens wanted to know why the Shelburne area apparently hadn’t qualified for the funds that had been distributed to other places. A spokesman for the mayors and wardens said the province seemed to be going against its own recommendations regarding funding for school boards.
“We are not getting equal opportunity for education,” the spokesman said. “How can you have equal education with unequal funding?”
Shelburne County business operators were hoping to convince the Nova Scotia government that Ohio Road should be used to transport ore from the soon-to-be-built tin mine in Yarmouth County to Halifax. Three routes were being considered, including one running through Indian Fields and along Ohio Road. Members of the local business community addressed the issue during a special meeting at Shelburne’s town hall. Aside from what they cited as a number of advantages to the Ohio Road proposal – that it was shorter than the other options, for instance, which would help reduce transportation costs – the business owners also said it would be good for the Shelburne County economy in what they described as “uncertain” times. Rio Algom had announced in 1983 it planned to develop North America’s first tin mine in East Kemptville, with construction expected to start in the spring of ’84.
Two local fires – one that destroyed a fish plant, another that burned a fishing boat – had been in the news lately:
• In the more recent of the two incidents, a 45-foot longliner that fished out of Jordan Bay had caught fire in Shelburne harbour. The blaze appeared to have started with the vessel’s oil stove, according to story in the Coast Guard. The boat’s owner had escaped in a life raft and the fire department responded, but there was little they could do, given how far the boat was from shore.
• In the other incident, which had occurred Christmas Day, fire had destroyed the G.M. Newell Company fish plant in Newellton, Cape Sable Island. Over 100 firefighters reportedly battled the blaze in very cold and windy weather.
In Lockeport, a couple of projects were in the news: construction of a tourist bureau and renovations to the Little School Museum. The town had taken over the museum – site of the Lockeport’s first school building – in the fall of 1983. Various repairs were planned. Meanwhile, the tourist facility would replace a temporary tourist bureau beside the fire hall. Both projects had been made possible thanks to a federal grant worth $35,550.
“If the voice of Shelburne County isn’t unified, it’ll go unheard.” That quote was from Barry
King, chair at the time of the Shelburne Park Development Agency, which on Jan. 14, 1997 co-hosted a “think tank” on industrial development for the local area. The event also included the South West Shore Development Authority and local chambers of commerce. Speaking to the Coast Guard newspaper, King said those attending the event recognized the serious economic challenges facing the area. Others speaking of the need for unity included Bill Suttle, mayor of Lockeport at the time, who called for a meeting of local municipal leaders in late January to discuss ways of attracting business to Shelburne County.
The 1997 Winter Olympics World Games were coming up in Toronto and Collingwood and Shelburne’s Martin Fudge was a member of the host Canadian contingent. A special send-off for the local snowshoe competitor was planned for Hillcrest Academy. The 22-yearold Fudge already was an accomplished Special Olympian and had been named Sport Nova Scotia’s athlete of the year for Special Olympics in 1996.
Students at Barrington Municipal High School had gotten an unexpected day off recently due to an electrical fire in the school’s ventilation system. The morning fire was out quickly but it left part of the school filled with smoke, resulting in cancelled classes for the day.