Looking back at Digby County history

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Digby Board of Trade, Gordon Turnbull, mayor of Digby at the time, spoke of some of the economic challenges facing the area. The loss of industry in recent years had had an impact, he said. More recently, a layoff at the wharf and uncertainty over the future of the Digby Pines Hotel had contributed to a dismal economic picture, the mayor said. Malcolm Steward Leonard, Digby’s MLA at the time and also Nova Scotia’s education minister, said Digby wasn’t alone in experiencing an economic decline, that other rural areas of the province faced problems too. Leonard said the government was trying to help by, among other things, lessening the tax burden on municipalities.

Poor weather had hampered the lobster-fishing effort in Digby County and had caused much damage to equipment. A recent storm and its impact on fishermen in the Westport area showed what the season had been like. The latest system, which reportedly brought winds of at least 70 miles per hour, had dealt fishermen “another heavy blow and left them with little gear to continue operations.” A story in the Courier described the season to date as one gale after another, with some fishermen reporting significant trap losses. Lobster fishermen in Clare also had been hit hard by the recent gale, some losing over half of their traps.

Among the agenda items for the Digby Board of Trade’s annual meeting of Jan. 21, 1958 was the election of an executive for the coming year. Vincent G. Snow became the board’s new president, succeeding Chester M. Levy.

Reigh Jayne was elected vice-president. About 150 people attended the meeting at Hotel Champlain, where the guest speaker was Edward Manson, Nova Scotia’s trade and industry minister (and MLA for Cape Breton West).

In sports, the Digby Ravens had defeated the Cornwallis Trojans in an exhibition game at the Digby Forum. “The tilt was the first to be played under international rules,” the Courier said, “which both players and fans found confusing at times.”

On another hockey-related note, a new arena had opened at Collège Sainte-Anne in Church Point. The new facility was expected to be a boost for hockey in Digby County. Combined with some other developments, 1958 could be a “banner year” for hockey in the local area, the paper said.

Miscellaneous items from January 1958:

• At the annual meeting of Digby’s fire department, George Humphrey had been re-elected chief and Reginald Turnbull president.

• Ralph O. Wright had been installed for his second term as president of the Digby branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

• An advertisement for bingo at the St. Patrick’s Church hall referred to “good cash prizes,” including a jackpot of $30, which would go up by $5 per week until won.

New challenges and issues were facing the church, including a trend in which youth increasingly were not attending church or getting involved in church activities. The observation came from Rev. Isaac Butler in an address to the annual meeting of the Trinity Anglican Church parish. The decline in church attendance and participation among young people came as the area’s population was increasing.

The expansion of facilities at Collège Sainte-Anne would continue in 1974. Louis R. Comeau, the college’s president at the time, said they were “encouraged” by the number of inquiries they were getting from prospective students and enrolment was expected to grow in the coming years. Education went beyond academics, he said, encompassing cultural and leisure components as well.

In an exhibition hockey game, Digby Regional High School’s varsity team had defeated a teachers squad 8-5. The teachers had gotten off to a good start and led 2-1 after the first period, but midway through the second, the students took command, the teachers looking “out of shape and nearly out of steam,” according to an item in the Courier.

Also from January 1974:

• Ernest Ryan was starting his third straight year as president of the Digby Board of Trade, having been re-elected at the organization’s annual general meeting.

• Movies playing in the Digby area included Walking Tall (starring Joe Don Baker) and Live and Let Die (the first James Bond movie to feature Roger Moore in the lead role.)