Looking back at Shelburne County history
Whether it would open before the end of 1984 remained to be seen, but things were moving on the establishment of a shelter for abused women in the tri-counties and their children. With a budget already drafted, the group pursuing the project — the South West Nova Transition House Association — was waiting for the completion of a needs survey before taking a written proposal to Edmund Morris, Nova Scotia’s social services minister at the time. This was expected to happen in May. On March 8 — International Women’s Day — the association had held an event that included a public forum on transition houses, a spokesperson for the group saying they were pleased with the turnout and feedback.
South Shore MP Lloyd Crouse was weighing in on one of the biggest national stories in March 1984: the recent announcement by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that he was planning to step down as the federal Liberal leader. Crouse was from a different party — the Progressive Conservatives — and had been critical of Trudeau’s Liberal government on some major issues, but he also had some positive things to say about the outgoing Liberal leader and PM. “He made many changes in our way of life, many of which are beneficial to our social structure,” Crouse said.
Meanwhile, in local municipal politics in March 1984, Darrell Locke, a 27-year-old Shelburne resident, had won a byelection for a seat on Shelburne town council, defeating Sam Bower. The byelection had been called to fill the seat vacated by Carmine Ferretti, who had recently resigned from council.
Shelburne’s Capitol Theatre wasn’t planning to close, although a spokesman for the theatre acknowledged the growing popularity of videos and various cable TV offerings had affected their business. At the time, the Capitol was open just four days a week (Thursday to Sunday), but business was expected to pick up. “There are videos and things like that, but they will never replace the big screen,” the Capitol spokesman said. “People will still want to get out of the house.”
In sports, the Sable Fish Packers had defeated Yarmouth four games to two in the semifinals of the TriCounty Intermediate Hockey League playoffs and were facing the Digby Ravens in a best-of-seven final series. Playing in front of what was said to be the biggest crowd in the history of the Shelburne County Arena, the Packers had defeated Yarmouth 6-2 in Game 6 to win their semifinal and advance to the final. (The Packers would go on to capture the league title by defeating Digby four games to two. Sable goalie Donnie Boudreau would be named MVP of the playoffs.)
There was concern in the Woods Harbour area over the future of the community’s ambulance service. Over 100 people had attended a recent public meeting on the issue. Since then, Bernie Boudreau, Nova Scotia’s health minister, had met with directors of the ambulance service and said he would get back to them as soon as possible with regard to potential cuts to the service. Boudreau said he was impressed with the presentations made to him while he was in the area. “It’s obvious the community has been very, very committed to the ambulance service for a long time,” Boudreau said in a story carried in the Shelburne Coast Guard in late March 1997. The service had operated for 27 years, the paper said. The concern was that it would be scaled back as part of a regional plan for the privatization of ambulance services in southwestern Nova Scotia.
Also in the news in 1997:
• Echoing issues that had been raised recently in other Nova Scotia locations — notably Digby and Windsor — doctors in Shelburne said they were worn out from outpatient department duty. “It’s the mental fatigue that gets to us after a while,” said one physician.
• The Town of Shelburne and the City of Gloucester, Mass., signed an agreement to explore the feasibility of establishing a ferry service between the two ports.
• At a nominating meeting in Bridgewater, Derek Wells, the incumbent South Shore MP, had been unopposed in his bid to run for the Liberals in the next federal election, which was expected in June 1997. Wells had first been elected in 1993.