Looking back at Digby County history

From 1960

Among the hurricanes of 1960 was Donna, but, despite a good deal of fanfare that had heralded its approach, the storm had done very little damage in the Digby area. The hurricane had veered from its anticipated path and had passed farther north than predicted, although it still brought strong winds and some very heavy rain to the local area. “Limbs were broken from a number of trees and some windows smashed,” the Courier reported.

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The western valley’s intermediate hockey league was preparing for another season. Representatives of teams from Digby, Cornwallis, Bridgetown, Collège Sainte-Anne and Middleton had held a preliminary meeting and another meeting was to be held in late October. There was word that Yarmouth was interested in having a team in the league. The Digby and Cornwallis teams were said to be planning to play each other in a pre-season series.

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Work reportedly was underway on the Digby Forum to make the facility ready for the upcoming winter. Repairs were being made to the roof while the ice plant was being readied as well, according to a local newspaper item. The previous year’s operations at the forum were said to have been very successful. A committee that had been formed to promote the forum would continue its efforts to generate interest in the facility. ***

The Digby East Fish and Game Association was calling on Nova Scotia’s lands and forests department to reverse a recently announced decision to have a beaver-trapping season again in Digby County. Three years earlier, the trapping of beavers had been banned and, ever since, the Digby East Fish and Game Association had supported continuing the ban, saying that while the beaver population perhaps was bouncing back, conservation efforts remained necessary.

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A few miscellaneous things: --Movies playing at Digby’s Capitol theatre in early fall 1960 included Kidnapped, as well as Darby O’Gill and the Little People. These were both from Walt Disney Productions.

--Saturday night dances, with music by Joe Amero and His Valley Ramblers, were held at Bay of Fundy House, Culloden. Admission was 50 cents.

--The next bingo at the firemen’s hall (Maiden Lane building) had a special prize of $260 (full card in 52 numbers. Start time for the Oct. 1 event was 8:30 p.m.

--The Digby Kiwanis Club was planning to have two representatives – Chester M. Levy and E. Scott Eaton – attend a Kiwanis convention in Windsor, Ontario.

From 1971

The Digby Board of Trade was speaking out against a proposal from the Annapolis Valley Affiliated Boards of Trade to use barges to carry trucks from Port Williams, Nova Scotia, to Moncton. At a meeting of the Digby board, the proposal was described as impractical due to tide and weather conditions, as well as cost factors. It also was noted that a new ferry had just recently begun sailing between Digby and Saint John and that this service was adequate for accommodating truck traffic. ***

Local newspaper items from the early fall of 1971 included one about Clement Belliveau, well-known wood carver from Clare. Belliveau reportedly had been inspired to try carving after visiting a friend who was a carver. Belliveau gave it a try and discovered he was good at it. Readers of the day were encouraged to visit his shop if they were passing through Belliveau’s Cove. “He will receive you kindly,” the paper said, “and you may catch him carving his wooden birds, trout or other (things).”

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A few other items from the paper: --Clare’s Richelieu Club was reporting that more than 5,000 people had visited the community’s recreation park in the summer of ’71.

--Bruce Davey became the new president of the Digby District Home and School Association.

--Marjory Tupper was elected president of the Admiral Digby Horticultural Society.