Looking back at Yarmouth County history

From 1971

There was growing concern about the future of the Bluenose ferry service between Yarmouth and Bar Harbor. Local tourism people and others were worried that the Canadian National Railway, which owned and operated the Bluenose, wanted to pull out of the service. They felt there was a lack of promotion for the YarmouthBar Harbor run. There also were calls for a replacement for the 16-year-old Bluenose. Among those calling on Ottawa to act were Yarmouth’s town council, chamber of commerce and industrial commission, as well as the union representing Bluenose workers.

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The Town of Yarmouth and Municipality of Argyle favoured a regional government that would cover Yarmouth County, but the Municipality of Yarmouth was against the idea, according to presentations made to a provincial commission on education, public services and provincialmunicipal relations.

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The Yarmouth area was experiencing a dry spell, which came after a pretty dry summer, leaving many people hoping for rain. In Wedgeport, for example, many wells had gone dry, including some that had never dried up before, the Vanguard reported.

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Yarmouth high school runners Barb Muise, Lynn Christian, Karen Rogers, Janet Smith and Susan Stoddard won the Nova Scotia intermediate girls crosscountry team title at the provincial championship meet in Amherst.

From 1976

A major hospital expansion in Yarmouth was scheduled to be officially opened in a couple of weeks. Premier Gerald Regan and Marc Lalonde, the federal health minister at the time, were expected to be in town to open the new regional health centre. Eighty per cent of the project’s $9-million cost had been covered by the province. Of the remaining $1.8 million, the federal government had contributed $610,000, while four municipal units – the Town of Yarmouth and municipalities of Yarmouth, Argyle and Clare— had combined for $900,000.

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Two local municipal units had selected their wardens. In the Municipality of Argyle, Sylvester Amirault had been appointed warden again, his 14th straight year in the position. There was a new warden, meanwhile, in the Municipality of Yarmouth, where Lloyd Churchill had succeeded John Wakeling, who recently had retired from municipal politics.

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A new hotel – the Colony – was under construction in Yarmouth. The facility, which was being built adjacent to the Colony restaurant, was expected to be ready by June 1, 1977. Frank Thibeau, who owned the business, said tourism may have been down in 1976, but he expected it to pick up again.

From 1981

Plans to establish a public transit service in the Yarmouth area were said to be ahead of schedule. Initially expected to be in place in January (of 1982), there was word that the service could be operating before Christmas (of 1981). A spokesperson for the Yarmouth-Argyle Transit Authority said three buses that had been ordered for the service were expected to be delivered by Nov. 20 or so.

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The Ste-Anne-du-Ruisseau high school reportedly was the site of Canada’s first field test of a new computer program called Choice designed to help students identify potential career paths. The program was the focus of a presentation to SAR students by Terence Donahoe, Nova Scotia’s education minister at the time.

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Visitors to Yarmouth included John Neville, artistic director with Neptune Theatre, who spoke to members of several Yarmouth arts groups. Responding to a question about having a Neptune “outpost” established in Yarmouth – a place to give professional direction to young actors – Neville said he didn’t think the idea was economically feasible.