Looking back at Yarmouth County history

total landings in the early part of the season reportedly had been good.

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A couple of unexpected and unusual objects were discovered in the Pinkney’s Point area. One of them was found on the shore, the other in the water in the same general area. A spokesman for the U.S. Navy said they were “exercise torpedoes” and he suspected they had been used as part of a joint military exercise involving the American and Canadian navies. He said they likely had been lost due to rough weather and high seas. They were said to be non-explosive. A smaller item – referred to as a “smoke float” – reportedly was found in the Overton area. It was believed to have been involved in the same exercise as the two larger objects.

*** Fire-resistant partitions were said to have been a big factor in preventing a fire at the Imperial Oil facility on Water Street from being much worse than it was. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to a small office. Sanford Rodgerson, the Yarmouth fire chief at the time, said it could have been a disastrous fire had flames reached the rear of the facility, where supplies – including gasoline – were stored. The fire had first been spotted by a night watchman at the Cosmos Imperial Mills plant nearby.

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Yarmouth was getting a new fish-processing operation that would employ 60 to 90 people, with the number perhaps growing, according to a story in the Vanguard. Tenders for the project were scheduled to close Dec. 20. Staff training was expected to start in February and the plant was expected to be in production in time for the herring season of 1969.

From 1978

The lobster season had opened in southwestern Nova Scotia with fishermen getting a record opening-day price of $3 per pound, which had climbed to $3.25 in the days that followed, with catches described as low. “Catches in almost all areas dropped by almost half after the first haul,” the Vanguard reported. “The poor start has been attributed to strong winds and high course tides that have prevented the lobsters from crawling.”

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Efforts were underway to try to address safety concerns and overcrowding at the tuna wharf in Lower Wedgeport. With regard to overcrowding, a local official said at least one contributing factor had been the demolition of another local wharf. That one had been demolished after the Groundhog Day storm of 1976 and some fishermen who had used that wharf now were docking at the tuna wharf.

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The second weekend of December 1978 produced the season’s first major storm. The system dropped more than 30 centimetres of snow and brought wind gusts of 35 knots. The storm resulted in school closures, created hazardous driving conditions and caused power outages in some places.

From 1988

Business people in the West Pubnico area were welcoming the proposed establishment of a traditional Acadian village in their community, saying the project would help bring more tourists and be good for the economy. The proposal was to be the focus of a feasibility study.

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Expansion plans were in the works at the Brooklyn Road SPC animal shelter in Yarmouth County. The idea was to add 800 square feet to the facility, with the project expected to cost about $25,000 to $30,000 and construction perhaps starting in late winter or early spring of 1989.