Beaver Dam Sports Meet chronicled in new book
The Shelburne County Archives and Genealogical Society has released its first inhouse publication with the launch of A Look Back at the Beaver Dam Sports Meet.
The Beaver Dam Sports Meet ran from 1953 to 1977 on Labour Day weekend on the shores of Beaver Dam Lake in central Shelburne County. The tales, which are still fondly told today, are legendary.
The 83-page book is a collection of contributed photos and newspaper clippings that chronicle the event throughout the years. In its heyday, the Beaver Dam Sports Meet attracted as many as 20,000 people and was billed as the largest event of its kind in Eastern Canada.
The project started several years ago as a video display, said Laura Nicoll, president of the Shelburne County Archives and Genealogical Society, made possible through a New Horizons grant. Nicoll said with the outcome of the project and the response the society were getting from people, “we realized we could probably come together and make some sort of publication that people could take home with them. We’re very excited about it.”
Nicoll said the book is a fundraiser for the society.
“It was published and printed in-house. It is the first book we’ve printed in-house, so we’re excited about that. We expect it to be a very good fundraiser and hopefully if it gathers enough interest and other people go home and look in their albums and trunks and what not we would even consider putting together something more maybe a volume two of some sort. It’s been quite an exciting project to see come together.”
A Look Back at the Beaver Dam Sports Meet is available for purchase at the Shelburne County Archives and Genealogical Society in Shelburne and at Dan’s Bargain’s Centre in Barrington Passage. The book was authored by Samantha Brannen.