Looking back at Digby County history

FROM 1962

Fire gutted the premises of Digby Motors Limited on Prince William Street. There were no reports of injuries, but about 15 cars stored in the garage were lost in the fire, along “with other auto equipment and a large quantity of stock,” the Digby Courier reported. The fire was thought to have been set during welding, the paper said. A quick response by the Digby Fire Department kept the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. “At the height of the blaze, personal belongings, equipment and furniture were removed from a service station and homes in the immediate area,” the paper said.

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A conference of Maritime engineers was held at the Digby Pines and among the scheduled activities was a panel discussion where the topic was political union. The question to be discussed was: “Will the coming United States of Europe force political union between the United States and Canada?” The conference featured a number of speakers, including Robert Stanfield, the Nova Scotia premier at the time, who was slated to address conference delegates during their closing dinner.

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The golfing season was winding down at the Digby Pines, where, despite a rainy season, the local golf club reportedly had been able to hold its competitions and present its trophies.

Joe Turnbull was the club champion for 1962 and Donald Fleet was runner-up. Garnet Neville had low net, with Ralph Johnson second. Turnbull had broken par three times on the challenging par-71 course during the ’62 season and Fleet had done it twice.

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Digby’s recreation commission was looking for ways to minimize expenses in the operation of the Digby Forum. While the financial picture was better than it had been a year earlier, the commission felt cost-cutting efforts remained necessary. Measures discussed included reducing the forum staff and having a shorter season.

Also in the Courier in 1962:

• Seraphine Potter of Deep Brook, who had turned 100 in April, won second prize at the Digby County Exhibition for a quilt top she had done. Deep Brook residents were said to have won many exhibition awards for their hooked rugs, plants, flowers, cooking and other items.

• Bradford Barton, a 17-yearold Grade 12 student from Acaciaville, was elected president of the student council at Digby Regional High School.

• At a recent junior track meet in Yarmouth, Ronald Robicheau – competing for a team representing Marshalltown – had won a four-mile road race.

FROM 1973

The Canadian Pacific Railway – operators of the Princess of Acadia ferry between Digby and Saint John – had announced its intention of reducing the service to one trip per day, a move that had municipal government leaders concerned, including Digby Mayor Glen Smith. A motion tabled by Smith at a conference of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities spoke of the importance of the ferry to the region’s economy and called on the CPR, the province and the federal government to take steps to ensure the service was maintained. The CPR said it was planning to reduce the number of sailings because the two-year-old service had incurred substantial losses. There was fear the service might be cancelled entirely.

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The Municipality of Digby was looking to purchase the Digby airport at Hillgrove. The acquisition would depend on an agreement being reached with the Department of Transport, according to a story in the Courier. A consultant had recommended the municipality acquire the airport and that funding be sought to develop the facility. The consensus among Digby municipal councillors, the paper said, “was that an airport is long overdue for Digby ... The future, council felt, would bring greater demand for an airport.”

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Changes had been made regarding the appointment of members to the board of directors at Collège SainteAnne. For the first time, board members would be nominated by the faculty, alumni, provincial government and students. Desiré Boudreau was the president of the board at the time, with William Deveau vice-president and Dr. Alderic Legere secretary-treasurer. Louis R. Comeau was the college’s president.