HANTS history

Here’s a look at what was making the news 25 and 50 years ago in the Hants Journal.

25 YEARS AGO (JAN. 4; JAN. 11, 1995 EDITIONS)

• Windsor hosted the Kinette Polar Bear Dip on New Year’s Day in Lake Pisiquid as water levels were too low in Kings County. The event served as a fundraiser for Unicef. More than 40 people participated by jumping in the lake, including veteran dipper George St. Amour, of Wolfville, who had done seven previous dips. In 1995, he brought his three-year-old daughter Angeline, with him. The oldest dipper was Windsor’s own Bill Spurr, who was 57 years old.

• A Bramber woman was on edge after reporting a sighting of what she believed to be a cougar on Dec. 24. DNR was unable to confirm what type of large cat was spotted, but an official said up until 10 years prior, people didn’t believe coyotes had taken up residence in Nova Scotia but they had.

• Three people were treated at hospital following a two-vehicle collision near Lakeside Variety Store in Vaughan. The injuries were not considered life-threatening.

• A front page story appeared in the Journal addressing business rumours that were circulating in Windsor. It was reported that Tim Hortons may be opening a second cafe, this one inside the Fort Edward Mall, and that they may expand the waterfront location to include a Wendy’s fast food restaurant. Rumour also was that McDonalds was eying the location near the Hants County Exhibition, as was Home Hardware and a grocery store.

• The Town of Hantsport kicked off its 100th birthday celebrations with not one, but five New Year’s levees.

• Windsor Regional High School teacher Colin Chase had to kiss a pig prior to the Christmas break after students held a fundraiser for the ALS Society of Nova Scotia. Band teacher Bernie Vandoninck also had to pucker up after he was found guilty of voting irregularities (by which he was accused of emptying his ballot box into Chase’s box).

• The owner of the WindsorHantsport Railway announced a mechanical repair shop was being built in Windsor to service the locomotives. In 1995, the railway company owned eight locomotives, 76 gypsum cars and no passenger cars.

• Community Service Awards were presented to 13 Nova Scotians and five organizations in 1995. One award was presented to Charlene McCulloch, of Tenecape. The East Hants resident was described as working “tirelessly to promote better community health care, tourism, and activities for young people.”

• Eric “Rick” Tretheway, a Hants West Rural High School graduate in the 1960s, was planning to visit the school in 1995. Tretheway, an internationally acclaimed poet who was teaching in Virginia, was stopping as part of an Atlantic Canada poetry tour.

• Windsor hockey player Josh Dill was one of 20 athletes selected to play on the 1995 Nova Scotia Canada Games Hockey Team. Dill was a forward for King’s-Edgehill School’s team, which was considered the best high school team in the province.

50 YEARS AGO (JAN. 7; JAN. 14, 1970 EDITIONS)

• The first baby born in Annapolis Valley hospitals in 1970 was Shawn Arthur Young, a seven-pound baby boy. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Young, of Centre Burlington, welcomed their first child at 3 p.m. Jan. 1 at the Payzant Memorial Hospital in Windsor.

• The community was in mourning after two men died in separate accidents near the start of the new year.

Dalton Russell Tracey, 57, of Hantsport, died after the tractor he was operating toppled over. Edwin Alfred Lyttle, 25, of Windsor, died after the snowmobile he was driving broke through the ice on Panuke

Lake. Navy divers helped recover his body.

• Registered nurse Hope Mack, the director of nursing at the Nova Scotia Sanatorium, was honoured for her work in the health field as she retired at the end of 1969. Mack, who was born in Windsor, worked at the sanatorium from 1930-44 and then again from 1959-69.

• A new location for the Windsor Tourist Bureau had been found. The Windsor Junior Chamber of Commerce announced the tourist bureau would be located adjacent to the new causeway as it would overlook the Avon River, provide ample parking, and could be seen from the highway.

• More than $1,000 was stolen after a break and enter at the Down East Motel in Garlands Crossing. The police were investigating.

• Gerald A. Regan, Leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Opposition, was one of 14 members of the Bar of Nova Scotia to be appointed as Queen’s Counsel.

• The East Hants Penguins won the Maritime Peewee Invitational Hockey Tournament in Truro, defeating the Bearcats 2-0 in the final. Goal scorers were B. MacDonald and M. Nieforth.

• Great deals were to be had at the Dominion Store in Windsor. Among the specials were seven 10-ounce cans of mixed vegetables for $1; onepound bag of Richmello coffee for 89 cents; and four Morton’s pot pies for $1.

• Stedman’s Department Store in Windsor was selling a 19-inch Westinghouse portable TV for $189.99, and an automatic washing machine for $199.99.

• Imperial Theatre started off the new year showing Once Upon a Time in the West, which had an all-star cast; The Secret Life of an American Wife; Alice’s Restaurant, starring Arlo Guthrie — this movie was slated to run for six days; My Side of the Mountain, which was described as a “fresh and stimulating film;” The Brute and the Beast; and The Devil’s 8.

• In the Hants History column dating back to 1945, a fire broke out at Doran’s Taxi, resulting in damage to the main building and one bus.

In wartime news, Trooper Clarence Mosher, of Windsor, was awarded the Canadian

Efficiency Medal; A/Captain Herbert Firman Ditchburn, of Kennetcook, received the Military Cross; and a list of those considered killed, wounded or missing in action also appeared.

• In the Hants History column dating back to 1920, plans to build a new electric lighting plant in Hantsport were underway, with the waters of the St. Croix River looking to be harnessed; a pie social held at James Wellwood’s residence raised $103; and the Windsor Fire Department extinguished fires at the property of A. Sweet, in Martock, at the home of A.P. Jones, and at the Eureka Hall.