Remember when…
Here's a look at what was making the news 15 and 50 years ago in the Hants Journal.
15 YEARS AGO (JULY TO EARLY-AUGUST 2008 EDITIONS)
Windsor's annual Sam
•
Slick Days festival drew thousands to the community, but also raised some ire. The brochure cover featured a sketch taken from the archives of C.W. Jeffreys, who had created the image based on stories of Sam Slick, as told by famed Windsor author Thomas Chandler Haliburton. The image depicts a Black man on his knees in front of Slick.
Resident Craig Allison was shocked by the depiction, said he felt “humiliated by it” and staged a silent protest, petitioning to have the community stop celebrating what he saw as a racist character.
Sam Slick Society president Bruce Shaw said the image was an “oversight” and was taken out of context as it depicts the man “throwing himself at Sam” in gratitude for his freedom.
Nova Scotians likely
• recognized a funeral home pictured on the big screen if they went to see Just Buried — a dark comedy about a man who inherits a funeral home in a small town where no one was dying. Several scenes were filmed at Windsor's Haliburton House Museum in 2006.
Clarence Benjamin was
• the last customer to fill up his vehicle at Gibson's KwikWay in Newport Station on July 11. After five generations of service, Marlene Gibson, the owner, said the gas tanks had to be removed as they couldn't afford to continue offering Irving gasoline. The store was built in 1929 by her grandfather Frank Hill Gibson and it was one of the first gas stations in the area.
The Tim Hortons location
• in the Fort Edward Mall was due to close Aug. 16. It was noted that after 12 years, traffic flow at the mall was not strong enough to keep it open. It wasn't the first store to not renew its lease at the mall in recent years. The Ideal Dollar Store closed in June 2007 and SAAN closed in July 2008. The seven staff at the Tim Hortons location were being offered spots elsewhere in the area.
West Hants councillors
• voted in favour of sending a letter to the provincial government in support of permanently banning uranium mining in Nova Scotia.
Kings-Hants MP Scott
•
Brison was lobbying to see improved high-speed internet in Hants County after the federal government came into a $2.75-billion windfall from auctioning off wireless spectrum licenses. He noted that internet access was as important as the railway was when it was constructed 100-plus years prior.
The Rawdon Hills Community
• Health Centre officially opened on July 20.
Police were investigating
• after the wooden gazebo at Windsor Elementary School was set ablaze late at night in July.
Four truckloads of gravel
• was brought to Cheverie to create 200 metres of walking trail along the salt marshland. Volunteers also constructed picnic tables and provided some landscaping.
The Summerville Volunteer
• Fire Department celebrated its 45th year of service
to the community with a gala.
The 25th anniversary of
• the formation of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of West Hants was celebrated. The chapter formed in 1983 with nine members. Five of the original members were still residing in West Hants, with four still part of the organization.
50 YEARS AGO (JULY 1973 EDITIONS)
Metropolitan Stores of
•
Canada was preparing to open a location in Windsor at the Fort Edward Mall.
The Met opened July 19 with Phillip Murley serving as the manager. The new
store, which had a footprint of 30,000 square feet, was also going to feature an in-store “ultra-modern” restaurant called The Cafe Met. The restaurant would seat 69 people and would feature quick snacks as well as full meals.
Feron Company Limited • announced it had signed an agreement to come to Windsor to manufacture cabinets. The company, which had been distributing building products and floor coverings for 25 years through the Atlantic provinces, was opening a new manufacturing division aimed at producing modular design cabinets as well as vanity cabinets.
Sobeys opened a new
• location in Windsor's new Fort Edward Mall, marking the second store opening of the grocery giant in 1973 — and the second Sobeys in the town.
The manager was Eric Boyd, the assistant manager was Douglas Parker, the meat manager was Freeman Benedict, the produce manager was Harold Frank, the head cashier was Mae Fraser and the non-foods manager was Shirley Ward.
Charlene Musolino was
• named Miss Teen Queen of Mount Uniacke and was due to reign over the Mount Uniacke Fireman's Fair.
Excitement was mounting
• as Windsor prepared to host Sam Slick Days. The 1973 festival was going to feature everything from a large street parade (which would start at the new tourist bureau by the causeway and work its way to Gerrish Street), a Miss Sam Slick contest, multiple concerts, a golf tournament, bingo and a dance.
At Save-Easy, customers
• cucumbers could pick up two large for 25 cents, a head of iceberg lettuce for 39 cents, a pound of butter for 69 cents and a pound of bacon for 99 cents.
Showing at the Imperial
•
Theatre in Windsor were Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, A New Star is Born, You Can't Win ‘Em
Babysitter, All, Weekend with the They Only Kill Their Masters, The Wrath of God, A Boy Ten Feet Tall, Sands of the Kalahari, One Eyed Jacks, Pete 'n' Tillie, Cool It Carol, Love is a 4-Letter Word, Man of Violence, Judy's Little NoNo, and the family friendly Treasure Island.
Editor’s Note
The 25 years ago section is temporarily unavailable. If you have a collection of newspapers from 1998, please contact carole.morris-underhill@ saltwire.com.
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