Voices of Guysborough County
For this issue of Coastal Communities News, we've worked with
the folks at the Guysborough Adult Learning Association to give voice
to adult learners in that area of the province. Over the following eight
pages, adult learners reflect on their past experiences, on their present
and future, and on their communities
Introduction
In Their Own Words
by John Jantunen
Tucked away at the edge of a nine-hole golf course and overlooking the
quiet splendour of Chedabucto Bay, Guysborough's old hospital has
been home to the Guysborough County Adult Learning Association
(GALA) for a little over a year now. This location is the fourth
GALA has occupied since its inception ten years ago, and none have been
more appropriate: above all else, GALA is a place of healing. Most of
the people who come into GALA's office are looking for a way to
battle the ailment of chronic underemployment by taking upgrading classes
so they can complete their Grade Twelve through the Nova Scotia School
for Adult Learning (NSSAL), write the General Equivalency Development
(GED) test, or simply return to families and the workplace feeling better
equipped to cope with the demands expected of them. They've recognised
that they have a problem, and they've made the choice to seek a
remedy. Unlike a trip to the hospital though, the diagnosis at GALA is
never terminal and, if the amount of laughter coming from the classroom
is any indication, the medicine is always sweetened with a heaping spoonful
of friendliness and good cheer.
At GALA, explains Grail Sangster, GALA's Administrative
Coordinator, we recognise that the most important aspect
of what we do is to give learners confidence that they can do something
to improve their lives. Making the classes adaptable to their needs and
allowing them to have fun as a group while they learn goes a long way
to showing the learners that what they are doing is a positive step forward.
Once the initial commitment is there, other, equally daunting, challenges
confront both the learners and the GALA staff, not the least of which
is finding practical applications for the skills and knowledge the learners
have gained. Writing the GED or attending NSSAL to further upgrade is
often on the mind of each of the learners, but it's also important
to give them opportunities along the way. In the past, GALA has published
books of learner stories that give them a chance to see, in print, what
they've accomplished. So when Grail received a project proposal
from the Coastal Communities Network (CCN), looking for
adult learners to tell their stories in the pages of Coastal Communities
News, she leapt at the chance. As suits CCN's commitment to grass-roots
community, as well as GALA's belief in the need for flexibility,
the learners were given free reign to choose their own topics. The following
pages are, in fact, grass-roots Guysborough County voices.
John Jantunen is a writer living in Guysborough Intervale
with his wife Tanja, their newborn son Anyk, and their dog Ruff.
Better Late Than Never at All
by Patricia Burke
People told me I was too old to continue my education. If I had listened
to them I
wouldn't be looking forward to graduating this spring from Nova
Scotia Community College (NSCC) in Port Hawkesbury. Instead,
I'd be working whatever hours I could get in the hope of getting
enough to qualify for unemployment.
I quit school when I was eighteen to go to work at the fish plant in Canso.
At that time, fish were plentiful and people were working 48 hours a week,
so my education went by the wayside. But over the years the fishing industry
has declined to the point where it was practically non-existent. So here
I was, without a steady job, and with very little education. Sure, I had
street smarts, but I was lacking in book smarts,
so my prospects of finding another job were pretty thin. Employers look
for people who have certificates and diplomas: few believe in on-the-job
training. So I knew I had to do something about my situation.
In the fall of 2001 I thought long and hard about going back to school
and continuing my education. The Canso plant was enduring one of its many
shutdowns and all I could see was another bleak winter ahead of me, with
time on my hands and no job to go to. I talked things over with my family,
because I would need their support if I were to accomplish what I wanted
to do. With their promised support, I made the call that changed things
for me.
When I first talked to Grail Sangster, Coordinator at the Guysborough
Adult Learning Association's office in Guysborough, I was only interested
in preparing to write the GED, but after meeting with her and finding
out about the Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning Program I decided
to go that route instead. I did my Level Three at the Guysborough Learning
Centre and passed all the subjects required to advance to Level Four.
But Level Four wasn't offered in Guysborough, so if I wanted to
go on I'd have to apply to a Community College. In the spring of
2002 I wrote and passed the GED test in Guysborough. I wrote those tests
more out of curiosity than anything else: I just wanted to see if I could
pass them. I was happy with the fact that I did pass them, but it wasn't
what I wanted for myself. I applied at the NSCC's Strait Campus
and got accepted into its Level Four course.
My year at GALA was a wonderful experience. Going to school there gave
me the chance to ease myself back into the educational system. The place
has a very relaxed atmosphere about it and the people who work there are
very friendly and helpful. I have to give credit to all the people there:
if it wasn't for their support and encouragement, I probably wouldn't
have come as far as I have. And I definitely wouldn't have been
prepared for the challenge of going to school at the Strait Campus without
them.
When I showed up for Orientation Day at the Strait Campus, I was totally
unprepared for the mass of students there. I was tempted to turn around
and head for back home. Fortunately, I didn't do that. It took me
a few weeks to actually get my bearings at the school, and there were
a few times I felt like packing it in and just quitting. But my family
has been so supportive and proud of me through the past two years and
I continue to draw my strength to go on from them. With a lot of dedication
and luck, I hope to receive my Grade Twelve diploma in the spring. The
way I look at it, it's better late than never at all.
Port Felix native Patricia Burke currently lives in St. Peter's,
Richmond County, with her husband Cyrus.
My Second Chance at
an Education
by May Chandler
How did I get my second chance? Through the Guysborough County Adult
Learning
Association (GALA), where I attended classes in 1997-98.
When I heard an adult learning program was coming to the school in our
community of New Harbour, I knew I needed to take part. But, just thinking
about attending classes after all these years made me very nervous, to
say the least. I'd been out of school sixteen years, so going back
was a definitely a big step for me. The first time I went to class, there
were a lot of people there, and I knew a few of them so that helped.
I thanked God I could sit next to someone I knew!
In the beginning, we were all pretty quiet, not sure what to expect. As,
Grail Sansgter, our instructor, introduced herself and talked about the
program, all eyes were on her. Then we were offered the chance to introduce
ourselves. Well, I just started to sweat! I didn't want to speak
at all. I said my few words so fast that I don't know if anyone
understood a word I said. But, after hearing others explain their reasons
for being in the program, we all began to relax. We all realized we were
all there for the same reason to learn!
Once into the routine of going to class, I couldn't wait to get
there. Everyone supported one another in every way they could. Learning,
it turned out, was actually fun. Grail was very supportive of everyone,
and with her help I was able to prepare for and write the GED exam. I
passed on my first effort.
With this second chance at learning I was fortunate enough to land a job
as office assistant at GALA, and this has proven to be a great a way to
learn about all the great things GALA does. I've certainly learned
a lot in the four years I've been here.
So, if anyone out there is thinking about taking upgrading classes, I
say take a chance! GALA and all other adult learning organizations are
out there, just waiting to hear from you. There's nothing to lose
and lots to gain. You could make new friends, and improve your skills.
You'll definitely feel better about yourself! If you think you need
some support, ask a friend to join you. It will make learning that much
more enjoyable.
After all, we're all life-long learners!
May Chandler lives in New Harbour with her husband Fred,
their two children, Steven and Amy, and their cat, Tigger.
Ghost Towns and Rural Treasure
by Jim Munroe
Many years ago, the people of Whitehead and surrounding villages would
get together once a year for a village picnic and fair. These get-togethers
featured wood-chopping competitions, fish-filleting contests, comparing
plants from one another's gardens, and judging home-baked goods.
But, over the years, times have gotten harder. Many people have had to
leave to find work, and lot of things have changed in this area. There
is almost no work for the people still here. Farming was once common,
but it is no more, and the gardens are a thing of the past. Fishing, once
the mainstay of the village economy, has declined severely almost
to extinction.
There are very few people left in the villages around Chedabucto Bay.
People have left to find work, and the few who remain have little time
for get-togethers. If things don't pick up, what little work that
is left will be gone. If jobs continue to disappear everyone will be gone,
and all that will be left will be ghost towns.
People in the city just can't see what people in little villages
have and treasure. Here, we have peace and quiet, still nights, and clean
air.
Whitehead resident Jim Munroe worked for fourteen years at
the Canso fish plant. He and his wife Betty are parents of two sons.
From Someone Who Knows
by Brenda Leblanc
Here I am at 46, and I'm attending classes at GALA (Guysborough
County Adult
Learning Association), because things aren't what they were years
ago. At the age of fifteen, I quit school and went to work at the Canso
fish plant. Back then this would be around the late 1970s
Canso was doing great, and the people were happy and carefree. Education
wasn't a major factor in one's life, and there was lots of
money to be made. We never imagined the economy would go down so fast.
But, the years passed, and Canso slowly went downhill. We had different
companies coming and going, but none wanted to stay for any long-term
commitments. Then, a company came in and, when they pulled out, the trawlers
went with them. People started to get laid off and quotas were hauled
away. The fishery was going down, and people started having doubts about
their livelihood. Then, the fish plant would close for a while and then
re-open, but this too was only temporary. Those who could afford to started
to seek other jobs elsewhere, away from Canso. Now, the plant is closed
almost year-round, few people are working, and the population is way down.
Husbands are leaving their families behind to work, getting home when
they can. This is a very hard time in one's life, but people like
me who left school early to work are now looking for other ways to learn
to better themselves for the sake of the next generation.
I now have two children going to school and I'm trying my best to
attend GALA, to keep house, and to keep up with everything else, but it's
not easy. I'm working hard to get my Grade Twelve, and then I hope
to take other courses I might be interested in.
I've learned that schooling is very important in one's life.
My main goal for my two children is to make sure they get their Grade
Twelve so they don't face the problems I have now. This whole experience
has made me a stronger person, more of a go-getter. I've learned
that you don't stop at learning just one thing, that you always
need to have something to fall back on in case your current situation
changes. Take this, from someone who knows.
Brenda Leblanc lives in Hazel Hill, Guysborough County with
her husband and two growing children.
Life is for Learning
by Noreen Hayne
Over the past couple of years, I've gained a new respect for learning,
and for our
educational system in Nova Scotia. I drooped out of high school in the
late 1970s, and at the time education didn't seem to be an issue.
There were lots of jobs available for those who wanted to work. Through
the years, I worked at various jobs, but I never felt completely satisfied
with the work I was doing. Something, I knew, was missing.
For the last ten or fifteen years, I've wanted to go back to school
and complete my academic Grade Twelve. This desire was partly
due to watching my children graduate with honours and then find success
in their endeavours. When I'd gone to school those many years ago,
my marks were always just above a passing grade. This made me feel unsure
of myself when I thought of going back to school. Could I complete the
work assigned? I found myself thinking that someday I'd
like to return to school and get my Grade Twelve. Someday
was always being pushed ahead.
For the past four years I've had the privilege of working each summer
in the tourism industry, at Historic Sherbrooke Village, and I love it.
But this job requires constant upgrading, an increasing knowledge of Nova
Scotia, so I can provide accurate and helpful information to the travelling
public. In one of the four years working at Sherbrooke Village I had the
opportunity to work one summer in the Costume Design department. Costume
design is something I thoroughly enjoy and have a passion for. At the
end of that tourism season, I realized I wouldn't be returning to
costume design work the next year, and this left me with a great sadness.
Pondering the situation, it occurred to me that I should return to school
and get my Grade Twelve. After that, I told myself, I could get university
training in costume design so that, if the same position became available
again, I'd have a better chance of getting the job.
So, in the winter of 2001, I decided that someday was today!
I phoned the Guysborough County Adult Learning Association (GALA) to find
out the details of returning to school. I was given an appointment the
following week, and my anxieties were high as I travelled to Guysborough
that morning, unsure of what to expect. I was assessed on my knowledge
and acquired skills, and then wrote a test to determine
my academic level. I left to have lunch, and when I returned to the GALA
office I was told I could start at Level Three. There was
a seat waiting for me that very afternoon. I wasn't ready for such
a quick start, but I was reassured that GALA would supply me with what
I needed for the day's class. Since I'd travelled a fair distance,
I figured I might as well make the day worthwhile.
Since that day, I've passed my Level Three exam and
am now back to complete my Level Four. I have great dreams
for the future. Looking back, my year spent with GALA was very memorable.
The people there really understand the complications and anxieties that
are often involved when an adult returns to school. The learning programs
are set up so that everyone can work at their own speed, taking the time
needed to complete a subject. I also made special friends at GALA, people
who felt the same anxieties I did.
To anyone who may be contemplating the idea of returning to school I say,
Go for it! You won't regret it. Learning is fun, and
it provides a lasting feeling of achievement.
Country Harbour resident Noreen Hayne grew up in Bedford
and moved to Guysborough County in the early 1980s, where she soon met
her husband, David.
An Important Part of My Life
by Dolena Lumsden
The most important thing I've ever done is work with a lot of troubled
young people who didn't trust grown-ups. This was called the Guysborough
Boys and Girls Club.
I never intended to be someone who stood out to young people when I first
suggested the idea of a local Boys and Girls Club to the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police (RCMP) in the late 1990s. I hoped the Club would get teenagers
off the street and out of trouble, and provide them something to do on
Friday nights. Nobody seemed to think it would work, that everything would
get torn to pieces. But the Club has worked.
In the beginning, an RCMP officer in our area took charge. He loved sports,
and, most importantly, the young people respected him. They used the gyms
in both the local high school and the elementary school on Friday nights
to play basketball, volleyball, badminton, and other activities. I was
asked to get people to volunteer their time. Many of those I asked were
willing because they wanted to help the teenagers, and we all enjoyed
watching them have fun. They showed us a lot of respect because they knew
we were there for them and it was their Club, and they didn't want
to lose it. One of the highlights for the Club in that first year was
an outing to a theatre in New Glasgow, using money they raised through
50/50 draws and a bake sale.
After about a year, the RCMP officer had to move, and we really missed
him. Suddenly, before I even realized it, I found that I was in charge.
I was the one who seemed to know what to do. The other volunteers were
an important part of keeping the club going for the next couple of years,
and then we joined the Guysborough Youth Development Centre, where there
was another police officer in charge. The Centre offered lots of activities,
such as weight lifting, pool, video games, a VCR and television, and other
things. Most of the equipment was donated to the Centre by people from
near and far.
Unfortunately, this officer had to give up his work with the Club. Once
again, I was asked to hold the group together, and in this I was lucky
to have the help of two intelligent young people, Bonnie Skinner and Erica
Desmond. I was amazed at what they could do, and at their ability to come
up with ideas to help reach out to their own age group.
It was satisfying to see the young people prove themselves, to see the
respect they developed for the rules, the building, and the volunteers.
It was also satisfying to see that a lot of the young people appreciated
the fact that grown-ups really do care. I'm happy to think that
our group might have made a difference in our community.
Dolena Lumsden is a mother of five who lives in Cook's
Cove, near Guysborough, with her husband.
Adult Learning:
Rewards and Inspirations
by Agnes Archibald
My experience with the Guysborough County Adult Learning Association
(GALA) was very rewarding. I left school at a young age, and
over the years I've felt that I'd like some day to complete
my Grade Twelve or write the GED test. Having raised three children, two
of whom are now on their own, I felt that the time was right to do something
about upgrading my education. I heard about the flexibility GALA had to
offer and it was exactly what I was looking for. I have one child still
in school and I work at a family-owned business, so it wasn't possible
for me to attend school on a regular basis.
I gave GALA a call and they set me up with an instructor who got me involved
with something called the Brown Envelope Program. It was
great because it allowed me to work at home and at my own pace, and if
help was needed, an instructor was only a phone call away. Every week,
an envelope was delivered to the local school and my child, who attended
classes there, carried the envelope to and from school. I enjoyed every
aspect of the program. The material provided to me was both interesting
and educational. It inspired in me the need to continue on, to complete
the program. My confidence grew with each assignment completed and sent
back in the brown envelope.
My instructor was very helpful, especially on that one day each week set
aside to help adult learners in the community. Meetings were arranged
to explain to us how the program worked and what our options were when
we finished.
I found this very helpful and informative. I was made to feel very comfortable
when attending both the meetings and the classes. I would strongly recommend
the Brown Envelope Program to anyone interested in upgrading their education.
I was especially pleased that confidentiality was a big part of the Program.
My experience with GALA inspired in me a desire to further my education,
and I look forward to going on and taking a business course.
Agnes Archibald lives with her husband in Newtown, Guysborough
County. They have three children.
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Preston Area Farmers
Public Policy Hits the Farmhouse Gate
by Scott Milsom
The first Black settlers in the Preston area were Loyalists who settled
there in 1783-84. In 1796, they were joined by several hundred Black
Jamaicans who had taken part in an unsuccessful rebellion on that Caribbean
island and were then deported to Nova Scotia, where many worked on the
battlements at Citadel Hill in Halifax. (Many, though not all, of these
people called Maroons after the name of the failed uprising would go
on in 1800 to follow several hundred Black Loyalists who had left Nova
Scotia a few years earlier to help establish the West African nation
of Sierra Leone.) Then, after the War of 1812, yet another wave of Black
immigrants arrived, former American slaves who had been promised freedom
for taking the British side in that conflict.
Those early Black settlers were faced with vast forests growing on
rocky, generally infertile, soil. But with axes and horses they worked
hard, and Eventually the soil yielded its bounty. And not only by providing
food on tables for the people of Preston and area: throughout the nineteenth
and into the twentieth century, much of the meat and vegetables on the
plates of Halifax's wealthy south-end families, as well as on the plates
of the city's more working-class north-end families, came from the Preston
area.
Today, people are still farming in the Preston area, people who are continuing
a family tradition that goes back generations. Jerry Thomas is one of
them. His hog and cattle operation is situated at the end of the Lower
Partridge River Road in East Preston. A knock on the door is met with,Come
on in, by Jerry's wife, Julie. As their son Jordan runs back
to the barns to get his Dad, Julie serves me hot coffee. I learn that
she was born not far from Rome, Italy, but emigrated as a young girl to
Hamilton, Ontario with her family. (Looking over the fields toward the
hog and cattle barns, I wonder what odds I might have gotten had I, when
Julie was a young girl, wanted to bet that she would end up here.)
When Jerry comes in the back door with Jordan in tow, he takes off his
big rubber boots and leads me into a downstairs room where heat radiates
from a roaring wood stove. With his two-year-old daughter in his lap,
clinging to him happily with arms around his neck, Jerry tells me with
a wry smile, We call this ‘Bedrock Farms,' and my Dad
built it up into a viable operation.
Jerry then explains that as a man in his 20s, he moved to Toronto in the
late 1970s, where he worked as a courier for several years. I
met Julie there, he tells me, and we were married in 1988.
Then, in 1992, Jordan came along, and we decided that we wanted to come
back here to help my Dad with the farm and raise a family. Jessica
arrived in May of 2000.
Jerry belongs to the Preston and Area Livestock Association, a group formed
in 1999 to lobby government for policies to help farmers in the district
who are facing increasing difficulty keeping their farms afloat. When
we started the Association, Jerry says, we had 40 members,
but now we're down to about 20. It's getting harder and harder
to be able to afford to farm. And of all the Association's members,
I'm just about the only one who hasn't yet taken off-farm
work to stay above water.
Things are not quite so busy at Bedrock Farms as they once were. Three
years ago, we had as many as 700 hogs and 80 beef cattle on the farm here,
Jerry explains. But now, we're down to just 300 hogs and
a handful of cattle.
For many years, Jerry's beef-and-pork operation relied on organic
wastes, cooked on-site, to feed his livestock. But after a hoof-and-mouth-disease
scare in Great Britain in the mid-1990s, this relatively inexpensive source
of feed was no longer permitted. We had to switch to grain, most
of it from out West, and that's a lot more expensive than organic
feed, Jerry says. I can remember a time when farming was
a long-honoured tradition in families and communities. Now, it has become
just another white-collar business, strictly a bottom-line game. And government
policies are forcing all but the biggest farmers out of business.
One of the reasons that Western grain is expensive is because a federal
program called the Feed Freight Assistance Program, which began during
World War Two to help level the playing field across the country in the
livestock business, was wound down through the 1980s and finally terminated
in 1995. And while feed costs have risen, farm-gate prices have not.
I get 65 cents per pound for fully dressed pork when I deliver
it to Larsen's in Berwick, Jerry explains. Go into
the grocery stores and you'll see that pork sells for anywhere from
four to twelve dollars a pound. Someone is getting rich, but it sure isn't
the farmer.
Many Preston-area farmers own woodlots, which they have long been able
to rely on for income in years when farming operations yielded lean results.
But that is no longer possible. In 2000, the European longhorn beetle
was discovered in Point Pleasant Park, presumably an unwelcome hitchhiker
in cargo unloaded at a nearby container terminal. Soon, specimens of the
pest were being found outside the Park's boundaries, and a quarantine
was imposed on the sale of wood from an area surrounding Point Pleasant.
That area includes the communities around Preston. When it started,
we were told the quarantine might last six months, Jerry complains.
Now, it's three years and running. I don't think the
bug is around Preston, because it can't survive the winters here,
and I certainly haven't found the bug in my wood. But, still,
Jerry and others like him are prevented from supplementing their farm
income through their woodlots. All they can do with them is harvest their
own firewood and pay taxes on the land.
Taxes are a sore point for Jerry and others like him. I'm
taxed on my land, on my feed, on my gas, on my electricity, and on my
insurance, he says. Farming is getting harder and harder,
but I'm still proud to be a farmer. It won't ever make me
rich, but I hope it will always put food on my family's dinner table.
After warming ourselves against the cold with coffee, Jerry and I bundle
up and walk down the road and across his fields for a visit to his hog
barns. Although I'd learned from Jerry that his operation has been
scaled back in recent years, to my layperson's eyes and ears there
seems to be a lot of activity going on. There are baby pigs, junior and
juvenile pigs, mother pigs, and father pigs, and they all seem to be squealing.
But as Jerry shows me around and explains how his hog barns are organized
there's a great deal of segregation of animals in different
stages of growth and in various conditions it becomes clear to
me that there is a lot of organization in what at first appeared to me
to be a porcine madhouse. I raise two breeds of pigs here,
he tells me as a barnyard cat scurries at breakneck pace between both
our legs, Durocs and Yorks. The Duroc is a heavy breed, and it
yields really good roasts. The York is a leaner animal, and it makes for
good, lean bacon. And, when I inter-breed them, I get the best of both
worlds.
Back at the table by the farmhouse wood stove, Jerry outlines what he
and other members of the Preston and Area Livestock Association are looking
for. Farmers in other parts of the province seem able to get some
help from government, he says, but there seems to be a mind-set
in some circles that there's no agriculture in the Halifax Regional
Municipality south of the airport or west of the Musquodoboit Valley.
All we're asking for is one-time help to upgrade our barns and equipment
and increase the size of our herds. We've talked to the provincial
Farm Loan Board, but the conditions it wants to impose on any loans would
mean we'd all be out of business within a few years. So, we're
looking at getting help from the feds. Without some help from somewhere,
farming will soon be a thing of the past in this area. The farms still
here will be gone, replaced by housing developments and golf courses.
And, of course, that will mean that even more of our food is imported,
with all the implications that has for the global environment.
After polishing off a final coffee and giving my thanks to Jerry, Julie,
and Jessica I don't know where Jordan's gotten to
I bid farewell and head out on the short drive back to Halifax.
As I make my way through the suburbia that is beginning to encroach upon
the farms of the Preston area, my mind wanders a bit. The winding down
and ending of a 50-year long government program. Taxation policies. What
I pay for pork chops or bacon, and where my money goes. Canada's
response to hoof-and-mouth disease in Great Britain. The arrival of the
European longhorn beetle, and the government response to it. Rousing out
of my musings, it occurs to me that, taken separately, there might well
be good reasons for the price of pork, for public policies devised to
respond to hoof-and-mouth disease across the Atlantic, and to an unwanted
trans-Atlantic hitchhiker. And, even for taxes being what they are. Taken
separately, sure. But, taken together, they add up to what might be an
insurmountable barrier placed in the way of people like Jerry Thomas,
who only want to continue a tradition that has thrived in the Preston
area for generations. That barrier was put there by government: surely
government should help give Jerry and other small farmers a leg up to
get over it.
For more about the Preston and Area Livestock Association,
call Jerry Thomas at 433-1297. (Call after supper: Jerry still farms during
the day, at least for now.)
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Book Review
Adventure, Tempered with Humour
by John Cameron
The St. Mary's and Other Waters: Fishing Tales Told
Out of School, by Charles Widgery, Glenelg Publishing, Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia, 2002; 123 pages, $13.95.
The American writer, naturalist, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau
said: Every man's got to believe in something. I believe
I'll go fishing. At an early age, Charles Widgery adopted
Thoreau's philosophy of life, and went fishing. In this, his first
book, he has taken the magic of nature and woven a tapestry of adventure,
humour, and tranquility.
If you fish, you'll love this book. If you don't, you'll
wish you did. As one who has spent most of his 63-plus years adjacent
to, in, or on the St. Mary's River, I found this book to be a wonderful
and accurate portrayal of river life. Although it was written
primarily to entertain, this work nevertheless has an underlying and important
message for all who care about and treasure our rural way of life. Like
the American poet Joyce Kilmer, who wrote, I think that I shall
never see / A poem lovely as a tree, Charles Widgery has been able
to capture some very rich imagery in his book. He discovered early in
life that rivers, lakes, and nature can be a source of really good poetry,
and of great adventure.
Whenever an author can arouse the child within, and so take us back to
life's simplest pleasures, he or she has written something of value.
From the sheer beauty of the early morning mist rising to meet the morning
sun to the raging anger of a river in fury, Charles Widgery has done with
his pen what accomplished artists do with their brushes.
The book is filled with suspense and rich imagery, as is shown in a chapter
describing a journey to Calf Moose Lake, deep in the Guysborough County
wilds. So vivid is the portrayal of the swollen brooks and river that
I could easily imagine I was in the van with Charles and his companions.
Within every fisherman there is a drive, coupled with some well honed
instincts, that causes us to walk on the edge To say that
this behaviour borders on the insane and bizarre is not an exaggeration:
just read this book.
The adventure in these pages is well tempered with humour. Although many
memorable meals were served back at the camp, none are quite
as memorable as Cecil's sea duck stew. This chapter
alone is worth the price of the book.
For those who have forgotten or need to be reminded of the peace, tranquility,
and suspense to be found in the forests of Nova Scotia, this book is a
worthwhile read. Listen to Widgery's description of wilderness sounds:
I have always been supersensitive to the sounds made
by different trees, especially when the wind blows through a forest.
Pines whisper and maple leaves rattle. Spending a windy night in the
woods under a coniferous canopy can be a memorable experience to the
uninitiated, because of the whooshing spruce. Beech, which retain most
of their leaves throughout fall and winter, have caused seasoned hunters
to look anxiously over their shoulders. With a sudden breeze, their
leaves emit a crashing sound that can send cold shivers up and down
a spine.
Charles Widgery has taken his readers on a heart-warming journey. He
concludes his book with these words: Any day spent on the St. Mary's
is a joy landing a fish is just a bonus! Reading The St.
Mary's and Other Waters is, by itself, a joy. And, if you know anything
of the St. Mary's and surrounding waters, well, that will just be
a bonus.
John Cameron lives in Stillwater, Nova Scotia, close to the
banks of the St. Mary's, and he, too, adopted Thoreau's philosophy
early in life. To order The St. Mary's and Other Waters,
write to Glenelg Publishing at 37 Mount Edward Road, Dartmouth, N.S. B2W
3K5.
Poetry
Roachvale Twins
Poems by Betty Lyons
On A Blue Summer Day
If I could fly
So high in the sky
I'd lie in the clouds
And watch them drift by.
On a blue summer day,
The wind in my hair,
I'd rest there for hours
Without any care.
Just me and The Lord
Enjoying our space
Near Heaven on high
With all of God's grace.
No chores to do,
No bills to pay,
I wish I could stay
Forever this way,
Just me and God,
On a blue summer day.
But blue summer days
They never last,
And reality jolts me back to the task,
Of mowing the lawn
And raking the hay.
There's so much to do,
On a blue summer day.
Back In Time
If I could go back in time,
Just for a little while, I know
I'd choose the time I was a child,
Down in Halfway Cove.
Winter nights, they were the best,
Skating on the pond,
With all our friends and neighbours,
Who came to play along.
We'd sit around the bonfire,
Blazing in the night
And tell tales of ghost stories,
And cause someone a fright.
Oh, those days I'll treasure,
Of all my memories,
With a lively horse hitched to the sleigh
Bells ringing in the breeze.
Moonlit nights out coasting
My sisters, brothers and I,
With some neighbourhood children,
Who chanced to stop by.
Our frozen toes and noses,
We never seemed to mind.
For tomorrow was a school day,
And we'd leave it all behind.
Those precious childhood memories,
I never shall forget.
For all too soon we're older,
And then we will regret.
The grey hair, lines and wrinkles,
And time that has gone fast.
That's why I sit and reminisce,
About the days long past.
Betty Lyons is a mother of two children living in Roachvale,
Guysborough County.
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Hope Amid the
Flames of War?
Editorial Note:
As the following letter forewarned, things indeed have changed since
the words below were penned. Nonetheless, we run this missive in the hope
that its essentially hopeful message will be a sign of things to come.
by Sally Langille
Over the past several years, there has been a growing feeling in our
coastal and rural communities, and in the wider world, that democracy
what some call our civil society is in
danger. People in the fishery, as just one example, stood up in the
late 1980s and early ‘90s to say that federal policies were driving
our groundfish stocks to an inevitable collapse. The policies continued,
and the collapse duly came. As just a second example, people voiced
their opposition to the GST, but we got it nevertheless, and even though
we had the satisfaction of turfing out the Mulroney government in favour
of a certain political party that campaigned against the GST, both tax
and party remain in place today. As the ‘90s wore on, the reputation
of democracy took beating after beating, and more and
more people were mouthing phrases like, The politicians will
do whatever they want, regardless of what we say, or You
can't fight the powers that be, so what's the use?
People in communities all across Nova Scotia and beyond have been hearing
such mutterings with increasing frequency. And each one is another tiny
blow against our democracy.
This isn't to say that the mutterers are right. When the right people
make the right pleas to the right people, things can still be changed
for the better. But the growth of this feeling of powerlessness has accelerated,
and it's very discouraging: the more the mutterers repeat their
mantra, the closer to reality does it become.
This phenomenon is not restricted to Canada alone. Across the Western
world, commentators of various sorts have noted this growing public resignation
to powerlessness. But sometimes, big issues and big events can give rise
to big hopes and big changes. Such was the case, I believe, on February
15. People who feel helpless to change things do not march in the streets
against war: they stay home and nurture their feelings of helplessness.
But, on February 15, in their millions upon millions in Australia,
in the United Kingdom, in Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, indeed, in
the United States itself and elsewhere around the world people
decided that they did have a say in how the world unfolds. The same thing
happened here in Canada, where, in our hundreds of thousands (at least),
we gathered in groups to insist that our opinions count.
How events will unfold in the Middle East over the coming days, weeks,
and months is, of course, uncertain. What direct effects this massive
public outpouring will have on those bent on war will probably never be
known in precise measure. Certainly, the situation in that troubled corner
of the world will not be the same when you read this as they are as I
write these words.
But, whatever their long-term effects, there's something new about
the atmosphere of these demonstrations that is very encouraging. I'm
a veteran of Halifax demonstrations, and over the past many years, it's
usually been the same aging faces, the usual suspects, who
show up for or against a given cause. But when an estimated 2,000 people
gathered in Halifax, first in January and then again on February 15, these
were not only larger than any rallies in living memory there were
other things different about them too. The make-up of the people taking
part was far broader and more representative of the general population
than had been the case previously. It wasn't just the normal coming
together of social activists: for most, it seems this was not about politics
at all. It was about morality. And it was about people's feeling
that their voice matters. And, for most, I think it's fair to say,
these were the first demonstrations they had ever taken part in. And,
most encouraging of all, the majority of the faces were young, giving
something of the lie to the image many have that our young people are
alienated and disengaged from the wider world. Well, certainly not these
young people.
There were so many people on the streets of Halifax insisting that their
voices counted for something that traffic was terribly snarled. Demonstrators
paced block after block past people in cars who weren't going anywhere
soon. But, rather than grumbling about the inconvenience they were suffering,
most were smiling as we walked by, and many waved and honked loudly to
show their support for peace.
Some commentators including those pro-war advocates who are trying
to establish the completely unproven connection that Washington is trying
to make in the public mind between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein
would argue that what goes on in far-away places like the Middle
East doesn't have much affect on life in Nova Scotia's rural
and coastal communities. But there are those who think otherwise, and
this was borne out on February 15 when people gathered to add their voices
to the global call for peace in bone-chilling cold not only in Halifax,
but also in Sydney, Port Hawkesbury, Antigonish, Truro, Wolfville, Yarmouth,
and Annapolis Royal.
Yes, you read right. Annapolis Royal, population 550. I have it on good
authority that in that hotbed hamlet of political turmoil, 70 people,
three dogs, and a horse turned out for peace. And in Yarmouth,
despite the fact that it had been announced on the local radio station
that the rally was to be cancelled (due to cold, it seems), more than
100 people braved the weather to oppose war. (I did some research to try
to discover the last time there were gatherings on such a scale about
an international issue in places like Annapolis Royal and Yarmouth. I
turned up nothing.)
Despite all this, there may well soon be war in Iraq. If there is, you
can count on the size of the protests to grow even more. But, whatever
transpires, there is much to be cheered about in what we're now
seeing, locally and globally. It takes year upon year of disturbing and
discouraging political culture to convince people who once believed
or whose parents once believed that they had a voice in our democracy,
but that this is no longer the case. Sometimes, though, a crisis
a touchstone of morality and values can turn things around overnight.
And then, citizens who care about their government's role in a far-off
land might also come to see that they have a real stake, and a role to
play, in how their own communities move forward. And they won't
again be so easily persuaded that democracy isn't for them.
Sally Langille lives in Northwest Cove, Lunenburg County.
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Rural Small Business
Getting the Tools
to Get the Job Done
by Leanne Hachey
Rural Nova Scotia is unique. It is unlike other rural areas across the
country. For
starters, seeing that half of the province's population lives in
rural communities and small towns, rural is almost the norm.
That's an honour not claimed by any province outside Atlantic Canada.
The communities within rural Nova Scotia boast economic diversity. They
reap the benefit of a relatively compact geography, with a world-renowned
port at their doorstep. And they are the heart of a province known around
the world as a prime tourism destination. While rural Nova Scotia's
assets are many, it does share one fundamental characteristic with rural
areas around the coun-try and the world it is changing. Its population
is aging, its youth are leaving, and its eco-nomy continues to shift from
the primary sector from the fishery, forestry, mining, and agricultural
industries to the service and knowledge sectors.
Within rural Nova Scotia, these changes are occurring in various ways
and at a different pace in some areas as compared to others. There is
a cluster of communities that, relative to the communities on the periphery,
are vibrant. These are in the counties that hug Halifax Regional Municipality:
Hants, Lunenburg, Kings, and Colchester Counties.
But the counties of the periphery are experiencing a different reality,
with some falling farther and farther behind. The population of Guysborough
County has shrunk by 24 percent since 1986. Regional or rural development
policies, once broad-brushed, must recognize these differences and work
with communities to develop initiatives that target areas of concern within
each community. That means initiatives must originate from within the
community. And within each community lies one set of institutions that
provide the pulse of the rural economy: small business.
Evidence shows that Canada's small and medium-sized businesses
play a greater role in the national economy than this sector does in the
United States. In fact, some would suggest the Canadian economy's
strength is partially due to this predominant role played by the small-business
sector. In rural areas, really small businesses play an even greater role.
Micro-enterprises businesses employing fewer than ten people
account for 91 percent of all businesses in Nova Scotia's smaller
communities. In many communities, small businesses are the only game in
town.
It is for this very reason that the Canadian Federation of Independent
Business (CFIB) sought to determine the role small business owners
see for themselves in developing the economies and the communities
of rural Nova Scotia. CFIB surveyed its members in rural Nova
Scotia to ask their views on the challenges and barriers to development
within their communities. But we didn't just want them to list their
issues. We also asked them for some solutions. We've titled the
resulting report Rural Nova Scotia Means Business.
Total tax burden and regulation topped the list of challenges, for good
reason: both take money and time away from the business owner. Ask any
business owner and you'll be told that these are resources he or
she would rather sink back into their business and their community. For
instance, Nova Scotia is the only province that imposes a Business
Occupancy Tax on all businesses in the province. This tax is a
percentage of the assessed value of the portion of real property occupied
or used, and it is tacked on top of the commercial property tax. Neighbouring
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia's biggest regional competitor, got rid
of the tax in 1983. As well, New Brunswick has legislated that the rate
on real property classified as non-residential (or commercial),
can only be one-and-one-half times the rate on real property classified
as residential. Compare this to the rate small business
pays in communities such as Guysborough: more than two-and-a-half times
the residential rates! This is money the small business owner would rather
use to upgrade his or her shop or to hire another employee. If we want
businesses to stay and grow in our rural areas, we need to address the
disproportionate amount we're asking them to fork out in taxes.
As mentioned above, CFIB didn't just ask business owners to point
out barriers to growth: we also challenged them to outline some solutions.
Regarding taxation and regulatory issues, a better business climate (lower
taxes and less regulation), was cited as a way to break down barriers
to growth. But business owners went beyond the need to improve the business
climate: they also said that a greater emphasis on the rural impacts of
government policy is required if Nova Scotia's rural communities
are going to thrive.
At present, there is no tool in widespread use that allows government
at any level to deter-mine the kind of impact a program
or policy has in rural areas. So, in the absence of such a tool, government
uses a one-size-fits-all approach to governing. The problem is simple:
not only does rural Nova Scotia have different needs and chal-lenges than
urban Nova Scotia, each rural com-munity is different. Surely the impact
of policies would be different in Hants County than in Shel-burne County.
This is one point CFIB is stressing to the provincial government.
Finally, CFIB asked small business owners to outline what they saw as
their role in their communities. Not only do small-business owners see
themselves as employers: they also see themselves as consumers of local
goods and services, as investors, educators, volunteers, and leaders in
their communities.
And this really is what it's all about. At the end of the day,
small business owners know it's about more than just making a profit.
It's about being able to choose to live and work where you want
to live and work, and about contributing to the community you call home.
So, while small business may be the economic engine of rural Nova Scotia,
it's just as important to small business owners that they personify
the heart of their communities. But as with everything else in life, in
order for them to do that, they've got to be given the tools to
get the job done.
Leanne Hachey is Policy Analyst for the Nova Scotia Office
of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. For a copy of Rural
Nova Scotia Means Business, please contact Leanne at 420-1006, or
by e-mail at <leahac@cfibmail.com>.
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Coastal Communities News
Acknowledgements
Coastal Communities News is published bi-monthly by the Coastal
Communities Network, a non-profit society registered in the province of
Nova Scotia.
Coastal Communities News is made possible by the generous efforts
of many volunteers, and by financial contributions from Human Resources
Development Canada, and by donations and in-kind contributions from the
Nova Scotia Department of Education and Culture, as well as from member
groups and organizations.
We welcome all articles and submissions, from individuals and groups,
with content in keeping with the role and nature of this magazine. We
reserve the right to edit all submissions. Except where additional credit
has been given, all articles are prepared by the Editor and Editorial
Board.
Join the Coastal Communities Network
The Coastal Communities Network is a volunteer association of organizations
whose mission is to provide a forum to encourage dialogue, share information,
and create strategies and actions that promote the survival and development
of Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities.
"A Large Voice for Small Communities"
CCN is made up of organizations rooted in Nova Scotia's coastal and
rural communities, and it is the diversity of its membership that gives
it strength. Your organization, and your community, can help CCN determine
its direction and strengthen its voice still further. Join the Coastal
Communities Network today.
How to Become Involved
in the Coastal Communities Network
CCN's strength lies in its membership, which is made up of organizations
rooted in Nova Scotia's coastal communities. The range of member organizations
is very broad, including churches, fish harvester groups, municipalities,
community and regional economic development agencies, unions, universities,
and local community groups. CCN welcomes the participation of any organization
that represents the interests of a coastal community or issue and is interested
in working together with similar groups across the province. Your organization
can become involved in a number of ways:
— by participating in regular monthly meetings of the CCN membership.
These are held in Truro (usually on the first Tuesday of each month),
and allow representatives from member organizations to review what is
happening in coastal communities across the province, plan actions on
issues of common concern, and review progress on CCN-sponsored projects;
— by getting on our mailing list to receive regular copies of Coastal
Communities News. Send us your name and address by mail or fax, or
call us directly;
— by contributing written articles to Coastal Communities News,
and so letting everyone know what's happening in your community;
— by taking part in CCN workshops and information sessions. Special
events like this are held on topics of importance to coastal communities
(for example, community economic development, co- management in the fishery,
etc);
— by inquiring about CCN's resource library, which includes information,
reports, and studies on topics that affect the future and sustainability
of coastal communities.
You may contact us at:
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Volume 8. Issue
4. (Mar/Apr 2003) 
