Democracy and Video

Dan Mills has sent a posting about a video and relates it to issues of democracy in America. HOwever there is no link to the video or a title or a URL. It must be a fairly new one about the second world war. See if you can find it if you are interested and let me and others know. Before I post an excerpt from his email, I will say that it dovetails with my thoughts about closed board meetings- an issue I am dealing with currently. How many of you are in an organization that has closed board meetings? Do you feel excluded from a process that you are a party to nonetheless? What do you think/feel about it? Are closed meetings the norm in Nova Scotia? Do you wish to change the "closed" meetings to open ones? Or do you not mind because _____ fill in the blanks. You can post to the blog or send me an email at kathleen1954@auracom.com From blogger.

Here's an excerpt from Dan Mill's email: "Like most other humans,I've shed my share of tears and am unashamed to say so.....I often wondered if I had any left to shed! But just now I rec'd this video from my bro -and despite our mutual love, we don't always see 'eye-to-eye' on issues of the day.....But 'brothers/sisters' wether of blood,nationality, community, and culture need not be afraid to be "open books" one to the other, for that is what "builds a living, vibrant Democracy." Healthy-open-objective-dialogue- and not the closed door betrayer of democracy we so often are forced to live today...:

Community Meeting with Police

via Linda Gregory:

Subject: Meeting with police


Hello All,

Wanted to let you know there will be a meeting to discuss concerns with the RCMP

Also any questions, concerns or opinions anyone would like to discuss with me

Wed Sept 22/10

7p.m.

Digby Neck Con. School

Sandy Cove

Lull in Posts

I'm sorry for the lull in posts, recently. My mother became seriously ill and has died. It has been a topsy turvy and sad time. Your blogger, Kathleen

Destination SW Nova News

Destination Southwest Nova Association Newsletter
Your Connection to what's happening in the Tourism Industry

In This Issue:



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2011 Doer's & Dreamer's
Editorial and Festival Updates
"Lights Along the Shore" Lighthouse Festival, Schedule of Events
DSWNA Awards Festivals & Events Funding
Important Dates:
Let's Talk Tourism Sessions:
October 6, 1:00pm, Rodd Grand Hotel, Yarmouth
October 7, 1:00pm, Pine View Inn (formerly Wandlyn Inn), Coldbrook
Award Nominations:
2010 Crystal Tourism Awards of Excellence- deadline October 15, 2010
2010 Culinary Tourism Thought Leadership World Summit
Spirit NS Local Food Award 2010 - nomination form
Reports, Statistics & Studies
Visitor Information Centre Statistics, May, June & July
DSWNA website statistics - August 2010
Media Monitor - August
Canadascope
Take the 2010 Canadian Tourism Sector Compensation Study
Provincial Facts & Figures
Funding Programs:
Building Communities Through Arts & Heritage Program
Small Business Internship Program
Inter-action: Canada's New Multiculturalism Grants and Contributions Program
Seasonal Tourism Business potential property tax savings
Translation Assistance Program
Resources & Opportunities
Events NS Request for Proposals - deadline Sept 16, 2010
InTouch newsletter
Experience Nova Scotia: A Toolkit
Festivals & Events Submissions
Partner News:
Meetings & Events Calendar
Shag Harbour Incident Society welcomes 1,000th visitor
Lunenburg Farmer's Market wins NS Local Food Award
Welcome to New Partners:
Centre Stage Theatre
Rendez Vous de la Baie
The Sword and Anchor

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2011 Doer's & Dreamer's
Work has begun on the 2011 Doers and Dreamers. Over the next few weeks, you will receive a letter and form in the mail from Nova Scotia Tourism. This is to update and confirm your listing in the 2011 Doers and Dreamers.

The deadlines to return your completed form back to Nova Scotia Tourism are as follows:
Outdoor and Tour Operators: Sept 15th
Restaurants: Sept 30th
Click here for Editorial & Festival Update information - deadline Sept 15th



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DSWNA Awards Festivals & Events Funding


Destination Southwest Nova Association (DSWNA), in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage awarded Festivals and Events Funding Assistance cheques to several festival and event organizers and communities at various visitor information centres in the region recently.

The Regional Tourism Association, representing the Fundy Shore & Annapolis Valley, Yarmouth & Acadian Shores and South Shore, works with the Department to provide Festivals and Events Assistance funding to those organizations that are able to impact on incremental visitation and spending to the Province. Congratulations to all of the recipients!



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Festivals & Events Submissions
Destination Southwest Nova Association showcases the unique and exciting Festivals & Events the area offers to visitors. Promote your festival or event by filling out this online form! Please call: (902) 645-2307 or jbalser@dswna.com if you have any questions.

Also put your Festival or Event on novascotia.com, click here for their tutorial.

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Shag Harbour Incident Society Welcomes 1,000th visitor

The Shag Harbour Incident Society opened in a new location for the 2010 tourist season. The building has proven worth the work, with numbers being up from last year. Visitors have been from all over the world, a lot from Ontario this year. To compare visitor numbers last year on Oct. 2nd we had 1,049 visitors, as of today. Each year we present the 1,000th visitor with a gift from the museum, this year our 1,000th visitor was little Eddie Smith of Boston, Ma. We are hoping to reach 2,000 by closing in Sept. Over the winter months we hope to do more work on displays and get our upstairs section ready for the 2011 year.

ADEDA News

Farm Focus
The farmers in our region are all saying it’s been a good season. And one of the interesting aspects of our agriculture industry is the varied approaches and methods that can be found here. One of the newer approaches is “biodynamic” farming and a young couple, who operate the newly formed Bear River Agricultural Co-operative in Waldec, Annapolis County, are happy to show how this innovative new concept works.

You can visit with Tilo and Saskia Kolass at their farm this weekend as part of the provincial Open Farm Day program. As a matter of fact there are a number of opportunities to see our inventive agricultural entrepreneurs at work on September 19. In addition to Bear River Farm, the Wild Rose Farm’s organic operation in Gilbert’s Cove; the Pinehill Deer and Raspberries Farm in Brighton; the Annapolis Highland Vineyards and Winery in Bear River East ; and the den Haan Enterprises facilities in Lawrencetown will all be open that day to show visitors around. You can get more information by visiting the Open farm web site at www.gov.ns.ca/agri/agaware/openfarmday.shtml. Take the occasion to see how healthy and imaginative food options are increasingly being made available to us.

Savour the Flavour
And after you’ve taken up the invitations to view the local farm processes, get ready to taste the results. There are a number of ways to treat your gastronomic cravings at this time of year. Of course there are always our abundant farmers’ markets offering everything possible. But you can participate as well. A couple of great ways are to attend the upcoming Fall for Bear River festival, and to plan a culinary tour of Annapolis Digby by checking out the sensational seasonal entrees that’ll be available as part of Tastes of the Annapolis Valley Festival.

We truly live in an area of the world that’s blessed with abundance, especially at this time of year. And we have the opportunity to actually “follow the food” from the field to the table. Take these opportunities to satisfy your curiosity as well as your taste buds.

News From Under and Over the Bay
Over 100 people turned out in Westport to listen to 10 speakers as part of an information session to review Fundy Tidal Inc.’s plans to test a small scale tidal energy turbine in the area. The purpose of the exercise will be to test the concept on a small scale. The next step for Fundy Tidal is to finalize permits and regulatory matters along with funding before proceeding with a test of the actual equipment in the fall or spring of next year. ADEDA Development Officer Terry Thibodeau attended the session and said he thought the results were very positive. Partners for the project include Dalhousie and Acadia universities, Alberta based New Energy Corporation, Clare Machine Works, Bear River Plastics and Innovative Fisheries Products Ltd. Meanwhile, tidal energy proponents of a much bigger scale were also eyeing the potential of the Fundy. A U.K. company that is about to commission one of the world’s largest marine energy turbines off the coast of Scotland has targeted the Bay of Fundy for future projects.

These developments were part of the message given by ADEDA Managing Director Mike Gushue last week when he had the opportunity to brief the federal Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Hon. Keith Ashfield, during his visit to Digby. The briefing took place at the Digby ferry terminal and Gushue particularly stressed the importance of the Fundy ferry service and Digby’s port infrastructure improvements to prepare for looming development opportunities.

With all the activity designed to harness the underwater power potential of the Bay, the presentation to the ACOA Minister also offered an interesting observation when it was mentioned that companies working on both sides of the Bay often fly between their operational sites, with the flying time between Saint John and Digby reported to be about 15 minutes. That’s the kind of increasing activity that bound to give further impetus to the efforts to establish and grow a new aviation club at Digby Annapolis Regional Airport.

Celebrate Ciderfest
What with all the chatter about farm visits and local produce in this week’s newsletter I sure wasn’t going to forget about one of the longest standing fall celebrations in our area taking place this week. The 27th annual “Ciderfest” will be happening in Bridgetown from September 16-19. So plan to drop by in between your farm excursions to participate in the many activities being offered. I’m a big fan of cider – sometimes beginning and ending my day with a glass or two (different types of course). Oh no –why is The Wurzels “I Am a Cider Drinker” worming through my head at this moment. OMG – now it’s “I’ve Got a Brand New Harvester”. I love those guys but it’s obviously time to sign off for this week!

Till next week;

Peter

Peter MacLellan
Annapolis Digby EDA
86 Atlantic Avenue
PO Box 271
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia
Canada B0S 1H0

Tel: (902) 638-3490
Fax: (902) 638-8106
E: communications@annapolisdigby.com

We invite you to visit us anytime at www.annapolisdigby.com.

Beware: Survey

This evening I received a phone call from a "company" purporting to be doing a survey on renewable energy in Nova Scotia. The introductory questions were kind of funny and intrusive. The main questions, although ostensibly about renewable energy in Nova Scotia except for one question *were only about the wind farm on Digby Neck". Then the person wanted to know how educated I am and how much money I make.
You can say "no answer" to questions you don't like, you know, so do.
The caller's phone number was blocked. I thought about an answer I made and wanted to change it, but couldn't. Someone should attempt to find out the name of the person or the survey company if there is one. And certainly attempt to find out the use of a person's answers to these questions. And yes, please let me know. Kathleen

ADEDA News

Boatloads of Activity
Hard to believe we’re now into September and Fall is fast approaching. It’s been a busy summer for many of our tourism operators and one of the strongest indicators of that increased activity has been the dramatically expanded traffic over the past few months on the Princess of Acadia. The “Princess”, as she is fondly referred to around here, is the hardworking vessel that transports vehicles and passengers across the Bay of Fundy between the port of Saint John, New Brunswick and our port of Digby - Nova Scotia’s foremost Fundy seaport.

There’s been a 25 % increase in passenger traffic over this past season and the operating company, Bay Ferries, has announced that the Princess of Acadia service will accordingly add three extra weekly crossings to handle the demand.

While it’s great to see the service experiencing such success, it’s also led a number of business and community groups who have been advocating for an improved and expanded service to renew their efforts to secure long term commitments. The call is for a new vessel to replace the aging “Princess” and a commitment from all levels of government to pledge support.

The importance of the Fundy ferry service and port infrastructure improvements for Digby were among the points made by ADEDA’s Managing Director Mike Gushue in his presentation to federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea last week. The Minister, who was accompanied by our Member of Parliament for West Nova, Greg Kerr, met with a number of community groups during her busy visit to the area.

Tapping New Energy Options
As they have all summer, new energy options seemed to be a big focus of local business interest. On the large stage, Canada’s outgoing Consul for New England said in an interview that the Premiers of Atlantic Canada continue to work hard to explore ways to access the growing American energy demand. He said that while the opportunities were varied and positive, much work still needed to be done.

From the macro to the more micro scale, a local company was hard at work making a case for a unique new renewable energy option. West Nova Agro Commodities of Lawrencetown has been presenting a business model for what might qualify as the ultimate ‘green” energy alternative. Their proposal calls for the use of grass as a viable fuel source.

Not every regional energy option was receiving local support however. The NoRigs 3 Coalition has called on the Nova Scotia government to impose a permanent ban on offshore exploration for oil and gas on Georges Bank. The Coalition is comprised of fishermen, fishing groups, environmentalists and Aboriginal groups and pointed to recent environmental disasters around the globe from offshore drilling as reason for perpetual prudence off our coast. The provincial government recently extended the current ban on Georges Bank exploration to 2015.

Organic Renewal
Just last week the federal government announced an assistance program to help our province’s organic farmers and producers. An indication that such support was warranted was rightfully evidenced in the announced revival of a 110 year old enterprise located here in Annapolis Digby. A team of local entrepreneurs has revitalized the century old Tupperville Fruit Company thanks to the fast growing interest in the local food movement. As an interesting aside, at least to me, Tupperville Fruit was originally part of the United Fruit Company. As an occasional traveller to Latin America, and especially since I’m currently reading the biography of one of my favourite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I come across frequent references to the economic power of the UFC. But didn’t know that its influence extended even into our area. Shame on me.

Planning For Business Succession
While the Tupperville Fruit Company story shows one way that our local enterprises get to live on, business longevity is more often today the result of deliberate planning and structured succession considerations. ADEDA is well aware of that need and is acting accordingly on behalf of local establishments. If that’s a subject that concerns you or your business, there’s a program of interest coming up shortly. More than 40 percent of business owners plan to leave their businesses in the next five years.

To help businesses considering this step the Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency (ADEDA) in partnership with Acadia University’s Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship will be presenting “Beyond Your Business: Step-by-Step Succession Planning” later this month. This event is also supported by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).

The seminar will be held at the ADEDA facilities, 86 Atlantic Avenue in Cornwallis Park, on Friday, September 24 from 9 AM to 3 PM.

There will be a panel of guest speakers who will offer an informative and insightful look at business succession planning. The program will include three webinars, a half day wrap up session and a “Succession Planning Tool Kit”. The fee is $79+HST and includes lunch.

For more information visit www.acsbe.com, or call Helen Abel at 902-585-1655; or helen.abel@acadiau.ca.

Seasonal Swing
As I mentioned earlier, the wonderful summer we have experienced in Annapolis Digby is coming to an end, but, hey, that’s no reason to be glum. Autumn is perhaps the most wondrous season of all here in our area. So celebrate its impending arrival. A great way to begin this weekend is to attend the “Swing Into Autumn” event in Annapolis Royal. The event will feature the Annapolis Big Band and be held on the grounds of Hillsdale House Inn on Sunday, September 12 from 2 – 4 PM. It’s a fundraiser in support of the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute and the “Species at Risk in Nova Scotia Program”. I’m a big supporter of the Program – and have the licence plate to prove it by the way. Bring your picnic basket, a blanket and non-alcoholic refreshments. (Not to worry though there will be a sangria and beer cash bar). And perhaps even more comforting is the fact that I will NOT be one of the costumed “at risk” animals.

Admission will be a “donation” with proceeds going to the Species at Risk Program.

Till next week;

Peter

Peter MacLellan
Annapolis Digby EDA
86 Atlantic Avenue
PO Box 271
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia
Canada B0S 1H0

Tel: (902) 638-3490
Fax: (902) 638-8106
E: communications@annapolisdigby.com