Thursday, February 11, 2010

Poor Cell Phone Service on Digby Neck and Area

Yarmouth Municipal Council is at work getting better cellular service for the people in their area (Argyle, etc.). They are going beyond Bell/Aliant and going to the CRTC. (Canadian Radio and Television Network). Our area will not see a benefit from their hard work, however, as it would be too south of here.
Everybody knows there are reception problems on Digby Neck and perhaps the Islands as well, but has anybody done anything about it? Trying to talk to Bell/Aliant is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It doesn't work. The CRTC will. But there needs to be voices. Either register your comment with the CRTC, or write to or call your municipal councillor. They need to know that there are a number of people who have the same issue, so they can go to bat for us. Jim Thurber may be your rep, or it may be Linda Gregory linda.gregory@ns.sympatico.ca
Even if you don't live in the area you could be travelling through it and be affected by the many "blank" zones. More than that, it could affect whether you live or die or whether someone else lives or dies. If there's an accident and you can't reach anybody, or nobody who is trying to help you can reach emergency services, then...
Cell phones (and reception) are really safety devices, in 2010. We need the service to cover *all* of Digby Neck and Islands. Please add your voice. I'm writing Linda right now. linda.gregory@ns.sympatico.ca
And please, be someone who has the caring to *want* to save someone's life...by just making that call.

Eastlink Broadband

EastLink Newsletter This newsletter is intended to provide you with information regarding the progress of EastLink High Speed Wireless Internet. January 2010 Message from Lee Bragg, CEO EastLink As we enter a new month, we do so with optimism. We continue to make good progress with EastLink’s High Speed Wireless Internet in Zones 5 and 6. Over the past few months we have had conversations with Nova Scotians who are pleased with their new High Speed Wireless service and with those who are looking forward to having service installed. And we’ve spoken with Nova Scotians who have expressed their concern with timelines and a feeling that the information they are receiving is not accurate. I want to express personally that we appreciate your concerns and ask for your patience. On behalf of EastLink, I can assure you that we are working very hard to roll this project out to meet our commitment of full coverage in our territory. As we launch more towers and increase availability, we also become aware of some geographically challenging areas experiencing low signal strength. While these areas can impact original timelines, we have a process in place to deal with them involving the installation of repeater poles to strengthen the signal. We are still on track to meet our May 31 delivery completion timeline. We are also working very hard to improve the way we communicate with you and the timeliness with which we communicate. That means that we are continuing to make improvements to the Check Availability updates on our website. Our next newsletter, due out later this month, will have even more detailed information on Tower Updates to keep you better informed on the status of availability in your community. And we are communicating more regularly with our Customer Service staff to ensure they have the most up-to-date information to answer your questions and address your concerns. Below are some of the more common questions that we’ve received these past few weeks. I hope you find the answers helpful. FAQs Q. Why is service available in part of my community but not at my civic address? A. The majority of communities in EastLink’s territory are served by more than one site, which means that more than one tower services these communities. Because more than one tower is involved, many communities are partially served at present as we work to bring all of the tower sites in these areas on-air. EastLink is committed to providing 100% service in its territory by May 31, 2010. Q. Why did your last newsletter have some communities listed more than once? A. Our December newsletter noted several cases where a community was listed as being both currently on air and due to be launched the end of January. In these cases, communities are served by more than one tower site (as described above), of which one tower may be on air and another may be close to completion.
We apologize for any confusion this created. Q. How often is your website updated with Tower launch information? A. We update the Check Availability tool on the broadband pages of our website on a weekly basconceivable that if you check the website on a Thursday and then again on that Friday, the information could be different as a result of the update. Our goal with uploading weekly updates is to ensure that you have the most accurate information as quickly as possible. In some cases, you could notice a change in the original launch date. In-service dates may change due to things like weather (i.e. tower climbing required by an installer can’t be done in extreme cold or windy weather); and commercial power installation. We continue to work with the May 2010 delivery completion timeline. Q. You've mentioned that you will be providing more detailed information on Tower Updates - what does that mean? A. In future, ournewsletter Tower Updates will list all communities within EastLink's territory, by county, with an indication of which communities are fully served, partially served and those for which EastLink High Speed Wireless is coming soon. NEXT ISSUE: Mid-February (including more detail in Tower Updates) For information on availability in your area, or to subscribe to EastLink High Speed Wireless Internet, please visit eastlink.ca or call EastLink Customer Care Centre at 1 888-345-1111 (residential), 1 877-813-1727 (business).

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sip and Shuck

Sip & Shuck / Wine & Shellfish
January 29, 9:29 PMNova Scotia Wine ExaminerVeronica LeonardPrevious Next Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe Subscribe


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Wine and seafood in abundence at Sip & Shuck Halifax NS
Colin Leonard photographer
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View all » I'm not sure if it's a coincidence that the annual event celebrating Nova Scotia Wine and Nova Scotia Aquaculture was held in Halifax the same weekend as the Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex Expo. Considering the traditional pairing of Wine, Oysters and Sex, it may have been intentional.

In any case, the desk clerk at the Delta Halifax looked more confused than shocked when I mistakenly asked her where the Sip and Suck event was going on.

Despite the difficult name, Sip and Shuck was a great event. Almost all of the Nova Scotia Wineries were represented giving samples of their signature wines. Meanwhile, the chefs at the Delta Halifax were making a feast of mussels, oysters, scallops, baby clams, smoked salmon and Arctic char raised in NS aquaculture farms. Although it had been snowing with strong winds all day, many of the leaders of both the wine, aquaculture, and hospitality industries were there as well as media locusts like myself who sampled everything twice in the name of research.

First in the glass, was L'Acadie Winery's Brut, paired with Sweet Spot Chocolate from Elmsdale.

An added bonus was the presence of the ballot box for the Win a NS Scotia Wine Cellar draw that will be held over the next few weeks during the Nova Scotia Icewine Festival Feb 4 -14.

Among the local celebrities, was Pete Luckett who told me he will opening his new winery next year called Luckett Wines. He launched his Leon Millot last summer, a joint venture with Domaine de Grand Pré. I met the new owner of a yet unnamed winery in Avondale and her winemaker who assures me they plan to make “fantastic wines.”

I had a chance to sample Bear River’s Greater Yellow Legs Chardonnay, and Sainte Famille, 2007 Quartet, a wonderful blend of L’Acadie, Seyval, Ortega and Muscat. Both delightful whites that paired well with all the seafood I was taste testing and new wines for me..Also new for me, were the Lunenburg Winery fruit wines kiwi and pear – light, subtly flavoured and a delight to the palette.

I met the wine maker from Benjamin Bridge and tried their Taurus Marechal Foch,a favourite with Foch enthusiasts. I was impressed with the BB Nexus as well, a slightly dry rosé with mild fizz. Gaspereau is still my favourite rosé but unfortunately they weren’t sampling that tonight. Jost were doing sampling of their Seyval, Muscat and L’Acadie all of which pair well with seafood. Simon Rafuse the wine maker at Blomidon was dolling out their L’Acadie 2008, an excellent vintage which had been left to sit on its lees for 24 hours and is far more flavourful than the 2007

Hanspeter Stutz from Grand Pré was serving up L’Acadie Reserve, a mildly oaked l'Acadie blanc that has an interesting warm fuzzy taste to augment its normally mild citrus notes. As there were buckets of mussels next to his stand, I was back to chat several times. Three years ago Hanspeter had talked to me about the need for the wine industry to network more with the other food and hospitality industries in Nova Scotia. Obviously, people have been listening. Around the corner at the stall where they were preparing oyster shooters, I lined up with.Chef Michael Howell of the Tempest World Cuisine Restaurant in Wolfeville. Michael tells me that next to the Five Fishermen in Halifax, the Tempest carries the widest selection of Nova Scotia wines in the province.

Sip and Shuck – remember the name – it’s an annual event and well worth attending.

Bear River Winter Carnival Events

Following is the schedule of events for the third annual Bear River Winter Carnival, Feb. 11-14:


Thursday, Feb. 11

5:30-7:30 p.m.

Club 400 WinterActive team will be by the Bear River windmill with equipment for snowshoeing, kick sledding, Nordic walking & Kin-ball. Contact - Andre Bouchard at -activeliving@annapoliscounty.ns.ca

6 p.m.

Lighting of the ice candles. Starts and ends behind the Bear River Legion, followed by a candlelight skate. All welcome. Contact Duffer Wilson at 467-0233 or Cindy Bowers at 467-3154

Friday, Feb. 12

10 a.m.

Build your own snowman behind the Bear River Legion and enter the contests.

7:30-10:30 p.m.

Coffeehouse at Rebekah Music Hall featuring ‘Harvey Marcotte’ and ‘Caleb Miles’. Refreshments offered. Contact Erin Schopfer or Jon Welsh at 467-0357.

Dusk

Fireworks display. Hot chocolate and coffee behind the Legion before and after fireworks.

Saturday, Feb. 14

8 a.m. to dusk

Build your own snowman behind the Legion and enter the contests.

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Ice sculpting contest. Blocks small and large of ice supplied or bring your own. In parking lot behind the Legion. Judging at 4 p.m. Prizes awarded. Contact Rick at 247-3385.

10 a.m. to noon

Free cross-country ski clinic at Bear River windmill. Ski, poles, and boots provided. Just show up or contact Sue Comeau at 467-3258.

10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Chicken Sh*t Bingo behind the Legion. Contact Jon or Erin at 467-0357.

1-3 p.m.

Pie sale at New Horizons. Free horse-drawn sleigh rides.

1-4 p.m.

Chili bake-off contest upstairs at Legion. All entries welcome.

1-5 p.m.

Cross-country ski trip from Victory to Bear River. Meet at fire hall at 1 p.m. Trip 5.3 miles or 8.53 kilometers. A truck waits at halfway point for tired skiers. Contact Sue Comeau 467-3258.

5-6 p.m.

Valentine's Day turkey dinner at fire hall sponsored by Hillsburgh United Church. Contact Shirley at 467-3655.

9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Valentines dance at Legion. Music by ‘Dog House’.

Sunday, Feb. 15

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cross-country ski over seven lakes (weather and ice conditions permitting). Trip is 10.75 miles or 17.3 kilometers. Bring your own lunch, snacks & don't forget water. Hot coffee and tea provided at lunchtime. Meet at fire hall at 8 a.m. Contact Sue Comeau 467-3258.

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

ATV and snowmobile ‘follow-me run’. Meet at powerhouse in Bear River. Contact Cindy Bowers at 467-3154 or 467-3705.

3-5 p.m.

Best winter drink, bread, desert & casserole/stew contest. Prizes for all categories. Contact Mary Golding of Legion Auxiliary at 467-3097.

Available during the carnival is free skating behind Bear River Legion, plus free sledding and a ‘Luge’ on Lansdowne Road.
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Digby Neck, the ship Rambolee, and Maritime Songs

THE SHIP RAMBOLEE (Doerflinger)
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 08 Feb 10 - 05:31 PM

Jim,

I've answered you by email, but thought I'd supply the text here for any others who are looking for the song. It's in Doerflinger's Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman. Milt Okun recorded it for Stinson back in the 1950s.

Doerflinger tells how he found it in an article by Dan Milner, "William Main Doerflinger, Dean of Maritime Music Scholars," at

http://pages.prodigy.net/folkmusic/wmdoerflinger.htm

"Bill raised enough money to stay on in Nova Scotia in hopes of collecting maritime songs. Much later, he admitted to his son, Tom Doerflinger, that he was at first very apprehensive about approaching total strangers to ask whether they knew any old fishing songs. His fears were soon dispelled. Setting out by bus down Digby Neck on his first day of collecting, he mentioned his purpose to the driver, Guy Morehouse. "Oh, like this?" said Mr. Morehouse, whose father had been a sea captain, and he promptly sang "The Ship Rambolee," about the shipwreck of the H.M.S. Ramillies off the coast of Devon, England in 1760. Bill never looked back after that encounter and the 60 or so songs that he collected on that first trip formed the basis of his Princeton thesis and would become the nucleus of his brilliant book on the folk songs of the American Northeast and Canadian Maritimes."

The song itself isn't quoted there, but here it is, from Doerflinger's book 144-. Bob

THE SHIP RAMBOLEE

It happened on a certain day,
The Ship Rambolee at her anchor lay,
That very night a storm came on,
And the ship Rambolee from her anchor did run.

CHO: So come all you girls, you girls that I adore,
Pray for the sailors that are on the lee shore.

Now, the boats we in so nimbly did toss,
Some jumped in, while others were lost,
Some in one boat and some in another,
While the watch down below, boys, they did smother.

Weep, pretty maidens, weep with me,
Weep for the sailors that were on the Rambolee,
Only three remains to tell the tale
How the ship behaved in that dreadful gale.


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE LOSS OF THE RAMILLIES
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 08 Feb 10 - 07:52 PM

This is how it was sung in Norfolk - never came across a chorus before.

THE LOSS OF THE RAMILLIES
From the singing of Walter Pardon

It was on one day, one certain day
The Ramillies at her anchor lay,
That very night a gale came on
And our ship from its anchorage away did run

The rain poured down in terrible drops,
The seas broke over our foretop,
With our yards and canvas neatly spread
We were thinking to weather at Rames Head

Our bosun cried, my hearties all,
Listen unto me while I blow the call,
So launch your boats, your lives to save,
Or the seas this night will be your grave.

Then overboard our boats we tossed,
So may got in that lives were lost,
Some were in one boat, some were in another
And the watch below, they were all smothered.

And when the sad, sad news to Plymouth came
That the Ramillies was lost with most of her men,
Only two are left that can tell the tale
Who were lost that night in that terrible gale.

Come all you pretty fair maids and weep with me,
Who have lost your sweethearts on the Ramillies,
All Plymouth town was swum with tears
At the hearing of such sad affairs.

The HMS Ramillies was wrecked at Bolt Head near Plymouth on 15 February 1760. Of her crew of around 850 men, all were lost except for twenty seamen and one midshipman.

Jim Carroll

They're Coming-Again!

Belt Drive Betty and Friends will some of the many many people who will be coming to or returning to Digby Nova Scotia for the annual Wharf Rat Rally, a very popular motorcycle rally

Tuesday, February 09, 2010
A National Ride to Bring Awareness to Many, Many Causes
On August 10th 2010 I will be heading out from Grande Prairie to Canada's Largest Motorcycle Rally - the Wharf Rat Rally in Digby Nova Scotia. My hubby is planning on joining me on the ride along with Mike Cole from the Winter Ride for Diabetes known as Radical Roads.

Along the way we are going to hook up with Daryl Makk and his Planet Tour in Regina on the 12th of August where he will be doing a Stand Up routine...place and time to be announced.

On the 13th we will be in Winnipeg where again Daddy Makk will be performing and on the 14th we are going to take a day and go to the beach. Daryl is filming everything he does for a reality TV show called the Planet Tour...

From there we will head to Thunder Bay, Sault St Marie and into Barrie and the GTA. In the GTA - if not sooner, we will be hooking up with Shaun de Jager from Road Awareness.
Then to Petawawa for a Red Friday event and Ottawa, Montreal, Grand Falls perhaps and in to Digby. Along the way the kids from the Bernice MacNaughton High School Bike Klub and their Championship Bobber - Betty, will meet up with us for the last leg into Digby.

We will have a web site and fund raising pages created shortly and those who choose to will be able to donate to one of the multitude of causes that we are raising awareness and funds for:

Alliance for Injured Motorcyclists Canada - donate or get involved by becoming a member or starting a chapter...

The Planet Tour - Injured Rider/Comedian Daryl Makk and his new reality TV Show...

Radical Roads - Diabetes Research & Mike Cole's Winter ride January 2011 - donate to one or both...

Road Awareness

New Nursing Home has Archeological Assessment

Archeologist to examine site near Tideview construction
by Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
View all articles from Leanne Delong/Digby Courier
Article online since February 10th 2010, 8:00


An archeological assessment will be done this week at the Tideview construction site. Leanne Delong photo Archeologist to examine site near Tideview construction
An archeological assessment was scheduled to take place this week on Crown land near the construction site of the new Tideview seniors home.

The assessment is to determine whether aboriginals once occupied the area.

A small parcel of land, 66 by 100 feet, is involved near the Tideview project, but a larger area is involved in the town’s project to build a wastewater system along the abandoned rail bed to Smith’s Cove.

The former railway right-of-way is now Crown land, owned by the province’s Department of Natural Resources.

“In the past year we’ve been more engaged in aboriginal consultation, so what we’re doing involving Crown land, we’re working with Mi’kmaq chiefs to make sure we have a process we will advise them of situations where it involves land interest,” said DND spokesperson Dan Davis.

In Nova Scotia, anytime Crown land is being used or crossed or anything, the aboriginal community wants to make sure sites of historical nature aren’t being disturbed, says Digby mayor Ben Cleveland.

“So before the land gets disturbed there has to be a study done,” said Cleveland.

An archeologist is expected to determine this week if there was an aboriginal presence on either site, such as aboriginal campsites or burial grounds, Cleveland said.

The assessment will take place on a parcel of land where a roadway to the new Tideview site crosses the old railway corridor.

“It will also impact on the town’s wastewater project. They are going to be using the railway corridor from the town to Smith’s Cove, so an assessment also has to be done there,” he said.

Cleveland said he hoped both assessments would take place Feb. 10.

The town has not been involved with something like this before, he said.

If nothing of historical importance is found, construction projects will go ahead has usual. Cleveland will find out what the next step will be if something of historical value is found after Wednesday’s meeting.

The assessment does not interrupt Tideview construction because it is not on Crown land.
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