BY JENNIFER HOEGG
Kings County Advertiser/Register
There are 50 new ambassadors for Nova Scotia.
Wolfville hosted Premier Darrell Dexter and more than 50 Valley representatives Sept. 16 during a Come to Life charter signing ceremony. Businesses, organizations and agencies formally joined the provincial branding endeavour at Acadia University’s Fountain Commons.
Emceed by Falmouth designer Lisa Drader Murphy, the event featured a video vignette of her own pitch for the Nova Scotian lifestyle. She says moving from Calgary to Hants County made a big difference in both her profit and her quality of life.
Guests watched – and went away with - a copy of Beautiful Day, a Come to Life commercial featuring sailboats, whales, horses, fields, musicians, city skylines and fresh-faced Nova Scotians.Wolfville’s Hupman Brothers played before and after the ceremony.
Premier Dexter asked the new Come to Life ambassadors to go “beyond our borders to tell others what a great place this is to do business, to learn and to raise a family.
“The all too familiar Nova Scotia story is about those who have gone down the road in search of opportunities. Now, opportunity can be found right here.”
Acadia’s president Ray Ivany said “Nova Scotians have been entrepreneurial since before Confederation.
“Now, we want to se see 21st century success.”
Ivany said both Acadia and Nova Scotia have to get better at telling their stories to the world, and the charter members should take up the responsibility of sharing those tales.
“We have almost perfected that self-effacing nature” Canada is known for, he said.
“We can’t hide our light under a bushel.”
Local charter signatories included Municipality of Kings Warden Fred Whalen on behalf of the Kings Regional Development Authority, Leigh Morrison for Valley Stationers, David Cudmore for the Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce, and Jim, Donna and Michael Laceby for Northern Nova Management Services (Blomidon Inn and Amherst Shore Country Inn).
Two Digby County businesses also joined Sept. 16. Ariane Anderson signed for Enaira Marketing, Meteghan River; and Lester Doucet signed for Robert Long Real Estate, Clare.
