WINDSOR, N.S. — Here's a look at what was making the news 25 and 50 years ago in the Hants Journal.
25 years ago
• The fleet of Canadian Armed Forces T-33 Silver Star jet trainers remained grounded as an investigation into a fatal crash in the woods near Falmouth continued.
The crash occurred July 27, 1994. The pilot, Capt. Harry Munro, was found dead about two miles from the crash site. Upon inspection, air force officials said there was a canopy ejection failure.
Due to the damage to the jet, flight safety investigators said it would take some time to piece together what may have caused the crash.
• Due to a reliable paging system coming into place for firefighters, sounding the fire horn in Windsor at noon as a test was deemed redundant. It was noted that it could still be used to alert members of the public that firefighting vehicles were heading out onto the road — but that would only be permissible Monday to Saturday.
• Six people sustained injuries and one Lower Sackville resident died following two separate accidents on Highway 101 near Hantsport on the same day.
• Windsor and New Minas RCMP officers joined forces to take down an organized theft ring. The members, all Kings County residents, were said to be responsible for as many as 10 break, enter and theft reports in Windsor and West Hants.
• Three murder trials were set for the fall in Windsor. They were for Jason Syliboy, of Indian Brook Reserve (who was charged with second degree murder in the death of Luke Fenton Brooks); Laura Lillian Degenhardt, of South Rawdon and Guelph, Ont., (who was facing a first degree murder charge for her husband, Frederick Simon Degenhardt); and David Murray Brown, of Nova Scotia and Guelph, Ont. (who was also facing a first degree murder charge in relation to the death of Frederick Simon Degenhardt).
• Two of three Fallow deer were on the lam after they escaped from a game farm in Rawdon.
Concerns were expressed on what effect the deer may have on the existing white-tailed deer population as searchers attempted to locate the animals.
• West Hants council adopted a policy to allow spouses of councillors to attend conferences at the taxpayers’ expense. Three councillors — Randy Matheson, Garth Hazel, and Don Brown — opposed the policy.
• The Hants Journal investigated if admission fees were coming to Fort Edward. Parks Canada told the Journal that because there were not a lot of services offered at the national historic site, and because there were fewer visitors than other sites, it wouldn’t be likely fees would be imposed for 1995. Another factor they said they would have to consider would be if it was easy to collect a fee.
• A special reunion was held for former students of Five Mile Plains School. The school first opened its doors sometime after Feb. 13, 1845 and closed its doors in 1963. The educational institute began as a one-room schoolhouse and by the time it closed, was a two-room school.
• Terry Hines, of Arno G. Hawboldt Ltd., and Lisa Hines, of Hinesight Visual Communication, won a national advertising contest sponsored by RCA.
• About 220 Quakers from across Canada, the United States and Europe came to Windsor for their Canadian Yearly Meeting. It marked the first time it had been held in Nova Scotia and was hosted at the King’s-Edgehill School campus.
• In preparation of the Town of Hantsport’s 100th year of incorporation celebrations in 1995, work got underway to tear up Main Street to work on laying new water and sewer lines and replacing the pavement.
• A business feature extolling the virtues of gypsum and other industrial minerals being a good example of a profitable Nova Scotia product appeared in the Journal.
In 1994, there were 18 industrial mineral producers operating 29 sites in the province, producing such things as gypsum, silica sand, limestone, barite, peat moss and aggregate.
It was noted that the major tonnage of product being shipped from Halifax harbour was gypsum.
• Construction resumed on Highway 101 between Sackville and Windsor. The work came to a halt in 1993 to allow the bird population to complete its breeding season. With the last of the baby birds taking flight, a government spokesperson said the next phase of the twinning process was underway. The twinning to Mount Uniacke was expected to be completed by June 1995.
• Joyce Whittier Chaplin, of Maine, donated a carved eagle to the West Hants Historical Society to help raise funds for the museum. The original piece was created by Sidney Howard, one of Nova Scotia’s best-known folk artists.
• Falmouth resident Lynn Woodman, 21, was selected by the Nova Scotia Teacher’s College to represent the province at the Olympic Academy of Canada. It was a week-long event. A total of 50 Canadians were selected for the educational opportunity.
• The Windsor Country Fair closed early due to it not being profitable. There was low attendance and a lack of vendors reported. It was set to return in 1995, but the manager said they would have to re-examine how it operated.
• The manager of the Hants County Exhibition announced that there would be no big-name entertainers at the popular fair in 1994.
David Coombes explained that the shows were not making enough money to continue, noting a minimum attendance of 3,000 for a concert was required to break even.
While George Jones put 3,100 people in the arena, Joe Diffie only managed 1,200 and Ricky Skaggs brought in 1,700.
• A Vietnam veteran, Tom Milne, of Windsor, threw his hat into the political ring, announcing he was running for mayor. Dan Boyd also announced his intentions to run for a seat on Windsor council.
• The Hants County SPCA was gifted a home. General Motors Acceptance Corporation donated the building formerly housing Glen Sampson Pontiac in the Windsor Industrial Park to the SPCA. The building was valued at $200,000 and the property was situated on five acres.
• Walt Disney Productions was filming “A” The Scarlet Letter and were looking for hundreds of local extras. In particular, they were offering all ages of aboriginal people $6 an hour and $9 an hour after an eight-hour day, plus meals on the set, travel and amenities. The filming was being done in Shelburne.
• The teen hotline was set to expand in October, offering help to more Nova Scotians. By Oct. 25, the Youth Help Line was to be toll-free. At the time of its expansion, the line was only available to Halifax, Dartmouth and Halifax County youth.
• The average teacher’s salary in 1994 in West Hants was $51, 377 — the fifth highest in the province. The highest average was in Halifax, where teachers made $53,631. The pupil to teacher ratio was said to be 16.9, with the average class size of 24.4 students.
The graduation rate from West Hants was 68.9 per cent.
• The Sam Slick Days parade winners were West Hants Historical Society (most humorous), Town of Wolfville (most artistic), Town of Hantsport (best town float), Windsor and District Lions Club (Sam’s favourite) and the Dunvegan Pipe and Drum Band (best marching band).
• Artist Bruce Pellegrin’s work was being featured at Edgemere Gallery in Kentville. It marked his sixth solo exhibit. Pellegrin, originally from Victoria, B.C., moved to Hants County after spending several summers in the area painting.
• Singing star Ruby Daley was set to perform in Windsor. She was nominated for Canadian Country Female Vocalist of the year, won the 1992 Nashville Network’s You Can Be A Star competition and appeared on the Grand Old Opry.
• The West Hants Bombers, an Under 17 girls’ soccer team, claimed their third provincial title while competing at the largest soccer tournament in Nova Scotia.
• The Rawdon Tigers mosquito baseball team, featuring youth ages nine to 11 years, captured the Nova Scotia Regional Baseball Championship title.
The team, coached by David Wiseman, consisted of Nick Frail, Brian Wiswell, David Pickrem, Jarret MacPhee, Andrew White, Tiffany Arnold, Ronnie Ward, Chris Purcell, Josh Purcell, Nick Burke, Steven MacPhee, James Wiseman, Darren Marlborough and Joel Singer.
50 years ago
• Windsor’s town engineer provided council with an overview of its sewage disposal plan.
It was noted that a number of pumping stations would feed raw sewage from various parts of the town to the main sewer that was being constructed. That sewer would then empty into the river below the causeway into tidal water. It was thought this would avoid polluting the lake that will be formed once the causeway was completed.
Council further heard that it would be advisable for residents to continue to boil drinking water.
• The Downeast Motel in Garlands Crossing opened and featured 20 modern units, each boasting a telephone, TV and radio.
• The community was in mourning after a 40-year-old Bramber man died in an early morning fire. He was the lone occupant in the two-storey home at the time of the fire.
• A single-car accident in Upper Sackville resulted in the death of a 22-year-old Armdale man and four other occupants were injured, including one person from Mount Uniacke.
• The Windsor Fire Department was called upon to safely burn down the Windsor railway station in order to make room for the new highway to be constructed.
It was noted that “it was quite a blaze.”
The station was built in the early 1900s. Over the years it was used to transport men leaving for and returning from two world wars, plus the arrival of people who had lost everything in the Halifax Explosion. Royalty passed through its doors.
It was reported that a new station was to be built near the causeway, to the west of where the old station stood.
• The Cedar Shake drive-in restaurant, opened by Albert Parsons and Bob Metcalfe earlier in the year, was proving to be quite popular with Hants County residents. The diner, located near the corner of Chester Road and King Street, featured everything from pizzas and hamburgers to soft drinks and ice cream.
• A new asphalt sidewalk was laid on King Street, linking the corner of King and O’Brien Streets at Victoria Park to the corner opposite Smith’s Grocery.
• Hants County’s Aubrey Barker and his son, Russell, visiting from Toronto, were eager to show off their sizable catch of pan trout. It was noted that Russell spent much of his early years unable to walk because of a diseased hip bone. “A new one has grown and now Russell enjoys life as a machine operator with one of Canada’s largest paper makers.”
• The first annual R.A. Jodrey Dual Swimming and Diving Championships was held in Hantsport, with Hantsport defeating Windsor by a slim margin. Hantsport compiled a total of 227 points while Windsor had 211.
Eight local pool records were established during the swim meet; with more than 80 children from both towns competing in four different age groups.
Jaye Foley, of Windsor, won three individual events. Hantsport’s John Starratt and Jane McGinn, as well as Windsor’s Kathy Miller, Krista Cochrane, Cindy Miller and Dean Woodman all won two individual events.
• Dominion Life Memberships were presented to Mrs. J. F. Shaw and Mrs. W. G. Bauchman during a Sunday evening service at the United Baptist Church in Falmouth.
• Siblings Pamela and Kevin Brison, formerly of Windsor, were quickly becoming promising paddlers for the Senobe Aquatic Club on Lake Banook.
• More than 100 children attended a daily vacation Bible school at the Falmouth Baptist Church.
• Twenty Scouts and Venturers attended the official opening ceremony of the first Canada Summer Games at St. Mary’s University Stadium Aug. 16.
Scout Ken Allen, of the first Ste. Croix Troop, had the additional excitement of shaking hands with Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau as well as hockey great Jean Beliveau.
• The 1969 Centennial Swimming Pool season ended Aug. 27 in Windsor. More than 600 youth were registered for the morning swimming lessons during the summer months. The newspaper listed all of the swimmers who successfully completed the Red Cross water safety course during the summer.
• The second provincial camp-out of members of the Nova Scotia branch of the National Campers and Hikers Association drew 1,000 people over the Labour Day holiday. The event concluded at the Hants County Exhibition grounds.
• Of the eight 4-H Clubs in Hants County, the Avon 4-H Club was victorious and took home the Campbell Gunn trophy. This trophy was presented annually to the club that had the best Achievement Day results.
• Retiring pastor Rev. Dennis Veinotte was honoured at a service at the Windsor United Baptist Church. Veinotte, who spent four years in Windsor, was retiring due to ill health.
• Dominion Stores were offering shoppers feature values on coffee (a jar for $1.29); tea bags (a 90-pack for 79 cents) and Sportsman Family cigarettes (a carton of 200 for $4.59).
• The Imperial Theatre in Windsor was showing plenty of hits at the end of summer, beginning of fall. Among the titles were Doctor Doolittle; Konga; I Love You, Alice B. Toklas; Valley of the Dolls; Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear; The Double Man; The Split; Planet of the Apes, The Road Hustlers; The Young Runaways; The Stalking Moon; Savage Pampas; and Barbarella (starring Jane Fonda).
• In the Hants History column dating back to 1944, the Royal Arch branch of Freemasonry in Windsor celebrated its 75th anniversary. A portrait of the founder was unveiled in the Freemason’s Hall.
In other news, Gordon Crossley was proposing a comfort station be erected by town council in Windsor; and an electrical storm struck Windsor and lasted for six hours. During that time, Alfred Gertsen’s barn burned down and one cow was killed.
Six properties in Shubenacadie were destroyed by fire, resulting in $300,000 worth of damage.
In wartime news, L/Sgt. Duncan W. Blois, Pte. K.F. Davis, gunner Charles Rogers, Pte. F.C. Ettinger and Willis Neil, were all reported as being killed in action; Robert B. Benedict, of Mount Denson, gunner Thomas Bouchie, of South Maitland, Pte. Leslie Cecil Spencer, of Noel, Aubrey Spencer, of Newport, Pte. Hughie Lyghtle, of Ellershouse, and Pte. Albert Shiers were listed as wounded in action. Pte. Stafford Lake, of Bramber, died from wounds sustained overseas.
Returning aboard the hospital ship Lady Nelson were Pte. Gordon Frizzell, of Windsor, and D.C. Hyson, of Shubenacadie.
Flying officer Allister Stephens received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his D-Day service. He helped fly paratroopers over the target area in Normandy.
• In the Hants History column from 1919, George Brown, who lived alone on a small farm in Falmouth, disappeared mysteriously one day and was never found. Brown came to Falmouth from England.
It was also noted that the hay crop in Hants County was “enormous” for 1919; Koppel’s Bakery lowered its price per loaf of bread to 11 cents, which was considered the lowest in the province; Willie Frizzell fractured his arm after he fell into the excavation site for a new building; and “heavy electrical storms” were experienced.
In other news from 1919, patrol leader Everett Pentz suffered a severe axe wound while camping with Hantsport Scouts; a bull moose blocked the highway near Mount Uniacke and drivers, frightened he’d become aggressive, waited until he left for the brush; a Halifax automobile was damaged after a horse pounded the hood of the car while travelling down Gerrish Street, and the J.B. King barge was caught on a bar off Avondale for a full tide.
