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7193 East Bay Hwy
AED (automated external defibrillator) On-Site
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COMMUNITY COUNCIL The next meeting of the Big Pond Community Council will be Wed. , June 4, 7:30pm, at the Fire Hall. Work on the launch ramp will begin again early in June. Evidently the roaming cement block has moved towards shore over the winter. It will be secured and work completed by end June. Council has been authorized to proceed with plans to obtain title to the waterfront access. The lone dissenter on the vote disputed the "monarchist" wording of the motion. Approval has been received from the province (Economic Renewal) for one grant worker for 16 weeks this summer. The successful candidate must be a university student. The job description is posted at MacLeod's store. Echoes of the discussion on the highway potholes had hardly faded when repairs were underway. Raymond Duprey, manager of the "Tartan Eagle" introduced his vision for the restaurant, menu and hours to the meeting and then responded to questions from the floor (see article below). PN
COMMUNITY NOTES
GARDEN CLUB. BOOKMOBILE. The bookmobile will be in Big Pond on Wednesday, June 11, 11:30am; Irish Vale, 1:30 and Irish Cove at 2:00pm. CONGRATULATIONS to Albert McKay on the successful completion of his carpentry apprenticeship. Albert gained his journeyman's papers last month.
TWENTY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. Congratulations to Cyril and Dorothy Rasmussen on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary June 13. A supper and dance will be held at the Westmount Legion that evening. Supper begins at 8:00 and dancing from 9:30 till 1:30. Everyone is welcome.
THANK YOU. We would like to thank everyone for the beautiful shower gifts that we received and the wonderful lunch provided at our wedding shower on April 27 at the Big Pond Fire Hall. We would especially like to thank Ann Thomas, Arabelle Fougere, Laura Lee MacPhee, Marie and Lindsay MacPhee, Andrea and Michelle MacInnis and Marlene MacInnis for all their help in making the day special for us. To Mom and Colleen words cannot thank you enough for all your efforts and your generosity is greatly appreciated. Hope to see you all at our wedding on June 21 at St. George's Hall, Nepean St., Sydney at 3:00pm and Reception at 9:00pn. CONGRATULATIONS Fr. Will MacPherson on his ordination to the priesthood, May 23. MIGRATORY BIRD COUNT. A wet snow- fall greeted adventurous birders and a couple of "wannabes" on a cold May 10 morning. Snow turned to rain and although it kept one local team (led by the intrepid John Will MacInnis)entirely carbound and limited to some nineteen species, the second team of Melvin White, George MacInnis and Blair MacNeil venturing further afield identified over forty species.
PAT AND HAIG. "Gosh! What a day to have to go to Sydney" Pat thought to herself as she started the car. It was a superb day but she still had to get groceries. Haig, though not a bad fellow, tends to do his own thing and can, at times peeve one. Well, Haig decided he was going too and that, unbeknownst to Pat, he was going with her. But, he pondered, how without being seen... yes, the trunk of her car. TOURISM DELEGATION HOSTED. Some 40 tourism counsellors and information givers from around Cape Breton enjoyed lunch on May 10, the fifth day of their gruelling exposure to the amenities of the island, at the TARTAN EAGLE here in Big Pond. Several were heard to comment that this was their best meal to date as they were served chicken gumbo soup, rolls, a range of home made sandwiches and desserts: black forest chocolate, cherry cheese, and carrot cakes. This May 10 preview of the new facility in Big Pond was an opportunity for the manager, Raymond Duprey, to spread the word on the menu, mission and hours for the new restaurant. Father Bedford and Melvin White welcomed the delegation on behalf of the Parish and the Community Council and Melvin also briefed the group on plans for the 1997 edition of the BIG POND FESTIVAL AND CONCERT. Pat Nelder and Ann MacIntyre described the local Bed and Breakfast facilities and Pat spoke briefly on the Cape Breton Lake Charters. Darlene MacInnis introduced the group to the Eagle Tours. Following lunch, the group headed up the road for a tour of Rita's Tea Room.
THE WATER'S FINE. An observant reporter for the TIMES, sauntering on the Big Pond beach contemplating the mysteries of the universe and Cape Breton politics, came across a small crew of determined swimmers late in the afternoon of, yes, May 13. Carl Thistle and three of his seventeen grandchildren were jumping into and out of the chilly Bras d'Or. They didn't just dip and run; they dove and did some swimming and then repeated the exercise. Jared Gardiner was the first to dive into the water, followed by his grandfather, Carl. Brendan and Zachary Gardiner followed suit. This would appear to be one of the earliest entrances into one of the finest swimming locations anywhere.
THE "TARTAN EAGLE" HAS LANDED The latest sign of progress and continued development in Big Pond opened yesterday. The TARTAN EAGLE, a restaurant and gift shop, is a consequence of the Community Council development scheme which a host of individuals have been promoting for a few years. The old parish hall on the waterfront has been transformed. Raymond Duprey is the manager and he is operating under a lease from the Community Council. Raymond has considerable culinary experience (and for the past three years was in charge of the kitchen at Rita's Tea Room). He is anxious to have both residents and visitors sample his fare. You can enjoy a traditional meal and watch the sun set behind the East Bay Hills, or, just slip by to the takeout counter. Operating hours for June are 11:00am to 9:00pm; beginning in July the TARTAN EAGLE will be open 7:00am to 11:00pm. Congratulations Raymond, and Big Pond, and good luck. (Don MacG)
NEW BRUNSWICK ACADIANS IN BIG POND AND AREA (Part 1) During the past sixty years or more many Acadians from New Brunswick came to this area to work in the lumberwoods. Most moved on, some going back to their home province, some to other parts of Cape Breton or to other parts of Canada. A few stayed. To get a sense of who they were, where they were from and why they came, I asked Hector Morais to tell me his story. "I was born on October 10, 1923, in northern New Brunswick, in Saint Isadore Parish in a community known as Upper Telley Road, about ten miles from Tracadie and not far from Caraquet and Bathurst. My father was Arthur Morais, son of Jeremie Morais and Marie Brideau. My mother was Lorette Duguay, daughter of Germain Duguay and Catherine Maillet. St. Isadore was bigger than Big Pond. Somewhat similar to East Bay Parish. People came from all directions to Saint Isadore church. They drove-or walked, in my time-as far as six or seven miles. I would say there were about nine hundred families. They were mostly French but there was a mixture of nationalities although we didn't know that-or at least I didn't know that-because everybody spoke French. There were McLaughlins and Smiths and Halls-you name it they were there-at that time at least. In many ways it was much the same as it was here in those days. Everyone had a little farm and they had a woodlot, and between the farming and the woodcutting they made a living. As well, they'd go away for six months or so to work, come back and spend a few months and then go back again if there was work. In between they'd work on the farm. My father was a good woods- man. A handy man around horses. He could do carpentry work, a jack of all trades. He went away to work when he had to; to the lumberwoods, perhaps, or to the ship building yards in Arvida, Quebec, maybe. Wherever he had to go. He was also a crosscut saw filer in the lumber camps in the wintertime. Many small contractors didn't have spare saws for the crews, so he would follow the choppers around. Starting off in the morning he would file a saw at the camp, then go to one crew and give them that saw and then file their saw on a stump. He'd bring his filing gear and stand and put it on a stump and file the saw there and bring it to the next crew, and so on. So one saw would do the trick. You asked me where our children Clifford and Blanche may have gotten their music ability. There was lots of music in my people and also in Clare's people, and I'll tell you about her family later. My dad was a violin player and a singer. He sang in the church for twenty-five years. He was the leader of the choir. Everybody said Dad was a good singer. And almost everyone of his brothers played something-violin, guitar, mouth organ, and so on-and they step- danced. They made their own instruments-guitars and violins. They were very good carpenters. Uncle Pierre could put his hand to anything and Uncle Albanie was a jack of all trades-could repair anything and make something very fancy. I was 10 or 12 when I started to play the violin a little bit. The radio came around the country then and the Don Messer program was on. We'd go from one place or another to hear the program and come home and try to play Don Messer's tunes and of course Dad would play too and I would play with him-or try to play with him. I was very interested in trying to learn Messer's tunes-it was nice stuff and lively. I had a hard time to learn but suddenly it came just like that. When I started beating out the time with my feet like this-then I had it. In no time at all I could play. I left home to go to work quite early in life. The first winter away I worked six months in the lumber camp. 'Went up with the dishes and came back with the dishes,' as we used to say. The cook had to be there when the operation started and stayed until it was all over, so in other words, I was there from the beginning until the end. The following winter I came to Guysborough, to Saint Francis Harbour, and worked for a company from Quebec. I had an uncle working there, Uncle Arcade. They needed a couple of teamsters so Arcade got in touch with his brother Sebastian. Would he like to come up to Saint Francis Harbour to drive horses for the winter? I was good with horses, I liked them; and I liked Uncle Arcade very much-we used to play the fiddle together when he came home on vacation. So I came to Nova Scotia for the first time. It was the fall of 1942." (Part 2, next month) Jack MacNeil
BIG POND/EAST BAY SOFTBALL The 1997 season begins in early June. Anyone interested should contact John MacLeod (828-2070) or Terry MacPherson (539-7257).
THE TIMES ARE CHANGING A "yachtsman" (?), member of the highly acclaimed main gate festival crew and acute observer, E-mail: dennism@atcon.com. Bernadette MacPherson has a leave of absence from her editorial duties until October. Distribution will now be handled by Cora MacNeil and Carol MacDonald, replacing Marjorie MacLean. For three years Marjorie took a single copy and magically produced enough for everyone to read, both locally and around the world. Thank you very much from everyone who works at and reads the TIMES. The mailing list now runs over eighty names. (DMacG,Ed in Chief )
BLAME IT ON THE HST Subscription rates for the BIG POND TIMES have to be increased because of the on-going advance in stamp prices. The latest jump occurred in April. You can thank the provincial and federal governments for their assistance on this, as they just slapped on the new, improved HST. Now, new subscriptions for Canadian addresses will cost $6.50 for twelve issues; non-Canadian destinations are now $8.00. These prices simply reflect postage costs. Local residents will continue to have their issues delivered courtesy of the Big Pond Community Council. (DMacG, Ed in Chief)
MELVIN'S COW Waking to the mournful wail of a lonesome (or whatever) bovine at your bedroom window is enough to make one question one's sanity, even in the tranquil rurality of contemporary Big Pond. But that is what happened Monday morning of May 26. The relief of discovering that no, I'm not mad; yes, a real cow was at our window was mixed with the questions: "who", "whose" and "why"? By the time I got to the front door "she" was sauntering down the driveway, hips swaying seductively, only to stop near the end and, more successfully than the evangelical solicitors who came to the door last week, left her message. She stopped again at the end of the drive, carefully looked east and west before crossing the highway and on up to Thomas' or Fougere's. According to Melvin and Lloyd, she was just "looking for some bull".
Welcomes Big Pond Residents and visitors
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BIG POND TIMES: Founded in 1994. "It is a newspaper's duty to print the news and raise hell." - Chicago Times, 1861.
Circulation : 250
This issue was brought to you by Josephine McCarron, Don MacGillivray, Jack MacNeil, John Willie MacInnis, Cora MacNeil, Dennis and Carol MacDonald, Gerald Thomas and Terry MacPherson.. Deadline for submissions to the July issue is June 20.
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