June 28, 2009: Wow, wow and wow!!! Great start for Farmer's Market...   The debut date for the Shelburne Farmer's Market was better than anyone suspected it might be, I'd bet. Vendors and volunteers began arriving at 7:ooam and by 8:30, there were more than 100 people on site. After a brief opening ceremony attended by celebrity chef Roland Glauser, Mayor Alan Delaney, Farmer's Market Committee chair Anji Standrin and a bevy of local pols, dozens and dozens of happy shoppers flooded into the Market for more than three hours. 

Five of the vendors sold completely out of their wares and all of the others were extremely happy. Smiles abounded on folks who were shopping and a good time was had by all. Of the more than one dozen vendors, more than 30 different foods and food stuffs were on sale. 

With the now month-old success of the Sable River Country Market, Shelburne County is proving itself to have a real appetite for buying fresh and buying local. For some photos of the debut market day, click here.

June 26, 2009: Roseway emerge closed 8 days and 7 nights in July...   Best be careful (again) about getting sick in Shelburne County as SouthWest Health announced the closure times for Roseway and Digby hospitals. As the gaps are "a result of physician unavailability" maybe the visit this weekend of two married docs to the area will result in more open hours. The volunteer committee charged with recruiting docs is pulling out the stops and wining and dining the pair at Charlotte Lane and presenting a "welcome basket" of local goodies, in an effort to persuade them to locate their two practices here..

Farmers Market set to roll... The Shelburne Farmer's market debuts on Saturday morning 8 to noon at Loyalist Plaza (former SaveEasy), with vendors selling meats, smoked fish, jams, jellies, bread & baked goodies, flowers, etc.  

June 25, 2009: No 3rd paycheck for Hurlburt despite heavy lobbying...   Although business leaders and politicians in Yarmouth may have become accustomed to receiving 2nd and 3rd paychecks on top their sometimes bloated salaries and expense accounts, MLA Richard Hurlburt lost his bid to add $24,000 to his paycheck by becoming the defeated Tories interim leader. The putative head of the "gang" which had run Yarmouth and Southwest Nova business and politics for some time, Hurlburt was reported in Thursday's Herald as "lobbying hard for the interim leader’s post" and "thought to have a lock on the job."  Tough-talking, no-nonsense Karen Casey got the plum by unanimous consent.
     As late as just days before the election, Hurlburt is thought to have been lobbying - and possibly offending by his efforts -  the Tory cabinet to allow SWSDA chief Frank Anderson (one of the Yarmouth gang and real estate business partner of Hurlburt) to discount an already bargain basement-priced mortgage for the former military base in Shelburne, sold to an American couple who seem to have a knack for opening Mickey Mouse businesses there which never quite seem to catch fire. Anderson had gotten approval from his rubber-stamping board of directors to sell the base by assuring them that a provincial guarantee on the mortgage was a sure thing. Oops.

June 19, 2009: Belliveau has two portfolios in cabinet while Hurlburt is being investigated by major media outlet...   MLA Sterling Belliveau got a ringing endorsement from Premier Darrell Dexter and his inner circle with the environment and fisheries portfolios  while former minister Richard Hurlburt  is the subject of serious investigative report about his attempts persuade cabinet cronies to spend money in a way that offended the sensibilities of most of the cabinet. His reward... apparently the role of interim party leader. Rodney is being asked by his caucus to remove himself to Mabou to be fitted for his first pair of long pants.

June 15, 2009: Appetite for economic development review growing...   as word leaks out about the demand by the Economic development ministry that SWSDA be re-configured to conform to minimal standards of effectiveness, transparency, accountability and board governance, citizens throughout Shelburne County appear ready to re-visit their dependence on SWSDA and CEO Frank Anderson for their economic well-being. In the coming weeks, each of the town and municipal councils in the area will have the opportunity to discuss and debate the issues incumbent in the letter and to engage the ratepayers and public in a serious discussion about the best go-forward strategy for the region.

The Barrington Municipal council had a brief discussion at the Committee of the Whole meeting Monday and agreed that the matter needed serious review and discussion, which is scheduled for June 29. Interesting comments from councilors included the prospect that the discussion/debate affords councils - and the ratepayers - the responsibility and privilege of empowering themselves to completely re-think economic development in the region. The Warden said she would like to speak with the deputy minister to find out what provoked the letter. 

Ratepayers and interested citizens should plan to attend all of the up-coming council meetings where this letter and the issues it raises are discussed. Stay tuned...

June 15, 2009: Dept of It's about bloody damn time...   in a move that may change the face of economic development in South West Nova Scotia, the Ian Thompson, Deputy Minister of Economic and Rural Development has informed  Rodd Rose, chairman of South West Shore Development Authority that SWSDA does not qualify for performance-based funding under its current incorporation.  To receive future funding - which SWSDA CEO Frank Anderson has said is crucial to the organization's continued existence -  and to ensure transparency and accountability, the development authority must completely re-constitute itself, including: incorporate under the RDA Act, must change its name, must change its board composition, must create internal management by-laws, etc etc.
     This is the same agency that for years has been under almost dictatorial control by Anderson, Rose and a small cadre of Yarmouth-based politicians - including the now-backbencher Rich Hurlburt -  and has been the subject of much public sturm and drang over the past two years. Anderson reported recently that he and SWSDA were under investigation by the Ombudsman's Office and the NDP and Liberal parties have demanded complete forensic audits of SWSDA by the Auditor general. The RCMP is currently conducting an investigation regarding the incident where Rose and Anderson forced the removal of a reporter from a recent SWSDA board meeting.
     Anderson and SWSDA have also been the subject of news reports (and some law suits) surrounding contracts, various property sales, the Georges Bank Review, funds destined to Team Shelburne and irregular Societies Act registrations, among other matters.
     Let's see how the weak-kneed local pols react to this great opportunity to take some real control - and responsibility - over economic development. FYI, the Muni of Barrington refused to provide a copy of the letter, as did Thompson's office. Town of Yarmouth coughed one up no sweat. The Town of Shelburne has refused to provide any correspondence with Anderson re: his handling of the $5 million pitch for port improvements. What does everybody have to hide when it comes to business dealings with Anderson and SWSDA?  More information about the RDA issue, including a copy of the letter can be found HERE on today's SWSDA Blog.

June 9, 2009: Change in NS, same-old/same-old elsewhere. Distressing news across the transom today with news release from the federal Greens that Harper govt has appointed two climate change deniers to crucial innovation funding positions.  

June 8, 2009: Great show from the Demolitors Sat nite at The Osprey. 

The web wire is abuzz with the impending NDP rout on Tuesday. One post, in commenting on Dan Leger's piece in Chron today, says... " I'm having a hard time believing that such political events might be unfolding here in the politically-ossified, patronage-ridden Nova Scotia that we have all come to know and love ...It feels like the fall of the Berlin Wall ...."

June 7, 2009: A real community development project... the staff and students at Shelburne High came out in force on Friday joining a couple of other volunteers as we built raised beds and a fence perimeter. Tuesday, we pour concrete for posts and, by weeks end, we should have much of the original work done. This in addition to all of the fruit trees being planted there and the landscaping which brings a "campus" atmosphere to the school. The kids were GREAT! (see photos at left)

The garden is open to anyone in the community for growing whatever you'd like. Get in touch with Mary Manning at the High School  at 875-4900

June 5, 2009:King George's birthday bash was great fun, with parade of 30-plus historical characters marching from Cenotaph to Dock Street, then on to a party at the Sea Dog. Mayor Alan Delaney was feted by the officers, soldiers and civilians for his attendance.

June 4, 2009: 20 years Anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre, and 249th of the birth of King George III (celebration for King Geo at 6:30pm at Seadog Saloon in Shelburne).

June 3, 2009: For those of you who may have been regular or intermittent readers of Shelburne County Today, you will notice an appreciable change in the format of the site. For a variety of reasons, I have decided to re-orient the site so that it affords me an opportunity for a more personal exercise of my journalistic "muscle" and to be more selfish about what I write about. For those that are pleased about this change, I share your pleasure, though not perhaps your motives. For those who may be disappointed and will miss the particular brand of SCT news, there is now an opportunity for you to consider creating or supporting news services which can provide you with the kind of news you feel entitled to. 

Although the news here for the last few years has provided a unique - and, I think valuable - glimpse into the machinations that we know of as our local civic, business and political institutions, producing it has come at considerable cost to me and I've decided to move on to things hopefully more rewarding. 

You may find here in the comings days, weeks and months references to news stories or to web sites which can present or point to news that may be of some interest.  Stay tuned, if you've a mind to. Timothy Gillespie