Final blog.

I want to thank everyone who helped with NEWS & VIEWS from Feb. 2007 and with the current blog.
And the readers and the contributors.

I may post occasionally on FaceBook.

And a special thanks to
Rosanne Foy who was with me from the start.
Mary Pyke was started short after.
Oliver Childs, another original member.
And Brian Bishop, ditto.
John Belbin - the bird man - a later member.
And Craig Wood and Lynda King - our working together was short but sweet.

We enjoyed discussing everything over breakfasts once a month first at R & G's and most  recently at Café 33. I will miss those meetings.

I am concerned about the lack of information available -  both socially and politically.

We need someone to keep an eye on the politicians in order to save our democracy.

-Heather

Ticks are everywhere.

"I got this tick bite out back 4-5 yrs. ago.  Was treated for Lyme - 6 weeks on antibiotics.   The bite can sometimes just leave a small red mark, but the advice is to see the Dr. if  one becomes embedded.

 I removed one from my husband when he came from fishing, this year, but the tentacle had to be removed at the hospital.  I believe if someone has a tick attached, the safe thing would be to go to the Dr. and have it assessed.

 The pics re: baby one at far right- some small a creature to cause the swelling and bull's eye rash eh?  Was stuck under my arm when I awoke.  It did get it from the backyard - so, everyone needs to be cautions.  I haven't had any ticks from our yard since." - Hantsport resident.

Another Hantsport resident found a tick on her leg after she had been shopping at a farm store in Coldbrook. She had walked a little on the indoor-outdoor carpet in her sock feet. The tick either came from the carpet or was in one of the boots she tried on.

If you find a tick on your body, a recent article in the Chronicle Herald suggested - "Use tweezers, as close to the body as possible to where the tick is imbedded in the skin and gently pull it straight out. Don't jerk, squeeze or pull the tick while you are pulling it out. Put the tick in a Ziplock bag and put it in the garbage.Once the tick is removed, wash the area with hot soapy water or hydrogen peroxide. It part of the tick breaks off under the skin, seek the help of your health care provider in pulling it out."  

Queen Annapolisa LXXXlV Eleanor Gallant

Princess Hantsport has been rightfully elevated to Queen!

Ratepayers of Kings Co meeting

Message for the HANTS Border News & Views blog Re the meeting below…see notice attached … Ratepayers of Kings County meeting May 25th 2016 Hantsport Fire HALL. ·         The meeting started late as there were a large unexpected turnout of attendees. For some reason a virtually full complement of Hantsport Fire-fighters also attended. Cathie Osborne , CAO of West  Hants Municipality , opened the meeting and introduced the Hantsport Fire Chief, Peter Johnson & Deputy Fire Chief, Paul Maynard. Also attending were Cllr. Mike Ennis representing Ward 12 of Kings Co. & Rhonda Brown, Municipal Clerk/Returning Officer, Municipality of the District of West Hants. After giving a brief outline of the purpose for this meeting Ms. Osborne handed over to the Deputy Chief who used a slide presentation to explain the costs involved running a volunteer Fire Station. The Deputy Chief informed the attendees of a few current call statistics. The Hantsport Fire Station has a compliment of 48 fire-fighters who spend an average of  301 hours per year with the Station either working, training or general maintenance. The total man hours spent @ the station averages out at around 14,448  in total. He said that there is over $1,000,000 worth of trucks & assorted fire –fighting equipment currently on site. ·         Handouts of the slide presentation were handed out to the attendees only after the presentation, upon request. Because of the fallout between West Hants & the Windsor Fire Brigade the Hantsport Fire station was asked to increase their coverage to include Falmouth. To take advantage of this in 2015 Hantsport Fire Brigade then requested $ 743,534.80 by way of Capital expenditure to purchase a new Pierce tanker, a new Pierce Saber Pumper & a 6 passenger van for transport. ·         Kings County Municipality were apparently not consulted about this expenditure. Having agreed to & funding this expenditure West Hants then proportioned the costs as….West Hants $132, 051.78- Hantsport $269,977.49 & Kings Co $ 341,505.53……..total $743,534.80 West Hants then determined that an area rate of $48.95 per $100,000 of property assessment should be applied to the home owners of Hants Border, Lockhartville, Avonport, West Brooklyn & Bishopville and it would be sought from & through Kings County Municipality by saying it would be an appropriate share of this Capital expenditure based on the apparent statistic that 45.93% of the Hantsport call outs were made to the aforementioned  5 communities of Kings Co. There followed an extensive questions & answers session. The writer of this missive sent in 12 pertinent questions to the West Hants Hants CAO & Chief Clerk----none of which were answered. Several more questions went unanswered & voices were raised at times. One resident reminded West Hants that a few years ago Kings County were being billed  for more than the full operational cost of the HFD. Of course their memory was vague on this fact. Several attendees praised the Hantsport Fire Fighters for their volunteerism & history of excellent support to the local Community. However this meeting wasn’t to discuss the wants & needs of the Hantsport Fire Brigade, there was the hope that there would be a full financial disclosures so that folks could make an informed decision – yes or no to the AREA rate- Unfortunately this hope did not materialize. The meeting degenerated in a disorderly fashion in its later stages. Harsh criticism was directed to the West Hants Municipality for the lack of prior proper publicity of this meeting, the rushed nature of the proposed area rate request plus the fact that the Municipality  went out & made these capital expenditures and now simply expected the residents of Kings Co to pay the bulk of it, ($341, 505.53), by way of an imposed Area tax rate. ·         While Area rates are used in West Hants - Kings County do not use Area rates as means to raise funds. Hants Border resident Doug Symonds read out to the meeting his message of concerns addressed to all the various parties involved & his message was warmly received by the near 150 attendees. The consensus of opinion was that while everyone present was grateful for the work done by the Hantsport Fire Station there was a strong feeling of resentment towards West Hants Municipality for their apparent arrogance in thinking the 5 Kings Co communities involved would simply agree to this tax increase but some residents of these 5 communities have long memories & recall officers  of the old Town OF Hantsport, (now West Hants), publically calling them “freeloaders” & “parasites”. In my opinion the meeting was premature, poorly handled & typical of the whole shambolic process as presented by West Hants. There then came the call for a secret ballot vote….one vote per Kings County resident. There were 83 attending folks eligible to vote. 75 actual votes were cast. 21 voted in favour of an 4.89% Area rate tax. ·         54 voted against the idea of an 4.89% Area rate tax. The results & the Area rate request from West Hants will now be presented to the Kings Co full Council on June 7th, 2106 Where we go from here is anybody’s guess. These 5 communities of Kings Co are not going to simply roll over & be a greedy cash grab by the West Hants Municipality. Why we don’t mind paying our fair share for the service of adequate Fire protection why we should we pay for the extravagant Capital spending of another county? Regards, David Old Hants Border Militia Regards, David Old

Sauerkraut for breakfast?

Big debate about breakfast.
What to eat?
Is breakfast important?

For me, no breakfast - no energy.
So, I need breakfast. But what?

I discussed this with Registered Acupuncturist Kenton Sefick.

I had been eating oatmeal with fruit and eggs for years.

BORING.

According to Kenton, protein is #1.

He takes a piece of toast, slathers it with peanut butter, tops it with 3 eggs, tops that with meat, and tops that with sauerkraut. Yes, sauerkraut! It's a probiotic - for the gut.

WOW! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

Kenton is a man probably in his prime. I am not.
So, I have everything but just one egg. This is before my first dog walk with both dogs.
After my second walk with Ali, I have yogurt and  fruit.
And that sets me up for the morning - nothing more til noon.

Randy Carey at Fort Mac

Hantsport is a small town but it wasn't until a few minutes ago that I realized that Randy had written a poem about his recent experiences at Fort Mac. I called Joan and she loaned me a copy to post.

Robins ready to go!

from Ruth Ross.

GREAT LITTLE ART SHOW - NEWPORT LANDING

You have two more days to see the work of local artists at the Avon River Heritage Museum in Newport Landing/Avondale - May 28 & 29 from 10 AM - 5 PM. The Hants County Arts Council organized the event.  See LINK

A beautiful show. And here are a few of the many art works on display:

Upcoming events.

School Street Glass

Table in the Lydia & Sally Café. The names of the Planter families who settled in the area in the 1770s. They arrived on the ships Lydia and Sally.

View from the Café. Open May 6 - October 30
 June, July, August - Wednesday to Sunday 12 PM - -4 PM. 

One of Tacha Reed's "feltscape" wall hangings. 

The Forties Community Suppers - WOW!

My first meal at the Forties - a few kilometres from New Ross - was last Thanksgiving. The meal was terrific. New Ross had good cooks. 

Plus countless preserves, fresh produce. etc.

And then I went for Mothers Day. We expected a big crowd. Supper was at 4:30 PM and so we arrived at 3:30. And lots of people from the Hantsport area!

Eating for two?

Another Red Hatter in disguise.

This was mine. Wow!

Not mine.

Not mine.

MINE!

Was it worth it? $12:50? Yes.  

The hall seats 350 and each time there has been a second sitting. I don't remember seeing any children there but there may have been.

A complete schedule of events at the Forties Community Centre can be found below.

FCC Suppers 2016	Variety Shows (1:30-4:30pm)	Crib Tournaments
March 13 St Patrick’s Day Corn beef & Cabbage 4:30-6pm	January 10	First Sunday of every month (12-4pm)
May 8 Mother’s Day Chicken 4:30-6 pm	February 14
June 19 Father’s Day Roast Beef 4:30-6 pm	March 20
July 10 Strawberry Supper Chicken, beans & salads 4:30-6 pm	April 10
August 14 Blueberry Supper ham and hodge podge 4:30 - 6:00 pm	October 30
September 11 Roast Pork 4:30 - 6:00 pm
October 10 Thanksgiving Day Turkey Dinner 11:30 am – 1:30 2:30-4:30 pm
October 23 Sauerkraut Supper 4:30 - 6:00 pm
December 3 &4 Christmas Festival Turkey Dinners and Suppers 11:30-1:30 2:30-4:30
December 13 Breakfast with Santa 8:00 - 11:00 AM

Thank you for your support!
Call 689-2612 or 689-2000

fortiescc@gmail.com

SPCA GOLDEN PAW WINNER FOR ADOPTION IN HANTS COUNTY!

Janet Anderson is the SPCA Golden Paw winner for Hants County. She is a volunteer with the Hants County SPCA at Pet Boarding Services at 640 Lockhartville Road, in Lockhartville.

Janet is the first winner in Hants County in 7 years. She found home for 57 dogs in 2015.

"The work the SPCA does for dogs makes me cry. And it's all by volunteers."

Janet told me about a huge German Shepherd I saw at the kennels a few weeks ago when I boarded my dogs there for a day.

He was vicious from the start. His owners had surrendered him because they could not control him. From inside his pen at the kennels, he barred his teeth at people and at dogs. He was scary.

Janet told me how the SPCA worked with this dog as it does with all dogs to assess its health, temperment, ability to socialize to see if it is adoptable.