In February, the average daytime temperature in India can hit 30 C. A stark comparison to the average winter temperature in Cape Breton ... especially during a year when we find ourselves digging out from record-breaking snowfalls.
Church’s Valu Foods in Marion Bridge employs several of Cape Breton University’s international students from India, who are able to work part-time while studying.
Store manager Jason Church recently invited the international employees to join him and his family for a day of ice fishing and tobogganing, activities none of the employees had experienced before.
Despite being slightly underdressed, the students had a great time.
Student Chetan Bhardwaj says he is adjusting to his first Canadian winter. I had to ask him about his thoughts after barrelling down a snow-covered hill on a crazy carpet, of all things. His reply, “Today, I really feel like I am in Canada.”
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Gordie Lotherington of Marion Bridge recently acquired a camera owned by Eleanor Huntington. To his surprise, the antique camera still contained undeveloped film.
What were the chances that this film could be salvaged? What images could it reveal?
Eleanor Huntington was a well-known resident of Huntington in Grand Mira North. According to Lotherington, she taught in a one-room schoolhouse located on the Intervale Road and was devoted to her family and heritage.
In 2004, Huntington passed away at the age of 100. Prior to her death, she had spent much time chronicling her family history to that of Caleb Huntington, the Grand Mira Pioneer, and beyond, which she later published in a book titled, “Huntington Heritage.”
Lotherington explained his great-grandfather and Huntington’s grandfather were brothers.
The camera, a Kodak, believed to be from the 1930s, was in the possession of Lucy Bersuk, a close friend of Huntington’s.
Knowing there was a family connection, Bersuk passed on the camera to Lotherington’s sister Sheila Pottie who later gave it to her brother because he, much like Huntington, has a genuine interest in his family's ancestral roots.
Lotherington then visited a local camera shop, hoping the film could be saved. They were able to forward the vintage film to a specialty shop in Western Canada. Sadly, because of its age, the film was blank.
Through my conversation with Lotherington, I was intrigued to learn that for many years, Huntington wrote a column and worked at the Cape Breton Post and its predecessor the Post Record.
At the urging of many friends, Huntington compiled her columns in a book titled, “Looking Around.”
In one such column titled “Mira Calls,” she shared a poem dedicated to all Mira natives who have nostalgic memories of their childhood home. An excerpt from the poem:
“I long to be in Mira,
To know her charms once more,
The moonlight on the water
That beckons from my door."
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If the winter blahs have got you down, don’t despair. Visit marion-bridge.ca for a list of events happening in the Mira area. For additional information, visit the Facebook pages for the Mira Boat Club and Two Rivers Wildlife Park.
Alice Ross is a resident of Marion Bridge and an employee of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. She may be reached via email at [email protected].
