PORT MORIEN, N.S. — A day of remembrance for Cape Breton coal miners and a celebration recognizing the Port Morien area’s coal-mining past are the latest plans to be derailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Port Morien Development Association had planned to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the opening of the coal mine in the community as well as hold Morien Memories, a community festival held every five years.
The community was also due to host this year’s Davis Day ceremony.
However, association president Ron Peach said all of those events have been postponed until next year due to the pandemic.
“We’re going to have to go 301st, I think,” Peach said.
“Life is on hold.”
While the cancellation for this year's celebration is disappointing, it was unavoidable, given the circumstances, he said.
All of the committees for the festival are in place so they will be able to get things back up and running next year, Peach said.
“It’s just a matter of picking up where we left off,” he said.
Morien Memories is always an extremely popular event, particularly with those living away who arrange trips home for it so it was important to get word of the cancellation out early.
“The population of the area probably triples during Morien Memories,” Peach said.
Peach noted the community already cancelled its dinner theatre and it’s unclear at this time whether it will be able to reschedule later in the year.
It’s the first time Davis Day ceremonies have been cancelled.
Davis Day is recognized in the former coal mining communities on June 11 in recognition of William Davis, a father to nine children with another on the way, who was shot during a confrontation between striking miners and company police. On that day the miners were protesting the coal company’s decision to shut down the town’s drinking water supply and electricity.
More than 5,000 people attended Davis’ funeral three days later, while a British Empire Steel Corp. policeman was relocated with his family to Massachusetts for safety reasons.
The day also honours other miners who died on the job.
