Keeping score at Shiretown Field with new scoreboard

The new scoreboard at Shiretown Field in Woodstock

Shiretown Field

The 2012 Western Valley Midget AA Shiretowners. Front row,
left to right: Cole Giberson, Brody Giberson, Rod Langille, 
 Bry Crabbe, Devon Cullins, Matt Inman, Corey Dickinson, 
Luke Harvey. Back row, left to right:Terry Mann (announcer), 
Richard Morneau (manager), Jordan Hutton, Joseph McHugh,
Brent Wallace, Scott Wishart, Ryan Morneau, co-head coach 
Jake Smith, co-head coach Kirk Giberson. Absent- Danny Smith.
Image courtesy of Western Valley Shiretowners

Sussex participating in Kraft Celebration Tour

SUSSEX-A south central New Brunswick town is participating in a promotional opportunity which could earn it some recreation funding and put it on the map.

Centrally located nearly 75 kilometres from Saint John, 120 kilometres from Fredericton, and 83 kilometres from Moncton, the town of Sussex is among roughly 420 nominees in the 2012 Kraft Celebration Tour.

Sussex is also among 20 finalist communities of the tour.

Nominations for the tour can be submitted on the Kraft Celebration Tour's website, and a panel of judges selects 20 finalist communities.

Over a ten-day period, people can vote for their communities online. The ten winning communities receive a grand prize of $25,000 from Kraft to be used on the facility or project endorsed by the winning community.

TSN will then provide a live SportsCentre broadcast from the winning community in celebration of the win. RDS Sports 30 will provide a broadcast in any winning Francophone community.

Stacey Charlton originally nominated the 8th Hussars Sports Centre, Sussex's arena. She described the town as "a small cow town in New Brunswick."

8th Hussars Sports Centre (Kraft Celebration Tour Image)

"We are known as the Dairy Centre of the Maritimes," Charlton's description read on the Kraft Celebration Tour's website.

Charlton also included the various benefits the funding would pose to Sussex and the greater area, if they are chosen as one of the winners.

"The $25,000 would help our community and area, as it would help our children in a positive way," the description stated. "We could help our children with programs based on learning valuable life skills."

She went on to describe the importance of recreational programs in keeping Sussex's people active.

"This area [and] our cozy little town has many programs that help keep children, youth and adults active. [The] arena has skating programs, such as hockey and figure skating, but also has a learn to skate program for children."

"There [are] also programs for children in the summer months as summer camps that this $25,000 could really benefit with some equipment."

Charlton says that the funding could help to establish programs for people of all ages.

"I think the town is in real need of programs that could help with adult healthy lifestyle changes that would be passed on to our children and to others in the community," Charlton's description stated.

Charlton cited the town's efforts to improve the greater community as a valid reason for choosing Sussex as a finalist community.

"Our community should be a finalist as we are a small town with big dreams," Charlton stated. "We try every year to make improvements in our town, and they are doing a wonderful job."

"This town should be a finalist because we need to add more programs to this community, and $25,000 would really help jump start these programs."

Becky Titus nominated the Sussex Tennis Association Tennis Courts for the Kraft Celebration Tour. The town's tennis courts were selected for the finalists. Titus described nominating Sussex's tennis courts to help with the growth of tennis in the community.

Sussex Tennis Association Tennis Courts (Kraft Celebration
Tour Image)

"I would like to nominate the Sussex Tennis Association for the Kraft Celebration Tour to aid substantially the growth of tennis in the Town of Sussex," Titus mentioned in her description on the website for the tour. "This vision continues in upcoming months with the construction of a Clubhouse to run daily operations and store equipment."

"We need to install washrooms in this building as there are no facilities in that particular section of the park (where the tennis facility is located)."

Titus added that lighting improvements would be a positive thing as well, and the funding from the Kraft Celebration Tour could be used to offset the costs of installing lighting.

"Installation of a lighting system would be beneficial to expand our operating hours, lengthening the evening play," Titus stated in her description. "Assistance is also needed in covering some of the staffing (two summer students), who are responsible for running after school and summer programs for the juniors and promotion of the sport in the area."

The Bathurst Curling Club in Bathurst is also participating in this year's Kraft Celebration Tour, and was chosen as one of the 20 finalists.

With files from www.kraftcelebrationtour.ca and www.sussex.ca 

Dangling stop sign in Woodstock neighborhood

Location: Intersection of Creighton Street North and Wilson Street
Problem: The stop sign at the three-way intersection is dangling. It looks as if it is hanging by a thread.
Effects of Problem: The sign could fall, increasing chances of an accident at the intersection or injuring a pedestrian. An accident could also be caused by a car failing to stop at the intersection if the sign is dangling or missing.
Party Responsible: Town of Woodstock Public Works Department
Solution? N/A

TOWN WATCH UPDATE
The missing stop sign at the intersection of Park Street and Broadway in Woodstock, featured in The Shiretown Blogger's Town Watch on Monday, May 28th, has been replaced.

Beautiful day along the "Crick" in Woodstock

CJ 104 awards prizes

Jackie Hatheway, left, was one of the lucky winners
of tickets for the fan bus courtesy of CJ 104 traveling
to the Nickelback concert in Moncton this weekend.
CJ 104 announcer Terry Mann presented her with the
tickets.

Charlie McCartney, left, won tickets to the Cavendish Festival
show being held on Saturday, July 7th. CJ 104 announcer Tim
Durling presented McCartney with the tickets.

CJ 104 was recently honored for the support their listeners
demonstrated for the IWK Radio Telethon, held in May 2012.
The telethon has been a longtime fundraiser for the Halifax
children's hospital, and proceeds are used to purchase equipment.
IWK representatives Lisa (left) and Penny (right) presented
CJ 104 announcer and station manager Rick McGuire with a plaque
on behalf of the IWK Children's Hospital.

Images courtesy of CJ 104

Victorian Tea at Connell House begins today

The Victorian style tea at Connell House is being offered for the second summer starting today!

Stop by Connell House every Thursday to experience a trip back to the nineteenth century with an 1800s style luncheon and tea.

The Victorian Tea runs from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm every Thursday at Connell House. Tables cost $11.95 per person and can be booked by calling (506) 328-9706.

The Victorian Tea menu will vary by week. This week's menu is as follows:

• Assorted cheese and pickles
• Homemade biscuits and jam
• Lemon poppy seed scones and clotted cream
• Chilled cucumber soup 
• Sandwiches: tasty tuna, cherry cheese and asparagus
• Strawberry custard tarts 
• Sugar cookies 
• Date squares

Hartland Covered Bridge featured on Google Doodle

One of the world's leading search engines has honored the longest covered bridge in the world on a special milestone.

Google created a Google Doodle yesterday of the Hartland Covered Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick.

At 1,282 feet (391 metres), the historic structure spanning the Saint John River at Hartland is the world's longest covered bridge.

Today marked the 111th anniversary of the original opening of the bridge.

The bridge at Hartland was built around the turn of the twentieth century at a cost of $33,000 in those days. Private shareholders funded the bridge's construction because the provincial government at the time refused to build the bridge. Hartland townspeople stressed the importance of the bridge to local farmers and transportation. 


The bridge was opened on July 4, 1901, in a ceremonial fashion. A large celebration was held in Hartland's downtown core. 

The Hartland Bridge as it looked on its opening day on July 4, 1901

 Originally uncovered, the bridge was funded by tolls for five years. A toll house stood on the Hartland end of the structure. The tolls were lifted in 1906 when the New Brunswick government purchased the bridge. 


In the spring freshet of 1920, two spans on the Somerville side were lost. Over a two-year period, the spans were replaced and the bridge was covered. The wooden piers were also replaced with reinforced concrete ones. 

Bridges were covered to preserve the wood and protect it from the elements. Covered structures are said to last up to eighty years, compared to the twenty-year lifespan of uncovered structures.

In 1945, the pedestrian walkway was added to the bridge (pictured above). It is a small covered bridge in itself.

In 1960, the Hugh John Fleming Bridge was opened to traffic, keeping with the new Trans-Canada Highway of the day. There was talk of demolishing the covered bridge, but it remained open as a tourist attraction.

In 1966, vandals attempted to burn the bridge, but were unsuccessful. Another unsuccessful attempt to burn the bridge was made in the early 2000s, but was detected by Department of Transportation employee Vince Wortman. Wortman was commended at the New Brunswick Legislature by then-Minister of Transportation Percy Mockler.

In 1980, the Hartland Covered Bridge was declared a National Historic Site. A ceremony was held at the park at the Somerville end of the bridge, and then-New Brunswick Premier Richard Hatfield (also a Hartland native) attended the ceremony. The bridge was declared a Provincial Historic Site in 1999.

In the fall of 1982, a car struck the side of the bridge near the Somerville end, causing the bridge to sag as a result of damage to a steel beam.

Damage to the car totaled $400, while the bridge suffered $140,000 in damage. The bridge was opened again in February of 1983.

In 1995, Canada Post unveiled a commemorative stamp of the Hartland bridge.

In 2001, the Town of Hartland celebrated the centennial of the Hartland Covered Bridge. Then-New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord cut the ribbon to open the bridge for the next century, and the first crossing was reenacted by Drs. Stocek and Ghanem (in May of 1901, the bridge was not yet complete, but a Dr. Estey asked to cross the bridge to see a patient on the Somerville side of the river, and planks were put down in a hurry to allow for Dr. Estey's crossing).

In 2007, a central beam had split down the middle, and the bridge was closed for several months in the winter to allow for repairs to be carried out. It was closed again a few times afterwards for upgrades.

Craig Melanson, the mayor of Hartland, told CJ 104 radio yesterday that a member of the media called him at 6 am yesterday morning to inform him of the recognition by Google. Melanson was caught by surprise.

"When you get a call first thing in the morning like that, you approach it with trepidation," Melanson told CJ 104. "Once I found out what the story was all about, it was pretty golden."

Melanson added that Google's featuring of the iconic landmark may mean an increase in tourists visiting the town, resulting in economic benefits.

"People are going to say 'Where is this?' and when you hear something like this type of an interest story, you may like to visit. You may think this is something you've been putting off, and you may want to go see what they (Google) are talking about," Melanson said. "I think it will bring tourists and give the local business community a chance to benefit from it."

The Hartland Covered Bridge is one of only 61 structures of its type remaining in New Brunswick.