Full year of celebrations planned to honour 40th anniversary

BY KIRK STARRATT

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The Village of New Minas has a lot to celebrate in 2008. It’s the 40th anniversary of the community’s incorporation as a village and a committee has been struck to plan a whole year of activities to celebrate the milestone.

Village commissioner Maynard Stevens, chairman of the anniversary committee, says when they realized last year that 2008 would be the 40th anniversary of the village, they decided they should celebrate. They put the word out in the village and interested people met informally before the committee was establish.

Members include recreation director Vince Forrestall, village commissioner Dale Pineo, service group representative Holly Thompson and business representative Greg Whynot. Stevens said a citizen member would be added as well. The committee has met officially on a couple occasions.

It’s important to point out that the village was incorporated in 1968, but the community of New Minas has been around a lot longer than 40 years. Stevens said Acadians probably first settled in the area in 1680s and what is today the Village of New Minas was probably once part of the larger community of St. Antoine. The village was sometimes referred to as Riviere des Habitants. However, it has experienced incredible growth since its incorporation.

Like night and day

“To compare Commercial Street then and now, it’s like night and day for development here in New Minas,” Stevens said. “This is an opportunity to celebrate that.”

Stevens said there are at least 20 different events with a 40th anniversary theme being planned. Some will be stand-alone events and others will be regular annual attractions with an anniversary twist, such as the winter carnival, New Minas Celebration Days and the Celebration of Lights.

He said they got the year off to a successful start with the New Year’s Day Levee, and Al Bernard was successful in his recent attempt to set a new Canadian record by performing 40 magic tricks in 40 minutes. During his performance at the County Fair Mall Saturday, Jan. 19, he completed 41 tricks in 35 minutes.

Public can help, too

For some of the upcoming events and activities, the village is asking for the public’s help. For example, around Apple Blossom Festival time they plan to invite back all the former princesses from New Minas. Stevens said they would like help in locating them so everyone can be sent an invitation.

They would also like to be able to identify the first baby born in New Minas in January 1968 and would like help from the public to do this.

They are inviting the original families of New Minas to hold reunions this year. For example, the Bishop family dates from the 1780s in New Minas and they will hold a reunion in nearby Greenwich later this year.

“We would like to have other long-standing families hold family reunions,” Stevens said.

If people have historic photos of the village to submit, they might end up on display at the Kings County Museum later this year. People with early memories of the village are invited to write them down and submit them. Stevens said they would like to compile a scrapbook.

The village has a new “Celebrating 40 Years” logo and a tree-planting is planned for the spring in recognition of the anniversary. The New Minas Fire Department is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year as well and Stevens said it would host a celebration this summer.

A re-enactment of the original village commission meeting is planned for September and they plan to recognize the original businesses located in the village in 1968.

“It’s an opportunity for people in the village to celebrate and have others join us to celebrate,” Stevens said.

To contact the New Minas Recreation Department for more information or to share input, call (902) 681-6577 or contact Stevens at 681-2040.