The Annapolis Valley connection

There has always been a connection between the people of the French shore area and those of the Annapolis Valley. As a small child growing up in the 1940s, I would hear my father and uncle, like so many others, reminisce about working in the apple orchards belonging to the Foote family during the hungry Thirties of the Great Depression.

Things were tough in fishing villages at that time, and those who found work on Annapolis Valley farms spoke well of eating better meals at breakfast time than they ate at home for the Sunday dinner.

My mother, Marjorie, and some of her friends went to work in the Annapolis Valley in the late ‘30s doing house work, cooking, cleaning, catering and serving tables, mostly as helpers to the farm wives. My mother had worked at Sheffield Mills at the Lyndhurst Farm, near Canning; this was successfully operated by Otto Schafheitlin and his family. My mother also worked for the Kentville banker, Melvin Girvan, and his wife, Marjorie, at the outbreak of World War Two, just before she married, and a few short years before I was born. Seventy years later she still talks fondly of her days in the Annapolis Valley, and of when the apple blossoms were in full bloom.

Over the years I have entertained many times in the Valley, especially at the Wilf Carter Night in Canning, where I feel completely at home. Other places were the park at Grand-Pre, where I did some storytelling in French on several occasions, as well as Port Williams, New Minas and other Valley town where the antics of a down home comedian/storyteller were appreciated.

Invitation I simply could not refuse

Just recently I was pleasantly surprised to receive an invitation from Judy Eggleton asking if I would be the guest entertainer for the day at the 25th anniversary of the Farm and Rural Women's Day in Lawrencetown. This was an invitation I simply could not refuse.

This event displayed how well the farm and rural women were organized. Greeted with open arms, I learned many things on that day. When I arrived Dave Whitman, the only other man there, was talking about his book on local history and the little settlement of Roxbury. This was followed by Bridgewater’s Kyla Pierik, who had a very entertaining talk on publishing her new cookbook.

Crystal Brydon was very informative when she spoke on their Maple and Ewe Farm and the role her family played tapping Maple trees and sheep farming. Amy Skelton’s Middleton Farm Market was another successful presentation on that day.

There were other speakers: Anna Clark spoke on CAPS (Companion Animal Protection Society) and Cathy Graves had the history of “Graves Valufoods, your family of Independent Grocers”. There were others that I missed to be sure, plus talks on the Ecology Action Center, book updates and much, much more.

At noon they had enough food to invite Napoleon’s army, but I went easy on it as I had to talk in early afternoon. The day wore down and it was finally my turn to do my little presentation. An audience of 150 women made me a bit uneasy, if not really nervous; it was not the same as telling jokes to a bunch of boys at a fish shed. I promised to keep my act clean as I always do, but one organizer joked: “Just because we’re women, don’t think we are easily offended”.

In any case, I think they liked my humour because they presented me with a very well decorated birdhouse, folk art style, and a real gem, made by Marion Foster. On one end it read “d’Entremont Garage” and had a picture of my 1931 Ford Model A Ford.

My Valley visit was informative, the back of the day’s program had lots of good advice; for example, did you know that bananas contains magnesium, a muscle relaxant, and will lull you to sleep? Warm milk is good for your brain … (I should drink more milk). Potatoes, oatmeal, flax seeds, honey, even turkey are all ideal foods to prepare you for a good night’s sleep.

The Annapolis Valley is always a pleasant visit. Farm life is so different from the fishing villages of Yarmouth County, yet it is only two hours away from my beloved West Pubnico home. It’s a totally different world. We all love the Valley; that’s why we keep returning over and over again.

laudent@hotmail.com