60 YEARS AGO: Major facelift for downtown Digby

The Bantam team, coached by Paul VanTassell, won all three games in the tournament at Shearwater, downing Antigonish 3-2, Woodlawn 9-1 and Sydney 6-4. Goalie Remi Theriault won the trophy as the best Bantam goalie in the province.

Digby Music Festival went ahead, but it had diminished to a one-day affair without competition or adjudication.

Joe Casey advised the Digby Board of Trade that Ottawa was allocating funds to repair the surface of Digby’s wharf, but said an investigation by the Department of Public Works found no other serious problems.

A three-minute shopping spree at the Save-Easy netted groceries worth $64.65 for Mrs. Carl Lewis of Parker’s Cove.

Gregory Peck was the star of ‘Shoot Out’, showing at the Little Cinema.

50 years ago

April 10, 1958 – Westport was lashed by a gale that washed away a large part of the breastwork and damaged the ferry scow that had been pounded up against the wharf. Primary school was cancelled for two days because spray at high tide covered the road, and stores were out of bread for three days.

A new 90-foot pilot boat for Saint John was launched at A.F. Theriault at Son at Meteghan River, and christened by Mrs. A.F. Theriault.

Woolaver’s Superette was advertising a 16-ounce jar of peanut butter for 27 cents, a five-pound bag of sugar for 49 cents, and an eight-ounce package of Lipton tea for 54 cents.

At the Capitol Theatre was ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’, starring Gina Lollobrigida and Anthony Quinn.

60 years ago

April 8, 1948 – The town was experiencing a boom in construction and renovation along its main street, with several new stores being built.

A new building next to the Masonic Hall was to house a store owned by Roy Carpenter and would have an apartment upstairs.

The Victory Café was having its front remodeled, as was the Trohon house, which once housed Ideal Restaurant and was partly occupied by the Treasure Chest. The Trohon house was among Digby’s oldest buildings and its remodeling included removal of the store’s false high front.

On Montague Row, work was about to begin on construction of a Canadian Tire store on the site of the old Temperance Hall, destroyed some years earlier by fire.

Digby was holding a plebiscite on daylight saving time after receiving a petition by 363 people asking for imposition of the “fast time”. There was also a counter-petition by 64 people who were against the idea.

An estimated 400,000 pounds of herring were caught “within a stone’s throw” of Digby’s wharf by seven herring seiners from Grand Manan. The fish was then sent to Black’s Harbour in New Brunswick for processing.

‘The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer’ was playing at the Capitol, with stars Cary Grant, Shirley Temple and Myrna Loy.