Quick thinking crew saves crusher

o board the ferry, shoving the vessel clear of the ramp. The truck’s rear wheels were secured on the ramp and as the tide receded, the huge piece of equipment was moved across onto the ferry. Traffic was held up four hours.

With Digby County Exhibition just days from opening, organizing committee president LeRoy Warner said additions for the event included new ox haul competitions for women and old-timers, and entertainment included radio and TV star Billy Whelan.

The Digby Courier printed Volume C, beginning its 100th year of publication. Richard S. McCormick, a native of Bridgetown, started the newspaper Sept. 18, 1874. When he was killed in an accident not long afterwards, his widow carried on—the first woman editor of the Courier. It’s second was Edith Wallis, who was editing the paper for its 100th birthday.

“We feel The Digby Courier has been a voice for the community for 100 years, encouraging worthwhile projects and deeds, and endeavoring to curb evil where it is seen,” wrote Wallis. “Truth and justice has been its aim.”

Among the week’s advertisements was a house listed by realtor J. Howard Langille. The 40-acre property fronting on the Bay of Fundy had an 11-room house, hot water heating, two four-piece baths, oak trim throughout, a large boathouse with fireplace, and a good flowing stream on the property. At $62,000, it seems a bargain.

In Smith’s Cove, the same realtor was advertising a 12-unit motel and owner’s house for $60,000.

At the Little Cinema was the Sam Peckinpah movie ‘Straw Dogs’, starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan George and Peter Vaughan.

50 years ago

Aug. 14, 1958 – Princess Margaret, younger sister of Queen Elizabeth, was welcomed to Digby and addressed a crowd of well wishers at the town bandstand. Among the front-page photos is one of the Princess surrounded by members of the 1st Digby Girl Guides, planting a burr oak tree near the Admiral Digby Well.

The princess had arrived in Digby by RCAF helicopter, landing on Larche’s field in Conway where she was greeted by MP George Nowlan and Digby mayor Gordon Turnbull and his wife. A motorcade took Princess Margaret through the town to the bandstand where Gail Hersey, the Digby Fire Department’s young Ice Carnival princess, presented her a bouquet of flowers.

In Halifax, the Natal Day parade featured a float from Digby carrying a replica of the Admiral Digby Well and Scallop Queen Avril Gozna and her attendant Sheila VanTassel.

‘The Spirit of St. Louis’, a biographical account of Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic, was playing at the Capitol Theatre.

60 years ago

Aug. 12, 1948 – Digby Ravens won the Western Valley baseball championship, downing Bear River in two straight games, 8-3 and 9-3. Members of the team were later the dinner guests of the Digby Board of Trade at its meeting in Myrtle House.

Billowing clouds of smoke blanketed the downtown after a southwest wind carried the smoke from a local pitprop concern that was burning old stripped bark. Town firemen extinguished the fire.

Dr. Alex Leighton, a well-known summer visitor from New York, showed two films at the Temperance Hall. One featured Navaho Indians of the American southwest, while the other showed Indians hunting for porpoise in the Bay of Fundy.

‘Fighting Father Dunne’, with star Pat O’Brien, was playing at the Capitol.