Lobster had odd outlook on sea life

35 years ago

Feb. 24, 1972 – The province’s highways department awarded a $171,000 contract for grading, gravelling and preliminary paving of the 3.1 miles of new Hwy. 101 between the Bear River bridge and the Joggin bridge.

A minor hockey league team from Stoneham, Mass., was delayed in Boston by bad weather, forcing Digby organizers to reschedule the second half of a home-and-home series.

The new McCleave Medical Centre was opened for public inspection, with doctors expected to begin seeing patients on Feb. 29. The centre was named after Dr. J.R. McCleave, a Stewiacke native who graduated from Dalhousie Medical School in 1930 and opened his practice in Digby the following year.

Doctors who were opening offices in the McCleave Centre were Douglas E. Lewis, Nuri Birsel, A. Samad and Alan Lawley. F.C. Purdy was chosen as administrator.

Randy Oliver scored twice for the Digby Peewees as they swept a two-game, total goal playoff series with Yarmouth, and advanced to a similar round with Cornwallis.

In Ladies Curling Club play, the team of Donna Levy, Vera Morgan, Pat Wilson and Marilyn Snair won the MacDonald Motors trophy.

At the Capitol Theatre was ‘Brewster McCloud’, a 1970 movie centered on a young recluse living in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome building a pair of wings so he would be able to fly.



50 years ago

Feb. 21, 1957 – The largest audience of the winter packed the Digby Forum to enjoy the Ice Carnival organized by the Digby Fire Department.

Fred Lent of Central Grove reported hauling a lobster trap to find a large lobster wearing a pair of spectacles that were securely wired in place. Because it was a seeded lobster, Lent removed the spectacles and returned the lobster to the deep.

Five goals by Paul VanTassel led the Digby Ravens to a 9-4 victory over the Bridgetown Hawks in the opening of a best-of-five championship series in the Western Valley hockey league. Frazer Handspiker added two of the remaining Digby goals.

A new Kiwanis Club was being formed in Weymouth, sponsored by the Kiwanis of Digby. Rev. Edouard Boudreault, president of St. Anne’s College, announced plans to build an artificial ice rink at the Church Point institution.

Johnny Weissmuller was starring as ‘Jungle Jim’ in the movie ‘Killer Ape’, playing at the Capitol.



60 years ago

Feb. 27, 1947 – Hundreds of area residents visited the Digby Crafts Exhibit in the United Baptist Church hall. Among the finest exhibits was a large needlework picture of a domestic scene. The picture had been begun by Mrs. John Dakin of Digby, a niece of famed Halifax journalist Joseph Howe, and was completed in 1938 by Mrs. Douglas Daley.

School commissioners chose a Wolfville architect to design the new central high school in Digby.

Fifty-three people signed a charter establishing a credit union in Meteghan, with Fred Aymar chosen as the first president.

Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo were starring in ‘Wonder Man’ at the Capitol.