Easter has come and
gone - we certainly hope it was a happy,
peaceful, and meaningful time for all - and
winter continues with snow on three consecutive
days! It is pretty, but surely spring is
much overdue ?!? One sure sign is the annual Brookfield Mens
Club's Ladies Night, when the BMCers
host all the women of the area for a night out,
featuring a (usually) sumptuous meal,
"entertainment", and a look "behind the
curtain". The gala also sees the presentation of
the BMC Eagle Award, the much-coveted
recognition of a community builder(s). We urge
the ladies to turn out in large numbers on Monday, April 20 for the festivities
- the dinner bell rings at 6:30 at the Knox Hall!
The March BMC meeting was
celebrated as the 78th anniversary of the BMC's
founding - it was originally set for February,
but, this being the winter of our discontent, it
was postponed due to a blizzard. Regardless, the
BMCers, and some of their offspring, who are
traditionally invited to the anniversary dinner,
gathered at the Holiday Inn for the meal and
meeting. Long-time Club Secretary Terry
Henderson opened the history book, highlighting
the vital path the BMC has played in our
community.
The afore-mentioned Secretary
was hospitalized briefly with gall bladder
issues; Annie Mae Fields also received some
medical attention. Thanks very much to former
Elk star and Rockingham resident Phil Henderson
for providing a sizable feeding to the Eagle's
fund; we are so grateful to our supporters!
Happy news from Beaver Brook; a baby girl was
born to Tessa and Jason Crewe. Jason is on the
teaching staff at SCA (as well as volunteering
on the School Advisory Council); he is a
nephew of Lana Crewe. Tessa is the very popular
New Zealand native, who has substituted
frequently at Brookfield Elementary. A baby boy
was born to Shortt s Lake couple Donnie Johnston
and Jackie Spicer-Johnston. Rodney
and Stacey (Works) Brenton have a beautiful baby
girl at their home in East Brookfield.
George Brenton is the happy grandfather.
Audrey and Hughie Carter became
great-grandparents; a baby girl (Audrey
Marie)was born to their grandson Ryan and wife
Christina in Halifax. Proud grandparents
are Eva (Carter) and Gerry Lutes of
Moncton. Congratulations to all the happy
families!
A big pat on the back to
Jonas Lawrence, son of David and Lisa, and
grand-son of Bob and Jean Lawrence - he received
the Lieutenant Governor's award at his
Antigonish high school! Jessica Miller, daughter
of Melanie (Mowatt) and Steve Miller of Mt.
Denson, was part of the Avon View High
basketball team that won the provincial Division
2 championship - grandparents are Harry and
Letha Mowatt. The Truro Youth Choir, featuring
Alexa Roop (Andrew, Becky) and Victoria Fraser
(Wendy), captured the gold medal at the Truro
Music Festival. Victoria also placed second in
the Under 10 solo competition. The Mixed Curling
team from SCA which won the Regional
championship, and made a strong showing at the
provincials, were collectively named as Athletes
of the Month for March at the school - Jamie
O'Connell, Chloe Bowers, Hunter Redmond, Rebecca
Rankine, and Karlee Burgess. Travis Fuchs, son
of Debbie (Carter) and Hank Fuchs of Toronto
(and grand-son of Erma Conrad), earned his
Masters of Education degree from Harvard! - he
is an outstanding pianist, and will be featured
in this summer's Tattoo. At Dalhousie
Agricultural Campus, Samantha Fanning was named
Female Athlete of the Year for her starring role
on their volleyball team she is the daughter
of former Elks pitching star Walter (and
Kathy). SCA principal Nevin Jackson s
(Lisa) daughter Alex was Rookie of the Year on
the same team.
The Truro Midget AA Bearcats
won first place in their 11 team league - local
pucksters Coby Crowell and Luke MacMillan were
big parts of the team, which had Ed MacMillan as
an assistant coach. Gregor Dawe, Dalton and
Brendan Turner played for The Truro Jr. C
Rhinos, who won the NS title, and played in the
Maritime championship in PEI. The Corridor
Denture Clinic (sponsor is regular Sportsplex
skater Gina Goulet) Ice Hogs won the Colchester
Women's Rec Hockey title, with a 3-2 win in
overtime in the deciding game. Heather Fraser,
Marissa Roode, Regan Bowers, Bev and Alison Read
were key members - Bowers tied the game with
just over 2 minutes left in regulation, and
assisted on her team's other two goals. This
league is popular at the Sportsplex, and there
is also a feeder system, with a large crowd of
Brookfield/Shortt s Lake ladies in the Babes on
Blades introdutory program on Thursday nights at
the DHMS. A Brookfield Curling Club team
representing the Stewiacke Fire Department won
the Maritime Firefighters title in Truro; Bill
Stone , Mark Crozier, Courtney Rutherford and
Steve Hanham brought home the hardware. The same
group, with Emily Breckon in Stone's spot, won
the Mayor's Challenge at the BCC. The Brookfield
Curling Club wrapped up their 39th(!!) season
with their Awards banquet. Recognized as
champions were (season winners first, then
playoff champions): Monday league Bill
Ettinger, Lee Miller, Brian Neil, Steve Russell;
Laurie Cochrane , Clary White, Tom VanOirschot,
and Gary Doyle; Tuesday - Mike Henderson, Bill
Stone, Lloyd Allen, Ceal Clark ; Mike, Steve,
Heather, and Ann Mackeil (Ann proving to her
brother Charles who the best curler in the
Bowers family is!); Thursday - Becky Shearer,
Ernie Glinz, Arlene Rutherford, Barb Cox ; Leroy
Burns, Jim Thompson, Brian Neil, Gary Smeltzer.
Friday Joe Kaiser, Lloyd Allen, Michael Horne,
Dee Vipond; Ken Retson, Elmer the
machine Archibald, Stacey Harrison, Jason
Steele. Champions at the 26th Annual Great
Community Curling Classic, sponsored by the
Brookfield Athletic Association and Tim Isenor,
Royal LePage, were: Industry - Lafarge - Darrell
Robinson, Brent Mosher, Muir, and Larry Fisher;
Recreation - Courtney Rutherford, Amanda Cox,
Amy (Heffernan) Muis, Jill Kennedy, and Jeremy
Veinotte; and Open - Knox Church - Terry
Henderson, Elmer Archibald, Ken Retson, Gully
and Myrna Matheson. The Donald (Turk) Henderson
Memorial Award was inaugurated by the Sportsplex
to recognize those who have made major
contributions to the GCCC, an event that Turk
regularly flew home from Calgary in order to
compete!! The first winners are BCC charter
members Ken Retson and Terry Henderson.
The Rupe and Mary Fisher Junior Award went to
Garrett Graham, while the Josh Melvin Award for
dedication went to Zachary Sherman. The BCC will
hold their annual meeting in late April - we
hope for much larger community participation
next season to sustain and build on the growth
of recent seasons.
The ski hills of Quebec
beckoned over March Break for several locals -
Brad, Megan, Tristan and Rylan Sutherland
and Tim, Amy, Noah and Audra Lavers enjoyed
Stoneham and Le Massif, while a large group -
Jonathan, Jodie, Jewel, and Jack Woolfiit, Jacob
and Chloe Bowers, and Charlie, Kathy, and Camden
Weatherbee (and several of Kathy's CB kin) were
at Mont Ste. Anne. Jonathan, Gail, Tessa, Mac,
and Jake MacFarlane/Kierstead checked out the
slopes at Sunday River, Maine. Dane
Henderson and Danique Rowsell took in an
exciting Habs-Lightning game at Montreal's Bell
Centre when his work took him there, while Kyle
Henderson attended a concert in the same city.
Caila Henderson visited Mount Allison chums
living in the Andean nation of Chile. Frank and
Hazel Locke enjoyed a cruise in the southern
Carribbean, with some of the ports of call being
Barbados, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands. Randy
and Paula Fisher, Patty Stewart and Rob Smith
and Todd and Shawna Graham went to Mexico.
Andrew, Jill, Rachel and Rowan Sears sunned in
Bradenton, Florida; Ken and Kaye Retson visited
his sister Beth in Mesa, Arizona and Laurie
(Chip) and Maxine Monk enjoyed a trip to Costa
Rica.
Final farewells were said to
Hazel Dickey of Middle Stewiacke - she was
legendary Elk hockey star Stan's widow, and
mother to Mervyn; she also was a regular
contributor to the Eagle. The Elks family lost
another member with the passing of Lornie Miller
in Lantz. He played in the Elks infield in
the late 60 s, early 70 s; and also patrolled
the blue line for a couple of seasons.
Lornie was a classy individual, and well-liked
by the team s fans. Former SCHS Vice- Principal
Merle Stonehouse died in Bible Hill. Joan
Campbell's brother, Wendell VanIderstine died in
HRM, and former Brentwood resident David
Mortenson died in Parrsboro. Deanna Moore s
brother, Wayne Irving, died in Truro. Donald
MacDougall, step-father to Merna Ryan, died in
Debert, Albertha Bert Willis formerly of
Truro, resident of Sunrise Court, and Ethel
McNutt, formerly of Truro, passed at Elk Court,
and Helen Jeppesen, of Bible Hill, and recently
at The Ponds, passed away. Hal Brenton, a native
son and resident of Brentwood, died. Our
sympathies are extended to all whom mourn.
We are delighted that Erica
Nielsen and Derek Jones, with 3 month old son,
Felix in tow, have returned home from Tasmania;
we are thrilled to have them back! Helen Retson
has moved back to Nova Scotia; she is working in
the Windsor area. Kristen Villeneuve and
her daughter Sadie stopped in from La Belle
Province to visit Grandmother Patty and other
family members. Dan and Marita Retson
brought their daughter Clara from Ontario home
to Gene and Marion Retson s. Matt and Kala
Stewart, along with daughters Daisy and Lilla
came from Glace Bay (soon to be Sydney) to visit
their parents (Geoff and Joanne Stewart, Larry
and Sandra Bates).
A lot of hockey fans are
delighted to see FIVE Canadian teams in the
Stanley Cup playoffs, after years of meager
representation. Feel good stories abound
here in the East we have witnessed the amazing
renaissance of the Ottawa Senators; but their
story doesn t eclipse the unbelievable years of
the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames. Both
western entries were pegged to have forgettable
campaigns, instead both were directly
responsible for the defending Cup champs (Los
Angeles Kings) missing this year s
playoffs. We have not completely drunk
the kool-aid - it may be a surprise if
any of the five advance beyond the second round,
but it has been must watch TV for several
weeks, nonetheless. As a side note, the
Pittsburgh Penguins, of interest to many
Bluenosers, have seen their season go into a
major tailspin is it a coincidence their slide
occurred after local favourite Zach Sill was
traded??!! Speaking of playoffs, please make a
point to support the Brookfield
Athletic Association's Stanley Cup Playoffs
pool fundraiser - tickets are available as of
April 13, and need to be entered by Friday
April 17, 7 PM. Show your hockey
smarts, or just take a flyer - two months of fun
for only $5. They are available
at Roop's Esso, from any BAA member, or via e
mail from aroop[@]eastlink.ca or
gvantassell[@]tru.eastlink.ca . The Sportsplex's
vital fundraiser, Chase the Ace
continues on Thursday evenings at the Curling
Club. The pot will be over $5,000; tickets
are only $1! Doors open at 7; the draw takes
place at 8:30. The Brookfield
Community Assembly will hold their Annual
General Meeting on Monday April 27 at the Fire
Station - the public is
invited to attend, meeting starts at 7 PM.
Remember that the 20th edition of the Coming Home to
Brookfield festival will run
from July 18-26 , the Whing Ding is July
24-25. This year s theme is Bringing the
World Home . All Around the
Circle Seniors Group will have their monthly
dinner at the Sportsplex Senior Citizens Room, Tuesday, April 21 doors open at
11:30.
On Sunday, April 19
at 7:30 p.m. there will be a
rock concert at Knox United Church featuring the
recently-formed youth band "Holy Crap"
(Peter Betts, Julia and Anna Hamilton, Beth
O'Connell, Shelb-e Ryan, Justice Sanford and
the Rev. Keith Gale).
Come
out for an evening of great rock tunes. Freewill
donation. Canadian
guitarists Sylvie Proulx, Amy Brandon, Emily
Shaw and Joanne Hatfield
have included a concert at Knox United Church in
their upcoming Four
Guitars Nova Scotia tour.
The concert on Friday, May
8 at 7:30 p.m.
will feature an extensive range of classical,
jazz and Brazilian
pieces, from delicate solo performances to
guitar quartet
extravaganzas. Admission at the door is $12
for adults.
Students, 18 and under, get to experience this
unique evening of
music for free. For more details, check
out 4GuitarsNS on
Facebook.
The May edition of the Eagle
is the
last one (until September), so any relevant info
re summertime
activities should be forwarded by May 5-6.
See
you at Ladies Night on April 20!!!
The
Eagle
Check
our website for more community activities:
brookfieldnovascotia.ca
Facebook- the Village of
Brookfield,Nova Scotia, Canada
