On Friday’s Tantramar Report:
We chat with town of Sackville recreation director Matt Pryde about the recent decision by town management to cancel the popular Fall Fair this year. For more on this story, click here.
Today is another Global Climate Strike Day. Student organizers with Divest MtA are inviting people to gather at 10:30am in the academic quad outside the RP Bell Library on the Mount Allison campus, to make themselves heard about climate change. Organizer Kate DesRoches dropped by CHMA studios to share a bit more about today’s protest.
Students are back at Tantramar High again today after being home twice this week due to COVID cases in the community. Port Elgin Regional School remains on distance learning again today due to the number of students and staff that are isolating. Both schools had further confirmed cases on Wednesday and went to online learning Thursday. Anglophone East School District also announced that the K-8 Shediac Cape School would move to online learning for today.
A service to commemorate the lives of the Sears family of Amherst will be held today at 1pm in Victoria Square in Amherst. RJ Sears, Michelle Robertson and their four children were killed in a tragic camper fire and discovered on September 13 in Millvale, Nova Scotia. Everyone attending the memorial must show proof of vaccination and identification, and wear a mask. The service will also be livestreamed and broadcast on CFTA.
COVID-19 rapid test kits are already widely available for small to medium businesses to use for their employees, but they are not yet available to families experiencing school and daycare closures. That could change, says New Brunswick Department of Health spokesperson Bruce MacFarlane. “Discussions are currently underway” on the possible use of rapid tests for K-12 schools and child-care facilities, says MacFarlane. And in fact, rapid tests are in use at one high school in the province. Macfarlane says a testing program was set up earlier this week at Southern Victoria High School in Perth Andover for students who have not been able to book a test through an assessment centre. Click here to read more about COVID-19 testing wait times.
Mount Allison has unveiled a new artwork by Mi’kmaw artist Loretta Gould. The work is one of a series of artworks commissioned by the Owens Art Gallery and Mount A’s Office of Indigenous Affairs. The painting is titled Prayers for Our Lost Children, and serves as a reminder of the impact of Canada’s Residential School Systems on Indigenous people and their families. Gould is a Mi’kmaw quilter and painter who loves bright, beautiful colours. She’s a self-taught artist, who grew up in Waycobah First Nation. The painting is currently on display outside the office of Indigenous Affairs in the Wallace McCain Student Centre.
Levee on the Lake has been nominated for two Music New Brunswick awards in 2021. After its first year in 2020, the Silver Lake-based music festival garnered Event of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards. And now the second year of the festival could prove to be an award-winner as well. The fest is up for Innovator of the Year as well as Event/Festival of the Year.
Saturday is the last chance to see exhibitions by artists Alana Morouney, Annie France Noël and Kaeli Cook at Struts Gallery. The exhibitions are part of the Living is Easy, a professional development program for Struts Gallery Members. Participating artists are invited to use gallery space to stage or document work, install an exhibit, or generally experiment with their work in the space. Struts gallery is open today and Saturday, 1pm to 5pm.
Tune in to Tantramar Report to hear a special Friday treat. You’ve Changed Records announced this week that Sackville musician Julie Doiron will be releasing a new album on November 26th. “I Thought Of You” will be Doiron’s first new solo album in 9 years, though the artist has been at work on other projects in the meantime. The first song off the album, You Gave Me The Key, has been released to Bandcamp and appears on streaming services today.