Brier and Long Islands Historical Society
243 Highway 217 B0V 1B0 Freeport, NS, Canada

Merry Christmas from Islands Historical Society!

We all remember going to community Christmas concerts at the church and school. It was an eagerly awaited event, but created LOTS of stress for those organizing, giving out parts and rehearsing the children. It would all be wonderful, regardless of lines forgotten, stage fright or, in one case, a Christmas dress pulled over a participant's head due to a desire to hide. Here are some examples of Christmas programs used by the Islands' teachers in the early 1900s.

Although notification of the end of the war came the evening of November 10th, formal celebration waited until November 12, 1918 which was declared a civic holiday. Church services, ringing of bells, decorated cars parading from village to village and large bonfires took place in each village and along the Acadian Shore.

Thinking about homemade cranberry sauce to add a special taste to your holiday meals? Here's a special recipe from the cookbook " From Hash to Haddock"

Blair Finigan and bride Emily Osborne

Westport Lobster Industry Bert Gower paints lobster floats. Westport. October, 1951 John Collier Jr. Photographs 1950 -1951... Identifier No.5962-d Source: Nova Scotia Archives Want to see more Collier Digby County Photos on NovaStory? https://www.novastory.ca//digph/search/order/title/ad/asc #Westpost #CollierPhotos #WestportHistoricalPhotos

The headline reads Westport aids Halifax Relief and the names listed are the many people on Brier Island who gave what they had to the fellow Nova Scotians who lost so much in the Halifax Explosion on Dec. 6, 1917. Personal donations ranged from ten cents to $10, and were supplemented by donations from E.C. Bowers Ltd, Juanita Lodge Oddfellows, Westport Dramatic Club, Brighten Corner Club and the Baptist Sunday School, making a total of $297.52 collected. In 2020 U.S. dollars, that is equivalent to $5645. If you are interested the accompanying item stuck in the scrapbook is entitled "The Lips That Touch Liquor Shall Never Touch Mine". Short version - the lady stood her ground and changed her drinking man....

Three smaller ceremonies of remembrance took place at village cenotaphs on the islands due to Covid-19 and social distancing guidelines.

If you have ancestors or community members who served in World War I and want to know more about them, go to https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca//personnel-rec/Pages/search.aspx

Pte. Charles E Hersey's stone at Vimy Ridge, France. He died April 27, 1917 of wounds received in action, aged 19.

World War I saw eight men from Brier and long Islands lose their lives in combat. Unfortunately Charlie Hersey, Noble Lewis and Boyd Wyman's pictures are not in our collection and information in the local paper about Charlie and Horace's deaths are in lost issues. Boyd Wyman, b. Tiverton April 1, 1897, suffered gun shot wounds to his right shoulder and leg October 30, 1916 and died November 3, 1917. A ninth man, Melbourne Titus was released as medically unfit for further service, sent home to Freeport but died of his injuries soon after.

Identification anyone?

Support for the men who have marched off to fight came in many forms- published lists of men who enlisted from each village, Red Cross fund raising and knitting parties, shipment of goods to the troops the purchase of Victory Bonds. Sending cigarettes and tobacco were one of the primary items sent as well.

Although life was changed for all enlisted men, they fought to enjoy what they could, find wonder in the new things they were seeing, and make new lives through finding love in the places they were stationed.

While others went on to train off island, a large core of men trained in Tiverton at a large fish dryer building. Although not all men mentioned in the newspaper article may be in the photograph, it shows the depth of patriotic feeling in the early days of the war.

Many men from our Islands and Digby Neck joined the war effort as soon as they could. This post shows how enlisted men were brought back to their communities to encourage other men they knew to enlist. These men all trained at the Kings-Edgehill area in Windsor.

Thurston Ossinger 1942-1946 RCAF Marine Division

Our men who fought experienced terrible things. Take a moment to read the explanation about what these pictures represent.

Long Island Lobster Fishing Industry Ernie Haines, repairing lobster traps, above lobster ground in St. Mary's Bay southeast from Freeport, Digby Co. November,... 1950 John Collier Jr. Photographs 1950-1951 NS Archives Identifier No.1457-d Want to see more of what life looked like in Digby County in 1950-1951? Visit NovaStory here: www.novastory.ca/cdm/digbycounty #CollierPhotos #NovaStory #Freeport #FreeportHistoricalPhotos