On today’s show, reporter Tori Weldon takes us to the Owens Art Gallery for the opening of a new exhibit featuring a collaborative work involving more than 130 people, including students from Marshview Middle School and other area residents. Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky’s Solaris and Pom-Pom Jam Mobile Hub is up at the Owens Art Gallery until May 5.
Plus in news briefs, prep work could start this week on a parking lot near trail heads on Walker Road, and registration for French Immersion is open in the province. … Continue
They say it takes a village to raise a child, in the case of The Owens newest exhibit, it takes a town to make some art. At least that’s the case for artists and collaborators, Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky.
Weppler, based in New York, and Mahovsky, who works out of Toronto, spent weeks in Sackville in October of 2023, meeting with grade school students, university students and anyone else who was interested from the wider community. They held workshops at Marshview Middle School, asking classes to make sculptures for their exhibit.
Grade five student Callum Tunnacliffe was in one of those classes and was at the art opening on Saturday, January 13. Thinking back to his time with the artists at school, Tunnacliffe said, “Everybody had a lot of fun.”
His mother Lucy MacDonald is the curator of Education and Community Outreach at the gallery. She was an integral part of bring the art duo to Sackville.
“It took a lot of coordination,” said MacDonald. She reached out to Marshview Middle School principle, Heather Dixon, who was immediately on board. The pandemic slowed things down considerably, but the artists eventually made it to Sackville to run the workshops. When they returned for the opening, the work was finished. It’s called Solaris.
More than 130 people participated in the collaborative work which involves a video that was made by filming melting ice sculptures. The soundtrack for the video was recorded during the workshops. … Continue
On today’s show, we hear from Birchwood Holdings’ Debbie Johnstone about her plans for the Sackville Bowling building, which is seeing some repairs to its interior in recent weeks. Johnstone says she’d like to see the bowling alley, which first opened for business in 1939, back in action.
Plus in news briefs: Beal University Canada has announced its officially open for business at the Sackville Memorial Hospital, and the Parks Canada Revealing Chignecto exhibit at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre is in its final weeks. … Continue
The Tantramar Primary Health Care Clinic is located in the former offices of Dr. Catherine Johnston, who also happens to be one of only two part-time doctors currently working at the clinic. Photo: Erica Butler
Patients on the waiting list for Horizon’s new primary care clinic based in Sackville are stressed out.
The new clinic began operating in September on a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” basis, with triaged lists coming from two local doctors who recently closed their practices. Then a local nurse practitioner who took another position was not replaced, and her patients were added to the prioritized list. Most recently, Horizon says it will also start adding orphaned patients from the recently closed practice of Dr. Adrian Kelly.
That means despite the impressive fact that the two part-time doctors at the clinic (working a combined total of three days per week) have seen more than 700 patients since September, the waiting list for Tantramar’s new primary care clinic is growing, not shrinking.
‘Not knowing is the worst part’
Tracy Lapointe is one of those waiting. The 41-year-old had a cerebellar stroke in November of 2022, and since then has been recovering with the help of her former doctor, Andrea Wall. When Dr. Wall closed her practice this summer, Lapointe was put on the list for Horizon’s new primary care clinic. “I was told that because of my needs with medication and follow up for stroke recovery, that I would be on this list of patients to be seen,” says Lapointe.… Continue
Sackville resident Sarah Kardash, outside of Tantramar council chambers, January 9, 2023. Photo: Erica Butler
The devastation in Gaza was again top of mind at Sackville town hall on Tuesday, as about 50 local residents gathered in the cold outside to hold a candlelight vigil, with others attended the meeting inside, and asked Tantramar council to follow the lead of other Canadian municipalities, and ask the federal government to pursue a ceasefire in Gaza.
Sackville Ceasefire Coalition member Sarah Kardash presented to council, spending her five minutes of allotted time laying out reasons why town council should write to Prime minister Justin Trudeau and ask him to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.
“As a Jewish member of the coalition, I’m horrified that Israel is weaponizing the deaths of Israeli citizens on October 7 to fuel a genocidal war against Palestinians,” said Kardash, quoting the large numbers of Palestinians killed in the Israeli campaign to eradicate Hamas.
According to the estimates from the Gaza Health Ministry, over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the majority women and children.
“The UN has called Gaza a graveyard for children,” Kardash told council. “Imagine the equivalent of two nuclear bombs dropping on an area half the size of Tantramar… Experts say the relentless bombing by Israel since October 7 is the most destructive in modern history and among the deadliest in recent history.”
Kardash presented a detailed petition to council signed by 253 local residents, and organized by the coalition, which Kardash described as “a group of Tantramar residents of diverse ages, faiths and backgrounds who are united as global citizens in our humanitarian concerns for the people of Gaza.”… Continue
On today’s show, we take a look at Horizon’s new primary care clinic in Sackville, which is still running on a skeleton crew after opening in the fall. We talk to some of the new patients of the clinic, and some of those still waiting on a call.
Plus in news briefs, one person is displaced after a house fire on Wood Point Road, and the voting is live on a name for Tantramar’s new sidewalk plow.… Continue
By this time most years, Tantramar’s cross country ski trailheads on Walker Road are normally packed with cars as enthusiasts glide their way through the extensive and carefully maintained trails. But a lack of snow is pushing the ski season back later than they’d like.
Robin Walked runs the local Jackrabbit Cross Country ski program, through the Tantramar Outdoor Club (TOC). There are about 65 kids signed up this year, but they haven’t been able to go skiing yet this season.
“Without snow it is a bit tricky,” she said.
The weekly ski group is led by volunteer coaches and is part of a national program designed to get kids outdoors, be active and have fun on cross country skis.
Walker hopes to start the program sooner than later, but it depends on the weather.
Ross Thomas, a retired doctor, member of the TOC and a self proclaimed exercise evangelist, skis about five times a week, when there’s snow.
He’s one of a group of volunteers from the TOC who plans and maintains the about 30 kilometers of trails, 20 of those are exclusively for cross country skiing. The land is owned by the TOC, the town of Tantramar and local people who have given permission for others to pass.
While Thomas said the few inches of snow on the group aren’t enough to make for enjoyable skiing on TOC trails, he’s still managed to find some open fields to strap on his skis and go for a glide. … Continue
Sackville resident Chelsea McKenney was in Moncton Provincial court last week to register a plea of not guilty on two charges stemming from an incident that occurred in her Sackville apartment this past summer.
On June 23, a police officer came to McKenney’s home in response to a 911 call reporting a disturbance. After speaking briefly with McKenney and her partner Justin Baird, Constable Mathieu Daigle wound up arresting McKenney, later charging her with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The 31-year-old mother of two spent the night in jail in Shediac, and formal charges were laid in October.
McKenney has been denied assistance from Legal Aid and had no legal representation in court on January 3, but she consulted the court’s duty counsel about her decision to enter her plea on her own. She’s now due back in court in just over one year, on January 20, 2025. McKenney told Judge Paul Duffie that she plans to have a lawyer by then.
The Sackville woman is also pursuing two complaints regarding her treatment in June, one to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission which she filed herself in August, and one to the Canadian Human Rights Commission which is being filed by Nova Scotia-based PathLegal on her behalf.
McKenney’s CRCC complaint is being investigated by an officer with the RCMP detachment in Richibucto.… Continue
After a unanimous vote by Tantramar council Tuesday night, town staff will be seeking permission from the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) for ATVs to be permitted on about 5.5 kilometres of roadway in Sackville and Dorchester.
A few councillors brought up concerns with safety and traffic, but Mayor Andrew Black assured them that permission from the province was just the first step in the process to allow ATVs and quads on portions of the following streets:
Main Street, Sackville (route 940)
Bridge Street, Sackville (route 106)
Cherry Burton Road, Dorchester
Woodlawn Road, Dorchester
Route 106 between Woodlawn and Cherry Burton, Dorchester
“We could get permission for these,” said Black, “but then all of the other work that would have to be involved in doing this will then follow… public safety, maybe traffic analysis, bylaw changes. Some of that might… involve some sort of public public consultation, potentially.”
The motion was an initiative of Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, who gave notice in December that she would bring the issue forward this month. Wiggins-Colwell’s motion follows up on a June request from Quad NB president Jacques Ouellette who asked council to support expanded street access for his members. Wiggins-Colwell’s motion includes the same Sackville streets requested by Ouellette in June, but a different route in Dorchester. Ouellette asked for ATVs to be granted access to the Gitpu Gas Station on Cherry Burton Road via Buck Road and Lower Fairfield, but Wiggins-Colwell put forward a route that would take ATV drivers through Dorchester’s village square and along route 106.… Continue
On today’s show, we listen in as Sackville Ceasefire Coalition member Sarah Kardash presents a petition to Tantramar council asking them to write to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and ask for Canadian action on a ceasefire in Gaza, where an estimated 22,835 Palestinians have been killed since October 7.
In other local news, council approved a motion from Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell asking staff to seek permission from the province to open up another 5.5 kilometres of roadway in Sackville and Dorchester for use by ATVs and quads. … Continue
