Category: Community News

It’s been a few years since the lanes at Sackville Bowling have resonated with the sounds of ten pin bowling, but the building’s owner is hoping they may again one day soon.

Debbie Johnstone of Birchwood Holdings is fixing up the building, with the hopes that it might one day be sold or leased to a new operator. Johnstone says Birchwood carpenter Tyler Carter is working on the space to make it safer and more secure. “A lot of things are coming down and being replaced at this point,” says Carter. The alleys themselves are in pretty good shape, he says, though they are due for some maintenance.

“We’ve contacted the guy that used to own [the alley],” says Johnstone, “and he’s going to come down and show us exactly how to get those lanes up and operational.”

Sackville Bowling first opened in 1939, meaning it predates both the Vogue Cinema, which has been for sale since the summer, and the former Mel’s Tea Room, which is now transformed into new restaurant, Oh Chicken!

The ‘COKE’ sign out front is showing some wear, with the words ‘Sackville Bowling’ nearly worn away, but Johnstone says she is focussed on the inside, making sure the structure is in good shape.… Continue

Artists Karen Stentaford and Thaddeus Holownia have combined their efforts for a new show, ‘of a feather‘, dedicated to the memory of Gay Hansen, a beloved ornithologist, teacher, and lover of nature who passed away in 2021.

Stentaford and Holownia pay tribute to Hansen’s life and spirit through their own work focused on beauty, respect for nature, and “slowing down and appreciation of being where you are,” says Stentaford.

Holownia says he drew from an ongoing body of work for the show. “There’s actually very, very new work that’s come out of my relationship and memories of Gay, and the collection that she put together,” says Holownia, referring to Hansen’s many contributions to the Gay Hansen Ornithology Lab at Mount Allison University.

The show opens at Owens Art Gallery on January 19, and will run until May 15, 2024.

Hear Holownia and Stentaford in conversation with CHMA:

… 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

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