Arts & Culture

By Andrew Macdonald

The man that largely introduced a haunting Scottish melody to enthusiastic Nova Scotia pub goers in the 1970s says Dark Island, is now the official anthem for wakes and weddings in Nova Scotia, especially in Cape Breton.

Denis Ryan, stock broker, pension fund manager and crooner with the widely popular ’70s folk band Ryan’s fancy, which disbanded in 1982, first came across the song in 1971.

“I have three favourite songs, Dark Island, Let me fish of Cape St. Marys, and Newport Town,” says Ryan, who is from Newport in Ireland’s County Tipperary.

By Andrew Macdonald

Our Publishing Schedule: A Daily Business & Inside Political News Update Daily – Seven Days A Week.

As you may have notice since December, The Notebook is now publishing daily – over seven days a week.

Just like the greatest paper on the planet, The New York Times produces an issue daily, seven days a week, that is now the normal publishing frequency of The Notebook.

By Alison Strachan – Cross-Canada Tour With Millennial Son SGT Jack Greer: Part III

Oh, Canada! You truly are a big, diverse, beautiful and amazing country!

Leaving Manitoba for Regina, we listened to Acid for the Children, a memoir to the age of 21 by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Michael Balzary. We actually didn’t finish it until we crossed the Alberta border, but I recommend it. Fascinating story and one that a boomer and millennial can both draw from.

Between chapters, I heard:

By MJ Moye

CHESTER — Among factors that make Nova Scotia Canada’s Ocean Playground is the village of Chester, which effectively serves as eastern Canada’s mecca of sailing.

Not only is Chester perfectly positioned at the head of Mahone Bay, with sweeping views and access to its beautiful waters and 365 islands, it is host of Chester Race Week, the largest keelboat regatta in Canada, and second largest in all of North America.

Recreational sailing has been a primary component of Chester’s heritage for well over 100 years, and many full-time and seasonal residents call Chester home distinctly because of the sailing.

By Andrew Macdonald

Two decade long Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge CEO, the able Steve Snider, is now able to inspect his harbour bridges from the water. That’s because Snider, soon to turn 64 but with no immediate plans to retire, has become a sailor.

“My wife and I took sailing lessons in 2012 and we bought ourselves a boat in 2013, which we keep at the Dartmouth Yacht Club,” he tells me.

It’s a C&C 33, a classic and enduring sail boat, made in Ontario in the 1970s & ’80s.

By Andrew Macdonald

If you are in the market for a charming, steady sailboat to ply the Maritime waters, then this article might be of interest to you. My brother is selling his Ontario 32, named ‘Tir Ard Nighean’, the Scottish Gaelic for Highland Lassie.

The boat was one of 158 built in the late 1970s and 1980s by a respected boatbuilding company in Milton, Ont., and was designed in partnership with C&C Yachts. The Ontario 32 was conceived as a quality performance cruising boat incorporating the industry’s latest design features.

By Andrew Macdonald

For the Maritime boating community, a highlight in early February is the annual boat show at the Halifax Exhibition Centre – set to open today (Thursday) and run through to Sunday.
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T.S. Elliott once wrote April is the cruelest month of the year – he got it all wrong, of course, because the dreary winter depths of February has got to be the worst month of the year.

The annual boat show in the property that use to be known as Exhibition Park is the official start of the kick off boating season – as folk buy boats, get sails repaired, and start buying toys for the vessels.

Here’s your update from my #motherandsonroadtrip from #HalifaxtoChilliwack.

We arrived at the midway point, Winnipeg, late yesterday afternoon. We left Halifax last Friday following the same route (more or less) that I travelled as a 20-something across Canada. This time, I’m travelling with my 25-year-old son who has taken a three-year posting with the CAF in Chilliwack, B.C., and who decided that instead of shipping his car, he would use his travel allowance to drive across the country.