NEW COMMUNITY POLICING OFFICE

The "Horsemen" parked outside their new digs on Queen St.
Ready to respond,the cruisers are parked right outside the door.

In a late breaking news item,chesterns.ca has the first pictures and info on the latest solution to help reduce crime in the Village.After some well planned and hasty renovations,the police can now have a street front office and a higher profile to aid in combating crime and improve their relationship with Village residents.The ol' Fo'c'sle may be just a little more intimate now but you will hardly notice as the officers will be working out of the northwest corner of the building on Queen St.It is all rather fitting as they originally started out as The Northwest Mounted Police.A word of caution.It is o.k. to drive to drink but depending on the Constable's hours,you may need a designated driver or a sober buddy to drive you home.At any rate the streets should be safer now.And remember this,unlike some of us,Police don't fool around with the law.

SUSIE'S SUPER ORGANIC WEEKEND:A PHOTO ESSAY

THE SCHEDULE
Nova Scotia's famous pioneer of organic farming,Norbert Kungl speaks about his produce and the industry.
Sharon Millet,"The Egg Lady" talks about her product.
Jamie,Russ and Barry kept the audience entertained and provided great background music.
Jamie Junger performs a solo number.
Some of the folks in the lobby.
Chef Michelle whips up ingredients for her demonstration.
Jackie Leppard promoted Zatoun free trade olive oil.Michelle used it in her recipe.
Chef Michelle Haddal reviews a recipe with a fan.
The produce board.
I yam glad I went to the event.
Orange you sad you missed it?
Flat parsley and broccoli.

Susie draws a winning name as Dolly Hancock assists.

REPAIRS BEGIN

A lineman starts working aloft.
The Aliant "Army" gets ready to repair.

An assortment of Aliant trucks converged near #149 Duke St. to begin repairing the damage from the fire earlier this morning.A technician said that service should be restored by mid afternoon.Depending on which service provider you use,you may be without phone and/or internet.It is causing service interruption to some of Aliant's and Eastlink's clients.

LINES DOWN

Wire fire! Approximately 7:05 a.m.Mar.31'st.
Burning insulation drips from phone and cable wires as they burn near #149 Duke St.It looks like the cause was due to failure in the support of power lines.
The Chester Volunteer Fire Department arrives.All they can do is control traffic and pedestrians as a safety measure until Nova Scotia Power gets to the scene to cut power to the affected lines.
Here comes the N.S.P. service truck.Both C.V.F.D. and N.S.P. responded to the emergency in an excellent manner.Below,a lineman pulls the fuse to alleviate the danger and allow for repairs to safely begin.

C.A.M.S. RECEIVES LP FOUNDATION 2008 COMMUNITY IMPACT GRANT

Chester Area Middle School,Duke St.

The LP Foundation Community Impact Grant program is designed to fund high impact projects in communities where LP facilities are located and where LP employees live.A $27,610.00 Community Impact Grant was awarded to the Chester Area Middle School for outdoor recreational and fitness equipment.The grant will pay for a fitness cluster at the school that is designed to develop students' muscle strength,cardiovascular health and flexibility.Proposed equipment includes climbers,a chinning board,balance chain,crunch station,power pedaler,hand ring climber and balance board.The South Shore Regional School Board will prepare the grounds and install the equipment.

ESCAPE TO THE HOME SHOW

After the snowstorm many folks from Chester headed in to Halifax for an outing to the Ideal Home Show.A bright,sunny afternoon and the latest products for in and around the home created an air of optimism in anticipation of the warm weather ahead.(Click on the panorama shot above to enlarge.)

YOUR WEEKENDER

11:45 p.m. Friday night near the Town wharf.
Close-up.
Just before midnight,the ghostly image of a house on The Peninsula.
Saturday morning on Freda's Beach.About a week ago, it looked like you could have went for a swim.Not today.
Saturday afternoon,a lane just outside the Village.As of dusk,there is still much snow on the trees and shrubs.

Above are some scenes from the past 36 hours that you would not typically see around Chester for two reasons.Usually on March 28'th and 29'th you wouldn't find Hollywood and snow around these parts.At least not in the quantity we are having lately.It does make for some interesting photos, though.

FATAL CRASH

Mar.28'th Highway 103 near Chester----------------------Members of the Chester Volunteer Fire Department work carefully to free a trapped accident victim at the scene of a serious crash.The other vehicle can just be seen between the fire truck and the fireman in the left of the photo.RCMP Sgt. Mark Gallagher told chesterns.ca that there was one female fatality.The accident occurred at 2:45 p.m. betweem exits 7 and 8 on the 103 Highway.This was the only information that he could provide as of 5:00 p.m.An ambulance transported two of the survivors to hospital in Bridgewater.No doubt weather and road conditions contributed to the cause.RCMP closed down the section of highway to investigate and allow for clean up operations.Traffic was diverted along the # 3 highway.

HOW YOU CAN TELL IT'S SPRING IN CANADA

THE LEAFS ARE OUT !...........................In the AP photo by Winslow Townsend above,Toronto Maple Leafs Nik Antropov's posture tells the story as the Boston Bruins celebrate their 4-2 victory in Boston yesterday.A chap down the road, from Bridgewater, contributed to the defeat.At 10:54 in the third period,Glen Murray scored a power play goal that gave Boston a 3-1 lead late in the game..The rest, as they say, is history.

Another Record Month for ChesterNS.ca

Sweet news to ChesterNS.ca founders, supporters and advertisers. We have had another record month of visitors, hits and page requests at ChesterNS.ca in March, and the month isn't even over yet!

HARBINGER OF SPRING

Mar.27'th Chester-------------Another sign of warm weather to come.A truck load of lobster pots ready for the local spring season.

JACK FROST NIPPING AT YOUR CAR

The curve of a car roof gives the illusion of an aerial view of a planet with an eerie frozen surface.Rather sinister.
Another car roof.Different colour and different texture.Friendlier looking than the one above.
To the frost,the sun is a death star as its rays attack the frozen dew.

Mar.27'th Chester---------------------A sunny morning with a heavy spring frost.Scraping and/or leaving the defroster on as your car warmed up was the way to get safe visibility.Very early, the roads were slippery but salt and the sun soon took care of that problem.

FALSE ALARM ?

Mar.26'th,Chandler's Cove Village-----------In the late afternoon,the Chester Volunteer Fire Department was called out to what appeared to be a false alarm.With lots of equipment and close to a full complement of volunteer firefighters,our Fire Department is in good shape compared to many.Fortunately there have not been any serious fires in our area for quite some time.This is good for both citizens and firefighters alike.But with good gear and good people, our brigade is always ready to go at all hours when the alarm sounds and the pagers call them out.

FILMING CONTINUES

Wrapping up outside the Fo'c'sle late Monday afternoon.
Lights !
Camera !
The only action was the limousine driver putting on his overcoat.
More lighting apparatus on the water side of the old Captain's House.
The seen behind the scene ?

Work on the production of "Noah's Arc:Jumping The Broom" continued around the Village this week.On Monday the interior of the Fo'c'sle was used and then work resumed inside and outside of the Captain's House for the rest of the week.Some local businesses are realizing work and sales from the production.Aside from a bit of construction,the movie production is about the only sign of activity around the Village during this cold spring season.

DEAD RINGER

No,the Aliant service van did not hit one of its own phone booths,it was the victim of a snowplough this past winter.Lying forlornly on the ground,the old pay phone booth near the Windjammer Motel and Restaurant waits to be hauled away to a salvage yard.

Mar.24'th Hwy #3,Chester-------------------------Possibly marking the end of an era,another convenience to the motoring public and cyclists bites the dust.A technician from the phone company removed the old damaged phone booth instead of replacing it.After speaking with the technician,he said it comes down to the revenue generated by the phone.If the pay phone pays,then they maintain or replace them as required.It appears that this one doesn't so they removed it.Cell phones are another reason for the demise of the pay phone.

Happy Easter to ChesterNS.ca Readers

Happy Easter to our readers. We hope you have a great day and get to spend it with family and friends.

Below we've got a random sampling of Easter videos - some religious based, others about the Easter Bunny. I hope you enjoy them. I couldn't find a video for all faiths in our community in the resource I use (youtube), so if you'd like to add a video particular to your faith, please email us using our contact form and I'd be happy to post it.

Without further adieu, the videos:

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs


Easter Bunny Rants to Santa and the Tooth Fairy


The Story of Easter - Catholic


Easter Greetings from the Anglican Church


Easter from Islam's Perspective


A Dysfunctional Family Easter

I GOT YOU BABE...............

Mar. 22'nd 7:20 a.m.---------------------A not so good Saturday after Good Friday.In a scene reminiscent of the movie "Ground Hog Day",we again look at the view up Queen St.Lately you can't help feeling like Bill Murray's character,weatherman Phil Connors from the classic comedy directed by Harold Ramis.To all boaters and gardeners:patience+tolerance=sanity.Spring will get here eventually.

GOOD FRIDAY,BAD WEATHER

The view up Queen St. at about 8:30 a.m.The Village is very quiet on this holiday morning.

WHO'S ON chesterns.ca-THE LATEST TEN

At this time chesterns.ca would like to welcome our latest advertisers.The aim of the site is to promote them and keep them going.In so doing,they help keep us going.First up is Chester Organics,a relatively new business in the Village offering organic food staples and fresh organically grown meats and produce.Also great coffees and fresh baked goods can be purchased there.
groupns.ca is a business devoted to putting communities on the world wide web to promote themselves and their businesses to the world.It gives interested individuals or groups the tools,system and opportunity to have a unique web based business with old fashioned community values and pride.
Send Out Cards is a web based business in Chester that offers an easy and convenient way to send greetings and other wishes to friends,family or business associates.
Images in Oil is a mother and son partnership promoting their work on the web.They were inspired by the concept of chesterns.ca and another artist.We welcome them to the web as it gives greater exposure of their work to a wider audience.
The LP East River site is a bigger project, custom tailored for the benefit of their employees and to provide a friendly,accessible venue for the general public to check out the largest employer in the local area.You can search out more detail about the site in our BLOG archive.
Home Hardware wanted a site to promote special services offered by their store as well as links to the corporate site and their paint division.
The Chester Convenience Kwik-way store wanted web presence and a way to promote their diverse offering.They sell more than just candy,milk and "smokes".As their site evolves you will see what else they have to offer.Get convenient goods at inconvenient hours.
The Seaside Shanty Restaurant enjoys a large local clientele as well as visitors drawn to the Chester area.Some of the items on their menu are the reason many come to the area.The Shanty website is under construction.Watch out for it in the near future.
Big Red's is a popular local pizza and sub shop.They know the value of advertising on the web.Their Battleship submarine sandwich is one of the tastiest on the market.
Our most recent client is the Chester and Area Family Resource Centre.While perhaps not the typical business you would find advertising on our site,chesterns.ca is a supporter of their efforts and through our site they will gain more publicity for their website and their numerous projects and functions.Again,welcome everyone.To all our readers: Go check out and patronize all these fine local merchants and entrepreneurs.They are the lifeblood of our community.More businesses are on the boarding ramp to chesterns.ca.Watch for their ads and websites.Until the next up-date,take care and shop local !

RUBY'S GARDEN:A SURE SIGN OF SPRING

A difficult plant to photograph,snowdrops are in full bloom.
With a sheltered southern exposure these crocuses have the jump on Spring.Another clump of crocuses push up through an old cedar twig,adding great colour contrast.

Mar. 20'th,The Peninsula---------------------In the hopes of tracking down an icon of the Spring season,Ruby Pulsiver's garden was the obvious place to look for signs.A lifelong resident of the Village,Ruby has been very involved with the Chester Garden Club.She doesn't get out to their meetings these days but still gets calls for advice and gardening tips from the other members of the club.Ruby brought the snowdrop bulbs home to Chester from her grandfather's garden in England in 1955.They have bloomed for her ever since.We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as she enjoys the actual plants.Have a happy Spring everyone.

MORE LIKE NOAH'S ARK

Getting the set ready.
The Captain's House in a new light.

On the first day of Spring,the production crew and cast of Noah's Arc:Jumping The Broom struggle through freezing rain and rain to keep the camera rolling.South and Central Streets are busy areas these days as filming continues.

NO LIQUOR ON DUKE:ADDENDUM

Mar. 19'th,Chester---------------------Earlier this morning it was confirmed by NSLC staff and the Chairman of The Board of Directors that the facility will not be leaving their Queen St. location in the Village of Chester.Peter McCreath said that due to a business decision the organization will not pursue acquisition of the former RCMP detachment at 205 Duke St.A staff spokesperson also mentioned that the zoning issue may have been a factor in the decision as well.The NSLC intends to remain at the Queen St. store for now and will renovate and improve the existing venue.Many residents in the Village will be relieved to hear this news.

NO LIQUOR ON DUKE

The former RCMP detachment at 205 Duke St.
The Nova Scotia Liquor Commission retail store at the corner of Queen and Tremont Streets.

In a late breaking news story,a prominent Chester citizen and community activist received word from a reliable Government source that the NSLC will not be moving to the former RCMP property on Duke Street.According to the source,an announcement was made by the NSLC on Monday evening concerning the issue.As many of you know,rumours and speculation were circulating around the Village as to if,when and where the liquor store may move.This announcement is welcomed by many as it will prevent a lot of ugly and unnecessary conflict in the Village.Controversy over zoning,traffic flow and the moral stigma of liquor sales across from two schools was starting to divide the community.
Now we can relax for awhile as we wait and see what the future holds for the old police station.Stay tuned for the latest info.

SPRING FEVER

Spring is out there somewhere.
The cure for the fever sits near the water's edge.
Another well known Chester boat sits tucked away a little further from its element.
Even under its winter blanket,the view forward is beautiful.
The cockpit waits for the skipper.

Chester's sailing community is starting to come out of hibernation.Skippers are getting fidgety,marine shop owners are getting orders in and awaiting deliveries,some DIY owners and professional tradespeople are scraping and painting already,and even though it's because of a movie,it is good to see the yacht club stirring from a deep winter's sleep.For many sailors,it is as bad as a kid waiting for the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause.

THE NEXT MOVE

Chester and Area Family Resource Centre staff member Nicole Stevens heads for another load as the facility moves from the Chester United Baptist Church.
CAFRC staff unload a van as the facility moves into the Church Memorial Park Complex for the spring and summer months.
The last load is backed into the curling rink entrance by "The Sign Guy",one of the many volunteers who helped to make the CAFRC 's transition go smoothly.

Mar. 17'th,Church Memorial Park-----------------------------The second from last chapter in the saga of the Chester and Area Family Resource Centre's search for a home unfolded at the Chester Curling Club.The facility will operate out of the complex until the end of the summer.With a load off of their backs,the CAFRC board of directors can now roll up their sleeves and focus on their efforts to acquire a permanent home.Stay tuned for further developments.

HIGH WINDS CAUSE HIGH WORK

Standford Lake,Chester--------------------Nova Scotia Light and Power were called out to repair a minor problem caused by the high winds on St. Patrick's Day.With all our technology,we are still slaves to mother nature.The crew responded within an hour of being notified.

St. Paddy's Day Music Videos

Just in case your celebrating with ChesterNS.ca..

Danny Boy:


Whiskey in the Jar:


When Irish Eyes are Smiling:


Cheers!
Ben

LADY IN WAITING

Looking for Spring ?

ChesterNS.ca Now Accepting Online Payments

Hello ChesterNS.ca,

In our on-going efforts to make ChesterNS.ca as easy as possible for visitors and sponsors to support, we have added online payments using the well known 3rd party credit card processor, PayPal. Many of you are probably familiar with paypal and using it to make eBay payments.

Our 3 main services, chesterns.ca email addresses, business logo sponsorship, and business sponsorship with single page website, can now all be purchased online.

Check it out on our updated services page!

Regards,
Ben

THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

The long-shot,looking down on the set.Earlier in the day The William G. Ernst cruised the bay while scenes were filmed aboard for the movie" Noah's Arc:Jumping The Broom".
The close-up shot on the Noah's Arc production taking place in Chester.A beehive of activity on the Government wharf.It looks chaotic but everyone has a specific job to do and, like a well oiled machine,things go smoothly.
A set worker moves a cart load of gear.In the background,lighting equipment is set up.
One of the actors and an assistant in the Noah's Arc movie walk out of The Captain's House,oops! I mean The Robinson's house.
Production workers vehicles parked along the Parade Square in front of the Bandstand.
The lower end of King St.Worker's vehicles are parked for the day.

Mar.16'th,Along the Chester waterfront------------------------------"Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens..............."Line from a song by the band,Talking Heads.You could easily interchange the word Chester with the word heaven, at times,around here.And there are at least two contexts in which the phrase could be taken.There are those who do not want Chester to change and like it the way it is.There are those who think it is stagnating and dying and want to see some progressive change.Change is inevitable for survival.Whether it be driven by economic or sanative reasons.
We do not want to see the Village overrun with shopping malls and factories.Realistically,there is not enough infrastructure in place to handle the consequences.Parking,traffic flow,sewer,water,garbage and other waste would overwhelm the local systems already in place.Very careful planning would be required to accommodate such development.However,the year round local residents do need commerce and other business activity to survive as consumers and business people.
This is why the movie and film business is so great for Chester.They come in and rent properties,hire local people,purchase food and other goods and services.They put us on the map in a positive way,generating popularity for the area.Immediately,the curiosity seekers come for a look. After the production makes it to TV or the big screen,the fans of the show or the location where it was shot come for a visit.While things may be a little crowded for a few days or weeks,when the production is over everything goes back to normal.Unlike having a factory,shopping mall or machine shop in your neighbourhood.So the next time you see the big white trucks,lights and cables strung all around,and production workers and actors milling about,be grateful.Show them courtesy and respect.They are good for business and good for Chester.Welcome cast and crew of "Noah's Arc:Jumping The Broom."

BIG RIGS IN HIBERNATION

In a scene reminiscent of Stephen King's "Maximum Overdrive",the members of SeaLand Industries land-based fleet bask in the sun after a snowfall.Just can't wait to get on the road again.

AFTER THE STORM

Mar.16'th------------------Resting at the local DOT depot,a snow plough truck is ready to roll with a load of salt.The crews were really on top of things after this latest storm.The sunny day was a great help in getting the roads completely clear.

Fixes to Weather Pages

Hello ChesterNS.ca Readers,

A quick note to let you know that our weather pages have been revised for improved performance and display.

The pages effected include:
a) Current Weather conditions
b) Current Detailed Weather Conditions
c) Chester Forecast
d) Detailed Weather History

Previously these pages were not aligning properly with the rightbar appearing below the left bar. This issue has been resolved. Also, the scrolling ticker has been removed as it provided minimal value, with a high load time (because it was a java applet, which requires Java to start running on your computer to process it).

Check out the new layout - it's much more functional and speedier now.

Cheers,
Ben

YOUR WEEKENDER

Running Tide,summer of '73 at Chester Yacht Club.
Photo by R. Cambria

A few weeks ago on Mar. 2'nd,Al Van Metre passed away at the age of 82.The name may not mean a lot to most of you but there is a Chester connection.Let's go back 35 years ago.1973,wharf side at the Chester Yacht Club.The boat is Running Tide,a 61 foot Sparkman & Stephens sloop built in 1969 at the Huisman Shipyard,Vollenhove,The Netherlands.She is on a stopover after The Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race and a young Chester sailor is impressed at the sight.
The Annapolis based yacht and her skipper claimed over 200 victories.The sea was in his blood as his father and grandfather were Navy men and Al always loved boats.In 1982, Al and his wife Joan founded the Hospice Cup Regatta.The event has raised about 8 million dollars to date for local hospice charities.It was the seed from which a national series of sailing events has sprung,continuing to fund these worthwhile projects.
Al was born in 1926 and attended the U.S. Naval Academy and later graduated from George Washington University with an engineering degree.He served in the Army in WW II.He founded Van Metre Construction in 1955.

New Sponsors Display

Hello ChesterNS.ca readers,

As you've probably noticed, our rightbar menu has changed.
We've received tremendous support from our sponsors and our number of sponsors is growing rapidly. As a result it was necessary to implement a solution that displays all of our sponsors, without taking up too much space on the rightbar.
The solution implemented is 3 scrolling sections, 2 that present hyperlinked logos (you can click on the logo to visit the sponsors site) and 1 that presents a text version of the sponsor that is hyperlinked.
This new solution will give our sponsors more exposure and allow us to continue to add more sponsors without cluttering up the site.
Feedback is more than welcome.
Have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Ben

ADOPT A MINEFIELD DINNER

Friday evening near the end of the dinner at Branch #44 Royal Canadian Legion.

The Legion held its annual fund raising dinner with proceeds and donations going to The United Nations Adopt A Minefield organization.Find out more at www.landmines.org/about/

CHESTERWOOD-MOVIE CREW IN THE VILLAGE

A set painter touches up the trim on the old Captain's House.
Production vehicles parked at the edge of the Parade Square.
Workers carefully park a big rig in front of the CYC Clubhouse.
The Chester Yacht Club Trailer Park.

Mar.14 'th South and Central Streets.---------------------A big screen movie is being filmed in parts of the Village for the next three weeks."Noah's Arc:Jumping the Broom"will film in and around the Captain's House on Central St. and also on the ferry to the Tancooks,The William G. Ernst.The Chester Yacht Club will be used for catering and craft services.There are a lot of support vehicles in the area.There will most likely be traffic delays at the lower end of Central St. and along South St. and The Peninsula Rd. areas.Be patent if you are traveling along these routes and respect the work in progress if you are coming down for a look out of curiosity.

WELCOME LP EASTRIVER TO chesterns.ca

The familiar view of steam exhausting and the water tower as you approach exit 7.
On particularly colder mornings the hot steam provides a more noticeably striking image.
The main entrance.Staff and light deliveries to the left while wood supplies and other bulk deliveries arrive on the right.
The precious wood arrives virtually around the clock.Sometimes it arrives in the form of chips.
Foreground:Finished siding packaged,stacked and ready for shipping.Background:The water tower maintains a pressurized water supply for the manufacturing process and fire protection.
The Community Bulletin Board on Highway #3 near the entrance.The siding test panels can be seen in the background.

Mar.14/08---------------------chesterns.ca is pleased to announce that we are providing an interactive company employee website to the staff of the LP Eastriver Hardboard Plant.The concept originated with plant manager Phil Ellwood and was developed through consultation with chesterns.ca staff.The primary aim is to make employee shift schedules more conveniently available to the staff.However,the site does even more.It provides a public page with pictures of the facility and links.In the members section there is a calendar,employees BLOG,a notices from management BLOG and the shift scheduling page as mentioned.
Presently in the beta stage,the site will gain a few more features as its use progresses.Along with its own features,users will also benefit from the built-in features common to chesterns.ca.Especially our weather,links and c-bay classifieds.
For over 40 years now,the East River hardboard plant has been a major contributor to the local economy.A group of investors from India formed Anil Canada and built the plant to produce hardboard sheet material in 1968. Locals referred to the product as Jolly Board, after its Indian roots.By 1975 the plant passed into receivership and was purchased by Masonite Canada Ltd. and later by Canadian Pacific Ltd.(CanExel).By 1992,ABTCo from Wisconsin ran the facility.Louisiana Pacific purchased the mill in 1999 and they haven't looked back since.With excellent management and a skilled workforce,the LP East River plant turns out a quality product with pride and dedication that make it the envy of similar plants in the LP corporate family.
Over 250 employees directly depend on the East River mill for their livelihood.Many live in the local and surrounding area.Some commute from as far away as Halifax (east) and Liverpool (west).And then there are the numerous spin-off jobs.Woodlot owners,foresters,truckers,general contractors,cleaners,cooks and caterers,couriers,painters,security guards and gardeners are some of the many who benefit from LP's operations at East River.Local businesses also supply a lot of goods and services to the plant and its workforce.LP also contributes greatly to local charities and other community groups and organizations both financially and in kind.Their employees are involved in many facets of community life.Firemen,sports coaches,Boy Scout leaders,Councilors,Commissioners,Chamber of Commerce and various other groups enjoy their time and talent.There are many other great stories about the plant and its people and from time to time we will tell you more.As for now we hope both staff and the public will enjoy and use the site.Feel free to offer suggestions and comments. chesterns.ca Staff

BREAKING NEWS-COUNCIL HELPS ARENA FUNDING

A busy March Break afternoon at Church Memorial Park in Chester.

Councilor Sharon Church-Cornelius,Council liaison on The Church Memorial Park Board of Trustees notified Chairman Ron Ternoway that Chester Municipal Council had approved their request for $250,000.00 towards The Save The Complex Campaign."It is now very likely that electrical improvements will be carried out his summer." said Mr. Ternoway."This would then pave the way for further improvements in 2009,namely the refrigeration system in the arena."
The Board of Trustees will meet to further discuss their plans.As they become available,we will bring you more details.

St. Stephens Parish Centre Takes Shape

The view from Regent St.This side is almost rooftight.
From the corner of King and Regent Streets.
The eastern gable end from King street.
Progress,progress !
The six over six windows help to give the structure a traditional Chester look.Lets hope they use shingles or a non-vinyl clapboard siding material on the walls.It is going to be a great looking addition to the neighbourhood streetscape.

NEW:SPIRITUAL LINKS

Chester United Baptist Church,King St.
St. Stephen's Anglican Church,Regent St.
St.Augustine's Catholic Church,King St.
St. Peter's Lutheran Church,Old Trunk 3(Commons Rd.)

As chesterns.ca grows we get requests from individuals and groups for certain features and services on the site.Such is the reason for our latest links category.Rather than just grab any old links to whatever sites we feel are of interest to our users,we carefully consider what may be useful and informative and then ask or wait until we are asked to provide or exchange links.
As we were providing coverage of the St. Stephen's Parish Centre building project, we enjoyed a somewhat captive audience of Anglicans following the project's progress on our site.Eventually they linked us to their website.Next came a request to see if we would consider putting them on our site in our links section.After some discussion with staff we agreed.Out of fairness to all denominations, we put up links related to the other prominent Churches in the Village.www.chesterns.ca is,after all,all about our community and the Churches are a cornerstone of life in Chester.While this cannot be said for a lot of communities today,it is another element of local pride and what makes our community the special place that it is.
If you are a member of one of the congregations or are affiliated in any other way,please feel free to use our Community Calendar for Church and other related events.If you are holding Church Suppers ,Musical Events,or other special services you may want to promote them on our TWICA feature.This option is designed to promote Chester events to folks outside the local area who may enjoy the many social events and activities that our fair Community has to offer.Use it often and enjoy.Click on our LINKS and you will find the new category.

FRIENDS,AN EDITORIAL

Bear with me on this one, folks.Today in Chester, a large number of people came out for a funeral to bid farewell to a popular resident of our Village.Seldom does such a large cross section of people come together.Typically, it is always for a mournful and unfortunate occasion such as this.The true friends and acquaintances are there to honour the deceased and comfort and pay respects to the grieving family.
Unlike weddings and birthdays,no one is invited to a funeral.An honest sense of duty and esteem for a friend,colleague or relative brings you to the service.And so it was a group of us were standing in the local Legion Hall at a reception after the service.Family,friends,colleagues and teammates gathered.The usual words and small talk were floating around the room.One overwhelming occurrence was the number of smaller, yet interconnected groups that were congregating and then dissolving into still other groups.Family members,community members,workmates,the sports groups and school mates.While standing with a group of high school buddies,the comments were evocative."It's great to see you guys !","We should get together sometime.","Too bad it's always on occasions like this." were the actual quotes.After hearing the last remark,one could not help but interject,"No matter what,pick a date and time and get together.Stick to it.You will be really glad you did."
Family reunions,school reunions,old workmates,military groups,team get-togethers or whatever.Take the time to make time for old friends in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.Not a funeral.You'll be glad you did.

EXERCISE IN FUTILITY

Too little,too late a DOT crew goes through the motions of cold patching the annual crop of potholes along Route 3 near Chester.Apologies for the picture quality as it's through the windscreen whilst in transit.

ANOTHER SIGN OF SPRING

Church Memorial Park on a March Break afternoon.Some die hard sportsmen utilize the ball field for a game of soft ball while hockey is under way in the Eleanor Pew Morris Memorial Rink.Temperatures hit about 4 degrees Celsius and with little wind blowing it felt a lot warmer.

LINE MAINTENANCE

Duke St. near Union St. intersection, Tues. morning.------------------------Cutting and chipping.A crew clears limbs and branches of locust trees from around hydro and telephone lines,hopefully preventing future problems caused by ice and high winds.

CAREW HEADS OUT TO PLAYHOUSE EVENT

Stan Carew,the leader of The Magpies.
The Magpies on stage.

Sat.Mar.8'th Chester Playhouse--------------Over 100 fans and curious folk came out to welcome Stan Carew and The Magpies to the Chester Playhouse stage for the first concert of the 2008 season.For those of you who may not know,Stan is the host of CBC's Weekend Mornings radio show.At the beginning of the performance the band did a great cover of the old Rolling Stones tune "No Expectations".Other numbers included a country medley and other original material written by Stan.The most outstanding number was "Undefended Border" if audience reaction and buzz after the show was any indication.The show ran smoothly with introductory stories and "side notes"given by Stan throughout the performance.
A tight band with a loose sense of humour,the talented Magpies provided excellent back-up to Stan and some members shone on their own as each played a choice piece of their own preference.The show ended with a "cliche" rock and roll medley put together by Stan.The always excellent lighting talent of Bob Elliot must also be mentioned as it added subtle nuances to the evening's performance.All in all,it was a great kick-off for the '08 music performances that are coming up at"The Best Little Playhouse in Nova Scotia".

BODY RECOVERED

A sombre Sunday morning.The sky over Schnare's Cove along The Algerine Shore in East Chester where RCMP said the body of Diane Conrad was found.

A search resumed AT 6:30 A.M. Saturday morning and was ended about an hour later.Police were assisted by Lunenburg and Queens Ground Search and Rescue groups,The Chester Volunteer Fire Dept.,Chester Marine Services and the Canadian Coastguard.An investigation continues but foul play is not suspected.If anyone has information that could aid the investigation,you are asked to contact the RCMP.

Nerds On Site Partners with ChesterNS.ca

Nerds On Site - Chester is proud to announce it has officially partnered with ChesterNS.ca as its web page provider.

Nerds On Site offers a complete range of IT services, retainer and maintenance contracts for residential and business clients.

You can view the new Nerds On Site partner page here. Information about Nerds On Site corporate, hardware, software and service pricing, and a weekly Nerd Tip are just a few of the useful things you can find on the Nerds On Site partner page.

The Nerd On Site Partner site consists of 2 pages, and customized colour and font scheme, keeping within the framework of the ChesterNS.ca and GroupNS.ca template. It has an integrated blog feature that automatically updates the home page with the latest blog posting without any need to know programming. A site like this would be $250.00 for the 1st year, and $150.00/year after, and includes 4 changes made by ChesterNS.ca per year, and unlimited changes per year if made by the partner.

ChesterNS.ca welcomes Nerds On Site!

Regards,
Ben

BREAKING NEWS-SEARCH FOR MISSING PERSON

Police presence at the entrance to Graves Island Provincial Park.
The Canadian Coastguard cutter Sambro searches the waters of the eastern end of Mahone Bay.
Walter Wolfe of The Lunenburg County Ground Search and Rescue team listens to instructions while waiting for more search lights.

Wynand Baerken skippers his Float Trailer "portable boat" along the southern side of Graves Island during the perimeter water search.

Mar.7'th Graves Island Provincial Park---------------Police and their Canine Unit,a helicopter,a Coastguard cutter,and volunteers scoured and searched the grounds,shoreline and waters of Graves Island for a missing Chester woman.After a suggestion from this reporter,Wynand Baerken of Chester Marine Services offered the use of his unique Float Trailer to aid in the search.The craft was launched within twenty-five minutes of being requested.With daylight fading, we searched the perimeter of the island and an area north west of it.At about 9:45 p.m. the search was called off for the night.
The name of the missing person is being withheld out of respect to the family and friends until more details are known.It is expected that the search will resume Saturday morning and hopefully the weather won't interfere with operations as a major winter storm is expected in the area.

Viewing ChesterNS.ca

Hello,

Just a quick note regarding best viewing results for ChesterNS.ca

ChesterNS.ca is best viewed at screen resolutions of 1024x768 or greater, and using Internet Explorer 7, or Firefox 2.0.

Regards,
Ben

YOUR WEEKENDER

Mar. 7 'th Chester Area Middle School------------------March Break begins! Buses are lined up and waiting as students scramble for the ride home to enjoy a well earned rest from teachers and classes.The teachers,no doubt, are also looking forward to a week of sanctuary from their charges.Have a safe one everybody.

RUSH HOUR BRAKE DOWN ?

Probably a victim of our rough roads and potholes.
Mar. 6 'th,North St.-----------------The worst location and the worst time of day.Around 5 p.m. in front of Tim Horton's.Traffic was restricted in movement for about half an hour during the incident.No serious damage other than to pride and some front end parts.RCMP handled the traffic direction very well.

HAVE AN ICE DAY !

You wake up to this,
to drive over this.
Mar.5 'th---------------Yesterday it was +10 degrees,light wind and you could watch the ice and snow melt away.This morning,-1.9 degrees and a glaze of ice over everything.You could barely stand up on any surface.Paved areas were especially treacherous.Around 8:00 there was very little traffic in the Village.Schools were closed for the day.

CAFRC EVICTION : EPILOGUE

In happier times.
The fastest way out with 10 days notice !
Operation "Vacate The Premises" continues.
Playground ? What playground ?
And now for the interior.
Parents,staff,board members and other volunteers went like clockwork to get the job done.
The door closes on the last load.
CAFRC Executive Director,Becky Scott and Board Chair,Phil Ellwood joined in helping during the final unload at the new temporary home of the Centre.

Feb. 28'th and 29'th,Chester------As most of you will know by now,the Chester and Area Family Resource Centre has ceased operations at #8 Tremont St. and moved temporarily to The Chester United Baptist Church vestry.While other news media mentioned the basic facts,statistics and alternative plans concerning the Centre,there is another element to this story.That is the overwhelming support through volunteers and those hired at a minutes notice to get the CAFRC out of this particularly inconvenient situation.Some of the people you see in the above photos barely knew each other or associated with each other before this unfortunate event.There was even a guy from Toronto helping out.He happened to be visiting a friend who is heavily involved in the CAFRC.
Parents,staff,CAFRC Board directors,and local businesses worked together.Everything was well organized by the staff, which helped greatly in expediting the move.It was a scene reminiscent of Seuss' "The Grinch" as one by one, each item was removed from the facility.Even down to the last crumb of food.
The future of CAFRC is in good hands with their present group of Directors.They will have their work cut out for them as their plan to acquire a permanent home for the facility is realized.In a few weeks help will be needed once again as the Centre will move to Church Memorial Park for the Summer months.If you can aid the cause in any way contact CAFRC through their website at www.chesterfamilycentre.ca.

IN LIKE A LION,IT IS MARCH

Mar. 1'st: Storm, Queen and Pleasant St. intersection.
Waiting for Spring.
Eat your heart out,Commodore !
With the wind at his back.
Things will be different next weekend.



A ghost of summer.
Some shots of a few Chester scenes and landmarks during a stormy introduction to March.

TWICA IS OPERATIONAL AND WORKING

This is a reminder to "CLICK ON TWIC" at left of screen to see what's happening in and around Chester.There are two great events here next weekend.

MORE ST. STEPHEN'S PROGRESS

The roof framing is really taking shape as most of the trusses are in place.
The interior has a sense of warmth and welcome already.
With a bit of imagination,you can see the look of the new structure.Nice roof line too !
The gable end from King St.

Work on St. Stephen's Parish Community Centre is progressing rapidly in the last few weeks.After speaking to a few parishioners and the Father ,the level of enthusiasm is increasing faster than the pace of construction these days as the look and style of the structure can now be seen by the community.