Kenny Foster

The village of Gagetown has welcomed the holiday season for the last 14 years by celebrating Christmas in the Village. It’s two days of unique shopping opportunities where artists and crafts people throughout the village open their doors to the public. This years event held on November 28th and 29th attracted a large crowd both days, even with the wet weather on Saturday. And for the 13th consecutive year, Kenny Foster was in the middle of it.

Foster is the gruff voiced wreath and garland maker who spends the weekend outdoors making and selling his popular Christmas creations. This year he moved to a new location in the parking lot of K & W Quality Meats. The 30-year resident of Gagetown is known for the quality of his wreaths. They’re full and fresh and usually made with a mix of evergreen boughs. He’s also known for the other unique products he makes including evergreen swags that hang over doors and his famous ‘kissing balls’ with mistletoe. For some, Kenny is ‘Mr. Christmas’ himself.

Foster was taught the art of wreath-making by his uncle when he was a kid. Later he started doing it as a fundraiser for his sons hockey team. Now wreath making keeps him busy every November. The warm weather this fall has made the work easier. Foster says if you get caught by snow, he brings the boughs inside, puts them in the tub and gives them a shower. Then he has to dry them before he brings them back outside so they don’t freeze. It’s a lot easier when the weather cooperates.

He says the wreath season starts earlier and ends earlier every year. They used to sell wreaths right up to December 24th, but not anymore. Now the season is finished by the 3rd or 4th of December. Foster says he sells most of his wreaths during Christmas in the Village every year. He says there’s something special about the atmosphere here. It’s a good feeling day for everyone.

As this edition of the paper prepares to go to print, news comes of an important community meeting planned for Friday, November 20 in Queenstown.  The meeting is being organized by the Orange Lodge to draw attention to a situation it feels will affect all residents in the local communities of Queenstown, Hampstead, Central Hampstead, Pleasant Villa, Elm Hill, Upper Hampstead and surrounding area.

The provincial government has informed the Orange Hall that beginning this winter it will no longer be plowing community halls and designated emergency gathering locations like churches. The Orange Hall in Queenstown caters to all community gatherings including being an emergency centre and rallying place in the event of a disaster. It’s also a polling station for elections, local service district elections, community information meetings, 4-H Club meetings, meetings of organizations, a location for holding receptions after funerals, community breakfasts, suppers and fund-raisers and many more community activities.  Along Route 102, it is the only community gathering place between the Village of Gagetown and Browns Flat.

Hall officials say their yard is too large to be plowed by any equipment available in the local area.  If the yard isn’t plowed, people will have to park along the highway.  This, they say, will create a very dangerous situation as the hall is located between a sharp turn and the top of a steep hill. Parking along the highway is courting disaster.  If the government is not willing to reconsider their decision, it will be necessary to winterize the hall and end all public functions and gatherings until the spring. Orange Hall officials are looking to the community to show support and share ideas and suggestions on ways to deal with this situation.

Further upriver, as the village of Gagetown prepares for Christmas in the Village festivities on November 28th and 29th, there was concern the ferry was going to be shut down on November 27th. Apparently one of the ferry workers received a lay-off notice to be effective on that day. Some local retailers have been lobbying the Department of Transportation to leave the ferry on until after the Chistmas in the Village weekend because this event brings people to Gagetown from all over the area. As this issue of the paper goes to print, we’ve been told that Eugene McGinley, MLA for Grand Lake-Gagetown has intervened and said the ferry will be staying on as long as it reasonably can be left there and definitely until after Christmas in the Village. He says the cold weather is the factor that will dictate when the ferry is taken off its run because DOT needs to be able to have a tug boat travel up the river and haul the ferry to its winter storage location. Local residents were hoping the ferry would keep operating until freeze-up.

17-month-old Jesse Dalling checking out Dickey the Miniature Horse with Mom looking on.

The 64th Edition of the Queens County Fair in Gagetown kicked off with something new this year, a Political Milking Contest. Premier Shawn Graham was supposed to go head to head, or is it, teat to teat with Progressive Conservative leader David Alward. The leader with the most milk in the bucket after five minutes wins. But things didn’t work out quite as planned. Graham could make it because of a scheduling conflict so Liberal Agriculture Minister,  Ronald Ouellette stood in for the premier. But Ouellette arrived late, giving Tory leader David Alward plenty of time to focus on the competition at hand. It must have worked because despite having a cantankerous cow named Old Blue, who wouldn’t stay still, Alward still managed to double his milk production, two cups to Ouelette’s one.

“It was supposed to be a heavyweight class but the Minister of Agriculture stepped in and he displayed a good left hook and he held his own,” says MC and former Liberal Cabinet Minister, Vaughn Blaney.  “Ouellette was edged out by points but he held his own. It wasn’t a knockout.”

PC leader David Alward

The PC’s take home the trophy this year and Alward hopes it may be an indication of what might happen in the next provincial election. Blaney says the Queens County Fair is famous for having a little politics mixed in with it. “Either in the horse barns or cow barns, it’s always being discussed,” he says. “Politicians are a big part of this fair, it’s always been that way.”

At its heart this fair is a celebration of rural life. It’s a good old fashioned country fair complete with horse and cattle competitions, hauling matches and prizes for the best poultry, field crops, vegetables, fruit, flowers, home cooking and much more. Vaughn Blaney has been involved in the fair for close to 40 years and he’s been coming here since he was a kid in the 1940’s. “It’s always remained an old fashioned country fair,” he says. “And it’s always been a great rallying point for the people who were displaced on the army grounds. They went to all corners of the province but every year they make their way back here. I think that’s the magic.”

Three-year-old Aidan Phillips of Saint John enjoying the giant pumpkins at the fair.

photo by Bonnie Hamilton Bogart

About a hundred people spent the New Brunswick Day afternoon dancing and marching to fiddle music and a bagpiper on the Gagetown Ferry. Residents chose the holiday to celebrate their ferry and the history of cable ferries in the province. The story of the invention of the cable ferry by Captain William Pitt over a hundred years ago was told. Organizers handed leaflets to ferry passengers detailing their fight to save the service in Gagetown and Belleisle after the province wanted to shut them down to save money. It was a fun and festive day for all involved. Former liberal cabinet minister and Gagetown resident Vaughn Blaney said the old ferry was all decked out like a young bride.

It appears from what we’re hearing in Fredericton, the government is looking at privatizing all river ferries and that means charging tolls. This includes the Westfield Ferry.

There is a meeting tonight in Cambridge Narrows to discuss the formation of the new multi-stakeholder Ferry Committee at the Cambridge-Narrows Municipal Building beginning at 7pm.

Below is a transcript from Question Period yesterday where the ferry issue was addressed. This email was forwarded by Conservative MLA Jody Carr to people fighting the ferry cuts. What do you think?

The Gagetown and Belleisle ferries will continue operating past the end of the month. The government was planning on cutting the service on April 30th. But the Hampstead ferry is gone for good and the other two ferries will be operated privately by a third party on behalf of the community. That means tolls will likely be charged. Gagetown Mayor Randy Smith said on a CBC Radio interview this morning that this agreement is another step forward. He said the comunity is thrilled by this new turn of events, even though they still don’t know all the details including if the ferry will operate year round. He warns that if a private company can make money in a small economy like Gagetown, it’s likely the same model will be applied for the Westfield Ferry.  Below is the news release from the province.

Province to provide opportunity for continuation of ferry services in Belleisle Bay and Village of Gagetown (09/04/27)

NB 566

April 27, 2009

FREDERICTON (CNB) – The provincial government will work with community stakeholders to provide, through a third party, an opportunity for the continuation of ferry services in Belleisle Bay and the Village of Gagetown, Transportation Minister Denis Landry announced today.

“I think we have an excellent solution here today, one that respects the need for government to exercise restraint in difficult times while maintaining a service that these communities value,” said Landry. “I want to thank the community leaders for coming to the table, and I particularly want to thank local MLA Eugene McGinley for his key role in facilitating this solution.”

Landry announced that while the provincial government is still getting out of the ferry business in the two communities, it is appointing Eric Allaby, former member of the legislative assembly for Fundy Isles, to work on the issue. Allaby will work with stakeholders on behalf of the Department of Transportation to facilitate the continuation of ferry services in the two communities.

“Eric is an excellent choice to oversee this process,” said Landry. “Having represented, for 19 years, communities that depend on ferries, he understands this issue well. I am confident that he will be able to deliver a positive outcome.”

Allaby will work with community stakeholders to set up a locally controlled group to oversee operation of the ferries. At the same time, he and stakeholders will identify a suitable contractor to operate the ferry service.

To date, three potential contractors – Barry Armstrong, of Armstrong Management Solutions Inc., of Chipman, East Coast Ferries Ltd., of Deer Island, and Tim Tupper, of Jemseg – have come forward to express interest. Other interested parties would also be considered. A proponent will be chosen to operate the ferries based on financial and technical merit.

The two ferries and other relevant and related assets will be transferred from the government to the community-based group upon its establishment, and the contractor will begin operating the ferries on its behalf. The government will operate the two ferries daily, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., until the community-based group is in place.

As previously announced, the seasonal ferry in Hampstead will not resume operation.

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW WITH VAUGHN BLANEY

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW WITH REV. ROBERT MCDOWELL

As this issue of the newspaper hits the streets there are only a few days of life left for the Gagetown, Hampstead and Belleisle ferries. The provincial government extended the run for a month but unless something has changed in the last few days, the almost two hundred year old tradition of a river ferry in Gagetown is coming to an end.

The government announced in the budget it was cutting these services to save 1.5 million dollars. Despite protests and rallies, the minister and the premier say they are not changing their minds. Supporters of the ferries have made it clear they aren’t backing down either.

They received a boost at the last Village of Gagetown Council Meeting when Conservative Opposition Leader David Alward pledged to reverse the Liberal government’s decision to scrap the ferries, if he’s elected premier in 2010.

Former Liberal Cabinet Minister and Gagetown native, Vaughn Blaney says losing the ferry is like having a rug pulled out from under you. “It’s very difficult for me to believe that the ferry of the Shiretown would be gone,” says Blaney. “But I have a sense that this is the tip of the iceberg. If their reasons are economical because of the age of them, (ferries) well you better hang on to Westfield and Evandale and right on around.” Blaney sees this fight as a wake-up call for all of rural New Brunswick. “In the last depression it was rural New Brunswick who fed the fat cats in the urban area and if this whole country goes down the tube, it’ll be rural New Brunswick again that they’ll be coming to and saying please feed us, please get us out of this.” Blaney introduced himself at a recent Gagetown rally to save the ferries as a P.O.L. – Pissed Off Liberal.

At the same rally, Jean-Frances & Dick Mann drove all the way from Bathurst to voice their opposition to the government decision. They say the province should be promoting rural NB and the ferries are part of the whole fabric of the way people live, you just can’t rip it apart.

“This is just the first, watch out Westfield and Gondola Point,” warns Queenstown resident Anne Fawcett. She’s convinced this is just the beginning of the end for all river ferries. She fears this government decision may throw her into bankruptcy. “I’m partially disabled and can’t teach anymore,” she says. “Last summer I got a job as a deckhand on the Hampstead ferry and loved it. It was best job I ever had.”

The fight over ferry service has brought these river communities together like never before. Jemseg, Cambridge Narrows, Hampstead, Queenstown, Upper Gagetown are all working together along with other communities affected by the Belleisle ferry closure. They’ve already organized rallies at home and in Frederiction, collected names on petitions and launched letter writing campaigns. They’re determined to continue fighting to the end. “We’re just going to fight right to the last day,” says Gagetown farmer Wilf Hiscock. “We’re going to try and keep the ferry. It’s our road. It’s our bridge. We’re just not going to turn belly up. We’re going to keep fighting because we’re one big community here and this has brought everyone closer together than ever before.”

Gagetown councillor and United Church Minister, Rev. Robert McDowell is still hoping the Graham government will change its mind and maintain the service but if it doesn’t he says they’ll insist the infrastructure remain in place. If they try to remove it he says they will defend it and do what they need to do to preserve it, including civil disobedience. “We’ll plan on having all night vigils at the ferry,” says McDowell. ” We’ll have someone sit there all night because I suspect if they do come to take the ferry it’ll be in the dark because they know they wouldn’t be able to do it during the day.”

McDowell says they’re looking at all the options in this fight including taking legal against the province but he wasn’t able to give any details just yet. He says the government did this with the intent of sweeping the economy of these little communities away and that, he says, is immoral.

The Gagetown, Hampstead and Belleisle ferries are due to stop running for good at the end of April.

As this issue of the newspaper hits the streets there are only a few days of life left for the Gagetown, Hampstead and Belleisle ferries. The provincial government extended the run for a month but unless something has changed in the last few days, the almost two hundred year old tradition of a river ferry in Gagetown is coming to an end.

The government announced in the budget it was cutting these services to save 1.5 million dollars. Despite protests and rallies, the minister and the premier say they are not changing their minds. Supporters of the ferries have made it clear they aren’t backing down either.

They received a boost at the last Village of Gagetown Council Meeting when Conservative Opposition Leader David Alward pledged to reverse the Liberal government’s decision to scrap the ferries, if he’s elected premier in 2010.

Former Liberal Cabinet Minister and Gagetown native, Vaughn Blaney says losing the ferry is like having a rug pulled out from under you. “It’s very difficult for me to believe that the ferry of the Shiretown would be gone,” says Blaney. “But I have a sense that this is the tip of the iceberg. If their reasons are economical because of the age of them, (ferries) well you better hang on to Westfield and Evandale and right on around.” Blaney sees this fight as a wake-up call for all of rural New Brunswick. “In the last depression it was rural New Brunswick who fed the fat cats in the urban area and if this whole country goes down the tube, it’ll be rural New Brunswick again that they’ll be coming to and saying please feed us, please get us out of this.” Blaney introduced himself at a recent Gagetown rally to save the ferries as a P.O.L. – Pissed Off Liberal.

At the same rally, Jean-Frances & Dick Mann drove all the way from Bathurst to voice their opposition to the government decision. They say the province should be promoting rural NB and the ferries are part of the whole fabric of the way people live, you just can’t rip it apart.

“This is just the first, watch out Westfield and Gondola Point,” warns Queenstown resident Anne Fawcett. She’s convinced this is just the beginning of the end for all river ferries. She fears this government decision may throw her into bankruptcy. “I’m partially disabled and can’t teach anymore,” she says. “Last summer I got a job as a deckhand on the Hampstead ferry and loved it. It was best job I ever had.”

The fight over ferry service has brought these river communities together like never before. Jemseg, Cambridge Narrows, Hampstead, Queenstown, Upper Gagetown are all working together along with other communities affected by the Belleisle ferry closure. They’ve already organized rallies at home and in Frederiction, collected names on petitions and launched letter writing campaigns. They’re determined to continue fighting to the end. “We’re just going to fight right to the last day,” says Gagetown farmer Wilf Hiscock. “We’re going to try and keep the ferry. It’s our road. It’s our bridge. We’re just not going to turn belly up. We’re going to keep fighting because we’re one big community here and this has brought everyone closer together than ever before.”

“We will not let them take it if we have to sit on the ferry all summer.”

Gagetown councillor and United Church Minister, Rev. Robert McDowell is still hoping the Graham government will change its mind and maintain the service but if it doesn’t he says they’ll insist the infrastructure remain in place. If they try to remove it he says they will defend it and do what they need to do to preserve it, including civil disobedience. “We’ll plan on having all night vigils at the ferry,” says McDowell. ” We’ll have someone sit there all night because I suspect if they do come to take the ferry it’ll be in the dark because they know they wouldn’t be able to do it during the day.”

McDowell says they’re looking at all the options in this fight including taking legal against the province but he wasn’t able to give any details just yet. He says the government did this with the intent of sweeping the economy of these little communities away and that, he says, is immoral.

The Gagetown, Hampstead and Belleisle ferries are due to stop running for good at the end of April.