View allAll Photos Tagged Heartbroken
Visiting Dunnottar Castle I decided to climb down the steps and tight cliff path across to the shingle bay below and view the scenery, I have visited the site numerous times though never the bay.
A very small path runs along the cliff that is the only access to the area, I treaded carefully, in the distance I could see a scene of tranquility , calm water lapping the shore with no one else there other than myself, I could see two Eider Ducks ahead and set my camera to capture a few shots.
Finally both my feet hit the shingle, displacing pebbles as I walked with the matching sound that this creates, Eiders now a few meters away I could see that the female was dead, the male just sat there, usually they move off at the slightest sound, I got closer , he sat rigid , only moving when I was about 6 foot away , even then making a few distressed sounding noises, I stood motionless until he returned back to his original spot, the female’s body lay lifeless , he constantly looked across and stared at her as if waiting to see if she would wake up , make a movement or show a sign that everything would be back to normal , obviously she did not, still laying motionless and silent .
I moved on to capture my shots of the bay after 10 minutes observing this distressed Eider.
I decided to head back to the castle after 20 minutes or so capturing the bay, I noticed the male Eider still in the same spot displaying the same behaviours, the female was never going to respond to his cry, she had fell asleep for the final time , he remained optimistic though doubtful, as time ticked away.
I observed this scenario for another 15 minutes or so, the male moving a few feet away each time I got close though returning within a few seconds back to his original spot.
I captured a few shots of this scenario, this photo summarises the scene, I know Eiders do not mate for life though whatever situation the female found herself in to lose her life probably had the same immediate impact that humans have when our partner dies, falls asleep, leaves, departs our bond, suddenly a life changing moment impacts and uncertainty , feeling of loss, and a empty heart kicks in.
May 12, 2010
Today was a lot of fun.
Natalie and I were ditching school and went to my house to do homework..
well when we got there the boys had shown up and we decided to go hang out with them instead!
It was worth it! We gave each other tattoos, played basketball and enjoyed each others company!
Later Natalie and I went and did this 365.
During this time i was crying through this shoot i wanted to be able to express my hurt when i found out a boy i once loved got another girlfriend. I was wearing a white button up shirt. It's like i'm struggling but i can get through it.
BTW it was FREEZING in this water and mud.
*As you all know i dont really post 365's anymore... i have pictures but i feel like its just a "have to" thing to do it everyday and i dont want it like that at all. I want to FEEL like doing it everyday... maybe i will start up again soon..
Thanks for all the support!
sweet sugar is a good model,she got pretty face and figure,we invited her to the keelung sea
coast and we want her to pretend a pityful girl which just lost her lover ,so she expressed sad mood that made the frame full of sexy and heartbroken atmosphere.thank sweet sugar
she did her best model job
Street Fashion Shoot
Binondo, Manila
August 19, 2012
(With Mitzi Paniel, Ann Mateo, Roe Empleo and Mervin Manalo)
1. p1060055, 2. p1060059, 3. p1060112, 4. p1060027, 5. p1060029, 6. p1060094, 7. p1060097, 8. p1060101, 9. p1060109, 10. p1060114, 11. p1060151, 12. p1060184, 13. p1060111
Heartbroken:
EVERY Monday night at Studio80 on the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam!
Party: Heartbroken
Venue: Studio80
Coverage by: Waking up in Amsterdam!
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Just received notice that my girl Affie elephant, died suddenly at the zoo yesterday.
I cannot even think straight right now.........
Christy elephant will be lost without Affie.
PLEASE,
N-O
I-N-V-I-T-E-S
Here is the news story
'Well-loved' Brookfield Zoo elephant dies
May 15, 2009 10:51 PM
Affie, a female African elephant about to turn 40 years old and to be feted at her annual birthday party on June 13, died Friday afternoon after Brookfield Zoo keepers arriving in the morning found her lying on her side, unable to stand.
Though the sixth-oldest African elephant in any accredited American zoo and considered geriatric by elephant standards, Affie's sudden, still undiagnosed death was a surprise to zoo officials, said Kim Smith, the zoo's vice president of animal care.
"At 4 a.m. today," said a zoo statement released late Friday afternoon, "the night zookeeper checked on both of the zoo's African elephants, Affie and Christy, and they were both fine."
After finding her on her side at 8 a.m., keepers could not get the 10,400-pound Affie back on her feet, Smith said, and she died about 2 p.m.
Zoo veterinarians performed a necropsy after she died to try to determine the cause of death, but it could take days or weeks for the result of those tests to be reported.
"She was a well-loved animal," said Smith. "Hundreds of people would come to her birthday party to sing to her every year. We always had a special cake for her made from her favorite fruits and vegetables, using carrots as the candles, which she would very carefully pick off, one by one, and eat them."
She said a 2004 scientific study found the average life expectancy for female African elephants in North American zoos to be 33 years, similar to the life expectancy of wild elephants.
Members of Erie' s Transgender community and allies gathered at the Bel Aire Hotel and Conference Center, 2800 W 8th St, Erie PA on Sunday, November 20, 216 to observe Transgender Day of Remembrance with a candlelit vigil. This was the 18th annual observance nationally. The event was organized by Caitlyn Strohmeyer, president of TransFamily of NW PA.
Caitlyn's speech in opening the event:
I'd like to welcome everyone and thank you for attending this candlelight vigil on the 18th Transgender Day of Remembrance where we honor the lives of all those lost to global anti-transgender violence. In past years, we have learned about the loss of many around the world, but this year I'd like to turn our focus to here in the United States. Even as we have become more visible as a community and obtained unprecedented gains in support from the cisgender community, this has also come with unprecedented loss, as 2016 has seen the largest number of deaths in America since the inception of this solemn event.
As we know, the events of the past 18 months has created a divisiveness in America that hasn't been seen in decades. Some may argue that its always been there, but that people have now been given carte blanche to act on their hatred, bigotry, and xenophobia. Communities of color, immigrants, refugees from the terrors of Syria, and yes, the LGBT community are in a state of fear. This is real fear and it is valid. In the last two weeks the Southern Poverty Law Center has logged more than 300 reports of hate crimes around the nation. This is not the America I want, and I'm sure it not the America that you want either.
Our community has seen a level of legislative support that has never happened before. This has been both a blessing and a curse. Many people feel that we are pushing too hard, too fast. That Americans need time to adjust. That we shouldn't force people into acceptance, but that we need to take a slow and steady, incremental approach. I would argue that in almost any other situation, I might agree. However, in this case, people are dying. They are dying at the hands of others who would rather try to remove the situation than to deal with it. Many are dying at their own hands because of the hatred and oppression they face on a daily basis. Our community is in crisis. We cannot afford to wait. We must stand up with pride and show the world that our rights as human beings is not negotiable. Our dignity is not something we have to wait for others to get used to. Our lives are worth more than this.
We are very blessed here in our little corner of Pennsylvania. Our community has a level of support that many areas of our nation only dream of. However, support and action are two different things. You are all here because you care about this crisis. Many more are not. While some may have wanted to be here, they were unable to be due to previous commitments. There are many more who made a conscious decision to not be here. While I cannot say what the reason is, I fear that much of it is due to apathy. To the feeling that this doesn't affect me. I would argue that it does. It affects everyone when any one of us is marginalized, oppressed, harassed, discriminated against, or murdered. It affects us all because it sends a message of who we are as a nation. It sends a message of who we are as human beings. Not being here tells the world that your life goes on, even as that of others are ending violently, and that's ok. This has to change. We have to change. We have to be better. We have to stand up to intolerance and discrimination in ALL of its forms. We have to stand for ALL oppressed communities.
We must quit standing on the sidelines and we must take action, whether it is as simple as affixing a safety pin on your jacket to let people know you are a safe person, or whether it is as bold as actually getting involved in making a difference by volunteering your time. Our community has a lot of work to do, and we need help. We need the help of everyone. We need the help of those who don't suffer our pain personally, but the help of those who are still able to stand up and say this is unacceptable. The transgender community can fight for our own rights, and many feel that we are just whiny and should simply be happy that we haven't been murdered. It takes our cisgender allies to stand up for us to truly make a difference. Sometimes, it takes a cisgender person willing to share why they are outraged and heartbroken to be able to connect with another cisgender person. The true power of our community doesn't come from within, but from without, because we are a small minority, but our allies are the rest of the nation.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for being an ally, a friend, a warrior. Stay strong, because this fight has only just begun. Now, let's remember the lives of those among us who have escaped their pain and who will look over us as we continue this fight.
Frankie D. and Dirk Diggler spin the sweetest soul, sophisticated jazz, dirtiest funk with a splash of hip-hop at the Studio 80 in Amsterdam.
What the label does not say: you won't even leave the fender of the vehicle, you'll drop dead right where you stand!
Absolutely heartbroken that I can't find out anything about Cleaties Bowser, a coal minor who was arrested for adultry (sic and sic).
The misspellings on the card might make you assume that his name is misspelled, too, but it isn't. The only trace of him I could find was on the 1940 census, where his name is spelled just like that.
Chewing to Chew
(Poor Mulberry Plant)
Good thing my friend's husband didn't see this happen. . . or maybe he did. I don't know what exactly happened, but he is making sure to get rid of the puppy ASAP. My friend is truly heartbroken as she loves this puppy. It's tearing her apart. Makes me sad. Those of you who know me well. . . well, you know that I can't stand by and do nothing when it comes to the critters in my life. Looks like we will have a new foster in the house. BTW, did I not marry just the most marvelous man? We'll have to decide what to call the boy. . . I'm hoping Kevin will come up with a suitable name. For some reason I think it should be a short--no more than one or two syllables--masculine name. Remember, he's going to be a big boy! I figure we'll know the name when we hear it. . .
Life is about to change. . . I've already scoured lost/missing postings. Nothing. I'll keep looking through those things. If nothing, then it's time to contact friends and relatives. This boy is not going to a stranger. I can't explain it, but I just don't feel right listing him the way I do the cats. The right place will materialize, I trust and pray. The ones I worry about are Ariel and MoMo. Ariel does not welcome strangers into her domain. Remember, she fancies herself as the Queen. And MoMo has been making social progress by leaps and bounds. . . the other day he came over and joined Raven on the couch next to me. He had to wriggle in between Raven and the arm rest. Then, after a while, he rolled over and put his front leg across Raven. They truly cuddled for a while. . . too beautiful to see, and I did not want to reach over them to grab the camera. I think he would have startled. So I sat and watched and smiled.
While it may be truly hard on Ariel and MoMo, poor dear felines, I suspect this will be a wonderful opportunity to work on socialization and recall with Bogart. Remember, this puppy already is reliable off-leash! Hope he teaches Bogart a thing or two. . .
Wow. Am I ready for this?
[SOOC, f/2.0, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/800]
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May 26, 2023 - We Are the Ones ! An unusual degree of callous disregard and arrogance is shown when the beloved proud Valley Peoples Queen Annapolisa Pageant is cancelled without consultation or consideration ? A modern generation of newcomer ABF Directors with new ideas have proclaimed themselves to be the one generation that will interrupt and then terminate 88 years of history in the long running traditional multi Valley village Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess pageant ?
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/apple-blossom-festival...
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A quick review of the notorious hostile takeover bid and attempt to extract the 2017 Kentville Grand Street Parade away from its natural home in the town of Kentville ?
February, 2017 - With only 3 months to go and parade planning and preparations well underway as per usual for the upcoming 2017 edition of Kentville Grand Street Parade, parade officials were suddenly caught totally off-guard and absolutely blindsided by the shocking news coming from out of nowhere that current ABF Management who are in charge of the festival made a final decision in private that will take Grand Street Parade away from its historic 85-year old home in Kentville ? They would then relocate it to a new and different location of their choice ? Apparently, they had already taken it away from Kentville and moved it to New Minas without consultation, written or verbal notice, or permission ? And so it seemed that a group of rather uncaring, arrogant, covertly operating, and inconsiderate ABF Officials with radical new ideas had ignored the town of Kentville's vital interests and ignored 87 years of tradition and (incredibly) have taken the 2017 annual Grand Street Parade ( and even future Parades ) away from them without consultation, notice or permission ? Drastic location changes and even the elimination of other longtime events and attractions always held in Kentville such as the Friday night outdoor show and fireworks, the Memorial Park Wednesday and Thursday displays with Valley student participation and numerous attractions, the bringing in of popular outside bands, and even the famous historic Kentville Children's Parade were all targeted by this grouping of ABF directors for cut-back or elimination ? Radical changes in the Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition including gender, contestant rules, location of crowning ceremony, and changes in overall competition format were also discussed ? The ABF Officials defended their secretive, inconsiderate and authoritarian type actions by claiming that as stewards of the festival they are entitled and obliged to uphold the integrity of the festival ? (integrity ? ) They later changed stories saying they were left with no choice due to Kentville's inability to prove they can successfully host such a large Parade event, ( Kentville has hosted this parade for the last 85 years ),and also because the people in charge of Grand Street Parade were unprofessional, indifferent and uncooperative ?
And so it came to be that a newly elected Mayor and Council in its infancy were suddenly confronted with perhaps the most serious challenge ever to be faced by the town of Kentville ever since the tragic loss of their major transportation sources, that being the loss of the railway in 1989, and then the shocking loss of aviation in 2014 when the Town CAO and the Warden and Council conspired to close out Waterville municipal Airport and evict all businesses and tenants ? This serious challenge came in the form of a surprise and pernicious attack and hijacking of Kentville's most beloved local commercial attraction, that being the Grand Street Parade ? The unexpected assault came from an unfamiliar and unfriendly source that seemed inconsiderate, disrespectful, and even a tad opportunistic when considering that Kentville had just finished installing a brand new rookie Mayor and Council ? When newly elected Mayor Snow, was suddenly swarmed by the news of so many extreme actions already taken against her town's best interests, the shocked and disbelieving Mayor said she was overwhelmed, heartbroken and called these actions unprecedented, disrespectful and unacceptable when speaking with local media ? All agreed that any attack on Kentville's most popular and well known outdoor world class event without the courtesy of an invitation, negotiation, inclusion or consultation is unacceptable ? Needless to say, the biggest losers of all were the good citizens of Kentville who have contributed so much over the lase 90 years years going back to the thirties and forties when the CNR train would bring guests to stay at the Cornwallis Inn ? The Town has invested enormous amounts of time, energy and resources into the creation of this world-famous event that draws tens of thousands of visitors.
All Valley towns take great pride and look forward to their individual town festivals and especially to their yearly parade. The citizens of Kentville are no different. Towns like Kingston, Hantsport, Wolfville, Windsor, Berwick, Canning, Greenwood etc. will never have to worry about someone hijacking their yearly community parade or otherwise taking it away ? However, sadly, the citizens of Kentville will now have to live with the troubling prospect of the possible loss of their beloved town parade without notice at any time and the accompanying loss of many years of time, energy, town resources, manpower put forth by residents, and all the other general services and contributions made during the past 88 years to create this world class event ?
The current 2017 ABF board of Directors is led by Angela Pelton and Alxys Chamberlain (Queen Annapolisa 2015), with Barb Madic, Heidi Scotney-Kinsman, John Patterson, Katie Gordon, Krista Morine, Linda Keddy, Logan Morse, Sarah Griffiths, and Steffany Cox-Lingard ?
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news clippings :
Frustration growing in Kentville, N.S. over Apple Blossom parade change CTV Atlantic atlantic.ctvnews.ca/frustration-growing-in-kentville-n-s-...
Kings County Councilor Emma Van Rooyen calls for the de-funding of the Apple Blossom Festival
atlantic.ctvnews.ca/apple-blossom-festival-competition-di...
JULY 14, 2023 - Valley Pride workshops, drag performances, and more events planned for Kentville and Wolfville over the weekend.
globalnews.ca/video/9832465/first-official-pride-festival...
CTV Jan. 23, 2017 " A long-standing N.S. festival opens competition to all gender identities"
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/long-standing-n-s-festival-opens-co...
ABF 2022 - Princess competition and Queen Annapolisa pageant to be postponed this year ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52076239848/in/datepos...
New Minas agrees to host the parade after approached by festival organizers ! Protest Petition is started !
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/apple-blossom-festival...
Kentville will host the Apple Blossom parade after all
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/kentville-gets-apple-b...
No Smoking in KVille, but we encourage you to drink, gamble and smoke pot all you want ? Maders tobacconist in downtown Kentville is celebrating 50 years in business b,,
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/9344935900
Dec 13th, 2025 - this could be a bit rich ? Dr. Robert Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Health and top doctor for Nova Scotia is advertising safe pot smoking for the NSLC ?
www.facebook.com/watch/?v=4190201767960744
may 2023 = Kids welcome at an all-age Drag show to be held at the Kings Arms in Kentville,,
www.nsbuzz.ca/life/kentville-all-ages-drag-show-draws-pro...
A protest against an all-age drag show at the Kings Arms ends peacefully in Kentville,
www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/communities/a-celebration-of...
Lunenburg - Now even Queen is a bad name ? Lunenburg recently changed the name of Cornwallis Street to Queen Street. Queen was first choice of all those in a survey taken to select a new street name. But the town received another complaint from the local anti-racism committee saying they are upset by a democratic decision that would replace one colonial street name (Cornwallis) with another, (Queen ) ?
www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/ns-town-that-changed-cornwa...
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2022 :
* Update 2022 Update * This year's ABF won't be the same as the others ? For the first time ever in a long illustrious history, this ABF will be missing the better half of the Festival, that being, the coveted Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition and the coronation and crowning ceremony in Wolfville ? All have been postponed ? Bad news indeed for aspiring young participants, for our local communities, for the Festival itself, and for all patrons and sponsors. Perhaps the current board of Directors should focus more attention on their job of actually holding the event rather than arguing about inclusion and entrance ? We look forward to next years pageant ? It also looks like the Directors this year are not prepared to make the necessary expenditures needed to bring in outside guest performers for the Friday night concert (or for a big-name Saturday night concert ) as was always the case in previous years when bands like Eddy's Basement, or various guest Tribute Bands, or the Barra McNiels, K D Lang, Michelle Wright, and many others were brought in to entertain Wednesday Thursday or Friday night Memorial Park audiences ?
It seems that ABF Officials are emphasizing the word 'free' in advertisements this year ? The ABF events they advertise as free have always been free ? Is this promotion or the pointing out of the 'free' idea mean there are plans in the future to begin charging Kentville citizens for events that have always been free in the past, such as Grand Street Parade or the Friday night Memorial Park entertainment and Fireworks ? It seems more likely that if they were ever to repeat this year's lackluster bare minimum effort of our World famous festival that they may have to start paying patrons to attend ?
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Following a 2 year absence due to Covi,, the 2022 Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival. (and Parade) will be held as per usual this year.. Unfortunately the Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition has had to be postponed until next year due to time constraints.
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Shocking news from ABF,
* There's been a stunning development at ABF. *
Apparently in a new younger generation there are those who harbor resentment towards our nations history, for English colonialism, and even for the Monarchy ? Other minority groups have voiced discontent over the diversity and inclusion issue ? And so it seems that the current ABF Board of Directors has listened to the concerns and complaints of a few small minority groups while apparently ignoring and excluding the overwhelming majority of Valley residents ? And it appears that this current Board of Directors chose to resolve such discontent by simply moving to implement and execute the nuclear option and the final solution ? And therefore after a highly successful lengthy run of 87 consecutive years in a row, the extremely anticipated, very popular, family oriented, inclusive and diverse, multi village Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess Pageant along with the prestigious Royal Coronation crowning ceremonies held in Wolfville have all been terminated forever by this current board of Directors ?
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-----------------------It's The End of an Era-----------------------------
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival 2023 - ABF Board of Directors has announced drastic new changes in format and even deeper cut-backs to the annual People's Festival ? Concerns over ceremony, symbolism, the monarchy and colonialism, along with some complaints over inclusion and diversity may have had an influence on the current ABF board of Directors and they have seen a need to update the long running Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess pageant in order to bring it up to a standard they view as being more relevant to the current times ? And so the Directors must have held an extremely private 'think tank' last Winter, and without notifying, caring, considering or consulting with any of the long time participating Valley communities, they had decided that rather than trouble themselves any further with this pesky issue, why not just take the easy way out and simply get rid of it ? And so it seems they made a final decision in private last Winter and moved to execute the final and fatal solution to their problem by ordering that the iconic 87 year old Pageant competition be immediately shut down and terminated forever ? And therefore, as a result of an uninclusive and uncontested decision made in private, one of the longest running, popular, identifiable, well known, highly anticipated, most inclusive and diverse, proud all family events that has ever benefited Valley residents of every age, has just been taken away ?
This unconditional act of finality will now end the long running 88 year reign of her royal Heinous Queen Annapolisa and will terminate all participation of the 7 to 10 Apple Blossom Princess contestants and their child attendants that represent 7 to 10 local Valley communities ? It will also mean the end of the many beautiful hand crafted award winning Princess floats that always highlight Grand Street Parade, and it will also signal the end of the ultra glamorous Queen and Ladies-in-waiting Crowning ceremonies held annually and televised each year from Acadia University in Wolfville ? This also puts an end to the many popular community Princess Tea events, and also ends all Royal Party visitations to local Schools, hospitals and old folks homes that are so welcome and appreciated by Students, Seniors and shut-ins ? This also signals the end of Royal Party appearances at Kentville Children's Parade, at the Memorial Park Friday night open air concert and fireworks, and all Royal attendances at many other events held annually throughout the Valley and the Province ?
It appears now that current ABF Officials led by President Logan Morse along with Kentville town rep Lindsey Young have not only interrupted the Pageant in 2022 when they temporarily postponed it, but have now in 2023 moved to terminate this prestigious event forever explaining that their radical decision has been made to improve, include, modernize and evolve the famed beauty pageant ? This final act of termination ends almost 90 years of royal pageantry and also leaves a huge gap in the Festival itself ? It will also negatively affect so many of the nearby Valley communities who always participate and enter contestants in the Pageant ? The ending of such an important multiple community event and the taking away of the better half and Star of the Apple Blossom Festival brings forth the question of what replacement is planned, and what are local towns and villages that always play major roles in both the Queen and Princess competition suppose to do now ? And what about Valley youth and the childhood dreams of one day becoming a child attendant or an Apple Blossom Princess or even a Queen ?
You have to marvel at the level of ego and disrespect shown by this latest Board of Directors who have dared appoint themselves as the ones that will end the Pageant and then to think that Valley residents are stupid enough to believe that by cancelling and taking away a cherished and long running event, that they have in some perverted way of thinking moved the Valley forward or improved and modernized anything ? It seems far more likely that they have taken the Valley on a giant leap backwards and robbed the people of a much beloved, long running, multi community, all inclusive and live local production that has always been the most anticipated all Valley highlight of the year for the past almost 90 consecutive years ?
Why the current ABF Management, who claim to be stewards in charge and responsible for the promotion and presentation of this event, appear unable to perform their duties or to perform the job they're paid to do and now do what their predecessors have always done so well each and every year for the past 87 years, often in far more trying circumstances and in far less prosperous times, is difficult to comprehend ? And you have to wonder, Whatever happened to the # 1 rule in business that says that if you can't do your job because of your inexperience, immaturity, inability, personal bias, laziness, or just plain stupidity, then,, YOU'RE ALL FIRED ! (and a Class action recovery suit may be forthcoming ?)
ABF news updates :
Logan Morse and a newcomer ABF Board of Directors break the hearts of Valley families especially the Children when they move to terminate the historic and long running Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess Pageant after 88 years ? ABF Directors show no remorse, while boasting that their bold action was needed to improve, evolve and bring the pageant up to their modern standards ? www.pressreader.com/canada/annapolis-valley-register/2023...
Annapolis Valley families are in shock and children cry upon learning their beloved Queen Annapolisa Pageant has been cancelled without notice, consultation, consideration or compassion ? Newcomer Directors say they are taking their bold action to improve, evolve and modernize the historic Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival ? www.saltwire.com/atlantic-
Valley residents lose long time major yearly entertainment event when the ever popular ABF Greenwood Airshow is terminated and will be no more. Fast forward to Aug 24, 2024, and to corporation greed ? Air Show Atlantic Inc. now charges big bucks to see taxpayer owned aircraft at a taxpayer owned airport in their vastly inferior airshow ? Air Show Atlantic Inc. does not offer a discount Seniors ticket category for Senior citizens ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52345513615
How dare They ! Kentville IS the Cornwallis Inn and the Cornwallis Inn IS Kentville ! If you were to google the 2 words Cornwallis Inn you will get over 600,000 entries with almost all of them married to the word Kentville.. (what a great promotional tool) . The world famous Cornwallis Inn is the source of many fond memories for all local and Valley residents.. "It was the centre of everything’: The past and present of Kentville’s iconic Cornwallis Inn"
www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/lifestyles/it-was-the-centre...
Kentville identity crisis. Help, Is there a Superhero anywhere out there to save Kentville from the newcomer agenda ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54418705157/in/album-7...
The controversial 2017 Grand Street Parade - Has Kentville once again been targeted for exploitation ? After Warden Brothers, (Greenwood ) and Liberal MP L Glavine (Kingston) had all but hijacked Waterville Airport before relocating it to their own home riding in the Kingston/Greenwood area, it seems that the town of Kentville must face yet another attack from the Kingston area when Alxys Chamberlain, the Kingston Apple Blossom Princess, and other ABF Directors attempt to take yet another major source of revenue and major attraction away from the town of Kentville ?
Et tu, Madama Chamberlain ? The unconscionable attempted hijacking and subsequent recovery of Kentvilles's most beloved yearly event ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/18506181065
2023 Kentville Grand Street Parade - Disregard for safety shown as unrestrained Senior citizens are precariously perched atop an unsheltered, open sided, stop and go, large unstable jerking motion moving platform ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53900780519/in/album-7...
Exploiting Queen Annapolisa for a photo op ? Politicians at the official opening ceremony of the 2023 Apple Blossom Festival pretending there's still a Pageant in a photo while knowing full well that Queen Annapolisa and the Apple Blossom Princesses have been terminated forever and will no longer be a part of this year's Festival ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53755100811/in/album-7...
2023 Kentville Grand Street Parade - Newcomer ABF stewards seem to defy and ignore our Liberal Government special plea for diversity and inclusion ? Many nearby local Valley towns and villages that normally attend are excluded from this year's parade ? This exclusion means the loss of the enormous diversity that is always provided by the attendance of these many nearby local communities ? Where is Canning, Digby, Annapolis Royal, Hantsport Greenwood, Windsor ? Where's our Queen Annapolisa ? Where's the Apple Blossom Princesses and wdrtr's all of the individual Town floats including Princess Kentville ? To view complete 2023 Kentville Grand Street Parade press here, www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lchie www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lchie
Facebook, Friends of Kentville - The site Administrator, a new arrival from PEI, says she wants to see Kentville as the queerest town in all of Nova Scotia ? www.facebook.com/groups/2588266877982288
Will a drag Queen replace an apple blossom Queen in Kentville ? www.nsbuzz.ca/life/kentville-all-ages-drag-show-draws-pro...
Nov 16 2023 - Apple Blossom Princesses call for a return of Queen Annapolisa,
www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/communities/former-apple...
The Town of Kentville has moved to cut back and eliminate many hours of traditional public outdoor entertainment that have always been a standard part of the Apple Blossom Festival ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52094784785
A medley of the guest Tribute bands that have performed at Memorial Park Kentville - Always free of charge in the past when performing at the Apple Blossom Festival : Petty Larceny, Fleetwod Mix, Keep the Faith, Stones Tribute, Green River Revival, Viscious, Eddy's Basement, Matt Minglewood,
www.dailymotion.com/video/x5hqti9
Corporate greed shown by newcomer ABF directors in this year's Apple Blossom Festival ? Instead of providing a free guest Tribute band as per normal at the free Memorial Park Friday night concert, it will now cost 50.00 pp to see a 'Queen tribute band' performance. that's 50.00 per ticket in 2025 ? acadiau.universitytickets.com/
Town of Kentville rips off its own citizens right at Apple Blossom Festival time ? Cold heartless capitalism shown by Kentville and by the newcomer ABF management ? Citizens burdened with out of pocket expense of TWENTY DOLLARS each just to attend an outdoor street dance held downtown on taxpayer owned property during the Apple Blossom Festival ? Is there no shame ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54546051832/in/photost...
They've Ruined It ! Our great Festival is no longer even recognizable ? How could anyone take a world class event and turn it into something that can only be described as stupid ? President Erica Gillis has to be the worst ever ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54418705157/in/album-7...
Directors Erica Gillis, www.appleblossom.com/about/
Mayor Andrew Zebian www.facebook.com/andrewzebian
2025 Kentville Grand Street Parade - is this a joke ? A brief 45-minute bare minimum compact Kentville Grand Street Parade this year ? Zero in large marching street bands and majorettes other than the one RCMP (mini version) marching unit, no Sottish pipers or pipe bands, zero in Apple Blossom Royalty and their famous royal floats, Most of the regular nearby Valley village participants not there, no horse and wagon entree, no armaments, soldiers, bands or displays from Aldershot or Greenwood, etc etc, ? And yet Guest parade announcer proclaims in quote @ 29:17, " this parade is the largest in Canada, incl Toronto - it's the longest with the largest route and the most entries. " Wha-a-a-t ? Where did she come from and what is she talking about ?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQuaIdrQi00
A different rider is now sitting in a makeshift Royal throne that has been set aboard the historic Apple Blossom Princess float for its famous trip down Kentville's Main Street on Apple Blossom festival Saturday. It seems our new Mayor will now grace the famous Town Princess float on its annual trip in the famous Grand Street Parade ?
' Somebody get that King a crown and sceptre '
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54557663677/in/dateposted
They've ruined it part 2 ! May 31st, 2025 Grand Street Parade - From 100,000 down to 10,000, Parade attendance shrinks to all time low - They've ruined the Festival and the Parade too ! www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54568017261/in/photost....
ABF Directors may disapprove of and have now terminated our beloved Queen Annapolisa pageant and multiple village Apple Blossom Princess competition but nevertheless Valley residents will always conyinue to admire, support, respect and remain fond of the British Monarchy. And, most Valley citizens are delighted to hear that his Majesty King Charles III and Queen Camilla are invited and will be coming for a royal visit to Canada on May 26 and 27, 2025. This year's incomplete and now Royalty-less ABF starts on the 28th, www.cbc.ca/news/politics/king-charles-canada-visit-1.7524946
A long and proud history of past Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess winners has been removed from sight and erased from the official Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival website ? A special honorary history page dedicated to previous Queen Annapolisa winners from 1933 thru 2019 has been taken down and apparently replaced with jumbo size portraits of the newcomer President and other ABF directors who have taken over and ruined the world famous Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival ? www.appleblossom.com/history/past-queens
Meet the directors,
May 30th, 2025 - 20 dollar burgers and bouncy castles ??? High level security brought in for this year's Memorial Park Friday night rock concert ? ( must have taken up most of the budget ) ? Town of Kentville brings in added outside police, closes roads, and sets up a defensive ground zero security perimeter around the event with manned traffic guard posts to provide heightened G7 level security for the Kentville Memorial Park Friday night ABF outdoor concert that in past years had always featured guest rock bands, interesting demonstrations and displays, and a visit from the Queen Annapolisa Royal party following her prestigious coronation ceremony in Wolfville, but appears now to have deteriorated into some kind of an outdoor romper room type family show featuring food trucks, inflatable air bouncy castles and the usual local band that always plays around here as the featured invited guest main stage star performer ? Unfortunately , there isn't much to do for anyone above elementary grade school level other than to purchase some food at the upscale restaurant prices and dine on a paper plate using plastic utensils while standing up in a crowd of unruly kids and being lustfully observed by hungry saliva drooling pet dogs leashed to their owners ? However, thanks to upgraded crowd control, a heavy police presence, and the enforcement of strict traffic control surrounding the site, there was a report of a parking violator being successfully apprehended and a runaway pet was captured and returned to its owner ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54558198569
May 30th, 2025 Memorial Park Kentville - Seniors and those with disabilities made to walk long distances in order to reach this year's disappointing ABF Friday night outdoor rock Concert that didn't bring in a rock band, (nor much of anything else) ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54558198569/in/photost...
Oct 4th, 2025 - Kentville's annual Harvest Festival held in Centre Square :
Kentville - A disappointing harvest festival effort this year that did'nt include old standards like family horse-drawn hay wagon ride and the pumpkin people scarecrow making class and group demo, with not much attention given to the Valley harvest, Valley livestock or Valley farmer ? Many of the Harvest Festival standards seem to have been replaced by multiple kiosks that sell merchandise unrelated to the harvest, children bouncy castles, and expensive food trucks ?
Upgrade 2025 ? photo taken from front of Phinneys dept store - A massive expenditure budgeted for a major upgrade to the Mayor's business backyard - Downtown Kentville Webster Street gets a complete and total beautification makeover with new installations of street paving, paint, new double sidewalks both sides, driveway entrances, and new curb and gutter both sides ? All other streets that surround this downtown business block have also been upgraded including Aberdeen Street, Cornwallis Street, and Main Street ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54835340734/in/photost...
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An Identity Crisis ;
Can an identity crisis be looming in the town of Kentville ?
A proud, neighborly salt of the earth working class community with generous hard working friendly citizens and a rich historic Railroad, agriculture and farming background is losing many of its longtime local traditions, themes and trademarks while elected Town officials, many of them new arrivals, just stand still, watch, and even enable ? Having always been identified as a main Provincial railroad center ever since the old Dominion Rail days dating back to 1869, the town has since lost all of its passenger and freight train rail service in and out including a modern passenger Dayliner service that traveled back and forth to Halifax every day ? And after the railway had been shut down it seemed they couldn't clear out the now useless brand new station, dig up the tracks and demolish the old roundhouse fast enough ? And so now, in what seems to be cruel mockery, the only railroading in Kentville left over from past glory days and from what was once the largest and most important and active railroad center west of Halifax, is just an old and faded hand painted train mural etched onto the weather beaten side of one of the downtown business establishments ?
Unfortunately the loss of the railway wasn't the last humiliating major transportation loss forced on the people of a small rural town as Kentville was soon to become even more isolated from the outside World when for no apparent logical, rational or reasonable reason the aviation community at Waterville municipal Airport CCW3 were told to get out when they had done nothing wrong and had no where else to go ? This long time invaluable contributor to the local area economy was lost when an established municipal airport, a well known Canadian sky diving facility, and an internationally known pilot training and licensing academy, and many privately owned aircraft with local owners, and many other established aviation businesses were told to get out ? The cold hearted eviction also left our young Air Cadets over at Camp Aldershot without a base to train on and so now the next generation has to grow up without their nearby aviation training and education facility ?
And so, a group of out-of-towners that mostly don't even live in this community had transformed an active thriving local Aviation business center that had taken decades to build and establish, into a barren and useless place where unsupervised Michelin children now ride bikes and dodge weeds poking their heads thru a deteriorating asphalt runway that was once a platform for private and commercial aircraft to fly in and out of the local area on a daily basis ? To add salt to the wound, this unwarranted calculated forced closure and loss of a vital member of the local economy was to be hailed by the executioners at Kings Council, ( and also by the prestigious Ivany Report Committee ) as being a bold and brilliant business decision that will greatly improve and benefit the local area ?
After months of homelessness and uncertainty over the future, a few evicted tenants found new sites elsewhere and relocated at their own expense to start all over again, while others just quit, while others were finally redirected to a new location in Greenwood which just happened by chance to be the Kings Council County Warden's home riding ? And so, in the end this devastating loss for Kentville and local area became a windfall for the Kingston Greenwood area, and, Kentville was left to carry on without either a Railway or an Airport ?
When the original KCA town School closed down, existing high school students were separated from their home school and had to be bused to the nearby town of Canning ? This would leave only the Grade 1 to 8 age groups to now identify Kentville as their home school, an education reality that still exists in Kentville ? There is no longer a movie theater in Kentville as the downtown movie theater has been closed forever, and the popular Edge sports bar, eatery and pool hall also closed down and never replaced ? Harvey's Hamburgers drive thru closed down and it never was replaced ? The longtime bowling alley in New Minas was bought out by developers, torn down, and replaced with a business office complex ? We lost the local salvage, reclamation and disposal site in South Alton when ordered shut down by the Provincial Government, but these same people who shut it down never ever offered to replace it with another leaving the community without this vital facility ? One day a portion of roof blew off the long time town funeral home and it never re-opened leaving only one such establishment left in town ? And, just as the citizens of Kentville were learning that both the Apple Blossom Princess and the Queen Annapolisa pageants were to be cancelled after 87 consecutive years, at the same time there was an all age Drag Queen show getting ready to entertain at the Kings Arms Pub in a total flip flop from the popular Irish Rovers or Scottish pipers that most Kentville citizens identify with at this time of year ? Numerous local restaurants and small businesses have all come and gone - mostly gone - and the main town supermarket Jasons IGA had a fire and was forced to close down for over a year so there was no supermarket to provide groceries for the local citizens ? The ever popular multi venue Wandlyn Inn burned down with all venues now lost to the community ? It wasn't replaced after the fire and now there's just a fast food MacDonald's take out to replace all of Wandlyn's many facilities including hotel rooms, indoor swimming pool, whirlpool and sauna, nightclub, dual convention centers and dual restaurants ? Not a very good exchange for the community ?
The traditional July 1st Canada Day town sponsored party event of fun, food,speeches and local entertainment held each year at the wading Pool was curtailed by the Town due to budget considerations ? And so now, if you want to enjoy July 1st entertainment or fireworks you have to go to New Minas, Hantsport or Berwick ? Access to clean drinking water is well known as one of the most identifiable entitlements provided by a town ? Billions are currently being spent by the Canadian taxpayer to provide First Nations people with free safe drinking water ? Yet the Kentville water commission charges the customer 10,000 dollars just to turn their town water on at roadside ? And then after this rather large up front financial layout paid for by the brand new customer, he will still have to pay for all of his yard trenching and household plumbing work ? And in return for this large initial forced surcharge, the valued new customer will be rewarded with a water bill courtesy of the town of Kentville each month hereafter ?
They even managed to take away Kentville's most famous of all and most instantly identifiable town landmark in the hotel name Cornwallis Inn ? Cornwallis Inn is a well known trademark hotel name that is synonymous World wide with the name of Kentville, and this name represents a multitude of fond memories for the local area residents and for other residents living all over the Valley ? It was hard to understand why the Town would ever allow this historic name to change,, and also hard to understand why a previous Town of Kentville planning dept would ever allow subsidized apartment units to be built onto the side of such a respected Town centerpiece and also block the access lane to the rear parking lot while doing it ? The Cornwallis Inn will always be an important Valley landmark and a future protected Canadian heritage site ?
They have even changed well known identifiable names of some Streets and even the local traffic bridge traversing the Cornwallis River ? And so now many local residents and delivery drivers don't know what they're talking about when these stupid new names are used ? This name change is especially hard on Kentville's Seniors who can become confused with such absurd name changes and has in some cases, created safety hazards ?
In 2017 ABF Directors tried to move Kentville's 87 year old yearly Grand Street Parade to different location in the Valley, and the town was forced to claw and battle its way just to get its own local yearly parade returned back home to them after hosting it for the last 90 years ? And in yet another major step backwards that same year, ABF and the Town decided to cease and desist all public ABF Wednesday, Thursday and weekends of fun, food, music, displays, amusements, local student performances, etc. etc. held at Memorial Park during the Apple Blossom festival week ? No explanation was given and no replacement or apology was ever offered by the Town for such a devastating loss to be absorbed by the citizens of Kentville ? Kentville has now lost its most identifiable of all citizens, that being their beloved Apple Blossom Princess Kentville, when newcomer ABF Directors had shown an uncommon degree of disrespect, as well as their disregard and insensitivity when presuming to appoint themselves as the ones entitled to end the long running iconic 88 year old iconic Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition ? This termination means all public Royal party appearances including the Princess Teas, Kentville Children's Parade, all Royal visitations to schools, shut-ins, Seniors, and hospital attendances that are normally made by Queen Annapolisa and the Royal Princesses are now cancelled and no longer take place ?
In 2022 the Kentville Grand Street Parade was quite understandably very limited and downsized following the 2 previous Covi year cancellations, but this year's 2023 effort wasn't much better ? The immense contribution and the wonderful diversity supplied by nearby Valley communities from Windsor to Digby was no longer included in the Parade ? Apple Blossom royalty and all Princess floats were no longer included in the Parade ? And many local residents expressed disappointment when Apple Blossom Princess Kentville and her child attendant were no longer seen or to be included in the Town Parade ? It seemed that Kentville had lost yet another identifiable citizen and wonderful Ambassador that always performed her official duties including advertising, promoting the town and representing Kentville with charm, grace, dignity, talent and beauty wherever she went ?
After the long running 3 consecutive Apple Blossom weekdays of afternoon and evening mid week entertainment at the Park were all cancelled and Apple Blossom Week entertainment was cut down to a bare bone single Friday night affair, ( which btw will no longer include the highlight of the evening Royal Party visitation and rock music by Eddy's Basement ), it seems Officials were still unsatisfied and found yet another way to take away even more ? And this year they want to charge inflation stressed locals a fee to see entertainers like Matt Minglewood and Kevin Davison at private shows when in the past these entertainers appeared on a public stage free of charge ? Cut backs were also apparent in fireworks, (which btw will no longer be started by Queen Annapolisa at her official Royal Party visitation to the Park following Coronation ceremonies in Wolfville) ?
And so, in summing up, the citizens of Kentville are frustrated with cutbacks, the many steps backwards, and the cancellations and closures that never seem to be replaced once gone ? Both the Provincial Railway and municipal Airport are now permanently closed down and even Acadia Van lines inter provincial bus transit no longer stops ? The Wandlyn Inn complex and all of its popular hotel and restaurant services were lost by fire and never replaced ? Extreme cut backs were made to the historic Apple Blossom Festival that saw a week long fun filled period of public entertainment at Memorial Park reduced to one minimal Friday night affair followed the next day by a shortened mundane parade of less than an hour ? Concerns also remain about the absence of an in-Town High School for Teens, the loss of a key funeral home, the loss of the Pool Hall, the absence of a movie theater, the loss of Harveys drive thru burgers, the loss of one of the 2 dt Tim Hortons, the loss of the dt pizza parlor, the loss of Chinese food take out, the loss of the local fruit and vegetable market, the absence of a 7/24 convenience store, the closure of the bakery, and also the loss of the local disposal site when no replacement was ever offered by the Government that shut it down ? There was also the shocking cancellation and heartbreaking termination of her royal heinous the Apple Blossom Princess Kentville and the end of the prestigious Acadia U Coronation ceremonies in Wolfville ? There was also the erasing of, and then the changing of the name of Kentville's biggest most identifiable internationally known Cornwallis Inn name logo that is instantly recognizable world wide and symbolically married for decades to the Town name of Kentville ? There remains the problem of a serious local shortage of rental rooms and local dining spots for tourists created when the Wandlyn hotel complex burned down and when not one of these many hospitality, business, tourist, restaurant, hotel, night club, and recreational venues were ever replaced ?
And now, in a more recent issue, we are seeing more and more small businesses located all over the Valley that have not only provided local employment but also served as popular meet and greet gathering spots for friends and neighbors for years and years now, changing hands after being bought out and turned over to total strangers that are not from Halifax or from N.S. nor even Canada but have come here from another Continent ? A strange new phenomenon of foreign take-overs has arrived in the Valley that includes replacing the management, assuming full control of the business and taking over the labor force of many traditional Valley fast food, gas, and coffee businesses ? Some of these now include : the Petrocan in New Minas, many Valley Tim Hortons, the Subway, KFC, DQ, Burger King, and the Mary Brown's in New Minas to name a few ? And in another concern, because many newcomer employees are unfamiliar with the currency it is advisable to count your change carefully if paying by cash ? There are also some indications that nepotism is now being shown in the hiring of employees once these establishments are taken over by new foreign management, and that our local students can't get Summer jobs any more ? Another major local employer, Eassons Trucking, also seems affected by the current influx of new foreign workers with some reports of untrained, unlicensed, unqualified, (and Government subsidized) drivers behind the wheel, and rumors of some units with multiple drivers on board having a hole drilled in the floor of the sleeper cabin to accommodate a long piece of ABS plumbing pipe used to transfer raw shidzen sewage directly from the interior of the truck down onto the open highway below to avoid pit stops at the Big Stop ?
And, from the looks of a recent Town municipal election, most candidates might be unfamiliar with the Town's long time traditions, customs, character, and past history ? Some candidates even naively describe the town as a kind of happy go lucky, blissful, Hallmark or Who-ville movie set type of place teaming with busy villagers and joyful munchkins frolicking up and down picturesque cobblestone streets lined by colorful quaint shops and internationally known boutiques and fancy eateries which does not accurately describe the Town ?
And apparently the new Mayor who is also a new local business owner, appears to have befriended the ex- Kings County Warden Brothers who represents and resides in the Kingston/Greenwood area and who had previously sold out Kentville when she led the charge to shut down and evict our local municipal Airport, the well known skydiving academy, the international flight training academy and many other prosperous Waterville airport aviation businesses ? And who could forget the Mayors' recent New Year's message of congratulating himself on enlarging the size of his downtown retail store and expressing personal happiness over a new (taxpayer funded) installation of a brand new sidewalk in front of it, but failing to mention serious town issues like terrible poverty and youth unemployment, racial profile hiring at Tim Hortons, the opioid drug crisis, high cost of living crisis, the homelessness crisis, the devastating cancellation of thr Princess Kentville competition, the vacationers and travelers concerns over there being no place to stay in Kentville, and the much needed indoor town recreation facility, (no one wants to get their daily exercise by hiking down crude outdoor trails while attacked by mosquitos or witness a homeless user shoot up in the privacy of the forest) ? There was also the decimation of the Apple Blossom Festival and sad deterioration of the world famous Grande Street Parade ? And there's also the current Town housing crisis, the sudden high increases in rent, the alarming rate of downtown business bankruptcies, and also the urgent need to honor Kentvilles glorious past railroading history with a museum and outdoor display of some sort ? Adding to this there appears to be a newly elected Town Council that has immediately started to cancel and cut back on important traditional town public events when, ( due to a drop of rain ) they had cancelled this year's Military march-on and (best in the area) outdoors Remembrance Day ceremonies traditionally held at the Memorial Cenotaph on Park Street ? There was also this years' poor presentation of a Grande Street Parade and one unsafe situation in the newcomer Parade where normal residents (incl Seniors) were seen perched precariously aboard a stop and go, unsheltered, jerking motion, no sided vehicle without restraining devices, water or protection from the sun ? There was also the ridiculous changing of many of the long time well known town names including the most famous of them all the Cornwallis Inn ? There's also local residents plea to 'bring our high school students back home again' , and some complaints about the Town's failure to provide public outdoor entertainment events exceeding the grade school level ? There was also the controversy over the hanging up of the biggest pride flag money can buy above the main entrance of the honored heritage site Cornwallis Inn, and of course, also the recent down town flooding crisis ? The mayor did not address the question of why a Provincial Government would force the local reclamation and disposal site to permanently close down its operation and then those who ordered this major loss to the welfare of the community would not offer to replace it but would just leave the area without such a facility ? And, there was no mention of the need for an inquiry into the exorbitant five figure fee charged to customers by the Kentville water commission just to turn water on at the road ? And there are also concerns over the recent rash of sudden unopposed takeovers of small businesses by newly arrived foreigners from Asia when our locals around here can't find work ? And what about growing concerns over the formation of an exclusive Ontarioville newcomer type town growing within an already established town ? There were also many concerns expressed over the Spring pothole epidemic that made some streets unfit to drive on, at a time when a brand new double lane sidewalk was being installed in front of Phinneys that was smooth as a baby's bum ? And then there was the refusal by the Town to help citizens with expensive auto repairs caused by their dangerous unattended potholes ? And there was also the inadequate street lighting and residential streets and sidewalks that are still in need of attention ? There was also the inconvenience felt by many local residents when ultra slow motion repairs on Canaan Ave moved at three legged turtle racing speed causing this vital access route to remain closed to traffic, incl emergency vehicles, for many many Months, (very much unlike the speedy workmanship and high priority given to the new downtown sidewalk installation in the front of Phinneys) ?
And so, can it be time to stop the come from away newcomer mentality, and make it mandatory for all candidates bidding on these important Town governing positions to be born and raised and reside in Kentville in an effort to preserve, protect and retain the Town's unique character, history, diversity, identity, and its many longtime local traditions ?
OUCH ? ( could someone please remove the daggers from our back ), Et tu, Warden Brothers and u tu Leo ? March 10th 2014 - A Date That Will Live on in Infamy - Warden Brothers, (Greenwood riding) and the Kings County Council use a calculated forced eviction to shut down the Waterville Airport aviation complex and then relocate some components to the Kingston/Greenwood area ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/28588465413/in/album-7...
Newcomer ABF directors trying to erase history ? The page showing all past Queens and Apple Blossom Princesses has been removed from the official Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival site ? The popular history page honoring all past Queen Annapolisa winners 1933-2018 with photos and bios has been taken down and apparently replaced with huge portraits of the newcomer directors ?
Meet the newcomer directors,
How dare They ! Kentville IS the Cornwallis Inn and the Cornwallis Inn IS Kentville ! If you were to google the 2 words Cornwallis Inn you will get over 600,000 entries with almost all of them married to the word Kentville.. (what a great promotional tool) . The world famous Cornwallis Inn is the source of many fond memories for local and Valley residents.. "It was the centre of everything’: The past and present of Kentville’s iconic Cornwallis Inn"
www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/lifestyles/it-was-the-centre...
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On the recent 2023 edition of the Grand Street Parade :
"it looked as if some spectators along the route just joined in and began to walk along and make themselves a part of the parade ? "
May 27th, 2023 - Dismay, disillusion and some extreme disappointment prevail in Kentville over shocking changes and many missing regular entrees in this years 2023 Grand Street Parade ? Where is our famous Queen Annapolisa and where are the many Apple Blossom Princesses and their child attendants riding in their beautiful hand crafted decorated floats ? Where's the town criers ? And what about the dazzling majorette groups, the Scottish pipers and large multi instrumental marching bands that always attend ? And where are the Hantsport and Windsor floats and their large delegations ? And where are Digby, Aylesford, Annapolis Royal, Canning, Middleton, Wolfville, and more ? Why are so many of the Valley towns and villages that normally participate not included in the parade this year ? It was also a major disappointment for many when for the first time ever, Kentville Apple Blossom Princess (aka Miss Kentville) was no longer included as there are many town residents young and old who identify with the Apple Blossom Princess at this time of year ? However, the now purposeless Apple Blossom Princess float was used this year to transport a grouping of everyday town residents as they sat around together in a social scene meant to identity Kentville with diversity and inclusion ? The New Minas float also did not include an Apple Blossom Princess for this year, however her float was transformed into an advertisement for the famous New Minas UFO incident which all New Minions identify with. The Berwick float didn't include a Princess Berwick this year either. but was altered to proudly identify with the town's upcoming Centennial celebrations. And the Kingston float was also missing an Apple Blossom Princess this year but was instead promoting their long running Kingston Steer Barbecue that all Kingstonians readily identify with. It was good to see an RCMP contingent again although they sent far less officers this year than usual ? And it was notable that only 1 other large marching band appeared in the parade when usually 4 or more big bands, many with many pipers usually attend after traveling up from places like Cape Breton, Bridgewater, Dartmouth etc ? And where have all the pets and animals gone ? There's no horse teams, wooden wagons, riders or livestock this year ? Even the usual greyhound dogs weren't there ? Also noticed that some spectators must have just joined in and began walking along within the parade, and others must have come over from the Children's parade with their strollers to join in ? There was a variety of advertisers, most from out of town but some local ? There were various Political parties represented, with the largest delegation coming from the Kody Blois Liberals ? All in all, this Year's parade seemed a bare minimum and a weak effort that really missed the inclusion of royal pageantry and the 7 to 10 spectacular Princess floats, and also missed the large marching bands and majorette groups that usually enter, the usual agriculture horticulture and livestock component, the popular Scottish pipers bands that always attend, and also the many large out of town contingents that always normally participate ? This was not the famous grand street parade that patrons are accustomed to seeing, and did not represent the high standards and degree of professionalism set by all previous Grand Street Parades ? It became obvious that what was being advertised as a newer, bolder, more inclusive and more diverse parade was instead the exact opposite because this new version of our Grand Street Parade had lost the inclusion, diversity and the major contribution put forth by the absent Valley communities along with their individual Princess contestants and Child attendants that always come to Kentville to participate in the Queen Annapolisa competition, the Friday evening coronation gala at Acadia University in Wolfville, the many Princess Teas, and the Royal attendances at schools, hospitals, senior citizen homes and shut-ins, as well as appearances at the Friday night Memorial Park outdoor concert and fireworks, Royal attendances highlighting the Saturday morning Children's Parade, and a Royal trip down Main street Kentville aboard a beautiful hand crafted royal float in the famous Grand Street parade ?
And so, to quickly sum up, can a strange looking, incomplete, shortened, now Royal-less, newcomer mentality amateur version of our elite world-famous Kentville Grand Street Parade that was now missing her heinous Queen Annapolisa and also missing 7 to 10 Apple Blossom Princesses and their individual 7 to 10 beautifully handcrafted Town Princess floats, and also missing much of the unique character and diversity usually provided by the numerous Valley villages and communities who were no longer included, and that also failed to include many of the large out of town marching bands and pipers and majorettes who usually attend, and that also lacked representation from local area farming, agriculture and livestock,, now signal the end of the once glorious Grand Street Parade era ?
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Some previous parades :
2011 Grand Street Parade Kentville 79th ABF
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVgh3Dh2xn8&t=208s
2012 Grand Street Parade Kentville www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB1VBx50b18
2014 Kentville Grand Street Parade www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEo14IZKxp8&t=11s
2015 Kentville Grand Street Parade
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBifeG2SdPY&t=47s
2016 Kentville Grand Street Parade www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2wedvN5_Iw&t=8s
2017 Kentville Grand Street Parade www.youtube.com/watch?v=JozwyGpvfSY&t=1978s
2018 Kentville Grand Street Parade www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOK1GmiLmNk&t=986s
2019 Kentville Grand Street Parade www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMdEx8Zf-q0&t=1492s
2023 Grand Street Parade - The exclusion of so many of the usual participants and denial of their valued diversity have marred the 2023 Grand Street Parade ? Many nearby Valley communities were missing in the Parade when longtime participants were no longer included ? Where is Canning, Digby, Annapolis Royal, Hantsport Greenwood, Windsor ? Where's Queen Annapolisa ? Where's the Apple Blossom Princesses and all of the individual Town floats including Princess Kentville ? To view a complete (newcomer version) of the world famous Kentville Grand Street Parade press here www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lchie www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lchie
A concerned Kentvillian must finally speak out, www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/44424045874
The concerned Kentvillian must ask, " why is it that every time you gas up at Milne Court Petro-Can, New Minas Ultramar, KVille Ultramar, and now the Big Stop, or go to the KFC for chicken, or Mary Browns, or the Burger King, or Subway, or all of the 3 Timmies for coffee, or Walmart, oe Needs, or receive a parcel from amazon, or attend the cash register to pay the bill at many other downtown stores, it feels like your suddenly in a foreign country ? " www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54418705157/
Chamber of Commerce Kentville, NS
448 Main St, Kentville NS B4N
Kody Bloise . Liberal Party
Kentville is an incorporated town in Nova Scotia. It is the most populous town in the Annapolis Valley. As of 2021, the town's population was 6,630.
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The kitten looks great tonight! :)
Heartbroken: EVERY Monday night at Studio80 on the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam! Party: Heartbroken Venue: Studio80 Coverage by: Waking up in Amsterdam!
Every single doll I've customized takes a little piece of my heart with them, but this one is a different kind of special. I had been Facebook friends with Jacqueline Wilton for a few months when I learned about the news her only daughter had suddenly gained her wings too soon, one year ago. I am an empath but this was different, as a mom I was heartbroken, I started following all her posts and I started feeling them deep inside my soul. I wanted to do something, I wanted to make it all better, even though I knew there wasn't anything I could say or do that could help her feel any better. I thought about offering a doll for her, after all, that's all I had to offer besides a few comforting words, I wondered if that could bring a little bit of sunshine during such a dark event, but at the same time, I didn't want to be insensitive, or inopportune. So I just thought about it, for months, without saying anything. Jacquie and I had never really spoken much other than some light interaction on Facebook. One day Jacquie randomly messaged me asking me about my customs. I knew this was a sign. I knew it was meant to be. This was my chance to be a blessing to a fellow mother. And so, after months of waiting and planning it, here she is: a tribute to Jessie.
I can't say working on her was easy, I put too much pressure on myself, I wanted her to be a perfect representation of Jessica. I talked to Jacquie about what she liked, how she wanted me to portray her, and this doll right here, is the end result. All gorgeous eye chips were sent by Jacquie and are by Chantilly Lace Blythe Customs.
I know this doesn't take all your pain away Jacquie but I really do hope she brings you a little message of love. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Xx
She thought she is lost, heartbroken, but she found the the waterfall among the nature, She realized that there is a sound, and it is a story, story of life, she listen to it, carefully,
Then, she understood,
Life is a waterfall,
When it faces more and more obstacles,
Sometimes, it becomes more beauty and stronger...
Set of tiny bacteria on the agar medium make this meaningful art.
My wife and me were heartbroken when we lost our last Boxer (Billie) two or three years back. We (I) vowed never to get another dog as we couldn't give it the life it needed.
However, we relented and we now have Bertie.
He is an 11 week old Cocker Spaniel and is now the ecntre of our world.
Luckily the grandchildren love him as much as we do.
Roll on sunny walks in the local woods.
You went away on Thursday and left us totally heartbroken. Cancer sucks!
We hold each other and cry and wonder how we will live our Life without you in it.
We were always together, the three of us... you and your human mommy and daddy and now our home feels strange and unfamiliar.
I'm sure in time, we will move on - but there will never be another You. Thank you for all the years of unconditional love, friendship and protection that you gave us.
We love you with all our heart and miss you more than words can say!
Sleep tight, sweet girl!
xxooxxooxxooo
This was found hanging on a parking sign on the street. I hope the young lady it belonged to finally found it - I'd have been heartbroken if I lost that.
Heartbroken: EVERY Monday night at Studio80 on the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam! Party: Heartbroken Venue: Studio80 Coverage by: Waking up in Amsterdam!
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They've Ruined It ! Our great Festival is no longer even recognizable ? How could anyone take a world class event and turn it into something that can only be described as stupid ? President Erica Gillis has to be the worst ever ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54418705157/in/album-7...
Directors Erica Gillis, www.appleblossom.com/about/
Mayor Andrew Zebian www.facebook.com/andrewzebian
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A quick review of the notorious hostile takeover bid and attempt to hi jack the 2017 Kentville Grand Street Parade away from its natural home in the town of Kentville ?
February, 2017 - With only 3 months to go and parade planning and preparations well underway as per usual for the upcoming 2017 edition of Kentville Grand Street Parade, parade officials were suddenly caught totally off-guard and absolutely blindsided by the shocking news coming from out of nowhere that current ABF Management who are in charge of the festival have made a final decision in private that will take Grand Street Parade away from its historic 85-year old home in Kentville ? They would then relocate it to a new and different location of their choice ? Apparently, they had already taken it away from Kentville and moved it to New Minas without consultation, written or verbal notice, or permission ? And so it seemed that a group of rather uncaring, arrogant, covertly operating, and inconsiderate ABF Officials with radical new ideas had ignored the town of Kentville's interests and ignored 87 years of tradition and (incredibly) taken the 2017 annual Grand Street Parade ( and even future Parades ) away without consultation, notice or permission ? Drastic location changes and even the elimination of other longtime events and attractions that are always held in Kentville such as the Friday night outdoor show and fireworks, the Memorial Park Wednesday and Thursday displays with Valley student participation and numerous attractions, the bringing in of popular outside bands, and even the famous historic Kentville Children's Parade were all targeted by this group for cut-back or even elimination ? Radical changes in the Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition including gender, contestant rules, location of crowning ceremony, and changes in overall competition format were also discussed ? These ABF Officials defended secretive, inconsiderate and authoritarian type actions by claiming that as stewards of the festival they are entitled and obliged to uphold the integrity of the festival ? (integrity ? ) They later changed stories saying they were left with no choice due to Kentville's inability to prove they can successfully host such a large Parade event, ( Kentville has hosted this parade for the last 85 years ),and also because the people in charge of Grand Street Parade were unprofessional, indifferent and uncooperative ?
And so it came to be that a newly elected Mayor and Council in its infancy were suddenly confronted with perhaps the most serious challenge ever to be faced by the town of Kentville ever since the tragic loss of their major transportation sources, that being the loss of the railway in 1989, and then the shocking loss of aviation in 2014 when the Town CAO and the Warden and Council conspired to close out Waterville municipal Airport and evict all businesses and tenants ? This new challenge came in the form of a surprise and pernicious attack on Kentville's most beloved local commercial attraction, that being the Grand Street Parade ? The surprise attack came from an unfamiliar and unfriendly source that seemed inconsiderate, disrespectful and even a tad opportunistic when considering that Kentville had just finished installing a brand new Mayor and rookie Council ? When the newly elected Mayor Snow, was suddenly swarmed by so much news of so many harsh and deceitful actions that had already taken against her town's best interests, the shocked and disbelieving Mayor said she was overwhelmed, heartbroken and called these actions unprecedented, disrespectful and unacceptable when she commented to the local media ? All citizens agreed that any attack on Kentville's most popular and well known outdoor world class event without the courtesy of an invitation, negotiation, inclusion or consultation is unacceptable ? Needless to say, the biggest losers of all were the good citizens of Kentville who have contributed so much over the last 90 years years going back to the thirties and forties when the CNR train would bring guests to stay at the Cornwallis Inn ? The Town has invested enormous amounts of time, energy and resources into the creation of this world-famous event that continually draws a hundred or more thousand visitors.
All of our Valley towns take great pride and look forward to their individual town festivals with an emphasis placed on their yearly local parade. The citizens of Kentville are no different. And so now it appears that although Towns like Kingston, Hantsport, Wolfville, Windsor, Berwick, Canning, Greenwood etc. never have to worry about someone coming along and hijacking their yearly community parade or otherwise taking it away, the citizens of Kentville have to face the troubling prospect of losing their annual town parade without notice to an outside party and a loss of many years of time, energy, town resources, manpower, and all the other general services and contributions put forth by residents over the past years in order to create this world class event ?
The current 2017 ABF board of Directors is led by Angela Pelton and Alxys Chamberlain (Queen Annapolisa 2015), with Barb Madic, Heidi Scotney-Kinsman, John Patterson, Katie Gordon, Krista Morine, Linda Keddy, Logan Morse, Sarah Griffiths, and Steffany Cox-Lingard ?
news clippings :
Frustration growing in Kentville, N.S. over Apple Blossom parade change CTV Atlantic atlantic.ctvnews.ca/frustration-growing-in-kentville-n-s-...
Kings County Councilor Emma Van Rooyen calls for the de-funding of the Apple Blossom Festival
atlantic.ctvnews.ca/apple-blossom-festival-competition-di...
JULY 14, 2023 - Valley Pride workshops, drag performances, and more events planned for Kentville and Wolfville over the weekend.
globalnews.ca/video/9832465/first-official-pride-festival...
CTV Jan. 23, 2017 " A long-standing N.S. festival opens competition to all gender identities"
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/long-standing-n-s-festival-opens-co...
ABF 2022 - Princess competition and Queen Annapolisa pageant to be postponed this year ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52076239848/in/datepos...
New Minas agrees to host the parade after approached by festival organizers ! Protest Petition is started !
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/apple-blossom-festival...
Kentville will host the Apple Blossom parade after all
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/kentville-gets-apple-b...
No Smoking allowed in KVille, but drinking, gambling and smoking pot are encouraged ? Maders tobacconist in downtown Kentville is celebrating 50 years in business,,
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/9344935900
may 2023 = Kids welcome at an all-age Drag show to be held at the Kings Arms in Kentville,,
www.nsbuzz.ca/life/kentville-all-ages-drag-show-draws-pro...
A protest against an all-age drag show at the Kings Arms ends peacefully in Kentville,
www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/communities/a-celebration-of...
Lunenburg - Now Queen is a bad name ? Lunenburg recently changed the name of Cornwallis Street to Queen Street. Queen was first choice of all those in a survey taken to select a new street name. But the town received another complaint from the local anti-racism committee saying they are upset by a democratic decision that would replace one colonial street name (Cornwallis) with another, (Queen ) ?
www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/ns-town-that-changed-cornwa...
Nov 16 2023 - Apple Blossom Princesses call for a return of Queen Annapolisa,
www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/communities/former-apple...
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2022 :
* Update 2022 Update * This year's ABF won't be the same as the others ? For the first time ever in a long illustrious history, this ABF will be missing the better half of the Festival, that being, the coveted Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition and the coronation and crowning ceremony in Wolfville ? All have been postponed ? Bad news indeed for aspiring young participants, for our local communities, for the Festival itself, and for all patrons and sponsors. Perhaps the current board of Directors should focus more attention on their job of actually holding the event rather than arguing about inclusion and entrance ? We look forward to next years pageant ? It also looks like the Directors this year are not prepared to make the necessary expenditures needed to bring in outside guest performers for the Friday night concert (or for a big-name Saturday night concert ) as was always the case in previous years when bands like Eddy's Basement, or various guest Tribute Bands, or the Barra McNiels, K D Lang, Michelle Wright, and many others were brought in to entertain Wednesday Thursday or Friday night Memorial Park audiences ?
It seems that ABF Officials are emphasizing the word 'free' in advertisements this year ? The ABF events they advertise as free have always been free ? Is this promotion or the pointing out of the 'free' idea mean there are plans in the future to begin charging Kentville citizens for events that have always been free in the past, such as Grand Street Parade or the Friday night Memorial Park entertainment and Fireworks ? It seems more likely that if they were ever to repeat this year's lackluster bare minimum effort of our World famous festival that they may have to start paying patrons to attend ?
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Following a 2 year absence due to Covi,, the 2022 Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival. (and Parade) will be held as per usual this year.. Unfortunately the Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition has had to be postponed until next year due to time constraints.
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Shocking news from ABF,
* There's been a stunning development at ABF. *
Apparently in a new younger generation there are those who harbor resentment towards our nations history, for English colonialism, and even for the Monarchy ? Other minority groups have voiced discontent over the diversity and inclusion issue ? And so it seems that the current ABF Board of Directors has listened to the concerns and complaints of a few small minority groups while apparently ignoring and excluding the overwhelming majority of Valley residents ? And it appears that this current Board of Directors chose to resolve such discontent by simply moving to implement and execute the nuclear option and the final solution ? And therefore after a highly successful lengthy run of 87 consecutive years in a row, the extremely anticipated, very popular, family oriented, inclusive and diverse, multi village Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess Pageant along with the prestigious Royal Coronation crowning ceremonies held in Wolfville have all been terminated forever by this current board of Directors ?
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-----------------------It's The End of an Era-----------------------------
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."
Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival 2023 - ABF Board of Directors has announced drastic new changes in format and even deeper cut-backs to the annual People's Festival ? Concerns over ceremony, symbolism, the monarchy and colonialism, along with some complaints over inclusion and diversity may have had an influence on the current ABF board of Directors and they have seen a need to update the long running Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess pageant in order to bring it up to a standard they view as being more relevant to the current times ? And so the Directors must have held an extremely private 'think tank' last Winter, and without notifying, caring, considering or consulting with any of the long time participating Valley communities, they had decided that rather than trouble themselves any further with this pesky issue, why not just take the easy way out and simply get rid of it ? And so it seems they made a final decision in private last Winter and moved to execute the final and fatal solution to their problem by ordering that the iconic 87 year old Pageant competition be immediately shut down and terminated forever ? And therefore, as a result of an uninclusive and uncontested decision made in private, one of the longest running, popular, identifiable, well known, highly anticipated, most inclusive and diverse, proud all family events that has ever benefited Valley residents of every age, has just been taken away ?
This unconditional act of finality will now end the long running 88 year reign of her royal Heinous Queen Annapolisa and will terminate all participation of the 7 to 10 Apple Blossom Princess contestants and their child attendants that represent 7 to 10 local Valley communities ? It will also mean the end of the many beautiful hand crafted award winning Princess floats that always highlight Grand Street Parade, and it will also signal the end of the ultra glamorous Queen and Ladies-in-waiting Crowning ceremonies held annually and televised each year from Acadia University in Wolfville ? This also puts an end to the many popular community Princess Tea events, and also ends all Royal Party visitations to local Schools, hospitals and old folks homes that are so welcome and appreciated by Students, Seniors and shut-ins ? This also signals the end of Royal Party appearances at Kentville Children's Parade, at the Memorial Park Friday night open air concert and fireworks, and all Royal attendances at many other events held annually throughout the Valley and the Province ?
It appears now that current ABF Officials led by President Logan Morse along with Kentville town rep Lindsey Young have not only interrupted the Pageant in 2022 when they temporarily postponed it, but have now in 2023 moved to terminate this prestigious event forever explaining that their radical decision has been made to improve, include, modernize and evolve the famed beauty pageant ? This final act of termination ends almost 90 years of royal pageantry and also leaves a huge gap in the Festival itself ? It will also negatively affect so many of the nearby Valley communities who always participate and enter contestants in the Pageant ? The ending of such an important multiple community event and the taking away of the better half and Star of the Apple Blossom Festival brings forth the question of what replacement is planned, and what are local towns and villages that always play major roles in both the Queen and Princess competition suppose to do now ? And what about Valley youth and the childhood dreams of one day becoming a child attendant or an Apple Blossom Princess or even a Queen ?
You have to marvel at the level of ego and disrespect shown by this latest Board of Directors who have dared appoint themselves as the ones that will end the Pageant and then to think that Valley residents are stupid enough to believe that by cancelling and taking away a cherished and long running event, that they have in some perverted way of thinking moved the Valley forward or improved and modernized anything ? It seems far more likely that they have taken the Valley on a giant leap backwards and robbed the people of a much beloved, long running, multi community, all inclusive and live local production that has always been the most anticipated all Valley highlight of the year for the past almost 90 consecutive years ?
Why the current ABF Management, who claim to be stewards in charge and responsible for the promotion and presentation of this event, appear unable to perform their duties or to perform the job they're paid to do and now do what their predecessors have always done so well each and every year for the past 87 years, often in far more trying circumstances and in far less prosperous times, is difficult to comprehend ? And you have to wonder, Whatever happened to the # 1 rule in business that says that if you can't do your job because of your inexperience, immaturity, inability, personal bias, laziness, or just plain stupidity, then,, YOU'RE ALL FIRED ! (and a Class action recovery suit may be forthcoming ?)
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ABF news updates :
Logan Morse and a newcomer ABF Board of Directors break the hearts of Valley families especially the Children when they move to terminate the historic and long running Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess Pageant after 88 years ? ABF Directors show no remorse, while boasting that their bold action was needed to improve, evolve and bring the pageant up to their modern standards ? www.pressreader.com/canada/annapolis-valley-register/2023...
May 26, 2023 - We Are the Ones. An unusual degree of arrogance and disrespect is shown when the long running Valley Peoples Pageant is cancelled without either of consideration or consultation ? A modern generation of newcomer ABF Directors with bold new ideas have apparently proclaimed themselves to be the one generation to interrupt and permanently end 88 years of wonderful multi Valley village Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess enjoyment ?
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/apple-blossom-festival...
Annapolis Valley families are in shock and children cry upon learning their beloved Queen Annapolisa Pageant has been cancelled without notice, consultation, consideration or compassion ? Newcomer Directors say they are taking their bold action to improve, evolve and modernize the historic Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival ? www.saltwire.com/atlantic-
Valley residents lose long time major yearly entertainment event when the ever popular ABF Greenwood Airshow is terminated and will be no more. Fast forward to Aug 24, 2024, and to corporation greed ? Air Show Atlantic Inc. now charges big bucks to see taxpayer owned aircraft at a taxpayer owned airport in their vastly inferior airshow ? Air Show Atlantic Inc. does not offer a discount Seniors ticket category for Senior citizens ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52345513615
How dare They ! Kentville IS the Cornwallis Inn and the Cornwallis Inn IS Kentville ! If you were to google the 2 words Cornwallis Inn you will get over 600,000 entries with almost all of them married to the word Kentville.. (what a great promotional tool) . The world famous Cornwallis Inn is the source of many fond memories for all local and Valley residents.. "It was the centre of everything’: The past and present of Kentville’s iconic Cornwallis Inn"
www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/lifestyles/it-was-the-centre...
Kentville identity crisis. Help, Is there a Superhero anywhere out there to save Kentville from the newcomer agenda ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54418705157/in/album-7...
The controversial 2017 Grand Street Parade - Has Kentville once again been targeted for exploitation ? After Warden Brothers, (Greenwood ) and Liberal MP L Glavine (Kingston) had all but hijacked Waterville Airport before relocating it to their own home riding in the Kingston/Greenwood area, it seems that the town of Kentville must face yet another attack from the Kingston area when Alxys Chamberlain, the Kingston Apple Blossom Princess, and other ABF Directors attempt to take yet another major source of revenue and major attraction away from the town of Kentville ?
Et tu, Madama Chamberlain ? The unconscionable attempted hijacking and subsequent recovery of Kentvilles's most beloved yearly event ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/18506181065
2023 Kentville Grand Street Parade - Disregard for safety shown as unrestrained Senior citizens are precariously perched atop an unsheltered, open sided, stop and go, large unstable jerking motion moving platform ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53900780519/in/album-7...
Exploiting Queen Annapolisa for a photo op ? Politicians at the official opening ceremony of the 2023 Apple Blossom Festival pretending there's still a Pageant in a photo while knowing full well that Queen Annapolisa and the Apple Blossom Princesses have been terminated forever and will no longer be a part of this year's Festival ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53755100811/in/album-7...
2023 Kentville Grand Street Parade - Newcomer ABF stewards seem to defy and ignore our Liberal Government special plea for diversity and inclusion ? Many nearby local Valley towns and villages that normally attend are excluded from this year's parade ? This exclusion means the loss of the enormous diversity that is always provided by the attendance of these many nearby local communities ? Where is Canning, Digby, Annapolis Royal, Hantsport Greenwood, Windsor ? Where's our Queen Annapolisa ? Where's the Apple Blossom Princesses and wdrtr's all of the individual Town floats including Princess Kentville ? To view complete 2023 Kentville Grand Street Parade press here, www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lchie www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lchie
Facebook, Friends of Kentville - The site Administrator, a new arrival from PEI, says she wants to see Kentville as the queerest town in all of Nova Scotia ? www.facebook.com/groups/2588266877982288
Will a drag Queen replace an apple blossom Queen in Kentville ? www.nsbuzz.ca/life/kentville-all-ages-drag-show-draws-pro...
Nov 16 2023 - Apple Blossom Princesses call for a return of Queen Annapolisa,
www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/communities/former-apple...
The Town of Kentville has moved to cut back and eliminate many hours of traditional public outdoor entertainment that have always been a standard part of the Apple Blossom Festival ?
www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52094784785
A medley of the guest Tribute bands that have performed at Memorial Park Kentville - Always free of charge in the past when performing at the Apple Blossom Festival : Petty Larceny, Fleetwod Mix, Keep the Faith, Stones Tribute, Green River Revival, Viscious, Eddy's Basement, Matt Minglewood,
www.dailymotion.com/video/x5hqti9
Corporate greed shown by newcomer ABF directors in this year's Apple Blossom Festival ? Instead of providing a free guest Tribute band as per normal at the free Memorial Park Friday night concert, it will now cost 50.00 pp to see a 'Queen tribute band' performance. that's 50.00 per ticket in 2025 ? acadiau.universitytickets.com/
Town of Kentville rips off its own citizens right at Apple Blossom Festival time ? Cold heartless capitalism shown by Kentville and by the newcomer ABF management ? Citizens burdened with out of pocket expense of TWENTY DOLLARS each just to attend an outdoor street dance held downtown on taxpayer owned property during the Apple Blossom Festival ? Is there no shame ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54546051832/in/photost...
2025 Kentville Grand Street Parade - is this a joke ? A brief 45-minute bare minimum compact Kentville Grand Street Parade this year ? Zero in large marching street bands and majorettes other than the one RCMP (mini version) marching unit, no Sottish pipers or pipe bands, zero in Apple Blossom Royalty and their famous royal floats, Most of the regular nearby Valley village participants not there, no horse and wagon entree, no armaments, soldiers, bands or displays from Aldershot or Greenwood, etc etc, ? And yet Guest parade announcer proclaims in quote @ 29:17, " this parade is the largest in Canada, incl Toronto - it's the longest with the largest route and the most entries. " Wha-a-a-t ? Where did she come from and what is she talking about ?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQuaIdrQi00
A different rider is now sitting in a makeshift Royal throne that has been set aboard the historic Apple Blossom Princess float for its famous trip down Kentville's Main Street on Apple Blossom festival Saturday. It seems our new Mayor will now grace the famous Town Princess float on its annual trip in the famous Grand Street Parade ?
' Somebody get that King a crown and sceptre '
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They've ruined it part 2 ! May 31st, 2025 Grand Street Parade - From 100,000 down to 10,000, Parade attendance shrinks to all time low - They've ruined the Festival and the Parade too ! www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54568017261/in/photost....
ABF Directors may disapprove of and have now terminated our beloved Queen Annapolisa pageant and multiple village Apple Blossom Princess competition but nevertheless Valley residents will always conyinue to admire, support, respect and remain fond of the British Monarchy. And, most Valley citizens are delighted to hear that his Majesty King Charles III and Queen Camilla are invited and will be coming for a royal visit to Canada on May 26 and 27, 2025. This year's incomplete and now Royalty-less ABF starts on the 28th, www.cbc.ca/news/politics/king-charles-canada-visit-1.7524946
A long and proud history of past Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess winners has been removed from sight and erased from the official Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival website ? A special honorary history page dedicated to previous Queen Annapolisa winners from 1933 thru 2019 has been taken down and apparently replaced with jumbo size portraits of the newcomer President and other ABF directors who have taken over and ruined the world famous Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival ? www.appleblossom.com/history/past-queens
Meet the directors,
May 30th, 2025 - 20 dollar burgers and bouncy castles ??? High level of security brought in for this year's Memorial Park Friday night rock concert ? ( must have taken up most of the budget ) ? Town of Kentville brings in outside police, closes roads, and sets up a defensive security perimeter around the event with manned traffic guard posts to provide heightened G7 level security for their Friday night Memorial Park Apple Blossom outdoor concert that in past years had always featured guest rock bands, interesting demonstrations and displays, and a Royal Queen Annapolisa visit following her prestigious coronation ceremony in Wolfville, but appears now to have deteriorated into some kind of an outdoor romper room type family show featuring food trucks, inflatable air bouncy castles and the usual local band that always plays around here as the featured invited guest main stage star performer ? Unfortunately , there isn't much to do for anyone over the elementary grade school level other than purchase some food at the upscale restaurant prices to dine on a paper plate using plastic utensils while standing up in a crowd of unruly kids and being lustfully observed by hungry saliva drooling pet dogs leashed to their owners ? However, thanks to upgraded crowd control, a heavy police presence, and the enforcement of strict traffic control surrounding the site, there was a report of a parking violator being successfully apprehended and a runaway pet was captured and returned to its owner ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54558198569
May 30th, 2025 Memorial Park Kentville - Seniors and those with disabilities made to walk long distances in order to reach this year's disappointing ABF Friday night outdoor rock Concert that didn't bring in a rock band, (nor much of anything else) ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54558198569/in/photost...
Oct 4th, 2025 - Kentville's annual Harvest Festival held in Centre Square :
Kentville - A disappointing harvest festival effort this year that did'nt include old standards like family horse-drawn hay wagon ride and the pumpkin people scarecrow making class and group demo, with not much attention given to the Valley harvest, Valley livestock or Valley farmer ? Many of the Harvest Festival standards seem to have been replaced by multiple kiosks that sell merchandise unrelated to the harvest, children bouncy castles, and expensive food trucks ?
Upgrade 2025 ? photo taken from front of Phinneys dept store - A massive expenditure budgeted for a major upgrade to the Mayor's business backyard - Downtown Kentville Webster Street gets a complete and total beautification makeover with new installations of street paving, paint, new double sidewalks both sides, driveway entrances, and new curb and gutter both sides ? All other streets that surround this downtown business block have also been upgraded including Aberdeen Street, Cornwallis Street, and Main Street ?
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An Identity Crisis ;
Can an identity crisis be looming in the town of Kentville ?
A proud, neighborly salt of the earth working class community with generous hard working friendly citizens and a rich historic Railroad, agriculture and farming background is losing many of its longtime local traditions, themes and trademarks while elected Town officials, many of them new arrivals, just stand still, watch, and even enable ? Having always been identified as a main Provincial railroad center ever since the old Dominion Rail days dating back to 1869, the town has since lost all of its passenger and freight train rail service in and out including a modern passenger Dayliner service that traveled back and forth to Halifax every day ? And after the railway had been shut down it seemed they couldn't clear out the now useless brand new station, dig up the tracks and demolish the old roundhouse fast enough ? And so now, in what seems to be cruel mockery, the only railroading in Kentville left over from past glory days and from what was once the largest and most important and active railroad center west of Halifax, is just an old and faded hand painted train mural etched onto the weather beaten side of one of the downtown business establishments ?
Unfortunately the loss of the railway wasn't the last humiliating major transportation loss forced on the people of a small rural town as Kentville was soon to become even more isolated from the outside World when for no apparent logical, rational or reasonable reason the aviation community at Waterville municipal Airport CCW3 were told to get out when they had done nothing wrong and had no where else to go ? This long time invaluable contributor to the local area economy was lost when an established municipal airport, a well known Canadian sky diving facility, and an internationally known pilot training and licensing academy, and many privately owned aircraft with local owners, and many other established aviation businesses were told to get out ? The cold hearted eviction also left our young Air Cadets over at Camp Aldershot without a base to train on and so now the next generation has to grow up without their nearby aviation training and education facility ?
And so, a group of out-of-towners that mostly don't even live in this community had transformed an active thriving local Aviation business center that had taken decades to build and establish, into a barren and useless place where unsupervised Michelin children now ride bikes and dodge weeds poking their heads thru a deteriorating asphalt runway that was once a platform for private and commercial aircraft to fly in and out of the local area on a daily basis ? To add salt to the wound, this unwarranted calculated forced closure and loss of a vital member of the local economy was to be hailed by the executioners at Kings Council, ( and also by the prestigious Ivany Report Committee ) as being a bold and brilliant business decision that will greatly improve and benefit the local area ?
After months of homelessness and uncertainty over the future, a few evicted tenants found new sites elsewhere and relocated at their own expense to start all over again, while others just quit, while others were finally redirected to a new location in Greenwood which just happened by chance to be the Kings Council County Warden's home riding ? And so, in the end this devastating loss for Kentville and local area became a windfall for the Kingston Greenwood area, and, Kentville was left to carry on without either a Railway or an Airport ?
When the original KCA town School closed down, existing high school students were separated from their home school and had to be bused to the nearby town of Canning ? This would leave only the Grade 1 to 8 age groups to now identify Kentville as their home school, an education reality that still exists in Kentville ? There is no longer a movie theater in Kentville as the downtown movie theater has been closed forever, and the popular Edge sports bar, eatery and pool hall also closed down and never replaced ? Harvey's Hamburgers drive thru closed down and it never was replaced ? The longtime bowling alley in New Minas was bought out by developers, torn down, and replaced with a business office complex ? We lost the local salvage, reclamation and disposal site in South Alton when ordered shut down by the Provincial Government, but these same people who shut it down never ever offered to replace it with another leaving the community without this vital facility ? One day a portion of roof blew off the long time town funeral home and it never re-opened leaving only one such establishment left in town ? And, just as the citizens of Kentville were learning that both the Apple Blossom Princess and the Queen Annapolisa pageants were to be cancelled after 87 consecutive years, at the same time there was an all age Drag Queen show getting ready to entertain at the Kings Arms Pub in a total flip flop from the popular Irish Rovers or Scottish pipers that most Kentville citizens identify with at this time of year ? Numerous local restaurants and small businesses have all come and gone - mostly gone - and the main town supermarket Jasons IGA had a fire and was forced to close down for over a year so there was no supermarket to provide groceries for the local citizens ? The ever popular multi venue Wandlyn Inn burned down with all venues now lost to the community ? It wasn't replaced after the fire and now there's just a fast food MacDonald's take out to replace all of Wandlyn's many facilities including hotel rooms, indoor swimming pool, whirlpool and sauna, nightclub, dual convention centers and dual restaurants ? Not a very good exchange for the community ?
The traditional July 1st Canada Day town sponsored party event of fun, food,speeches and local entertainment held each year at the wading Pool was curtailed by the Town due to budget considerations ? And so now, if you want to enjoy July 1st entertainment or fireworks you have to go to New Minas, Hantsport or Berwick ? Access to clean drinking water is well known as one of the most identifiable entitlements provided by a town ? Billions are currently being spent by the Canadian taxpayer to provide First Nations people with free safe drinking water ? Yet the Kentville water commission charges the customer 10,000 dollars just to turn their town water on at roadside ? And then after this rather large up front financial layout paid for by the brand new customer, he will still have to pay for all of his yard trenching and household plumbing work ? And in return for this large initial forced surcharge, the valued new customer will be rewarded with a water bill courtesy of the town of Kentville each month hereafter ?
They even managed to take away Kentville's most famous of all and most instantly identifiable town landmark in the hotel name Cornwallis Inn ? Cornwallis Inn is a well known trademark hotel name that is synonymous World wide with the name of Kentville, and this name represents a multitude of fond memories for the local area residents and for other residents living all over the Valley ? It was hard to understand why the Town would ever allow this historic name to change,, and also hard to understand why a previous Town of Kentville planning dept would ever allow subsidized apartment units to be built onto the side of such a respected Town centerpiece and also block the access lane to the rear parking lot while doing it ? The Cornwallis Inn will always be an important Valley landmark and a future protected Canadian heritage site ?
They have even changed well known identifiable names of some Streets and even the local traffic bridge traversing the Cornwallis River ? And so now many local residents and delivery drivers don't know what they're talking about when these stupid new names are used ? This name change is especially hard on Kentville's Seniors who can become confused with such absurd name changes and has in some cases, created safety hazards ?
In 2017 ABF Directors tried to move Kentville's 87 year old yearly Grand Street Parade to different location in the Valley, and the town was forced to claw and battle its way just to get its own local yearly parade returned back home to them after hosting it for the last 90 years ? And in yet another major step backwards that same year, ABF and the Town decided to cease and desist all public ABF Wednesday, Thursday and weekends of fun, food, music, displays, amusements, local student performances, etc. etc. held at Memorial Park during the Apple Blossom festival week ? No explanation was given and no replacement or apology was ever offered by the Town for such a devastating loss to be absorbed by the citizens of Kentville ? Kentville has now lost its most identifiable of all citizens, that being their beloved Apple Blossom Princess Kentville, when newcomer ABF Directors had shown an uncommon degree of disrespect, as well as their disregard and insensitivity when presuming to appoint themselves as the ones entitled to end the long running iconic 88 year old iconic Queen Annapolisa and Apple Blossom Princess competition ? This termination means all public Royal party appearances including the Princess Teas, Kentville Children's Parade, all Royal visitations to schools, shut-ins, Seniors, and hospital attendances that are normally made by Queen Annapolisa and the Royal Princesses are now cancelled and no longer take place ?
In 2022 the Kentville Grand Street Parade was quite understandably very limited and downsized following the 2 previous Covi year cancellations, but this year's 2023 effort wasn't much better ? The immense contribution and the wonderful diversity supplied by nearby Valley communities from Windsor to Digby was no longer included in the Parade ? Apple Blossom royalty and all Princess floats were no longer included in the Parade ? And many local residents expressed disappointment when Apple Blossom Princess Kentville and her child attendant were no longer seen or to be included in the Town Parade ? It seemed that Kentville had lost yet another identifiable citizen and wonderful Ambassador that always performed her official duties including advertising, promoting the town and representing Kentville with charm, grace, dignity, talent and beauty wherever she went ?
After the long running 3 consecutive Apple Blossom weekdays of afternoon and evening mid week entertainment at the Park were all cancelled and Apple Blossom Week entertainment was cut down to a bare bone single Friday night affair, ( which btw will no longer include the highlight of the evening Royal Party visitation and rock music by Eddy's Basement ), it seems Officials were still unsatisfied and found yet another way to take away even more ? And this year they want to charge inflation stressed locals a fee to see entertainers like Matt Minglewood and Kevin Davison at private shows when in the past these entertainers appeared on a public stage free of charge ? Cut backs were also apparent in fireworks, (which btw will no longer be started by Queen Annapolisa at her official Royal Party visitation to the Park following Coronation ceremonies in Wolfville) ?
And so, in summing up, the citizens of Kentville are frustrated with cutbacks, the many steps backwards, and the cancellations and closures that never seem to be replaced once gone ? Both the Provincial Railway and municipal Airport are now permanently closed down and even Acadia Van lines inter provincial bus transit no longer stops ? The Wandlyn Inn complex and all of its popular hotel and restaurant services were lost by fire and never replaced ? Extreme cut backs were made to the historic Apple Blossom Festival that saw a week long fun filled period of public entertainment at Memorial Park reduced to one minimal Friday night affair followed the next day by a shortened mundane parade of less than an hour ? Concerns also remain about the absence of an in-Town High School for Teens, the loss of a key funeral home, the loss of the Pool Hall, the absence of a movie theater, the loss of Harveys drive thru burgers, the loss of one of the 2 dt Tim Hortons, the loss of the dt pizza parlor, the loss of Chinese food take out, the loss of the local fruit and vegetable market, the absence of a 7/24 convenience store, the closure of the bakery, and also the loss of the local disposal site when no replacement was ever offered by the Government that shut it down ? There was also the shocking cancellation and heartbreaking termination of her royal heinous the Apple Blossom Princess Kentville and the end of the prestigious Acadia U Coronation ceremonies in Wolfville ? There was also the erasing of, and then the changing of the name of Kentville's biggest most identifiable internationally known Cornwallis Inn name logo that is instantly recognizable world wide and symbolically married for decades to the Town name of Kentville ? There remains the problem of a serious local shortage of rental rooms and local dining spots for tourists created when the Wandlyn hotel complex burned down and when not one of these many hospitality, business, tourist, restaurant, hotel, night club, and recreational venues were ever replaced ?
And now, in a more recent issue, we are seeing more and more small businesses located all over the Valley that have not only provided local employment but also served as popular meet and greet gathering spots for friends and neighbors for years and years now, changing hands after being bought out and turned over to total strangers that are not from Halifax or from N.S. nor even Canada but have come here from another Continent ? A strange new phenomenon of foreign take-overs has arrived in the Valley that includes replacing the management, assuming full control of the business and taking over the labor force of many traditional Valley fast food, gas, and coffee businesses ? Some of these now include : the Petrocan in New Minas, many Valley Tim Hortons, the Subway, KFC, DQ, Burger King, and the Mary Brown's in New Minas to name a few ? And in another concern, because many newcomer employees are unfamiliar with the currency it is advisable to count your change carefully if paying by cash ? There are also some indications that nepotism is now being shown in the hiring of employees once these establishments are taken over by new foreign management, and that our local students can't get Summer jobs any more ? Another major local employer, Eassons Trucking, also seems affected by the current influx of new foreign workers with some reports of untrained, unlicensed, unqualified, (and Government subsidized) drivers behind the wheel, and rumors of some units with multiple drivers on board having a hole drilled in the floor of the sleeper cabin to accommodate a long piece of ABS plumbing pipe used to transfer raw shidzen sewage directly from the interior of the truck down onto the open highway below to avoid pit stops at the Big Stop ?
And, from the looks of a recent Town municipal election, most candidates might be unfamiliar with the Town's long time traditions, customs, character, and past history ? Some candidates even naively describe the town as a kind of happy go lucky, blissful, Hallmark or Who-ville movie set type of place teaming with busy villagers and joyful munchkins frolicking up and down picturesque cobblestone streets lined by colorful quaint shops and internationally known boutiques and fancy eateries which does not accurately describe the Town ?
And apparently the new Mayor who is also a new local business owner, appears to have befriended the ex- Kings County Warden Brothers who represents and resides in the Kingston/Greenwood area and who had previously sold out Kentville when she led the charge to shut down and evict our local municipal Airport, the well known skydiving academy, the international flight training academy and many other prosperous Waterville airport aviation businesses ? And who could forget the Mayors' recent New Year's message of congratulating himself on enlarging the size of his downtown retail store and expressing personal happiness over a new (taxpayer funded) installation of a brand new sidewalk in front of it, but failing to mention serious town issues like terrible poverty and youth unemployment, racial profile hiring at Tim Hortons, the opioid drug crisis, high cost of living crisis, the homelessness crisis, the devastating cancellation of thr Princess Kentville competition, the vacationers and travelers concerns over there being no place to stay in Kentville, and the much needed indoor town recreation facility, (no one wants to get their daily exercise by hiking down crude outdoor trails while attacked by mosquitos or witness a homeless user shoot up in the privacy of the forest) ? There was also the decimation of the Apple Blossom Festival and sad deterioration of the world famous Grande Street Parade ? And there's also the current Town housing crisis, the sudden high increases in rent, the alarming rate of downtown business bankruptcies, and also the urgent need to honor Kentvilles glorious past railroading history with a museum and outdoor display of some sort ? Adding to this there appears to be a newly elected Town Council that has immediately started to cancel and cut back on important traditional town public events when, ( due to a drop of rain ) they had cancelled this year's Military march-on and (best in the area) outdoors Remembrance Day ceremonies traditionally held at the Memorial Cenotaph on Park Street ? There was also this years' poor presentation of a Grande Street Parade and one unsafe situation in the newcomer Parade where normal residents (incl Seniors) were seen perched precariously aboard a stop and go, unsheltered, jerking motion, no sided vehicle without restraining devices, water or protection from the sun ? There was also the ridiculous changing of many of the long time well known town names including the most famous of them all the Cornwallis Inn ? There's also local residents plea to 'bring our high school students back home again' , and some complaints about the Town's failure to provide public outdoor entertainment events exceeding the grade school level ? There was also the controversy over the hanging up of the biggest pride flag money can buy above the main entrance of the honored heritage site Cornwallis Inn, and of course, also the recent down town flooding crisis ? The mayor did not address the question of why a Provincial Government would force the local reclamation and disposal site to permanently close down its operation and then those who ordered this major loss to the welfare of the community would not offer to replace it but would just leave the area without such a facility ? And, there was no mention of the need for an inquiry into the exorbitant five figure fee charged to customers by the Kentville water commission just to turn water on at the road ? And there are also concerns over the recent rash of sudden unopposed takeovers of small businesses by newly arrived foreigners from Asia when our locals around here can't find work ? And what about growing concerns over the formation of an exclusive Ontarioville newcomer type town growing within an already established town ? There were also many concerns expressed over the Spring pothole epidemic that made some streets unfit to drive on, at a time when a brand new double lane sidewalk was being installed in front of Phinneys that was smooth as a baby's bum ? And then there was the refusal by the Town to help citizens with expensive auto repairs caused by their dangerous unattended potholes ? And there was also the inadequate street lighting and residential streets and sidewalks that are still in need of attention ? There was also the inconvenience felt by many local residents when ultra slow motion repairs on Canaan Ave moved at three legged turtle racing speed causing this vital access route to remain closed to traffic, incl emergency vehicles, for many many Months, (very much unlike the speedy workmanship and high priority given to the new downtown sidewalk installation in the front of Phinneys) ?
And so, can it be time to stop the come from away newcomer mentality, and make it mandatory for all candidates bidding on these important Town governing positions to be born and raised and reside in Kentville in an effort to preserve, protect and retain the Town's unique character, history, diversity, identity, and its many longtime local traditions ?
OUCH ? ( could someone please remove the daggers from our back ), Et tu, Warden Brothers and u tu Leo ? March 10th 2014 - A Date That Will Live on in Infamy - Warden Brothers, (Greenwood riding) and the Kings County Council use a calculated forced eviction to shut down the Waterville Airport aviation complex and then relocate some components to the Kingston/Greenwood area ?
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Newcomer ABF directors trying to erase history ? The page showing all past Queens and Apple Blossom Princesses has been removed from the official Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival site ? The popular history page honoring all past Queen Annapolisa winners 1933-2018 with photos and bios has been taken down and apparently replaced with huge portraits of the newcomer directors ?
Meet the newcomer directors,
How dare They ! Kentville IS the Cornwallis Inn and the Cornwallis Inn IS Kentville ! If you were to google the 2 words Cornwallis Inn you will get over 600,000 entries with almost all of them married to the word Kentville.. (what a great promotional tool) . The world famous Cornwallis Inn is the source of many fond memories for local and Valley residents.. "It was the centre of everything’: The past and present of Kentville’s iconic Cornwallis Inn"
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Critiquing the recent 2023 edition of the newcomer Grand Street Parade ;l :
"it looked as if some spectators along the route just joined in and began to walk along and make themselves a part of the parade ? "
May 27th, 2023 - Dismay, disillusion and some extreme disappointment prevail in Kentville over shocking changes and many missing regular entrees in this years 2023 Grand Street Parade ? Where is our famous Queen Annapolisa and where are the many Apple Blossom Princesses and their child attendants riding in their beautiful hand crafted decorated floats ? Where's the town criers ? And what about the dazzling majorette groups, the Scottish pipers and large multi instrumental marching bands that always attend ? And where are the Hantsport and Windsor floats and their large delegations ? And where are Digby, Aylesford, Annapolis Royal, Canning, Middleton, Wolfville, and more ? Why are so many of the Valley towns and villages that normally participate not included in the parade this year ? It was also a major disappointment for many when for the first time ever, Kentville Apple Blossom Princess (aka Miss Kentville) was no longer included as there are many town residents young and old who identify with the Apple Blossom Princess at this time of year ? However, the now purposeless Apple Blossom Princess float was used this year to transport a grouping of everyday town residents as they sat around together in a social scene meant to identity Kentville with diversity and inclusion ? The New Minas float also did not include an Apple Blossom Princess for this year, however her float was transformed into an advertisement for the famous New Minas UFO incident which all New Minions identify with. The Berwick float didn't include a Princess Berwick this year either. but was altered to proudly identify with the town's upcoming Centennial celebrations. And the Kingston float was also missing an Apple Blossom Princess this year but was instead promoting their long running Kingston Steer Barbecue that all Kingstonians readily identify with. It was good to see an RCMP contingent again although they sent far less officers this year than usual ? And it was notable that only 1 other large marching band appeared in the parade when usually 4 or more big bands, many with many pipers usually attend after traveling up from places like Cape Breton, Bridgewater, Dartmouth etc ? And where have all the pets and animals gone ? There's no horse teams, wooden wagons, riders or livestock this year ? Even the usual greyhound dogs weren't there ? Also noticed that some spectators must have just joined in and began walking along within the parade, and others must have come over from the Children's parade with their strollers to join in ? There was a variety of advertisers, most from out of town but some local ? There were various Political parties represented, with the largest delegation coming from the Kody Blois Liberals ? All in all, this Year's parade seemed a bare minimum and a weak effort that really missed the inclusion of royal pageantry and the 7 to 10 spectacular Princess floats, and also missed the large marching bands and majorette groups that usually enter, the usual agriculture horticulture and livestock component, the popular Scottish pipers bands that always attend, and also the many large out of town contingents that always normally participate ? This was not the famous grand street parade that patrons are accustomed to seeing, and did not represent the high standards and degree of professionalism set by all previous Grand Street Parades ? It became obvious that what was being advertised as a newer, bolder, more inclusive and more diverse parade was instead the exact opposite because this new version of our Grand Street Parade had lost the inclusion, diversity and the major contribution put forth by the absent Valley communities along with their individual Princess contestants and Child attendants that always come to Kentville to participate in the Queen Annapolisa competition, the Friday evening coronation gala at Acadia University in Wolfville, the many Princess Teas, and the Royal attendances at schools, hospitals, senior citizen homes and shut-ins, as well as appearances at the Friday night Memorial Park outdoor concert and fireworks, Royal attendances highlighting the Saturday morning Children's Parade, and a Royal trip down Main street Kentville aboard a beautiful hand crafted royal float in the famous Grand Street parade ?
And so, to quickly sum up, can a strange looking, incomplete, shortened, now Royal-less, newcomer mentality amateur version of our elite world-famous Kentville Grand Street Parade that was now missing her heinous Queen Annapolisa and also missing 7 to 10 Apple Blossom Princesses and their individual 7 to 10 beautifully handcrafted Town Princess floats, and also missing much of the unique character and diversity usually provided by the numerous Valley villages and communities who were no longer included, and that also failed to include many of the large out of town marching bands and pipers and majorettes who usually attend, and that also lacked representation from local area farming, agriculture and livestock,, now signal the end of the once glorious Grand Street Parade era ?
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Kentville is an incorporated town in Nova Scotia. It is the most populous town in the Annapolis Valley. As of 2021, the town's population was 6,630.
Mended Heart - Burned, Stapled and Healed (2022). From the Guarded / Mended Heart Sculpture series. This one has now been sold off my my Etsy.
The winter of 2005-2006 was the darkest of my life. I was 19 years old at the time, withdrawn from college, working my first full-time job in retail, and in an extremely unhealthy relationship. I was isolated from my friends and family. I felt completely alone, unseen, and unloved. I didn’t know how to get myself out of that state of mind or being. On a dark night in January 2006, heartbroken and helpless, I sat on the floor of my bedroom trying to convince myself to commit suicide. I don’t remember the day because a lot of that time is a blur. But I remember that night clearly. I remember the way my body felt. It was hollow, aching, and exhausted. Tears poured from my eyes and onto the carpet. I was telling myself over and over that no one loved me, that I was worthless, and that the world would be better off without me. My saving grace that night was that I didn’t want to really die, but I just didn’t want to live the way I had been. I may have hurt myself deeply that night, but I thank that young version of myself for staying in the fight. It would take another year before I got any relief from my pain, a beautiful 2 year respite, and then the inevitable resurfacing of patterns and habits in 2009 that had gone unhealed.
Despite all of that, she is the version of myself I am most grateful for. She decided to stop digging the hole she had been digging her whole life, to say there must be something other then this hole, and she looked up. She saw light. It might have been the tiniest speck of light really far away, but it was better than the endless darkness beneath her feet. She started to climb. She would slip and fall back into the hole, over and over, and she would cry. She would look up and say it’s impossible. But the ever present darkness surrounding her would make her start climbing again anyway, despite the seemingly impossible task ahead. She closed her eyes and asked for help. She didn’t know who she was asking, or if she were praying or begging, but she put her heart out there. And then a root appeared right when she needed it to, offering her a safe place to grab hold of so she wouldn’t fall back to the bottom. She never fell back to the bottom again, but the top was still so far away. The climb was the hardest thing she had ever done, but over time she came upon more roots that would help guide her to the top. The more she climbed, the stronger she became. She began learning to maneuver the vertical climb, adapting her body and mind to the struggle. More roots were presenting themselves the higher she climbed, some were so long she was able to lean on them when she needed to rest. She began to enjoy the struggle. The light continued to grow brighter. The impossible suddenly became possible. She climbed faster, harder, and more determined than ever. Until one day, she reached the top. She closed her eyes and began to cry as the light engulfed her. Now the hole was just a little dark speck on the ground that she had the freedom to walk away from. In order for her to make it to the top, she needed to make the decision to climb. If the roots hadn’t been there for her, she may never have made it. The roots had been there all along, she just needed to reach out for them. Once she began to walk away from the hole, she came upon a mountain. The mountain stands so tall she cannot see the top. She considered all the effort she just put into climbing out of the hole. She knew no one would fault her if she decided she had gone far enough and chose to just stay put. But she had witnessed the impossible become a reality of her own creation. She may have been covered in dirt, but she was stronger than ever. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that her life’s work would be to get as far up that mountain as possible. So she began to climb again.
I use this metaphor often to describe the 3 paths every human being always has the option of taking: digging themselves into a hole, staying unmoving where they are, or climbing to new heights. This paints a picture of the last ten years of my life. I was born in a hole my parents had created in their own lives, and all I knew was how to dig. The light was possibility. The roots were the people I have mentioned in this project, along with so many more. I needed help, people offered it, and I accepted it. What I am grateful for most in regards to myself is that I listened to these people. When they extended a hand, I took hold. They could have offered their help, advice, experiences, and friendship and I could have turned it away. I could have ignored what they were offering because I was too stuck in my dark story. I could have continued to believe the life I wanted was impossible. But I didn’t. I needed to find the will to live within myself, but I also needed to find those that could help guide me through unknown territory. I could not have made it to the top without them, and I could not have made it to the top without being me.
Now, let me really introduce myself. My name is Nikki Lanoue, and I am the happiest person I know. Every moment of every day I’m alive I design in a way to enhance my existence. I love who I am. I love how I spend my time. I love my body and what it does for me. I love my mind and what it’s capable of. I love my friends, as they are all the most amazing, loving people I’ve ever met. I love my family and accept everyone for exactly as they are. I exchange my time for money in ways that help make people feel better physically, mentally, emotionally, and/or spiritually. I take care of myself by eating well, exercising/moving daily, receiving bodywork, spending time with friends/family, spending time alone, meditating, and holding myself accountable to stay in the light. I travel the world. I’m self-employed. Anything that makes me feel uncomfortable, I lean into it instead of fleeing from it. Anything that challenges me, I embrace as something that will help me grow stronger. I learn from my mistakes, my experiences, other people, and books. I am honest. I have integrity. I am loyal and responsible. Who I am on the inside is exactly who I project to the outside world.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every single person who has had a positive impact in my life. I am here because you took the extra step, because you cared. In honor of all that these people have done for me, I will forever share my story and experiences in the hopes that I can have the same impact on someone else the way these people have had such a profound impact on me. I now risk being seen as the person that might be a little over the top, that might share too much, that might go on rants about the amazing aspects of life she has experienced. I will forever share the books I read, or give shout outs to those I love on social media. I will continue to make an effort to touch the hearts of others in a way mine has been touched.
I love myself. In the truest, deepest way I’ve ever experienced love. No one on the Earth will ever know me as well as I know myself, or love me as much as I love myself, because I am the only person that is with me every single moment of my existence. This is what I hope to inspire in others. How can anyone learn to speak the language of love if they’ve never heard it spoken before? We need each other to thrive as a tribe, but being the person you want to be and having the life you want can only come from within. When we want to see change in our lives and in the world, we must first change ourselves.
I was given the seed of change 10 years ago. I have grown into a brilliant tree that will continue to reach for the light as long as I live. My roots will continue to grow firmly into the ground so that others may have something to grab hold of when they need it. I will continue to drop fruits from my branches in hopes that new seeds of change will grow. My tree stands amongst a forest of other amazing trees. In this forest, all are encouraged to climb.
The Red Thread of Fate comes from Asian myth. The story goes that the gods would tie a red thread around the ankle or little finger of individuals destined to fall in love or help each other sometime in their life.
I was first introduced to this waaaaaaay back in 8th grade while watching the anime Tenchi Muyo. I'm not sure why the idea popped into my head for this, but Natalie and I had a pretty good time making a mess with tons and tons of red thread. During our fun, Natalie struck this lovely pose and we ran with it! I figure there are many types of love and we are connected to many people through those types of love, thus oodles of red thread. However, I wanted a sad heartbroken feel (very unnatural for Natalie, lol).
While I like this image (and am pretty stoked at the Pre-Raphaelite-esque editing!!) I've been feeling some artists block lately. However, I feel like the best way to get out of a rut is to keep creating, so I'm creating and posting!!! :D
I'm heartbroken as I write this. Our beloved lab Emmet unexpectedly died tonight after 10 years of bringing joy to our lives.
We raised him from the time he was eight weeks old. He was a remarkable dog. The original plan was for him to be a service dog for Helping Paws, but after he completed the training, it was decided to not place him as a service dog for several reasons that I won't detail here right now. The good part of that decision was that he was permanently placed with us.
Emmet was one of the sweetest dogs you'd ever meet. He greeted everyone with a wagging tail. He was quick with his kisses and he overflowed with enthusiasm for everything. He brought more humor and joy to our lives than I can even coherently express right now. My wife and I will miss him greatly.
The only consolation about losing him tonight was that his last day on Earth was the kind of day that was his favorite. We spent the day at the farm and he got to play frisbee for hours, play in his kiddie pool (the one pictured here), play with other farm animals, and run around like a nut. We lost him to a relatively common problem in dogs, a malady called GDV (Gastric Dialation and Volvulus). In layman's terms, he twisted his stomach, cutting off vital blood flow to his stomach and probably his intestines and other internal organs. It all happened fast and we were too far from an emergency vet who could perform the surgery needed to be able to save him. We had another vet help us put him to sleep while we held him in our arms.
I put together a collage of photos from his life. It is incomplete right now, and I hope to put up more over the next few days. You can see the set by clicking here.
Mended Heart - Burned, Stapled and Healed (2022). From the Guarded / Mended Heart Sculpture series. This one has now been sold off my my Etsy.
"Ain't we all the stars playing the leading part in our own soap opera?" Brandy Clark belts out that question to kick off Big Day in a Small Town, positing the premise of not just the opening track ("Soap Opera"), but all 10 songs that follow it. The towns that anchor Clark's new album may be small enough to warrant only a single blinking light, but the lives lived in them are anything but... and neither are the hopes and dreams that rise from their backroads and bedrooms.
When you grow up in a small town, oftentimes, your dreams are all you have. Whether it's to become a football star or a father, a homecoming queen or a hairdresser, your dreams might be the only thing that keep you going. For Clark, the dream she harbored in her small hometown of Morton, Washington, was to be a country singer. Sure, once she moved to Nashville, she had successful cuts as a songwriter [The Band Perry's "Better Dig Two," Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart," and Kacey Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow" which won the CMA Song of the Year Award in 2014], but being an artist in her own right was a dream she had stopped dreaming until two years ago when her first album, the stunning 12 Stories, debuted.
At the time, it was a passion project, more than anything... a passion project that went on to become a Grammy- and CMA-nominated release that topped a myriad of "Best Albums of 2013" lists; earn her opening slots on tours with Eric Church, Jennifer Nettles, and Alan Jackson; land her performances onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show , Good Morning America, The Late Show with David Letterman, and a much-talked about collaboration with Dwight Yoakam on the 2015 GRAMMY Awards in recognition of her nomination in the all-genre Best New Artist category; and win her a Warner Bros. Records deal. Now, as she gears up for her sophomore set, the alternately feisty and poignant Big Day in a Small Town, Clark has much higher hopes.
"When I made 12 Stories, I think my dreams were a lot more realistic, in that I didn't expect a lot to happen... then it did," she says. "This time, my dreams are very much what they were when I was going to Vince Gill and Patty Loveless concerts and decided I was going to move to Nashville. Right now, my dreams are as big as when I was naïve enough to really dream them."
Produced by Jay Joyce [Little Big Town, Eric Church], Big Day in a Small Town tells the stories of the football star, the father, the homecoming queen, and the hairdresser because those are the stories and people that Clark grew up knowing. "All these songs, there's some little truth in them, somewhere, that resonates with me or that is about me," she confesses. Explaining the genesis of "Soap Opera," she offers. "When I would get worried about what people thought of me or what was going on with me, my mom would always say, 'You know, we're all the star of our daytime drama. We're just bit players in someone else's. Nobody cares that much about what's going on with you. They'll only care until there's something juicier going on with somebody else two weeks later.'"
But Clark cares enough about all of these characters to tell their stories: the aging beauty of "Homecoming Queen" who wonders what happened to the life she always wanted... the tempted exes of "You Can Come Over" who do all they can to not get burned by the flame that flickers between them... the heartbroken heroine of "Daughter" who wishes a bit of karmic justice on her ex in the form of a daughter who's "just as sweet as she is hot"... the defiant wild child of "Girl Next Door" who refuses to fit her lover's misguided notion of womanhood.
"'Homecoming Queen' is really real for me — I know that girl. 'You Can Come Over' is very real for me and 'Daughter' and 'Soap Opera'..." Clark's voice trails off as she thinks about the tales she tells. What about "Drinkin' Smokin' Cheatin'" with its pondering of ways to navigate the sometimes rocky waters of a relationship? Game plan? Wish list? "That's a total daydream," she says with a laugh. "I think we all have that daydream."
One of the most heartfelt moments on Big Day in a Small Townis the one that closes it, "Since You've Gone to Heaven." The song addresses the aftermath of losing someone close to you and it's one that Clark has wanted — and attempted — to write for years. "My dad was killed in a work accident the July before 9/11," she says. "When all that 9/11 stuff was going on and everyone was glued to the TV ... I thought right then, 'Since you've gone to heaven, the whole world has gone to hell.' But I sat on it for years and years because it seemed so bleak." As with all of Clark's compositions, there's some truth in it, just not necessarily the whole truth. "It's definitely not the story of my family in that song. I'll stress that," she says. "But I do think, a lot of times, when somebody dies, it blows things apart more than it brings things together."
While the lyrical themes echo those of 12 Stories, Clark pushed her vocal and musical boundaries on Big Day in a Small Town. Instead of building the songs from a simple guitar/vocal performance, Joyce brought the players in for five days of rehearsals before tracking live with the band. "A lot of those rehearsals became what the record was," Clark says, explaining that the recorded version of "You Can Come Over" includes her one-take, scratch vocal. "I wanted to fix a few things, but Jay wouldn't let me because he felt like it would lose emotion. He's about the heart of music. He's not about making it perfect."
"He is out to serve the artist and the song," she adds. Throughout the process, Joyce insisted that this be a "Brandy Clark record" not a "Jay Joyce record" because she was the one who would be performing it night-after-night even as he moved on to his next project. "If I didn't like something, he'd be the first person to change it. I think this project means nearly as much to him as it does to me."
Though Neil Young's Harvest was the only musical reference point the two discussed before heading into Neon Cross Studios, Clark and Joyce each brought their influences along — including Clark's long-standing love of classic country and Joyce's well-documented affinity for edgier rock. "He and I definitely come from different places, musically, which I think is probably good," she offers. "On 'Daughter,' he started to play an organ part and I said, 'That sounds like [Patsy Cline's] "Back in Baby's Arms."' He said, 'What's that?' He didn't know it."
Along with Sturgill Simpson, Ashley Monroe, Chris Stapleton, and Kacey Musgraves (who provides guest vocals on "Daughter"), Clark is part of a new vanguard in country music — one that tips a hat to tradition, while not eschewing its evolution. "I see what's happening right now and I feel this groundswell of people who love... I would say 'country' music, but I'll take it a step further and say 'real' music. I feel like there are people who are starved for that," she says. "The only music I've ever made is country music. The only music I've ever really listened to consistently is country music. And I want to keep that alive, so there's a responsibility in that, for me."
But, for Brandy Clark, that responsibility is a dream come true. 4/15/16