Published on March 21st, 2011
By Eric Bourque
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
Yarmouth's town hall was the setting Tuesday afternoon, March 15, as West Nova MP Greg Kerr was on hand to announce $225,000 for the Lost to the Sea Memorial, one of the Yarmouth area's 250th anniversary projects.
The memorial project will see a monument put up remembering those from the Yarmouth area who lost their lives at sea. The monument is to be located just behind the town hall and the plan is to unveil it at the end of this year. Kerr also announced $32,100 for the 250th-anniversary planning committee..
He announced the funding on behalf of James Moore, the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages, who, in a statement issued in conjunction with the announcement, spoke of the federal government "partnering with communities to support activities that celebrate our shared history and our rich cultural diversity."
Said Kerr, referring to the 250th-anniversary initiatives, these "will contribute to building the community through a better appreciation of our great heritage and help continue a lasting legacy."
Acknowledging that these have been challenging times for the local area, he said, "Yarmouth always surges ahead."
As for 2011 and the many anniversary-related activities planned, he said, "Certainly this is a very special year."
Aurel Mooney, president of the Yarmouth County Historical Society and one of those who spoke during the funding announcement ceremony, said researchers have been hard at work on the Lost to the Sea project, a point she touched on in an interview afterwards.
"I think it's a fabulous project," she said. "We were only too happy to be able to sign on with this and we knew we would have volunteers to do the research and we have a great deal of research material in our archives."
The society has people, she said, "that on a regular basis are doing this (research) and they have been for at least six months."
Members of the public can help the researchers, she said, by contributing names they may have of people lost at sea that otherwise might be left out.
"If they know of anyone, we would certainly like to know," Mooney said..
A site for the monument - to be located on the northeast corner of Water and Glebe streets - was chosen in 2006. That same year officials turned to the public for suggested concepts and eight were received and viewed.
The design chosen came from James Colbeck and, according to the Lost to the Sea Memorial website, "The winning design was further developed by the architect firm Sperry and Partners and has been held by the Yarmouth Waterfront Development Corporation until an opportunity to move forward was identified."