Shelburne and Pubnico NS: Families Valued

This week (July 12 - 16) there is time and opportunity to catch up with old and important friends here in Nova Scotia. Immediately upon arrival in Shelburne I contacted Charlie and Kim and their children Rory (15 years), Tatum (11 years), and Kerry (8 years). Charlie is a boat builder I first met during a 1993 ICW cruise. We caught up with each other again in the Bahamas, and 6 years later in 1999, while Kerry Deare was tied to the Shelburne town dock, I was stunned to overhear someone walk down the dock and introduce himself to others nearby as: "Hello, I'm Charlie Arcon." I thought: "Gee, than name sounds familiar." Since then I've visited Shelburne and Charlie and Kim several times, watching the children and their parents grow into a spectacular family ensemble. The left photo above shows Rory and younger brother Kerry in "baseball mode"; on the right with the rabbit ears Kim is rehearsing for Founders' Day celebrations in Shelburne.

Tuesday evening and Wednesday I visited with Albert and Myrna, and Brad and Peg, in the Pubnicos, Acadian villages near Yarmouth on the Fundy shore. Albert and his relatives were the first people we met when we came for the first time to Nova Scotia in 1989. They have been valuable friends since.

Albert (above left, "gourmeting" creamed lobster) is retired from teaching and was a beloved teacher, a description that would surely have him climbing the walls. Nonetheless it's accurate. Myrna (above right, checking for late developments on the grand kid picture front) is still involved in ship building and at the same time is a busy grandmother of two. It's almost impossible for me to accept these developments, having known this family since they were mere "yearlings," but ...

Among his many other accomplishments, Albert's lifelong friend Brad builds his own airplanes (yes, plural, one of them at left) when he is not building airplane hangars, starting, managing, and successfully selling a wind power electrical generation company, helping tend to 6 grandchildren, sustaining a high level career in education, and putting up with visitors like me. An amazing fellow (Brad in foreground in right photo, detailing his new seaplane).