South Side Savannah

Hi, I will begin my story as a child growing up Cape Sable on the southern tip of Nova Scotia, Canada. Near the savannah, in the winter time my parents took me on my sled through the woods to the nearest town. As i was pulled over the ice i loved looking down at all the moss beneath it.How beautiful it was, all the different shades of green and brown.To me it was like a huge green carpet, some of it was sticking up through,so i could reach out and run my mittens over it.Was a happy time looking up at the smiling faces of mamma and daddy, i am doing this with loving thoughts of them.They were young and just starting a family,eventually a large family. They were probably going to town to do some shopping.There were many other paths through the woods.My uncle recently told me how he used to run through the woods to town and sell clams. He said,"Doctor Brown always bought them, and treated him with a piece of cake.'' He was hungry after hours of work, all that for 10 cents, not to mention the bumps and bruises in his bare feet. All those sticks he had to run through.You see the other boys from the nearby villages were also digging clams,and selling them. He could not let the other boys get to town first,that meant he would not be able to sell his clams.He needed to do his very best to help out his family,10 cents isn`t much worth today, but during the depression years it would buy a bag of sugar to bake with. In those days and with large families,the children helped in all the chores or whatever there was to do. From milking the cow, mowing the hay,tending the garden and mending the fence.

Often the older children helped to take care of the younger ones. I am sure there are many stories to be told about the way of life back then,and today my uncle is still doing his very best.(note update ) I am saddened to write that my uncle Edward passed away on Oct.31st.2000, at 76 years.fishing and the ocean was his life,he survived numerous operations,also open heart surgery,and has his leg amputated, He is in heaven now , and is another of the brightest stars that i look to find at night. He was a special uncle, who i loved and had a great deal of respect for..

By now your probably wondering where is this savannah, it is a piece of land running through the interior of Cape Sable,which was an island prior to 1949.Thats when we were joined to the mainland by a causeway. Before that the people used the ferry boat to go off on the mainland.This is a great place for bird watchers,we also have many have many rare and unuasual birds, due to our geographic location. It is also in line with migration, in the spring we watch them come back from the the different southern places,in the fall we watch them leave. It sure is a beautiful site to see them gathering up, especially the waterfowl, huge flocks of ducks and geese. Soon after the causeway was built,we had electricity installed in our homes, life was a lot easier. One of my chores after school was to fill the kerosene lamp and clean the chimney, we used newspaper to really make it shine. I remember being so excited because we had electric lights.Couldn`t wait till it got dark to turn them on. I believe the washing machine was the best invention, it saved all those hours of back breaking work of doing the wash on the washboard. Another was the refrigerator,and electric radio,my father was a fisherman,he got up real early to go fishing and listen to Wheeling West Virginia.

There have been many changes over the years,in the late fifties , the fishermen were catching more fish, although the price was low there was a lot of work in the fish plants. The largest plant at that time was working a night shift as well. The place was full of fish,there was always fresh haddock,cod,catfish and halibut. Around nineteen seventy more boatshops were opening up and started building larger boats of fiberglass. These were much safer for the fishermen who went way off to George`s and Brown`s banks. In the early nineteen eighties the lobster catches were increasing and a much better standard of living. Later on when things were looking up for the fishermen,there was the depleating fish stocks to be concerned about.That was a real downturn in the fishery with a lot of uncertainty all around. Just when and if the fish they would return,The fishermen all have restrictions on their catch and are allocated a certain quota. There have been many ups and downs in the fishery over the years, but overall the sea has been good to the people of Cape Sable.It has been and is a wonderful natural resource for the people of this area of Canada.If it is managed well,i hope it continues to be. Fishing has been a way of life around here for almost two hundred years, many of our ancestors came here from Cape Cod area, the men came first, here they found good fishing. They later brought their families and settled here. The fishermen now have much safer boats, with the latest electronics and navigational aids to make it better while at sea.While in nice weather the ocean is so calm,fishing is still very dangerous way to make a living. We are truly blessed to have so many beautiful beaches.Also a great place to go beach walking especially in the summer. Unfortunately there have been many lives lost while at sea, reguardless of how safe the boats are in bad weather , accidents will happen. There have been many ship wrecks years ago along our rocky coasts. one of them the Hungarian with all the passengers drowned. Cape Sable has much history of the sea,the stories and real life adventure especially when the men went to sea in sailing ships. when they left port, there was no way of knowing just when they would return.

There is much more prosperity now, than when my uncle ran through the woods to sell his clams.We have fine schools for our children to get a good education. Our men and women of Cape Sable are proud and hard working people. I want to dedicate this page to them all , my family who continue to be the survivors of Cape Sable.