August 27th, 2014 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings, This is the "breathe a sigh of relief" week. We survived summer ! It's a week to regroup, recharge and get ready for fall. Hit the beach or get the home brew still set up for the winter. All of the sudden it feels like summer again. Soak up the rays whilst stacking the woodpile for the inevitable.

This Week in Chester On Friday the farmers are back on market square at the Train Station. The produce tables are literally bursting with seasonal fruits and vegetables. You can balance all this goodness at the take away stand with some delicious cholesterol laden items sure to put a smile on your face as your arteries snap shut. The International One Design North Americans are being held this weekend at Chester Yacht Club. Monster sized egos will be strutting their stuff on the race course. Get down to the waterfront and cheer for Canada. Sunday evening the master of Blues, Morgan Davis, will take the stage at the Bandstand at 7pm. This is the last Bandstand performance of the season so don't miss it. Next Tuesday from 6-8pm is the final Picnic in the Park at Lordly Park. Kevin and his Gypsy Minstrels will be performing thanks to the support of B. W. Armstrong Insurance. It's tambourine night...so bring one. You have one of those on hand, right?

The first 5 days after the weekend are the hardest. Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!

August 20th, 2014 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings! Did you all survive Race Week? Find anyone on the couch? Run away to Tancook? I only found a few beer bottles deposited on my porch. Are they getting wiser or older? It feels like fall is around the corner. You can smell it in the air and see it in the angle of the sun. I like how it highlights the dust in my kitchen in the early morning.

This Week in Chester Amicus Gallery on Pleasant Street continues their show of all things equine until the end of the month in keeping with the horsey set here in Chester this week. Tailgate party anyone? If you missed this show last week, tonight has the continuing run of Norm Foster's "The Melville Boys" at the Chester Playhouse. A relaxing weekend trip of fishing, football, and beer is on the agenda. A wrench is thrown in the works when the boys meet two attractive sisters who inadvertently change more than their weekend plans. In this modern Canadian romp, Foster offers a tender, vigorous comedy of brotherhood and the unexpected. The four characters rediscover themselves over two days of beers, tears, fights and laughs.The show runs from tonight until Saturday at 8 pm with a matinee performance at 2 pm on Saturday. "Hidden Talents" will be showing at the Train Station Gallery daily until the end of the month. Crochet, knit, canvas and needle work will be featured by Hilary McCarron along with bowl turning and woodworking by Steve McCarron. The Farmer's Market is back at the Train Station on Friday from 10 - 2 pm.The tomatoes are coming.... This is cause for celebration in it's own right ! There are 13 bars in Nova Scotia competing against 100 watering holes in Canada for "Canada's Favourite" in Air Canada's enRoute Magazine contest. Chester's own Foc'sle Pub is one of them. Go to saycheers to vote for our favourite living room. Vote now / vote often until September 9th. Let's put Chester on the map with what we do best. Friday night the Hupman brothers are on stage at the Fo'c'sle @ 9pm. Don't miss this, these guys are fantastic ! They might LOOK like they climbed out from under a rock, but boy, can they knock out the tunes ! On Saturday the Chester Heritage House and Harbour Tour is back this year come rain or shine from 10 - 4pm. The tour starts at the Chester Train Station and promises lots of interesting places to snoop through. Tickets are $30, available on the day of the tour.  Dial 275-3852 for info. Next month you will have to dial 902 in addition to the number as well. What a bore. Imagine doing that on a rotary phone. I remember the day when 4 digits did the trick. My grandmother Rene told me of the days when you just picked up the phone and asked for "Central." The Maritime Bluenose Championships are being held this weekend at the Chester Yacht Club. Get down to the waterfront and watch these delightful little sloops battle it out for bragging rights. "Lovely Stuff,"  the pop up shop at "Lesley's Pantry" across from Tim Horton's, is popping down. This is the last weekend to purchase all sorts of goodies from Friday until Sunday from 11am- 4pm. Check out the china, linens, old albums, antique furniture, books, old cameras, clothes ... the list is endless !  Exciting news with the launch of the OHC Community 50/50 Draw on Monday, August 25. The OHC 50/50 tickets are $2.00 each with a draw every Monday. The two priorities of the OHC Community 50/50 Draw Program are to involve the entire Municipality and act as a long term funder for the OHC. OHC Community 50/50 Draw Tickets are available at community minded retailers. Please participate every week. For those of you who like to take it outside, Simon Copas leads a class in Plein Air next Monday and Tuesday. Fresh air, a full palette, a spur of the moment inspiration and tight deadlines make Simon's class a favourite. All classes are held at the Chester Art Centre at 60 Queen Street.To register call 275-5789 / chesterartcentre.ca.  Tuesday night is the season finale of the "Picnic in the Park"  series at Lordly Park on Central Street. Lucas Reeves and friends will be on stage for your dancing and picnic pleasure. Load up the cooler, get over there and mark your turf. Winter is coming. Bunch, when are you coming back ?

A few quotes from David Feherty the CBS Golf Announcer with that lovely Irish lilt... "It would be easier to pick a broken nose, than a winner in that group." "Fortunately, Rory is 22 years old so his right wrist should be the strongest muscle in his body." "That ball is so far left, Lassie couldn't find it if it was wrapped in bacon." "Nick Faldo couldn't be here this week. He is attending the birth of his next wife." Jim Furyk's swing "looks like an octopus falling out of a tree." "It's OK - the bunker stopped it." "That was a great shot - if they'd have put the pin there today." Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!

August 13th, 2014 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings, In the words of George Evans... It was the "Clam before the Storm." We are now IN the storm. Race Week starts today. The lid is coming off the blender ! Sailing : When it's perfectly respectable to get wet with a total stranger. Not into Race Week? The Tancook ferry leaves the dock every morning at 10:20 am. We are a blend (or clash) of culture and sailing this week. Scroll down...

This Week in Chester Tonight is the opening of Norm Foster's "The Melville Boys" at the Chester Playhouse. A relaxing weekend trip of fishing, football, and beer is on the agenda. A wrench is thrown in the works when the boys meet two attractive sisters who inadvertently change more than their weekend plans. In this modern Canadian romp, Foster offers a tender, vigorous comedy of brotherhood and the unexpected. The four characters rediscover themselves over two days of beers, tears, fights and laughs. The show runs from tonight until Saturday and again from August 19th-23rd at 8 p.m. with a matinee performance at 2 pm on the Saturdays. Next Tuesday is a pay what you can performance.   The Fo'c'sle has entertainment on stage tonight through to Friday. Tonight, Wednesday, at 9pm is the "Market Boys," Thursday has the George Carter Jr trio and Friday night SWIG! will be onstage. They will be offering breakfast until Saturday from 9-11am. Breakfast choices will be bacon and eggs, Octoberfest sausage and eggs, fish cakes, bangers and mash. Their regular menu runs from 11am onwards. Wing nut night will run as per usual from 5pm Thursday and Ribs are the special for Friday evening. Rosi Robinson's show at Amicus Gallery continues this week. Stop in and check out her superb batiks. BYO. The Art Centre continues their festival this week at 60 Queen Street. The exhibition "A Work in Progress" runs from 10 - 4pm daily. For more info / 275-5789 Friday is the Farmers Market at the Train Station from 10-2 pm. I was too late last week and missed the sour dough bread, but got some great spinach and arugula tied up with lovely twine from a nice boy who wanted to buy my car. Sunday the Chester Brass Band is on their home turf at the Bandstand at 7pm. Will the Reefer trucks be gone by then? Everyone is welcome. Meet Colonel Bogey, Mary Poppins and El Capitan, along with many other catchy tunes. Monday is the launch of the 50/50 draw for "Our Health Centre."  20 retailers throughout the Municipality will be selling tickets. For info/ 279-0500. Tuesday evening is the continuing series of "Picnic in the Park" with Jamie Junger and guests Andy and Ariana. The evening is sponsored by the Fo'c'sle Pub. Rain date is Wednesday. Free, but donations gratefully accepted. Remember the green bins are now a weekly celebration of compost relocation, so drive your little green gremlin to the curb every week until September.  Let it not rain this week

You never realize what you have until it's gone. Toilet paper is a good example. Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!

August 6th,2014 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings, The Lightfoot Tower event last week was a bit damp but the whos from Whoville came out to climb the stairs for the first time and it turned out to be a really fun day. If you haven't checked out the groovy little café the clever Haven designers have created between the Fo'c'sle and Able Engineering, you should. They have done a super job transforming it into a vibrant coffee shop. We're all about Arts and Culture this week here in the Hamlet. Read on.

This Week in Chester This month brings a new set of works created by area artists and artisans for you to enjoy at the Train Station from 10-4pm daily. Paula Booher is the featured artist this month. Tonight, Wednesday, The Chester Playhouse presents Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas featuring Jeremy Webb and Susan Stackhouse. It is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. An omniscient narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of a fictional small Welsh fishing village. They include Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard, relentlessly nagging her two dead husbands; Captain Cat, reliving his seafaring times; the two Mrs Dai Breads; Organ Morgan, obsessed with his music; and Polly Garter, pining for her dead lover. The curtain goes up tonight at 8pm and runs until Saturday night with a Saturday matinée at 2 pm. Thursday night the Art Centre is having their Renovation Celebration dinner and auction in the festival tent at 60 Queen Street starting at 5:30pm. View works of children and adults from various workshops that have been held at the Centre.Tom Connors will be dishing up a gourmet picnic and there are some great auction items to bid on. 275-5789 to reserve your "lunch pail." A week in Anguilla anyone? Friday the Farmers in the Dell are back at the Train Station from 10- 2pm. Get there early or Dolly will have bought everything. Friday is also the kick off for the Art Centre's week long festival which runs until next Saturday with an exhibition of "A Work in Progress," running from 10-4pm daily.  It celebrates the many achievements of the Centre with a showing of creative works by their students, children, seniors, past exhibitors and instructors.  Participating artists include Heather Sayeau, Chester artists Dolly Hancock, Malcolm Callaway, Dawn Harwood-Jones, knitting wizard Lucy Neatby, as well as works from one of the founding members, Bevers McInnes. Free admission. Also happening on Friday is "Kids Make Art," where short ones under 12 get to construct mini me masterpieces by weaving baskets, moulding clay, creating a self-portrait, decorating cupcakes and much more. Face painting, snacks and music too, as well as the biggest kid of all, Allan Carver with his giant bubbles. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Come rain or shine! Friday evening is the final whine and cheese call at Amicus Gallery from 6-8pm. How did THAT happen? Rosi Robinson will be exhibiting her latest batiks.These are gems of the highest form. Don't miss this last hurrah of the season. Be prompt as there will be red dots springing up at 1800. Who else will feed you wine and hors d'oeuvres for the rest of the season? Thank you Paula for contributing to our reputation as a drinking town with a sailing problem. On Saturday it's the Chester Art Fair at 60 Queen Street. Free for all from 9-3 pm, scores of artists and artisans from Chester and beyond will be showing and selling their wares under tents large and small as well as bright red umbrellas. Artists include jeweler Victoria Bell, ceramic artist Alex McCurdy, Rosi Robinson, fabric artist Laurie Swim, and painters Pat Christiansen and Collen Gallaway. Allan Carver on bubbles. There'll also be a range of artist demonstrations as well - wood carving with George Hoskins, rug-hooking with Sheila Barrett and Sherry Chandler, and spinner Rosemary Landry. There'll be music from Hank Middleton and the Collage Trio, a silent auction, and calories from Julien's too. 275-5789 for info. There will be a Musique Royale performance Saturday night at St. George's Anglican Church in East River @ 7:30pm. James Buckland with classical guitar & Karen Buckland on piano. For tickets/ info contact Sheila @ 275-5966 or the Chester Church office 275-3804. Looking ahead to next week there is a "Picnic in the Park" with the group "FOG" sponsored by GN Thermoforming. Georg has truly made Chester a better place to live and raise your family. Bring your dancing shoes and your Snoopy pail.

...at that precise moment when you realize that you're no longer a big fish in a small pond, or even a small fish in a big pond, but a small fish in a big fish.... Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!