Nov. 27th, 2018 Press Release!!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings!     It's here!! This weekend is the first annual Chester Village Christmas event...there is so much going on in the village over this coming weekend, it's time to embrace your inner elf!!! Ready?? Here we go.........

This Week in Chester   Family oriented events and activities will span the entire weekend for the Chester Village Christmas. The merchants and restaurants will extend their hours and tailor their offerings to embrace the Chester Village Christmas theme. Here are some highlights: Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at the Bandstand to light the village tree amid dancers and music. The Chester Treat Truck will be on site and Santa will be handing out goodies. The Kiwi Café will be open Friday evening for festive pizza, and the Fo'c'sle Tavern will be serving festive fare till 9:00pm. The annual Gingerbread Competition entrants and winners including the Chef's Invitational Challenge entries, will all be on display at White Gate at 28 Pleasant Street. Two of the busiest solo musicians in the country, Dave Gunning & JP Cormier are presenting a holiday show at the Chester Playhouse on Friday, November 30th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $32                                                                                                   Santa stays in the village and will be at the pancake breakfast at the Chester Legion on Saturday, December 1st in the morning from 7:30 -10:30am. Christmas Trees will be on sale all weekend at Going Coastal on Queen Street, with all proceeds going to the local food bank. The Chester Art Center will be holding a free Family Open Studio day on Saturday as well, with lots of fun activities, and right next door to them will be the Mystery Tree Decorating Competitionsite....come check it out and tap your creative flair!! OceanView Garden Center will be having Fusion Painting demonstrations, on both Friday & Saturday at 10:00am & 2:00pm, definitely worth a visit! At White Gate Restaurant, on Pleasant Street, you can see the Gingerbread houses all weekend, and on Saturday there will be Cookie decorating from 3:00 - 5:00pm. Also in front of White Gate Tanner & Co. Brewing will have a vendor stall both Saturday & Sunday from 2:00-6:00pm.  And if you are feeling competitive, check out the Christmas Wreath Toss also at White Gate. As you wander round the village, participate in the Elf Selfie Scavenger Hunt....have photos taken of you behind the various pairs of Elf Boots you will find scattered round the central part of Chester Village. There are prizes for the best Elf Selfies!! If you pop into Light My Fire Studio on Duke Street, you can frost a Peppermint Snowball Candle,from 11:00 - 4:00pm, cost is $20!! There will be live music on Queen Street both days...Saturday features Taelor Bent at 2:00pm, Peter Parsons at 3:30pm and at 5:00pm the Chester Studio Singers will be caroling!! Fa la la la laaaaaaa The lovely folk from Avondale Sky Winery will have a vendor stall on the deck next to the Kiwi on Queen Street, so you can taste and buy some of their Nova Scotia wines. Again on Saturday the Chester Merchants will be staying open late, they will be featuring their own promos and giveaways, so this is a great time to get a jump on your holiday shopping. Also on Saturday the Kiwi Cafe will stay open late, and be BBQing sausages on their deck. Sunday you will find the Christmas Farmers & Artisan Market at the Chester Legion from 9:00am-2:00pm...plenty of great things to pick up as presents or stocking stuffers!   The various competitions and activities will continue to run on Sunday so there is no lack of activities, and cookie decorating will be held at the Kiwi Cafe on Queen Street, free with a donation to the Food Bank.              The live music on Queen Street will  feature the Market Boys playing festive tunes - usually found at the Hubbards Market - who will do 2 sets - 1:30 & 3:00pm.      And to get you in the mood for holiday romance, the Chester Playhouse will be screening 'Love Actually' at 4:00pm. Tickets are $7.00 at the door, and they have popcorn!!         For a complete listing of all the weekend activities, visit the Chester Village Christmas page on Facebook. Ok....if you read this far let me share with you my thoughts about the current weather...... Brochure

See you in the village this weekend!! Nicola Boyd (the Suzi Fraser wanna be) for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!

November 21st, 2018 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release                                                                                                        Lordly House                                                                                                                                                                 Greetings! We are promoting anti Black Friday here in the Hamlet. No crowds, no queues, no trampling. Shop downtown Chester this weekend and know that the Fo'c'sle Pub is just around the corner when you need a cleansing pale ale between purchases. Ahhh, isn't that the way shopping should be?                                                                                             Kiwi Café Shop                                                                                                                                  This Week in Chester   Light My Fire still have some items on the shelf after their mulled wine event last weekend. Stop by their Duke Street studio and pick up a few candles against the first power outage of the holiday season. Remember Christmas and Boxing Day last year? Buy a case. Tomorrow, Thursday, is the kick off of Chester Heritage Society's Annual Victorian Christmas craft show and sale at the Lordly House at 133 Central Street. The show runs from 10am-5pm daily until Sunday. Entrance fee is a loonie for the door prize draw. For more details, contact Hilary @ 902-273-2176 Friday night is pizza night at the Kiwi Café from 5:30- 9pm. Their gift shop is heaving with goodies, so why not check it out while waiting for Riccardo to cook your pie. 902-275-1492. This Saturday is the Chester United Baptist Church's Fall Fair from 9 - 2 pm. Lots of items for Christmas and year-round. Knitted goods, handmade soap, sewn garments, baked goods, hand painted glassware, stocking stuffers, face and body oils - you get the picture. Canteen available. St. Stephen's Church up the street is hosting their Christmas Bazaar from 10:30-1:30 pm with Christmassy stuff, books, bake table, wreaths, crafts and much more. Lunch service from 11 am  - a variety of soups, rolls, bread, pies, tea, coffee and drink.  adults $8 / children under 10/ $5.                                                                                              The Chester Playhouse is excited to present the award-winning Blues artists Garrett Mason and Earle & Coffin for a double bill performance this Saturday at 8 pm. Nova Scotia-born Garrett Mason is a true bluesman at heart. This performance features Garrett's talent for strong original songs, a voice that is reminiscent of a veteran performer and his extraordinary aptitude for playing electric guitar. Newfoundland and Labrador's acoustic Blues/Roots duo Earle & Coffin are soulful vocalists, brilliant guitar players and blessed with engaging personalities, experienced beyond their years. These 18-year-old bluesmen have been getting around touring festivals and showcases throughout Canada and the USA.  902-275-3933. Saturday night dance to the beat of "Sunset Drive" at the Chester Legion starting at 9 pm for members and guests. For more info dial up the comrades @ 902-275-3315. For a bit of levity to all this shopping madness, here is a clip that has absolutely nothing to do with consumerism. Brochure A good conversation is like a mini skirt - short enough to retain interest, but long enough to cover the subject. Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!

November 14th, 2018 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings! It's a little breezy out there today. It's hump day with the added bonus that you have already HAD one day off already,so it's practically the weekend ! This Week in Chester  Light My Fire Candle Studio at 59 Duke Street is tapering off over the next month. Bill and Judy invite you to join them for their "Family and Friends" extravaganza starting tomorrow, Thursday, running through until this Sunday. They are open until 8pm Friday evening and I hear refreshments are being served from 12-3pm on Saturday. This is your opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping at rock bottom prices before they put their feet up. 902-275-5800 Friday at 1 pm Forest Heights Community School presents a lecture by Gwynn Dyer on "The Trump Era: Surviving the Populist Wave" at 1 pm. Nationalism is back, and it's very angry. Get your pink ears on and head over there. For more info call the school @ 902-275-2700. Stop by the Chester Art Centre this Friday from 6-8pm for an opening reception with wine and cheese. "Vignettes" is an exhibition of ceramic works by Claire Olwen Stewart, Artist in Residence at the Centre. The work is informed by a portrait-making tradition of vignettes and cameos in the western world during the 19th century. The works in this series take a modern approach to these outdated traditions, applying the female gaze upon the female form. We don't get many wine and cheese opportunities at this time of year - don't miss out. On Saturday hit the early, and I mean early, Kohl Kannon Supper at the Baptist Church at 84 King Street, from 4:30 - 6:30 pm.  Kohl Kannon, ham, beans and pie.  Adults $12, Short ones (7-12) $6.  Really short ones are free.                                                                                              Looking ahead to next weekend, the Chester Playhouse is excited to present award-winning Blues artists Garrett Mason and Earle & Coffin for a double bill performance on Saturday, November 24 at 8:00 pm. Nova Scotia-born Garrett Mason is a true bluesman at heart. This performance features Garrett's talent for strong original songs, a voice that is reminiscent of a veteran performer and his extraordinary aptitude for playing electric guitar. Newfoundland and Labrador's acoustic Blues/Roots duo Earle & Coffin are soulful vocalists, brilliant guitar players and blessed with engaging personalities, experienced beyond their years. These 18-year-old bluesmen have been getting around touring festivals and showcases throughout Canada and the US and have racked up a slew of awards. If you happen to be rummaging through the attic and find Christmas tree decorations you no longer use, please bring them to Amicus Gallery on Pleasant Street and we will use them for our tree decorating contest at our Chester Village Christmas weekend November 30th- December 2nd. Stay tuned to this channel because it is an action packed event filled weekend with something for everyone. Did someone say beer tastings? Brochure                                      when you brush the family feline, clip it to the clothesline In other Parish news... -At the evening service tonight,  the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice. -Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 pm. Please ... use the back door. -Weight Watchers will meet at 7 pm at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance. -The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday:  "I Upped My Pledge - Up yours" Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!

November 7th, 2018 Press Release!

Chester Merchants Press Release Greetings! It seems like everyone dressed up for Hallowe'en last week including the flora. Are you still gripping the remote from yesterday's midterms? This Week in Chester  Get your baking mitts on as the entries are coming in fast and furious for our annual Gingerbread House competition. You have just 2 days left to submit your "letter of intent." Refer to the deliriously happy gingerbread men above for details. Lorenzo is back at the Kiwi Café this Friday night. Pizza doughs will be spinning through the air from 5:30-9pm. Don't delay - call 902-275-1492 and book your table now to avoid disappointment. Also on Friday night the Chester Playhouse presents Blindside at 7 pm. Tickets are $15 not $30. In a feat of riveting comedy, one-eyed storytelling champion and cancer survivor Stéphanie Morin-Robert recounts her life as a feisty 7-year-old who wields her glass-eye as a superpower. In Blindside, a prospector's recent diamond discovery forces his daughter, a young and sheltered cancer patient with a prosthetic eye, to change schools in the middle of the third grade. While her family members are distracted by their luxurious new lifestyles, she struggles with finding the confidence it takes to face her tormenting bullies at her new school. With the help of her cat, a pair of sunglasses, and an undesirable superpower, she soon discovers that she has what it takes to fight back and come to terms with her disability.                                                                                              This Sunday is November 11th. A day to remember our fallen soldiers. A day to give thanks to those who gave their lives for us. See you at the Cenotaph at 11 am. One hundred bells will toll this Sunday at sunset. Communities across Canada will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War with the ringing of 100 bells. The bell ringing emulates the moment in 1918 when church bells across Europe tolled as four years of war had come to an end. When you hear the bells toll on November 11th, take a moment to pause and remember those who served and sacrificed. Brochure "When you're 20 you care what everyone thinks. When you're 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks. When you're 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place. You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."   -Winston Churchill Suzi Fraser for the Chester Merchants Group Join Our Mailing List!