NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES OF CAPE BRETON
LIEUX HISTORIQUES NATIONAUX DU CAPE-BRETON

Special Visitors

On Thursday, January 27, Sandy Balcom toured Mr. James MacCallum of Scotland and Mr. Brian Siegner of UCCB around the site. Mr. MacCallum is an engineer by training and is currently restoring his own castle in Scotland. With interests in restoration and Scottish culture, Mr. MacCallum was very impressed by the Louisbourg restoration project. He hopes to return with his family in September, when he can experience our interpretive programs.  

Mr. MacCallum is a fine dramatist and gave a spirited Address to the Haggis and Tam O'Shanter at a Robbie Burns Dinner hosted by UCCB on the previous Tuesday evening. He repeated this performance the following evening at a full dress military dinner at Victoria Park.

After working at Louisbourg during the last 5 decades Jim Campbell has decided to take a well-deserved retirement. Jim has worked with the archaeology unit since 1967, and for many years was the Collections Manager responsible for the 5 million archaeological artefacts that are held at Louisbourg. He was also involved sharing the collection with visitors, including researchers, from all over the world. He worked closely in the development of reproductions used on site including clay pipes, faience, green coarse earthenware and blue and white porcelain.

See the back page for some pictures of Jim's retirement party.  We all want to wish Jim the best in his retirement.

Susann Myers, Restoration Architect is relocating to the Halifax Service Centre. Susan has been with us since February 1991 and she will continue to work on projects for Louisbourg.  Our best wishes go with her.

The Parks Canada Calendars have been received and distributed to employees with compliments of Alan Latourelle, CEO, Parks Canada.  

Beverly Brett, North River, has been contracted to develop scripts for appropriate street scenes, character monologues and puppet shows in order to create enhanced and engaging learning opportunities for visitors of all ages.

Beverly has worked in theatre in a variety of capacities to educate, enlighten, and entertain for the last 25 years.  Some of you may be familiar with Bev as the writer and director of "The Margaret" which was done with the St. Ann's Bay Players. We will report more on this as the project develops.

Dr. Brian Tennyson, professor emeritus of history at the University College of Cape Breton, has recently published Cape Bretoniana: An Annotated Bibliography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, in association with the Beaton Institute, University College of Cape Breton, 2005). With 789 pages and 6, 221 entries on Cape Breton topics, the book is one of the most comprehensive bibliographies for any region of Canada and it will become an essential reference tool for anyone doing research on the island. The entries are listed alphabetically by author under eleven headings that are both chronological and thematic, and are numbered consecutively throughout the bibliography. Divided into 11 chapters, the book has a detailed author and subject index. The French section, with 98 pages and 922 entries, is the second largest chapter in the book and reflects the research effort at Louisbourg over the years.

Dr Tennyson spent numerous hours at Louisbourg going over the collections and he has high praise, both corporate and personal, for Louisbourg. "The staff at Fortress Louisbourg National Historic Site," he noted, "generously allowed me to scour their impressive library for material, and librarian Judith Romard was exceptionally gracious and helpful." With over 33,000 accessions, the Louisbourg library ranks among the best specialized libraries in Canada for the study of the eighteenth century. The library also makes an invaluable cultural contribution to the wider Cape Breton community.

This site commemorates the national significance of the first lighthouse on Canada's west coast.   Fisgard has been an important symbol of sovereignty-British, Colonial and Canadian-since 1860.

Along with Race Rocks lighthouse, Fisgard provides a guide for mariners to Royal Roads anchorage,Esquimalt harbour and its naval base, and points the way to Victoria Harbour.

• Condolences to Eugene MacDonald and family on the death of his brother John on January 9^th.
• Condolences also to Myles MacDonald and family on the death of his father, Walter on January 7^th.
• Condolences to Danny Kaiser and his family on the death of his mother-in-law, Kay Oland on January 5^th.
• Condolences also to Kevin Martin and his family on the death of his father, Harold Martin on January 19^th.
• Former employee, Harold Bishop passed away on January 11^th.  Harold worked in the Finance Unit in the 70's.  We all remember Harold's sister, Kaye MacLeod and our condolences go out to her and her family.

Anyone wishing to submit an article to the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Please forward to Donna MacNeil at donna.macneil@pc.gc.ca  or telephone 733-3551.