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

Vol. 4, No. 7,  2002
August - aôut 2002

Feast of St Louis

On Sunday Aug 25^th the fortress celebrated the Feast of St Louis. This is one of the most anticipated feasts in the calendar year. To acknowledge Louis IX the staff presented a special program including extra musket and canon exercises, a procession of townspeople, a special food presentation in the Engineer’s Home as well as music and dance. Special tours were also offered.

This was a great opportunity to see the Heritage Presentation Program at its best. All staff (both young and old) were encouraged to come out and celebrate the feast.

Click on the image  to enlarge it

Feast of the Assumption

Thursday, August 15^th saw the Fortress of Louisbourg celebrating this important religious feast day. This feast day is celebrated in Louisbourg because of the important links between Isle Royale and Acadia. Along with regular activities, there was a procession to the chapel where the Ave Maris Stella was sung by J.R. Bourgeois. There was also a showing of the movie "Acadie Liberté".

Shark Sighting - Kennington Cove

On July 21^st, there was an unconfirmed sighting of a shark at Kennington Cove. A second unconfirmed sighting was made on August 23rd. If indeed it was a shark, it most likely was a "blue shark". This type of shark is quite passive and common to the waters of PEI, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

Please note that the day services at Kennington Cove remain open as normal but Parks Canada is taking every precaution possible to advise the public that we have an unconfirmed report a of a shark in the area. The safety of the public is the primary consideration of Parks Canada and that’s why they are taking this precaution.

Human Resources Survey

As part of the process of gathering information data for the development of a Human Resource Plan for the Cape Breton Field Unit, the Human Resources Planning Committee is asking for employee’s cooperation in completing the survey that has been sent out to everyone. The purpose of this survey is to obtain benchmark information on the current working environment in the Field Unit. The information will be used to set priorities and develop a realistic Human Resource Action Plan.

Please take the time to fill these surveys out and return to Valerie White, Human Resources Assistant. All responses are to be anonymous.

Employment Equity Census

The Canadian Human Rights Commission is currently conducting its audit of Parks Canada to ensure compliance with the Employment Equity Act. One of the legislative requirements of the EEA is that employers have reliable data on employment equity.

All employees, including students, have been offered an opportunity to self-identify in the census. It is very important that all staff participate. All information contained on the Self Identification Forms will be kept in the strictest confidence in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act and Employment Equity Act and its Regulations.

If anyone has any questions or problems, they can contact Valerie White at Local 3503.

News from AGB

"I believe that it will be possible in a very few years for a person to take his dinner in New York at 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening and eat his breakfast in Ireland or England the following morning." Alexander Graham Bell, 1896

Well, being the visionary that he was, his words have come to pass and, on the third Sunday of August, we celebrate Bell's aviation legacy from his man-carrying kites to the first controlled, powered flight in Canada right here on Cape Breton Island. On Aviation Day, August 18th, visitors enjoyed fiddle music (Bell's Scottish heritage), tetrahedral kite-making workshops, experiments with a rocket workshop and afterwards, cake, fruit punch and more in the afternoon.

Our Site was recently the subject of a Commemorative Integrity Evaluation by a team made up of Patricia Kell, National Office; Monique Elie, Quebec Region; Jewel Cunningham, Newfoundland; Candace Sweet, Conservation; Judith Tulloch, Historical Research/Management Planner; Bill O'Shea, Manager, Cultural Resources; Aynsley MacFarlane, Manager and Dan Kaiser, General Works. The day and a half process reviewed operations from a heritage presentation point of view and initial reaction was positive and supportive. Commemorative integrity is as important to our national historic sites as ecological integrity is to our national parks.

Chef Lars Willum, who produces cooking shows to promote Cape Breton food producers and writes a weekly food column for the Cape Breton Post, was here on August 20th. His show "Be My Guest" also features tourism destinations and will include a tour of AGBNHS (he said he was going to FoL too) in 2003.

As usual, this the last week of August, is quieter than it has been as we go through the transition to autumn. As of September 1st our hours of operation will be 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. until October 15th.

  If you would like to make a submission to the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Newsletter, please send information to Donna MacNeil at donna.macneil@pc.gc.ca