New Brunswick Traveler

The theme of this podcast is “out of the ashes”.  In the case of a murder in 1935 in the Moncton area, the ashes revealed evidence that resulted in two brothers being convicted of murder and hanging, along with their mother being charged with kidnapping – the first in New Brunswick to be charged with that.  In the second fire, rising out of the ashes of the Covered Bridge Potato Chip factory in Hartland is a continuation of a great product with the promise of a new facility being built right on the same site. Covered Bridge Potato Chips Maritime Murder by Steve Vernon Buy Mark a Coffee

This episode talks about fiddleheads and their popularity in New Brunswick. The village of Tide Head New Brunswick bills itself as the Fiddlehead Capital of the World.  Perhaps it is, but Saint John has the only Fiddlehead sculpture. It was made by Jim Boyd of Sussex and sits in front of the Arts Centre. The predominant type of fiddlehead in Canada is the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). These are bright green, with tightly coiled heads, sometimes with bits of the forest floor still clinging to them. With a flavor slightly reminiscent of asparagus, but somehow also nutty and pleasantly bitter, they are a short-lived but delicious reminder that the doldrums of winter are finally over. I refer to an article by Raymond Plourde entitled “Fiddlehead Season” in Saltscapes Magazine for some of the information found on the podcast. https://www.saltscapes.com/kitchen-party/1068-fiddlehead-season.html To learn more about harvesting opera fiddleheads, this video might be helpful:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBfG6yyPtAg Information about freezing or pickling fiddleheads https://foragegirl.com/en/

I have always been intrigued by drive-in theatres. There are three of them that still operate in New Brunswick and in this episode, I interview Don Monahan, the owner of the Sussex Drive-in and Campground.  We look at the place of the drive-in in the current time.  We also talk about Fundy Fest which will be held on July 19 and 20 with headliners Julian Austin and Tim Hicks.  Information about Fundy Fest can be found at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sussex-fundy-fest-2024-tickets-781532624117

This week I am interviewing Andrew McClean, who tells about the backyard history of interesting things from the Maritimes.  Our particular focus in this episode is on the prominence of rum in the life of people who live in New Brunswick during the early part of the 20th century.  Rum was a part of the salary of some of the workers and it was common for them to take a “rum break” instead of a “coffee break”. For more information about Andrew McClean, go to his website https://backyardhistory.ca/

In this episode I am talking with Jenna Morton, the Executive Director of the Greater Moncton Scottish Association.  Specifically, we are talking about the upcoming Greater Moncton Highland Games and Scottish Festival that will be happening on June 13 to 17.  More information about obtaining tickets for the event can be found on their website at https://monctonhighlandgames.com/

In this episode,  Danielle Timmons, a member of the leadership team of Aquilla – The Centre or Cruise Excellence discusses some of the 35 year history of Cruise in Saint john. Danielle noted that 2022 was a restart year after the Covid-19 pandemic, and 2023 was a successful season with the industry operating at near maximum capacity. For 2024, Aquila expects 88 ship day visits, since 12 of the 74 ships scheduled to visit Saint John will be staying overnight. There was a listing of popular tours that passengers take and a discussion on the logistics of working with a large volume of passengers on a day when three ships visit at the same time. Danielle highlighted that over 60 businesses in Southern New Brunswick work with Aquila and benefit from the tours that are provided. She also mentioned that about 50% of passengers explore on their own, benefiting the city's shops and restaurants. Aquila – The Centre for Cruise Excellence. Port of Saint John 2024 Cruise Ship Schedule.

This episode highlights the June opening of Place Fort La Tour for the 2024 tourist season. Don LeBlanc, a historical reenactor at the fort, give information about the days and hours that the facility is open, and things that a visitor can expect to see.  Visitors will observe interactive cooking and listen to the story of Charles La Tour and his young bride, who is infamously known as the Lioness of Acadia as presented by reenactors in costume of that era. These is also a discussion on the challenges of raising the money to maintain such a wonderful facility since it is only open four to five months of the year.  In addition to individual tourists that visit the fort, there are cruise passenger tour groups and bus tour groups.  This summer there will be a production of Hamlet right in the open space in the middle of the fort. Place Fort La Tour website

This episode focuses on the Loyalist House in Saint John that was built in 1817 by a New York loyalist, Daniel David Merritt.  Five generations of the Merritt family lived in the house and it was purchase by the New Brunswick Historical Society in 1958.  Society President Greg Marquis and Vice President Troy Middleton. The episode also reveals some of the interesting items that are in the Loyalist House and also highlights paranormal investigations that are done regularly at the house as a fundraiser.  In addition to talking about the activities at the Loyalist House, there was also a discussion o the other activities that are occurring on May 18 in the city, celebrating the original arrival of the Loyalists in 1783.  More information can be found on their website: The Loyalist House

This episode features an interview with Faye Gorham, the market manager of the Brundage Point River Centre Market, set to open on May 23rd. Faye, affectionately known as the 'Pickle Lady' for her popular homemade pickles, discusses the market's vendor policies, unique offerings, and community engagement. She emphasizes her commitment to ensuring vendors make a profit by limiting duplicates of product types. The market features a variety of goods, from gluten-free baked goods and fresh produce to handmade pottery and Avon products. Faye also shares insights into her history with the market, its operations, and her personal journey with pickling. Additionally, she compares her market to Kingston's larger market, highlighting the differences. The interview closes with hopes for a successful market season and a significant demand for Faye's chow-chow pickles. Faye can be contacted at (506) 763-2912 Thursdays Brundage Point Market Grand Bay – Westfield Saturdays Kingston Farmers Market Kingston Boyce Farmers Market Fredericton Moncton Market Moncton Sundays Queen Square Farmers Market Saint John Other New Brunswick Markets

My session today is with David Smith – The First Nation Storyteller living in Saint John.  David shared his journey of becoming a storyteller two years ago, leaving his previous job. The aim was to bring an indigenous flavor to Saint John, an area he felt lacked such activity and visibility. He shared his unique perspective, having grown up off-reserve and later realizing the differences in his worldview. He shared that his storytelling had been well-received and had led to unexpected opportunities, including referrals and invitations from companies. He expressed surprise at the level of support he received and noted the potential for networking. First Nations Storytellers website Uptown Burger Week information Buy Mark a Coffee

This episode deals with the history of leprosy in New Brunswick and the government’s policy of forcing the “lepers”  as young as eight to segregate on Sheldrake Island without adequate accommodation or support.  Basically, deals with the types of decisions that communities and governments make when pressured by fear, ignorance, or hidden agendas.  The episode also highlights the efforts of the Acadian community to not allow the names of the 15 individuals that died on the island to be forgotten. Video and Lesson plans - https://loststories.ca/sheldrake/ https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/arts-culture-society/the-lepers-of-tracadie https://leprosyhistory.org/geographical_region/site/canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy_Act_1906

This episode is an interview with Joe Morin about his experiences with fishing in southern New Brunswick. Suggestions on where to go, what to fish for and how enjoyable the activity is. Makes me want to get my kayak out of the basement and get it on the water!

The province of New Brunswick has some great 4-lane highways and good by-roads, but this was not always the case.  The preoccupation with railway construction took much of the government’s focus in the early part of the 20th century.  It was only with a strong push from the Boards of Trade of Saint John and Fredericton that road construction finally began sufficiently in 1917 and beyond.  By the early 1920’s the tourism industry in the province was growing significantly because of the popularity of the automobile and the good roads that the province was building. The Impact of the Automobile on the Government of New Brunswick  written by Charles Joseph Allain Was the First Car Invented in Canada  written by Andrew McClean Early Motoring in New Brunswick  written by Ruby Cusack

St. Andrews by the Sea was one of the places that the Loyalists arrived at in 1783.  Lesser known and talked about than Saint John, it was still an important port on the Bay of Fundy.  And then later in the 1830s it was one of four arrival ports for the Irish emigrants.  This podcast takes a brief look at the Loyalists that arrived there and the Irish that followed.  The NB Traveler shares this not as a seasoned historian, but rather as one that is curious about the dynamics that formed the New Brunswick culture.  If you have comments or would like to come on the NB Traveler podcast and share more insights about NB Loyalists and the Irish, just contact me. Below are links to sources that I have read for this podcast. Some other place … than here by Ronald Rees Old New Brunswick  by David Sullivan In the Wake of Loyalists: Retracing their path across the Bay of Fundy by Robert A. Liftig, EdD Irish Canadian Cultural Association of New Brunswick The Exodus of the Loyalists from Penobscot to Passamaquoddy by Wilbur H Seibert Loyalist Saint Andrews

I noticed that there's a lot in tourism literature today about a term called glamping, G L A M P I N G, which seems to be something about geodesic domes.  My interest in doing this podcast is simply to find out more about that. Concept itself, how you got interested in it and just what you're doing out there in the forest. Well, glamping is like a nice medium between camping and luxury hotels. We found that many families will have one member of family that likes to either camp or rough it and enjoy the outdoors.  As well, another member of the family would prefer to go to a luxury hotel and have. Things like flushing toilets glamping and the geodesic domes can provide both of those. So, our plan is to make vacations easy. We are trying to make an easy family friendly vacation that's in nature and provides luxury. We chose domes because they are popular. It also provides us with an easy shell, with a lot of interior space to be creative. We have a heat pump that also has air conditioning for summer, and we have a wood burning stove in there which keeps things nice and comfortable in colder weather. As well as those items. We have other luxuries in there. We have a hot shower. We have a sink in the washroom and a fully plumbed house style toilet. We have a kitchen which is fully stocked with pans, pots, cups, plates, knives, forks, glasses. There's a fridge freezer. And a cooktop., We're also going to be providing a grill, so people can cook outside. Being there in the woods boosts immune system. It's calming, it reduces stress stimulates creative thinking, lowers heart rate, lowers cholesterol, and has proven to reduce depression, but we took it a little step further as well. We've introduced grounding mats into our beds. Since about the 1950s, when shoes started to be made with rubber soles, we've lost that ground connection.  So we did some research on that and found that there are many benefits to grounding or some people call it earthing. For example, some of these benefits are it reduces pain and inflammation. It can improve sleep, increase energy accelerate recovery and healing. And normalizes biological rhythms. To find out more about Forest Lane Domes and Experiences, go to their website, or call at (519) 216-9803.

Talking with Jenna Fitch from Kings Landing. They are having an event there called Maple, the First Taste of Spring.  Jenna will share about this event and some background of Kings Landing. Jenna:  Our Maple Event has been going on for about 40 years. Visitors can come and get a glimpse into what life in the sugarbush was like in the 1900s. The history of maple dates back many years. introduced by indigenous people in the area and then, shown to settlers as this amazing product that you can use. Very sweet, very nourishing and very energizing. We have a couple of houses open where we talk about life in the winter in the 19th century. And then we have demonstration of how they would boil that sap down to then make maple syrup and then eventually the maple candy, which is usually everybody's favorite. It is just a fun day for the family to get out, learn a little history and just mostly have some fun. Take a horse and wagon ride as well. And then we do have our pancake breakfast in support of the Luxor Shriners. Mark:  So, talk a little more then about King's Landing itself. I know that, when the dam was put in, there were a lot of homes that were going to be essentially destroyed when the water filled. And many of those homes, or some of them at least, were moved. Jenna:  Yes, it was the late 1960s. And as you mentioned, the dam construction project was sort of underway or the plans were in place and a committee came together there is a lot of history in this area that eventually would be underwater. So, they wanted to save different buildings or houses that had some type of historical significance. About 70 of these historic buildings are on our site. Some early after we opened, some in the late 1960s, and others in the 1970s. Kings Landing is now alive as a 19th century village where people can come and visit the different homes and the characters inside.  We also have the shops, including the Blacksmith, the Carpenter and the General Store, which is my favorite. We have been operating for 50 years now. July 20th was our official opening date in 1974. We will be having a celebration in the summer as well, on July 20th, to mark that. Kings Landing – The First Taste of Spring Travelogue: In the Footsteps of Joni Mitchell NB Poli Podcast CanadaLand Buy Mark a Coffee

The authority on the waterfalls of New Brunswick is Nicholas Guitard, who is an avid nature photographer, canoeist, hiker and waterfalls hound. The second tallest waterfall in the province is Fall Brook Falls, which is 108 feet high. This waterfall should not be confused with Falls Brook Falls, which is located near Edmonston. The tallest waterfall in New Brunswick is 115 feet, but in the summertime it has very little water flow in it.  Compare this with Hickory Nut Falls in Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina at 404 feet. Which is one of the highest waterfalls east of the Mississippi in the United States. I hiked up that trail along that falls a number of times when I lived there over 20 years ago. If you're driving down Highway 2 from Quebec, the best waterfall to stop and see would be Grand Falls. One reason you can see it without having to hike a trail to get there. Secondly, it's the largest waterfall in New Brunswick. Not as tall as Fall Brook, but a lot wider.  At 75 feet in height, it is still quite a significant view, if you take the trail to the base of the gorge. Guitard mentioned that Grand Falls is reported to be the largest waterfall east of Niagara Falls.  It is estimated the volume of the water that flows over Niagara Falls is over 3, 000 tons per second. Well, we don't have any waterfalls in New Brunswick that have that kind of volume, but we do have the Bay of Fundy that has the highest tides in the world twice a day. The volume of water that flows in and out of the bay in one tide change is over 160 billion tons. A park ranger once mentioned to me that it would take one year and nine months of Niagara Falls water flow just to equal the amount of water that flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy in one tidal cycle. Now that is impressive. And will be dealt with in a future podcast. If you're driving into the province from St. Stephen, you should stop and see Lepreau Falls. There's an observation deck that gives an excellent view of the falls. It's only about two miles off Highway 1, and located about halfway between St. Stephen and St. John. The waterfall is part of Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark, which is a large region in Southern New Brunswick with a geologic history going back 1 billion years. The final group of waterfalls that I want to mention is along the Fundy Trail Parkway.  The parkway is 19 miles long and has over 22 miles of hiking and biking trails. It opens on May 19th and will close for the winter on October 29th. The operating hours are from 9 a. m. to either 5 or 8 p. m., depending on the time of season. There'll be a entrance fee to get into the Parkway, but it's well worth it. The four waterfalls are:  Fuller Falls, Long Beach Brook Falls, McLeod Falls and Walton Glen Gorge Falls. The last two are in Walton Glen Gorge. The gorge has been compared to the Grand Canyon, but obviously much smaller. At over 300 feet deep and with vertical rock faces, it is an awe-inspiring scene. Oromocto River Watershed Hiking NB All Trails Guide: Waterfalls of New Brunswick Fundy Trail Parkway Waterfalls King’s Landing

An episode with Michael Sadavoy, the Director of Growth and Committee Services at the Greater Saint John Chamber of Commerce, gives a picture of some of the important things that will be happening in the city in 2024 and looking at some of the challenges that the city faces. To find out more about The Chamber and how to benefit from there services, check out their website

Ice fishing is a very popular sport in New Brunswick.  In this episode Jason Willcox will be telling about some of the locations to fish in the Fredericton/Saint John area and the type of fish that one might expect to catch.  You can contact Jason at the Minnow Tackle Shop in Fredericton. Mark J Brewer, Host

Today NB Traveler is featuring the Marigolds and Murals Project – a program that has been going on for over 20 years in Saint John – and I am interviewing Barry Ogden, the man that brought the program into existence.  Barry states: “Well, we started out with it was one garden and one school, and we're now up to about 46 schools all over Greater Saint John. And I think we've gone over 5 million marigolds now. And 10 years ago, we set the world record for the most flowers planted at one time.” When asked what the main purpose of the project was, he responded the following: Well, one of course is beautification. But another reason is to empower children - that they have the power to change, make things happen.  And another one was to use what we call cross curriculum learning, which was that they started counting the germination rates, learning about photosynthesis.  They wrote some music and they did some artwork. They did some poetry and learned more about their community, where the marigolds were. So it's what we call cross curriculum. It's hands on and academic, and it's inclusive. Every child was involved, and of course it develops pride in the child and in the community because people were saying, “My God, who planted those beautiful marigolds?” And of course, it was the children and their teachers. To obtain more information about The Marigold Project, go to their website Mark J Brewer, Host