MBTCC September Update

Happy September!

Here are 5 things you should know about what the Chamber is up to as we enter the Fall season

We Are Lighting Up the Town

This is a major initiative to redesign and install new antique lighting in place of the existing street light all done along with a new Father Christmas initiative to create a consistent theme lighting plan for the Holiday Season. It should be a vast improvement on what we have going now and greatly beautify our Town. Contributions from the Chamber, the Town and the Province are making all this possible with Karen Pinsent and the Chamber’s Beautification Committee in the lead

We are Finishing our First Nation’s Garden

We have made number of improvements to the VIC this year including new gardens and the installation of an accessible picnic bench on the site. The next step is to install an art piece in the centre of the new garden and we are awaiting the approval from Council to do so. The art piece is one of several public art initiatives we are implementing under the banner of “Quilted Mahone Bay” You can see an example at the front of The Barn.

New Visitor Information Centre Hours

Our numbers show that tourism is done this year largely due to rising costs of travel, forest fires and two weeks of steady rain in June. We have yet to return to pre-COVID visitor numbers. After Labour Day we are going to institute a three day opening plan (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) for September. We will also be open to accommodate the Scarecrow Festival .

Land Use By-laws

We continue to monitor and participate in the Land Use By Law Review. The focus of our efforts has been to increase the amount of seasonal accommodation for tourists, to encourage an overhaul of the antiquated and ineffective parking regulations, and to oppose the concentration of all commercial activity in the small area east of the Cenotaph on Main street. We have also taken a stand in opposition to any proposed noise bylaw as being largely unenforceable from a practical standpoint.

We Are Working With Other Chambers

We are joining an effort suggested by the Bridgewater Chamber to have all Chambers in the area work more closely together for the welfare of all our members. More about these plans and the benefits will be addressed in our next newsletter.

Actually, we have more than 5 things!

We Have a New Website!

And it’s spectacular. A special shout out to Board member, Michael Broley, who took the lead on this

And Some New Board members

Meg Craig and Angela Pace left the Board this summer and new members Mickey Johnson and Sylvia Jackson joined. Also joining us in an administrative role is. Hilary Scott.

All Comments Welcome,

Please write to admin@mahonebaychamber.com