Introduction

I had a great summer, even though the weather was not the best, at least not until September. We had July weather finally in September there until the last week when it turned colder. Then we actually had the ground covered in snow my last week out there. For this it is good to back in Nova Scotia where there is no snow yet, and I hope we will not have any for awhile yet.

I have been going out to the Prince Albert National Park for the last six years now and every year just keeps getting better. This year I actually won the little fishing competition they hold, I won it with a 10 lb Northern Pike. Like I mentioned before I got up to Grey Owl's cabin this summer plus went on the trail ride into the buffalo fields. The last couple of months this season I met a nice gentleman, who is a park worker and he in turned introduced me to several other wonderful people working in the park. He also introduced me to the jam sessions that are held every Tuesday evening there and they have become a regular event for me. I can see it is going to be an exciting year next year there.

But summer is over and it is time for me to settle into the winter in Nova Scotia. I have big plans for my website this winter; there is just so much information still to be added to it. I am really excited to add more of the "Adventure Tourism" packages being offered throughout the valley now. They all sound so interesting, and what a great idea, you do not just see what we have to offer, you get to experience it! Unfortunately I will have to wait a bit longer before I start working on this stuff as I have to have a small surgery next week and will have a bit of a recovery time after. But I do not expect this to keep me down for long and I will be adding new pages very soon to my site. Thank you all for your patience this summer, I will make it all up this winter.

Upcoming Events

• The Pumpkin people are here!! Yes if you get a chance you should go to Kentville and see all the displays of pumpkin people around the town. This event just keeps getting bigger every year. The theme this year is the Olympics and there are displays of sporting events and even the Olympic flame to view. Just remember that the Pumpkin People are only out until the end of October.

• Pumpkin Festival - Along with the pumpkin people in Kentville both Kings and Hants counties hold events during the whole month of October to celebrate the harvest and pumpkin time. There are too many events to list them all here but if you check out the official Pumpkin Website you will find a list of events and timings still being held.

• Write A Play - Kings Theatre in Annapolis Royal is offering a great opportunity to anyone who has ever thought about writing their own play. The theatre is accepting 10 minute plays which could be featured in their 2010 version of King's Shorts scheduled for June 18-20, 2010. This is open to anyone and the scripts will be reviewed with 8 finalist selected. Scripts have to be submitted by January 8, 2010 to the theatre. For more information visit their website by clicking here.

• Pumpkin Hollow - There is still some time to visit the new fall adventure experience at Pumpkin Hollow located in Wilmot. They offer several mazes to try; wagon rides or walks through the U-pick pumpkin patch. The last week of October they have a special treat as they open up their "Trick or Treating Maze" and a "Haunted Maze". Located at 13842 Highway 1 just east of Middleton. There is a small entry fee and family passes are available.

• Garden Jack-O-Lanterns - The Historic Gardens in Annapolis Royal will be decorated with a wide selection of carved pumpkins on Halloween Eve. These Jack-O-Lanterns were generated through the Great Jack-O-Lantern Challenge Family Event. On the same evening the gardens will also host a Halloween Eve Celebration from 7 - 9 pm. For more details check out their website - The Historic Gardens

• Family Halloween Hunt - Kentville Fire Hall. This event is put on by the Town of Kentville and will have lots of Halloween fun for everyone between 3 - 5 pm on Saturday, October 31. For more information see a schedule of events by clicking The Family Halloween Hunt.

These are just a small part of what is happening this season in the valley. Please check my Annapolis Events page; your local papers or the AVR radio station to find out about all the other ways you can experience the events in the Annapolis Valley.

News From The Valley

• The Wildlife Park in Annapolis Royal is closed for good! That is right, I just found out about it myself last week, the park is closed and the animals are being moved to new homes. In a news release from NovaNewsnow.com the parks general manager Gregg Gaul informs us the property will be redeveloped into "something new and exciting", but the word is not out yet on what that will be. He does mention that the development could be up and running on a small scale by the fall of 2010. While I am excited to learn what the new adventure will be; I am also very sad to see the animal park closed for good. I remember well when the park first opened it's doors and I have made it a point to visit it every year so I watched it grow and blossom to become a very well established attraction for the area.

• Grand Pre has a new archeology exhibit! As anyone who has visited the National Historic Site in the last 10 years knows there has been on-going digs going on by The Field School project. They have been working on two sites; the first is located just east of the Memorial Church where they discovered a stone lined cellar and the other dig is located by the bust of Longfellow and Herbin's Cross. As a result of the combined efforts of Parks Canada, Saint Mary's University and the Societe Promotion Grand Pre a new exhibit will be set up in the park displaying several of the artifacts they have discovered at the digs. This should prove to be very interesting as these are items found right on the park and will help show what life had been like for both the Acadians and the New England Planters.

• Digby visited by the cruise ship "Balmoral"! - On the morning of October 15th at approximately 10 am the cruise ship "Balmoral" sailed through the Digby Gut with 1,200 passengers aboard. The passengers from this ship came ashore and enjoyed several shore excursions including a trip to Bear River's First Nations Heritage Center and a bus trip to Annapolis Royal. The cruise ship only stayed a day, leaving port around 6 pm, but this is a big boost for this area. Let's hope we see more of these cruise ships making Digby a regular stop.

• Digby - Saint John Ferry is still not out of the woods, we can still loose this valuable service to our area. A deal was only made between the Government and both provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to keep the ferry running until Jan 2011. During this time it was hoped a solution to the high cost of running the ferry vs. the importance of this service could be reached. It is up to us to help prove to our local MLA's how valuable this service is and how much stands to be lost if the service is closed down. One way to show your support is to write a letter to our local MLA West Nova MP Greg Kerr at 223 Water Street, Yarmouth, NS, B5A 1M1 or call toll free 1 866 280 5302. You may also send an email at KerrGla@parl.gc.ca.

That is just a little of what has been happening in the Annapolis Valley this past month. I will keep you updated on these and other issues as I hear of them.

Updates & Changes to Annapolis-Valley-Vacation.com

Some of the new pages I plan to work on this winter include lots more on the new idea of "Adventure Tourism". People are no longer just content with visiting a site and looking, they want to get involved and here in the valley we have seen this and are coming up with new ideas all the time of making your vacation here a memorial one. This new concept includes everything from Geocaching; interpretive walking tours; learning and actually making the different crafts from our area; taking part and actually working at different aspects on a farm or on a fishing vessel and much, much more. I plan to donate several pages on my website where you can learn what we have to offer and what types of adventures you can expect to participate in during your visit to our valley.

I need to again update my list of interesting walking, hiking and biking trails we have here in the valley; as I see there are new ones being opened up all the time. More and more these days people want to get out and reap the benefits of a good walk, hike or bike and they are always looking for new places to explore.

I have a growing list of new museums, recreation sites and heritage sites that need to be added to my already large list. I also have to work on making up the pages I am missing for the ones I already have.

I also plan to add more information about the many different festivals we hold every year in the Annapolis Valley. I started this last winter but ran out of time, so I hope to add more pages this year.

I want to add information on the many towns and communities located in the Annapolis Valley. I plan to give you a little bit on their history plus inform you what they are like now and what they have to offer. I also plan to add maps showing both how to get to these communities and where interesting sites are located in the community.

I also have received several requests from local businesses to advertise on my website and I want to work on this as it would benefit both the local people in the area along with the visitors.

So, even though I have not accomplished very much new lately on my web site I think I am going to have a very busy winter working on it. I am excited about all the new information I have to add and look forward to sharing this information with all of you.

I want to take the time right now to thank each and every one of you for your support and patience. Even though I have not had a chance to work on new things for the site in a bit, the site still continues to grow; I am receiving double the amount of viewers as I did only a few months ago. This is thanks to you who have found my site and found it interesting enough to keep coming back, and to those who subscribe to this Ezine.

I hope you have found something interesting or informative in this issue of Annapolis Valley Updates. If you have any comments, Ideas, or other feedback I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this Ezine and tell me what you think!

Until next month, have fun, live good and love hard!