Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

old Mitchener home]. ‘His home …was on the corner of the road [now no 75
Clairmont St.] leading to the entrance to the Parade Grounds-Band stand, Ball
park, [Hockey Rink] etc’ The bandstand was located near this entrance to the
Parade Grounds.
Courtesy: Settlers Museum
[Back to the other side of Main Street-the next five businesses all occupied
what is now the Save Easy Grocery Store and parking lot]
Warren Eisenhauer was carpenter, construction boss of the new school,
and later ship-builder. His workshop/storage area [photo above] still stands
on Clairmont. Warren became a school board member and his son became
mayor.
• Warren Eisenhauer had the key role of supervising the construction of the
new school.
• ‘Then the Spine Cup [the Spion Kop, named after a victory in the Boer War.]
It was located on a hill where, after much excavation, the Town Fire Hall now
stands]…for many years there was a large cannon on its top. We boy scouts would
go up by the Cannon and cook meals. What cooks! We wanted to warm a can of
peas. So we put it in the fire. And in a few minutes the can exploded. So we picked
some blueberries….’ [Some things never change!]
• The photo, above right shows the canon and the fine view that was available
from the Spion Kop. The Pond, the Inglis Store [on the left], and, either
side of the bridge, Reg Hyson’s Store and the tall Wagner’s Repairs, are clearly
seen. So are the spires of the three churches by the sea. The Presbyterian
[later United] Church still had its spire.
The Westhaver’s Perfect Spray and Duster Shop, and Oar and Block Works
• ‘Next [after Roggie Langille’s] a shop run by Robert Westhaver of the Oar and
Block Works. He invented the Perfect Spray and Duster machine.’ [The Halifax
Herald, Thursday September 24th 1925, page 5 wrote ‘…spray and dusting
machine, used by fruit growers…is the only business of its kind east of
Ontario..the brand name is “Perfect.”….The most recent development is the
adaption of the new spray blower…to the tractor…Another invention is a
portable elevator…for lifting barrels of apples…Mr. Westhaver’s machines
have been sent to South Africa, Australia, The West Indies and Florida.’
• ‘Next his dad’s Oar and Block Plant. This was an excellent factory. Danny Langille….
was an expert craftsman.’
• The Oar and Block Works was a major producer with a fine reputation. In
‘Sawpower’, a major study of the industry in the province, the author B.R.
Robertson, wrote [page 127], ‘ by 1911 they manufactured dory oars, ship’s
blocks and deadeyes’ [for the uninitiated, blocks are the wooden shells that
hold the pulleys used in a ship’s rigging, and deadeyes are the pierced round
or tear drop shaped pieces of wood used to tie off the shrouds and standing
lines that do not move] ..at the Nova Scotia Oar and Block Company.
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