Mahone Bay Old School_A Life and Times_Bob Sayer

The Author
Note From The Author
This is, deliberately, a “show and tell” history. It’s full of pictures of people,
places, and documents that accompany and illustrate the facts. It’s full of
oral history: quoting letters, personal journals and newspapers that I read,
and stories that were told.
It’s been a labour of love! Over the past two years of researching and writing,
I have met and interviewed many [I lost count at fifty] one-time students
and teachers who shared with me their memories and information about a
school and community they deeply cared for.
Bob Sayer and his wife Trish have lived
in Mahone Bay since 1973. Their three
children, Tracey, Steven and Louise, all
attended ‘The Old School’.
The Sayers emigrated from England to
Lockeport, N.S., in 1968. Bob has been a
social studies teacher in Lockeport and
Halifax, and a school administrator in
New Ross, Lunenburg and Hebbville.
He did postgraduate work in history at
Dalhousie University. Since retirement
he has been a movie reviewer for CKBW
and Lunenburg and King’s County
newspapers.
Bob has had a life-long passionate affair with the game of soccer as a player,
referee, coach and administrator. As vice-president of the Canadian Soccer
Association for six years, he travelled all over the world with various national
teams. He is known on the South Shore as “Soccer Bob”. He has been
bestowed Life Membership of the South Shore District Soccer Association,
Soccer Nova Scotia and the Canadian Soccer Association. Bob is an inductee
of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame He has been board chairperson of
Harbour House, a local women’s shelter, and is an active member of the Mahone
Bay Centre Society.
Bob and Trish are proud of their citizenship of Canada and Mahone Bay.
A number of key personal contributors have died. I hope I have done justice
to Hope Hyson, Lucille Joudrey [Anderssen] and Johnny Whynott. I so enjoyed
their company.
With Hope Hyson [Bustin] and her friends, I celebrated her 103rd birthday.
I managed to visit Bea Hirtle in St. Petersburg, Florida and Ulrica Strum
[Davis] in St. Catherine’s, Ontario.
I take full responsibility for omissions and errors. In a work of this nature,
they have to exist.
There are folks that I have to thank:
• Bob Douglas: for first phoning me to ask if I’d be interested in the project.
He and the board of the Mahone Bay Centre have been totally supportive.
Ted Hobson was been particularly patient and persevering in preparing the
book, acting as editor, fundraiser and cheerleader.
• Bobby Mader and George Silver: for being constantly available to, literally,
guide me to the forgotten corners and secret spots of the town, and explaining
how old Mahone functioned.
• Bill Snyder: for being a constant source of technical help with computers,
for his knowledge of every corner of the old building, for his encouragement
in moments of exasperation. He was a key initiator of this project.
• For all those, too many to mention for fear of leaving out a name or two,
who shared their memories and loaned me treasures from family albums
and scrapbooks.
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