News from the Charlotte, Sunburry, Queens County
Take advantage of the river’s Beauty
By Erin Dwyer
Rafe Hooper can’t stand the deer that eat anything green around his Hampton home.
But there is something majestic about seeing seven standing on the river bank, an eagle soaring overhead, or an osprey guarding its nest from on high as you paddle the Kennebecasis River.
Hooper, who has competitively paddled for 34 years and knows the river system like the back of his hand, believes there is none quite so impressive as the Kennebecasis which, when combined with the Hampton Marsh - recognized as one of the most fertile and productive wetland systems in New Brunswick - makes it a paddler’s dream. In addition to the wildlife you’re almost guaranteed to see such as black ducks, wood ducks, mallards, swallows, cranes, beaver, muskrats and otters, the river is tidal.
“When you go out, it’s different every time,” said Hooper.
After landing the Town of Hampton’s call for proposals earlier this year, Hooper is opening Osprey Adventures, a canoe and kayak outfitting business, on Saturday. The rental shop will be located on the lower level of the town’s Lighthouse Park River Centre, which officially opens that day as well.
Hooper will have some 25 kayaks and close to 20 canoes for rentals. People can rent a boat for half a day at $30 or a full day (from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.) for $50. The rental comes with all the safety gear, including a life jacket, an aerial photograph of the river system with areas of interest highlighted, and instruction.
He’s also acquiring a 26- foot-long Voyageur Canoe, which will accommodate 10 paddlers, including a guide, and could be used for staff parties or team- building events.
Hooper, who’s been paddling since he was about 14, said he hopes people will discover and appreciate the river system like he does.
“We always had canoes when we were growing up,” said Hooper, son of artists Kathy and the late John Hooper.
“This has been my training ground and my passion forever. I think the river system here is too good to be true.”
In fact, Hooper has a new appreciation for the Kennebecasis River, on which he spent hours training for competitions. At least five times a week, he was out on the river, working to become better and faster. But now he paddles it with an awareness of the surroundings.
“I look at it a bit different now,” he said. “When you see seven deer on the shoreline, it’s quite something.”
Hooper hopes his business will make people more aware of the natural assets in and around Hampton, will teach people how to use the river properly, and give them a greater appreciation of the environment. For example, paddlers who bring back five pieces of litter they’ve scooped out of the river or found on the riverbanks will get a 10-per-cent discount off their next rental or guided tour.
The outfitting business, which will employ four outdoor enthusiasts, will open on Saturday at 1 p.m., coinciding with the ribbon cutting of the new river centre. On that day, Hooper will be donating all rental fees to underprivileged children.
Français: Rafe Hooper espère que son entreprise sensibilisera les gens davantage sur les atouts naturels de Hampton et des environs.
Billiards business
Bob Hargrove managed to turn his lifelong love for billiards into a business.
And now the Saint John man, who was inducted into the Saint John Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, has opened a new retail site for Ideal Amusements Ltd.
The site, located at 77 Golden Grove Rd. in Ganong Plaza, has a showroom displaying poker and pool tables as well as dart and poker supplies.
“I needed a place to properly showcase the pool tables,” said Hargrove, who has served as the head referee for Cue Sports in Canada, is the only professional snooker referee in North America and has represented Canada at two World Amateur Snooker Championships.
Hargrove purchased Ideal Amusements Ltd., originally a billiards parlour on Charlotte Street in the uptown, back in the 1970s after being introduced to the sport when he was 16.
“Ten to 12 years after I started going there, I owned it,” he said.
By the 1980s, he turned it into a retail business, selling billiards products. In recent years, he’s watched the business grow along with a developing trend.
“The home market for the pool end of it is even larger and bigger than the commercial market,” he said.
“People are staying home for their entertainment now.”
But as the business grew, he found his former location on the West Side was too small to properly display the different tables.
“People like to put their hands on the things they want to buy,” he said.
Hargrove said pool tables are much more than recreational. They are also furniture, available in a dozen different types of wood -- from mahogany and oak to maple -- and four different grades of pool table cloth available in dozens of colours.
The products he carries can be viewed on his website at www.
idealamusements.com.
“Pool has a very integral part of my life for a very long time,” Hargrove said. “It’s a real plus when you can work at something you love doing.”
Français: Bob Hargrove a transformé sa passion pour les billards en une nouvelle entreprise au Plaza Ganong.
New Brunswick Real Estate Association Reports
Provincial MLS real estate sales totalled $119,092,688 in April, up nine per cent from April last year, the New Brunswick Real Estate Association reports. Across Canada, the total dropped 3.9 per cent comparing the same two months. New Brunswick residential sales totalled $112,712,658 in April, up 13 per cent from April 2007.
The number of residential properties changing hands through the MLS in New Brunswick reached 756 in April, up five per cent from April 2007. The number of active listings, 4,658, hardly changed from April 2007. The average residential MLS price reached $149,091, seven per cent more than in April 2007.
Prices ranged from $159,469 in Fredericton to $158,956 in Saint John, and $140,472 in Moncton to $75,931 in northern New Brunswick.
Français: Les ventes immobilières provinciales ont atteint 119 092 688 $ en avril, une augmentation de neuf pour cent comparativement à avril de l’an dernier.
Work continues to reopen mine
A British company will help refine the technology to resume operations at a dormant Charlotte County mine.
Adex Mining Inc. (TSXV: ADE) of Toronto company announced a contract with SGS Lakefield Research Europe Ltd. of Cornwall, U.K., to develop a gravityflotation process to separate tungsten, molybdenum, tin and indium at the Mount Pleasant Mine. The initial bench scale test program is scheduled for completion this year. A continuous pilot scale program could follow immediately. A second rig arrived to begin drilling for base metals at the mine site in May.
Français: Une entreprise britannique aidera à perfectionner la technologie nécessaire pour relancer les opérations à la mine du comté de Charlotte.
Charities will benefit
The Fredericton Sexual Assault Crisis Centre will benefit from free professional advice on its communications strategy. The Atlantic regional firm Bristol closed for regular business from noon one day until noon the next for its sixth annual FreeThink, devoting its full resources to provide marketing and communications expertise to selected non-profit groups for 24 hours. Bristol’s offices in Moncton, Saint John, Halifax and St. John’s joined the effort. The client in New Brunswick is the Provincial Strategy on Sexual Assault (Fredericton Sexual Assault Crisis Centre). In Nova Scotia it was the The Terry Fox Foundation, in Newfoundland and Labrador the St. John’s Folk Arts Council. Bristol’s Pan-Atlantic Charity was the Allergy Asthma Information Association.
Français: Le Centre de crise pour agression sexuelle de Fredericton bénéficiera de conseils professionnels gratuits relativement à sa stratégie de communication.
Assay results released
New assay results at the Mount Pleasant Mine in Charlotte County uncovered a pleasant surprise for Adex Mining Inc. (TSXV: ADE). Results from the first two holes of the 2008 diamond drilling program showed tin-indium-zinccopper mineralization in the property’s North Zone with a grade and width comparable to the Fire Tower Zone, but closer to the surface, the junior mining company based in Toronto reported.
“This is very exciting, as it may indicate the presence of previously unknown tungsten-molybdenum deposits in the NZ,” Kabir Ahmed, president and chief executive officer of Adex, said in a news release. The company will use the 2008 drill results to upgrade its estimates of the ore at Mount Pleasant.
Français: De nouveaux résultats à la mine Pleasant du comté Charlotte se sont avérés très agréables pour Adex Mining Inc.
Foundation invests
Inversa Systems of Fredericton hopes to soon market new technology to look inside solid objects without destroying them.
Jake Arseneault developed the process, which works similar to X-ray or CT scan machines, while working on his doctoral degree at the University of New Brunswick.
This patented technology is currently limited to industrial applications.
The company will use a $500,000 equity investment from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, plus $650 thousand from private investors and federal agencies, to take the process to petrochemical refineries and power generation facilities. Further development could take it to other areas including border, port and airport security. The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation first took an interest in this company in 2004 with a $10,000 Student Entrepreneurship Prize.
Français: Inversa Systems de Fredericton espère faire la mise en marché d’une nouvelle technologie qui permettrait de regarder à l’intérieur des objets solides sans les détruire.
Company donates trees
Woodlot owners in northwest New Brunswick will benefit from 125,000 trees compliments of J. D. Irving, Limited.
The company donated the seedlings to the Madawaska Forest Products Marketing Board this year.
“This donation of 125,000 seedlings to a valued partner in the wood supply is a smart investment in the future of this region,” said Alain Ouellette, J.D. Irving, Limited regional manager of northern N.B. region. The marketing board appreciates the trees, said Claude Pelletier, the board’s manager. “We have a history of planting trees here in Madawaska. Our members have planted over 16 million trees since 1963,” said Pelletier. The Madawaska marketing board, representing 2,215 woodlot owners, has the highest ratio of silviculture activity in the province. Twenty per cent of the 250,000 acres of free hold land is managed with intensive silviculture treatments like tree planting and pre-commercial thinning.
J.D. Irving, Limited has planted more than 745 million trees over 50 years.
Français: Les propriétaires de lots boisés du Nord-Ouest du NB bénéficieront de 125 000 semis d’arbres grâce à J.D. Irving Limited.
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