Every five years Port Morien welcomes all present and former residents to return to the village to renew old acquaintances and relive memories of growing up in this little village.
The event is called Morien Memories and it’s a few days of fun-filled activities designed to bring people together to celebrate community life in Port Morien, both past and present.
This year’s Morien Memories events fell victim to COVID-19, but there are plans to return in 2021.
Every Morien Memories celebration has included an event that celebrates community history and heritage. We’ve had a slide show, a 50th anniversary celebration of Gowrie School with a commemorative book, a book honouring local veterans, a genealogy fair and storytelling events.
In 1995, we produced a video called “A Day in the Life of Port Morien.” The idea was to select a day to go through the village from the early hours of the morning until late evening to capture on video as many people and events as we could.
We hoped it would be a snapshot of everyday village life for the benefit of posterity. It would also serve as a milepost, as such, that would show how the village has evolved over the years.
The first step was to put together a team equipped with home video cameras that would fan out throughout the village on the chosen day. Seven volunteers, all present or past residents, offered to participate.
We set the date as June 2.
Next, we needed access to professional editing services. We approached Lawrence Clarke at Seaside Cable. He was the program director for Channel 10, and he never hesitated. He was on board from the initial request.
The committee produced a list of activities that should be covered on that day. We included visits to the school, the store and seniors’ residence, the local dairy farm, wharf activity and hauling traps aboard a lobster boat. Random events would be covered as well. Contacts were made and each member took on an assignment.
After the raw footage was shot, music was next, and the committee contacted local musicians who agreed to participate. Some performed original songs. We even accessed and included recordings from a 1970 Port Morien song contest.
The day went off without a hitch. Weather was an issue early on, but that improved as the day went on. At the end of the day, we had hours of footage from five video cameras. All of that had to be condensed into about 30 minutes of video.
Clarke and a few members from the committee spent many hours over several days at the Seaside studio parsing through raw footage and assembling a chronological storyline.
The result was a 35-minute production that captured the essence of the day.
The 25th anniversary of the video was just a few weeks ago. The video affords us the opportunity to recognize how the village has changed and how it has remained the same. It also stimulates fond memories of the many people who have passed away.
In 1995, we had a community school, two resident clergy, Hopper’s store, an active baseball and softball program for all ages, and our resident doctor, Dr. Khalifa. All of this is gone.
However, on the positive side, the lobster fishery is doing well and there have been infrastructure improvements such as a village square, heritage panels and lighting, a beach stairway, and much more.
Community spirit lives on in Port Morien.
In balance, I think that many of the changes are endemic to most small rural communities. Smaller families, economic conditions, a changing society and outmigration are all contributing factors.
All of that being said, we did capture a moment in time on that pleasant spring day in June 1995.
Ken MacDonald is a retired school teacher and administrator, and a community volunteer. His family can be traced back seven generations in Port Morien, where he has lived almost all his life.
