Swallowtail Lighthouse Restored

After facing 163-years of strong winds, torrential storms and coastal weather, the legendary Swallowtail Lighthouse, known as the gateway to Grand Manan, has emerged from a summer and fall of restoration work to stand tall for at least another century. The Coast Guard was on the island Tuesday morning to remove the final pieces of scaffolding from the lighthouse, scaffolding that has surrounded the iconic beacon since this summer when restoration work began.

Led by the Swallowtail Keepers Society, the restoration of Grand Manan's world-famous lighthouse has been a massive undertaking. It's the epitome of a community effort with financial contributions from all three levels of govenrment, community groups, citizens and local businesses as well as a spring telethon on CHCO TV. Despite raising nearly half a million dollars for the project, the keepers society discovered new and costly challenges during the restoration process, such as the need to address water damage and rot.

The unexpected hurdles elevated the project cost to $573,000, nearly $100,000 more than anticipated. Yet, a resilient community spirit prevailed and even more financial pledges came in to bring the Swallowtail restoration project across the finish line.

Sean Dunbar of Picaroons, who kicked off the fundraising campaign for the lighthouse last year with a $5000 donation offered to give the final $6000 towards Swallowtail. For Dunbar, helping preserve the best that New Brunswick has to offer and being a part of the latest chapter in Swallowtail's story is a no-brainer.

For those unable to witness Swallowtail's unveiling this fall, there will be a Grand Re-opening Ceremony for the lighthouse in the spring to kickoff the summer tourism season for the island. For those on Grand Manan, Swallowtail Lighthouse stands tall for generations to come—-a testament to community resilience.

Southwest New Brunswick to get one more RCMP officer

New Brunswick RCMP have unveiled their plans to add 51 new frontline policing positions across the province over the next two years. These additions come as part of a $20.5 million funding boost outlined in the recent provincial budget. The Southwest New Brunswick Regional Service Commission, known as RSC-10, will receive one new officer to cover communities, including Blacks Harbour, Campobello Island, Grand Manan, Harvey, McAdam, Saint Andrews, St. George, and St. Stephen. The RCMP emphasized that factors like population, geographical coverage, workload, and crime severity were used to determine where new officers would go, aiming for more consistent police-to-population and police-to-kilometer ratios across commissions. Despite only growing by one officer, Southwest NB has one of the highest officer to population ratios.

Santa's Helpers gets funding from Tim Hortons campaign

Finally, Smile Cookies are back for the holidays at Tim Hortons until November 19th, and if you buy them at the St. Andrews and St. Stephen Tim Hortons locations, the proceeds will be split between two important charities: Tim Hortons Summer Camp and Santa's Helpers telethon on CHCO-TV. Having half of the proceeds from the Smile Cookie campaign will be a huge boost to the telethon which airs live on CHCO-TV on Sunday, November 26, from 2pm to 5pm. Santa's Helpers helps Charlotte County families have a Christmas during the holidays.