Photo Ed Halverson

A unique opportunity to get comfortable with death is coming to the South Shore.

The End of Life Expo being held in Bridgewater this weekend will feature exhibitors and seminars on a range of subjects from dealing with grief to estate planning and green burials.

The Expo is being presented by the South Shore Hospice Palliative Care Society.

Chair of the Education Committee for the Society, Shelley Mann says planning for end of life is one of the most important things people can do for themselves and their loved ones.

“If you make some plans for end of life or at least if your family or people close to know what your values and your beliefs are. That helps make decisions and it helps the person whether they’ve been faced with a diagnosis or not,” said Mann.

“But it helps them know that you know my family knows what I want and it also, if someone does have a terminal diagnosis and they’ve died, it helps their family too, move forward with their grief and knowing that they did what that person wanted, the person that they loved.”

The End of Life Expo was originally planned for 2020 but like so many other things was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Part of the Hospice Palliative Care Society’s mission is to educate, and the Society has organized three talks throughout the afternoon.

The first answers what is palliative care, the second talks about anticipatory grief and the third explains death doulas.

While the three organized talks are waitlisted, the expo offers much more to learn from a multitude of exhibitors.

Mann hopes offering the opportunity to learn more about the process leading up to and following end of life will help people become more comfortable talking about something we all eventually face.

“It’s the thing that affects absolutely every single one of us whether it’s someone close to us or we face it ourselves so yeah we encourage everyone.”

The End of Life Expo runs from 1:00pm to 5:00pm Saturday April 1 at the Bridgewater Baptist Church on Glen Allen Drive.

For more information, click here to be directed to the End of Life Expo Facebook page.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Photo Ed Halverson

Following a two-year wait, the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame will finally be inducting the class of 2020.

Started in 1997, the hall is home to almost 80 prominent Nova Scotians including Carroll Baker, Rita MacNeil, George Canyon, Anne Murray, Hank Snow and Wilf Carter.

The 2020 inductees were selected just as the pandemic hit.

Hall president Roger Bleasdale says it was difficult being one of two people who knew the names of the inductees and had to keep them secret.

“Especially when I would see some of these people because we would be doing concerts [and] they might be a guest, I was at their shows or whatever, and couldn’t say anything to them,” said Bleasdale.

Three of the four inductees: Annapolis Valley singer/songwriter Ruth Manning; Cape Breton singer/songwriter Evelyn MacRae; and singer Alan Butler of Coldbrook will attend a ceremony and perform at the Bridgewater Baptist Church in September.

Well-known Halifax area singer, Ruby Daley will be inducted posthumously.

A person can be nominated for the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame in several categories including singer, songwriter, musician or builder.

Nominees must have been in the music business for 10 years and be well-known through performances or airplay and have significant achievements in the field of country music.

The induction ceremony and concert has been held for the past several years in a Truro hotel.

The event attracted an audience of 300 and would normally include a banquet, an after party and Bleasdale says many people would make a weekend of it.

Out of continued concern about COVID, organizers decide to cut down on the socializing and moved the event to Bridgewater where the facility will allow them to focus on making the ceremony and concert the best it could be.

“Beautiful, padded seats and chairs. State of the art sound system and lighting and seats 600 people. So, we’re going there this year and see how this works out,” said Bleasdale.

The 2022 event marks the 24^th ceremony for the organization.

Bleasdale says they are making plans for the 25^th anniversary where they may increase the number of nominees to make up for the lost years.

Ticket information for the September 17 induction ceremony and concert at the Bridgewater Baptist Church is available at the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame website.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.