Lorna MacPherson, president of the Liverpool Curling Club. (Rick Conrad photo)

For local curling fans, Saturday afternoon could be one of the most wonderful times of the year.

The Liverpool Curling Club has invited hometown curling hero Jill Brothers to help them celebrate Curling Day in Nova Scotia.

Brothers, who is from Liverpool, is the third on Christina Black’s Nova Scotia team that finished second to Rachel Homan at the Canadian Olympic curling trials in Halifax last weekend.

“Our club opted to combine some curling fun. Two fun scrambles and a potluck supper but very importantly, we want to celebrate and honour Jill Brothers, our hometown curler, who we are very proud of,” Lorna MacPherson, president of the Liverpool Curling Club, said in an interview.

“Jill is going to be here and will be curling and is going to be here with her family so we’re really pleased that she’s been able to join us.”

MacPherson says the club is planning a couple of scrambles, which involve a few ends of curling just for fun. Brothers plans to participate in that, before being honoured by the club later in the afternoon. They’ll highlight Brothers’s early playing days in Liverpool and her most recent success.

“She has continued on now for two decades, having that variety of successes, both provincially and nationally,” MacPherson says, “and she was on a team that competed at the worlds. So it really gave us an opportunity to thank her for all that she has done for curling and just to tell her how much we appreciate her successes.”

MacPherson said Brothers is an inspiration to young local curlers. The 2004 Canadian women’s junior champion has been to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts eight times in her career, as a skip and in other positions. Last year, she and Team Black won bronze.

Brothers also works full time as the technical director for the Nova Scotia Curling Association.

“She’s very approachable with all ages young and and the more mature curlers in our curling club,” MacPherson says. “And particularly last week the success that Team Black had and how they demonstrated not only how to win with grace and enthusiasm, but also how to accept the losses and I think she’s just a great role model for our young people here in our community.

“Jill is just a great example of curling etiquette, enthusiasm and attitude.”

MacPherson says the celebration on Saturday is all about fun, and introducing new people to the club and to the sport.

“We really want to welcome people in our community to come into the curling club, particularly those that aren’t familiar with curling or maybe haven’t been in the curling club. If you want to curl, we can set you up with some gear and have people help you out on the ice or if you just want to watch, so it really is about celebrating all aspects of curling.”

Curling Day in Nova Scotia at the Liverpool Curling Club, featuring Jill Brothers, starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The special presentation honouring Jill Brothers is scheduled for 3:30. For more information, check the club’s Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Future site of proposed Co-op housing along Trestle Trail. Photo Ed Halverson

Work has started to bring 26 units of affordable housing to Liverpool.

Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd, an offshoot of the Queens Care Society has been busy making plans over the past year to realize the dream of building some of the first Co-op housing in Nova Scotia in 30 years.

Earl Mielke with Inclusive Homes Consulting is an independent consultant working with the group to help guide them along the way.

At an expected cost of $6 million Mielke says the development effort will require funding from several sources and the cooperation of different levels of governments and other agencies.

“It will take substantial government funding to make this work. Thankfully for us we also have the Region on board and the Region are being very generous with their contributions as well,” said Mielke. “So, it’s a true partnership, municipal, provincial and federal. That is the only way it can work.”

One of the directors on the cooperative board Lorna MacPherson says Queens MLA Kim Masland and the province have offered tremendous support for their effort and the Region of Queens is all in on trying to get the development off the ground.

In November, Region of Queens Council approved selling four adjoining lots between Lawrence and Amherst streets and Trestle Trail and the Queens Street Extension to the Co-op group for one dollar.

The municipality also just approved $203,000 in the 2023-24 budget for the group to complete predevelopment work on the site. That work will include project management and engineering fees, the cost for architectural drawings and a landscape architect as well as initial site clearing, road access excavation and test pits.

MacPherson says the need for more affordable housing is obvious and everyone involved with the Co-op housing development is driven to make it a reality as soon as possible.

“We’ve been working for probably 10 or 11 months,” said MacPherson. “We had to get incorporated as an organization. People have really rolled up their sleeves, and the success that we’ve had to date is just because we’ve had tremendous cooperation.”

The preliminary design calls for the construction of two buildings.

As a co-op, the units would be owned by members who would be empowered to make decisions about the upkeep or improvements of their units through a democratically elected board of directors.

Traditionally in a private home the owner would build equity which they would receive when they eventually sell the house. In the co-op model, members will not build equity in their unit.

Instead that equity will be used to leverage the construction of more units and to pay off the development over a longer mortgage period, between 40 and 50 years, keeping the units affordable.

As one occupant leaves, the next occupant won’t be faced with a massive increase in housing costs.

MacPherson says the co-op will focus on seniors but aims to be inclusive and diverse.

She expects the group will be breaking ground on the new development in early spring of 2024.

MacPherson says the Co-op group will be bringing the design plans to the South Shore Seniors Expo being held at the Liverpool Best Western from 1:00pm – 3:00pm on Thursday May 25 for anyone wishing to get a sneak peek.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

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