News Highlights for Southwest New Brunswick: August 4-11, 2020

The 8th annual Campobello Fogfest took place last week and over the weekend. Musicians from across the Maritimes played the free music and culture festival, although it looked a little different this year due to social distancing regulations. Friday night featured a drive-in concert at Herring Cove Beach with musicians Cassidy Cook, Shawn Richard and Off the Cuff. Spectators watched the stage from parking spots, some sitting in portal chairs on the back of pickup trucks, while some watched from the beach and even from boats. While the look of the festival may have been different than in years past, participating musicians were thrilled to have the opportunity to play to an audience once again after months of cancelled shows and festivals. 

"It was exciting to play in front of an audience after months of being at home," said musician Shawn Richard of St. Stephen.

Honeydale's John Gardner is seeking the Liberal Party nomination for the riding of St. Croix for the upcoming by-election. "People know where I'm from and what I represent," said Gardener in St. Andrews this week.

Although Karen Ludwig originally won the nomination for riding, she stepped down in May to accept a position with Yorkville University in Fredericton after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the byelection. Two byelections, one in St. Croix and one in Shediac Bay-Dieppe, still need to take place in New Brunswick at least 30 days before the start of new fall sitting of the legislature. Liberal Liberal Kevin Vickers is running for the seat in Shediac Bay-Dieppe, which he is projected to win. If Gardner wins the nomination and goes on to win the St. Croix riding for the Liberals, that could shift the power away from the Conservatives force a general election.

A great white shark was spotted near Saint Andrews over the weekend. After taking their boat to Hardwood Island, Kelly Pendleton and her husband Kingsley spotted a shark fin in the Bay of Fundy near St. Andrews on their way back home to Deer Island. The couple stopped their boat to capture the shark on video as he circled and swam under the boat. Great whites are known to swim near boats but do not prey on human and rarely attack. Although the shark was not tagged, a shark researcher from Massachusetts at MA Sharks has since informed the couple that based on their footage, the shark is indeed a great white and is at least 18-20 feet long and most likely between 70 and 80 years old.