Nova Scotia Reunion

View pictures from the reunion by clicking on the arrows at the center-right and center-left of the photo. You can select a single picture by clicking on "Pictures" in the upper-right corner. These photos were taken by Carey Haskell, Dick Haskell and Tom Haskell.

Group photo taken by Bill Curry at the Port Maitland—Beaver River Cemetery.

Wilfred Allan standing behind the gravestone of Mary (Haskell) Brown, daughter of William Haskell and Marcy Trask, the first Haskell planters who came to Yarmouth from Beverly, MA in 1763 .

Wilfred Allan talking to the group in Frost Park Cemetery across Main Street from the hotel .

One of the old homes in Yarmouth with an observation tower for sighting returning ships.

Veronica and Terry Taylor stayed in this B&B, another old Yarmouth home .

Pam Mood, Mayor of Yarmouth welcomes us at the Friday night dinner at Rudders restaurant.

Carey Haskell (left) recognizes David "Wiskers" Haskell, who gave his granddaughter, Zoie, a HFA Housecarl membership for her birthday.

Merv Stevens telling Haskell Stories after dinner at Rudders on Friday night.

Clockwise from lower-left: Steve Kleinstuber, John Kleinstuber, David "Wiskers" Haskell, Douglas Haskell, Zoie Haskell, Penny Allen, Barbara Frick, Loretta Haskell, and Carey Haskell.

Clockwise from lower-left: Phil Haskell, Edie Haskell, Wilfred Allan, Terry Taylor, Veronica Taylor, Letty Snethen, Richard Snethan, and Rosine Mazzaglia.

Left-to-right: Wilfred Allan, Terry Taylor, and Veronica Taylor.

Left-to-right: Margaret Fearon, Elizabeth Landers, Marlene Haskell, Tom Haskell, Andrew Landers, Noreen Landers, Ashley Landers, and Julia LeBlanc.

Left-to-right: Ira LeBlanc, Greg LeBlanc, Meredith LeBlanc, Evelyn Landers, Peter Landers, Kayleigh Landers, Debbie Landers, Joan Smith, and Clifford Smith.

Left-to-right: Richard Hascall, Dianne Hascall, Andy Turner, Judy Hughes, Geri Stevens, Merv Stevens, Robert Haskell, and Kathy Haskell.

Elizabeth Landers telling Haskell Stories after dinner at Rudders on Friday night.

Richard Snethen telling Haskell Stories after dinner at Rudders on Friday night.

The courtroom at the Argyle Township Court House and Gaol in the small village of Tusket.

Richard Snethen and his daughter, Letty, on Haskell Street in Yarmouth.

Tom Haskell with Veronica and Terry Taylor on Haskell Street in Yarmouth.

The Housecarls on Haskell Street in Yarmouth: L-R, Penny Allan , Zoie Haskell, Douglas Haskell, Barbara Ficke, and David "Wiskers" Haskell.

The Cape Forchu Lightstation in Yarmouth harbor.

Left-to-right: Wilfred Allan, Andy Turner, Steve Kleinstuber, Joan and Clifford Smith, Edie Haskell, John Kleinstuber.

Clifford and Joan Smith at the Cape Forchu Lightstation.

Left-to-right: Tom Haskell, Carey Haskell, Marlene Haskell, Joan Smith, and Edie Haskell.

Saturday luncheon at the old Sandford Wesleyan Church, now the site of the T&W Catering Banquet Hall.

George Snow presents the Order of Good Cheer certificate to David "Wiskers" Haskell.

George Snow presents the Order of Good Cheer certificate to Merv and Geri Stevens.

George Snow presents the Order of Good Cheer certificate to Phil Haskell.

Wilfred Allan atop the world's smallest operating drawbridge in Sandford, Nova Scotia.

Left-to-right: Edie Haskell, Letty Snethen, Geri Stevens, Diane Hascall, and Marlene Haskell.

Bill Curry describing some of the Haskells who are buried in this Port Maitland - Beaver River Cemetery.

Visiting the Old Beaver River Founders Cemetery in Port Maitland.

Bill Curry describing the Old Stones project at the Old Beaver River Founders Cemetery in Port Maitland.

Edie Haskell at the Port Maitland beach.

Richard Hascall examines some of the display items at the Legion Hall in Port Maitland before the lobster boil.

The Legion Hall in Port Maitland, site of the Saturday night lobster boil.

Marlene and Tom Haskell with Steward Ellis at the Saturday night lobster boil, held in the Legion Hall in Port Maitland.

We all had two-pound lobsters on Saturday night.

Arriving by plane, car, and ferry, Haskells from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada gathered in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia for a Haskell Reunion on July 31 to August 2, 2015. Registration and lunch at the Rodd Grand Yarmouth hotel on Friday provided an opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones.

Wilfred Allan, who grew up in Yarmouth, spent most of his adult life in other places around the world, and then returned to live in Sandford—just outside Yarmouth—was our guide for the Friday afternoon walking tour, starting at the Frost Park Cemetery across Main Street from the hotel. There we saw the grave of Mary Brown, wife of Benjamin Brown, and daughter of William Haskell and Marcy Trask, among the first planters to settle in Yarmouth in 1763. Both William Haskell and Benjamin Brown were from Beverly, Massachusetts.

From the Frost Park Cemetery, Wilfred led us past several old homes in Yarmouth, telling fascinating stories of days gone by, ending our walking tour at the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives. Wilfred would also be our guide for the bus tour on Saturday. Everyone agreed that Wilfred’s help in organizing the reunion, his encyclopedic knowledge of Yarmouth and Nova Scotia, and his infectious good humor, made the reunion informative and lots of fun.

A private upstairs room at Rudders Restaurant, overlooking the Yarmouth harbor, was the site of our Friday night buffet dinner. Wilfred arranged for the mayor of Yarmouth, Pam Mood, to welcome us, even though he couldn't vote for her in the election two years ago because he lives in Sandford, and not Yarmouth. After dinner, Merv Stevens, Elizabeth Landers, and Richard Snethen entertained us with several "Haskell Stories," Merv about his grandfather, Leslie Frank Haskell, Elizabeth about her grandmother, Alva Augusta Haskell, and Richard about his ancestor, "Witchcraft" Mark. David "Wiskers" Haskell presented his granddaughter, Zoie, with a Housecarl membership in the Haskell Family Association.

On Saturday morning, the bus left the hotel at nine o'clock and drove us to the small village of Tusket for a visit to the Argyle Township Court House and Gaol, Canada's oldest standing courthouse and jail, operated from 1805 to 1944. Our British cousins told us that gaol is still used as the British word for jail - and pronounced jail. We had a guided tour to the courtroom, judge's chamber, and jail cells - not comfortable hotel rooms.

The bus next stopped at the foot of Haskell Street in Yarmouth for picture-taking. Haskell Street is a short street that runs from the waterfront to Main Street. The early Haskell settlers in Yarmouth received large grants of land, much of which is now prime Yarmouth real estate. The bus then drove to the end of the large peninsula that forms Yarmouth harbor where we visited the Cape Forchu Lightstation. The rocky cliffs and trails, classic lighthouse, gift shop and cafe, together with a beautiful sunny day, provided ample opportunity for fun and photos.

We then drove to the old Sandford Wesleyan Church, now the site of the T&W Catering Banquet Hall where we enjoyed a salad and chowder luncheon. George Snow, who was celebrating his 92^nd birthday, joined us for lunch and told about knowing Riley and David Haskell, who ran the Dominion Day boat races in Port Maitland. George Snow was a lobsterman for 47 years and a past member of the provincial legislature. After lunch, he presented all visitors from outside Nova Scotia with the famous certificate of membership in the Order of Good Cheer, the oldest social society in North America, founded by Samuel de Champlain to provide food and cheer for the colonists during the long winter of 1606-1607.

After lunch, we stopped at the world's smallest operating drawbridge in Sandford before meeting Bill Curry at the Port Maitland - Beaver River Cemetery, where numerous Haskells are buried. It was at this cemetery where Bill Curry took the group photo shown on this page. We then visited the Old Beaver River Founders Cemetery in Port Maitland where Bill and Wilfred explained their unique Old Stones project. They have cleaned up and restored the three oldest cemeteries in Beaver River and Port Maitland and provided QR codes on bricks in front of every marker. Scanning these codes on your smartphone will take you to the website giving information about the person buried there. They think they are the only ones in the world to have done this for every stone in each of the three cemeteries. The website www.oldstones.ca will give you more information.

After a quick visit to the Port Maitland beach, we gathered at the Legion Hall in Port Maitland for the Saturday night lobster boil. While the 2-pound lobsters were boiling outside, we had time to chat and view the posters that Elizabeth Landers had prepared with photos and genealogy material. After dinner we gave away a number of Haskell related items in a drawing.