Fundraising For A New Town Clock

Jonathan Riley
Published on October 12, 2011

Councilor Peter Turnbull, Scotiabank employees Cheryl Doucette, Tina Hewitt and Ken Gerhardt steady the ladder for Masonic senior steward Richard Parry, while he measures the space where the new town clock will go. – Jonathan Riley photo

Hickory dickory dock, Digby’s getting a new town clock.

Scotiabank employees in Digby and members of Digby’s Masonic Lodge are raising money for a six-foot tall timepiece to stand on the median at the end of Sydney Street across from the cenotaph.

“We jumped at the idea when we heard about it,” says Tina Hewitt, an employee at the bank. “I guess it’s a sense of pride. It’ll make me feel good to look out the window and see that big clock standing there.”

Preliminary plans call for a 27 cm (15”) clock face standing on a 100 cm (39”) post. The post will stand on a two-foot high, four-foot wide base of granite displaying the names of the contributors to the project. Two faces of the clock will show the time and the other two faces will be tide clocks.

“That’s one of the unique and special features of our clock,” said Richard Parry senior steward in the King Solomon Lodge #54 of the Ancient and Free Masons. “We have the world’s highest tides here and the tides are an important part of life in the town.”

The plan is to unveil the clock in June 2015 on the 225th anniversary of the incorporation of the Digby.

Parry says when other towns and cities set up new clocks recently, people in Digby began thinking about the old town clock they lost when the old town hall was torn down in 1963.

The bank employees have committed to contributing $24,000 to the project. The employees will raise 12 of that and Scotiabank will match that dollar for dollar.

Already the employees have collected $6,000 from bake sales, barbecues, auctions and an on-going book sale. “People have been very supportive of this and all our fundraising activities,” said Ken Gerhardt, manager of the Digby Scotiabank. “We are very grateful for their help.”

Together with the bank’s matching donation, the employees are ready to make their first contribution of $12,000 to the Digby Town Clock Association.

The Free Masons have also already raised over $1,000 of their planned $7,000 goal.

Organizations: Scotiabank, Digby Town Clock Association. Digby Freemasons (King Solomon Lodge #54)