Oxford Mayor Greg Henley’s periodic updates to the community will be reposted here (original on his social media page).
LINKS: Town of Oxford website / Council Agendas / Council Minutes / Report a Complaint
20 January 2025
Those of you who utilize the River Philip Bridge may have noticed that the metal expansion joint on the north end of the bridge has lifted in the middle. The NS Dept. of Public Works has been notified and hopefully some corrective measures will be undertaken soon. In the meanwhile, be alert when crossing the bridge.
The property valuations have been sent out for 2025. If you have any questions about your assessment, there are a few ways you can contact the company that carries out the assessments, (Property Valuation Services Corporation). Call Toll Free 1-800-380-7775, email: inquiry@pvsc.ca or go to their website at www.pvsc.ca.
If you wish to appeal your assessment, Property Valuation must have a signed 2025 appeal form by midnight Feb. 13, 2025.
You can find all this information and the appeal form on the back of your 2025 assessment.
The weather people are calling for some very frigid temperatures this week so bundle up and be careful.
12 January 2025
What makes a town a community? A very simplified response is “its people”. A few weeks ago I started a column reviewing the previous four years that somehow became a praising document acknowledging the contributions of time by many of the volunteers of our town and surrounding community. It can not be stressed enough that these individuals who give so freely of their time help create the fabric that makes Oxford a very special community.
The Town of Oxford is in need of a few more volunteers for fill various positions on its boards and committees. It has been mandated that some of these seats must be filled by citizens who live within the town limits, but there also seats that are open to members of the county as well. If you are interested in finding out more information give the Town Hall a call during its regular business hours at 902-447-2170.
I ate so well over the Christmas holidays I will be dropping off some pants for alteration at the newest business in town Majed’s Tailoring. I guess this is a case of my gain will be his gain as well.
05 January 2025
On occasion, a letter will arrive at the Town Hall requesting a proclamation for a cause, a group or some special occasion. Linda and I will usually discuss the request and if we believe it is pertinent or of interest to the residents of Oxford we will proceed with making it happen.
With the Covid19 funds made available to all municipalities, the town has a media system that allows us to live stream our council meetings as well as recorded messages. It is with this equipment that the proclamations are made and broadcast.
In most instances, these proclamations are recorded ahead of time and released at the appropriate date. Linda and I usually plan in advance the day we are going to record these so I can ensure sure I wear something that does not pixilate on camera. (Once I wore a checked shirt and it looked like cheap special effects on a cheesy science fiction movie.) On the appointed day, I find the specific proclamation, practice reading it aloud a few times so I stumble over a few less words and then its recorded.
We used to do proclamations at council meetings, but realized other councils did them at a separate time so it did not prolong council meetings. We do 12 to 15 a year, and on one occasion the group that was seeking the proclamation asked if they could be in attendance. We, of course said yes.
January is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. The numbers for Nova Scotia are staggering and the projected numbers for the future look even more alarming. Public awareness is just one step in defeating this devastating illness.
(View Proclamation of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month)
29 December 2024
As 2024 draws to a close it seems like an appropriate time reflect on some of the events over the last few years. As we no longer have local printed news in a paper format , social media and digital websites have become the bookkeepers of small town news and the comings and goings of its citizens.
Four years ago, we were in full fledged Covid-19 lockdown, masking was the new normal, and in a strange change of circumstances, you could wear a mask over your face in a bank.
Since then, Oxford has experienced very real growth in housing and in population. The Oxford Arena has experienced a complete revitalization thanks to the efforts of a very dedicated and committed volunteers. The Oxford Fire Department has a new and much-needed fire truck to replace the one purchased is 1989. While the Town of Oxford is responsible for the purchase of new vehicles for the fire department, the Oxford Firefighters Association contributed $100,000 for the purchase. Once again, these funds were raised by dedicated and committed volunteers.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the Bunny Trail, a very popular walking destination for many people and not just locals. This worthwhile endeavor was, like a lot of good things in town, by dedicated and hardworking volunteers.
The Oxford Seniors Club is in full swing, with activities almost every day of the week. Once again as a result of dedicated and hardworking volunteers.
The Oxford Community Centre construction is well underway, again led by a group of dedicated and hardworking volunteers.
Reading over what I have written, I can see what started as a recap of the past four years has morphed into a missive praising the dedicated and hardworking volunteers who really do make a difference in our town. I was told that the Town of Yarmouth (population 6,829) had to cancel their Christmas parade due to a lack of volunteers. Thank the volunteers we did not have that issue here.
I am sure I have missed more than a few groups here, ie: the Lions Club, Capitol Music Society, the Oxford Food Bank, the Oxford Recreation commission, all run and managed by volunteers.
The efforts of volunteers makes the Town of Oxford a great place to live so to you I say thank you for all that you do.
15 December 2024
“When are you going to pave Main Street?” This is a question I hear … a lot. My normal response is “when we have enough money in reserves”.
“Then why don’t you borrow it?”
“If we borrow it, then it won’t come out of our reserves and we will not be eligible for matching funds from the provincial government. This is what we call 50 cent dollars. These 50 cent dollars cut the cost of any capitol project the town undertakes in half.”
Another factor in paving Main Street is the aging water lines that run underneath it. Some were installed in the 1930’s and need to be replaced. To pave Main Street before the aging water lines are replaced to be spending the taxpayers dollars in a most careless fashion, the equivalent of putting expensive hardwood floors down in your house and ignoring the gaping hole in your roof.
Main Street is the next scheduled capitol project for the town, hopefully, sooner than later.
8 December 2024
Christmas is just around the corner so, for a change of pace this week, I thought a trip down memory lane may be in order. Apologies to those who have seen it before.
During my teenage years I spent almost every Christmas Eve working at the family drug store. Dad kept the store open until 8:00 p.m. so everyone could get their last minute shopping in. Back then Christmas shopping started around the middle of the month and credit cards were very rare. If you did not have the cash then you did not buy.
From 4 till 8 the store would be hopping. The shoppers were mostly men, who worked till 4 or 5 that day and had gotten a bit of cash as a Christmas bonus. Dad always kept a large selection of gift packs from Yardley and the men always seemed keen for something nice for the missus. We gift wrapped almost everything we sold that night and Dad was adamant that it looked perfect. “It might be the only gift they get tomorrow so make it special!”
When the last customer was served, we would head off to the little Anglican Church for the Christmas Eve service. After an hour of hymns sung off key, the gospels and some homilies we would empty from the church wishing all a Merry Christmas. The air would be cold, the snow would crunch under our feet, Christmas lights would flicker up and down the streets and for the next short while all would seem well in the world.
1 December 2024
Saturday afternoon as we were headed uptown to pick up a few things, our conversation turned to the Christmas Parade that took place the night before. We marveled at the size of the parade and the commitment from all involved, the organizers, the folks who decorated the floats, the drivers, the walkers, the folks on the floats, the Fire Departments, the RCMP, literally hundreds of people.
I posted earlier that it was the best parade so far, with some amazing floats. I felt some sympathy for the judges, deciding on the “Best Float” would have been a most difficult decision. I think it will be a definite challenge to top this year’s parade.
I want to first thank the Oxford Recreation Commission for undertaking such a huge event, (volunteers each and every one). To all those that took time to decorate and participate our parade, I say thank you. Thank you to the Masons for the hot dogs and hot chocolate. To all the area fire departments, thank you.
I am sure that I speak for a lot of people when I say it was a spectacular evening. Thank you every one!
24 November 2024
Those that follow Oxford Town Council meetings and the Committee of the Whole meetings will have heard us discussing the Water Cad Study. It was a study commissioned by Town Council that gives us a better understanding of our water delivery system and what steps we might have to take to continue the growth the Town of Oxford is experiencing.
The new housing developments the town is experiencing means we, as a town, have to ensure we can maintain the water services we presently provide to the customers while expanding the service for new customers.
The challenge is not just having the water available, but having the infrastructure able to deliver it without impacting the service to other customers and maintain the present requirements for fire protection. The Water Cad study gives us some insight on how best to deal with on these issues.
Events this week:
Sunday Nov.24 6:00 to 7:00 pm Christmas Tree lighting, and carols with the FunTones
Wed. Nov. 27 Oxford Town Council Meeting 6:00pm
Friday Nov.29 The Annual Oxford Christmas Parade 6:30 pm start time.
17 November 2024
Last Monday a large crowd gathered at the Oxford Cenotaph for the Remembrance Day Service. The weather was, as can be expected on this date, cold and very damp, but as someone pointed out, it wasn’t snowing and no one was shooting at us. The Oxford Legion with the assistance of the Oxford Volunteer Fire Dept. and local Militia and Cadets ensured the distributing and laying of the wreaths ran very smoothly. Monday evening the Legion hosted a roast beef dinner that had a very large turnout which is always nice to witness.
On Saturday the Oxford Historical Society hosted the Oxford Woollen Mills Exposition at the All Souls’ Anglican Church on James Street. That large brick building across the river from the ballfield has quite the history behind it. Started in 1867 with $76,000 ($2.2 million 2024), it was a lot of money to take a chance on a new industry. It was a very interesting snapshot of one of Oxford’s most famous industries.
Just a reminder about the Annual Christmas Parade taking place Nov. 29 starting at 6:30 pm. This parade never fails to amaze me, the quality and quantity of floats for a town of this size is just wonderful.
10 November 2024
A service of Remembrance will take place Monday, Nov.11 at the Cenotaph in Oxford. It begins at 10:45 with 2 minutes of silence at 11:00. From the time when I was just a wee lad, this has been what our family does on this date.
My earliest recollections from the 1960’s of this day are of the large number of participants in the parade. There were 2 platoons of veterans, the first and smaller group WWI vets, and a larger group of WW2 vets. The Legions Ladies Axillary, the Oxford Fire Department , the ORHS school band would be there as well as the the school cadet corps. I might be wrong but I think the Boy Scout troop participated as well.
These days, there may not be the large parade, but the crowd seems to grow a bit more every year and they are still respectful and somber.
We will remember.
3 November 2024
On Wednesday, Oct.30 the latest version of the Oxford Town Council was sworn in. It was a far different procedure from the last time a council was sworn in after an election. In 2020 we were in lockdown, Zoom was becoming a household word and meetings were faces on a screen.
Padraic Moore is the only new face on council, with the other 5 councilors being re-elected. With over a 60% turnout, it demonstrates that the citizens of Oxford take a very real interest in the future of our town.
I want to thank Arnold MacDonald for the almost 4 years he sat on council with over 2 years as Deputy Mayor working on various committees as well as the usual council duties.
Plans are underway for the Annual Christmas Parade, which seems to get even better every year.
Remembrance Day Services are being held at the Cenotaph in Oxford Nov.11. Rain, shine or snow, it always has a large turnout. We will remember.
27 October 2024
It was suggested that I continue my postings here after the election as a way of improving the news coming from council and from Oxford itself. The lack of news coverage that Oxford now experiences is a shared issue through out the province. Even in Halifax there were complaints that getting the word out to the public was next to impossible.
I intend to post on this site weekly and try to relay what ever information, news and upcoming events coming from the Town Hall that relate to our fair town.
Mark Rushton will be reporting news from his new site at www.HelloOxford.ca and will be posting the Mayor’s Corner missives for those folks who do not follow Facebook.
Every Wednesday morning I will be joining Bill Martin at 10:40 am for a radio interview. Mark Rushton will be joining Bill at 11:40 am on Thursday mornings following Oxford Town Council meetings. You can find the radio station at www.hopecentre.ca
There will be a Oxford Town Council this Wednesday at 6:00 pm where the newest councilor Padraic Moore will be sworn in. This will be streamed live through the Official Town of Oxford Facebook site.
