Seventh Annual French Toast Fest featured on CTV Atlantic
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It's Amherst's annual French Toast Fest from March 17-23, and ten restaurants are participating by offering up amazing creations inspired by local ingredients.
CTV Atlantic stopped by yesterday for a visit and checked in on many of the establishments as well as very satisfied French Toast connoisseurs. For anyone who needs a little push to come out and enjoy everything on offer, have a look at the story by Derek Haggett.
World Kidney Day - March 13, 2025
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Today is World Kidney Day, and this morning we gathered to read our official proclamation. Mayor Rob Small did the honours, and he then welcomed Sharon Gould to speak on behalf of the many people in our area who are affected by kidney disease.
Members of Council and special guests took a moment to celebrate this significant day by posing for a photo with the Kidney Foundation flag, before it was raised by Mrs. Gould.
Thank you to all for coming to this morning's event. For more information, please visit the Kidney Foundation of Canada website: https://kidney.ca/
Preparations for spring and summer are well underway in Amherst
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It’s March and we’ve nearly made our way through another winter. With springtime right around the corner, our Town employees are hard at work with many activities designed to prepare for the months ahead.
“This is the spring shoulder season – right at the end of winter – when we’re still dealing with winter but also actively preparing for warmer weather,” shared Aaron Bourgeois, Director of Operations. “Town staff are making plans to get lawns and parks ready for use, and they’ll soon begin the process of storing winter equipment for another year.”
Given the freeze-thaw effect we’re all feeling lately, this is also pothole repair season. Potholes are monitored by staff, but they can also be reported by contacting Town Hall directly, or by completing an E-Service Request Form.
While some things disappear at winter’s end, others will soon re-appear, such as all of the beautiful flowers we enjoy around town during the warmer months. Although it’s too soon for these plants to spend time outside, the official process of obtaining bedding plants and hanging baskets for the 2025 season is already complete.
“We open up our tendering process every year for hanging baskets and bedding plants in January, which seems like a strange time to be thinking about gardening – but, that’s how long the process takes,” explained Matt Selig, Parks and Recreation Foreman.
Our summer students play a big part in seasonal beautification by doing the actual planting and maintenance of flower beds and hanging baskets. You guessed it – summer student positions were posted several weeks ago and the competition will remain open until the end of March to ensure we are fully-staffed for all of these seasonal duties.
Yes, the hum of lawn mowers and whipper-snippers is not long off now.
With summer-focused work well underway in these last days of winter, we can begin looking forward to attending great outdoor events, signing kids up for summer programming and day camps, welcoming more visitors, and generally enjoying the outdoors in and around Amherst – our small-town home.
AYTC meets with Amherst Town Council
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Mayor Small and members of Amherst Town Council met with the Amherst Youth Town Council (AYTC) on Monday night to gain feedback from a young person's perspective on a variety of issues.
Some topics discussed were the development of a new transit system, community celebrations, a new community centre and issues facing youth today such as food insecurity, drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, and homelessness.
The AYTC updated the Amherst Town Council on their current project, which is a food drive to collect donations for the new Integrated Youth Services site, which is currently being renovated and due to open in early April. The AYTC presently has eight members. If you are a student in grade 7 to 12 and would like to be involved, visit the Amherst Youth Town Council page on our website or contact Sharon Bristol at
March proclaimed as Amyloidosis Awareness Month
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March has been proclaimed as Amyloidosis Awareness Month in Amherst.
WHEREAS March is Amyloidosis Awareness Month, a month dedicated to raising awareness, funding research, and supporting those living with amyloidosis and their loved ones; and
WHEREAS Amyloidosis is a group of diseases that occurs when an abnormal protein, known as amyloid, builds up in the tissues and organs of the body. Left untreated, the disease can result in organ failure and can be fatal; and
WHEREAS Amyloidosis can mimic the signs and symptoms of more common medical conditions and the disease can be challenging to diagnose; and
WHEREAS Amyloidosis often affects people who are older or middle aged, younger people have also been diagnosed with this disease; and
WHEREAS Some of the signs and symptoms of amyloidosis can include shortness of breath, weight loss, fatigue, swelling in the ankles and legs, numbness in the hands and feet, foamy urine, carpal tunnel syndrome, bruising around the eyes, and an enlarged tongue; and
WHEREAS Early diagnosis can lead to better outcomes for both patients and their families; and
WHEREAS Raising awareness about all the amyloidosis diseases, including hereditary and non-hereditary forms of the disease, can contribute to the building of healthier communities across Canada.
BE IT RESOLVED, THEREFORE, that I, Rob Small, Mayor of Amherst, proclaim March 2025 as Amyloidosis Awareness Month in the town of Amherst.
For more information, visit the CASN - Canadian Amyloidosis Support Network Inc.
A new downtown home for Jiinx Grooming & Pet Services
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The number of Canadian households with pets has continued to grow over the last several years, and Amherst is no exception to this trend.
In 2022, we presented a new business certificate Jiinx Grooming; a little over three years later, we’re back – but this time it’s to celebrate their move into a new, larger location for the booming business.
Mayor Rob Small and members of Town Council dropped into 8 Havelock Street recently to check things out, congratulate owner Kimberly James-Cartmill on the move, and ask her how it all came about.
“It was lot of hard work. A lot of hard work,” responded James-Cartmill, when asked about the process of changing locations. “Right from the beginning we said probably at the two-year mark – we had a two-year lease – we’d be looking at moving into something a little bigger, a little more retail friendly. And it was definitely a want to buy instead of leasing. So, when the opportunity came up, we started looking and, you know, landed on this place – which is great. I love it.”
Mayor Rob Small, along with Deputy Mayor Davidson and Councillors Ripley and McManaman, recently presented Kimberly James-Cartmill - owner of Jiinx Grooming & Pet Services - with a certificate to celebrate the business's move to a new, larger downtown Amherst location.
House of Birria welcomed to downtown Amherst
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Flavour. Quality. Consistency. Tacos. These are just some of the words people are associating with House of Birria – one of Amherst’s newest restaurants.
Mayor Small and Councillor McManaman popped in to the Prince Arthur Street establishment not long ago to see for themselves and congratulate restaurant owner Teilor Gibson by presenting a new business certificate.
During their visit, they asked Teilor what helped her decide to set out on this journey. It all started when she discovered birria tacos online one day and asked her mom, Tina, to make them for her.
“Birria is a Mexican beef or chicken stew,” Gibson explained. “Since my first experience, I’ve tried birria tacos from Halifax to Florida and they don’t compare to what we serve here. I’m hard to please when it comes to food.”
Having high standards and operating with consistency is very important for both Teilor and Tina, so when Teilor decided to open a restaurant, it was a natural decision to invite her mom to work alongside her.
“The opportunity was there and I thought it would be good for me,” Gibson shared. “Opening a restaurant is something my mom always wanted to do, too – and she never had the chance; I had that opportunity and we both love to cook. We both have high expectations with our food, so I think we can please the majority of people.”
“She keeps me on my toes, too – which is nice,” Gibson added with a laugh.
