Community Support Grants Presented April 9, 2025
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Mayor Rob Small was joined this morning by members of Council to present five community support grant cheques. This group of recipients includes the Cumberland African Nova Scotian Association, the YMCA of Cumberland, The Terry Fox Run - Amherst, the Cumberland Chamber of Commerce, and a youth who plays as goalie on a local hockey team.
Unable to join on April 9, Chris Johanneson received a community support grant on April 14 on behalf of the Chignecto Arts Council, in support of their upcoming Artist & Artisan Social event on May 29.
An annual budget is allocated to support community events, festivals, and participation in tournaments at the provincial, national, and international level, by awarding grants.
Please visit our Community Grants page for more information about this program.
Follow your dreams and explore Amherst’s newest alternative style and décor store: Once Again
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Tucked away down an alley off Victoria Street East is a little gem of a shop offering up alternative fashion and accessories, pop culture merchandise, incense, crystals, and mystical treasures. Just follow the signs and pop in the door to Once Again.
Mayor Small and members of Council popped in recently to meet store owner Amaury Van Weehaege and present him with a new business certificate, officially welcoming him to downtown Amherst since opening at the end of November last year.
We asked Van Weehaege (who likes to shorten his last name to VW) the best way to describe the types of items he’s curated for sale in his store.
“A lot of people say gothic, emo or witchy, but I feel like alternative kind of puts all that in that same category,” shared VW.
Do you like black apparel items like band t-shirts and spiky jewelry? How about browsing a huge variety of incense, candles, books and journals? That’s just scraping the surface of what you’ll find waiting for you at Once Again.
March 26, 2025 proclaimed as Purple Day in the town of Amherst
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Today is Purple Day! All in support of epilepsy awareness. It is estimated that more than 50 million people worldwide are affected by this neurological disorder that can cause recurrent seizures.
Members of Amherst Town Council donned purple ribbons to show their support for the cause and celebrate that March 26 has been officially proclaimed as Purple Day for Epilepsy Awareness in the town of Amherst.
For more information please visit the official Purple Day website.
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
