No Eagle Watch in 2024, but fundraising breakfast remains in Sheffield Mills, N.S.
SHEFFIELD MILLS, N.S. — While the Sheffield Mills Community Association can’t feed the eagles anymore, it still wants to host the annual pancake breakfast.
The Eagle Watch Breakfast returned in 2023 after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. It is a major fundraiser for the association.
“It was really positive,” said Meg Hodges, a community resident and member of the association’s board of directors. “We had a great crowd.”
It will be hosting this year’s breakfast on Feb. 24 and 25 at the community hall.
History
For years, local farmers provided the association with chicken carcasses. They were left in a farmer’s field near the intersection of Middle Dyke and Bains roads, attracting eagles, and people looking to see or snap a photo of them, to the area. The practice stopped in 2022 due to avian influenza concerns.
Hodges said in its heyday, the four breakfasts were held over two weekends and raised about $20,000. The event doesn’t draw the same numbers as it used to.
“It’s hard without the eagle attraction,” Hodges acknowledged. “But it didn’t stop a couple hundred people from coming out and having breakfast (last year).”
She hopes this year’s breakfast could raise about $5,000. Hodges noted it is thankful for the community’s support and is appreciative of all the people and businesses who donate items to keep the association’s costs down to operate the event.
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Importance
Without the breakfasts in 2022, the association’s funds were depleted.
“So, we couldn’t keep the hall open for the winter because we couldn’t afford the heat,” Hodges explained.
The 2023 event, coupled with a couple of other fundraisers, has helped the association reopen the hall this winter as a community space.
“It made all the difference,” Hodges said of the 2023 breakfasts’ impact.
The association is hoping this year’s event will be another success and enable it to restore wifi at the hall. Community members had used it in the past, but the association was forced to cancel it due to the cost.
“We haven’t been able to afford that in the last year, so we’re hoping we can get that back up and running again too.”
Branching out
The association hosted a couple of dances in the fall and is working on a series of presentations by people in the community. Aaron Taylor’s presentation on forensic archaeology will take place Sunday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m.
It is hosting a family board game and pizza night by free will offering on Friday, Jan. 26, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is talking about hosting a pre-teen dance in the future.
Need to know
Eagle Watch Breakfast
What – A fundraiser for the Sheffield Mills Community Association.
Where – Sheffield Mills Community Hall, 98 Black Hole Rd. in Sheffield Mills.
When – Feb. 24 and 25 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Cost – $10 for adults, $5 for children and free for children
More than breakfast – There will also be live music from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 10 to 11 a.m. each day. The Voodoo Charmers and Black Rock Bouys will perform on Feb. 24 with Brad Dundas and Fabian MacDonald entertaining on Feb. 25. There will be free kids crafts and the Blomidon Naturalist Society will have a display. Hope For Wildlife is bringing a broad-wing hawk that lives at the sanctuary on one of the days, but it hadn’t been confirmed which one as of press time.
