Nova Scotia Comes Alive in 2011!

There are few places that top Nova Scotia in the summer and fall seasons. Unlike the west coast of Canada Nova Scotia has more sunny days and better beaches.Not only that, you are never further than 40 miles from salt water no matter where you go in the province. Keep checking back to see updates on the state of travel in Nova Scotia and why this Canadian province is considered one of the finest destination spots in the world.

Subscribe in a Reader

Home » Historic Towns, History

The Order of Good Cheer

Submitted by Kim on Friday, 17 August 20072 Comments

“We meet tonight to witness an event.
That will, I pray go ringing down the years.
At marking the sure founding of the Order,
Which God and France shall ever serve as beacon to our goal”

- The First Toast of the Order of Good Cheer made by the Baron de Poutrincourt

In 1605, Samuel de Champlain had been one of a group of 79 men, who had tried to spend the winter on an island in the Sainte Croix River in Nova Scotia. The Isle Sainte Croix was situated just across the Bay of Fundy (which had the highest tides in the world) from Porte Royale and close to the modern border between the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the U.S. State of Maine. He and his men chose an island because they believed it would be easier to defend in case of attack but they hadn’t anticipated the dangerous ice that made their little island virtually a prison without for or water.

To make matters worse winter came early that year. Snow was waist-deep by the sixth of October and stayed until the end of April. First the settlers ran out of firewood because they had cut down all the trees to build primitive shelters. The the food and water ran out. and disease began to take the lives of the men.

Thirty-five men died, and only 11 remained healthy when spring finally arrived. Of those 11, only three decided to stay in North America for another winter. The rest went back to France.

What Champlain had noticed was that the mens’ state of mind had a profound effect on whether they survived or not. The next year, after they decided to build a lasting colony at Port Royale, he decided to create “The Order of Good-Time (Cheer).” In turn, the members of the small elite of Port-Royal were to prepare a meal for their fellow-members from the game that abounded and fish of various species. There was wine and singing to accompany the meal the entertainment at one of these banquets, The Theatre of Neptune by Marc Lescarbot, is considered to be the first formal play written and produced in North America. So the very first social club in North America hosted the very first play.

The Order of Good Cheer is still bestowed on visiting dignitaries to Nova Scotia, especially during tourism familiarization tours along the South Shore and White Point Beach Resort.