Hello, Marilyn!
Thank-you for your email. You’re lucky to have the casual use of the words island, tide, chop, seawall and beach. I am an inveterate lover of all things maritime. I hope you (as a Pacific Ocean resident) won’t be offended when I say my dream has been a cottage on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in a village in Nova Scotia.
When I attended Dalhousie law school (1970 – 73) I met Eric Balcom and his partner Earl Hubley. My father was formerly Commanding Officer at Greenwood Air Force Base in Nova Scotia. Balcom and my father colluded to arrange private flights when required for business and government purposes. Balcom told the story of entertaining Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen – a very comical tale as it turned out. Balcom and Hubley regularly wintered in Palm Beach, FLA. They held a garden party for about 500 people on their ocean-side estate “Down Home” in Port Dufferin. The Premier Gerald “Gabby” Regan arrived by helicopter on the lawn. When one of the guests questioned Eric where he rented the 500 tea cups, he drew himself up and said they were his own. He overlooked adding that he used to own the Wolfville Hotel. Regan by the way had a winter place on Longboat Key within steps of where Denis and I first wintered on Longboat Key.
My former fiancé Heather Gunn and I occasionally drove to the cliffs of nearby Lawrencetown and munched on shrimp sandwiches and muffins before returning to the library at law school. Years later Denis and I met up with Heather at a mall in Ottawa where she and her husband Joe Weir lived (Justice Department connection). When Heather and I announced our engagement at law school in 1973, Joe told me he wanted to marry her. It was then I understood why Joe had regularly invited me to his house parties – always encouraging me to bring along Heather. My mother didn’t speak to me for two years after the engagement was called off. Heather’s father was a judge in Halifax. When Judge Gunn was still a practicing lawyer in Cape Breton, he was visited by a rum runner client for defence counsel. Gunn asked his client, “So, what’s your story?” The client looked coldly at him and replied, “That’s what I’m paying you for!”
Bill
Monday, February 14, 2000
The Halifax Herald Limited
HUBLEY, Earl Vincent
HUBLEY, Earl Vincent – 81, Halifax, formerly of Port Dufferin, died February 13, 2000. Born on
Tancook Island, he was the son of the late Clarke and Ella (Stevens) Hubley. He was
predeceased by his brother, Billy and his longtime friend, Eric W. Balcom. He is survived by his
niece, Rosaleigh Wood (Hubley); Mary Beth Naugler (Balcom) and the many members of the
Balcom family who loved “Uncle Earl”. Memorial service will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. in St.
James Anglican Church, Port Dufferin, Rev. John C. Smith officiating, assisted by Rev. Brian
Hutchens. Burial will be in St. James Parish Cemetery. No flowers by request. Donations may be
made to St. James Anglican Church, Port Dufferin, Tancook Island Baptist Church, Tancook
Island or the charity of your choice.
