Happy Sunday! I hope you've had a great week in spite of how cold it is today!!

Big news down at the Quay this week is that all of our Facebook efforts paid off and we won the ECFM/Home Hardware Facebook challenge!! Meaning the Quay will be receiving 20 gallons of paint from Home Hardware. Thank you to everyone who voted, we received 992 votes and were 100 votes ahead of second place!! I've already picked out a pair of painting clothes.

Monday, Ralph and Richard returned and they will once again be here throughout the summer working on repairing the deck of the Ship. The fore mast and the main mast are now secured and there is also a large hole on deck as they have been tearing up the rotten boards all week.

Tuesday was a big day for Hector. We welcomed our second cruise ship of the summer and while waiting for the excursion busses to come in, a Grade 2 class from Frank H Elementary called and asked if they could stop in at12:30 so as the cruise visitors departed we welcomed 50 grade 2s on site. That would have been a fairly busy day had it stopped there BUT a bus of guests from the Ontario Presbyterian Church chorus came to visit in Pictou for the afternoon and many of their guests also stopped in for a tour. We made it through the day with many happy guests though. A huge thank you to Anne M, Keith, Brian, Wanda and Ron for helping out, staying late and keeping everything flowing smoothly throughout the afternoon.

Thursday, Halifax Independent School’s grade 5/6 classes came by for a tour and bite to eat. Thank you to Wanda and Meghann for helping with their visit. And Friday, we had our first Routes Adventures tour of the summer piped off the bus by Keith. A big thank you also to Carolyn M for coming in do to that tour, they seemed to have had a great time! And finally, today we had Mile Zero Tours come in and go on a tour with Mercedes. It was the first bus we’ve had from Mile Zero Tours and they really enjoyed it so thank you Mercedes! Thank you also to Meghann, Peter and Christine for picking up shifts this week.

Also I wanted to thank Brian, Rick, Scott, Stephanie, Terry, Gerald and Christine, who have all signed on for weekly shifts throughout the summer.