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Community
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Community spirit and pride are felt in Tignish in many ways. One senses the unifying force
of the Roman Catholic Church even before they reach the main strip in Tignish,
that being Church Street. The great steeple of St. Simon and St.Jude, which
can be seen for miles even before one enters Tignish proper, signifies the influence
of the church in the day-to-day life of the community.
The co-operative movement, like the church, is another tie that binds "Tignishers" together.
It all began in 1923 when Chester McCarthy and 36 local fishermen formed the
Tignish Fisherman's Union. Today, the community boasts a grocery store, a
service station, a building supplies store, a Credit Union, a saw-mill, a
health centre and a co-operative fishery.
The community spirit of "years-gone-by" still prevails today. It can be felt
wherever one happens to be in the town of Tignish- whether you happen to be at the local rink,
The Legion or Cousin's Diner. Tignishers are proud of their humble beginnings
and they are proud of who they are today.
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Telephone Systems come to Tignish
- In the early 1900s, James Howe Myrick was the first person to set up a
private telephone system between Tignish and Tignish Shore. Island Telephone
secured that line and built the local telephone exchange in 1911. Mrs. John
P. Harper operated the system until 1922, when Mrs. Evangeline Paturel took
over the Tignish exchange in her home for 48 years.
The early telephone system was operated by switchboards. One operator would work on a
switchboard, which contained numbered slots for each party line. When a
person rang the operator, the numbered key would drop down, and the operator
would connect the incoming call with the person that the caller wished to speak to within the exchange.
For a long distance call, the operator in Tignish would ring, for instance,
the operator in Summerside who would then complete the connection. This
occurred until 1975, when Tignish finally got dial phones.
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