PORT HAWKESBURY - Growing up in West Arichat and seeing the bustling community life in Isle Madame, Michelle Farrow couldn't resist the opportunity to return to Cape Breton after several years in Alberta. 

As a result, Farrow has traded in several years' worth of promoting and developing recreation programs for Fort McMurray to become Port Hawkesbury's new Director of Recreation, Marketing, Tourism and Culture. Earlier this summer, Farrow took the reins from Paula Davis, who had held various incarnations of the same post for 44 years. 

Farrow told TELILE 24/7 host Adam Cooke that she is hoping to build on the reputation that Davis and her colleagues have built for Port Hawkesbury as an entertainment hub that also offers a wide range of activities for tourists and locals alike, regardless of their age and physical capabilities. 

However, she acknowledged the challenge of pursuing such an aggressive strategy while still constricted by the social-distancing and gathering-limit rules set out by the Nova Scotia government at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. While indoor events can now accommodate 150 people and outdoor activities can now take in 250 people, Nova Scotia is still the only Atlantic province requiring indoor mask usage in most instances, and a slowing of vaccination rates in the province may extend these rules into the early fall. 

Undaunted, Farrow and her colleagues have booked three favourite Nova Scotia music acts - Dave Gunning and J.P. Cormier, Coig and Port Cities - for shows at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre this summer. They'll also launch the five-week Tunes On The Trails outdoor concert series on August 22, bringing such musical acts as the JUNO-nominated Celtic group Beolach to the Port Hawkesbury trail system for Sunday afternoon shows designed to combine outdoor entertainment with promotion of the town's growing trail network.