The season is well underway at the Cape Tormentine Beach campground, on the site of what was once a busy ferry terminal lined with cars waiting to load for the trip across PEI. These days the former ferry site is packed with dozens of trailer sites, a seasonal community that pops up every year on shores of the Northumberland Strait, overlooking the Confederation Bridge in the distance.
The campground was created in the late 1990s through local community volunteer power, and these days the volunteer board members with the Cape Tormentine Community Development Corporation are focussed on preparing for the grand re-opening of the campground store. The crew is hosting a kick-off event this Friday, May 23, which will feature an open market from 4pm to 7pm and an open mic from 7pm to 10pm, featuring Boonie Buddies with Faye Tower.
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One of the finishing touches in the newly renovated Cape Tormentine Campground Store is a large antique counter which found its way back to the area after spending decades at the Cackling Goose, formerly of York Street in Sackville. Cackling Goose owners Mark Istvanffy and Amanda Feindel always believed the 16-foot oak counter originated from the Goodwin General Store in Baie Verte, but it turns out to have come from the former Chapman Store in Bayfield, just down the road from the Cape Tormentine campground.
“We were excited when we found out it was closer to local,” says board member Carolyn Allen. The group made the discovery when cleaning the unit, and found Audrey Chapman’s name on the bottom of one of the drawers.
‘We’re on the grow’
The campground is a project of the Cape Tormentine Development Corporation, one of several the group pitched to government funders after the closure of the PEI ferry terminal. “Our government was telling there was going to be jobs,” says Allen. “And a few of us got together and realized that if there was going to be jobs, they would be of our making.” While the government decided not to fund a proposal for a marina and cottages as well, the campground has been running successfully now for decades. This year there’s eight people working at the campground and store, and in past years there’s been as many as 10 jobs.
Recently, the board of the Development Corporation has been revitalized, and there’s now plans afoot for future projects, as well as the upgrade to the store happening this year. “We are going to do other things to expand the campground,” says Allen, but that’s not out to the public yet, so we’ll just keep that to ourselves. But we’re on the grow.”
The expansion and renovation of the store means it will now take local products on consignment, and this Friday’s inaugural open market is the first of many to happen over the course of the summer, on Friday evenings.
“It’s great to be able to support the others that are in business for themselves, and give them a place as well to earn a living,” says board chair Debbie Walton. “Small business is another backbone of the country, along with volunteers. And we have a lot of self-employed people in the area, you wouldn’t believe it.”
Board member Catherine Noonan says she was impressed by the volunteer hours put in by board members to renovate and renew the store. “They really pulled together,” says Noonan, “countless hours of work in here, all volunteer work.”
There’s definitely positive momentum around the operation. Last year, the group built a permanent stage to accommodate the annual Cape Tormentine Beach Music festival on the August long weekend. This year, the newly renovated store will now host weekly open markets. And next?
“We’re planning,” says Noonan. “We have plans for the future that hopefully will enable us to have more employment as well. We’re very excited.”
For more information about goings on at the campground and the free Cape Tormentine public beach, look for the Cape Tormentine Community Development Corporation – Campground on social media.
