PICTOU – A simple bracelet with silver anchors has garnered the attention of thousands looking for a way to support the families of five south shore fishermen who went missing at sea last week.
Michelle Davey, manager of the Northumberland Fisheries Museum, saw the buzz online about the group of women on the south shore who started selling these memorial bracelets online and she wanted to give those in the Pictou area the chance to financially support the fishermen’s families as well.
Davey said someone in the community came forward and asked the museum if they had any plans to sell the bracelets when they heard the museum was hosting a vigil for the five fishermen, which took place Sunday.
“I sent them an email asking for it to be possible for us to be a third party between their community and our community,” Davey said. “So, what we’re going to do is get a mass shipment, a large quantity and offer them to our community in support of their community.”
Davey posted on the museum’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northumberland-Fisheries-Museum-Pictou-Lobster-Hatchery/131163863589998?fref=ts) that the museum would be taking orders for the $10 bracelets and placing the order next month, after the demand for the bracelets is met in the south shore communities.
“Online there’s a lot of orders from all over Canada. Fishing communities are not really separated by geography. So we have that connection regardless of where you live,” she said. “They have such a high demand for the bracelets that right now they’re concentrating on their own community, but we will support them here.”
Davey said she posted on Facebook that the museum would be taking orders for the bracelets Monday morning and by lunchtime that same day, she already had more than 55 orders. She said people in Pictou County feel a connection to the tragedy and are eager to help the families of the fishermen.
“Pictou County is a fishing community and that is a big connection. People sympathize with losing a loved one and we’re well known for being supportive of one another and helping out in a time of need,” she said. “We’re sympathizing with these people that their loved ones went to work one day and never came back. We have fishermen that go out every day.”
Davey said the bracelets can be ordered through the museum’s Facebook page or by email at HYPERLINK "mailto:nfm-business@ns.aliantzinc.ca" nfm-business@ns.aliantzinc.ca. Davey said they’re taking orders now and people can pick them up at the museum when they come in. Davey said the bracelets will also be for sale during the summer at the Northumberland Fisheries Museum gift shop. All proceeds from the bracelet sales go to the families of the five fishermen.
