SYDNEY, N.S. — A Cape Breton craft association and several local legions say they have been swept up in a nasty public spat that has generated threats and ill will over the location of a Remembrance Day service — all because of a misunderstanding.
Audrey Pyke of Home Crafters of Cape Breton says her 29-year-old group booked Centre 200 for its annual craft sale several years ago, and has held the three-day event there for the last decade.
But, the problem this year is that Remembrance Day falls on the first day of the sale and the legions say they had gone through the mayor's office last March to book the large facility in Sydney.
Stephen MacLennan, president of the legion in Whitney Pier, says that as a result the Remembrance Day ceremony has been moved to a smaller facility — a revelation that angered residents and resulted in dozens of emails, calls and Facebook postings criticizing the crafters.
Pyke says that has caused some members to take down their social media sites because of a slew of hostile comments, including some that say they will boycott the sale because of the misperception that the group forced the veterans out of the location.
But MacLennan says the mixup was due to a miscommunication between the centre and the mayor's office and is not the fault of the crafters' group.
