Digby Eye Care Center, Optometrists in Nova Scotia

We are pleased to announce that we are now co-owners of Coastal Optical Lab. Coastal is a lab that surfaces semi-finished lenses such as Progressives, Straight Top bifocals as well as single vision prescriptions. Being a co-owner of a surfacing lab will allow us to eliminate the middleman and offer the best possible prices to our patients.

We now have a camera that will allow you to see pictures of yourself when selecting your next eyeglass frame.

We are pleased to announce that our Digby location now has a complete on-site, state of the art, edging lab, allowing us to execute the edging required for a large number of plastic lenses. We carry in stock a large variety of single vision lenses with scratch resistance and reflection free lenses. This allows us to fill most simple eyeglass prescriptions within one hour. The edging process begins with a form tracer that will trace the shape and size of your frame which will insure that your lens is well positioned inside your frame. The edger then cuts the lens to specification and after a final inspection the lens is fitted into your frame.
Lisa is our lab technician bringing years of experience in our optical dispensary.

Since the fall of 2007 we have been pleased to provide our patients with ophthalmology services in our Annapolis office. Dr. Robert Scott and Dr. John Tiani, both ophthalmologists, have been coming down to our office to provide their service locally. This has saved our patients a lot of traveling. We are very appreciative of Drs. Scott and Tiani’s commitment to our patients.

Shawna and her husband welcomed a new baby boy, Ryker Johnathon Hersey on October 13, 2007 weighing 10 lbs, 5 oz. A baby brother for their daughter Sydney.Congratulations!!!!!

Tanya – Welcome Tanya, the newest member of our eye care team. Drop by and Tanya will be more then happy to help you choose new pair of glasses to best suite your needs.

Eyemaginations - We now have Eyemaginations at all three of our locations. This is a computer software program designed to assist the doctor in educating patients on a vast variety of eye health issues. It is also assists when choosing eyewear by allowing patients to see in 3D available lens options and treatments.

Retinal Camera – We have recently acquired a Digital Retinal Camera. This instrument will photograph a 45 degree field of the back of the eye, or retina. This permanent photographic record will be added to your file and can help in tracking changes in the appearance of the back of the eye. During your eye examination, your optometrist will show you your photographs, which may capture signs of diabetes, high blood pressure, glaucoma, macular degeneration or other eye diseases.

White loyalists arrived in Digby aboard the Atalanta, shepherded by Admiral Robert Digby in 1783. They arrived from New York after the cival war abandoning their homes and fortunes to remain loyal to the British crown. The loyalists settled in Digby and surrounding areas such as Weymouth, Digby Neck and Conway.

Black loyalists: most of them escape slavery and fought with the British during the civil war for a chance at freedom. Most of the black loyalists in Nova-Scotia came out of the port of New York which was the last port to be evacuated by the British. There were negotiations between Washington and the British whether the blacks would be returned to their masters or set free. It was decided that all blacks that had joined the British before or during the war would be given freedom. The British had compiled a book of about 3000former slaves who met the criteria. Blacks that came to Nova-Scotia mainly settled in Southville (near Shelburne) and near Halifax. A few ended up near Weymouth.

Natives: They were nomads living along the water ways in the western part of Nova Scotia. Their central point was around Kejimakujik. Their territory extended from Liverpool to Annapolis to Yarmouth. It is believed that they often set camp at the site of the Digby Pines during the summer months.

Train: The train was a crucial part of the development of Canada and the valley was no exception. It was first built to export agricultural products to Halifax and eventually was used by many tourists. The line joining Yarmouth to Digby was open in 1879 and the Annapolis to Digby junction was opened in 1891. As of today, a lot of politics were involved in the realization of these projects.

Acadians: They came from France from an agricultural background. They developed a great system of irrigation using the tides. These were great years for the Acadians until the 1755 deportation that we all know of. The ones that came back could not get their fertile land back and had to turn to the sea in order to survive.

Contemporary Nova Scotia: In Nova Scotia of today, especially for coastal towns like Digby, the fisheries are still very important. We have also developed a good community of artists like musicians, writers and painters as this mural depicts.

On May 31, 2006 we had the official grand opening of our new Digby location. It was a very successful day with over 100 people coming to view our new facility. Three frame representatives spent the day with us displaying there entire collections of frames.

We wish to thank all that came in for a visit and helped to make the day such a success and we hope to keep serving the community’s vision needs for many years to come.

Grand Opening

We are pleased to welcome back Jackie Weir to our eye care team. Jackie first joined our team in February of 1997. She left for a couple of years to help with her husband’s refrigeration business.

In April of 2005 we relocated to our newly renovated building on 15 Carleton Street. Among the benefits of our relocation, it allowed us to put in an edging lab which now makes it possible to have most single vision lenses ready in less than one hour. With more space we are also able to keep a much larger selection of eye glass frames with over 1000 on display.

In the spring of 2005, Terry Filmore, a local Digby artist began painting a mural on the outside front of our office. In keeping with local history she has done a beautiful job so far. She hopes to complete the mural by mid summer.