The Athenæum Society of Nova Scotia was founded in January 2007 by a small group of local residents who recognized the pool of knowledgeable and talented people living in the area and wanted to bring that talent to a larger audience in a friendly and social forum.  The concept is based on that of the Athenæum Club in London, England which was founded in 1824 as a "Club for Literary and Scientific men and followers of the Fine Arts".  Past members of that original club include, Joseph Conrad, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, W. Holman Hunt, Thomas Huxley, Rudyard Kipling and John Ruskin.

Based in the picturesque fishing village of Northwest Cove on the South Shore, the Society has proved very popular with the local and broader community, with membership currently standing at over 350 members.  Membership dues are kept to an extremely reasonable $10 per annum; there is no charge for attendance (normally around 50) at our presentations.

How to Find Us

Meetings are usually held at the Ocean Swells Community Centre (2724 Highway 329 in Northwest Cove) starting at 2.30pm on the third Sunday of each month (with the exception of the months of July, August and December).

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  A Message from Our President

Dear Athenaeum Members,
 
As previously announced, the Board of the Athenaeum Society of Nova Scotia has been considering the future since the onset of COVID-19. After discussion with our planned speakers and representatives of our Ocean Swells venue, we have concluded:
 
a. Our speakers are still available and willing to return once we resume operations;
 
b. We are financially stable and will remain so;
 
c. However, Ocean Swells will not be available for the foreseeable future until they are able to determine what cleaning arrangements would be required for even their own operations and how they would access the staff resources and money to pay for this effort. Moreover, they (and we) will have to determine what liability would remain and how it could be mitigated. At present, it would appear that neither the Ocean Swells venue nor any other will be available for our use until government health authorities say it is safe to do so. 
 
Accordingly, we intend to suspend Athenaeum Society operations until Spring of 2021 unless there is clear evidence of our ability to resume before then. In the meantime, the Board remains active and will maintain the web-site and audio-visual equipment and contact with prospective speakers so that we are able to resume activity when it is safe to do so. For those who have already paid their 2020 dues they will be extended to cover the year of resumption. We will give this notice wide distribution in the media. 
 
Thank you for your patience and continued interest in seeing Athenaeum rise again.
 
 
Best regards,
 
Jim King,
President, Athenaeum Society of Nova Scotia


Notifications of postponement/cancellation due to weather
 
As a service to our members, the Athenæum Society of Nova Scotia will post on its website a notice of postponement or cancellation by 9am on the day of the presentation as well as sending the information direct via email.  When a postponement is feasible, the new date will be posted. If you are in any doubt due to the vagaries of winter weather in Nova Scotia, please check before leaving home. 

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