Lottery winner buys spectacular wilderness area

Oct 31, 2007, 10:02 am (21 comments)

After the Big Win

Lottery multi-millionaire Matthew Moore is the new owner of a spectacular wilderness area at Polletts Cove in northern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Moore, whose name appears on a deed registered with the province's land information office, was not available Tuesday to talk about his plans, but hikers and other outdoor adventurers who treasure Polletts Cove hope it will remain in a pristine state that is available to the public.

Realtor Tom Childs of Tradewinds Realty who handled the sale said he has been instructed not to discuss it until Moore himself makes a statement.

News that Polletts Cove was for sale broke in September. The property was listed at $1.65 million and was described on the Tradewinds website as 300-plus magnificent acres with a 3,000-foot beach on the ocean, cliffs, two rivers and a river valley, meadows and waterfalls.

The sale price paid by Moore was not made public.

It was sold by Charlotte MacLean and Linda MacGregor, of Dartmouth, and Willa Dean Norman, of Wahroonga, Australia, according to the deed. Moore purchased a 200-acre lot and a 100-acre lot and received another 50-acre lot that had no cost value associated with it.

Polletts Cove has been in the hands of the same family since 1873. It was originally a Crown grant to the MacLean family in 1861. It passed to the present owners, the MacGregor family, 12 years later.

Childs has said the family has been trying for more than five years to get the government to acquire and add it to the very large wilderness area Polletts Cove/Aspy Bay Fault area.

Natural Resources spokesperson Diane Leblanc has said there were negotiations on the land but the province and owners couldn't reach agreement on a price given the gap between the $1.6-million list price and appraised value of just over $500,000.

Commentator Parker Donham who raised his concerns about the sale of Polletts Cove on the CBC News at 6 political panel said the province missed an historic opportunity to buy Polletts Cove and used appraisals that were way off the mark.

"The province missed an opportunity to preserve forever what may be the most spectacular piece of land in the province, and that's a tragedy," he said Tuesday. "The appraisers who gave the province an estimate of market value that has proven to be preposterously wrong have something to answer for."

Donham suggested Moore seems to be a person of "good will" and hopefully, he will be a good steward of the property.

Moore was described as a single, 27-year-old Pleasant Bay man in news stories about his remarkable $14.9 million Lotto 6-49 win in December 2006. He was the manager of the Mid Trail Motel and Inn in Pleasant Bay at the time.

Cape Breton Post

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JackpotWanna's avatarJackpotWanna

Beautiful long term investment.   

"300-plus magnificent acres with a 3,000-foot beach on the ocean, cliffs, two rivers and a river valley, meadows and waterfalls."

 He got it very cheap. 

 "1.6-million list price and appraised value of just over $500,000."

 Very wise for his age.

27-year-old Pleasant Bay man.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by JackpotWanna on Oct 31, 2007

Beautiful long term investment.   

"300-plus magnificent acres with a 3,000-foot beach on the ocean, cliffs, two rivers and a river valley, meadows and waterfalls."

 He got it very cheap. 

 "1.6-million list price and appraised value of just over $500,000."

 Very wise for his age.

27-year-old Pleasant Bay man.

Canada does have some beautiful land.And the extreme cold keeps most people away.What else could a lottery winner want,eh?

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

"Donham suggested Moore seems to be a person of "good will" and hopefully, he will be a good steward of the property."

 

When I drive around FL I'm always sad to see the roadkill.  The county is careful to remove it quickly (don't want to upset the tourists!) but we have encroached so much on their natural habitat, they have to hunt behind our homes and wander into shopping areas for food.  Then people call them "pests" when we are the real pests.

I hope Mr. Moore uses this land wisely and creates his own paradise while protecting the land's natural beauty. 

Lotto$Master

You people have the wrong inpression of canada.. Its not that cold up here...We do have great summers and  our winters are not that bad. Some place in the USA are worse than we are for snow and cold.

We have nice weather here in newfoundland. we can go out and play in the summer time with out weather warnings to stay inside, smog alerts too hot to go out we dont ahve that problem. Its very nice to be able to go out and ot have to worry.Thats no fun. we do get temps in the 30 cel range and our winters are mostly wet with a few snow storms,.I take living here anyday over having to worry about tornatoes, flood and other bad stuff that happens there.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by Lotto$Master on Oct 31, 2007

You people have the wrong inpression of canada.. Its not that cold up here...We do have great summers and  our winters are not that bad. Some place in the USA are worse than we are for snow and cold.

We have nice weather here in newfoundland. we can go out and play in the summer time with out weather warnings to stay inside, smog alerts too hot to go out we dont ahve that problem. Its very nice to be able to go out and ot have to worry.Thats no fun. we do get temps in the 30 cel range and our winters are mostly wet with a few snow storms,.I take living here anyday over having to worry about tornatoes, flood and other bad stuff that happens there.

If I offended you by saying that your country is cold,I apologize.However,I'm sure that most Americans would agree with me.It stands to reason that the farther you are from the equator and the closer you are to either pole,the colder it will be.I live in Iowa and it is a heck of lot colder here in the winter than it is in Mississippi or Louisiana or Florida.It's a heck of a lot colder in Maine and Montana and North Dakota than it is here in Iowa.The farther north you go the colder it is.Do you see my reasoning?Again,I apologize for offending you.

Mike

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

Quote: Originally posted by on Oct 31, 2007

If I offended you by saying that your country is cold,I apologize.However,I'm sure that most Americans would agree with me.It stands to reason that the farther you are from the equator and the closer you are to either pole,the colder it will be.I live in Iowa and it is a heck of lot colder here in the winter than it is in Mississippi or Louisiana or Florida.It's a heck of a lot colder in Maine and Montana and North Dakota than it is here in Iowa.The farther north you go the colder it is.Do you see my reasoning?Again,I apologize for offending you.

Mike

I'm sure you're right that most Americans would agree with you, but in general our grasp of science and geography is, um, not so good. 

Some parts of Canada are further south than some parts of Iowa, but it's not nearly as simple as how far north a place is. In a typical winter the coldest place in the lower 48 is often Old Forge, NY, which is a few hunded miles further south than northern Maine*, which is a couple of hundred miles further south than the North Dakota border with Canada.  The coldest place in the lower 48 is never Seattle or Portland (Maine or Oregon, it doesn't matter).  You can go skiing in Hawaii, sometimes into July. Newfoundland is completely surrounded by the North Atlantic. That keeps it cooler in the summer but warmer in the winter. Northwestern Iowa is about as far from the oceans as you can get in North America, and that can make the winters colder than places that are a few hundred miles east or west. 

*Useless geography trivia: the northernmost point in Maine is at the same latitude as Bob Dylan's hometown, Hibbing, Minnesota.

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on Nov 1, 2007

I'm sure you're right that most Americans would agree with you, but in general our grasp of science and geography is, um, not so good. 

Some parts of Canada are further south than some parts of Iowa, but it's not nearly as simple as how far north a place is. In a typical winter the coldest place in the lower 48 is often Old Forge, NY, which is a few hunded miles further south than northern Maine*, which is a couple of hundred miles further south than the North Dakota border with Canada.  The coldest place in the lower 48 is never Seattle or Portland (Maine or Oregon, it doesn't matter).  You can go skiing in Hawaii, sometimes into July. Newfoundland is completely surrounded by the North Atlantic. That keeps it cooler in the summer but warmer in the winter. Northwestern Iowa is about as far from the oceans as you can get in North America, and that can make the winters colder than places that are a few hundred miles east or west. 

*Useless geography trivia: the northernmost point in Maine is at the same latitude as Bob Dylan's hometown, Hibbing, Minnesota.

More useless geography trivia: Detriot, Michgan is North of Canada.

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Had the province bought the land, they would have missed out on the chance to charge property tax on it. Every year. Then eventually find some excuse to take it, anyway.

While part of Ontario dips further south than the northern parts of the lower 48, I doubt there are many places in the lower 48 where it gets so cold that you can drive 18-wheelers across frozen lakes.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

KY Floyd ....   Yawn 

 

I know this isn't a weather forum, but since we are on the subject...in FL after the weather forecast, they always show the weather around the country and I pay attention.  At the end of the list they show the warmest and the coldest.  In the winter, the warmest is usually a city in South FL like Key West or Miami, and Truckee CA is usually the coldest. (makes me hungry. LOL) 

I guess that's because they don't list the temperatures in Alaska!  Still, the Yukon Territory in Canada holds the record for the coldest recorded temperature in all of North America.  -82 F. 

I want to add - I skied in Canada and it was one of the prettiest places I've ever been.  It was about 6 hours from home when I lived in Nashua.  The mountain was called Tremblanc and it was next to a charming village.  It's probably changed a lot in 20 years so maybe I should just keep that memory!

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by KY Floyd on Nov 1, 2007

I'm sure you're right that most Americans would agree with you, but in general our grasp of science and geography is, um, not so good. 

Some parts of Canada are further south than some parts of Iowa, but it's not nearly as simple as how far north a place is. In a typical winter the coldest place in the lower 48 is often Old Forge, NY, which is a few hunded miles further south than northern Maine*, which is a couple of hundred miles further south than the North Dakota border with Canada.  The coldest place in the lower 48 is never Seattle or Portland (Maine or Oregon, it doesn't matter).  You can go skiing in Hawaii, sometimes into July. Newfoundland is completely surrounded by the North Atlantic. That keeps it cooler in the summer but warmer in the winter. Northwestern Iowa is about as far from the oceans as you can get in North America, and that can make the winters colder than places that are a few hundred miles east or west. 

*Useless geography trivia: the northernmost point in Maine is at the same latitude as Bob Dylan's hometown, Hibbing, Minnesota.

OK,I can buy that.Only because I know that Reno is farther west than San Francisco.But I will continue believing that Canada,in general,is colder than the United States.I watched the Ice Road Truckers tv series and that proved it for meBang Head

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

San Francisco is west of Reno,  Reno is further west than L.A. but the California coastline from San Francisco down to L.A. veers east.

Just look at a map and imagine a plumb line due south from Reno and see where SF and LA are in relation to that line.

The hotest spot is usually Death Valley, Novato, CA, or Phoenix.

The coldest in the continetnal 48 is often"Frostbite Falls" - International Falls.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Nov 1, 2007

San Francisco is west of Reno,  Reno is further west than L.A. but the California coastline from San Francisco down to L.A. veers east.

Just look at a map and imagine a plumb line due south from Reno and see where SF and LA are in relation to that line.

The hotest spot is usually Death Valley, Novato, CA, or Phoenix.

The coldest in the continetnal 48 is often"Frostbite Falls" - International Falls.

Using a map and a plumb line would give the impression that S.F. is farther west than Reno.However,using a globe and  Longitude lines it becomes obvious that Reno IS farther west than S.F..Using a globe and Latitude lines is what proves that some areas of Canada are farther south than some areas of the United States.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

In late Sept 1992 I took a vacation in CA.  I landed in Monterey and drove to Carmel By The Sea.  OMG!  I was so cold.  It was colder than it was in NH and the strong, wind was biting my face.  (very pretty however)  But when I drove just a little east to Carmel Valley, it was 78 F and sunny.  So obviously the Pacific has an effect on the temperature.

I was going to quote Mark Twain in my last post, but I once read that his "famous" saying about San Francisco was made up by someone. I then did a little research and there is no evidence that he ever said that at all.  It is amazing what we think is true for much our lives until we find out it was only a rumor.  Sort of like some of the lottery stories!  LOL

psykomo's avatarpsykomo

Quote: Originally posted by on Oct 31, 2007

Canada does have some beautiful land.And the extreme cold keeps most people away.What else could a lottery winner want,eh?

I Agree!>>>>>>>>Canada does have "BEAUTIFUL LAND">>>>>>>

A lottery winner might want to consider making a BID or OFFER to

buy Lottery Post because, I believe U-COULD make a BILLION $$'s

if you franchise Lottery Post Shoppe's all over the USA and maby

go INTERNATIONAL at sometime in the FUTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOTE: (Donot tell Todd about your BUSINESS PLAN) it may drive up deal$

LOL

PSYKOMO 

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