'It was just heartwarming': Power crews in Cape Breton save roadside memorial following Fiona

WHITNEY PIER, N.S. -

Cleanup crews across Nova Scotia continue to clear debris and restore power 10 days after post-tropical storm Fiona swept through the region.

One crew in Cape Breton even went above and beyond their duties after a memorial plaque attached to a power pole in Whitney Pier was torn down during the storm.

"'There goes Joline's pole.' That's the first thing that went through my head," said Joni Stoddard, recalling when she drove by the downed power pole hours after Fiona on Sept. 24.

In June 1998, Joni Stoddard's younger sister, Joline, was killed in a crash involving an impaired driver at the very spot the plaque hung on Victoria Road. She was just 17 years old.

"If anything, I grew stronger that day because it tore my parents apart," Stoddard said.

For years since, the crash site has been marked with a plaque, serving as a memorial to Joline and a warning to other drivers.

However, after Fiona, the memento was somewhere in the middle of a mess of downed trees and power lines.

"As the crews started to take the trees off and started to uncover what was underneath, which was a combination of poles, wires and trees, they spotted this wonderful plaque," said Mark Sidebottom, the site lead with Nova Scotia Power.

Sidebottom says what happened next was a team effort.

"Really, the crews jumped into action together and coordinated between Nova Scotia Power, the contractors and Bell to make sure it was put back in its proper place," he said.

It wasn't until Monday that Joni Stoddard found out her sister's memorial had been saved.

Many have been thankful over the past week for the efforts of cleanup crews, but for Stoddard, the heartfelt gratitude goes a step further.

"It was just heartwarming that they thought of that and everything, and I knew if my Mom was alive she'd be a ball of tears right now," Stoddard said.

"Everybody that's out of power.. all the trees that are down.. everything's slowly getting back together, and I know that they're stressed out. I just can't believe they took the extra time to do that and like I said, it means a lot."

Though it's been nearly a quarter-century, the pain of Joline's death has never gone away.

Now that her memorial has been rescued from the rubble, Stoddard says people who pass by can once again remember her sister for her magnetic personality and ability to light up a room.

"She's still shining bright on that pole down there, to show everybody she was here," Stoddard said.