SAINT JOHN, NB. — In 2011, New Brunswick specialty carriers Seaside Transportation were recognized by Profit Magazine for — among other things — their ingenuity in hiring some of the finest drivers around who’d been put out of work during the 2008 recession.

Last week, the company grabbed the spotlight again, this time literally.

But rather than putting idle drivers to work, Seaside helped put an old lighthouse back into action — much to the delight of two Maritime towns.

Back story: In 1970, the Canadian Coast Guard decommissioned an 119-year-old lighthouse in Digby, NS., which is across the harbor from Saint John. The wooden structure was put in storage in Saint John.

For the past few years, Digby Mayor Ben Cleveland has maintained that the light should be repatriated. But it wasn’t until this fall that he struck a deal with Saint John.

In return for 200 lbs of scallops and the cost of moving the thing, Digby could have its light back, Saint John City Elders said.

Friday, with help from a crew of Digby volunteers, the guys from Seaside and MacDonald Cranes placed the five-ton, 22-ft high structure on one of Seaside’s flatbeds for its trip to the ferry and from there, home to Digby. (You can check pics from the move below.)

The Seaside crew had to partially dismantle the lighthouse and build a special crib because the upper portion of the structure was quite soft and fragile.

The successful voyage in its wake, the lighthouse spent Saturday in Digby.

Meantime, Seaside’s founder Brad Beach as well as hundreds of his fellow New Brunswickers reported that the scallop feed was delicious.

Seaside was formed just over four years ago by Beach and Glen Wallace, both of whom had been sidelined during the economic downturn.
They saw that the oversized market was underserved and now have more than 30 employees and trucks delivering specialty loads across the continent.

In only their third year of operation, Seaside was named by Profit magazine as the 22nd hottest company in the country, based on revenue growth.

At the time, the stated secret to success was that Seaside “used the downturn to hire top-tier workers, as many excellent truck drivers were out of work.”