After we’d finished school, Leroy and I went in separate directions: Leroy to Dalhousie in Halifax, me to Mount Allison in New Brunswick. For over a half century Leroy and I didn’t see each other.

Then, this past August, after a long absence I returned — with wife Barbara, son Paul, his wife Diana and their son Mark — to stay in a village just beyond my hometown, the village Leroy grew up in.

After 30 years as a teacher in Ontario, mostly in Toronto, Leroy returned to stay the rest of his life where he began: a village above the cliffs of a blue seemingly endless sea. Everyone will tell you, his homecoming made a huge difference to the village of his birth. It’s called Port Morien.

Our family settled in two comfortable suites, above an eatery called Dock Your Dory, a former home rising over the cliff’s edge with sweeping views of ever-changing sea. Our rooms and were quite appealing: welcoming antique beds, small tables for in-room dining and a tiny fridge.

Below, the restaurant was always busy, mostly with local people and a mix of visitors from nearby Cape Breton towns or from “away.” The dining room offers authentic “down home” cuisine — codfish cakes and baked beans, fish chowder and haddock, but also a zesty lasagna and a not bad Caesar salad. (A gentle reminder: be aware that Nova Scotia restaurants err on the generous side, a small or side serving is what Ontarians call medium, even more.)

In early 2008, Port Morien received an honour from Nova Scotia’s Lieutenant-Governor: the inaugural Community Spirit Award, for great community effort in beautification.

Port Morien was an obvious choice, especially to anyone who knew the village in the 1950s. The main street, just yards from the grey cliffs of Morien Bay, was for years a bit drab, partly from coal dust in the air soiling the houses.

The coal mines are now closed. But more than that, local people showed initiative, an imitative many in Port Morien will tell you was inspired by the homecoming from Ontario of Leroy Peach in 1989. He set up the Port Morien Development Association. As a result the main street shines with fresh life: houses of bright and varied colour, flowered front gardens with lawns so green and tended they glow.

So I phoned Leroy. And for the first time in 50 years, we got together next morning sitting on the wide veranda of Dock Your Dory, surrounded in gentle salt air.

Leroy was most candid. “I have to say,” he said, “I was displeased at the way Morien looked when I came home.”

He did some thinking and research, then formed a development association and, through federal, provincial and local grants Port Morien sprang to new life: “All that you see today — the paving, the sidewalks, the community centre, the two B&Bs — are the result of initiative by local people through the development association.”

The community centre is truly an active centre. It draws hundreds from all over Cape Breton to events, art exhibits, and cultural entertainments. As for why Leroy returned from Ontario, he smiles slightly and says softly: “I knew this was where I wanted to be. I loved Ontario. I learned so much there. I’m a big Leaf fan, have had season’s tickets for 49 years. I go back at least once a year. But, in retirement, I knew I wanted it to be in Morien. I wanted to go home.”

The village of Port Morien has a place in history: the first coal mine in North America began there in 1720, the first Boy Scout troop in North America in 1908.

The village is only a few kilometres drive through the nearby former coal town (and my hometown) of Glace Bay, to the Miner’s Museum, a collection of coal company houses and their artifacts from another age; it also offers a tour conducted by retired coal miners, in the manner and style of men of the deep.

Port Morien, where I spent many summers as a child, has a memorable beach — it was always called The Sandbar — which when we went was so shallow that we could all walk almost a mile in water knee high, warm as a bath, looking to the green headlands not far away. It was as memorable and tranquil a day as we’ve had in a long time.

I guess I remember most of all the pleasure of meeting my old friend Leroy after all those years. Now, looking back on our conversation by the silent sea, I remember more than anything else, not just all he’s done, but how comfortable he seems with his decision to go home. Port Morien was fortunate that Leroy — who is also a published poet — is a person about whom the adage is still quite true: all of life is a longing for home.

Special to The Hamilton Spectator

If you go

Port Morien has two well-regarded small inns: Dock Your Dory Tea Room and Guest Suites: www.dockyurdory.com. Also, the Port Morien Rectory, a spacious former Anglican rectory with full breakfast and wi-fi, and the atmosphere that reflects its being a registered heritage house: www.portmorienrectorybb.ca.

For information on Port Morien and all nearby sites including Fortess Louisburg, contact Nova Scotia tourism at www.novascotia.com asking for the Doers and Dreamers Guide.