A mural featuring Marg Osburne at Leonards Gate in Sussex is seen in a submitted photo. The mural was removed as part of the town’s public art program, with plans to add 14 new murals and remove some older murals. Photo: Town of Sussex

By: Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. Source: Telegraph-Journal November 14, 2025

The Town of Sussex says it’s looking into finding a permanent tribute for singer Marg Osburne after removing a mural featuring her and Charlie Chamberlain from Don Messer’s Jubilee, a national CBC TV program that ran from 1956 to 1969.

The town announced last year that it would begin updating its collection of murals, many of which were installed in 2006 and 2007. As part of the program, a panel considered whether to repair, replace or remove existing murals, and one of the murals that was removed was one installed at Leonard’s Gate on Main Street in 2018 featuring Marg Osburne.

Osburne, who died in 1977 at age 49, had been a Sussex resident, moving to the town in 1966 where she lived with husband Austin Squarebriggs, according to Telegraph-Journal archives.

She sang in Messer’s band starting in 1947, for the radio show Don Messer and his Islanders, through to his death in 1973, when she continued to tour, and later hosted her own show, That Maritime Feelin’.

In a post on Facebook, a woman named Melody Falk wrote that Osburne was her mother and it was “hurtful” to see the mural removed without notification. Brunswick News reached out to Falk but did not receive a response.

Hurt feelings

“Sometimes, despite our best interests, you can inadvertently hurt people,” Sussex Mayor Marc Thorne said after a council meeting last month.

“Marg was a fine example of what a Maritimer can achieve on the national stage. No harm was intended, but there was some feelings hurt.”

Thorne said that some of “those who perhaps should have been notified weren’t” and said the town will endeavour to “learn from that” and recognize sensitive issues around a removal in advance.

The initial theme of the town’s mural program was artwork that reflected local history, and Thorne said that this round had an open theme, or “art for art’s sake.”

“I’m still very excited about what we’re doing here,” Thorne said, saying that while there “will always be people who are surprised” when something is replaced, perpetually maintaining murals is costly when the paint and the bricks they are on are deteriorating.

“Every mural that’s painted today will be painted over at some time,” Thorne said. “It’s money better spent, and it’s renewal.”

‘Opportunity to educate’

Marg Osburne & Charlie Chamberlain were regulars on Don Messer’s Jubilee. Photo: Facebook

At Sussex’s committee of the whole meeting Oct. 27, councillors discussed the issue, with CAO Jason Thorne bringing up that the town’s economic development committee had considered whether to name a street or dedicate a park in Osburne’s name.

Thorne told councillors that the suggestion wasn’t necessarily to “pacify” anyone, but that the issue had gotten him thinking about the “opportunity to educate” the public about a part of the town’s history.

He said that something featuring an information kiosk or plaque explaining who she was would be preferable to a simple street naming, and asked for an extra month to develop plans for a tribute.

“It’s a reminder that some individuals in our community have achieved great heights, do we really want them to be forgotten, lost to time?” Thorne told Brunswick News.

“I don’t just want to honour people by her name, I want to educate people so that future generations … can go look, look at this person.”

This story from Brunswick News was written by local journalism initiative reporter Andrew Bates.