He saw an ad in the paper for a job in the Sussex area with J.D. Irving Ltd. and was hired to operate tree-cutting equipment.

"We didn't even know where we were going," she recalled. "It was just like, 'Oh, let's try this.'"

She followed him a year later and has no regrets. 

"I think I like everything," she said.

But her favourite thing about Sussex is the natural environment, including the bluffs, nature trails and Poley Mountain.

She finds Sussex has a lot to offer compared to the village she grew up in, which had "one store and one school and that's it."

The Dimperi are part of an influx of immigrants literally changing the face of Sussex.

Hundreds have arrived in the last couple of years, said Chelsie Nightingale, executive director of the Multicultural Association of Sussex.

"It's been a whirlwind," she said.

Chelsie Nightingale, the executive director of the Multicultural Association of Sussex, says the town is changing and locals have been very receptive to newcomers. (Multicultural Association of Sussex/Facebook)

In the 2016 census, the population of Sussex was just 4,282.

When Nightingale started her job in September 2019, there were roughly 140 newcomers in the area. 

Now, there are about 315.

"When you drive from one point to the other, you can visibly see newcomers," she said.

The new residents hail from every continent, but many were hired from India, Ukraine and Brazil by local forestry, farming and trucking companies.

Another "pocket," are post-secondary graduates from Ontario, mostly from the Punjab region of India, who heard about Sussex from friends or family. 

They've truly fallen "in love" with the town, she said, because it reminds them of home. 

"They love the landscape, the rolling hills, the farming country."

     A view of the countryside from the Sussex Bluffs. (Jennifer Sweet/CBC)

"There's no traffic...They can walk to school with their kids...They can walk around town."

It's common ground they share with many locals, including Nightingale.

Ravinder Kaur, 43, and her husband, 45, are originally from Punjab, but had been living in a town in Italy for a decade before coming to Sussex almost three years ago.

Her husband got a job at a pig farm. She's working as a baker at Mrs. Dunster's.

They have two daughters, aged 9 and 12.

Kaur said she was a bit nervous about how she would handle the cold weather, but lifestyle, standard of living, and career opportunities for the children were the main reasons for their move.

"Sussex is a very lovely place for the kids and for ourselves also," she said.

Kaur likes that "there's no big rush of people," making it easy to get around.

But small-town life doesn't suit everyone.

Dimpere said she knows some people who moved to Sussex from Kyiv, Ukraine, and found Sussex a bit boring. They moved on to somewhere bigger.

The Imperial Theatre marquee in Saint John was looking festive when newcomers to Sussex arrived to see a show last weekend. (Multicultural Association of Sussex/Facebook)

Nightingale said she's only been tracking the retention rate since April, when 286 newcomers were living in the Sussex area.

As of Nov. 1, 93 per cent of them were still around, she said, and 33 more had arrived. 

Some members of the Multicultural Association of Sussex wait for The Nutcracker to start at the Imperial Theare. (Multicultural Association of Sussex)

She expects numbers will fluctuate and doesn't want to get over-excited about the rate, but she noted it's well above the provincial goal of 85 per cent retention by 2024.

Some newcomers from big cities say they've enjoyed the change of pace in Sussex.

Evelyn Rocha is one of them.

She arrived from Brazil a year and five months ago.

Like Dimpere, her husband operates industrial machinery for JDI.

The Rocha family from Brazil are loving small-town life. (Submitted by Evelyn Rocha)

The Rochas have two girls, Cecilia, 6, and Clara, 3.

Rocha didn't speak a word of English and had many fears about the move, but said her family has been well received in Sussex and the multicultural association has helped them with everything they've needed, including language classes.

"I have made a lot of friends here in Sussex and I know I can always count on everyone's help and that makes me very happy," she said in a text that had been translated electronically.

Rocha attends just about every activity organized by the multicultural association.

Last weekend, for example, she went with a group of about 40 newcomers to see The Nutcracker ballet at Saint John's Imperial Theatre.

     A view of the stage during last weekend's performance of The Nutcracker in Saint John. (Multicultural Association of Sussex/Facebook)

Afterwards, some said they "didn't realize we had a nice theatre in New Brunswick," said Nightingale.

She hopes that type of activity serves to build "little connections" to the area.

MAS is trying to "ramp up" services, she said, so that newcomers can thrive and reach their goals. 

For Kaur, that would mean access to a licensed practical nurse program.

Working as a nurse would bring in "good money for the family," she said.

Kaur said she came to Canada with a masters in sociology and is earning minimum wage at the bakery.

She's already taken a personal support worker course.

"I want to increase my standard of living," she said.

The high cost of living has been the hardest part of moving to Canada, said Kaur.

It took all of the family's savings to get here, she said.

"We started from zero. That was very, very challenging."

But people in Sussex are "very nice," she said. 

"They help newcomers very, very much."