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Easy Easter Desserts!
$4.99 April 2022
Vol 34 • No 11
NL PeeWees on “Ed Sullivan”
Flowers Fit for Fairies NEW Colouring Page
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life is better Published monthly in St. John’s by Downhome Publishing Inc. 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 Tel: 709-726-5113 • Fax: 709-726-2135 • Toll Free: 1-888-588-6353 E-mail: mail@downhomelife.com Website: www.downhomelife.com Editorial Editor-in-Chief Janice Stuckless Assistant Editor Nicola Ryan Editor Lila Young Art and Production Art Director Vince Marsh Illustrator Mel D’Souza Illustrator Snowden Walters Advertising Sales Account Manager Barbara Young Account Manager Ashley O’Keefe Marketing Director Tiffany Brett Finance and Administration Accountant Marlena Grant Accountant Sarah Goodwin Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney
Warehouse Operations Warehouse / Inventory Manager Carol Howell Warehouse Operator Josephine Collins Retail Operations Retail Floor Manager, St. John’s Jackie Rice Retail Floor Manager, Twillingate Donna Keefe Retail Sales Associates Crystal Rose, Jonathon Organ, Elizabeth Gleason, Erin McCarthy, Marissa Little, Kim Tucker, Heather Stuckless, Katrina Hynes, Destinee Rogers, Amy Young, Bobbi Jensen, Emily Snelgrove, Brandy Rideout, Kaitlin Dillon
Subscriptions Customer Service Associate Cathy Blundon
Founding Editor Ron Young Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Grant Young President & Associate Publisher Todd Goodyear General Manager/Assistant Publisher Tina Bromley
To subscribe, renew or change address use the contact information above. Subscriptions total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NS, NB, PE $45.99; ON $45.19; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $41.99. US and International mailing price for a 1-year term is $49.99.
Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement #40062919 The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by the portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence of the servants or otherwise, and there shall be no liability beyond the amount of such advertisement. The Letters to the Editor section is open to all letter writers providing the letters are in good taste, not libelous, and can be verified as true, correct and written by the person signing the letter. Pen names and anonymous letters will not be published. The publisher reserves the right to edit, revise, classify, or reject any advertisement or letter. © Downhome Publishing Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.
Printed in Canada Official onboard magazine of
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96 easy Easter
Contents
APRIL 2022
48 Arctic Adventures There is nothing like the North. Nicola Ryan
62 Telling Titanic Tales How Ray Johnson and friends plan to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic Dennis Flynn
96 Everyday Recipes Easy Easter Desserts
48
110 All-Star Adventure The unforgettable worldly experience of the 1956-57 Pee Wees Danny Corcoran
polar explorer www.downhomelife.com
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Contents
APRIL 2022
homefront 8 I Dare Say A note from the Editor 10 Letters From Our Readers Quilt Appreciation, Moving Home, and a Special NL Connection
18 Downhome Tours Our readers explore Ontario
20 Why is That? Why do we cross our fingers for good luck (or to cross out a lie)? Linda Browne
22 Life’s Funny Nice Catch!
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artful memories
Juliah Jennings
23 Say What? A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth 24 Lil Charmers Welcome Spring! 26 Pets of the Month Hoppy Easter! 28 Reviewed Denise Flint reviews Claire Wilkshire’s new short story collection, The Love Olympics
30 What Odds Paul Warford faces
26 hop to it!
his forties
32 Fresh Tracks Wendy Rose reviews Big Space’s new improvised jazz/rock album In Relation To 36 Outdoor Adventures Winter Blast on the Great Northern Peninsula Gord Follett
40 What’s the Score Labrador: A Sports Paradise Kevin Lane 4
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66 set sail!
54 signs of spring
44 In Your Words Contentment Is… An essay about being in the moment Roy Dwyer
features 54 Know Your Nests Wildlife technician Todd Hollett teaches us how to identify various bird nests.
explore 66 Making a Splash A new worldclass model ship gallery in Marystown. Linda Browne
74 The Height of Appreciation A unique way to honour Dr. Janice Fitzgerald. Nicola Ryan
78 Rendezvous at the River Ghaney’s Bridge, a fond meeting place in Colliers. Dennis Flynn
82 Poetic Licence This is Newfoundland Carl Murphy www.downhomelife.com
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Contents
APRIL 2022
92
vegan vittles
home and cabin 86 Stuff We Love Seal Season Nicola Ryan
88 Light Up Your Life Marie Bishop
102 fairy lures
92 Everyday Gourmet Vegan Chili Andrea Maunder
102 Down to Earth Fairy Gardens Kim Thistle
86
seal of approval
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114 loss overseas
reminiscing 108 Flashbacks Classic photos of people and places
109 This Month in History The Confederation Building
114 Deadly Miscommunication About the cover This nostalgic view of Collin’s Cove on the Burin Peninsula was submitted to us by Lorne Everett Wagg. Images like these come to mind when one tours the new museum of model boats in Marystown. See the full story on that beginning on page 66.
Cover Index Easy Easter Desserts • 96 Polar Passion • 48 Hold Fast Lookout • 74 A View to the Past • 66 NL PeeWees on “Ed Sullivan” • 110 Flowers Fit For Fairies • 102 New Colouring Page • 134 www.downhomelife.com
The tragic wartime shooting death of a Newfoundland logger. Lester Green
122 Puzzles 134 NEW! Colouring Page 136 Classifieds 140 Mail Order 144 Photo Finish
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i dare say
There’s no fool like an April fool. All practical joking aside, I am a fool for spring. While some may scoff at the idea of a Newfoundland and Labrador “spring”– generally void of showy blooms and warm sunny days, and more dirty snowbanks popping up than crocuses – I rejoice in its early signals. There is an earthy smell that comes with spring, released like a sigh of relief when the sun melts the snow and softens the ground. That same sun, gaining strength each day, warms my hands and face, and tempts me to ditch the heavy boots, coat and mitts. I feel lighter heading out into the world in just a sweater and shoes, the weight of the long winter left behind. The soundtrack to the world changes, too, from the creak of snow underfoot and the silence inside a snowfall, to a constant drip, bubble and gurgle of water set free from winter’s icy grip, and the chirps and chatter of birds seeking mates and new homes. It’s not a perfect transition. There’ll be setbacks – a late season snowstorm, perhaps. But the ball is already rolling. Spring has already sprung and there’s no going back. Some might take me for a fool, revelling in a Newfoundland and Labrador spring. Maybe I am a fool, and this is my paradise. Thanks for reading,
Janice Stuckless, Editor-in-chief janice@downhomelife.com
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Submission Guidelines and Prize Rules
You could WIN $100! Every reader whose PHOTO, STORY, JOKE or POEM appears next to this yellow “from our readers” stamp in a current issue receives $10 and a chance at being drawn for the monthly prize: $100 for one photo submission and $100 for one written submission. Prizes are awarded in Downhome Dollars certificates, which can be spent like cash in our retail stores and online at shopDownhome.com.*
Submit Today! Send your photo, story, joke or poem to
Downhome, 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 or submit online at: www.downhomelife.com *Only 1 prize per submitter per month. To receive their prize, submitters must provide with their submission COMPLETE contact information: full name, mailing address, phone number and email address (if you have one). Mailed submissions will only be returned to those who include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Downhome Inc. reserves the right to publish submissions in future print and/or electronic media campaigns. Downhome Inc. is not responsible for unsolicited material.
Hidden somewhere in this issue is Corky Sly Conner.
Can you find him? Look carefully at all the photographs and in the text of the stories. If you spot Corky, send us your name, address and phone number, along with a note telling us where he’s located. Your name will be entered in a draw and the winner will receive a coupon worth 25 Downhome Dollars redeemable at our store, or through our website.
Send your replies to: Corky Contest 43 James Lane St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3
mail@downhomelife.com www.downhomelife.com Deadline for replies is the end of each month.
Congratulations to Richard Price of Torbay, NL who found Corky on page 68 of the February issue!
*No Phone Calls Please. One entry per person
www.downhomelife.com
April 2022
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Inspired by NL I have been a subscriber to your wonderful magazine for many years. I also appreciate receiving the annual calendar with its award-winning photographs. As an amateur artist, I sometimes copy some of the images as simple drawings for my own amusement. However, I set myself a personal challenge by reproducing part of the Rose Blanche lighthouse photo, taken by Harold Feiertag of Kingston, ON, using an electronic medium. Above is a montage of the original lighthouse picture (on the left) and the electronic reproduction. In September 2002, my wife and I visited Rose Blanche and enjoyed the tour of the lighthouse, with its exhibits that tell the story of isolation and dedication of the succession of lightkeepers. Keep up with the good work publishing Downhome. Barry J. Page Goderich, ON
Indeed, our readers share some stunning photographs year-round, and Harold is one of our more frequent and very talented submitters. We welcome anyone to share their best views from around Newfoundland and Labrador. The 2023 Downhome Calendar Contest is on now – enter your photos at DownhomeLife.com/calendar. 10
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Quilt Appreciation Thank you for another great edition of Downhome and for including the quilting theme [February issue]. I’m a quilter and, like many others, that quiet creativity has kept me going during the times of COVID-19 lockdown. We’ve visited Newfoundland several times and are actually in the process of planning our trip there this summer. Each time I’ve travelled in Newfoundland, I’ve picked up “themed” fabric. In 2021, I created two matching laptop quilts using some of that material. The first of these was transported to my daughter-in-law’s father, who lives in Rocky Harbour, NL. My son and his wife did not know what was in the package for her father, and the mystery was driving them crazy as I had written on it: “Don’t peek!” It was the first thing out of the car when they arrived, and the package was opened immediately and gratefully received. Little did they know that they would receive a duplicate for Christmas. Thank you for spotlighting this traditional skill that gives such pleasure – both in fond memories and beauty. Trudy Blackburn Brampton, ON
What a beautiful and unique way to collect souvenirs of your trip (the material) and making memories last (the quilts). Thanks for sharing, Trudy. We hope you have another enjoyable trip to Newfoundland this year.
www.downhomelife.com
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Only in Newfoundland I am a WWII veteran who has just taken up residence in Newfoundland after 10 visits over the years. The following is a true story – only in Newfoundland. My wife Anna lived with dementia for 16 years. When she was diagnosed in 2003, she asked me to never put her in a nursing home. We knew nothing of the disease, and all our doctor could tell us was “there is no cure, just try to keep going.” Three of our four children live in the USA, and Anna loved to travel – in spite of many hardships. Then we discovered Newfoundland and made eight annual trips that she loved. Our last trip together was in June and July 2019. By this time we especially loved Round Da Bay Inn, owned by Karen and Chris Ricketts. One day when we returned from Bonavista, Chris was teaching an art lesson in the dining room. While we were having lunch, four of the young ladies (after class) came to our table to sing some Newfoundland songs. Their voices were terrific and we enjoyed them immensely. We returned to Ontario and Anna went in the hospital in August. Three days before she died (she no longer knew my name or where she was), she asked me, “Where are we going today?” I said, “Right here for breakfast, but where would you like to go?” Without hesitation, she said, “Newfoundland.” I said we were just there, but she said, “Oh, those four ladies!” I wrote to Chris to thank the ladies. It meant so much to me and to Anna that they should know their singing broke past the dementia. When the ladies heard I was back at 12
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the inn in September, they broadcast their rehearsal called “Songs for Anna.” Only in Newfoundland! In spite of my age, I am now living in Plate Cove West, for I feel closer to Anna here – she loved it so much. Charles Cromie Plate Cove West, NL
We’d say “Welcome to NL,” Charlie, but it sounds like you’ve been welcome here for quite some time. Thank you for sharing your beautiful story. Another Plate Cove West resident also shared your story with us, as the entire community seems quite taken with you, too. Kimberly Furlong shared this photo of you on DownhomeLife.com, and wrote: “This is Charlie, a WWll veteran who courageously made the move (by driving himself) in December to Newfoundland on his own at age 95. He is an inspiration! He has a zest for life and has told me that he is happy here, and the people are what makes him the happiest… He just celebrated his 96th birthday and I have gifted him the Downhome magazine, which he loves!” 1-888-588-6353
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Mystery No More As usual, I am enjoying my Downhome magazine… Love it! On page 14 of the February issue is a letter and photo titled “What is it?” We looked it up and were quick to discover that it is actually an antique sliding/pocket door hanger, made by Richard Wilcox Company in 1881, Aurora, Illinois. There now! Thanks for the memories, made possible by each magazine every month. Patricia Jackman Kildare, PEI
Now then, isn’t that interesting! Thanks for solving the mystery, Patricia. Thank you also to reader Jenny McGrath-Kelly, who provided the same information. “My son Brian and husband Dave had fun researching this item,” Jenny wrote. Any readers who come upon a strange item in your attics, cellars, sheds etc. that you can’t identify, send us a photo and some information about where and how it was found. Our readers are great at solving these mysteries! Email your “What Is It?” question to editorial@downhomelife.com; upload it to DownhomeLife.com; or mail a photo and letter to Downhome, 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3.
Hey Newfoundland!
Contact C ontact us today
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Dog House Do-over This dog house was found under the steps of our house. We cleaned it up and my granddaughter Brianna did most of the drawing. My two daughters came up to BC for a holiday and they painted some, as did I. (My daughter Pam painted the light house scene on the jar.) Now that old dog house shelters beautiful memories of family and back home. Daphne Stuckless Coquitlam, BC
Nice job on the exterior renovation. Now you just need a tiny Newfoundland dog to move in!
Handmade Quilt Fanatic
Moving “Home”
The “I Dare Say” page in the February issue on quilts touched me deeply. I consider myself a “homemade quilt fanatic.” I have seven quilts made by members of both my late husband’s and my family: our mothers and grandmothers. I use them all the time; each one brings me special memories of the person who made them. I plan to pass them on to my grandchildren and hope they will continue to cherish them for years to come. Keep up the great job with this excellent publication!
We have bought a home by the ocean in Bay Roberts and plan to relocate after 27 years in Ontario. The pandemic did us in. Before that we visited kids and grandkids five or six times a year. It was such a lonely time for me. I missed family so much. We bought the home virtually and with the help (great help) from our daughter, Ashley. We plan on making the move this summer. We visited three times since last year – in August, November and December – for three weeks a visit. Love our new home.
Helen Leslie Dartmouth, NS
Debi & Andy Turner Ontario
Thank you, Helen, for the nice, warm thoughts!
Welcome home, Turners.
Correction
In the February issue, Downhome failed to note that the article “A Kindness Returned” by Phil Riggs is a story from his book, Our Random Acts of Kindness. The book is sold on Amazon and through Phil’s Facebook page. 14
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Sponsored Editorial
It’s Never Too Late to Make Your Dream Come True Growing up in Clarke’s Head
in Gander Bay, Sherrylee Francis Peckford’s father kept horses on their property. She always dreamed of owning a horse of her own. When she was finally able to make that dream come true about three years ago, she didn’t set out to acquire a Newfoundland Pony. Then, she met Frankie. Misty Acres Frankie’s Silver Lining (NPS# 883), or Frankie, as he’s known to family and friends, stole Sherrylee’s heart the moment she met him in Chapel Arm. A stunning black colt with a beautiful white blaze, his big Newfoundland Pony personality immediately shone through. Sherrylee, who also breeds Pomeranians, says of Frankie: “He’s like a big dog. He gets excited when he sees us coming. He loves to walk alongside you, and he’ll come to the kitchen window for treats. One day I had the basement door open as I was doing chores around the house, and when I turned around Frankie was standing right behind me - in the basement!” Demonstrating the versatility of his breed, young Frankie was completely green to saddle and harness when Sherrylee got him at one year old. He took to both the saddle and harness right away, and Sherrylee and her husband often ride him and hitch him to their sleigh and cart. For Sherrylee’s grandchildren, a highlight of visiting with their grandparents is riding him in the garden. “They get so excited when they see him. He’s great with the kids.” He’s become a bit of a local celebrity in the community, especially in the summer when tourists are often spotted outside Sherrylee’s fence, hoping to meet him and get their picture taken with him.
Frankie’s sire was the legendary Dawson’s Star (NPS #651), who recently passed away after making a substantial contribution to the future of the Pony through foals like Frankie. Frankie’s dam is Cappahayden’s Abaigeal (NPS# 712). Abaigeal lives down the road from Frankie, and Sherrylee laughs when she recalls the day Frankie jumped the brook on their property and headed off to visit his mother. “He learned how to jump the brook, and one day, he jumped it and just took off down the road. I caught up with him at Abaigeal’s.” Sherrylee says Frankie has made her childhood dream of owning a horse come true and that Newfoundland Ponies are easier to care for than some might think. “They’re not hard to take care of. They need a bit of land, a small barn, some hay and lots of love. We love him so much. I’d love to have another one,” Sherrylee laughs, “because my husband and I can’t both ride him at the same time.” The powerful bond between a Newfoundland Pony and their owner is summed up so well when Sherrylee speaks about Frankie: “I wouldn’t part with him for the world.”
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homefront Downhome tours...
Ontario
Mameigweiss Lake Karen and Keith Tilley pose on Mameigweiss Lake near Ignace, ON, near some incredible Anishinaabe rock paintings.
More than 400 pictographs (rock paintings) adorn 100 sites along the cliffs of the Canadian Shield. Countless rivers and lakes characterize this vast region, and the paintings are a legacy of the Anishinaabe, a nomadic Algonquian-speaking people who travelled by birch bark canoe. The age of the paintings in unclear, but they could be at least 1,000 years old. The characteristic red paint used was made by mixing fine clay with ferrous oxide. 18
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Ottawa
Cousins Paula and Jan, originally from NL, met for a day in Ottawa and paused at the Peace Tower for this photo. (submitted by Paula Grant, White Rock, BC)
The iconic Peace Tower (Tour de la Paix) stands in the central portion of the Canadian parliament buildings on Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa. Parliament Hill is located on a limestone outcrop on the southern banks of the Ottawa River. For hundreds of years, the hill served as a landmark for Indigenous and, later, European traders on their journey to the interior of the continent.
New Liskeard
Mac Hamilton poses at Pete’s Dam. (submitted by Joan Connors, New Liskeard, ON)
Located in northeastern Ontario on the banks of Lake Timiskaming, the City of Temiskaming Shores was created in 2004 by the amalgamation of New Liskeard, Haileybury and the township of Dymond. The Ottawa River drains into and out of Lake Timiskaming, making it part of this well-travelled Indigenous trading route. In fact, Timiskaming is a word from the Algonquin Temikami or Temikaming, from tim meaning “deep” and kami meaning “open waters.” www.downhomelife.com
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Expert answers to common life questions. By Linda Browne
Why do we cross our fingers for good luck (or to cross out a lie)? Whether you think they’re downright foolishness, or you’re one of those folks who’d literally go out of your way to avoid crossing the path of a black cat or having to walk under a ladder, you can’t deny the intrigue of superstitions. And even if you’re not a believer, you might find yourself performing strange little rituals from time to time without giving it much thought. Even the most skeptical among us have probably said “bless you” after someone’s sneezed, or rapped their knuckles against a wooden table (or their own head, in self-deprecating fashion) to help avoid a negative outcome and encourage good fortune to keep flowing. You might’ve also crossed your fingers for a friend headed out on a job interview, or for a child competing in a sports tournament, to wish them good luck and encourage a favourable outcome. Or perhaps you simply said, “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!” without doing the action. Either way, it’s probably something you’ve done, or said, time and time again. Like many superstitions, sayings and the like, there’s no clear answer as to how this peculiar practice came about. Though there seems to be two main opposing viewpoints. One is that the gesture predates Christianity, with two people forming a cross with their index fingers. In his book 20
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Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, former physicist Charles Panati writes that the gesture “grew out of the pagan belief that a cross was a symbol of perfect unity; and that its point of intersection marked the dwelling place of beneficent spirits. A wish made on a cross was supposed to be anchored steadfastly at the cross’s intersection until that desire was realized.” Another theory suggests the practice came about when Christianity was in its infancy, with Christians using the gesture as a secret symbol of sorts to identify each other. It’s said that each person would form an “L” with their index finger and thumb, and then 1-888-588-6353
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touch their thumbs together and overlap their index fingers, forming the Ichthys symbol (perhaps better known as the “Jesus fish”). “It is difficult to know if early Christians were using signs and symbols ‘secretly,’ and they certainly shared many of the symbols of the Greeks and Romans. The ‘Chi Rho’ symbol is one of the earliest, and it was based on the ΙΧΘΥΣ or ‘FISH’ acrostic, which stood for ‘Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour’ and does appear on an ancient Christian tombstone (Aberkios, 2nd century),” writes Dr. Alicia Batten, professor of religious and theological studies at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo, in an email to Downhome. “It is true that early Christians would seemingly reflect this symbol later by touching the thumb to the index finger (and blessing people with this),” she continues, “but I do not know for sure whether this was related to crossing fingers.” Stuart Vyse – an American behavioural scientist, teacher, writer and expert on superstition and irrational behaviour – says the theory linking crossed fingers to the Christian cross, “which presumably is thought to bring on luck,” seems to make the most sense, pointing to Harry Oliver’s book, Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers: The
Origins of Old Wives’ Tales and Superstitions in Our Everyday Lives. (In the book, Oliver notes that “crossing fingers is also a gesture used as a countermeasure when one has accidentally walked under a ladder, and it is commonly used by children when telling a lie as a way of protecting themselves in advance for the consequences of the bad deed.” He adds, “There is little evidence of people crossing fingers as a sign of good luck before the late 19th century.”) However, Vyse cautions, “when it comes to folk beliefs, it is hard to know… No one has claimed to have originated these practices, and there seems to be quite a bit of speculation going on by those who claim to know the origins. Multiple sources are also a real possibility. For example, there are no fewer than three major theories of the origin of unlucky 13,” he tells Downhome. “I will point out that crossing fingers is different than many other superstitions, but similar to knocking on wood in the sense that it is often done in public as a kind of shared hope. People will sometimes say ‘fingers crossed’ or actually cross their fingers as a way of communicating that they hope something will happen. It seems to be maintained in part by a social bonding effect.”
Do you have a burning life question for Linda to investigate?
Turn to page 9 for ways to contact us. www.downhomelife.com
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homefront life’s funny
Nice Catch!
No trouble to tell where this cod was caught. “My husband and I were frying cod, and this piece was shaped like Newfoundland!” writes the submitter. Juliah Jennings Corner Brook, NL
Do you have any funny or embarrassing true stories? Share them with us. If your story is selected, you’ll win a prize! See page 9 for details.
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“What doe s ‘Aww, luh’ mean?” – Brent H illier
Say WHAT? Downhome recently posted this photo (submitted by Karen Keats) on our website and social media platforms and asked folks to imagine what this baby moose might be saying. Brent Hillier’s response made us chuckle the most, so we’re awarding him 20 Downhome Dollars!
Here are the runners-up: “No worries – he only has a driver’s licence.” – Robin Cuff “Where’s the crossing guard when you need one?” – Sharon Stone “What! I have a twin? WHERE?” – Theresa Lewis
Play with us online! www.downhomelife.com/saywhat
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homefront lil charmers
Welcome Spring! Baby Bella Luke greets his family’s new calf, Bella. Victoria Squires Jamestown, NL
No Kidding This cutie made friends with a goat in Tide’s Cove. Alisha Power Marystown, NL 24
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Baa Baa Black Sheep Nikki feeds a dandelion to her pet lamb. Nick Traverse Placentia, NL
Barnyard Buddy Karlee Jean absolutely loves animals. Kayla Young Grand Falls-Windsor, NL
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homefront pets of the month
Hoppy Easter Simply Ear-resistible Little Buddy is sweet and snuggly. Ellen Butt Carbonear, NL
Hippity Hoppity Peanut knows Easter’s on its way! Gary Mitchell via DownhomeLife.com
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Too Hip to Hop Brewster’s having a good hare day. Barbara Critch Mississauga, ON
Somebunny Special Frankie sends carrot kisses and Easter wishes. Cathy Cullinan Froude via DownhomeLife.com www.downhomelife.com
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homefront
reviewed by Denise Flint
The Love Olympics Claire Wilkshire
If you believe that love is all you need, then Claire Wilkshire’s new short story collection, The Love Olympics, will confirm that belief. Like the Olympics themselves, these stories feature sprints and endurance races, individual events and team efforts. The different kinds of love that are portrayed are equally diverse. There’s the love between lifelong friends, the love between a parent and child, sexual love, simple platonic companionship, and any other kind of love that draws one person to another and binds us all together. Most of the stories are interconnected in some way, and part of the fun of reading a book of short stories like this lies in tracing the relationships of the people from one story to the next. There’s a certain thrill in realizing that the Morgan in this story is the daughter that Cathy was worrying over in that story. Wilkshire makes their perspectives both completely different and absolutely relatable and believable. And, refreshingly, most of the people are good people. The stories vary considerably in length. I might have been happy with a little less of this one and a little more of that one, but that’s a minor quibble. Wilkshire has done a bang-up job of portraying the world we live in and the people who inhabit that world, and she has done it in an authentic and sympathetic manner. You know a book has captured you when you find yourself nodding vigorously at some of the sentences, and that happened more than once with this worthwhile contribution. 28
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Q&A with the Author Denise Flint: What interested you in writing a book of short stories rather than another novel? Claire Wilkshire: I’ve always preferred the short story form. My novel started out as a short story and it just kept getting longer. My doctoral dissertation was on the Canadian short story. I like the brevity of a short story – how it can encapsulate everything in one story. When I started writing this book I hadn’t planned on writing a collection, I just started writing. I wrote one story, then I wrote another story and kept on going.
DF: Which story was the hardest to write? CW: “Work-in-Progress.” It was really hard to make it come together. It had different sections and wasn’t cohering. I was ready to leave it out of the book, but my amazing editor found a way to encourage me to leave it in. I pushed through and cut a bunch of stuff out and found what I thought was a through line to the end. It was a struggle to get it together, but I’m happy with it now.
DF: Which story is your favourite? CW: I don’t think I have a favourite. It’s the characters for me. I love all the characters. They’re all my sweet people. I have a bit of a soft spot for “Snow.” It was the first one I wrote, and maybe because it was the first and the process was quite different, so that one feels a bit special.
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DF: How do you decide how long a story needs to be? CW: I wanted to have variety. I wanted to have some that were short, some that were medium and some that were quite substantial. I didn’t realize how long some would be. I just keep going until I’ve reached the length. If you can come to the point where the reader can reflect on the whole, maybe you’ve got to the end.
DF: Do you have a favourite spot to write in? CW: I don’t think so. I can tell you about a nice place to revise in. I went to the Fishers Loft in Port Rexton [NL] and I was stuck on a story – “Baby Whales” – and I was having trouble fitting the pieces together. I had it printed out and cut all the pieces of paper, and I stuck them back together. And when I came back I knew the order, and some didn’t fit and went into recycling.
DF: What are your plans post-pandemic? Do you think things will change permanently? CW: Maybe another thing we’ve learned [during this pandemic] is every time we anticipate a change, it’s not the change we think. Change is not what we anticipated. The only thing we’ve learned is that we need to roll with it. I conduct a choir, and so one thing I really miss is not being able to hear them sing. I’m looking forward to being in a room with my lovely singers and being able to hear them all singing at the same time.
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homefront what odds
forty plus twenty equals eighty By Paul Warford
Some spots of Here we are, dear readers. I’m the time has come. I have an Airmiles carpet have afraid card in my wallet, greys among my curls and no faded from the patience for Snapchat. I’m now 40 years old. To sun, but the be honest, turning 40 was never part of my plan a kid. Instead I assumed everyone else would house still stands as turn 40 and I’d get to bypass the whole aging proud against the thing. Turns out, I’m as mortal as the rest of wind each year. you, and now my driver’s licence betrays me. That said, I’ve been told this new decade is not As do I, even if so bad by those who have lived it, and I’m a man I’m bent of silver linings. Forty is the new 30, after all, my 30s were a real delight if you were to lay a little lower. and them out like a feast and examine the dishes in turn. So, I’m giving these new numbers a chance as I bend to tie my boots, ignoring the soreness in my knee when it protests and flares up. To be honest, I have no idea what the knee thing is about. When I lean weight on my right knee, it sometimes feels like there’s a very sharp pebble just beneath my pallid skin, biting and stinging as I yelp and wonder aloud what in the hell is wrong with me. Those of you who know me know I’m not much of an athlete or physical character, so the most perplexing aspect of this soreness is its origins. But like many of your own knees, mine refuses to divulge any information beyond sudden white flashes of discomfort. Is there a doctor in the house? Of course, “Things could be worse!” as they say, and I’m still this side of the sod. And so I’m gonna keep muckin’ along, as my father would say. He’s nearing 80 and I could swear he has more tenacity than I do. Those of you who know me also know I never cease to admire him. To whit: he’s building me something new, once again. Michael Victor Warford is nothing if not a master carpenter. He’s been fashioning 30
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articles of wood for me since he was 40 – a young buck with hornrims and a darkroom adjacent the laundry, where he’d gingerly lower his newest photos into the stop bath, squinting to see our family’s earliest memories develop. Back then he was still building the house, piece by piece, going from a two-storey with only a door on the bathroom to what it is today: a monument to who we’ve been, albeit sprinkled lightly with dust, like those greys I keep finding. Some spots of carpet have faded from the sun, but the house still stands proud against the wind each year. As do I, even if I’m bent a little lower. And that brings me to milestone number two. Though I failed to realize (’til recently) how close the two accomplishments were, I turned 40 right around the time my standup comedy career turned 20. I’ll be honest, it’s been a lot to take in. But what stands out most are a lot of good memories and good laughs, punctuated here and there by the occasional drunk, belligerent audience member – par for the course and part of the job. I wouldn’t trade any of it. Anyway, to let everyone in town know that I’m of the old ilk, I
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organized a show for the end of February to celebrate all the living and joking I’ve been doing as time flew by. I called it Paul Warford: Die, Die Again, and designed it like a mock funeral, with me at front in a casket and my comedy friends giving eulogies. I don’t know why I chose this bizarre format, apart from the chuckle it tended to get when I’d describe it to friends. This month’s topic isn’t a clever ploy to get bums in the seats for this anniversary show because it will be long done by the time you have this issue in your hands. But I wanted to mention to you all that I’m doing it because, well, I like telling you all what’s going on. I’ve been doing it with you since I was 32. Oh, and guess who’s building the casket? I’m sure Dad will craft me something built to last. Hopefully, I won’t truly need it for years to come. Paul Warford began writing for Downhome to impress his mom and her friends. He writes and performs comedy in Eastern Canada. Follow him on Twitter @paulwarford
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fresh tracks
new music talk with Wendy Rose
In Relation To Big Space
BIG SPACE IS BACK ON THE SCENE with In Relation To, a 46-minute improvised jazz/rock album released in October 2021. It’s their first new album since the January 2016 launch of Live at The Levee. Since its release, In Relation To has been reviewed by numerous media outlets, described as “brilliantly original,” “immensely enjoyable,” “a surprising journey into sonic worlds” and – my personal favourite – “a dizzying jazz-rock journey that demonstrates the band’s technical chops and dynamic creativity.” And there’s no doubting the “chops” of Big Space. Composed of Ashley Chalmers (drums), Ian Murphy (bass), and Grant King (guitar) of locally beloved band Pathological Lovers, these three musicians demonstrate their immeasurable skill and talents on their latest record. In Relation To begins with “Almost Everything,” immediately hooking listeners with fun and funky guitar, and simplistic jazz drumming. Twenty seconds in, you’ll probably catch your toes 32
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tapping or your head nodding along in time before you even realize you’re doing it. The fun continues with “Triptap,” which has a more jazz-rock feel. A heavy repetitive riff in the track’s first minute instantly brings me back to hot, sweaty nights in New Orleans. It’s definitely a departure from the classical jazz I encountered in the French Quarter, but I feel like the “N’awlins” folks I encountered could add this to their “fais do-do” setlists, and have fun vibing to it. This song is definitely a part of the aforementioned “dizzying jazz-rock journey,” even tricking the listener into a false ending at the 4m 38s mark, before reeling you back in for another minute of frenzied jazz fusion. Piano leads us into “See Through.” At times dreamy and slow, and at others fast and furious, this third track features some impressive guitar work by King. Particularly long guitar solos, 1-888-588-6353
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especially in heavy metal music, tend to bore me – but there’s a different kind of energy here that somehow finds the middle ground between manic and managed, culminating in a gentle ending. Has a song ever felt like it’s launching you into space? “After Words” creates its own gravity, pulling you into a deep and vast expanse crammed into just over three minutes. For me, this feeling is typically achieved by atmospheric black metal, and I’ve yet to find another genre of music to do it – until now. “I Was Looking For You There” is the album’s longest track at 6m 52s, giving it ample time to create numerous worlds. Listeners, don’t get too comfortable within this piece – Big Space will be launching you on another journey within seconds. The band employs some experimental noise in this selection, which lends itself to the overall vibe of this album: don’t anticipate what’s going to come next, because you just never know. King’s guitar starts us off on “Monochromatic,” which has more of a post-rock feel than previous tracks. There are still elements of jazz here, undoubtedly, especially in the guitar solos. “Relevator” is a favourite among Bandcamp listeners, with a fun uptempo intro. This is probably the funkiest song on the album. The album’s second last track, “Ships,” makes it again easy to forget that this is a heavily improvised album. Like the rest of the record, this song also makes the listener long to be www.downhomelife.com
in the crowd at a Big Space show, to see if one can distinguish between the live-tracked studio recordings and the piece when presented in the moment, fuelled by the energy of being on stage and performing for an audience.
All photos by Ritche Perez
In Relation To wraps up with “Coupla Nights.” It somehow serves as the perfect outro for this album, which is a soundscape of surprises, full of extra-auricular activities. It earns a healthy report card for everyone involved in playing, recording, mixing and mastering. A+, folks. April 2022
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Q&A with the Artists Wendy Rose: Let’s go back to 2013, the year Big Space was born – how did the three of you begin playing together? Ashley Chalmers: I had just moved from Vancouver, eager to find a key-
board player to restart a pop band with a singer friend of mine who had moved to St. John’s before me. She recommended we go down and check out the Pathological Lovers, with whom Grant was playing keys… After the show, I approached Grant. We hit it off, discovering that we were both jazz guys and loved many of the same artists... The pop band I had originally been eager to form was pushed to the side as Grant and I decided to start a piano trio jazz group.
Grant King: The situation in this town is if there’s a good drummer you hold onto them for dear life. I had a jazz trio that I played piano in that had just become defunct because the drummer just moved to Toronto, so I thought this is quite auspicious! Ash came out to my house and jammed with me on piano – instantly, I knew this guy is into exactly the stuff I’m into, and the way he hit I knew this was the drummer for a guitar trio! Not piano! I was elated. AC: Two rehearsals in, Grant told me that guitar was his actual instrument of choice; he wanted to switch to guitar and recommended Ian for the bass role. GK: Knowing Ian for so long, I knew he knew what harmony I was after from a bass player, so I asked him to come join us for a jam... and that magic glue that is so rare happened. 34
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WR: In Relation To was released a whopping six years after recording 2015’s Live at the Levee. Why now? And why did you make us wait so long? AC: From our inception to 2015, we
had been happy honing our live performances without really paying much attention to what an album would sound like, and our intent was to record live and release albums from those live moments... Somewhere in those six years, we organically came to the conclusion that we wanted to also have some studio albums... COVID came, so the timing was perfect for that effort!
GK: I still believe that this music is best captured in front of an audience... as if they’re also members of the band. This music leans heavily on improvisation, so the “vibe” or “energy” from an audience has a huge impact on how we play that night... But we realized that you just got to have an album to get anywhere... a proper in-studio album. So we set our sights on that...
WR: Tell me a little about how Big Space maps out your musical creations. AC: Usually the songs start from a small
idea one of us brings in. We improvise the rest. Occasionally, we use small musical ideas to shape our improvisations to fit with the vibe of the song. We are never really done per se. All of our songs change and evolve, so anything we record is just really a moment in time captured. A couple of shows later, a song might sound completely different.
GK: I usually stumble on a germ of an idea while improvising, with the group or alone, though with the group is www.downhomelife.com
ALWAYS better – then we hash it out together... But that’s only the written portion of the tune; the bulk is always improvised and the goal is NEVER to repeat yourself there. So every time we play the song, most of it is completely different.
WR: How did your October 2021 album release show at The Ship go? Ian Murphy: It was a great night – one
of my favourite shows we’ve ever played. Of course, we haven’t played live as much as we’d like in the last couple of years because of COVID-19, so we were really happy we could do the album release show.
AC: The excitement of just being out in a tight space with a bunch of people really helped fuel the music. The energy is sort of reciprocal... so, high energy in the audience feeds into the music, making it more intense, which then creates more excitement in the audience... and that literally repeats until we get to a point where everyone’s given everything that they have... I feel that we got to that point that night!
WR: What’s in store for Big Space in 2022? AC: Bigger Space – ha. We are perpet-
ually challenged by the last recording or show we’ve done. We are always looking to go further and make better music... [In] 2022, we will be recording an album that reflects that mentality, where we will take what we’ve learned and heard recording the last album, and use those lessons to make our next. In the live show department, we’re going to be exploring some of our new ideas that will be found in the next record... Come check it out! April 2022
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homefront
outdoor adventures
winter blast on the GNP By Gord Follett
I don’t recall who caught the first fish – wasn’t me – but I do know it took just a couple of minutes and that the beauty brook trout weighed about two pounds.
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We had no doubt that conditions around St. Anthony near the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula would be ideal for snowmobiling in March, but we had no idea what to expect fishing-wise. And because we had always been more into fishing than riding, we approached that aspect of the trip with fingers crossed. Dwight Blackwood, John Dyke and I were the guests of John and Edna Simmonds, who operated Glacier Resort (the former Viking Motel) at the time, and we were there to film an episode of the “Newfoundland Sportsman Show.” The year was 2008, and it turned out to be what I believe was the best ice fishing/snowmobiling episode we ever put together. Even without fishing reports, we suspected upon our arrival that this trip was going to be a wonderful and somewhat unique adventure. We flew from St. John’s to St. Anthony and were met at the airport by John Simmonds, plus the town’s mayor and a few local Arctic Cat representatives. Why the Cat reps, you ask? To deliver three brand new snowmobiles for us to use over the next few days, of course – a pleasant surprise to kick off the trip. It was a blustery day with blowing snow as we hauled on our snowmobiling outfits inside the airport while our new friends readied the machines for the 25-km ride to Glacier Resort on the outskirts of St. Anthony. I’d like to report that we hit the bunks relatively early for a fresh start the next morning, but the food, drinks and hospitality were far too enjoyable to walk away from before midnight. Or was that 2 a.m.? A cool but spectacular morning awaited as we ate a hearty breakfast before dressing for the day ahead, taking a couple final quick sips of coffee 1-888-588-6353
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Happy anglers (from left) John Simmonds, Dwight Blackwood, Chris Simmonds, Sam Keats and Gord Follett Gord Follett photo before starting our snowmobiles. “What about bait?” I remember asking John just before squeezing the helmet over my head. “Sam’s got the bait,” he replied, pointing to our guide, Sam Keats. “Perfect,” I said, assuming he had a large tub of worms packed away somewhere amongst the fishing supplies. “You all ready?” Sam shouted above the roar of six machines, including one driven by John’s son, Christopher. Off we headed in a southwest direction for two magnificent hours of cruising over trails, frozen rivers and ponds before hitting the wide-open Norwest Marshes, which, like the snow-covered bodies of water we just crossed, offered ample opportunity to “open ’er up.” A sledder’s dream, I remember thinking. On a couple of occasions we brought our machines to a complete stop to admire moose and allow them to cross undisturbed in front of us. During a www.downhomelife.com
break in riding on the barrens, Dwight and I decided to do one of our “chat pieces” for the show. As Johnny Dyke was filming, a pair of moose crossed in the background. Within minutes of reaching our destination of Watson’s Waters, holes were drilled through 14-15 inches of ice and we each grabbed a couple of ice fishing rods and reels. “You got the bait, bud?” I asked Sam. He reached into a container. “Here ya go, Gord.” “What’s this?” “Chicken skin.” “You serious?” “Put some on your hook; you’ll see.” And see we did! I don’t recall who caught the first fish – wasn’t me – but I do know it took just a couple of minutes and that the beauty brook trout weighed about two pounds. We were onto something here! With hooks and bait dangling five or six inches from our spinners and spoons, we hooked April 2022
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fish at fairly regular intervals throughout that day and the next; not so often that it would become ‘ho-hum’ and wouldn’t be considered a challenge, but just enough that we were excited with every bite and hookup. I shouted to Johnny at one point that I had what felt like “a dandy fish” on the line, and took my time reeling so that he could get set up with the video camera. Once I got the “we’re rolling” signal from our buddy/ cameraman, I hauled the 2 1/2 pound brookie up through the hole. I took a few steps to the side and was unhooking it to hold horizontally for a good camera shot when it wiggled out of my hands and started flipping and flopping precariously close to the hole. In what was probably the fastest physical move of my 49th year, I lunged to my right and landed on my side with arm extended, just in time to flick the trout four feet away from the hole it was about to drop into. We didn’t have our regular $5 wager for biggest trout on that trip, and most of the fish caught were about the same size, but I believe the two Johns each hauled one up slightly larger than the others. A massive blizzard, the likes of which I had never seen before nor since, cut our fishing plans short by one day. But by then it had already been a case of “mission accomplished” job-wise, with a ton of fun tossed in for good measure.
Above: A couple keepers apiece for Johnny Dyke (left) and Gord Follett Below: Out of the water and into the pan
Gord Follett was editor of the Newfoundland Sportsman magazine for more than 30 years and co-hosted the Newfoundland Sportsman TV show for 15 years. Email gordfollett@gordfollettoutdoors.com.
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homefront what’s the score
LABRADOR Sports Paradise By Kevin Lane
I spent more than 40 years in Labrador, and was fortunate to have career opportunities that permitted me to travel all over. In my lifetime, I’ve helped organize, participated in and observed different sporting events in the province, and some of the most standout moments occurred in Labrador. During the pandemic, I’ve been keeping active by walking. Those walks give me time to reflect, most recently on my time in the Big Land. Although there are many sporting events held yearly in Labrador, I would like to highlight three of them. The first is the Easter Games in Nunatsiavut, which is steeped in tradition. The Northern communities that participate are Makkovik, Nain, Hopedale, Postville and Rigolet. The first dog team race was 40
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held in 1935, on the harbour in Makkovik. Back in the day, each driver drew the name of a lady passenger from a hat, and the prizes for winning would be a sack of sugar, or a barrel of flour, or a case of milk. Shooting matches were also held, which are still popular. Other early sports included soccer games, and it used to be the married men against the single ones; today it’s more common to have threelegged soccer with men and women partnered. Over the years, more events have been added to the Easter Games including skiing, a snowshoe race, a running race, log sawing and, more recently, Candy Quest for kids.
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Where Cain’s Quest is a multi-day snowmobile endurance race in central Labrador, this kid-friendly version times child participants as they ride around to five stops in town on a minisnowmobile, accompanied by an adult. On Easter Monday evening, the Games usually end off with a square dance. As John Andersen, organizer of the games for the past 25 years, would say, “It’s exciting times!” The second event is The Labrador Cup. In the summer of 1981, a group of British Royal Air Force colleagues, led by Trev Paine, sat in the famous Bull Dog Club in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and discussed the potential of an
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The first dog team race was held in 1935, on the harbour in Makkovik. Back in the day, each driver drew the name of a lady passenger from a hat, and the prizes for winning would be a sack of sugar, or a barrel of flour, or a case of milk.
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indoor soccer tournament that would challenge the skill of talented players throughout Labrador. At this time, there were several allied armed forces working out of Labrador: German, Dutch, Italian, American, British and Canadian. Along with the coastal communities in Labrador and guest teams from Newfoundland, this soccer tournament would be a truly international event. Trev Paine and his group of volunteers called it the Labrador Cup. Over 30 teams participate in this weeklong event, which has expanded to include a women’s and a youth tournament. The Labrador Cup celebrated its 37th year in 2019. The final event is the PAL Great Labrador Loppet, organized by the Menihek Nordic Ski Club in Labrador West. The Loppet stretches from Tanya Lake to Duley Lake Park. Cross-country skiers and snowshoers can choose to participate in the 10K, 20K or 40K race 1-888-588-6353
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for classic or skate, and there is a 2.5K event for kids and parents. The organizer, Menihek Nordic Ski Club, has a prestigious history in Labrador West. In the mid-1960s, an enthusiastic group of skiers started cutting the first cross-country trails from the new community of Labrador City towards the Wapusakatto Mountains and around Dumbbell Lake. A formal club was formed by an eclectic mix of nationalities: members were from Finland, Estonia, Norway, England, South Africa and Canada. With an international team helping design and develop the trails – including George Lefeuvre of Burin, NL, as the track setter – a world-class venue was created. Through the years, the Club has hosted national championships and master’s nationals along with many local and provincial events. Club president Gerry Rideout says the
continued success and popularity of Menihek Nordic Ski Club is down to the club members, the countless volunteers and tremendous community support. Today, this is an all-season club with more than 30 km of groomed ski trails and a network of walking and hiking trails. The club will celebrate its 47th birthday this year. The Big Land is a sports paradise. Labrador offers events from the Trapline Marathon – which is a Boston Marathon qualifier – to ice fishing, where the biggest competition is who will get the best Labrador tan. A joining together of traditional Labrador culture and international influences has worked to create amazing events that have stood the test of time. They make the province proud, and enrich the lives and experiences of those who visit and live in Labrador.
Kevin Lane is from Buchans, and has lived and worked in several NL communities. A lifelong participant in local sports as a player and coach, with a passion for hockey, he represented his province in fastpitch softball at the 1969 Canada Games.
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homefront in your words
Contentment Is… An essay about being in the moment
By Roy Dwyer It was a long time ago, but I’ve never forgotten that particular phrase. Perhaps it’s because Gerald was noticeably ill at the time and would live only a few years longer. Perhaps there was something special about that evening as we steamed off towards a distant shoal to do some fishing. Perhaps it’s because it often serves as a reminder when I get a bit off-base in my priorities. Perhaps it was for none of these reasons that I clearly remember him turning around on the for’ard thawt, when I stopped to change over gas tanks. He might have thought the engine had failed because I sensed his relief when he realized we didn’t have trouble. It was shaping up to be a great evening. The wind was dying out, losing its edge as it veered around to the sou’west. A light mist shrouded the hills, and the wind, sultry now, carried the scent of the earth out over the sea. As our boat rose on a series of low swells, forerunners of an impending storm, Gerald remarked, “Contentment is—” The motor drowned out the rest of what he said, but I nodded my head as I often did when I only half understood what someone said. It would come to me eventually, for I had heard that saying somewhere before, most
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likely in our kitchen when I was a boy and someone had dropped in to reminisce with my father on events long past. Quite often their conversations would be sprinkled with similar old sayings, whose bits of wisdom had withstood the test of time. In those days, storytelling was a wonderful pastime wherever old men gathered. It was at such times that much of our oral history was passed on, for though they valued learning, very little got written down. Few had gone beyond the fifth grade in school, but they treasured their “old readers” and often recited from their rich stores.
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For them, such moments were touched with nostalgia for times past. Not so for my generation, which was mostly preoccupied with the present. Let the old men stay put on the knaps and recount their old stories, while we drove around in our cars, hung out in motel lounges and listened to modern music on jukeboxes. For a while, too long a while, we were heedless to the passing of our culture. It was the same everywhere, but fortunately, in many harbours there were some who valued the past. Gerald Dwyer was such a person, and it was great to have him aboard as we steamed out to the fishing grounds. Now, what’s that old saying he quoted a while back? I pondered on possibilities as I kept the boat on course. Contentment is family. Contentment is friends. Contentment is a cold beer after a tough hockey game. Contentment is this, contentment is that. I explored endings from the serious to the trivial until other matters vied for my attention. A large humpback whale blew a few hundred feet off to our starboard and suddenly the ocean was alive with birds. Contentment was a big part of our evening, and more so when Copper Island came abreast of Cape Fogo to align my boat on a shoal where, for a while, we enjoyed some great fishing.
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We had caught about a dozen fine cod when the fishing slacked off a bit. “Where next?” I inquired. Gerald waved his hand towards the Barrack Islands. I let him guide me as he lined up its marks. We hit the shoal dead-on, and as soon as our baited hooks neared the bottom, a large fish grabbed on. The fishing was unbelievable. Hand over hand, as fast as we could haul, the big cod came aboard. Soon we had plenty to salt and dry for the winter. The evening held the promise of a record catch, but we wanted to get in and have our fish stowed away before dark. First though, we’d enjoy a few refreshments I had brought along for the occasion. As we savoured a cold one, Gerald once again remarked, “Contentment is the best of wealth.” That was it, the ending I was trying to remember. “It covers everything,” I thought. Dark clouds brooded over the hills and the water was calm as we made our way back to the harbour. There was a storm brewing. I sensed Gerald’s tiredness as we cleaned and salted away our catch. But when I dropped him off at his house, he turned to me in the pick-up and said, “Come in for a yarn and a cold one.” That was one invitation I couldn’t pass up. Ah, contentment is—.
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Three Sheets to the Wind Red Blueberry-Blackberry This full-bodied dry red wine combines the Newfoundland wild blueberry with the grape-like qualities of the Newfoundland wild blackberry in a delightful table wine that pairs well with cheese, steak, wild game, beef and chocolate. Medium
Three Sheets to the Wind White Rhubarb
Dandy Rhubarb-Dandelion With its delicious blend of local rhubarb and wild dandelion, this medium white wine is, well, just Dandy, especially when paired with chicken or fish. Semi-Sweet
Funky Puffin Blueberry-Rhubarb
A name that brings to mind a sparkling sea whipped up by fresh, cool breezes. This subtle wine is crafted from locally grown rhubarb, lending it a refreshing, crisp flavour with a hint of tartness. Pairs finely with traditional Newfoundland dishes, poultry and pork. Medium
Moose Joose Blueberry-Partridgeberry A blend of blueberry and partridgeberry, two of Newfoundland's most popular berries. Full of antioxidants and flavonoids, this wine could be called a health juice - but it contains alcohol, so we'll just say it's berry good for you! Medium-Sweet
A blend of Newfoundland and Labrador blueberries and rhubarb creates a wine that is fun, delightful and well balanced. It is a great sipping wine and goes well with cheese and crackers. Semi-Sweet
Frig-Off Strawberry-Raspberry A refreshing strawberryraspberry wine is just what you need. And it makes a delicious way to tell someone else to chill out, or even Frig-Off! Semi-Sweet
www.aukislandwinery.com 1-877-639-4637 AUK Shipping not available to Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut. Please visit your local NLC location.
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There’s nothing like the North
BY NICOLA RYAN
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Not many people can say they’ve come eye to eye with an inquisitive narwhal.
Françoise Gervais photo
Not too many people can say they’ve cruised on a super-yacht in Antarctica, sailed near Baffin Island with a team of researchers or hopped in a Zodiac to explore fjords on the coast of Labrador. Polar expert Jason Hillier has. The Newfoundland native is a modern-day great explorer, and he recently partnered in a new venture to share his passion for polar regions.
“I’ve been fortunate,” he says. “For the better part of the last decade I’ve brought clients, filmmakers and scientists from around the world to the furthest reaches of the Canadian Arctic and even Antarctica.” As an accredited expedition leader and PADI divemaster, Jason has travelled on countless expeditions to Labrador, Nunavut, Greenland, Iceland and beyond. He has also guided film crews from National Geographic, NOVA and the BBC on research voyages to Ellesmere Island and Arctic Bay, and worked with teams of marine scientists studying polar environments. Photos courtesy The Polar Adventure Company
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Arctic fox
“The polar regions are a couple of the last undiscovered places in the world,” he says. “They’re absolutely beautiful.” Jason credits his love of wild Arctic places to his formative years spent in Churchill Falls, Labrador. “I grew up all over the island, but it’s there where I kind of discovered, or it sort of became unhinged, that passion, that love for the North, for wild places and just getting out on the land and exploring. I know I got that bug as a child, and my whole life has been trying to make the most of that,” he laughs. After graduating with a Bachelor of Technology and Environmental Studies from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook (now Grenfell Campus of Memorial University), Jason started his career in environmental engineering and considered a change to software before a chance encounter with some Arctic expedi50
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tion leaders set him on a polar path. “I kind of stumbled upon it,” he says thoughtfully, “but then worked towards it – becoming professionally accredited in the guiding community and learning through an amazing network of mentors to become the experienced polar traveller that I am today.” His stories will make you want to pack your bags and sail for the Arctic Circle. “There’s a few regions that are just incredibly inspiring. I led a film crew for a PBS NOVA show into a very remote area on Ellesmere Island, just south of Eureka, NVT. [I was] with scientists and a film crew to explore a petrified forest that’s 55 million years old. The director of the Smithsonian [Institution] was there, and wherever he looked he was picking up a fossil. The way his eyes were attuned to where we were, and what he was able to discover while we were there, it 1-888-588-6353
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was pretty incredible,” he says. “The natural history and geography, that side of things, is really spectacular,” he continues, “but I’m definitely biased towards the animal encounters in the polar region. I’ve been lucky enough to interact with hundreds of polar bears. I’ve swam with pods of narwhal; I’ve seen them with nine-foot tusks, they’re amazing. They’re inquisitive, too, so if you’re in the water with them the juveniles will often swim up to you from the inky green depths, turn over and look at you, and then swim away.” Jason’s passion for polar regions runs deep, and it’s clear that sharing that love and inspiring others is paramount. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society
(RCGS) – a prestigious charity dedicated to helping Canadians develop a deeper understanding of and appreciation for Canada’s immense geography. “I always say it’s unfortunate that not too many Canadians travel or explore or vacation in the Arctic when it really is a whole different world but it’s all within our own country,” says Jason. “Part of the mandate of the RCGS is to really push forward the unique, diverse geography of Canada to Canadians and to the world. And I love doing that.” To that end, Jason and his business partner, Clayton Anderson, have launched a new venture – The Polar Adventure Company, offering independent travel booking and client advisory services for polar travel.
Jason’s polar experience includes visits to both the Arctic and Antarctica
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Dogsledding
“We’re quite proud of it. It’s been obviously a labour of love,” Jason says happily. The company’s website, PolarAdventure.com, serves as an essential resource for prospective travellers and travel advisors. It compiles information on more than 500 available polar trips offered by world-class operators and offers unbiased expert advice on polar regions. Jason and Clayton use their first-hand knowledge gained from a combined 35 years of polar experi-
ence to offer valuable insight on trips of all kinds. “For anyone who’s had even the slightest degree of fascination or intrigue to see the polar region. There really is a polar experience for everyone,” he says. “Whether it’s a landbased trip, out on the floe edge in tents, or it’s a super-yacht with its own helicopter, or on a cruise ship, we’ve had all those experiences and we bring that expertise to bear,” Jason says. “We provide that
Narwhal
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Polar bears
consultancy to our travelling clients. To give them the most balanced, unbiased opinion based on all their wants and needs and budget and time.” At the end of the day, what Jason wants most is to showcase how spectacular the Canadian Arctic is and inspire others to go see for themselves. “The job satisfaction for me has always been, you know, standing with the client looking at their very first polar bear, or their first colony of penguins. And they can’t even
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speak to you, they have tears, they’re getting choked up. It’s that moment when you see, OK, they now have [been bitten by] that polar bug and we know we’ve got a friend for life. It really is special.” Jason concludes, “The ability… to share this passion with other people, I think it really translates into everything that we do. We’re polar geeks basically,” he laughs. “It’s all we do. It’s all we talk about. We live and breathe and dream polar.”
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Wildlife technician Todd Hollett teaches us how to identify various bird nests and what to do if we find one around our home.
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Most people have at some point in their lives encountered a
bird nest
Perhaps a crow nest on a cliff face, an osprey nest on an artificial platform atop a light pole, or a tiny warbler nest in the alders. In my line of work as a conservation officer, I’ve had ample opportunities to observe numerous species, from the massive nesting colony of seabirds at Cape St. Mary’s to robins that have decided the tire of a parked car or camper was a wonderful spot to build a nest. The placement, construction and overall idea of a nest has always fascinated me. A nest is where a bird lays and incubates its eggs, and raises its young. There is a wide variety of nest types, the simplest construction being the scrape: it’s just a shallow depression in soil or vegetation that may be lined with bits of plants, small rocks, shell fragments or feathers. Some species, such as Australasian megapodes, bury their eggs in a mound of rotting soil, leaves and twigs, which incubates the eggs for them. Puffins, shearwaters and kingfishers lay their eggs at the end of a burrow that provides protection from cold weather and predators. Cavity nesters – such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees and owls – use cavities and build their nests inside.
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raptor species of birds such as eagles construct platform type of nests. Steve Spracklin photo
The cup nest is the most common nest encountered; it is cylindrical with a deep depression to hold the eggs. Most are made of pliable materials such as grass, feathers, mud and saliva. Most passerines, such as robins and warblers, build this type of nest. The platform nest is a large structure that can be added to year after year. It is the typical nest of raptorial species such as eagles and osprey. The pendent nest, used by orioles and weavers, is an elongated woven sac made of grasses and plant fibres, and suspended from a branch. Some birds even make a completely enclosed sphere nest, which has only one small opening to allow access. Though many birds nest individually, a number of seabirds, penguins, herons, gulls, terns and corvids nest in large colonies of hundreds or thousands of birds. These are called colonial nesters. In the majority of nest-building species, the female does most or all of the nest construction. In others, both contribute, or the male will build the base and the female will line it. 56
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instead of individual nests, some birds such as gulls nest in colonies. Todd Hollet photo
Not all bird species build a nest. Some seabirds – such as murres, razorbills and guillemots – lay their eggs directly on the ground or rocky ledges. Others, including cowbirds and mocking birds, are brood parasites who lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let the “foster parents” do all the work for them. 1-888-588-6353
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this european starling made its nest in an unused bbq
Did a bird nest on your property? As a conservation officer, every spring I receive numerous calls from concerned residents asking what to do about a bird nest they’ve found in their barbecue, underneath their patio or in some other less than ideal location. I always tell them that the best thing to do, if at all possible, is leave it alone, try to minimize disturbance, keep your distance, keep pets away, minimize foot traffic and opening doors, and postpone any construction in the area until the bird has finished nesting. Remember the nesting period is not going to last forever. Most birds, such as robins and other songbirds, take around four weeks from egg laying to chicks leaving. If it is not possible to avoid the area altogether, then minimizing your presence will help greatly, as most species will tolerate occasional disturbances. Do not move the nest, as most birds will abandon a moved nest. Only under the most extreme circumstances should this even be considered. If you do decide this is the only option, the nest should only be moved a few feet from the original location. Most birds and their nests are protected under the Migratory Bird Convention Act, which states that it is illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase or barter any part of a nest or eggs unless you hold a valid permit. So before you decide to move or discard a bird nest, you may find it is best to reach out to your local wildlife enforcement agency. www.downhomelife.com
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here are some common bird species in newfoundland and labrador, and tips on how to identify their nests and eggs.
Herring Gull
Everyone in Atlantic Canada is very familiar with this noisy bird. Herring gulls frequent lakes, rivers, coastal areas, and urban centres where they often beg for human food. These large gulls typically nest in colonies on sea cliffs, sand dunes, coastal islands, grassy hummocks, rocky areas and other inaccessible locations. Some have successfully adapted rooftops for nesting. The pair chooses a nesting site in a protected area – like next to a rock, log or bush, or in crevices in rocky areas – to hide the nest from hungry neighbours and predators, and prevent wind damage. The cup-shaped nest is well constructed from weeds, twigs, grasses, moss, seaweed, other plant matter, feathers, plastic, rope and other found material. The central cup of the nest measures 10.6-20.3 cm across and is about the depth of the egg. After the egg is laid, the pair continues to add to the nest for the 3.5-4 week incubation. Nests built on sand are often sparsely lined or not at all. Females lay one to three eggs, once per season. The eggs measure 6.5-7.6 cm. They are coloured blue-grey, buff, grey-brown or greenish, and are marked with brown, black or lilac. 58
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European Starling
Bernice Case photo
American Robin
The harbinger of spring, robins are at home in woodland, as well as populated areas. The choice area for their nests is often low in coniferous trees, on branches or crotches sheltered from the weather. Nests built in deciduous trees are often much higher. They will nest in open woodlands and orchards, on cliffs, around settlements and in clearings. They’ll even nest on protected areas of buildings such as gutters, eaves, outdoor light fixtures, underneath patios; other structures such as bridges; and in or under unused cars, trailers, boats and barbecues. The female builds a nest from the inside out by molding a cup out of dead grass, twigs, paper, feathers, rootlets and moss. She then reinforces it with soft mud and lines it with soft, dry grass. The finished nest is 7.6-15.2 cm high and 15.2-20.3 cm across. Robins lay three to five greenishblue unmarked eggs one to three times per year. The eggs are 2.8-3 cm long. www.downhomelife.com
This wildly successful introduced species, with a current North American population of 200 million, has been detrimental to many native cavity nesters who compete with them for nesting sites. Starlings build among rocks and in tree cavities, woodpecker holes, cliffs, post holes, eaves of buildings, dryer vents, church steeples, deserted buildings, traffic signal and road sign support structures, and nest boxes. They are virtually always nesting in cavities. The male selects the nest site as a way to attract the female. The site is usually 3-7 m above the ground, but can be as high as 18 m. The male fills the cavity with grass, pine needles, feathers, garbage, cloth and string. The cup-shaped nest is lined with feathers, fine bark, grass and leaves. The female will make the final arrangements and may discard some of the material. Fresh green plants are added as the eggs are incubated. The nest is completed in just one to three days. Starlings lay one to three clutches of five to seven eggs per season. The eggs are pale blue, greenish-white or bluish-white, unmarked, and measure 2.7-3.2 cm long.
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Northern Junco This is one of our most common and easily recognized birds, and a frequent feeder visitor. Juncos are ground nesters that build in small cavities; under rocks; among roots or beneath bushes, trees or ferns; on window ledges; under buildings; in light fixtures or flower pots. The nest is built from twigs, rootlets, grass, bark, leaves, needles, hair and moss, and lined with softer material. When finished, the nest measures 8.8-12.7 cm across and 4-7.1 cm deep. Northern juncos lay one to three clutches of three to six eggs per year. They are white, grey, pale bluish or greenish white, usually speckled with brown, grey or green, but sometimes unmarked. They measure 1.9-2.1 cm.
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Waterfowl Todd Hollet photo
Black-legged Kittiwake Kittiwakes spend most of their lives at sea and will not be seen begging for fries at your local McDonald’s parking lot. There are many breeding colonies around the province, including at Cape St. Mary’s, Witless Bay, Baccalieu and Funk Islands. These birds nest in colonies on cliffs and rocks close to the sea. The nest site is on narrow ledges, often among murres and other auks. The bowl-shaped nest is constructed of mud, seaweed, feathers, grass, rope, netting and other artificial material. The nest averages about 43 cm across with the interior being about 25 cm wide. Generally only one clutch of one to three brown, blue, grey, olive or tan eggs, speckled with darker brown or grey, are laid per season.
While some species are cavity nesters, most species nest on the ground. Many will nest in more than one habitat type and a variety of locations, including overwater vegetation, trees, artificial nesting structures and the occasional backyard flower garden. Most species make a bowl-shaped nest out of grass, twigs, leaves, reeds, feathers, and other natural and artificial materials. The female lines the nest with soft vegetation and feathers plucked from her belly. Clutch size varies with species. Swans and geese lay on average three to five eggs, whereas ducks average about nine eggs per clutch. Size and colouration of the eggs also vary, but all are unmarked solid colours, including dirty white, pale greenish or bluish, creamy, buff, pale olivegreen, olive-buff or greyish-olive.
Todd Hollet photo
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How Ray Johnson and friends plan to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic BY DENNIS FLYNN
Titanic image by Adrian Rigby
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The solitary figure
in a dark suit, crisp ice-white shirt and black tie sombrely and expertly draws a rosined bow across the strings of a wellloved violin. All ambient noise drops away as the stern of RMS Titanic behind him, her bright lights disappearing into blackness, finally vanishes. All that remains are the violin’s final, haunting notes of the hymn, “Nearer my God to Thee.” While deeply affecting, this scene is not from the actual sinking on April 14-15, 1912, of the Titanic. It was a very special reenactment starring Newfoundland and Labrador musician and author, Ray Johnson (of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers fame), and his own six-foot model of the doomed ship. It was a charity event held in April 2021 (with all COVID-19 safety measures in place), in Carbonear, NL. In a recent email conversation about it, Ray says his keen interest in the Titanic story can be traced back to when he first saw the movie A Night to Remember in 1959. Released the prior year, it was said to be the most expensive film ever made in Britain up to that time, and was based on the 1955 book of the same name by American writer, Walter Lord. “The movie was known for very www.downhomelife.com
detailed and realistic sets based upon actual plans from the Titanic, so I was able to gain insight that I used in creating my own six-foot model of the ‘ship of dreams,’” Ray says. Ray spent 12 years perfecting his intricate replica of the Titanic, a 1/144 scale model complete with hundreds of working cabin lights. “Upon the completion of the model, I decided to have her on display at Route 66 Diner and Pub in Carbonear, so the public could enjoy seeing it for a period of time,” he says. Ray is such an aficionado of the illfated vessel that sank on her maiden voyage some 400 nautical miles (740 km) off Newfoundland, with a loss of approximately 1,500 lives, that he wrote a companion book called The Titanic: A Catastrophe That Should Not Have Been, My Story of the Sinking of RMS Titanic. April 2022
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Based around that exhibit, and with the help of local musicians and entertainers, and the cooperation of Route 66 owner Pauline Yetman, Ray put together a unique dinner theatre experience. The 1950s-themed diner was transformed through the use of displays, strategic dark draperies, vintage cutlery and china to echo the feeling of being aboard a liner of that golden age of transatlantic travel. While the audience enjoyed a delicious meal, they watched an upbeat show of music and events performed as it might have been on the last night on the Titanic, before disaster struck. The dinner theatre coincided with the anniversary week in 2021, taking place over four nights – all of them sold out. It was a welcome success for entertainers and a restaurant owner who’d been hurting due to the pandemic fallout. Visitors to the dinner theatre enjoy reenactments, live music as well as a recreation of the menu served onboard the ship in 1912.
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Above: Ray and writer/storyteller Heber McGurk in front of the six-foot model of the Titanic Ray built, currently on display at Route 66 Diner in Carbonear. Left: Ray and restaurant owner Pauline Yetman
“During the various lockdowns… Ray and I spent a lot of time chatting and figuring out ways to get through this crazy time – me with the stress of my restaurant closed, and Ray feeling the loss of not playing music and being on stage with Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers,” says Pauline, explaining how this partnership came about. “The audiences have embraced every word and every note sang. There were moments you could hear a pin drop; no one moved, but you could hear the people cry during the show. It was so moving. We have been told it touched so many people.” www.downhomelife.com
Buoyed by the enthusiastic response to the entertainment and the display, Pauline and Ray added a Sunday matinee for children. “We wanted a shorter version for children, and it gave Ray a chance to ask questions and check to see how much they knew about Titanic, given that it happened over 100 years ago,” Pauline says. “We were so pleasantly surprised that kids came dressed in costumes of that time period. It was amazing to see such a young audience with so much knowledge of this ship and her passengers. Ray was particularly impressed, as he loves to see children embrace our history and culture; and in this province, Titanic is a very important part of that. The Titanic-themed dinner theatre is due to set sail again this month. Tickets go on sale in early April. April 2022
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A new model ship gallery in Marystown is helping preserve the area’s shipbuilding heritage, while offering a world-class destination. story and photos by Linda Browne
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You can almost taste the salty sea spray
as you step into the Marystown Model Ship Gallery. Scanning the space, the 100-plus models spread out over the approximately 10,000-square-foot showroom inside the Marystown Mall is an impressive sight to behold. But once you take a closer look, that’s when the “oohs” and “aahhs” really come out. While they’re much smaller than their real-life counterparts, these tugboats, trawlers, warships, minesweepers, schooners and other vessels are truly works of art. (There’s even a remote-controlled replica of the fictional submarine Nautilus, complete with a tiny Captain Nemo, from Jules Verne’s classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.) From stem to stern, the level of detail gone into their creation from master model builders is really remarkable. “This particular ship here was built to race the Bluenose. That was her whole idea of construction. She’s 68
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American built and Ben Pine from Belleoram was hired to skipper her... all the schooners had to be fishing commercial schooners before they qualified to race,” explains Mike Brennan, pointing to a magnificent model of the two-masted Gertrude L. Thebaud, which defeated the legendary Bluenose to win the Lipton Cup in 1930 off Gloucester, Massachusetts. As chair of the Marystown Model Ship Gallery and Marystown town councillor, he’s just one of the people buoyed by this new addition to the area. While each model is impressive in its own right, the star attraction of 1-888-588-6353
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this vast, approximately $1.6-million collection is HMS Hood. (Known as the largest, heaviest and fastest armoured warship of its time, it was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck during the Battle of the Denmark Strait in 1941, killing all but three of the 1,418 crew, including brothers George and Arthur Brewer, 22 and 21 respectively, of Burin, NL.) Rodney Henriksen of West Vancouver, BC, spent 17 years painstakingly building the over 13-foot-long replica, which sits just a stone’s throw from the model of its infamous adversary.
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There’s only one other model of the Hood of this size in the world, Mike says, housed at the Glasgow Museum of Transport in Scotland. “We own 50 per cent of that inventory globally. It’s amazing what we have compiled here in such a short time,” he says. The bulk of this world-class collection came from the late Vancouver architect John Keith-King. When he passed away in 2015, his collection, consisting of around 85 model ships, was put into storage and began collecting dust. That is, until one of
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Jim Miles stands behind the 13-foot replica of HMS Hood.
Keith-King’s friends, tasked with finding the models a new home, learned about Marystown. “The Keith-King family wanted the collection to go to a smaller town, but a town with some connection to the sea and fishing and shipbuilding, and that sort of thing. And of course, we fit neatly into that category,” says Jim Miles, who, along with Kerry Wiscombe, was initially brought on board to help repair some of the models and now works as a tour guide. “And a little while after that, two tractor trailers show up, crammed with this collection,” which has since grown to include model ships loaned and donated from people around the local area and province. 70
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“It has to be one of the very largest collections of model ships in the country,” Jim adds. “It’s a singular experience. It’s not something you’re going to see in every town.” Of course, moving the collection thousands of kilometres across the country wasn’t completely smooth sailing. While the models were transported in good condition, with no major damages, there was some meticulous cleaning and repairs required to get them shipshape, which Jim and Kerry, along with retired shipyard worker Art Walsh, dived happily into headfirst. “He spent 30-odd years building the big ones and now he’s having a bunch of fun building the small 1-888-588-6353
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ones,” Jim says about Art. “He’s a real sweetheart... but he’s physically a big guy, like he’s six foot two and he’s got this big set of hands. But when you see him crouched over the sewing machine sewing a set of sails or something, he can do the most delicate things.” And when it comes to handling this collection, Jim says, steady hands are a must. “We had this particular ship; it’s about two metres long, I guess. And we took off the case and lifted it carefully and laid it on the table, and we’re working at it. And Kerry was flipping through the assessment sheets and he said, ‘Jim? That’s valued at $50,000.’ So we didn’t look at the sheets after that because your hands were steadier when you didn’t realize how valuable some of these were,” he laughs.
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All Hands on Deck Just as the gallery was preparing to launch in the summer of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, taking the wind out of everyone’s sails. In May 2021, it finally flung open the doors, welcoming mostly local staycationers before eventually seeing visitors from elsewhere in Atlantic Canada and the rest of the country. This past summer, Jim and company also repurposed some of the collection’s shipping materials to create wooden ship kits, and hosted classes for local youth at the gallery’s workshop. “Everybody went home dirty and happy,” Jim laughs. It’s just one of the ways the gallery hopes to extend their reach and involve the wider community. Other potential plans include pairing up wooden-boat builders in the area with veterans around the peninsula
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to pass on these traditional skills, while giving veterans the chance to relax and spend some time together. “A lot of the guys that know how to do this are getting older, and when they go, their skills go with them,” Jim says. So far, the gallery has received a boatload of support and made connections with other local groups including the Provincial Seamen’s Museum in Grand Bank, where the gallery held an exhibition. “These days, it’s not about standing alone… so we established some partnerships with some like-minded folks, and we may very well be able to cross-fertilize some ideas,” Jim says. The gallery also helps anchor the
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The museum features samples of boats throughout history, from wooden sailing ships to WWII submarines and even Jules Verne’s fictional Nautilus.
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The museum also highlights the Burin Peninsula’s boat-building heritage. Here Mike Brennan points to the Penneyhope, a vessel built in the Marystown Shipyard.
area to its shipbuilding heritage, which goes back over a century, starting at Sandy Point and Stapleton’s Point before moving on to the Marystown Shipyard (which opened in 1967 and saw the construction of more than 50 vessels). One corner of the gallery is dedicated to some of these locally made ships. “Marystown is known for building a lot of big ships, and nice ships, too. The Alberto Wareham was the biggest schooner probably built,” says Mike. “And that was the biggest schooner, not just in Marystown, but the biggest schooner ever built in Newfoundland,” Jim adds. “She was a brute. She was like, literally twice the size of everything else.” As the two swap stories, their enthusiasm and pride in the collection and the area’s history is evident. The way they see it, a rising tide lifts all boats, and they hope the gallery – open May to December – will help attract more visitors to the Burin Peninsula. “For economic opportunities for the region, and for tourism, having this display of model ships is a big drawing card. Because Marystown www.downhomelife.com
has been an industrial town… and it was only in the last number of years we started to realize, hey, we’re letting an important component of who we are, as a community, get lost,” says Mike, who worked in the Marystown Shipyard as a young man. As the plan is to eventually rotate some models to keep things fresh and interesting, Jim says, they’re always keen to hear from those with a model ship to loan or donate. “We’ve ran into... roughly a dozen; and most of these were decent-sized models, anywhere from two feet to four feet… and the situation was almost always the same story: ‘My granddad or my dad or my great granddad built this. It’s family history. We love it. We love Pop... We don’t want to throw it out, we don’t want to sell it, but we got no room for it,’” Mike says. “So here’s a chance to get it fixed up and looking good and put on display so people can admire the skill and the time and the love that Granddad put into his work. And it’s there if they want to take the kids and [say], ‘Look - your granddad did that.’” April 2022
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explore
A small town finds a unique way to honour a hometown hero, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald BY NICOLA RYAN
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on the Black’s Brook Trail in Trinity, Bonavista Bay, you can cast your gaze over the community below and out through the narrows that lead to scattered rocky islands. Before resettlement of those small islands, salted fish and capelin dried on flakes, horses roamed free, and hard-working families created a sense of community there, even in uncertain times. We’ve been facing uncertain times ourselves recently, and the town of Centreville-Wareham-Trinity (CWT) has decided to name this lookout in honour of a hometown hero who’s been trying hard to keep us all safe.
Photos courtesy Town of Centreville-Wareham-Trinity
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When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians came to rely on public health guidance from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald (right). Dr. Fitzgerald’s daily updates were full of expertise and empathy, and she would fortify us at the end of each briefing with her signature words, “Hold fast, Newfoundland and Labrador.” The tiny town of Trinity, where Dr. Fitzgerald is from, is understandably proud of their native daughter, and now one of the lookouts on the Black’s Brook Trail is about to be renamed “Dr. Janice Fitzgerald Hold Fast Lookout.” “We’re hoping to get it done this spring,” says former mayor Sam Gibbons, “if things sort of settle down with COVID and that. We’re hoping to get her out here and have a grand opening.” The amalgamated town of Centreville-Wareham-Trinity is located in the well-known hunting and fishing region of Indian Bay. It’s about 45 km from the Trans-Canada Highway at the Gambo turn-off, along the scenic Kittiwake Coast. Wareham and Trinity had at one time been winter sites for logging and boatbuilding for fishermen from the islands in Bonavista Bay. Centreville was founded in 1959 as a planned community for settlers moving from Fair Island. Black’s Brook Park is the jewel of Trinity. It offers hiking trails, campsites, playgrounds, picnic sites and a swimming area. The park also hosts community events, such as Winter Carnival 76
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in February, “Trunk or Treat” for Halloween, and an Easter egg scavenger hunt in the spring. The Black’s Brook Trail in the park is a well-maintained woodsy walk suitable for all ages. The main trail is a winding loop with boardwalks and bridges spanning pretty waterfalls where you might catch a glimpse of some wildlife or see relics of old buildings. Interesting interpretative signs along the way offer insight into the area’s logging history; settlement in Trinity occurred gradually once a merchant named James Brown built a water-powered sawmill there in 1894. “There’s storyboards all around the park,” Sam says. “This was once a very productive area for cutting wood for Bowater’s, and even before that.” (Bowater’s Newfoundland Paper Mills Ltd. owned and operated the pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook from 1938 until 1984.) To get to the popular soon-to-benamed Hold Fast lookout, take the challenging side trail that branches off from the main loop. “There’s different sections to the trail,” explains Sam. “The main trail is about 3 km and then there’s a couple of side www.downhomelife.com
ones. One of our trails goes to a head called Sluice. We know it’s about 200 metres high, which is one-quarter the height of Gros Morne. Anyone thinking about trying Gros Morne should probably come here for a practice run,” he laughs. The other trail leads up Bell Hill. If you brave the incline, the lovely view at the top will be your reward. The lookout is located right above Dr. Fitzgerald’s childhood home. “This is such a kind gesture from my hometown, and I am incredibly honored to have my name on the lookout,” Dr. Fitzgerald says. “This place is particularly meaningful for me. While it has been many years since I have lived in Trinity, I remember those times fondly, and I still love to visit the area whenever I can. Walking, and generally just being outside in nature, has helped me find calm during these difficult times, and I am so looking forward to hiking this trail many times in the years to come. I have received many wonderful accolades in the last two years, but anyone that knows me, knows that this recognition is the most near and dear to me personally.” April 2022
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As so much changes around it over time, Ghaney’s Bridge continues to be a fond meeting place in Colliers. BY DENNIS FLYNN
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A boisterous, bellicose brook flows swiftly beneath a small concrete bridge, eventually disappearing in a series of rattles and rolls behind palisades of evergreen trees and reappearing a short distance later at the main beach where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. A solitary mature eagle atop a towering spruce watches for trout in the shallow waters below, while a man prongs rich kelp into white five-gallon buckets to use as fertilizer for a garden. They ignore each other as they go about their business. Though everyone calls this town Colliers, the official longer name of Colliers Riverhead is derived from this special location. This river, and Ghaney’s Bridge in particular, played a very important part in the social life of earlier residents here.
Dennis Flynn photo
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My father, Tony Flynn, lives in Colliers today and has fond memories of childhood times around Ghaney’s Bridge. “When I was 10 years old, I went trouting up there with my father, Jack Flynn. We walked that river from Ghaney’s Bridge up to Sinjin’s Bridge [older local name for St. John’s Bridge on Route 60], and there was a spot with a large flat rock and a swimming hole that was popular,” he says. “Older people told me Ghaney’s Bridge was one of the main places in early days that people would meet to socialize or go do their business. It looked very different back then, when the lower and upper parts of the community were divided by that little river.” The main roads in the town all seemed to meet at the river, and it made Ghaney’s Bridge a natural hub. “You’d never know it now, since almost all the buildings have been torn down, but there were many shops and services you could walk to within a couple of minutes of Ghaney’s Bridge. Mickey Morrissey had a grocery shop right next to the bridge, and he was also the community blacksmith,” my father says. Mickey’s wife, Nellie, was the area April 2022
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midwife who also attended to minor medical needs in the absence of a doctor or nurse. There were also several stores, a barber shop and a garage. Another resident, Dave Foley, recalls, “Well, as boys we fished that river going up from Ghaney’s Bridge, and it was easy in those days to get a dozen nice trout.” And it wasn’t just the fishing that was good, he adds. “As a teenager, my buddies and our girlfriends would meet at Ghaney’s Bridge, and it was really a bit of a harmless hangout. There was a lot of children in big families all around, and it was nothing unusual for many of all ages to play on or near the bridge.” In fact, I was one of those elementary school kids who played dinkies or corners, or traded hockey cards, on the bridge and fair wore out the wheels of my old bananaseat bike going across it. I also learned how to bench press free weights at 15 in what was once Mickey Morrissey’s shop. So I have my own fond memories of the bridge and environs. But my memories pale in comparison to A.M. (Anne) McCarthy’s, who grew up almost in the shadow of the bridge and loved it so much she organized the first ever Ghaney’s Bridge Reunion in August 2010. Close to a hundred people showed up over the weekend, taking in live local music and plenty of great food, and reconnecting with childhood friends and family now living across Canada and the United States. “So many neighbours helped out with donating food and places to 80
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stay,” Anne told me when I reached her by email in 2021. “The sun shone that day like a gift from heaven. It was fantastic. I saw cousins and friends that I had not seen since early childhood days… We soaked our feet in the river as we oft times did long, long ago.” From campfires and childhood games, to mummers and a slide show down memory lane, it was such an enjoyable event that Anne is already plotting another one. “I was hoping to do it again in 2020, but because of the pandemic we had to postpone for now. The Ghaney’s Bridge Reunion will be back, though, and I hope the next one will be as big or bigger!” My friend, the late Honora “Nora”
Residents gather for some good times at the Ghaney’s Bridge Reunion in 2010.
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Dennis Flynn photo
Nora Skanes relives the day her 1949 Findlay Stove was delivered to Ghaney’s Bridge, not her home.
Dennis Flynn photo
People still visit the closed bridge to give and take from one of the community food pantries. www.downhomelife.com
Skanes (1915-2011), had remarkable memories of Colliers, including several of Ghaney’s Bridge, that she shared with me a few years ago. One had to do with the delivery of her new Findlay Oval six-damper, six-legged stove in April 1949. “A man brought it in on a truck [from St. John’s] and left it up by Ghaney’s Bridge. Len Ghaney, Lord have mercy on his soul, went up and brought it down on the horse [and dray long cart], and that’s how we got it home.” Nora had described Ghaney’s Bridge in her day as the place for a “rendezvous.” Tapping out the community names on her fingers, Nora had said with a smile, “There was people from Bacon Cove, Kitchuses, Conception Harbour, Avondale, Colliers, Marysvale and Georgetown all came on that bridge. We all talked to each other and played games and asking old foolish stuff. We always knew when anyone picked up a boyfriend or a girlfriend – everyone shouted. If we were home that night and wasn’t in on the bridge…we’d hear the shouts out home. I was only about 15 or 16 years old. Everyone came to Colliers on that bridge. Some couples who first met at Ghaney’s Bridge even ended up getting married.” You won’t see kids playing dinkies or young lovers stealing kisses on Ghaney’s Bridge today, as it is closed to traffic. But the bridge area still sees visitors, thanks to a little free pantry added nearby. It was made and donated by Tom Hearn to the Town of Colliers on behalf of the Fire Department and Recreation Committee. Residents are welcome to add a food item to the pantry or take one when they need it – a new reason to rendezvous at Ghaney’s Bridge. April 2022
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explore
By Carl Murphy
Stephanie Linthorne photo
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So this is Newfoundland Our province in the sea – Pelted by the wild Atlantic A refuge for you and me. We’re surrounded by lofty mountains Deep forests with stately trees – Bays and placid harbours Where we relax and feel at ease.
Lorraine Winsor photo
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Trinda Hamlyn photo
With an abundance of wildlife Moose and caribou roaming free – For the outdoors enthusiast What better place could there be. Our lakes and inland waters They offer such delight – To catch some trout or swim Or enjoy a bonfire late at night.
Linda Giles photo
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The people of our province Who live this peaceful life – They know there is no better way To avoid all kinds of strife.
So if you’re an islander Living somewhere on this land – You should be thankful for all these pleasures And your home in Newfoundland.
Vicki Martin photo
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HOME and Cabin
stuff we love by Nicola Ryan
Seal Season
COOL KICKS Put your best foot forward in these high-top sneakers made with natural sealskin, black suede and black patent leather. They come in a variety of colours including purple, royal blue, kiwi green and pink. FurCulture.com
KNITTED SHAWL Clare Dawn Studios creates contemporary seal fur designs that are exciting, beautiful and functional. This handmade shawl combines the texture and colour of 100% luxury wool with glossy Newfoundland harp seal fur. Clare Dawn Studios can often be found at the St. John’s Farmers Market. Clare-dawn-studios.square.site
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ICONIC EARRINGS Erica Lugt is an Inuvialuk artist from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. She creates jewellery inspired by her Inuvialuit culture, available through her brand She Was A Free Spirit. We love these earrings made with colourful traditional beads and flowing sealskin. SheWasAFreeSpirit.com
CHIKADA CLUTCH Fur Culture’s unique designs combine beauty, quality and style. Add a glamorous flair to any outfit with this elegant clutch bag made of natural Newfoundland sealskin and luxurious fur. FurCulture.com
NINE MEN’S MORRIS Nine Men’s Morris, also known as Merels, is a two-player strategy game dating back to the Roman Empire. This made-in-Newfoundland reinterpretation, while not made of seal products, features stoneware pieces shaped like seals and invites us to consider sealing culture and its effects. Shop.CanadianSealProducts.com
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HOME and Cabin
LIGHT Up Your
LIFE BY MARIE BISHOP INTERIOR DESIGNER
Like everything else in the decorating world,
the choice of light fixtures has gone from plentiful to extreme. And the only time you become aware of the endless options is when you go shopping for one – or a houseful of them. You will quickly realize you may need a degree to navigate the choices. It’s completely overwhelming.
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But, as with any project, if you break it down into bite-size pieces, it’s always more manageable and less daunting. Let’s start with the basics – the light bulb. This used to be an easy choice; the only question was wattage. Now, there’s a wall the length of Costco parking lot, offering every size, colour, base and function of light bulb known to man – and the old standard Edison base, incandescent 60 watt is nowhere to be found.
Here are a few tips to help navigate a bulb purchase CHECK THE BASE. The standard Edison base is still the most commonly used in household fixtures, but now it’s the LED version. There is also the candelabra base often used in chandeliers and hanging fixtures. Pot lights and puck lights may also have a screw-in base, but it’s more likely to have a pin base. Best to take the old bulb with you to ensure you get the right replacement. The TEMPERATURE, a relatively new consideration for light bulbs, is measured in degrees Kelvin (K) and determines the colour of light coming from the bulb. Soft warm white will range from 2700-3000 K; bright cool white from 3500-4100K; and daylight from 50006500K. For most residential spaces, a soft warm white light works best. If you purchase an LED integrated light fixture you will never have to worry about buying light bulbs for that one. If the bulbs burn out, you replace the entire fixture. These are promoted to have an extremely long life span.
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Finding a Fixture Now, for the fixture itself. In most floor lamps. Such statement fixtures new builds and renovations, the main create a luxurious look. For example, source of light throughout the house I recently used oversized pendants in comes from recessed pot lights. This designing the master bedroom of gives good general lighting without the Health Care Foundation (HCF) shadows or dark corners. Your elec- Lottery Home in Conception Bay trician should be able to recommend South, NL. The size and finish of these lights add elegance and luxury the number and type for the area. Specific spaces like the main entrance, stairwell, bathrooms, over a dining table or over a kitchen island are the places where you really want to showcase nice lighting. Keep in mind that while you don’t necessarily want the fixtures to be all the same style and colour, they should coordinate with each other to give a sense of contiFinishes and material can give a room a nuity throughout. cohesive look even though the fixtures are Materials used in today’s different. In this bathroom a pendant light is light fixtures include natural used over the bathtub, while mounted lights stone or wood, painted or are used in the vanity (at right). enamel surfaces. The most prominent and popular material is metal, and it comes in a wide variety of colours and finishes. Currently black with gold, brushed or antique brass, or gold and oil-rubbed bronze or black seem to be the front runners; but brushed nickel, chrome and stainless-steel are still popular choices. The trend also seems to focus on a more to this beautiful space. To continue linear than ornate design, which the look and theme, the same fixture reflects our desire for a more simpli- was used over the black soaker tub in the en suite. And even though the fied and decluttered lifestyle. Another trend that has emerged is lights used for the vanity are comthe use of pendant lights over night- pletely different, the black-gold comstands instead of the usual table or bination and metal finish create a 90
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cohesive and stylish look. The stairwell, another place that demands a prominent fixture, can pose a real challenge. This light has to be large enough to fit the scale of the space, and hung low enough (without having light bulbs hit you at eye level) to offer enough light for safety on the stairs. Again, at the HCF Lottery Home, we chose a very linear, twotiered fixture in black metal to complement the black iron spindles of the staircase. Next, the kitchen island. More and
such as cabinet door hardware, faucets, appliances and countertop colour. Make sure your fixtures provide enough light for the tasks performed on the island. Another consideration is the sight lines: if your kitchen windows offer stunning ocean views, you certainly don’t want to impede that with oversized lights. In the HCF Lottery Home, where the huge great room window adjacent to the kitchen island looks out onto the Atlantic, we chose fixtures that did not take
more kitchens are incorporating a large island as an eating area, prep area and general work area. The first consideration when choosing lights for this space is how many? Generally speaking, you need one light for every three feet of counter surface. So a six-foot island would require two pendants; a 10-foot island would need three. This is another great place to make a design statement. Keep the other finishes of the kitchen in mind when choosing the pendants,
away from the stunning scenery beyond. Remember to let your choices reflect your lifestyle and personality. Lighting has long been understated as a design feature, but today’s offerings give you the opportunity to make a statement in various areas of your house, or give a facelift to one room with a single fixture. Have fun, enjoy the process and remember to let your lighting choices help you to love your space!
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HOME and Cabin
the everyday gourmet
Vegan Chili 92
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the everyday gourmet By Andrea Maunder
Andrea Maunder is the owner and creative force behind Saucy & Sweet – Homemade Specialty Foods & Catering.
Andrea and the rest of the ‘Golden Girls’
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I am full of gratitude, at this stage of
my life, to be part of a group of four best girlfriends. Susan, Dominique, Penny and I (half) jest about buying a house in a tropical spot and living together in our retirement years, like the Golden Girls (see us in costume below!). We get together for regular girls’ nights at one of our homes, which naturally involve food and wine. Three of us, including me, are omnivorous, though we seldom miss meat. One of us is vegan. So when we get together, we tend to focus on tasty nibbles, dishes and desserts we can all enjoy, perhaps with a few optional garnishes for those of us who like a bit of cheese, yogurt or sour cream. My veggie chili game has always been excellent for flavour (if I do say so myself), but I found myself seeking a more satisfying texture. One of my pet peeves is watery, acidic, veggie chili. You know, meat omitted, but not balanced by other textures nor cooked down long enough to develop umami and caramelization. Time is an important ingredient. I recently made vegan chili for girls’ night, and I have to say, I kinda outdid myself. Have you heard of jackfruit? It’s a newly popular meat alternative in vegan cuisine. You can find it in cans (wedges packed in brine) and pressed, resembling pulled meat, in shrink-wrapped packages at the supermarket. When thinking of regular chili, I like those made with chunks of meat and those with ground meat. In my vegetarian chili, I aimed for the texture of both. I left the veggies a bit larger, included lots of mushrooms and some eggplant for juicy chew and texture, chopped the jackfruit into 1/3-inch chunks, used red lentils and couscous for body and that ground meat texture, and used a variety of tomato products to give beautiful consistency and flavour. Another “secret” ingredient in my chili is a bit of chocolate – Mexican chocolate if I have it (which is denser, drier and spiced) or semisweet chocolate chips. I’ve even used cocoa in a pinch, with excellent results. April 2022
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I used a huge jalapeño pepper (larger usually means milder), seeds removed, and finely diced – sautéed with the onions and celery. I love my chili nicely spiced, but not painful – especially when making for a crowd. I used ground ancho chilies (you can buy ground, dried hot peppers in bulk spice stores). If you can’t find them, use more chili powder blend and as much cayenne as you like. (FYI: “chili powder” is actually a blend of hot chilies, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and sometimes other spices, and sometimes salt.) DO cook out the dried herbs and spices before adding the liquids – it’s important to cook them in the oil. If you need more heat later, use hot sauce or more fresh jalapeño, as the dry spices don’t do much when just dropped into the sauce. I used canned black beans, but would use nearly any kind – from kidney beans to chickpeas. I always
drain and rinse the liquid from canned beans, as I find the “tinny” flavour resides there. If you don’t mind it, feel free to include it. I used pasata – strained, puréed tomatoes, usually found in skinny bottles in the Italian tomato sauce section. If you can’t find it, use plain tomato sauce. And honestly, you can fiddle with the tomato ingredients. If you don’t have crushed tomatoes, use more sauce or a little tomato paste. Don’t omit the diced tomatoes, though, as they contribute to the great texture of the chili. The only variable that you will have to control is water. Depending on the thickness of the tomato products and the moisture content in the veggies, you will need to add water to allow the lentils and couscous to cook, and to control the texture of the chili as it simmers. You can add more water as needed, but be aware that you might need to adjust the seasonings.
Vegan Chili serves 10-12 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 medium onion, cut into small dice 3-4 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 very large or 2 small jalapeños, seeds removed and chopped into small dice (more or less, to taste) 2-3 bay leaves 3 tbsp chili powder 1 tbsp ground cumin (or more to taste) 1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste) 2 tsp ground ancho chile powder (or other ground chile, even chipotle) 1 tsp ground oregano 94
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2-3 cloves garlic, minced 2 (796 ml) cans diced tomatoes 1 (375 ml) bottle pasata (or equivalent of plain tomato sauce) 1 (400 ml) can crushed tomatoes 1 1/2-2 cups water (more or less, as needed) 1 tsp kosher salt (to taste) 1/2 cup split red lentils 1 can jackfruit, drained and chopped into 1/3-inch chunks 2 small green zucchini, halved lengthwise and chopped into 2-inch chunks 1 medium eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1-inch dice 1-888-588-6353
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1/2 lb mushrooms, left whole if small, or halved or quartered 2-3 bell peppers, chopped into 1-inch pieces 2 small or 1 larger sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1-inch dice 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 2 tbsp grated Mexican chocolate 2 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup small couscous 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
Optional garnishes Shredded cheddar, Jack or vegan cheese Sour cream or vegan crema 2-3 sliced green onions 2 ripe, firm avocadoes, chopped into 1/4-inch dice, tossed with 1/4 tsp kosher salt and 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice Tortilla chips
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over med-high heat. Add onions, celery, jalapeño and bay leaves; sauté a few minutes to soften. You are not looking to brown them, so adjust heat as necessary. Add spices and sauté a minute or two more, stirring. Add garlic and sauté another minute, then add tomato products and water. Season with salt. Bring to a simmer and add red lentils. Stir, reduce heat to simmering, cover and cook 10-15 minutes, until lentils are softened and breaking down. Stir occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom and burn (they want to). Lentils will completely break down as the chili cooks. Add water as needed. Add jackfruit and stir a minute or two, then add the rest of the vegetables. Taste and season again, if needed. Cover and simmer, stirring frequently, another 10-15 minutes, until veggies are tender. Add beans and chocolate. Stir and simmer another few minutes. Add water if the sauce is too thick to cook the couscous. Taste and season. Add couscous and simmer another 5-8 minutes until couscous is cooked. Sauce should be thick and chili will look chunky and meaty. If sauce is too thin, allow to simmer a little longer to thicken. Stir in chopped cilantro. Serve hearty portions in bowls with whatever condiments you like. I served my focaccia with it, but any crusty bread is a welcome addition.
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HOME and Cabin
everyday recipes
Easter Treats No matter your age, everyone enjoys something sweet at Easter. We’ve done the hunting for you and found these easy-to-make delights!
Mini Cheesecake Bird’s Nests 1 cup Oreo crumbs 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar, divided 3 tbsp butter, melted 3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla 3 eggs Milk chocolate blocks for shaving 54 chocolate mini eggs
Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix Oreo crumbs, 2 tbsp sugar and butter. Press into bottoms of 18 paper-lined muffin cups. Beat cream cheese, vanilla and remaining sugar with mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each, just until blended. Spoon over crusts. Bake 25-30 min. or until centres are almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 2 hours. Top each cheesecake with enough chocolate shavings to resemble a bird’s nest. Fill each nest with three mini eggs. Makes 18.
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Carrot Cake 1 1 1 1 4 4 1
cup olive oil cup sugar 1/3 cups raisins 1/2 cups walnuts, optional medium carrots, shredded eggs, room temperature tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda 1 1/3 cups flour
Frosting 4 cups icing sugar 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1 tsp vanilla 1 pkg cream cheese
Grease two 9" round cake pans. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, sugar, raisins, walnuts, carrots and eggs. Add salt and baking soda. Mix in flour, just until blended. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake at 350°F until golden and toothpick in centre comes out clean, about 45 min. Let cool completely before icing. Frosting: Beat icing sugar, butter, vanilla and cream cheese until creamy. Frost cake between layers and over top and sides.
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Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars Crust 1 1/2 cups Graham crumbs 5 tbsp butter, melted 2 tbsp sugar Pinch sea salt
1 1/2 cups whipped topping 1 (3.4 oz) package instant banana pudding mix 1 3/4 cup milk
Topping Filling 1 1/2 (8 oz.) pkgs cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup sugar
Whipped topping 1/2 banana, sliced Graham crumbs for dusting
Line an 8"x 8" pan with parchment paper. Make crust: In a medium bowl, combine Graham crumbs with butter, sugar and salt. Press in an even layer into the prepared pan. Place in freezer while making filling. Make cheesecake filling: In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer), beat cream cheese until fluffy and no clumps remain. Add sugar and beat until combined. Fold in whipped topping and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together pudding mix and milk. Let pudding stand for 3 minutes in fridge, until thickened. Fold into cheesecake mixture until well combined. Pour filling over prepared crust and smooth into an even layer. Freeze until bars are firm, at least 6 hours and up to overnight. When firm, remove from freezer and slice into 9 bars. Top each bar with a dollop of whipped topping, a slice of banana, and a dusting of Graham crumbs just before serving. Makes 9 servings (or 16 smaller ones)
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Lemon Shortbread Tarts Lemon Filling
Shortbread Crust
1 cup sugar 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 3 large eggs 3 tbsp flour 1 tbsp lemon zest
2 cups flour 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup sugar
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Filling: Combine sugar, lemon juice, eggs, flour, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until well blended. Set aside. Crust: Combine flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse several times, until the dough begins to come together in a ball. (Or use a hand mixer or pastry fork, then your hands to bring it all together.) Divide the dough into 6 equal portions, placing dough portions in each well of a non-stick 6-well mini tart pan. Press dough over the bottom of each well and up the sides. Divide filling equally among the tarts. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is set and crust is lightly browned (25-30 minutes). Cool on a wire rack until mini tarts reach room temperature. Served topped with a dusting of icing sugar. Makes 6 tarts.
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Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 24 maraschino cherries 1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple 1 (18.25 oz) package vanilla cake mix
3 eggs 1 1/3 cups pineapple juice 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray or lightly grease 24 muffin cups. Line a work surface with waxed paper. Spoon 1 tsp of melted butter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Spoon 1 tbsp of brown sugar in each muffin cup. Press a maraschino cherry into the centre of the brown sugar in each muffin cup. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of crushed pineapple over the cherry and compact it with the back of a spoon into an even layer. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, pineapple juice and vegetable oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for a few seconds, until moistened, then turn speed up to medium and mix for 2 minutes. Distribute cake batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them just to the top. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool at least 5 minutes before inverting muffin cups onto the waxed paper to release. Serve with pineapple and cherry sides up. Makes 24 cupcakes. 100
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Lemon Glazed Cake 3 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 6 eggs, separated 2 cups sugar, divided 1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp grated lemon zest 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
Lemon Glaze 2 cups icing sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10" tube pan. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup of the sugar, beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Set aside. Beat butter and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy (3-5 minutes). Blend in egg yolks, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add flour mixture alternately with the yogurt, mixing until fully combined. Gently fold in the egg whites and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. When cooled, drizzle with lemon glaze, made by mixing icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Makes 12 servings.
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HOME and Cabin
down to earth
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Fairy Gardens The New Train Sets BY KIM THISTLE
I am sure we all know of a person obsessed with train sets. Well, now there is an outdoor solution for people who love to create models on a small scale: fairy gardens. These tiny gardens with tiny flowers and tiny infrastructure have the same appeal that train sets have for young and old alike. It is almost like bonsai without the intensity. Marie Bishop wrote an article for Downhome back in August 2020 that everyone should read. You can find it online at DownhomeLife.com. Since Marie did not focus on plant life, I thought it would be nice to offer a few suggestions.
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Let’s begin by getting our heads around the fact that just because you cannot see something does not mean it doesn’t exist. When designing your fairy garden, plan it for the off chance that there really are fairies that will take up residence. I believe that these whimsical creatures would be more inclined to live where there are real plants and not plastic ones. To begin, choose a spot for your miniature garden. Fairies don’t like to be out in the hot sun, but prefer to be in a shady area under the canopy of a tree. Now that you have your spot, let’s begin. Blooming plants are an important element of these gardens, as fairies love flowers. Try some alpine plants such as Sea Thrift (Armeria), creeping types of Dianthus, Aubretia and Chamomile. The fairies will love making chamomile tea from the seed heads. Before planting anything, find some rotting wood or decomposing organic matter such as leaves, compost, mulch and/or manure to bury beneath your garden. This will encourage mushrooms to grow, and we all know that fairies love to have a nice big mushroom to relax under. You will need moss or a delicate creeping plant. Fairies don’t wear shoes, so they need something soft beneath their feet. Rather than pulling up moss from the forest floor where you may be disturbing an existing fairy homestead, purchase a few small spreading plants such as Irish Moss (Sagina subulata) or wooly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus). These two plants are beautiful when green, but absolutely exquisite when in bloom.
Be sure to choose some plants for pollination, such as Echinacea, Borage, Beebalm and Liatris. These are just a few plants that will attract butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and songbirds. Fairies live in harmony with the insect world, so avoid squishing anything that you might think is unpleasant. Unless, of course, it is a leopard slug. My chickens won’t even take one of those on.
Fairies are playful creatures and love plants such as Platycodon (balloon flower). For the crafty fairies, grow some Lavender for them to make small bundles of potpourri to tuck into their lingerie.
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Of course, fairies love to have bell-shaped blooms to wear as hats, so a clematis such as macropetala “Blue Bird” or tangutica “Golden Harvest” planted near the base of the tree will use the tree as a support as it climbs upwards. It will produce hundreds of beautiful blossoms that turn into delicate seed heads for the fairies to blow into the wind and make wishes. Other plants suitable for fairy hats are Pulsatilla (pasque flower), Lily of the Valley, Campanulas and Foxglove. Be sure to have different sizes of blooms for the baby fairies and the adults.
For the mischievous ones, grow some Eryngium (sea holly) for them to hide on the teacher’s chair. Ouch!
Don’t forget food! Fairies love blueberries and currants. An arctic kiwi, such as arguta or kolomikta, produces grape-sized kiwis that will be the size of a watermelon to a woodland fairy. www.downhomelife.com
It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when I see children and young adults excited over gardening. Fairy gardens are a great way to get kids introduced to the gardening world while having fun and learning. As for you big kids, jump off the caboose and branch out into a summer world of miniatures. Kim Thistle owns a garden centre and landscaping business on the west coast of the island. She has also been a recurring guest gardener on CBC’s “Crosstalk” for almost three decades. April 2022
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life is better A cool day at Cape Race Bailey Parsons, Stephenville, NL
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reminiscing flashbacks
Boys From Bell Island “Four good-looking boys from Bell Island,” writes the submitter. Standing (L-R): Jack Kavanagh, Peter Murphy. Kneeling (L-R): Chris Jackman, June Kavanagh. Peter J. Murphy Barrie, ON
Church Lads This photo shows the Church Lads Brigade (CLB) in Trinity, Bonavista Bay, in the 1960s. A teacher named David Harvey from St. John’s started the CLB for the boys and the GFS (Girls’ Friendly Society) for the girls. Betty Gill Trinity, Bonavista Bay, NL 108
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St. Albans Anglican School Students in Mr. Allan Rogers’ class at St. Albans Anglican School in Trinity, Bonavista Bay, pose for a class picture in 1960. Front Row (L-R): Maude Brown, Gertrude Brown, Maxine Rogers, Sylvia Glover, Madeline Glover, Marlene (?) Lane, Irene Bungay, Irene Norris, Ruth Blackmore, Rosie Brown. Middle Row (L-R): Maisie (?) Brown, Sadie Rideout, Edna Hunt, Arthur Hunt, Edward Brown, Harold Brown, Gary Cook, Stewart Rogers, Lister (?) Glover. Back Row (L-R): Gerald Glover, Albert Blackmore, Terry Brown, Harry Gibbons, Chesley Preston, Carol (?) Ackerman, Gerald Brown, Billy Rideout, Eugene Bungay, Allan Rogers. Edna (Hunt) Pilgrim Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL
This Month in History On April 20, 1960, the Newfoundland government opened its first session in the new Confederation Building in St. John’s. Premier Smallwood, who was determined to bring scattered government offices together in a single space before launching a period of enormous social upheaval, spearheaded the creation of the new building to replace the Colonial Building. Built by Newfoundland Engineering Construction Company, the 11-storey, 64-metre (210 ft.) tall edifice was designed by Montreal architects Lawson, Betts and Cash, working with A.J.C. Paine, consulting architect to the government. Its form is based on the idea of a lighthouse – there’s even a lantern at the top. Its location – high on a hill, relatively far from the central part of the city – seems to suggest that Smallwood hadn’t forgotten about the riots at the Colonial Building in 1932. The Confederation Building was officially opened in July 1960 by former prime minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent. 1-888-588-6353
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reminiscing
All photos courtesy Danny Corcoran
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When Newfoundland joined Canada
in 1949, the city of St. John’s only had two ice facilities: St. Bon’s Forum and St. John’s Curling Club. The old Prince’s Rink, home to various hockey leagues, had burned in 1941 and was not replaced because of war conditions. In 1948, a committee was formed to raise funds for an arena to honour the many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who lost their lives fighting in the world wars. In late 1954, the well-designed, 4,000-seat St. John’s Memorial Stadium was completed. The first stadium manager was Lorne Wakelin, previously manager of the arena in Goderich, ON. He and Wilson Butler organized the first ever Pee Wee hockey league at the new stadium in the fall of 1955.
Wakelin was so impressed with the calibre of young players in the initial year that he convinced the Royal Canadian Legion to sponsor a team to compete in the 1956 Young Canada Week – an annual invitational tournament for Pee Wee (under 13) hockey players organized by the Goderich Lions Club and held during spring break. Although the team – the Legionnaires – was eliminated without winning a game, they were well-respected and played excellent hockey. Wakelin, Butler and coach John Doyle realized that with a lot of practice, the next Pee Wee team could be very competitive. Selection for the new all-star squad began in the fall of 1956. Doyle and Butler selected approximately 50 hopefuls for the initial tryout, with a final 18 to be selected for the team. Practices were early each morning before school and again in the evening. Players were advised if their grades dropped during this period they would not be eligible to travel with the team. Hopefuls were cut 1-888-588-6353
after each practice until there were 19 players left. Barry Fraser, the only returning player from the previous year (without a doubt the best player on the team and the eventual captain), was considered safe from elimination. In the dressing room after practice, the players anxiously waited for Doyle to announce the last hopeful to be dropped. Instead he declared that authorization had been received to take all 19 players! The 1956-57 All Star team included Brian Gibbons, a nine-year-old goaltender. And me. On Friday, April 19, 1957, hundreds of people gathered at Torbay Airport to wish the team luck as we departed via Trans Canada Airlines. At the stopover in Halifax, NS, Newfoundland’s Member of Parliament, Jack Pickersgill, was there to meet us. When the Legionnaires arrived in Toronto we checked in at the worldfamous Royal York Hotel. There, we met Al “Bunny” Dunlop, head of the hotel’s security. Dunlop was a fixture on the Toronto wrestling scene for April 2022
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The Legionnaires pose in their uniform – complete with sealskin hats and bow ties – at Torbay Airport, 1957.
40 years, first as a wrestler and then as a referee. He was seen on TV every Friday night in Newfoundland. On Tuesday, we travelled by train to Goderich, where we were met at the station by Major John Graham and the Goderich Pipe Band. We were escorted into waiting convertibles and treated to dinner at the Canadian Legion Hall. At nine o’clock that night, the Pee Wee Legionnaires played our first game before a full house against the Goderich team. In this exhibition game, we were vying for the Lorne Wakelin Trophy. The Legionnaires won by a score of 5-4 to take home the trophy. This was the first time since Confederation that a Newfoundland hockey team registered a win in national competition. On Wednesday night, the Legionnaires were again victorious, beating Winnipeg 4-2 for the East-West Trophy. The next night we registered an 11-0 victory against Port Huron, MI – our third consecutive win. The Goderich press reported that St. John’s could possibly be the team to win the entire tournament. On Friday afternoon, the Legionnaires 112
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played in the semi-final game against Peterborough for the Group AA finals. Although our team out shot the Peterborough squad 22 to 11, we lost 3-0. Toronto went on to win the overall tournament on Saturday. But the adventure was far from over. After the Friday afternoon loss, we flew to New York City. We stayed at the elite 22-storey Taft Hotel on 7th Avenue, just north of Times Square. Next morning, we visited the top of the Empire State Building and took the subway to Yankee Stadium to watch a Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won the game 2-1. Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Bobbie Richardson and Ted Williams were among the many professionals who played before 33,575 fans. On Sunday night, our team was featured on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” As we appeared on stage with Sullivan, he read a telegram he had received from Newfoundland encouraging us to hold our two trophies high on the show. Team captain Barry Fraser presented Sullivan with a stuffed baby seal (we named it Sammy) on 1-888-588-6353
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behalf of the team. On Monday, the team flew from New York to Montreal, arriving late in the evening. On Tuesday, we enjoyed a tour of the Montreal Forum led by Kenny Reardon, vicepresident of the Montreal Canadiens and a NHL Hockey Hall of Famer. Reardon took us into the Canadiens’ dressing room, where we saw the equipment of players Jean Béliveau, Maurice Richard, Jacques Plante and others.
The team got to meet Ed Sullivan backstage in New York.
On Wednesday, we were special guests at a dinner hosted by the Canadian Legion in Laval, QC. As a surprise, Jean Béliveau and NHL play-by-play announcer Danny Gallivan were also there. On Thursday, we were supposed to fly from Montreal home to St. John’s, but had to land in Moncton, NB, instead due to heavy fog back home. Next day we took off again, and this time made it to Stephenville, NL, and stayed overnight on the American Air 1-888-588-6353
Force Base. As it looked like the fog wouldn’t be lifting in St. John’s anytime soon, a decision was made to travel to the capital city by train. The Pee Wees had no idea that there would be hundreds of citizens waiting at the CNR terminal when we arrived. We assembled for a team photo and proudly displayed our two trophies. We were then paraded in convertibles through the main streets, joined by more than 100 cars decorated in the Canadian Legion colours. The parade ended at City Hall, where Mayor Mews delivered the official welcome to us young ambassadors. He commended us for our marvelous showing at the tournament and said that all citizens of St. John’s were very proud of us. He also said that most important was our impeccable conduct and appearance at all times on the tour. Lorne Wakelin moved from St. John’s to Harbour Grace in 1958, to be manager of the new Conception Bay Recreation Centre. Pee Wee hockey leagues and provincial tournaments were organized across the province that year. St. John’s did not enter a team in the annual Goderich tournaments thereafter, and as a result did not defend the trophies we had captured in 1957. The Legionnaires Roster Stan Cook, Barry Fraser, Charlie Pollock, Danny Corcoran, Brian Gibbons, Vic Parsons, Neil Corcoran, Ronnie Goodyear, John Stamp, Pat DeBourke, Dave Kendall, Bobby Walsh, Jim Drover, Rollie Martin, Neil Windsor, Blaise Dunne, Gordie MacNab, Donny Youden, Rhodie Mercer. April 2022
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The tragic shooting death of a Newfoundland logger in the Scottish Highlands BY LESTER GREEN
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A RIFLE SHOT THAT PIERCED THE AIR
in Carrbridge, Scotland, also pierced the heart of loved ones in Glovertown, Newfoundland and Labrador, in the summer of 1940. This is the story of a logger who enlisted with the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit, went to Europe in pursuit of duty and never came home. On Christmas Day 1909, the lives of Benjamin and Bessie (Penney) Hawkins of Glovertown were forever changed by the birth of fraternal twins: a boy they named Alfred Maxwell (Max), and a girl they called Theresa. Over time the Glovertown couple would add to their family with the arrival of several other children. Max grew up in a logging town surrounded by loggers. Both his grandfather and father sought a living from the rich forest that lay close to the coastal community. The life of a logger involved long hours of pulling the sandviken bow-shaped bucksaw back and forth across a tree trunk until it crashed to the ground. Then they grabbed the axe and swung it with constant precision, striking the branches and separating them from the trunk. This was repeated from sunrise to sunset, rewarding men with a meagre living. When Max was of age, he got a job with the A.N.D. Company, a major employer in the Terra Nova and Gambo region. On November 21, 1-888-588-6353
The Hawkins family Front (l-r): Edward, Gertie, Margaret. Back (l-r): Theresa, Jessie, baby Raymond, Max. Courtesy of Tony Hawkins.
Top Left: Max Hawkins, taken overseas in the Scottish Highlands shortly before his death in 1940. Courtesy of Tony Hawkins. April 2022
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A Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit camp Courtesy of Bill Nicholas 1939, the Newfoundland Government put out the call for 2,000 lumbermen to serve in Britain to cut pit props. These men would be paid eight shillings a day, with board, lodging, outfits and travel being paid both overseas and return. Logging com-panies were encouraged to hold meetings to make men aware of this opportunity overseas. The first contingent boarded the SS Antonia at St. John’s on December 12, and arrived at Liverpool on December 18, 1939, with 300 loggers under the command of Jack Turner. Their goal was to construct campsites for other contingents of loggers that were to follow in January and February of 1940. Max signed his enlistment papers in January 1940 with the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit (NOFU) and was assigned the number 1840. On January 23, he was among the 963 loggers onboard the SS Chroby that left St. John’s and sailed for Halifax, NS, under the command of 116
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Edgar Baird. The ship joined a large convoy of vessels ferrying Canadian troops and supplies overseas. Under the escort of the British Navy, they crossed the Atlantic to the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, arriving on February 8. The men of the NOFU were to harvest logs on the hillsides of the Scottish Highlands for the war effort. This wood was to be used mostly for pit props. Other goods, such as lumber and board, were produced in sawmills that were quickly assembled around the region. Max was not assigned to cut pit props, however. He was appointed clerk at District B headquarters, Carrbridge Camp, under the command of Superintendent Tom Curran. Lumberjacks were often given Sundays off, and local newspapers record that on Sunday, July 14, 1940, Max and several other lumberjacks hired a taxi driver take them on a sightseeing tour that ended in the village of Grantown. The Dundee 1-888-588-6353
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Workers at a NOFU camp in Scotland Courtesy of Bill Nicholas Courier newspaper records that they travelled to several locations, including Boat of Garten, Nethy Bridge and Grantown. When they left Grantown to return to the camp at 11:00 p.m., it was raining heavily and visibility was poor. The car encountered a person on the road near a bridge that it had crossed. Military regulations during wartime required that all headlights on vehicles be darkened, which caused the driver to pass a man without seeing him. But the driver abruptly stopped the car when he heard a gunshot. It was only when the driver stepped out that he realized there were two men, both of them sentries. All sentries were instructed to stop everyone, and if the driver failed to stop after being given three verbal commands, the sentries were to shoot to kill the occupants of the vehicle. It was a time when Scotland was concerned about a German invasion. One sentry had reportedly shouted three times for Max’s driver to stop 1-888-588-6353
before opening fire. The local papers recorded in an interview with the driver, John Ferguson, that there was no red light on the road, which would have been a signal for vehicles to stop. He also claimed that he did not hear anyone shouting verbal commands to stop. It was when the passengers exited the car that they realized Max had been shot. Though attempts were made to save him, they were futile. The sentry who shot Max was charged with culpable homicide. The case was tried at the High Court of Inverness in September 1940. In court, the driver, Mr. Ferguson, explained that the sentry, Francis Lionel Harrington, got into his car and realized that the shot had struck Max in the back of the head. Harrington then demanded that the driver show him how to start the car, and he immediately drove it to the nearest farm belonging to the Bainoans, where their phone was used to get assistance. But it was too April 2022
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late. Max Hawkins was dead. It was determined in court that even though the sentry may have consumed a few alcoholic drinks that night before he discharged his weapon, he was only following orders of his commanding officer. These orders stated: “Under present active service conditions, a camp sentry charged with guarding a camp
guards had been issued red lamps to signal cars, the accident would not have happened. All approaching vehicles would have known that it was a road stop, and guards would not have had to rely on verbal commands to stop approaching vehicles. In the end, Francis Lionel Harrington was found not guilty of the charges and was released.
Above: Max Hawkins’ headstone at Carrbridge Cemetery, Invernessshire. Right: John Hawkins stands beside his Uncle Max’s headstone at the United Church Cemetery, Glovertown.
entrance is entitled between dusk and dawn to shoot to kill at any carload of passengers whose driver does not happen to hear three verbal challenges and is proceeding along a public highway in quite unsuspicious circumstances and without any design on the camp.” Lieutenant-Corporal Albert Pott, commander of the guard unit, claimed that Harrington had carried out his duty. He claimed that if the 118
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Benjamin, Bessie and their family at home in Glovertown could not even take comfort in the fact that at least the body of their oldest son would be returned from the war. Max was buried in the Scottish Highland at Carrbridge Cemetery, Invernessshire, Scotland. They would not be able to visit his graveside, but the family did have a memorial stone placed at the United Church Cemetery in Glovertown. 1-888-588-6353
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1. Nation shall rise against nations, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences, (plagues) and earthquakes, in diverse places. Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:10-11 2. And this gospel (good news) of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10 3. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand). Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, Luke 21:20 (Also Daniel 12:1-4, 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-11, Revelation 13:5-8) 4. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. Matthew 24:21-22, Mark 13:19, Luke 21:22, 1st Thessalonians 5:1-3 5. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. Matthew 24:29-30, Mark 13:24, Luke 21:25-27 6. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27, 1st Corinthians 15:20-28 7. And GOD shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4, 1st Timothy 6:13-16 This page is sponsored by an anonymous reader
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puzzles
The Beaten Path
Dennis Flynn photo
By Ron Young
Block out all the letters that are like other letters in every way, including shape and size. The letters that are left over, when unscrambled, will spell out the name of the above community.
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Last Month’s Community: Makkovik 122
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Sudoku
from websudoku.com
Last month’s answers
?
Need Help
Puzzle answers can be found online at DownhomeLife.com/puzzles
www.downhomelife.com
April 2022
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Augustus Yepiz photo
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Downhomer Detective Needs You After more than two decades on the Urban City Police Force, Downhomer Detective has come home to rid Newfoundland and Labrador of a new threat – cunning thief Ragged Rick. A real braggart, the slimy criminal sends DD a blurry photo of his surroundings plus clues to his whereabouts just to prove he’s always a step ahead. DD needs your help to identify where in Newfoundland and Labrador Ragged Rick is hiding out this month.
Use these 5 clues to identify where Ragged Rick is now: • Largest community inside Gros Morne National Park • Location of Lobster Cove Lighthouse • Early settlers came from Rose Blanche • Home base of Western Brook Pond tours • Home of the Gros Morne Wildlife Museum
Last Month’s Answer: Burnside
Picturesque Place NameS of Newfoundland and Labrador
by Mel D’Souza Last Month’s Answer: Hibb’s Cove 124
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In Other Words Guess the well-known expression written here in other words.
Last Month’s Clue: Prune to the pursuit In Other Words: Cut to the chase
This Month’s Clue: I declare thee companion and spouse In Other Words: _ ________ ___ _______ ___ ____
A Way With Words Last Month’s Answer: Singing in the Rain
THEsingingRAIN
This Month’s Clue
dA
n
g
r
ou
oi
G
Rhyme Time A rhyming word game by Ron Young
n
Answer: _____ ______ __ _______
Scrambled Sayings
1. A happy boy is a _____ ___ 2. A sewing mistake is a ______ ______ 3. A meek complaint is a ______ _______ Last Month’s Answers 1. jog blog, 2. night sight, 3. swipe type
by Ron Young
Place each of the letters in the rectangular box below into one of the white square boxes above them to discover a quotation. Incomplete words that begin on the right side of the diagram continue one line down on the left. The letters may or may not go in the box in the same order that they are in the column. Once a letter is used, cross it off and do not use it again.
T H E H A P E F I B A E D E A T H E S E R H N N O H N N E C U S O E I U S O N S M I Y T O O T T X
E A E A I N R G E R N S S H M P T S S
E D H B E L T O I N Y S
Last month’s answer: A wise man talks because he has something to say; a fool talks because he has to say something www.downhomelife.com
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Rhymes 5 Times Each answer rhymes with the other four
1. goose
____________
2. indulge
____________
3. hackles
____________
4. roam
____________
5. flirt
____________
STUCK? Don’t get your knickers in a knot! Puzzle answers can be found online at DownhomeLife.com/puzzles
Last Month’s Answers: 1. play, 2. grey, 3. fray. 4. stray, 5. pray
Tangled Towns by Lolene Young Condon and Ron Young
Unscramble each of the five groups of letters below to get 5 Newfoundland and Labrador place names.
Sound out the groups of words below to get a familiar expression.
1. BLEATWONK
For best results sound the clue words out loud!
2. UHSOT LIDOD
Ready Host Asian _____ _______
3. ORDAB VOCE 4. DOL HOPS
Hits Spin Could Form He ___ ____ ____ ___ __ Last Month’s 1st Clue: House Mind Arriving Answer: How’s my driving. Last Month’s 2nd Clue: Eye Heaven Acts Took Rind Answer: I have an axe to grind
5. LAPHOLE Last Month’s Answers: 1. Springdale, 2. Coffee Cove, 3. Southern Arm, 4. Port Anson, 5. Miles Cove
A nalogical A nagrams Unscramble the capitalized words to get one word that matches the subtle clue. 1. EGO NUT ~ Clue: keep it in your cheek or the cat might get it 2. NETS HULL ~ Clue: it holds the most concise explanations 3. PUNS IN THEM ~ Clue: time that fits the crime 4. LACE RIG ~ Clue: retreats when the heat is on 5. REF SIGN ~ Clue: you can count them on one hand Last Month’s Answers: 1. emotions, 2. tightrope, 3. engineering, 4. snowball, 5. arsonist 126
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Four-Way Crossword F o re Wo rd s • B a c k Wo rd s • U p Wo rd s • D o w n Wo rd s By Ron Young
Unlike regular crosswords, in Four-Way Crossword each letter is not necessarily related to the letter in the adjacent row or column, but is part of one or more words in some direction. 1-3: sick 1-10: uneducated 1-91: unimportant 2-32: acreage 3-23: prevarication 5-2: cash register 5-65: topography 7-10: merit 7-97: bitterness 9-49: goody 10-50: additional 10-100: origin 11-15: corn 15-35: make mistake 16-19: rip 16-46: exam 17-19: appendage 21-41: carpet 21-51: spouse 21-91: cloth 24-54: blow hole 27-23: tend on 27-57: dispatched 28-88: high-and-dry 29-26: alleviate 30-25: tormenter 30-26: taunt 30-70: pamphlet 31-37: unfavourable 33-37: poetry 35-65: shower 36-76: vapour 40-37: anger 42-62: regret 46-76: squad 48-88: circular 50-30: performance 50-100: activity 54-51: genuine 54-56: bind www.downhomelife.com
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57-59: apex 60-40: vehicle 63-23: tomb 65-63: old horse 67-70: should 69-67: total 69-89: droop 74-72: evil 74-76: hobo 76-56: actress West 85-65: biscuit 85-82: hemorrhaged 85-88: tie 89-59: pant 91-61: den 91-94: tie up shoe 91-100: torn wound
95-97: stool pigeon 95-100: dole 98-100: charged particle Last Month’s Answer
H E R E D I T A R Y
E N A B O E R H O L
R A E N O V I C E S
E S R O H E A T E S
A BO P AR OGE T E N I L E NU S L F T I WA V AR E L T
U I R A K E S I N S
April 2022
T S A L I T A S T E
S H O P L I F T E R
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The Bayman’s
Crossword Puzzle 1
2
by Ron Young 3
4
5
6 7 8
9
10
11
13
12
14 17
16
M
M 18 23
15
35
22
27
M 31
30
29 34
21
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28 32
37
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33 38
M 39 43
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M 49
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M 52
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M 128
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ACROSS 1. I’m so hungry I could eat the arse off a ___ flying duck 3. puncheon 4. You can only get one shot __ _ shellbird 6. arse 7. in other words (abbrev) 8. backwards (colloq) 16. coal miner’s bird 17. exclamation of surprise 18. creepy insect with pincers 22. Want will __ your master 23. curves 26. father 27. sister 29. yes vote 30. emmet 32. stack 34. The wind would blow the horns ___ of a bull 35. sometimes guardians 38. several (abbrev) 39. “Hey, hey, __ she rises, early in the morning” 41. Old English (abbrev) 42. company (abbrev) 43. “My mother’s making me _____ Mary Mac” 46. Opposite of SW 47. play by ___ (by instinct) 48. Harbour ____ 49. “me” in French 51. negative 52. attain 53. “I can be sixteen _____ old for a while” DOWN 1. ____ _ _____ _____ __ the fits 2. Native American tent 5. Tuesday (abbrev) 8. ’Tis no use to carry __ umbrella if you’re boots are leaking www.downhomelife.com
9. _____ Simms – former Open Line host 10. senior (abbrev) 11. Ireland’s ___ 12. paddle 13. lunch (colloq) 14. weep 15. ___ _____ __ in the details 19. old saying 20. wail (Scottish) 21. Come __ out of the wet 24. outdoors 25. “He was born upon the bright blue ___” 28. tender (colloq) 31. special attention 33. “the” in St. Pierre 36. Devil to pay and __ pitch hot 37. “_____ don’t go away, I am here all alone” 40. meditate 44. year (abbrev) 45. blubber 48. “How’s ye gettin’ on, __ ducky?” 49. Pa’s mate 50. either WA D E R R S N I T V E M I R A N N A G W B O O A I R K T I S B O F F U U G D H A D
ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD O O F F T E N B E D I A N D O
S T A W T O O M R O S E D E T N A F MM C E C K
R E C I T A T I O N
A N R R H U M M O N U T C D M R A M I O N A A N A C O P H E D
April 2022
T A Y S A L L Y
129
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DIAL-A-SMILE © 2022 Ron Young
Pick the right letters from the old style phone to match the numbers grouped below and uncover a quote which will bring a smile to your face. __ 86
___ 377
____ _ 2526 3 _ __ _ 3 57 3
_____ 48626
__ 47
__ 48
__ 66
__ _ __ 74 6 97
’
__ 86
_______ _ 7663263 9
__________ 6262436368
_________ 768368425 Last Month’s Answer: A bargain is something you don’t need at a price you can’t resist.
©2022 Ron Young
CRACK THE CODE
Each symbol represents a letter of the alphabet, for instance y= S Try to guess the smaller, more obvious words to come up with the letters for the longer ones. The code changes each month.
_ _ _ _
i xl z
_ S
Xy
_ _ _ nx;
_ _ S S _ S S _ _ _, O x y y z y yX x n _ _ _
Hi i
_ _ _ _ _ H 3 xL ; _ _’S X;y
_ _ _ _ _ H 3 xL ;
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ H O O m z rX H ; X x n Last Month’s Answer: Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. 130
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Food For Thought
© 2022 Ron Young
Each food symbol represents a letter of the alphabet. Find the meanings to the words then match the letters with the food symbols below to get a little “food for thought.”
fellow =
listen =
brag =
operate =
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
otadlnca
}ts
seeing =
_ _ _ _
fvt w
_
gain =
_ _ _ _ _
V ct Il
_ _ _
_
_ _ _ _ _
ynvpna} _ _ _ _ _ _
qw conl
_ _ _ _
ovp ftyv _ _ _ _
Vvva _ _
pf c _ _ _
lt t}fl
_ _ _
tas
lc _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
ft yv _ _
lfv nw
_ _ _
c pa
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
qtwq c Iv _ _ _
acl
_ _ _ _
Vvva
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
lvtd fvwI
Last Month’s Answer: Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. www.downhomelife.com
April 2022
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Different Strokes
Our artist’s pen made the two seemingly identical pictures below different in 12 places. See if you can find all 12.
ERN AND COAL BIN FILL UP ON THE TCH
Last Month’s Answers: 1. Hill top, 2. Tree trunk, 3. Trail, 4. Ski, 5. Leg, 6. Ern’s arm, 7. Ern’s ski suit, 8. Tree missing, 9. Man on snowmobile, 10. Helmet 11. Steering handle, 12. Coal Bin “Differences by the Dozen”- A compilation of Different Strokes from 2002 to 2014 (autographed by Mel) can be ordered by sending $9.95 (postage incl.; $13.98 for U.S. mailing) to Mel D’Souza, 21 Brentwood Dr., Brampton, ON, L6T 1P8.
132
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HIDE & SEEK EXERCISES
The words can be across, up, down, backward or at an angle, but always in a line.
SKIPPING SPIN STRETCHES SWIM
AEROBICS BIKING BODYBUILDING BOXING CLIMBING CROSSFIT DANCE JAZZERCISE JOG PILATES PLANK POWERLIFTING ROWING RUNNING SKATING
Q Z C X T T I F S S O R C P R V Q S
X U I Z L G A E I V G G T A F P O Z
B M J U O N K K T L S H E A Z C D H
B B C S Z I H W K U T N Z E I G T G
I A R C O W C U W S M K F J N N S W
Y C M P U O L H J A T N Z I M I K J
D M H Y Q A D A Q U N V E I L I N G
Last Month’s Answers
D P E S F R I S Q W I A K N E K A A
www.downhomelife.com
Y E Q W Q M M B E O U L C C S I T B
I M K N O I B S Z S A P N N L B I B
D V N E W G I F J W T A N C D G N B
M G I S W D N X L Q D R G D B C G T
O N P W J M G I X S B O E J A O O I
T A E R T E R P L M T U B E D W D X
I I S A A N Z O T Y D W E T B O J J
M N T I G S C J L L Y B X F U S C V
WALKING YOGA ZUMBA
E J G E R U A A K A A L W Z V P S Z
H D L E I Z V Y D F F J C B C L N B
T N J Q R E T E P S U V R F H X H W
H Q O Q E M O L N B U N I H U G R W
Y L S C T J B Z Z Y I Y I D N H G Z
E S L I C E Y L S M J S C T I E N J
L L V I T R S Q Q C I P A H S M Z J
D I Y X K A X Z P X O L Y M A N E L
J M K Z L A B A P P O I N T M E N T
Q P H F Q G U N E F O N P F D M F L
W U S O N Z L L N S O G R J C C I S
K L M M R S Q D T L A Q C N Z B K A
B I R T H I H G A C E V R E I I W R
F B F A N Z Q I F U K N A E P O V V
F R F E F J C O N R G R T R R J X E
A B R O C J D E W I G J T Q I T K N
V Y Q E E E R X P D T I R B W Z B M
K N G E L D J W K P T H M C Y H Z U
E C N E R E F N O C D E I J N U L F
G D P R Y R Q Z T E M X P T O O X D
H K I I W M Q C B A S N E Y F O R C
U O Z O Z C R O I C B O L P P T P F
O B N O V P P Q Y Z C Q A M H J W Z
G U E C C E L S Y I O N Z U T R Q L
U B W B L I L O C S E B A Q I D P M
N N T Q P S R M P T F C Z L A T K B
I Q S Z J S W S H Z R E X O E N Q E
X X F I W S O E K P R U N N I N G H
N W I C O Q O F A Q P A R Z D H Y I
E G R P O Q R E K R F C P T W X Y T
W N A C B E I A X E W W F H O P G P
April 2022
P D H M A Z F Q K D Y Q Z R Z K M L
O J C I S W E D D I N G H D B X Y E
E F Z S N S Z E V L Z O V K K B W G 133
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Colourful Culture
The drawing on the opposite page
is the work of Newfoundland Mi’kmaq artist Marcus Gosse, a member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band. His grandmother, Alice Maude Gosse (nee Benoit) is a Mi’kmaq Elder from Red Brook (Welbooktoojech) on the Port au Port Peninsula. Marcus’ work has been exhibited in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax; The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery in St. John’s, NL; and the Canada 150 Art Show at the Macaya Gallery in Miami, FL; and his work is in private collections around the world. He has generously offered a series of colouring pages that will run monthly in Downhome. Each image depicts a NL nature scene and teaches us a little about Mi’kmaq culture and language. Each colouring page includes the Mi’kmaq word for the subject, the phonetic pronunciation of the word, and the English translation. And you’ll notice a design that Marcus incorporates into most of his pieces – the eight-point Mi’kmaq Star. This symbol dates back hundreds of years and is very important in Mi’kmaq culture. Marcus’ Mi’kmaq Stars are often seen painted with four colours: red, black, white and yellow, which together represent unity and harmony between all peoples. Many Mi’kmaq artists use the star, and various Mi’kmaq double curve designs, to decorate their blankets, baskets, drums, clothing and paintings. To download and print this colouring page at home, visit DownhomeLife.com. To learn more about Marcus and find more of his colouring pages, look him up on Facebook at “Mi’kmaq Art by Marcus Gosse.” 134
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www.downhomelife.com
April 2022
135
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USI OP OR BU SI NE S S O PPO R TU NITIE S IN BAY ROBERTS
$339,900
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R R R
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709-726-5113 1-888-588-6353 advertising@downhomelife.com
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Not intended to solicit properties currently under contract
May 2022 Downhome Ad Booking Deadline March 18, 2022
Downhome Real Estate Ad prices start at $50 for a 1 column x 1 inch colour advertisement. This size fits approximately 20 words. The smallest size of advertisement with a picture is $100 for a 1 column x 2 inch advertisement.
709-726-5113 1-888-588-6353 advertising@downhomelife.com
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BUSINESS FOR SALE • CLARENVILLE, NL
Fine Things Inc. est. 1998 Jewellery, Giftware & Engraving • Off site Jewellery Repairs Happy to work with new owners • Facebook video “The Big Reveal”
709-466-7936 • finethings@nf.aibn.com
www.downhomelife.com
April 2022
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Movers & Shippers
Ontario to Newfoundland and All Points in Between
A Family Moving Families Professionally and economically
Return Loads from NL, NS, NB, QC, ON at a Discounted Price Fully Insured
Coast to Coast in Canada Fully Insured
905-424-1735
arent58@hotmail.com www.ar-moving.ca
A&K Moving Covering all Eastern & Western Provinces and Returning Based from Toronto, Ontario Discount Prices Out of NL, NS & NB Newfoundland Owned & Operated 35 Years in the Moving Industry All Vehicles Transported
416-247-0639 aandkmoving@gmail.com
138
April 2022
Newfoundland Owned & Operated
Contact: Gary or Sharon King
Toll Free: 1-866-586-2341 www.downhomemovers.com
Movers & Shippers Rates start at $175 for a 1 col. x 2" ad. Call Today! 709-726-5113 Toll Free: 1-888-588-6353 Email: advertising@downhomelife.com
Moving you from Ontario and Newfoundland... or any STOP along the way!
DOWNEAST CONNECTION 709-248-4089 905-965-4813
Hawke’s Bay, NL (collect calls accepted) downeastconnection@yahoo.ca
DISCOUNT STORAGE 8' x 20' unheated storage units St. John's, NL
709-726-6800
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GREAT GIFT IDEAS!
Food, Culture, Place:
Stories, Traditions, and Recipes of Newfoundland - Lori McCarthy and Marsha Tulk
Fishing Measures: A Critique of Desk-Bound Reason Daniel Banoub
#80761 | $39.95
#80762 | $26.95
Cooking Up a Scoff:
Downhome Gallery Cookbook #38455 | $19.95 $9.88
Traditional Recipes of NL - New edition with extra recipes
#79297 | $14.95
Fatback & Molasses - Ivan Jesperson
#2313 | $9.95
Corner Windows and Cul-de-Sacs: Remarkable
Story of NL's First Garden Suburb - Sharpe & Shawyer
#80763 | $28.95
The Treasury of Newfoundland Dishes - Jill Whitaker
#38322 | $19.95
Hidden Newfoundland
The Diary of One Now Dead - The Crash of The Time's
#80764 | $29.95
a Wastin’ in Saglek, Labrador Tom Drodge
- Scott Osmond
#73590 | $17.95
ORDER ONLINE: www.shopdownhome.com
Prices subject to change without notice. Prices listed do not include taxes and shipping. While quantities last.
2204_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 2/24/22 6:10 PM Page 141
MORE SELECTION ONLINE www.shopdownhome.com
Edible Plants of NL Field Guide - Peter Scott #42423 | $29.95
Trees and Shrubs of NL #43422 | $34.95
#79639 | $29.95
Birds of NL: Field Guide -
Wildflowers and Ferns of NL: Field Guide - Todd Boland #62192 | $34.95
Geology of NL - Martha Hickman Hild #47195 | $34.95
Warkentin & Newton
#39357 | $34.95
Shrubs and Vines for Atlantic Canada: Choose the Best Plants for your Location Todd Boland
#80132 | $29.95
Todd Boland
A Newfoundland Garden: Growing Fabulous Flowers, Fruit, and Vegetables in a Maritime Climate Todd Boland
#80214 | $29.95
TO ORDER CALL: 1-888-588-6353
The Forager’s Dinner Shawn Dawson
Stouts, Millers & Forky-Tails: Insects of NL Chapman, Dixon, Parsons, Whitney
#77565 | $34.95
2204_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 2/23/22 3:08 PM Page 142
GREAT GIFT IDEAS!
Purity Kisses Peanut Butter #4010 • Assorted #3997 • Rum and Butter #16805
$4.99 each
Purity Peppermint Nobs #4238 | $4.99
Purity Spearmint Nobs #26990 | $4.99
Downhome Candy • $2.99 each Puffin Poop (Yogurt Raisins) #46793 • Caribou Poo (Chocolate Peanuts) #46794 Moose Droppings (Chocolate Almonds) #46795 • Cod Tongues (Peach Slices) #78020 Bunny Buttons (Chocolate Raisins) #46796
Newfoundland Seasonings Ragin' Bayman Spicy BBQ #79465 | $7.99 • Moose Spice #77375 | $7.99 • Steak & Burger #77377 | $7.99 Cod Spice #77379 | $8.99 • Taste of Home #77378 | $8.99
ORDER ONLINE: www.shopdownhome.com
Prices subject to change without notice. Prices listed do not include taxes and shipping. While quantities last.
2204_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 2/24/22 6:11 PM Page 143
MORE SELECTION ONLINE www.shopdownhome.com
Labrador Flags 24" x 36" #39217 | $17.99 • 36" x 60" #39218 | $19.99
Labrador Tea - Loose 30 g
#79376 | $9.99
Newfoundland and Labrador Hip Tote #59818 | $13.99
Tales from a Labrador Pilot - Benny Powell #78492 | $18.95
I Never Knowed it Was Hard - Louie Montague #48752 | $19.95
TO ORDER CALL: 1-888-588-6353
Labrador Flag on Stick: 12" x 18" #39216 | $4.99
Newfoundland and Labrador Wristlet #60571 | $9.99
Life on the Mista Shipu - Dispatches From Labrador Robin McGrath
#76054 | $19.95
2204_photo Finish_0609 Photo Finish 2/23/22 3:04 PM Page 144
photo finish
I Spy!
Five-year-old Hailee Torraville spots a snail during a springtime nature walk. Sandra Torraville Victoria, NL
Do you have an amazing or funny photo to share? Turn to page 9 to find out how to submit. 144
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SUMMER
AD ADVENTURE VENTURE AWAITS A WA AITS
Co Connect Connecting Eastern Canada da and d beyond! b nd! d
1.800.563.2800 | palairlines.ca
@PALairlines
