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Epic Summer Contest!
$4.99 June 2019
Vol 32 • No 01
8 Tasty Tomato Recipes
High-Tech Harp Seals Blushing Explained
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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 Elizabeth Whitten Special Publications Editor Tobias Romaniuk Art and Production Art Director Vince Marsh Graphic and Web Designer Cory Way Illustrator Mel D’Souza Illustrator Snowden Walters Advertising Sales Senior Account Manager Robert Saunders Account Manager Barbara Young Marketing Director Tiffany Brett Finance and Administration Junior Accountant Marlena Grant Operations Manager Alicia Brennan Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney
Warehouse Operations Warehouse Operator Josephine Collins Distribution Sales & Merchandising Joseph Reddy Sr. Customer Service Associate Sharon Muise Inventory Control Clerk Heather Lane Warehouse Associate Anthony Sparrow Retail Operations Retail Floor Manager, Water Street Jackie Rice Retail Floor Manager, Avalon Mall Carol Howell Retail Floor Manager, Twillingate Donna Keefe Retail Sales Associates Crystal Rose, Emma Goodyear, Jonathon Organ, Nicole French, Elizabeth Gleason, Janet Watkins, Melissa Wheeler, Rebecca Ford, Darlene Burton, Erin McCarthy
Subscriptions Sr. Administrative Assistant Amanda Ricks Customer Service Associate Ciara Hodge Founding Editor Ron Young Chief Executive Officer / Publisher Grant Young President Todd Goodyear Chief Financial Officer Tina Bromley
To subscribe, renew or change address use the contact information above. Subscriptions total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL $39; AB, BC, MB, NU, NT, QC, SK, YT $40.95; ON $44.07; NB, NS, PE $44.85. US and International mailing price for a 1-year term is $49.00.
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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80 cast off!
Contents
JUNE 2019
54 Berry Good Business Why blueberries are Newfoundland and Labrador’s super fruit Elizabeth Whitten
72 Gros Morne and Beyond Former Smallwood minister envisions a “third pillar” world recognition for Great Northern Peninsula Kim Ploughman
80 On Capelin Watch
54 wildly popular www.downhomelife.com
This annual event has no set date, it happens fast and doesn’t last long. Will you be ready when the capelin roll?
128 The Great Daily Mail Race The challenge that changed air travel forever Robert Thorne June 2019
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Contents
JUNE 2019
homefront 10 I Dare Say A note from the editor 11 Contributors Meet the people behind the magazine
12 Letters From Our Readers NL’s aviation connection, helping kids in Jamaica, and school days memories
20 Saved by the Bible How a story published in Downhome brought an old poem out of hiding Dennis Flynn
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high-tech harp
24 Downhome Tours Explore New York City with Downhome 26 Why is That Why do we blush? And why don’t the number of wieners and hot dog buns in a package match up? Linda Browne 28 That’s Amazing Wild news from around the world
30 Life’s Funny Not Exactly as Advertised Isabel England
31 l’il mates
31 Say What A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth
32 Lil Charmers Making Waves 34 Pets of the Month Beach Bums 36 A Dog’s Life Saying goodbye after 25 years Elizabeth Whitten 38 Blast from the Past Remember reel-to-reel tape machines? 4
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38 rewind to yesterday 1-888-588-6353
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58 keeping in step
40 Reviewed Denise Flint interviews Rod Etheridge and reviews his book, 18 Souls: The Loss and Legacy of Cougar Flight 491.
42 What Odds How Paul Warford became a “jar half-full” kinda guy 44 Treasured Teddy Bear Tracy McIsaac
46 My Dad in the Clouds Dora Skinner
features 50 Make Bologna Beautiful Again A story of dedication to craft, continuing cultural traditions, and working toward local food security Tobias Romaniuk
58 Decades of Dance St. Pat’s
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crafted charcuterie www.downhomelife.com
Dancers close in on 90 years of performances. Elizabeth Whitten
explore 66 What’s on the Go Exciting events happening around Atlantic Canada June 2019
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Contents
JUNE 2019
68 Whatever Floats Your Boat Berries, bands and beers – exploring Newfoundland by water Tobias Romaniuk
76 Travel Diary Southern Exposure Robert Lilley
86 The Maid of Industry Dennis Flynn reveals the woman behind a famous stoic figure overlooking Water Street West in St. John’s. 88 Follow the Readers We let our Facebook friends be our summer tour guides.
food and Leisure 96 Everyday Gourmet Fun food on a stick Andrea Maunder
100 Everyday Recipes 8 tasty tomato recipes
100 you say tomato…
108 Down to Earth How to grow perennial herbs Ross Traverse 114 Stuff About What do KFC’s famous chicken breading recipe, St. John’s Wort and Mount Scio Farms have in common?
reminiscing 116 Flashbacks Old photos of people and places
117 This Month in History When the cornerstone for the first Masonic temple was laid in St. John’s 6
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108 flavour of life
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118 death-defying antics
118 Visions and Vignettes Gnat, do you mind… High Diving? Harold N. Walters 122 Newfoundlandia The Meeting of Myth and Fact: The Giant Squid Chad Bennett 124 Tragedy on the Barrens A day of berrypicking turned into a night of struggling to survive in the outdoors for these four children. Lester Green About the cover This incredible photo of a puffin mid-flight, bringing a meal of capelin back to its nest on Gull Island, was taken by Downhome reader Paul Regular of Bay Bulls, NL. For more about capelin season, our cover story begins on page 80.
Cover Index Cone Wars • 48 Bologna Made Beautiful • 50 Capelin Season is Here! • 80 8 Tasty Tomato Recipes • 100 High-Tech Harp Seal • 28 Blushing Explained • 26 www.downhomelife.com
132 Looking for Votes The day Joey Smallwood came to our church Burton K. Janes 134 Newly Landed in Great Brehat Excerpt from Gladys Schmidt’s memoir
140 Mail Order 144 Real Estate 146 Marketplace 148 Puzzles 160 Photo Finish June 2019
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growled at him!” He laughs more. “That was her bunk.” She’d even accompany him when he’d go offshore crab fishing. There was another time Pepper went on the seal hunt and she ran out on the ice to try to chase some seals. “She was just a brave, brave young dog. She was a good travelling companion, I tell ya. She went everywhere with me.” Lloyd guesses Pepper had been on the Marine Atlantic ferry more than any other pet, and she wasn’t above causing a little mischief either; on one memorable trip she escaped from the ship’s kennel and ran around the boat on her own little adventure. Eventually, they found her wandering the ship, and Lloyd and Pepper hung out on the top deck for the rest of the trip. “She was an adventurous dog. She just wanted to get out and explore,” says Lloyd. But eventually the years began to catch up with her and changes started happening to Pepper. More grey hairs started to sprout up in her brown coat. Five years ago, she lost her teeth and Lloyd started giving her soft foods that were easier for her to eat, like rotisserie chicken. But she kept in good cheer and was happy, Lloyd says. That 25-year long companionship came to an end abruptly. Pepper was healthy, but then quickly fell ill. Last year, she had a couple of seizures, and one happened just after Christmas. Lloyd held off making a decision about putting her down; he didn’t want to let her go, “but she was just suffering more and more, every time.” Finally, he realized he couldn’t see her in pain like that, so he made the difficult choice to end her pain and say goodbye. “You can’t let them suffer; it’s the www.downhomelife.com
Lloyd Gaslard and Pepper were inseparable for 25 years. worst thing in the world, the vet told me,” Lloyd recalls. But he’ll always have Pepper in his heart. “She was just like a kid to me.” Remarkably, she was with him through his 20s, 30s and into his 40s. Not many dogs enjoy such a long life. “She was always on the run, she loved to run. And I mean she’d run like a bullet, she was an outgoing dog… She was full of life when she was young.” June 2019
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features
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A story of dedication to craft, continuing cultural traditions, and working toward local food security. Story and photos by Tobias Romaniuk
A full side of pork, feet hanging over the edge, fills the prep table in the kitchen of Chinched restaurant on a quiet Tuesday afternoon. Executive chef and co-owner Shaun Hussey hones his butcher’s knife and leans in to deftly remove the loin. He and his crew will break down the entire side, making use of every bit. Much of the animal is destined, eventually, for the deli cabinet, where a variety of artistically crafted sausages, duck confit, pastrami, mortadella and bologna await the charcuterie platter. Shaun refers to his bologna as “fancy Newfoundland bologna.” And mortadella, he says, is just fancy Italian bologna. In Italy, making mortadella has always been serious business. Historically, the proper method for making it was overseen by a guild of charcutiers, and the penalty for making mortadella without the consent of the guild was to be stretched on the rack – tortured, in other words. Keep in mind this was the 1700s, and our sense of appropriate punishment has changed significantly. The process of making mortadella, however, hasn’t. Making a proper mortadella is still a difficult task that requires skill and practice. It also happens to be the same method used in making bologna. “Seasoned properly and made with the right ingredients,” Shaun says, “…it’s a piece of artwork.” Making bologna correctly – using quality ingredients, making it by hand and putting care into creating a quality product – is similar to the way mortadella was made a few hundred years ago. And that’s the way Shaun makes all his charcuterie, including bologna. www.downhomelife.com
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Before the Bates Hill location, with its deli counter that was the reason for the move, the restaurant was on Queen Street, both in downtown St. John’s. Before Chinched, Shaun and Michelle LeBlanc, his wife and Chinched co-owner, were on Fogo Island. Before that, he spent eight years working at restaurants on the mainland. This is where Shaun’s journey into charcuterie begins, sometime between 2005 and 2007 – he’s not sure of the exact year. He and the chef he was working with, who he credits as being a mentor, got curious about cured meats, and started making and hanging salamis. They also started warning coworkers not to eat it. “Nothing we ever made we were confident enough to eat because we didn’t really know. It was more of a trial and error. It was the very beginning of experiments for us,” Shaun says. Why make food with no intention of serving or eating it? Because it’s all part of the process. This experimental phase allowed Shaun to observe how meat dries and what happens through the various stages. And because they were working with uncooked, dried meat, with its potential for bacterial contamination, their hesitancy in consuming it was understandable. When they moved to working with cooked meats, bacteria was no longer a concern. The first edible charcuterie he made was a country style pâté, “and that’s something that I’ve kept in my repertoire ever since,” he says. Old ways of doing things, of making food, has long interested Shaun, inspiring his forays into traditional methods of preserving food and the way it’s done in various cultures. 52
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From the centuries-old traditions of Italian charcutiers to the methods of salting and cellaring used by Newfoundlanders, there is a common sinew of method, knowledge and technique connecting the cultures and ages across the Atlantic. Through the centuries, those Italian meats made their way to Newfoundland plates, transforming along the way from mortadella to bologna. On Fogo Island, the old-timers told Shaun that when they were young bologna was considered a good meal. The bologna of the old-timers’ youth: that’s what Shaun wanted to recreate in his effort to make bologna beautiful again. But there’s more to it than a love of food and an interest in traditional methods. He is a chef, yes, but he’s also an entrepreneur and business owner looking to get more people in the door. 1-888-588-6353
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Given the popularity of all things bologna here (looking at you, Maple Leaf bologna stick mascot), he figured bologna would be a good, buzzworthy item at the deli counter. And with an active Instagram presence, of course there is a hashtag: #MakeBolognaBeautifulAgain. Pork is Shaun’s meat of choice. It’s what most of the deli meats are made
from, it’s in the illustrated butcher cuts framed on the wall, and it features heavily on the menu, including the ever-popular pigs ears appetizer. So it makes sense that Shaun has sought out Leamington Farms, in Point Leamington, NL, to supply him with fresh pork. Admittedly, not all the pork comes from Leamington Farms – Chinched simply doesn’t www.downhomelife.com
have the space to process all the pork they need, so they order in shoulders from off-island suppliers in addition to the full sides of pork like the one on that prep table. At first, the pigs from Leamington Farm were lean, because that was the current market trend. Shaun wanted big pigs, porkers with a good bit of fat on them, ones that had been given time to grow, age and develop. Fat, he says, stores flavour, which is affected by diet. It stands to reason, then, that a fat pig is a flavourful pig. So Shaun requested porkier porkers. The folks at Leamington Farms provided, and Shaun is now able to offer a farm-to-fork experience to diners while having the piece of mind of knowing exactly where his main ingredient is coming from and how it’s fed, grown and processed. Before moving the restaurant and creating the deli space, Shaun tested the local demand for his crafted charcuterie by setting up a table at the St. John’s Farmers’ Market. He prepared several coolers worth of product, including a variety of sausages. On his first day he was completely sold out within 25 minutes. It continued like this for several weeks, eventually slowing as people stocked up their freezers. There was, evidently, a demand for quality prepared meats. Fast forward a few years, and now people are visiting the Bates Hill deli for their fix of locally prepared meats – including bologna, which, despite its poor reputation, has a pedigreed history and, when made with care and quality ingredients, is worthy of respect. “This is an advanced piece of charcuterie that’s being made here,” says Shaun, “and as fancy as mortadella.” June 2019
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reminiscing
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It was a sunny afternoon on May 11, 1926, when three children from St. Jones Without, Trinity Bay, NL decided to go up on the barrens. They were excited to go picking the juicy partridgeberries that had been sweetened by the past winter’s frost. Unknowingly, they were being followed by six-year-old Annie Green. She kept her distance as they climbed the steep path behind Ferry’s Cove that led to the barrens. Leading the group was Mary Blanche Penney, the oldest of the three at 13 years old. Her friend Alice Hiscock was nine, and Alice’s first cousin, Charlie, was seven. Annie watched as they disappeared behind the ridge. She caught up with them a short time later, but by then it was too late to return her home, so they continued on together and soon located a patch of berries. They began picking, filling their containers and mouths with the over-ripened, juicy partridgeberries. They continued to wander on the barrens, searching for more, not realizing that little Annie was reaching exhaustion. At some point, she fell behind. When the others realized Annie was no longer with them, they began shouting her name. They decided to split up and search, with the Hiscocks going in one direction and Mary Blanche in the other towards Little Heart’s Ease. In their desperation to find Annie, they failed to notice the evening fog creeping in over the barrens and blanketing the hills. Alice and Charlie successfully located little Annie, but by then it was too dark and foggy to find their way home. The three nestled behind a large rock that offered some shelter from the night air. They huddled in desperation to keep warm. No one knew where Mary Blanche was. Annie complained about the cold and soon began to shiver. Alice removed her pink sweater and wrapped it around little Annie’s shoulders and held her as tightly as possible. Alice hoped that someone would soon find them. Left: Annie Green (1920-1926) and sister Margaret (1924-2010), St. Jones Without, Trinity Bay. 1-888-588-6353
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Motor boat leaving the beach and crossing St. Jones Without Arm to Ferry’s Cove. Photo courtesy of Annie Green, Winterton
Back in St. Jones Without, families began to worry about the children who had not returned. A search party was quickly organized, but it was morning before they discovered Alice and Charlie. Little Annie appeared to be sleeping beside them. Tragically, the cold had proven too much for her and she had slipped away during the night to be with the angels. The official cause of death was “succumbing to exposure.” Next, searchers turned their attention to finding Mary Blanche, who had set out in the direction of Little Heart’s Ease the evening before. After their tragic discovery of Annie’s body, they could not predict what they would find. Later that afternoon, Mary Blanche was found, alive, in an area above what is locally known as “the Flat” at Little Heart’s Ease. The residents of St. Jones Without experienced mixed feelings. They rejoiced at finding three of the lost children alive, but mourned the 126
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death of little Annie. The little girl’s burial at Methodist church was well attended by the community. Burdened by the tragic loss of their oldest daughter, Eldred and Amelia (Coates) Green could no longer remain in the community. They moved to Winterton with their remaining daughter, Margaret, who was only two years old when her big sister died. She had just a photo to remember her by. Margaret’s family recalls that she often mentioned the grief and pain that she saw in her parents’ faces, but they never spoke about the tragic loss of their precious daughter. They didn’t have any more children. Amelia passed away in 1968 with a heavy burden that she had carried throughout her life. Eldred passed away in 1974. Both died with a broken heart caused by a tragic event that happened on the barrens of St. Jones Without and swept little Annie from their arms in May 1926. 1-888-588-6353
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