Vol 34 • No 05
$4.99
October 2021
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Foraging for Wild Edibles
DIY Concrete Planters Return to Point Rosie
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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 Marketing Director Tiffany Brett Finance and Administration Junior Accountant Marlena Grant Accounting Assistant Sandra Gosse
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, Elizabeth Gauci, Kim Tucker, Heather Stuckless, Katrina Hynes, Lynette Ings, Stef Burt, Ashley Lane, Sarah Bishop
Subscriptions Customer Service Associate Cathy Blundon Founding Editor Ron Young Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Grant Young
Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney
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 Pen names and anonymous letters will not be published.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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102 berry tasty
Contents
OCTOBER 2021
48 A Fresh Startup Fogo Island hydroponic farm combats food insecurity by growing luscious leafy greens. Nicola Ryan
52 Luxury Makeover It’s the first – but hopefully not the last – high-end retrofit for a family-owned shipyard. Kim Ploughman
70 Biking the Burin Peninsula
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rollin’ along www.downhomelife.com
Dennis Flynn shares a recent fat biking adventure to the resettled community of Point Rosie.
102 Best Berry Recipes With these jams and jellies made from NL berries, you can really put out a spread! October 2021
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Contents homefront 10 I Dare Say A note from the Editor 12 Letters From Our Readers An amazing closeup, reader requests, and a successful staycation
OCTOBER 2021
12 Cash call
18 Pandemic Pictures Young people share their COVID-19 experiences
24 Downhome Tours Readers explore Italy with Downhome
26 Why is That? Why do we sometimes laugh when we’re scared? Linda Browne
28 Life’s Funny Tipping Point Orville Cole
29 Say What? A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth
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30 Lil Charmers Happy Halloween! 32 Pets of the Month Halloweenies
laugh it off
34 Reviewed Denise Flint reviews The Winter Wives by Linden MacIntyre
36 What Odds Paul Warford cherishes the b’ys
38 Fresh Tracks Wendy Rose chats with Janet Cull about her new album, Hear It 42 Our Miracle Mom Raymond M. Hewlett
32 costumed critters
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78 nature’s bounty
features 58 Major Player A local board game designer is ready to roll the dice on a new venture. Nicola Ryan
62 Life Behind the Scenes Bob Sharpe’s rewarding career as a sound technician and workplace advocate. Ed Seaward
explore 76 Trolling for Trash The rewards
58 play your card www.downhomelife.com
and the reveals of Avalon Pond Cleanups Tina McDonald
78 The Tasty Outdoors A local forager’s tips on sampling plants found in nature Connie Boland October 2021
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Contents
OCTOBER 2021
92
DIY planters
home and cabin 86 Stuff We Love Fresh Food Savers Nicola Ryan
88 Summers at the Cabin Vivid childhood memories forged in the Codroy Valley Rebecca Dingwell
92 DIY Fat Bottom Pots Marie Bishop
98 Everyday Gourmet Berry Saucy Andrea Maunder
108 Down to Earth Why Lime? Kim Thistle
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88 summer memories
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120 flight to the past
reminiscing 112 Flashbacks Classic photos of people and places
113 This Month in History Rev. Michael Francis Howley
114 Creepy Tales from Conception Bay Dennis Flynn About the cover Dogberry jelly is a traditional spread made from the berries of the mountain ash tree. It’s one of 11 jam, jelly and sauce recipes in this issue, beginning with The Everyday Gourmet on p. 98.
Cover Index Fresh from Fogo • 48 Creepy Tales • 114 Spread the Love • 102 Foraging for Wild Edibles • 78 DIY Concrete Planters • 92 Return to Point Rosie • 70 www.downhomelife.com
120 Unforgettable Flight Tom Green’s recollections as pilot for the Grenfell Mission 126 Puzzles 138 Classifieds 140 Mail Order 144 Photo Finish
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The makers of a Johnny Cash documentary are looking for help. Read their plea letter on p. 13.
Love to eat, share and talk food, especially NL food? Join our EverydayRecipes Facebook Group!
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Learn why and how to lime your garden. p. 108
? ? ?? ?
Puzzles Got You Stumped? Sneak a peek at the answers at Downhomelife.com/puzzles.
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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 Freda Chaffey of St. Georges, NL, who found Corky on page 97 of the August issue.
*No Phone Calls Please. One entry per person
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homefront pets of the month
halloweenies Fearless Feline Jack’s not afraid to hang out in this graveyard. Carla Tulloch Petawawa, ON
On the Prowl Black and orange KitKat lurks in the bushes as a favourite holiday approaches. Becky Wiseman Springdale, NL
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Trick or Treat Lap chicken Brandy struts in a candy corn bandana. Jennie Tomkinson Cow Head, NL
Dracula’s Dog Bella Joy’s bark is worse than her bite, cape or no cape. Triffie Burt via Downhomelife.com
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life is better Kayaking in Burgeo Julie Baggs, NL
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features
It’s the first – but hopefully not the last – high-end retrofit for a family-owned shipyard.
By Kim Ploughman
Artful Interiors photos
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Artful Interiors photo
From wooden fishing vessels to a
SUPER LUXURY YACHT
sounds like a leap of career and prosperity for any seaman; but when it comes to shipyards, it’s an evolution in business that is literally making waves. Glovertown Shipyard, a facility that opened in 1977 in northeastern Newfoundland, has recently refitted a fishing trawler into a luxury expedition yacht. It’s the talk of the town – and the yachting world in North America. According to the shipyard’s owner, Leon Dowden, it’s a dream project that took a dream team of collaborators – most of them based right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. When Glovertown Shipyard launched in the 1970s, there was a demand for wooden fishing vessels. By 1981, the company had successfully moved on to steel-reinforced boats. Over the years, the shipyard secured clients from Canada and overseas who relied on their entrepreneurial excellence, professionalism, positive attitude, technological advancement and topquality control and products. www.downhomelife.com
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While the shipyard was in his family and he worked stints there, a young Leon Dowden took off to the mainland and became engaged in land surveyor projects at diamond mines and the tarsands of Alberta. By 2010, when he was 26, Leon and his family returned to Glovertown and the shipyard. One year later, Leon’s father, Ford Dowden, one of the owners of the facility, accidently drowned while working at the shipyard. Leon stepped up, learned the ropes and, two months after his father’s passing, he signed a $12-million deal with ExxonMobil. In the fall of 2019, a special project landed at the shipyard. It began with a call from a retired American, Leon says, who was looking for “American quality at a better price,” to refit a NL-purchased scallop dragger. The boat was the Anne S. Pierce, which had also served as a training vessel for the Marine Institute, and she had been contracted by the Transportation Safety Board to trawl for debris of Swiss Air Flight 111. Approximately two years ago, the Anne S. Pierce was sold to an owner who wishes to remain anonymous. The only details shared were that he is an older wealthy American who resides in Pennsylvania and has sailed all over the world, including annual sails to Newfoundland and Labrador for a decade. “I didn’t believe it at first… thought it was a scam,” says Leon. “Eventually, 54
October 2021
as we talked more, I said, ‘Well, he must be serious.’” From there, Leon became more engaged with the owner and even met with him in New Orleans to go over the vessel’s remodelling details. Early in 2020, before the pandemic hit, the American was here in the province three times. “There on in, there were daily conversations. He was on the boat at all times – via video,” says Leon.
Once used as a training vessel for the Marine Institute, the Anne S. Pierce sits in drydock before its refit.
The specifics of the shipyard’s work included stripping the interior, tearing off the wheelhouse and adding a new 40-foot one, as well as reinforcing the ship with steel, insulation and wiring. The project lasted 18 months, minus the four months when the facility was closed during the COVID-19 lockdown. The vessel was finally completed in June 2021. When asked how it feels to complete such an outstanding project, Leon says, “It feels like it does all 1-888-588-6353
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Artful Interiors photo
The remodelled galley was designed and custom installed by YourStyle Kitchens, a local cabinetry manufacturer. Before
other projects: it’s here and then it’s gone. As you watch it float away, there’s always an empty feeling and then wondering what’s next...”
Quality Custom Work
The cabinetry and painting was carried out by YourStyle Kitchens, a NLbased cabinetry manufacturing company that has been providing quality cabinetry to the provincial market for more than 25 years and, more recently, national and international markets. It’s owned by cousins Kevin Walsh and Paul Walsh. While this was not their first time aboard a boat, professionally speaking, Kevin says, “It was nothing like this.” During a recent phone call, www.downhomelife.com
Kevin shares how their company joined this project in February 2020. “It ended up as a team of people including Glovertown Shipyard, YourStyle Kitchens, the boat owner and a naval architect in the US, David Menna. We had weekly Zoom calls during COVID, and YourStyle produced 3D imagery of the interior for the owner,” Kevin explains. YourStyle Kitchens not only produced realistic concept renderings, but also completed the interior, including selecting lights, tiles, paint colours, flooring and appliances; as well as fabricating all windows, beds and solid wood doors. “This really helped the owner’s vision for the ship,” Kevin says. “He wanted an October 2021
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Artful Interiors photo
A 3-D rendering of one of the cabin’s redesigns created by YourStyle Kitchens.
interior design based loosely on older style yachts from the coast of Maine.” (E.g. the classic 1933 William Hand motorsailer.) And the owner wanted a steel-hull ship, no fibreglass. Solid cherry wood was used to build all doors, door casings, window casings, ceiling beams, handrails, beds and trim. “Cabinetry, which we do every day, was the easy part,” says Kevin. The luxury ship has three levels: the cruise level; the main gallery (with kitchen, laundry and seating area); and the new pilot house, with seating, daybed, washrooms and 56
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course console. YourStyle Kitchens spent many months in the pre-planning stages and five more installing their designs. “We really enjoyed the project… it was a fun and awesome experience. Gave us a chance to do something unique,” remarks Kevin, adding, “The project was interesting as it happened during COVID, which made it more complicated, as it kept the owner away.” Kevin admits that the project “had its challenges, as all projects do,” but he regards it as a great success. “A lot of great friendships were made… 1-888-588-6353
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perhaps the most important part of this journey.” One of those friends is Al Stuckless, a Newfoundlander and finish carpenter from Twillingate who currently owns Al’s Marine Service in Kingston, Ontario. Al moved back to work on the project from November 2020 to March 2021. He worked as a hire on the ship for Kevin. During a recent call from Ontario, Al declares, “The yacht is quite the masterpiece!” His involvement added to what was already a family project. Al is Leon’s uncle by marriage, and he joined
the highlights of my career,” will not only benefit the shipyard in Glovertown, but also help diversify the industry in NL. “There’s lots of work out there, and the market is endless with people that have dreams, hobbies, or just want yacht updates or repairs. The sky is the limit depending on budgets,” he says. “I was happy to see what people in Newfoundland and Labrador are capable of doing – especially around smaller communities,” says Leon. “It opens new windows of opportunity for the types of work that can be done
Artful Interiors photo
Leon, Leon’s brother and their father’s brother, plus other longtime employees of Glovertown Shipyard. “It truly was a family and community project,” Al says. “The project means big-time to the town, in that it brought employment and popularity to Glovertown.” Emphasizing the quality of workmanship performed at the shipyard, he adds, “This was totally done by Newfoundland craftsmanship. It don’t get any better than this…” Al is also confident that this highend project, which has been “one of www.downhomelife.com
here. The skillset has been here for years, and no one has done a yacht of this magnitude…” On a personal level, Leon says the project was fulfilling and he would “love to do it all again… I especially enjoyed the company.” Word is that the 45-foot vessel left the province in mid-July and headed to Maine. With his super buffed-up yacht, the owner plans to return in the near future, as part of his journey to Baffin Island, and then from the east to the west coast through the Northwest Passage. October 2021
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Iceberg Wines Blu Blueberry Our most popular wine, made with wild Newfoundland low-bush blueberries, bursting with flavour and rich with vitamin C and antioxidants. The berries produce a beautiful violetcoloured wine. Semi-Sweet
Available in Blueberry, Raspberry and Bakeapple True gifts from Mother Earth. Our wild berries mature in their natural habitat until picked and blended with iceberg water – a product of snow compressed into ice 50,000 years ago. Medium
Vinland Red Blackberry & Blueberry More than 1,000 years ago, Norse Vikings voyaged over the ocean and founded a settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. Full-bodied blend of berries, including local wild blackberries and blueberries. Medium
Black Crow
Vinland White Dandelion Toast the Norse adventurous spirit with this uniquely flavoured white wine made with wild dandelions. Crisp, light and medium-sweet. Medium
Krooked Cod
Blackberry
Blueberry & Raspberry
The Newfoundland and Labrador blackberry (crowberry) is a small, black ground berry that grows in clusters, usually in hilly areas near the ocean. It makes for a unique, almost grape-like, wine. It’s simply a taste of Newfoundland and Labrador at its best. Medium
Only the juiciest and tastiest Newfoundland blueberries and raspberries were picked for this unique sweet-tart wine. These are the fruits of the local hills and wilds, grown in the cool, salty ocean breeze. Medium
www.aukislandwinery.com 1-877-639-4637 AUK Shipping not available in Newfoundland and Labrador. Please visit your local NLC location.
ISLAND
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HOME and Cabin
DIY Fat Bottom Pots
Interior designer Marie Bishop shares lessons learned in making beautiful concrete planters.
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Isn’t fall absolutely wonderful here?
The colours, the lingering sunshine, the sweater weather, the harvesting of fruits, berries and veggies. But sadly, it’s also a time to close down the garden, deadhead the plants and make sure the delicate ones are covered. While there are still a few persistent annuals and late blooming perennials displaying their glory, they, too, will soon be gone. The biggest challenge is moving or emptying the large planters, the ones that are guaranteed to split or crack if we leave them out all winter – unless you have Fat Bottom Pots. These are unique concrete pots with thick walls and fat bottoms that will survive the winter. Carl White, a retired professional gardener from MUN Botanical Gardens and good friend of ours, started making these pots three years ago. He gave me one as a gift this past summer and I was so impressed, he offered to give me and Mr. B a workshop on creating our own. That was back in July, and we’ve been up to our elbows in concrete ever since. The beauty of these pots is that you CAN leave them out all winter. So you can pot up as many perennials as you have room for, and next spring you don’t have to wait until the last frost in June to fill your pots. They’re all ready to go without any effort at all. They are especially good for small spaces or areas that have generally poor soil conditions. But they’re also well suited for larger gardens where you want to create a www.downhomelife.com
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lounging or meditation area but would like to keep the greenery under control. These pots are easy to make, if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, and offer endless options for size, shape, colour and design. Keep in mind, the bigger the pot, the more challenging it will be to move. They are heavy, so you may want to start with a manageable size; for instance, an outside diameter of 18"-20" and a height of 12"-14". Like any do-it-yourself project, getting a visual of the end result is the
best place to start. A low, shallow, tray-style pot won’t hold a lot of soil, but makes a beautiful space to display a moss garden or other shallow root plants. You can also build up the soil by adding some interesting rocks. A tall, narrow pot is an ideal vessel for a bonsai or tall, small-leaf plant such as a dwarf Cotoneaster. A wide pot will accommodate a variety of plants, which is always visually interesting. Once you’ve decided what size and shape you’d like, you need to assemble your materials.
What You Need A cement mixing tub or similar type container 66 lb (30 kg) bag of Ready Mix Concrete Work gloves Shovel or scoop Watering hose or large containers of water Selection of pots to use as forms Roll of plastic wrap Inexpensive cooking oil Tube of caulking, for designs Various utensils: spoon, spatula, knife, small wire brush
If you want to add a colour wash - ink is a great medium. The concrete mixing tub is available at local retailers such as Home Depot in different sizes. The largest one costs $15 and will accommodate a full 30-lb bag of concrete. It’s rectangular, not too high and has rounded edges so it’s easy to move the cement around while you’re mixing it. Ready Mix Concrete is available at any building supply store. A 60-lb bag is roughly $8 and, depending on the size of your pots, will yield three or four beautiful Fat Bottom Pots per bag.
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Step One You will need 2 containers per finished pot. One to create the main shape of the pot, the other to create the opening inside the pot. Keep in mind, the inside of the larger container will be what you see on the outside of your created pot. A container with a threedimensional pattern on its surface will give an interesting texture. You can use a tube of caulking to draw images on the inside of the large pot. These images become indented into the outside surface of the finished pot and create an artistic, unique result. If the larger container is plastic, you won’t have any trouble removing the cement once it dries. If it’s stubborn, apply a little heat with a hair dryer or heat gun. I’d recommend brushing the inside with cooking oil before starting, just to be sure. If the larger container is clay or glass, you will need to line it with plastic wrap. This will ensure your pot comes out easily. Have your inside container close by as well. This pot should be at least 3" smaller in diameter than the outside one. Use the same precautions as with the larger one; either coat with oil or wrap with plastic wrap.
Do not forget this small but critical step! Use a cork or piece of dowel or pipe, placed in the bottom of the large pot to produce a drainage hole in your creation. Make sure it’s tall enough so it protrudes through the 2" of concrete you are about to pour on top of it.
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Step Two
Step Three
Next, mix up the concrete. If you want a relatively smooth pot, sift out the larger rock in the concrete mix. We didn’t do that, opting for a more rustic, organic-looking pot. Pour the full bag of concrete mix into the tub and add water. Best to be cautious with the water: you want it wet enough to handle, but not soupy. You can always add more as you go. This is really the most physical part: mix, scrape, stir, fold, repeat. Be sure to get a good moist mixture that will be easy to handle, kind of the consistency of thick, heavy porridge.
Once the concrete is ready, scoop enough into the bottom of your chosen container to cover a 1.5"-2" depth. Then place your smaller container on top of that, making sure it is centred and the drainage hole is secured. Gently spoon more of the mix in the space between the large and small container walls until it reaches the top all the way around. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Tap the outside surface of the larger container with a wooden spoon to release any air bubbles in the cement. Fill the next pot in line, then the next until your mixture is used up.
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Let the pots sit overnight. Indoors or outdoors, wherever you are working, is fine. Once they are relatively set/dry, which should only take 12-18 hours, it’s time for the big reveal. Release the pots by gently encouraging them apart. The plastic wrap and/or oil should have helped with this. Once they are out, they are ready to use!
Filling Fat Bottom Pots
Now, to plant up your pot. A small piece of screen over the drainage hole is a good idea; a few small pebbles or rocks in the bottom also helps with drainage. Mix the soil according to your plant’s requirements, then settle your plants into their new home. An interesting rock, piece of wood or miniature figure will add interest and a touch of whimsy.
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reminiscing
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I thought I’d heard all the stories from the late Paddy Burke, a great old storyteller from Colliers-Riverhead, NL, but this one was new to me. My father, Tony Flynn, sets it up. “Death was a lot closer in those days in the sense that most people in rural areas were still waked at home and their family took care of everything from laying out the corpse to even making the coffin,” he says. “People were very practical about certain things, but also respectful of the recently departed. You could and were expected to reuse some of the tangible goods of someone who had passed away if they were still in good condition – but not too quickly, so as to not offend the memory of the person who had died.” My father adds, “It seems a funny thing nowadays, but this was a very practical kindness and subtle charity of the people. Nobody was made to be embarrassed by it, and no attention was called to it. Somebody passed away and maybe a month or so later, such a one would show up to mass with a new Sunday coat or nice handbag, or some man who was not too good off might have a new-to-him axe or handsaw suddenly turn up.” 1-888-588-6353
Getting back to Paddy Burke, it turns out that only a few weeks before a widowed old man I’ll call “Joe” (to protect his identity) had died. As was the custom, there would be a disposal of his surplus goods. Joe had been a barrelchested fellow and a powerful figure even in his dotage, so among his clothing was a beautiful home-knit cardigan that would only benefit a man of a certain size and shape. And that is how Paddy Burke came to be walking up the road, near duckish (close to nightfall), wearing Joe’s favourite sweater. As Paddy came close to Joe’s house, it was playing heavy upon his mind that he was wearing the dead man’s sweater and perhaps not enough time had passed yet to be doing such a mildly sacrilegious thing. Paddy no sooner had the idea formed than he glanced at Joe’s house and there in front of it was Joe himself pacing back and forth! What’s more the old man had worn the road down several feet deep – to the size and shape of an enormous grave! October 2021
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My father continues, “Poor Paddy was a man with a strong constitution and he would go on to see a lot of strange and true things in his lifetime, but he said this almost did him in with the fright. All he could see was Joe going back and forth the length of the hole wearing his old flat cap and tight shirt over his big chest. He was waving his arm in a beckoning motion as he hobbled along with a walking stick... Suddenly Joe called out, ‘Commmeee Heeerrre! Commeee Heerrrree! Commeee Heeerrre!’ Paddy turned to run, figuring for sure it was Joe coming back for his sweater!” Somewhat anxiously, I ask, “Did Joe’s ghost catch Paddy?” My father says with a smile, “Not exactly. Turns out, unknown to Paddy, crews had started work on the roads that day and dug what was supposed to be a small drainage ditch in front of Joe’s home. [But] the lads had a hole dug that was
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grand enough in dimensions and scope to serve as a trench to house the entire German army if you wanted to reenact the WWI Battle of the Somme. Into that mighty pit an older local man, out looking for his grandson at dusk, had somehow fallen, since there were no streetlights or warning signs or any such niceties provided in those days. The old fellow, who bore a striking resemblance to the dead man Joe, was not hurt, but he could not get out of the trench by himself. He could only walk back and forth waving an arm above the ground and calling out for help.” When Paddy realized it was a mortal soul and not Joe’s ghost, he helped the man out of the ditch. “I’m not sure whatever became of Joe’s prized cardigan,” my father says. “Paddy joked he wouldn’t be caught dead ever again wearing the dead man’s sweater going past his house in the dark.”
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Marcellian (Marcel) Dawson, was born in Bay Roberts, NL, where his parents ran a farm. His father, John M. Dawson, was known locally as “Farmer Jack.” In the mid-1920s, on a dark road at around midnight, Farmer Jack witnessed a ghostly sight. “When he was a teenager, he was courting this young woman up in Otterbury, near Clarke’s Beach, and he had the fashion of walking up to visit her and her family. During the daylight he’d take the long scenic route from his home near the bottom of Bay Roberts, across the Klondyke Bridge, over Coley’s Point, across the Long Beach, up through Bareneed and down into Otterbury,” Marcel begins. “After supper with her family and maybe a game of cards or a few stories, he would leave by himself to walk home in the pitch black – no streetlights, no cars and no pedestrians after dark. It was a lonely, rough and treacherous path in places at night in the winter with ice and snow, so he would always go back a shortcut [along what would eventually become the new main road]. He would take Vinegar Hill, go up through North River,
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past the Roman Catholic cemetery near the Birch Hills, and finally back down to his home in Bay Roberts. This took quite a few miles off the journey. “This particular clear night, a beautiful full moon was shining on a blanket of white snow. He was delayed leaving, so it was midnight when he stopped atop of the big hill in Otterbury to admire the view. Suddenly, he could see this strange procession of people with lanterns coming, walking two-bytwo in a long line following a bizarre carriage way off in the distance.” From the look of the crowd and how slow they moved, they had been trudging along for a very long time. Jack watched in amazement as they paraded in silence on down through Clarke’s Beach, coming nearer all the while. Curiosity finally got the better of
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him and he rushed down the hill and stood close by a tree a little ways off the road. He started to hear the hooves of the horse crunching on the snow, the metal runners of the sleigh scraping over the ice, and the horse’s bells on the tack beating out a rhythmic dirge. Other than that, not a sound. No human voice spoke a single word as the procession inched closer all the time. Marcel continues, “When they got abreast of him, sure Father almost passed out with the fright. The horse was pulling some type of a hearse upon a sled with a coffin right atop her! All the people behind were dressed in black and moving like bone-weary corpses themselves. He could see them perfectly, but they never saw or acknowledged him and he was too scared to speak to them out of fear they might take him and make him join their group in a forced march forever! “Now all that area was wellknown for stories of the fairies and ghosts in those days. Father figured for sure it was a parade of phantoms – old lost souls doomed to carry one of their own around from graveyard to graveyard with no rest for all eternity. He often said there was no way he was taking a chance on getting caught up with that bunch of spooks, so he hid down in
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the snow by the tree until the last ones passed and were long gone beyond the old cemetery.” So who were the souls caught up in this parade of phantoms? Marcel says with a sly grin, “Well, some folks say what Father saw might have been a body of a man originally from near Port de Grave. They figure he had been killed in an accident up along on the mainland, and his remains were shipped to Whitbourne by train where his people went to get him. They had walked all that way inland and walked back out again the same day. They had finally reached Otterbury when Father encountered them near the hill at midnight.” While that might have been the case, Marcel says his father checked local papers and asked around for years after, but never found any proof of a body being returned home from away and buried in that area around that time. “Those poor old ghosts may still be trapped in procession hauling that strange coffin up around Otterbury on clear, full-moon winter nights yet,” says Marcel, adding, “Being brave is all well and good, like Jack always believed, but I tell you mister-man, I won’t be up there at midnight looking for them. They can keep on marching until the cows come home with my blessing.”
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The parade of phantoms
wasn’t Farmer Jack’s only eerie encounter, it would seem. Another son, Dominic Dawson, shares one that was also linked to Jack’s courting trips to Otterbury. “Dad said this older widow lady lived near the first taking of Otterbury. He didn’t know her, but she was a kind soul and a really friendly person who used to see him walking the road in all types of weather, night or day,” says Dominic. On one particularly miserable day, this widow was waiting by her fence for him to pass and told Jack to come in for a cup of tea to warm up. Jack, being no fool and a social fellow who was never known to turn down a cup of tea and a yarn, gratefully accepted the offer. Dominic adds, “Father said she reminded him of his own grandmother or someone he knew all his life. She enjoyed talking with him so much that he made it a habit ever after to always build in an extra halfhour into his trips so he could have time to stop and check on the widow and have a short chat over tea.” He kept this up until the one summer he decided to try his hand at fishing on the Labrador. Sadly, while Jack was away fishing, the widow suddenly passed away. When word eventually reached him, Jack was hit hard by the loss. If he had been home, he would have undoubtedly attended the wake, the funeral, 1-888-588-6353
and perhaps even had a mass said for the widow at some point, since (as far as he knew) she had no people left to do it on her behalf. When he did return home, one of the first things he did was set off to see his sweetheart. “Coming on duckish, he was walking by the widow’s home in Otterbury and he got the start of his life! There was the old woman out by her fence and the garden gate, where he first met her. She was dead as dead could be, but there she was standing at the gate looking at him, crying and wringing her hands,” Dominic says. “He was startled and wanted to run away, for he knew for sure she had been in the ground for months, but something about her was not threatening. He stopped and, although she never spoke, he just felt off her this tremendous sadness. He remembered then that he had not done right by the woman, and he stopped outside the fence, closed his eyes and said a few required prayers for God to have mercy on her soul. When he opened his eyes she was gone. “He never saw her again and never felt anything but peaceful when he passed by her home after that in the future.” October 2021
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photo finish
Refreshing
Sight
A cow moose and her two calves stop for a drink at the industrial park area in Channel-Port aux Basques one August evening. Wayne Stacey Channel-Port aux Basques, NL
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