Vol 38 • No 05
$4.99
October 2025
2510-Cover-NL_0609-Cover-NFLD 8/21/25 12:58 PM Page 1
Captain Kelly’s Treasure Ghost on the Cart Road The Smokey Mountain Spectre
2510-Cover-NL_0609-Cover-NFLD 8/21/25 12:59 PM Page 2
33rdAnnual
Christmas at the Glacier Oct October ober 22 - 26, 2025
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 2:35 PM Page 1
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 2:35 PM Page 2
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 Dillon Collins Assistant Editor Nicola Ryan Editor Lila Young
Warehouse Operations Warehouse / Inventory Manager Carol Howell Warehouse Operator Josephine Collins
Art and Production Art Director Vince Marsh Illustrator Mel D’Souza Illustrator Snowden Walters
Retail Operations Retail Manager, St. John’s Jackie Rice Retail Floor Manager, Water Steet Crystal Rose Retail Floor Manager, Avalon Mall Jonathon Organ Retail Floor Manager, Twillingate Donna Keefe Retail Sales Associates Kim Tucker, Destinee Rogers,
Advertising Sales Account Manager Ashley O’Keefe Marketing Director Tiffany Brett
Emily Snelgrove, Alexandria Skinner, Colleen Giovannini, Emma Luscombe, Rebecca Pevie, Morgan Powless, Adriana Hann, Keith Lamkin, Martina Rogers, Hayley Warren
Finance and Administration Accountant Marlena Grant Accountant Sandra Gosse
Subscriptions Customer Service Associate Jennifer Kane
Operations Manager, Twillingate Nicole Mehaney
Founding Editor Ron Young Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Grant Young General Manager/Assistant Publisher Tina Bromley
To subscribe, renew or change address use the contact information above. Subscriptions 1-Year term total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NB, PE $49.44; NS $49.01; ON $48.58; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $45.14. US $54.99; International $59.99
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
2
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/21/25 1:47 PM Page 3
52 a visit to France
Contents
OCTOBER 2025
34 Winds of Change Local meteorologist Eddie Sheerr branches out with Sheerr Weather Dillon Collins
52 The Intimacy of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon A photojournalist’s guide to a taste of France Wayne Parsons
72 Downhome Recipes
34 the next chapter www.downhomelife.com
The Bread & Cheese Country Inn marries traditions and ingredients from Newfoundland and Northern Spain
102 The Ghost on the Cart Road A familial apparition in Salvage Bay Mac Moss October 2025
3
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/21/25 1:48 PM Page 4
Contents homefront
OCTOBER 2025
10 safety first
8 Between the Lines A note from the Editor
10 Letters From Our Readers A first fish, a helmeted hound, and the Old Hag 14 Downhome Tours USA 16 Then & There Recent news, notes, events, anniversaries and more from across NL and beyond. 18 Why is That? Where did the idea of vampires come from? Linda Browne
20 Life’s Funny The Butcher Shop Orville Cole
21 Say What? A contest that puts words in someone else’s mouth
20 chop shop
22 Lil Charmers Falling for Fun 24 Pets of the Month Happy Halloween
26 Book Nook Downhome dives into the latest and greatest in Newfoundland literature 28 Fresh Tracks Wendy Rose reviews Hannah Green’s debut Moving Fast in Slow Motion
22 fall fun
4
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 2:35 PM Page 5
Contents
OCTOBER 2025
46
serving up history
features 40 Where My Heart Lies A four-part series on life and death Barbara Dunphy
46 A Taste of the Past The French Oven Buns of Port au Choix Kim Ploughman
explore 60 What’s In a Name Gallow’s Cove, Torbay Dale Jarvis
home and cabin 62 Stuff We Love Delightfully Dark Nicola Ryan
62 dark fun
www.downhomelife.com
64 Ask Marie Anything Interior designer Marie Bishop takes your questions. 68 Everyday Gourmet Burger Buns Andrea Maunder October 2025
5
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/21/25 1:15 PM Page 6
Contents
OCTOBER 2025
92 waste not, want not
reminiscing 82 Flashbacks Classic photos of people and places.
83 This Month in History 84 This Month in Downhome History
83
88 A Boy from St. Lunaire
in the line of duty
Chief Officer Gregory P. Peddle
Part 4 – Moments As Time Flies Lorne Compton
92 A Resourceful Folk When Clarenville was the Colas capital of Newfoundland Lester Green 98 A Life Cut Short Helena MacLean 6
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_TOC_0609 index.qxd 8/21/25 1:23 PM Page 7
136 finding treasure
106 Giants Among Us Of bygone days of rail and a story of survival Sean Ennis 112 Puzzles 124 Colouring Page 126 Classifieds 128 Mail Order About the cover There’s something about a fall sunset in Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador that captures the imagination. One of our regular contributors, Mark Gray, sent us this stunningly beautiful image, which graces our October cover. Haunting or hopeful? You be the judge.
the back porch
Cover Index
136 Ties to Home Buried
Winds of Change • 34 Saint-Pierre et Miquelon • 52 Captain Kelly’s Treasure • 136 Ghost on the Cart Road • 102 The Smokey Mountain Spectre • 132
Treasures Dianna Brown
132 The Labrador Current The Smokey Mountain Spectre Nathan Freake
134 What Odds Paul Warford’s the ‘cool’ uncle
140 The Turkey Wars More shennanigans at the grocery store Cyril Griffin 144 Photo Finish
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
7
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:49 AM Page 8
between the lines
Being a Newfoundlander and Labradorian requires a certain amount of resourcefulness. The passage of time has proven this to be so. Words like strong, hearty and proud are often used to describe those who call this place home, and all three are needed during times of crisis. This past summer, wildfires peppered the province during a period of unseasonal drought. Homes and businesses were lost, families were displaced, and the usual calm and comfort that comes with a Newfoundland summer were replaced by fear and anxiety. In the aftermath, we build back what was broken, and we do so as a community, standing defiant and brave in the face of the unknown. To that end, we turn our attention towards those who do not shy away from a challenge. Whether embracing the entrepreneurial spirit, holding on to a fading cultural practice, or demonstrating remarkable creative ingenuity, we proudly profile raw human stories in our October issue. We speak with meteorologist Eddie Sheerr, who’s provided a calming, knowledgeable presence during our province’s weather events for the past decade, and now branches out to new horizons. We look back on the ingenuity and creativity of generations of Newfoundlanders who lend credence to the expression that one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and explore a region that proudly keeps a slice of their history alive, with delicious results. And in these unpredictable times, when reality can be scarier than ghouls and ghosts of fiction or folklore, these types of stories are needed now more than ever. Dillon Collins Editor-in-chief
8
October 2025
1-
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:49 AM Page 9
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 25th of each month.
Congratulations to Kelly Tackaberry of Carmanville, NL who found Corky on page 62 of the August issue!
*No Phone Calls Please. One entry per person
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
9
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:26 PM Page 10
Ethan’s First Fish
This week, our family of four were camping at Blue Canoe RV Park outside of Springdale, and each morning/evening, I would go down to Indian River salmon fishing. The temperatures were in the high 20s and 30s all week, the river was warm, and the water level was low. Fish seemed to be plentiful, but they were just not taking the fly. There weren’t many fish caught in this particular area of the river for the first three days I went down. On our last evening staying at the park, my son Ethan decided to take a bit of interest in fishing and said he would like to come down with me and try. I had a family license with his name on it and two tags to be filled, so I gladly took him along. When we got to the river, a lady stopped us and wished Ethan good luck and seemed very happy to see a young fella going down to try for a fish. I waded out with Ethan in my arms to the rocks across the river to a fishing spot where I noticed a relative of mine fishing. I told him I figured this would 10
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 11
be a good area for Ethan, where you didn’t need to cast much line to get to the salmon. Mark gave Ethan a few pointers on one of the spots he liked to fish on the point, and we got him set up. I took another spot close by Ethan so I could help him out if needed. That evening on July 14th, there were four of us fishing on this large rock across from the lookout at George Huxter Park on the Indian River. There were eight fish hooked, only one was landed successfully and tagged, and Ethan was the only fella to hook a fish of the four of us. After the first fish Ethan hooked, I could hear people from the viewing area up in the parking lot looking down, excited each time he would hook another. I head things like “Luhh, luhh! Little fella got another one on,” at least half a dozen times, accompanied by lots of cheers. After losing five or six fish, he finally
www.downhomelife.com
landed his first salmon all by himself. I was taking a video of this and saw that the fish was almost ready to be landed. Before I had the chance to tell Ethan to try and land it over by this small opening in the rocks, I saw him haul the salmon right up on the steep slope rock we were standing by. I threw my phone in my pocket with the video still recording and grabbed the fish by the gills quickly. You can hear Ethan say, “Yay, I caught one! I caught one!” Then a man says, “Yay, you’re the best fisherman on the river,” to Ethan. The fish was off the hook now and made a swift flick and popped right out of my grip. You can hear the sounds of my phone being submerged as I jumped into the river ahead of the salmon and pinned it on the rock with my hands, managing not to lose it. Another man said, “If you lost that, you would never live that down.” I replied,
October 2025
11
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 12
Out for a Ride
Bought a helmet for my GSP puppy. The picture is of us out for a ride on my quad, both of us with helmets. Thought it was worth a share. Daniel Raymond Chapel’s Cove, NL
Can’t think of a better passenger, Daniel.
“I’d never of lived that down!” and carried the fish up to Ethan, who was all smiles. I had blood coming from my knee and forearm that I cut when saving his first fish from escaping, and couldn’t care less. That evening was one for the books, to say the least. After Ethan had a few high fives and some chats with some of the locals, we made it back to the camper at 10:30 pm, well past his bedtime, and I asked him if he wanted to go down again to that spot in the morning. He said, “Yes!!! At daylight?” I said, “Nah, not daylight, how about we go down for a flick around 7 to 9, then head back to pack up and drive the camper back home? We have a busy morning tomorrow.” 12
October 2025
We got to the river at 7, and just a few flicks later, he had another one on. He hooked four more fish the morning of July 15th. I hooked one that was tagged, then we left the river. Ethan was just as excited to see me land one, but certainly rubbed it in that he hooked 12 to my 1 and landed the bigger fish. He was also quick to add in a joking way that my first salmon was at 8 years old, and his was at 7. This was certainly a proud dad moment and the best fishing experience ever! Thanks for reading my story, Alex Penney via downhomelife.com
Awesome story and great catch, guys! 1-888-588-6353
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:27 PM Page 13
The Old Hag I am not a Newfoundlander, I am from Montreal of a long line of French Canadians. I first heard of the Old Hag when reading a friend’s Downhome magazine and realized that I used to get visits from her all the time as a child. I never saw her, but I always felt like someone was there watching me. I would open my eyes, and that was all I could do. I could not move, I could not speak. I would spend what felt like an eternity (I still have no clue how much time would pass) trying to speak. It would start with quiet little moans that turned into quiet Moms that eventually worked up to MOOOOOMMMMMMY! And my mother would come running. Of course, by the time my mother arrived, the Hag was gone and I could move normally.
www.downhomelife.com
My mother never commented on any superstitions, or told me it’s normal, she just said it was a nightmare and told me to go back to sleep. I wonder if I would have been more or less terrified if I had known about the Old Hag. Francine Coursolle via downhomelife.com
Creepy! Does anyone else have an Old Hag story to share? Let us know at editorial@downhomelife.com
Editor’s Correction In our August 2025 article, “Route 380: A Tourist’s Paradise,” photos were lacking proper credit. These were taken by the excellent Pansy Snow, who we thank for the fantastic photos and apologize for the oversight. We hope Fred’s story and Pansy’s photos encourage many to check out the region.
October 2025
13
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 14
homefront Downhome tours...
The USA
Nashville Teena and Mike Spurrell, Ed and Trudy Balsom, and Molly and Dave Squires took the Downhomer to the Grand Ole Opry in April of 2024. “In true NL spirit we gave our magazine to the kind gentleman who took our pic!” Teena writes.
Founded in 1925, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, is the storied heart of country music. Legends such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Johnny Cash have performed on its iconic stage. Today, the Opry at the Ryman Auditorium features a mix of celebrated artists and rising stars performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music. Visitors can soak in the history, energy, and enduring spirit of America’s most beloved music institution. 14
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/21/25 8:33 AM Page 15
Oceanside “It is with great pride and joy that I attach a picture of my daughter-in-law, Lisa Andersen Jones of Portugal Cove–St. Philip’s (right) sporting the Downhome magazine,” writes submitter Ilse Andersen. “Lisa, as well as her two close friends Lyna Naseri (left), and Erin Mayo (middle), completed the gruelling 2025 Ironman 70.3 Oceanside California USA race on April 6th. Both Lisa and Erin are heading to the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in October 2025.”
The Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, is triathlon’s most prestigious race – the ultimate 140.6-mile/ 226km test of willpower and endurance. Athletes will face a 2.4mile swim in the turquoise waters of Kailua Bay, a 112-mile bike ride across the volcanic landscapes of the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway and a 26.2-mile marathon along the Kona Coast under the radiant sun of triathlon’s birthplace.
San Diego Sisters Cathy Bureaux (left) of Gander and Pat Brothers (right) of Grand Falls-Windsor, stand in front of the permanently docked retired aircraft carrier USS Midway in San Diego, California, in June 2023.
The USS Midway is a retired aircraft carrier and living museum of naval history. The longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, in service from 1945 to 1992, the ship is notable for its size, role in the Cold War, and service during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. Visitors can stroll its expansive flight deck, explore the hangar and crew quarters, and experience firsthand the legacy of this iconic warship. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
15
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 16
homefront
Then&There
Downhome catches readers up on major recent news, notes, events, anniversaries and acknowledgements across Newfoundland and Labrador and beyond.
PM Makes Good on Election Promise The federal government is standing behind its pre-election promise to cut costs for those travelling on Marine Atlantic Ferries. Beginning August 1st, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced significant cost reductions for interprovincial transportation routes in Atlantic Canada and Eastern Quebec. These include cutting fares by 50% for passengers, vehicles, and commercial traffic on federally supported Eastern Canada Ferry Services, and a 50% reduction in fares for passengers and passenger vehicles on both routes, as well as freezing commercial freight rates. The PM shared that the move was part of the new government’s “mission to bring down costs and build one strong Canadian economy.”
Deep Roots Explored The Botanical Art Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (BASNL) is hosting an exhibition at the MUN Botanical Garden on Mount Scio Road this fall. Deep Roots explores the diversity of crops in our province — both the hardy staples that have sustained generations and the latest introductions shaping our food future. It’s a fascinating look at how the plant world supports life in Newfoundland, connecting our past, present, and future in meaningful ways. Visit mun.ca/ botanicalgarden/ for details. Eileen Bragg
16
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 17
Changes for Cain’s Quest
Keith Fitzpatrick photo
Preparations are underway for the 20th anniversary of the endurance snowmobile race Cain’s Quest, with some key updates coming for the 2026 event. Organizers released the finalized route, which will cover some 3,400 kilometres of some of Labrador’s most rugged terrain. This year, with safety in mind, the South Coast has been omitted, with Cain’s Quest President Todd Kent sharing that “This decision was not made lightly, but made based on data collected from Environment Canada, the area’s complex weather patterns, and the challenges we have faced in the past. Because of these factors, we believe this is the safest path forward for the 2026 race.” Further changes include the prize purse increasing to $125,000, with the introduction of a “Flex Time” and a “Time Differential” checkpoint.
Province Approves Inclusion Grants Over two dozen projects have been approved to receive grants under the 2025-26 Accessibility Grant Program. The projects are aimed at improving the accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society throughout the province. The province announced that priority was given to capacity-building projects, programs or services that promote accessibility and inclusion beyond physical infrastructure. Among the 23 recipients were the Canadian National Institute for the Blind - NL, Goodwill Seniors Club, NL Stuttering Association and The Pottle Centre. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
17
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 18
Expert answers to common life questions. By Linda Browne
Where did the idea of vampires come from? Dracula, Count Orlok, Lestat, Edward Cullen...vampires take many forms and rock an assortment of hairstyles and differing amounts of glitter (here’s looking at you, Twilight). Whether you’re a Twihard or a fan of the more classic bloodsuckers, it’s easy to get the fascination with these creatures of the night. After all, who hasn’t entertained the idea or appeal of living forever and hosting fancy dinner parties with your undead friends, decked out in your best velour outfit? It seems the vampire myth has been kicking around forever. But did you know that it predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula and can likely be traced to an actual medical condition? In his fascinating book Of Plagues and Vampires: Believable Myths and Unbelievable Facts from Medical Practice, Dr. Michael Hefferon, a retired pediatrician who taught at Queen’s University in Ontario, delves into this dark mythos to shed some light. In 1819, about eight decades before Stoker published his famous work, an Anglo-Italian physician named John 18
October 2025
William Polidori published his short story “The Vampyre”, Hefferon writes, noting “It appears that the folklore surrounding the vampire phenomenon originated in that Balkan area where Stoker located his tale of Count Dracula.” But how did the vampire myth arise? Hefferon points to porphyria (pronounced por-FEAR-e-uh), an inherited blood disorder that’s a malfunction in how the body produces hemoglobin and that “became prevalent among the nobility and royalty of Eastern Europe.” “Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues. It seems likely that this disorder is the origin of the vampire myth. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘Vampyre Disease,’” Hefferon explains. Considering some of the symptoms of porphyria, it’s easy to see why. These include sensitivity to sunlight, 1-888-588-6353
homefront_1_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:37 AM Page 19
“leading to facial disfigurement, blackened skin and hair growth,” Hefferon says; fangs, or more specifically, “repeated attacks of the disease results in gums receding, exposing the teeth — which look like fangs,” he explains further; and aversion to garlic. “The sulfur content of garlic could lead to an attack of porphyria, leading to very acute pain.” Also included in the mix of strange symptoms is blood drinking. “Because the urine of persons with porphyria is dark red, folklore surmised that they were drinking blood. In fact, some physicians had recommended that these patients drink blood to compensate for the defect in their red blood cells — but this recommendation was for animal blood,” Hefferon says, as well as “reflections not seen in mirrors.” “In the mythology, a vampire is not able to look in a mirror or cannot see their reflection. The facial disfigurement caused by porphyria becomes worse with time. Poor oxygenation leads to destruction of facial tissues and collapse of the facial structure. Patients understandably avoided mirrors,” Hefferon writes. And then there’s “fear of the crucifix” to consider. During the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834), about 600 “vampires” were reportedly burned at the stake, Hefferon says, adding,
“Some of these accused vampires were innocent sufferers of porphyria. Porphyria patients had good reason to fear the Christian faith and Christian symbols.” Nowadays, thanks to science and our increased understanding of the condition, we can take the fear out of porphyria and “instead of fearing these folks, we can love and care for them,” Hefferon writes. So, he muses, is it possible that Stoker knew about the medical condition of porphyria and its connection to vampire folklore that has spawned countless books, films and Halloween costumes ever since? “It was only in 1911, eight years before Stoker’s book appeared, that a German physician, Hans Gunther, classified the diseases of porphyria (there are several types),” Hefferon says. However, he adds, a physician, researcher and author named George Harley had described a patient with porphyria several years earlier. Whatever the case may be, Stoker, like his famous bloodsucker, lives on through the pages of his iconic work. Considering all the vampire lore and stories out there, Hefferon says, the renowned Irish author deserves a special shoutout. “Through his gothic novel, Bram Stoker surely wins the prize for the best example of myth entangled with medicine!”
Do you have a burning life question for Linda to investigate?
Turn to page 9 for ways to contact us. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
19
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/21/25 2:09 PM Page 20
homefront life’s funny
The Butcher Shop Late one fall, near the end of the moose hunting season, I was at a local butcher shop, when Harry came in. The conversation went something like this: Butcher: “Well, Harry, b’y, how did you make out with your hunt?” Harry: “Well, me son, I got lucky early dis mornin’. I got me a lovely bull moose, and I wants to know if you can butcher ‘en fer me.” Butcher: “I ‘low I can, kind of busy now though. Where is it?” “Out in me truck.” “Well, since tis cold, you can leave him there tonight. Come back in the morning and I will see what I can do. How do you want it cut?” Harry: “I’d like as many steaks and roasts as you can get, and maybe a few bits for stew. The rest I wants in pork chops.” Orville Cole Dartmouth, NS
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.
20
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:55 AM Page 21
“You’ re in some fowl mood today!” – Glen Morry
Say WHAT? Downhome recently posted this photo (submitted by Brandon Keough) on our website and social media platforms and asked folks to imagine what this puffin might be saying. Glen Morry’s response made us chuckle the most, so we’re awarding him 20 Downhome Dollars!
Here are the runners-up: “I said go put your hearing aids in!” – Amanda Young “I’m huffin and puffin in this heat!” – Patricia Thomas Goobie “Lord t’underin, I ain’t got time for dis!” – Debbie Blum
Play with us online! www.downhomelife.com/saywhat
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
21
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 22
homefront lil charmers
Rake Break
Isaac leaps into the leaves Poppy was raking. Jacqueline Blake Harbour Breton, NL
Falling for Fun Sweet Sprout Little Luna picks out pumpkins for her first Halloween. Megan Slade Paradise, NL
22
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 23
Lumber Lad Sam’s stacking up the winter wood. Nikki Chislett Flatrock, NL
Tater Tot
Bo is a darling spud bud. Lesley Chubbs L’Anse au Clair, NL
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
23
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 24
homefront pets of the month
Happy Halloween Squash Squad Charlie and Rosie are the pick of the patch! Kathy Savoury Doyles, NL
Trick or Treat
This goat’s not spooked, just skeptical. Angel Burt via DownhomeLife.com 24
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 25
Spooky Sentry Apollo anxiously awaits the trick or treaters. Jennifer Strang Lawn, NL
Lil’ Boo
Sweet Ryder’s all treats, no tricks. Sherry Burt via DownhomeLife.com
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
25
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 26
homefront book nook
Downhome dives into the latest and greatest in Newfoundland literature, running down must-reads and offering recommendations for your next book binge!
False Bodies J.R. McConvey $24.95 Breakwater Books A genre-bending noir, that’s described as “perhaps the squiddiest novel ever written,” J.R. McConvey’s False Bodies puts Newfoundland culture through a horror/thriller blender. Think the Tony-winning musical Come From Away with the heart-pounding tension and creeping fear of Ridley Scott’s Alien. The story follows monster hunter Eddie “The Yeti” Gesner to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to investigate a mass death on an offshore oil rig – which some say is the work of a kraken. A mysterious incident in Eddie’s life has made him obsessed with chasing unfathomable things, but when an antique diary plunges him into a watery world of squid cults, tentacled beasts and corporate greed, Eddie finds even his own fractured reality pushed to the brink, as he’s forced to confront an undersea power beyond human imagining.
26
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/21/25 1:54 PM Page 27
Downhome Recommends A Word About Fairies James Martin
James Martin explains that the stories contained in A Word About Fairies are told and recalled by “good, honest straight-talking individuals. It is their experience. It is their story. None of us can judge these storytellers or their unique experiences. So let go of the fact that everything must be explained. Fairy stories allow you to believe that anything is possible.”
Screech: Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland Charis Cotter
A spooky, illustrated collection of Atlantic ghost stories for middle-grade readers. Featuring ghostly illustrations as well as an overview of the Newfoundland storytelling tradition, and a Story Behind the Story for each tale, along with tips for spooky storytelling, Screech! is equal parts eerie and educational, making it a riveting read as well as a great resource for budding historians and storytellers.
Haunted Waters: More True Ghost Stories of NL Dale Jarvis
From an encounter with a shrieking horror on Signal Hill, St. John’s, to the legend of the headless pirate of Red Bay, Labrador, folklorist Dale Jarvis conjures up stories of white horses, men in black, haunted punts, vanishing boats, and things that go bump in the basement. Blending local history, folklore, eyewitness interviews, and archival research, Haunted Waters is the latest collection of ghostly tales from one of Canada’s finest and creepiest storytellers.
Visit shopdownhome.com for these and other great titles. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
27
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 30
what songs were written using this nifty brain exercise. We move more into folk pop with “Lemonade,” with cheery acoustic guitar and fun, light percussion. The record wraps up with “Outro (Lovely to See You),” with snippets of conversation in authentic Newfoundland accents that would deliver a harsh pang
of homesickness to any Newfoundlander or Labradorian living elsewhere. Sentimental piano leads us out, and honestly, I’m ready to go back and hit play on track one again. A great debut from a very talented singer-songwriter, and someone to watch, for sure. Congrats, Hannah. I can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Q&A with the Artist Wendy Rose: Let’s start from the beginning: when, where, and how did your passion for music first take root? Did you always envision yourself as a musician? Hannah Green: I grew up in a family of
music lovers, where songs were always being sung and music was always encouraged. My mom and I would turn the radio up loud in the car and sing at the top of our lungs, and my dad – who also loves music – would often ask me to sing or play something when our family gathered together. I took piano lessons as a kid, once a week, learning different pieces, but it wasn’t until high school that I truly developed a passion for music. That was when I took a guitar course taught by Ron Collins, who made the class engaging and encouraged us to experiment. We started with the foundations of music theory, but he also gave us the freedom to explore what we could create from it. That’s when I really began writing songs. We often had the chance to perform for the class, and I was immediately drawn to it. There’s something powerful about being vulnerable and telling a story in front of people – that connection with an audience felt meaningful from the very beginning. From then on, writing 30
October 2025
and playing music became part of my daily life, and I began to imagine a future as a musician. Looking back, I realize that even those early piano lessons played a role. As a kid, you don’t always recognize the discipline, the musical roots, and the groundwork you’re building when you practice. But it was all part of the process, helping me see music from different perspectives and showing me what it could become.
WR: At the time of writing, your debut album is celebrating its first anniversary. Congrats! You had an album launch show at Fred’s Records just a couple of months ago. Tell us a little about that event. HG: Playing the show at Fred’s for the
vinyl release was such a lovely and memorable experience. The album had been out on streaming for a year, but there was this whole extra layer of excitement and anticipation around finally having the vinyl in hand. That’s why I wanted to do the Fred’s event, even though the album had already been released; the vinyl felt like its own milestone. It gave the songs a kind of new life, even after being out for nearly a year. Playing there with my band felt re1-888-588-6353
homefront_2_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:43 AM Page 31
Eileen Bragg Photo
ally special. You can just feel the love in that space. Fred’s is such a staple and hub in the music community, and they’re so supportive of local arts. The audience was gathered around almost like we were all in a living room together, which made it feel really intimate and connected.
WR: We’ve seen your name on posters around St. John’s, but you also did a cross-island tour this past Spring. What was that experience like? HG: I loved touring and getting to meet
new people while seeing different corners of our beautiful province. I hadn’t really done much touring before this, so it was exciting to get in front of new audiences and play in such a variety of venues. Some of my favourite moments were after the shows – going out to greet people at the merch table, chatting, www.downhomelife.com
hearing their stories. That’s really what it’s all about for me, those little moments of connection. And then there were all the in-between moments, like the car rides to each show, singing along and sharing new music with my pals. Those memories are just as much a part of the experience as the shows themselves.
WR: What’s on the horizon for Hannah Green in 2026 and beyond? HG: Having my debut album out in the
world this past year and witnessing how it’s touched so many hearts has been truly wonderful. I’m deeply grateful for all the love it’s received. As I look toward 2026, I’m eager to continue sharing my music on stage, connect with new audiences, and explore the unfolding journey of my next project — a year ripe with creativity, inspiration, and growth. October 2025
31
homefront_4_Homefront 2 10/22/24 2:22 PM Page 46
homefront_4_Homefront 2 10/22/24 2:22 PM Page 47
Submit your favourite photos of scenery, activities and icons that best illustrate the down-home lifestyle. We’re looking for a variety of colourful subjects – outports, wildlife, laundry lines, historic sites, seascapes, hilltop views, and so much more – and photos from all four seasons. This is your chance to get in on our most popular reader contest and try to woo the judges into choosing your photo for the 2026 Downhome Calendar. These calendars are seen by tens of thousands of subscribers and displayed all year long.
What are you waiting for? Submit today, using one of these ways:
by mail: Downhome Calendar Contest 43 James Lane St. John’s, NL A1E 3H3 online: www.downhomelife.com/calendar Must be original photos or high quality copies. Digital photos must be at least 300 dpi, file sizes of about 1MB. We can’t accept photocopies or photos that are blurry, too dark or washed out. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want your photos returned.
38_EddieSheer_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:58 AM Page 34
features
Local meteorologist Eddie Sheerr branches out with Sheerr Weather By Dillon Collins
Wind, rain, sun and snow, for
over a decade, Eddie Sheerr has been the man of the hour when it comes to Newfoundland and Labrador’s weather.
The longtime Chief Meteorologist and face of NTV’s weather coverage, Eddie stepped away from television, parting ways with the company this past summer. Though his followers need not fear, as his next venture will keep him more attuned to shifting patterns and breaking coverage than ever before.
34
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
38_EddieSheer_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:58 AM Page 35
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
35
38_EddieSheer_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:58 AM Page 36
Eddie launched Sheerr Weather in July, a comprehensive platform featuring a dedicated app, website and various social media accounts that feature daily updates, live broadcasts and in-depth weather coverage. “Honestly, there are multiple reasons as to why,” Eddie tells Downhome of his decision to launch Sheerr Weather. “First and foremost, I think I needed a change of scenery. My career with NTV was lovely and fruitful, and I’m forever grateful to the station, everybody I worked with and the Stirlings for hiring me and bringing me to Newfoundland. Without them and a fateful phone call from a colleague of mine one day, I wouldn’t have the life I have now. So I’m extremely grateful for that, but I was with NTV for the better part of 12 years, and that’s a long time to be with an organization.” A husband and father of two, Eddie’s duties doling out weather across the island and beyond during NTV’s supper hour newscast, First Edition, and 36
October 2025
award-winning Evening Newshour kept him away from home during peak daddy-daughter time. It was this, as much as any desire to broaden his horizons, that led to his departure from NTV, he explains. “I had to be live every evening between 5:30 and 7, and those were basically my non-negotiable hours. And it was getting to the point where I was seeing the girls in the morning and seeing them in the evening, but any parent knows that little kids in the evening are not always the most fun,” he says. “So I was seeing them once in the morning and coming home, and it was really a challenging environment to walk into at the end of the day. I wanted a little more flexibility to be around the kids and help out Susan more in the evenings, and have the flexibility to be around when I need to be around. And that’s part of the reason I wanted to have a change.” Having amassed a dedicated following and an audience of thousands 1-888-588-6353
34_EddieSheer_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:31 PM Page 37
across his various networks, Eddie saw the viability of a comprehensive and dedicated news platform tailored to this province. Accuracy, accessibility, authenticity and dependability are the pillars of Sheerr Weather, building on the reputation Eddie has amassed with viewers. “I felt with my skillset and the audience I’ve been able to garner off the news on social media that I had a re-
about weather,” Eddie adds, explaining that his multi-pronged business model will evolve over time, though he’s determined to keep his content free. “It’s as close to a professional operation as someone can do on their own. And I don’t want to put anything behind a paywall, so I’m funding it with local advertisers, and the appetite for that has been really, really good so far.
“I wanted a little more flexibility to be around the kids and help out Susan more in the evenings, and have the flexibility to be around when I need to be around. And that’s part of the reason I wanted to have a change.” ally strong chance of launching a successful digital-first, weather brand in the province where I can deliver the weather information on my own terms,” he says. “There are no restrictions on how I can cover the weather. Four o’clock in the morning or six o’clock in the evening, if we have severe weather moving in, it can be covered in a way that deserves to be covered and that the province has never really had before. “I got into weather when I was a teenager because I like talking about the weather and social, right now, in my opinion, is the best place to talk www.downhomelife.com
“I was able to build NTV’s weather brand up significantly in the last 10plus years. Part of that was them giving me the platform to do so and the freedom to do it for a long time, and part of it was my ability, like you said earlier, to go above and beyond. And that’s how I want to operate. That was my goal,” he says, admitting that there are long days and sleepless nights that come with the gig, though the need for dedicated service keeps him level. At the time of our interview, Newfoundland and Labrador had been hit with one of the driest summers on record, with wildfires popping up October 2025
37
34_EddieSheer_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:32 PM Page 38
“I got into weather when I was a teenager because I like talking about the weather, and social right now, in my opinion, is the best place to talk about weather.”
across various areas of the province. For Eddie, this meant consistent upto-the-minute coverage and forecasting for a worried population. It’s the type of dedicated forecast his audience has come to expect, and a perfect example of the need for Sheerr Weather. “In my opinion, there’s a need for more frequent information updates for the province when we’re having severe weather events. And my goal with Sheerr Weather is to be able to fill that void when there’s a lack of information and be a trusted voice and a calming voice to the public when they need it most. And that’s something I really tried to do when I was on television. And I’m trying to maintain that now as well. Just put out factual information, but information that people find value in. And I don’t mean value monetarily. I mean value as in it makes them feel better, even if there’s no update. Or people watching from far away who want to know a bit more about what’s going on. And that’s my why. I want to provide the best weather information or weather38
October 2025
related information to the province that I can, and that’s what kind of drives me to do what I’m doing, and was a big driver in why I decided to go down the entrepreneurial path.” Visit sheerrweather.ca for dedicated forecasts and all things NL weatherrelated. The Sheerr Weather app is available to download now for iOS and Android devices. 1-888-588-6353
38_EddieSheer_Layout 1 8/20/25 9:58 AM Page 39
You could be published in Downhome Magazine! Tell us about a funny interaction you’ve had, a heartwarming moment, what’s happening in your community, Newfoundland and Labrador history or anything you would like to share with us and other Downhome readers.
Three Ways to Share Visit: downhomelife.com/submit Email: editorial@downhomelife.com Mail: 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 (Attention Editorial Department)
52_HeartsLies2_Layout 1 8/20/25 10:03 AM Page 40
features
A Four-Part Series on Life and Death By Barbara Dunphy
40
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
52_HeartsLies2_Layout 1 8/20/25 10:03 AM Page 41
Part Two A Way of Life
Just like the fishery for some folks, the funeral and ambulance service was a way of life for us. My dad made caskets, prepared bodies, and performed funerals. My mom ran much of the day-to-day operations, helping families with arrangements, paying the bills, and doing the books for the auditor. Kenneth, Billy, and I learned the ropes of the business at a very young age. You never know when you’re going to get a call about an accident on the highway or a woman about to give birth, or when you’ll be needed at a house or hospital to pick up someone’s deceased loved one.
William Dunphy in front of a sign he made for the family funeral business in 1972.
Barbara’s hometown of Holyrood today
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
41
40_HeartsLies2_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:34 PM Page 42
William Dunphy with children Barbara, Kenneth and Billy Many parties, weddings and sporting events were missed because I had to help my parents. It might sound odd, but I had no regrets. It wasn’t as if we never got a chance to socialize. People were always popping in for a visit, or supper, and someone occasionally would come knocking on Mom and Dad’s window in the middle of the night, calling, “Bill! Bill! You gotta wake up! You gotta take somebody to the hospital!” I can remember, as a young girl, going with my dad to houses where doors and windows weren’t big enough to get the casket in or out. Often, door or window casings had to be cut off, and we shimmied the casket through using a piece of carpet, cardboard, or blanket on the bottom end. You can imagine how tricky this was once the deceased had been laid inside, though we were always respectful, and Dad made sure the person looked presentable for the family. As a teenager, I lugged funeral 42
October 2025
equipment through rain and deep snow to cemeteries and prepared the grave for a burial. It wasn’t easy work. Once, I went with my father on an ambulance call to the Trans Canada Highway. After placing the gentleman in the ambulance, Dad realized he had forgotten the man’s foot in the ditch. I quickly told him I would retrieve the poor man’s foot. Things like that never bothered me. I went and got the foot and laid it alongside the man in the ambulance like you would pack a lunch bag beside any passenger. My first time helping Dad prepare a deceased gentleman was in our house’s basement – this was before the funeral home was built. On one occasion, Dad and I went to pick up a deceased person at his home. The family told us the man was upstairs in the back room. I led the way with Dad, and the man’s family following. When I got there, I saw they had him in the bed propped up in a sitting position with a towel wrapped from his chin 1-888-588-6353
52_HeartsLies2_Layout 1 8/20/25 10:04 AM Page 43
around his head to keep his mouth closed. It was so funny that I had to warn Dad under my breath not to laugh while I tried not to chuckle. I was not trying to make fun of the deceased; it was just a part of funeral home humour (like most professions, in the funeral business, we had a type of humour we kept to ourselves). There were several occasions like this. It wasn’t intended to mock, for my dad had nothing but the utmost respect for the deceased, and he taught all of us that respect. There were five wakes held in the living room of our own home before Mom said to Dad, “William,” (which is what she called him when she was mad), “please get going on the funeral home.” He was an excellent carpenter, and he built it himself, attached to our
house. Lo and behold, William J. Dunphy opened the first funeral home in the Conception Bay Area in 1975. My dad’s ability as a carpenter was well-known, and he always had his measuring tape on his belt. People used to joke, “Watch out, here comes Bill Dunphy with his measuring tape,” as if measuring them for “their box,” they called it. Even after Dad died, people kept telling stories of his measuring tape. I was 20 when the funeral home officially opened. I graduated as a Licensed Practical Nurse from the College of Trades and Technology and went to St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital in St. John’s, where I studied to become an Operating Room Technician. In some ways, that job felt like my destiny, considering the time I had
Wakes were once held in the living room of the Dunphy family home (left) before William Dunphy built a funeral home in 1975. Below: Artist rendition of Dunphy’s Funeral Home
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
43
52_HeartsLies2_Layout 1 8/20/25 10:03 AM Page 44
already spent helping care for people’s bodies. I worked in the OR for 31 and a half years. It was a joy going to work each day alongside many doctors and wonderful nurses in various fields of surgery, knowing that I was helping to better patients’ lives. There were, of course, some sad times. In some cases, there was very little that could be done surgically because of previous medical issues, and unfortunately, in the course of my career, I saw three patients who didn’t make it through surgery. My co-workers became like a second family. I saw some get married, have children and grandchildren, and some suffer through sickness and death. To date, many of us from St. Clare’s continue to see each other monthly for lunch. On evenings and weekends when I was off duty, I spent pretty much all my time at the funeral home, helping out in meetings with families or downstairs in the prep room. Even while I was living in St. John’s, Holyrood stayed home to me. Going back and forth between the funeral home and town was like going between the kitchen and the living room.
When our dad fell ill in 1993, Kenneth resigned from teaching – by then he had taught music in various schools across the Avalon Peninsula for many years – and took over running the funeral home. Mom died in 1994, and Dad passed in 1996. To help Kenneth, I took a leave of absence from nursing in 1999 to study in Kentville, Nova Scotia, for my Funeral Directors and Embalmers designations with a Newfoundland and Labrador License. For the ten years that followed, I continued nursing while still working at the funeral home. Sometimes, three months would go by without a single funeral, but then we would get three calls in one hour. Those hectic days were not the hardest part of working at the funeral home and in the operating room—I loved them both. The hard part was deciding between them. In 2010, I retired from nursing to work alongside Kenneth. “I’ll give you five years,” I said. Then I’d fully retire. Well, my five years did not go according to plan. Read Part III of Where My Heart Lies in our November issue.
A 1947 invoice for $70.00 issued by Dunphys for a casket and burial
44
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
52_HeartsLies2_Layout 1 8/20/25 10:03 AM Page 45
You Love it, They Will too!
42
Gift Subscriptions $ start at
99*
plus applicable taxes
Start Your Gift Today! www.downhomelife.com • 1-888-588-6353 mail@downhomelife.com * Valid in Canada on a 1-year term. Total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NB, PE $49.44; NS $49.01; ON $48.58; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $45.14; US $54.99; International $59.99.
46_PortChoix_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:38 PM Page 46
features
46
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
46_PortChoix_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:38 PM Page 47
Taste A
Past of the
The French Oven Buns of Port au Choix By Kim Ploughman
The smell of fresh buns
in the oven is a welcome one in any kitchen in Newfoundland and Labrador. That smell can be found across the scenic town of Port au Choix, where people are raving about their unique French Oven Buns. Baked in an outside stone oven, these tasty delights warmly weave together French migratory fishing traditions with early settler ingenuity and a baking practice that dates back centuries. Port au Choix is no stranger to rich history. The French Basque journeyed to these shores in the early 1500s and spent centuries fishing here, passing on their heritage, architecture and culture. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
47
46_PortChoix_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:38 PM Page 48
Port au Choix Town of Port au Choix Facebook
The old French Shore at Port au Choix circa 1898
Known for their love of bread, the French constructed bread ovens in the communities they fished, including Port au Choix. The original ovens in this area were found in Barbace Cove and on the Western side in Ol’ Port au Choix harbour, one of the town’s three small ports. Further north of the community, a large headland known as Point Riche became part of the “French Shore.” As early as 1713, French fishermen were granted rights to seasonally catch and dry fish along the northwest coast through several treaties between Britain and France, but were 48
October 2025
forbidden to settle here. By 1904, France ceded most of its fishing rights, but many were already settled in Port au Choix, including the famous “French Deserters,” who jumped ship to freedom, staked this region as their new homeland and went on to raise large families here. (The author is a descendant of one of these “jumpers.”) Millie Spence, a former Parks Canada supervisor and a member of the town’s Heritage Committee, explained that in 2004, the Government of Newfoundland launched an inaugural province-wide celebration of 500 1-888-588-6353
46_PortChoix_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:38 PM Page 49
years of French cultural heritage. To commemorate this event, traditional French boats, as well as outdoor bread ovens, were reconstructed at seven sites throughout the province, including Port au Choix, Quirpon, Cape St. George, Shoe Cove, Coachman’s Cove and Placentia.
where they salted and dried cod. Spence says it demonstrates how the French brought not just economic activity, but aspects of their domestic life and culture. Incidentally, they also gave Port au Choix its Basque name, Portuchoa, or Little Harbour. Out in Ol’ Port au Choix, at the beginning of Barbace Cove Trail, the reconstructed Davey Jones firing oven was originally crafted up the bread oven by an artisan from France. It has since undergone several make-overs to upkeep the structure. While bricks are still used, they’re layered with local limestone to enhance heat retention in keeping with the traditional European dome style. Following the 2004 celebrations, the oven was used only for special occasions, but today is fired up daily during summer. Dressed in period costumes, staff serve the famous hot rolls with local wildberry jams and a beverage. An adjacent small building acts as a shelter and sitting area for visitors to enjoy their melt-in-themouth buns. The French oven has served as a community builder and a major tourist attraction. Spence notes that “people come here rain or shine. Essentially, this is Good quality bread was a cherished living history, not just a mug-up. It’s part of the diet of the migratory not just fresh bread; there’s a story French fishermen. During yearly ex- and music that tops up the experience peditions to Newfoundland, the … otherwise, it’s just a restaurant. All sailors toted bricks to reconstruct senses are engaged as visitors can sit communal ovens to bake their manna, outside and watch the bread baking, often near footpaths along the shore listen to the stories, including how the www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
49
46_PortChoix_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:38 PM Page 50
Rodney Warren and Audrey Pittman bake up the famous French Buns oven works, take in the smell and a taste of history … it’s the smell that people love because it evokes memories of their mother’s or grandmother’s kitchen.” One of the staff members is resident Davey Jones, a bilingual Quebec native who is oven master, storyteller and musician. Spence credits Jones with “really adding to the whole experience with his accordion music, costume and interpretation. When he starts playing, there’s something there that touches people.” 50
October 2025
On the other side of the bread oven is a replica Basque boat, a chaloupe, which is a popular photo-stop for visitors, who often enjoy dressing in costume. The site also features the French Shore Monument, which commemorates the 1904 treaty in which the French ceded access to these shores, leaving Port au Choix to emerge as a permanent settlement. While the French bread bun recipe is not the authentic one that crossed the North Atlantic, it has been used by 1-888-588-6353
46_PortChoix_Layout 1 8/20/25 3:38 PM Page 51
Above left: A replica Basque boat. Above right: The French Shore Monument. Below Left: Davey Jones plays some traditional music for visitors. locals for years: light and fluffy on the inside and nice and crunchy on the outside. “The main thing is that tourists and locals enjoy shared memory and taste, as well as appreciate the French heritage and endurance on this coast; and see this as part of our community’s identity,” Spence says. As long as the wood fire oven remains in Port au Choix, the French culture, legacy, and people will rise in spirit with each bun baked and morsel tasted. Still speaking warmly of the famous buns, Spence enthuses, “It’s like history bursting to once again come alive.” www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
51
56_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:20 AM Page 52
explore
A photojournalist’s guide to a taste of France By Wayne Parsons
52
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
56_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:20 AM Page 53
Having grown up in Newfoundland and Labrador, I knew of the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. While this archipelago wasn’t far away from my hometown, to me it may as well have been on the other side of the country. I was young, naive, and on top of that, the thought of driving to the southern tip of the Burin Peninsula was too daunting. I’m now adventurous and adult-like, so a few hours in a car is nothing. Plus, the drive is beautiful, especially in the fall when all those deciduous trees are vibrating in bright colours. My wife and I have had the goal of visiting those little French Islands for a few years now, and we attempted to do so in 2022. Unfortunately for us, Hurricane Earl thwarted our plans, and we had to wait for another opportunity.
All photos courtesy Wayne Parsons
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
53
56_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:21 AM Page 54
Our luck changed in the fall of 2024 when a window opened to visit Saint-Pierre. After a brief planning mission and hastily throwing together some clothes, we drove to the town of Fortune to catch the ferry. Having done a little research beforehand, we assumed we would take our car across. Staff (and other passengers) advised against this for several rea-
54
October 2025
sons. For one, the extra insurance was expensive, and the paperwork was lengthy. For another, the city of Saint-Pierre is so compact that you can walk across it entirely in less than an hour. We would later find out that the streets are very tight and a little confusing to navigate if you are driving. There also seems to be a market or a restaurant on every
1-888-588-6353
52_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 3:40 PM Page 55
“We would later find out that the streets are very tight and a little confusing to navigate if you are driving.” corner. The convenience of this city made our decision to leave our car behind a good one. The ferry ride was calm and easy. These beautiful, modern ocean vessels sliced through the waves while we sat in comfort. Halfway through the journey, we saw minke whales and hundreds of grey-billed puffins. After about an hour, we arrived at the port of Saint-Pierre. The ferry staff kindly thanked us as we disembarked the vessel. We were greeted with a gorgeous European town filled with brightly painted houses and classic French architecture. Most locals own French cars, but we spotted plenty of North American vehicles. Our accommodation was provided by Hotel Nuits – an elegantly styled three-storey former family home turned bed and breakfast. Only a couple of blocks from the ferry, Hotel 1-888-588-6353
Nuits served as a perfect location to explore the island. Owner Michel is charming, funny, and filled with great recommendations. He took the time to book dinner reservations for us, and his suggestions turned out to be perfect. The following morning, we decided to go exploring with a couple we met in our hotel who were also from British Columbia. Michel was kind enough to drive us to the trailhead where we embarked on the Étang Frecker - Pointe À Henry hike. This 5 km loop takes you out to a view of the island of Grand Colombier – an uninhabited island that’s home to thousands of Leach’s Petrel birds. Like Newfoundland, the trails here are rocky and tundra-like. Careful consideration has been made in the construction of these trails with the Contined on page 57 October 2025
55
56_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:21 AM Page 56
56
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
52_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 3:40 PM Page 57
addition of wide boardwalks over muddy areas. Since the overall land mass of Saint-Pierre is small, there are multiple trail forks which give you options for short loops or to venture off further. Extending your walk is an easy option when you return to the point where you started. Instead of finishing our hike, we chose to
1-888-588-6353
climb above the city for a better view and a shortcut to the other end of the island. This short, moderately intensive jaunt takes you to the Observatoire de l’Anse à Pierre. This overlook is a great opportunity to snap a photo of the entire city or just take it all in. Trust me, the view is worth the hike.
October 2025
57
56_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:21 AM Page 58
After hiking for nearly fifteen kilometres, we were getting tired and thirsty. Our trail walk continued into urban exploration as we meandered through the city streets. Our destination is the Distillerie du Goeland – a hydroponic urban farm with a distillery located on the outskirts of the city. We arrived at this nondescript warehouse that showed little sign that there was something special
going on inside. However, upon entry, we discover a small-scale distillery and numerous bottles of spirits, all different sorts and flavours. Delicious flavours they were – and some that we’d never seen anywhere. Their indoor hydroponic farm is nothing short of amazing. They grow all sorts of produce in vertical trays. Not a typical plot of farmland where you’re relying on
The Distillerie du Goeland and it’s indoor hydroponic farm 58
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
56_StPierre_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:21 AM Page 59
good soil and cooperative weather. The climate here is temperature-controlled year-round, removing the guesswork out of growing crops. They supply produce for local restaurants and markets, which seems fitting for an island this tightly-knit and isolated. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at the local supermarket to grab some snacks. If you’re unaware of European food culture (particularly the French), let’s just say they love fine meats and cheeses. This store contained so much variety that we ended up spending nearly an hour in the deli department alone. Alongside our typical North American fare was everything you’d find in any French town. I’ll admit that it was nice to imagine you were in France and enjoy food and drink that we Canadians typically don’t have access to. Saint-Pierre is tiny compared to our North American standards. It’s
1-888-588-6353
easy to discover new things and see familiar faces. We made lifelong friends and saw much of the island in the two days we were there. The people of Saint-Pierre are some of the most hospitable and friendly you’ll ever meet. Practically everyone says “Bonjour” to you, and the market staff will help direct you to find good-tasting wine. Our visit to this tiny French island took us by surprise – a very pleasant one marked by good food, beautiful landscape, and great hospitality. We didn’t expect to experience a true European city this close to Newfoundland, inhabited by really nice people. Maybe we were a little ignorant beforehand, or quite possibly naive, but we’re glad we finally got an opportunity to visit. If you’re not feeling like visiting mainland France, or if staycationing is your thing, I encourage you to visit Saint-Pierre et Miquelon.
October 2025
59
60_whatsinaname_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 2:50 PM Page 60
explore
what’s in a name?
Gallow’s Cove, Torbay By Dale Jarvis
I love anything spooky, so the history of the wonderfully-named Gallow’s Cove in Torbay is of particular interest to me. The origins of the place name are uncertain, though there are three different theories as to how the cove could have been named. The first theory is one of transference. Torbay itself was named after the port of Torbay, England, by Devon fishermen. In the original Torbay, there was an area called Gallow’s Green, so some think that name may have been shifted over as well.
60
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
60_whatsinaname_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 2:50 PM Page 61
The second theory involves public hangings. Some maintain that the cove was where pirates and other no-goodniks were hanged in the days of yore. One local tale says that a man had stolen a loaf of bread and was hanged in Gallow’s Cove for his crime. Like many stories, there seems to be little historical evidence to support it. The most likely theory has to do with the cove’s fisheries heritage. Gallows, in this instance, may have nothing to do with a wooden structure built for a hanging, and more to do with a structure used for drying nets. Sure enough, “gallows” are defined in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English as frames on which nets are spread to dry, a sort of ‘horse’ or trestle made of rough rails. The word, usually pronounced “gallis,” refers to a frame of cleanly peeled poles 12-15 feet high used to drape nets and ropes over for drying or repairing. Interestingly, the local pronunciation of the place name is closer to “Gallis Cove” than “Gallow’s Cove” Sadly, there might not be any pirate ghosts hanging around Gallow’s Cove. Nearby Tapper’s Cove, however? Ah! There, b’y, hangs a tale…
Jim Desautels photo
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
61
62_stuff_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:26 AM Page 62
HOME and Cabin
stuff we love by Nicola Ryan
Delightfully Dark
DICEY BUSINESS Dungeons & Dragons is an imaginative and immersive tabletop role-playing game that invites players into fantastical worlds filled with magic, monsters, and epic quests. Players craft unique characters with distinct abilities and work together to survive and succeed. With storytelling, strategy, and collaboration at its heart, D&D offers a thrilling blend of adventure and spookiness that keeps imaginations on edge. shop.midgardgaming.com
CAUTION: CRITTERS Is a mischievous menace prowling nearby? Are peculiar pets silently plotting in the shadows? We love this warning sign which hints at household chaos. Durable and eye-catching, it’s a fun, fanciful way to warn visitors that dangers – or at least hijinks – are lurking nearby. homeonwaterst.ca 62
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
62_stuff_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:26 AM Page 63
FROM THE ABYSS Bring a touch of eerie elegance to your space with a candle holder like this one featuring an otherworldly octopus balancing candles on its twisting tentacles. Can these lights draw secrets from shadowy depths? Both mysterious and macabre, this haunting piece transforms an ordinary room into a Kraken’s lair of dark intrigue. amazon.ca
HAUNTED HOUND Loyal to the end – and beyond. Meet Skelly’s Dog, the towering best friend of Home Depot’s famous 12 ft. Skeleton. This bone-clad beast has glowing LCD eyes and a poseable jaw and tail. Whether guarding a haunted yard or spooking Trick-or-Treaters, this ghastly pup is the ultimate companion for a larger-than-life Halloween scene. homedepot.ca
BONE APPÉTIT Reminiscent of a certain contemplative skull in a famous tragedy, this one’s made of rich chocolate instead of bone. Equal parts spooky and sweet – almost too frightfully delicious to eat! newfoundlandchocolatecompany.com
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
63
68_marie_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:32 AM Page 64
HOME and Cabin
Ask Marie Anything Interior designer Marie Bishop takes your questions
Tricks & Treats for Your Home Q. Can you share a few decorating tips for giving the house a little refresh as we go into fall?
Absolutely! As the kids head back to school, the older ones begin a new chapter at college, university or work, while adults prepare for the chilly months to come. Now is a good time to recalibrate and refresh.
64
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
64_marie_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 3:44 PM Page 65
A tastefully designed wreath on the front door is a sure sign of hospitality and celebration.
www.downhomelife.com
The first item on my list would be the main entrance. You have the opportunity to create a warm, inviting welcome for friends, family and even for yourself, every time you come home. What could be nicer than that? Not everyone may be so inclined, but I enjoy a certain amount of seasonal decor. It keeps you in tune with nature, brightens up your space – especially the entrance – and brings a smile to those who visit. And realistically, there’s no better time for a little seasonal decor than October through December. A tastefully designed wreath on the front door is a sure sign of hospitality and celebration. Beautiful fall colours combined with natural materials will look great until it’s time to replace them for December celebrations, and that’s a whole other story. You should never underestimate the value of a good mirror in your entrance area. If you think the space is too small to accommodate a big mirror, think again; it’s all the more reason to have one. Choose a mirror that reflects your style, whether modern, ornate, Art Nouveau, Scandi, or plain and simple. The same applies to many areas of your house. Large mirrors add a lot of light and interest, and whenever possible, they are the preferred choice; however, small mirrors work well too. They are versatile and look great used as a backdrop in a bookshelf, under a collection of candles, decorative dishes, or a single floral arrangement. A grouping of small mirrors on a small or awkwardly shaped wall works as an interesting piece of art. Another decorating element that is often underrated, especially in this October 2025
65
68_marie_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:32 AM Page 66
season of short days and long nights, is lighting. I have recently added slim profile, undermount lighting to nearly every cabinet, shelf and ledge in my space. The colour and brightness are adjustable and can be set on a timer. It’s amazing how welcoming a space can be by adding minimal ambient lighting. Lamps, of course, are an obvious source of soft light. A tall, slim buffet-style lamp is perfect for a small table in an entrance, hallway or corner where the ceiling light doesn’t quite reach. But did you ever consider putting one on the counter of your bathroom? It adds a touch of elegance and can double as a night light.
There are several flowering plants that do well indoors. Hibiscus, African Violets, Begonias, Geraniums and Primrose are just a few that offer greenery and colour all year long. Of course, there’s a wide range of houseplants with variously shaped leaves and shades of green that also bring vibes of nature into your space.
It’s easy to create an arrangement with dried plants, berry stems and twiggy branches and bring some of your garden inside. By layering your lighting options, you add depth, character and mood to your area. Every room has its own lighting needs, and there are many ways to enhance each space with simple lighting solutions. Lighting can accent artwork, highlight a piece of sculpture, enhance a collection of pottery or even showcase a selection of plants. Speaking of plants, I am a huge fan of bringing in some of that outside energy to help spruce up decor. After the summer we’ve just had with a profusion of flowering plants, and now with fall colours on display, it seems an obvious transition to bring that joy inside. 66
October 2025
It’s easy to create an arrangement with dried plants, berry stems and twiggy branches and bring some of your garden inside. You could make a wreath, fill a huge pottery vessel or put the single stem of a dried seedhead in a slim vase. The look can be very striking. 1-888-588-6353
64_marie_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 3:45 PM Page 67
Accessories, where to begin? It’s the best time of year for textured, soft, fuzzy, cuddly, inviting throws, cushions and rugs. You just can’t have enough. The secret is not to overcrowd your sofa or chairs with the entire inventory. Keep a nice, large, woven basket nearby and leave the excess in there. Pull them out as needed, and everyone will be warm and happy. You can’t have too many candles. Keep them in groups of three or five and arrange them in different sizes. I’d recommend battery-operated for safety and longevity, and of course, they come with timers. However, I always add a few gently scented real candles for an extra aromatic pleasure. My favourite is Fall Chai, which smells like a pumpkin spice chai latte. If you display them on a decorative tray and add a few tiny pumpkins, acorns or pinecones, you’ll create a lovely centrepiece. Last but not least is artwork. It’s often a good idea to shuffle the placement of your artwork. Some art goes
unnoticed, while others receive all the attention. Usually, pieces are put in a certain place for a reason, but moving them around gives you a fresh appreciation and gives the place an easy update. With local decor and flavour in mind, the Botanical Art Society of Newfoundland & Labrador (BASNL) is having an exhibit at MUN Botanical Garden on Mount Scio Road this October. Titled “Deep Roots: Crop Diversity”, the exhibit will feature paintings and drawings of plants we have used and relied on for hundreds of years, shining a light on the dependence we have on these plants and the versatility they have offered. It would be a great way to enhance your space and a lovely reminder of our connection to nature. Now is a wonderful time of year to enjoy sweater weather before we pull out our winter gear. It’s a time to bring in the harvest, put on a pot of jam, pour a cup of chai and cosy up in the family room. It’s a wonderful time to love your space.
Ask Marie Anything! Got a design question for Marie? Email editorial@downhomelife.com.
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
67
68_EG_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:50 AM Page 68
HOME and Cabin
the everyday gourmet
Burger Buns 68
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
68_EG_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:50 AM Page 69
the everyday gourmet By Andrea Maunder
Andrea Maunder is the owner and creative force behind Saucy & Sweet – Homemade Specialty Foods & Catering.
www.downhomelife.com
Burgers didn’t appear on my table very often. I like them well enough, but then I realized a large part of the reason was my disappointment with supermarket buns. The texture is soft, but the flavour is often too sweet. They go soggy quickly with the juices and condiments, and the lengthy ingredient list is full of unpronounceable ingredients and chemicals used to keep them fresh on the shelf. So, I worked on a bun recipe that would be tender inside and golden outside, sturdy enough to hold a big juicy burger and all the tasty toppings I love, look gorgeous, hold up well several days on the counter, and freeze beautifully. My recipe requires a handful of natural ingredients you probably already have on hand, along with simple steps for making glorious buns. And you can adjust the size. I like to make 10 big’ol buns, but you can make a dozen standard-sized, or even 24-30 slidersized rolls if you like. They’re fabulous for burgers, of course, but equally fantastic for sandwiches. I use unbleached all-purpose flour, but any white all-purpose flour is fine. The addition of milk to any bread creates a more tender crumb. The egg enriches the dough a little, creating a nice texture and lift. The melted butter adds a little fat for moisture, but is more for flavour, while the oil adds moisture and helps with the longevity of freshness. Honey adds a touch of sweetness, but also helps keep them fresh longer. Salt is for flavour, of course, and also moisture retention. So there’s a lot of science in this recipe (tickles my little food-nerd fancy). I won’t be offended if you don’t share my food-nerdiness. I’m just happy if you give these a try, and love them as much as I do.
October 2025
69
68_EG_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:50 AM Page 70
The whole process takes a couple of hours – possibly faster on a warm day or if your kitchen is warmer. You can make them completely by hand or use a stand mixer.
Burger Buns 2 tbsp warm water – about 110°F (hotter temp will kill the yeast)
1 tbsp butter, melted (and cooled, but still liquid)
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/4 tsp regular dry yeast (one 7 or 8 gram envelope)
1 1/2 tbsp honey
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed 1 cup warm milk (no hotter than 110°F)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (if using table salt, reduce to 3/4 tsp) nonstick spray 1 egg, beaten
1 large egg, beaten to break up
1 tbsp poppy or sesame seeds, or as needed
Line a large baking sheet, or two, with parchment paper. Dissolve sugar in warm water in the bottom of a large mixing bowl (if doing by hand) or a stand mixer bowl. Sprinkle yeast and allow to proof 1015 minutes until foamy, and you can see the yeast is active. Add the warm milk, egg, melted butter, oil, honey and salt. Use the dough hook of a stand mixer (or mixing spoon if by hand) to incorporate ingredients. Start with three cups of flour and continue mixing on low speed (or by hand) to make a smooth, but not dry, dough. Fit a dough hook onto a stand mixer and knead the dough on low speed until soft and sticky, two to three minutes. Scrape sides and add flour if needed, but err on the side of moist, not dry, or until the dough looks smooth, by hand. Don’t worry if you don’t use all of the remaining half cup of flour, but fine if you do. Transfer the dough onto a very
lightly floured work surface; the dough will be sticky and elastic but not stick to your fingers. Form the dough lightly into a smooth, round shape, gently tucking loose ends underneath. Wipe out the stand mixer bowl, spray it with nonstick spray, and turn the dough over in the bowl to coat the surface thinly with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, up to two hours. Transfer dough to a floured work surface and cut dough into 10-12 equal pieces, depending on the size of bun you would like. If you have a scale, weigh the whole dough and divide it by the number of buns you would like. I wanted nice, big rolls, so I divided them into 10 pieces. My dough was about 970 grams, so I weighed each piece to be around 97 grams. Form each piece into a round shape, gently tucking ends underneath as before. With seam side
70
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
68_EG_0609 index.qxd 8/20/25 10:50 AM Page 71
down, use the friction of the unfloured part of the counter under your cupped palm, moving in a circular motion, to shape the dough into a nice round. Slightly flatten it, dust very lightly with flour (if needed) and place on the parchment-lined sheet, allowing space for the dough to rise in between buns, knowing they will double and then some in size. Spray with nonstick spray and cover very lightly with greased plastic wrap. You need the spray and the plastic wrap to keep the dough rounds from forming a dry skin, preventing their full rise. Turn on the oven to preheat to 375 degrees F. That way, it will be ready when the buns are. Let buns rise until doubled, up to one hour. Take advantage of the warm oven to let the buns proof (rise) on top. Check on them after 40 minutes. You’ll know when they are fully proofed when you poke one with a finger and the indentation remains. If it bounces back, allow it to rise a little longer. Don’t overproof, though, or they’ll start to deflate and you won’t get that extra expansion (called ovenspring) when they hit the hot oven. Beat one egg in a small bowl, using a fork, until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Very gently and lightly brush the tops of the buns with egg wash without deflating the risen dough. Sprinkle each bun with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, or a combination. Bake in the preheated oven until nicely browned on top, 15 to 17 minutes. Buns will stick together slightly if they touch – but having sprayed them with pan spray before letting them rise will help keep them from completely sticking. Let cool completely and slice in half crosswise to serve. Store, airtight, on the counter a couple of days, or freeze, wrapped well, for up to three months. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
71
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:52 AM Page 72
HOME and Cabin
downhome recipes
The Bread & Cheese Country Inn marries traditions and ingredients from Newfoundland and Northern Spain
When Paula Hanna and Pablo Martinez – he, a native of Galicia in Northern Spain, and she, born in the Okanagan Valley and a longtime resident of the UK – decided to take their preretirement plunge and open an inn, they had plenty of options and opportunities to secure property across the globe. Europe, the UK, Canada, the world was their oyster. After careful planning and consideration, the couple settled on Bay Bulls, purchasing the picturesque Bread & Cheese Country Inn. Their aim is to blend dedicated customer service and hospitality with a unique fusion of down-home local ingredients with an international flair.
72
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 3:46 PM Page 73
“We fell in love with it,” Paula shared of the gorgeous property on Bread and Cheese Road, owing its name to nearby Bread and Cheese Point. “It’s right on the ocean. It’s really picturesque. It’s in a nice little community, but it’s close enough to St. John’s so you’re rural without being four hours away.” Overseeing the award-winning boutique B&B and restaurant La Roca, their diverse menu serves up made-to-order breakfasts and communal dinners with a rich and decadent style that intermingles culinary history with connections linking Newfoundland and Labrador to Pablo’s Northern Spain. “It is really astonishing, the similarities of Newfoundland food and the food in the North of Spain,” Pablo explains. “Things like cod tongues that are a delicacy in the North of Spain, to Jiggs dinner, which is so similar to what we call a cocido, and to salt cod, that is our Christmas dinner. The equivalent of turkey here is our salt cod and cauliflower. So that tells you how much in common the two culinary traditions have.” Storytelling and fellowship, too, are as much a part of the Bread & Cheese package as the dishes themselves. “We don’t just put the food in front of you. Every dish comes with a story,” Pablo says. “Why have we put that on the table? What is the connection with the place? What is the connection with us? Paula is here explaining all the dishes. I come out 1-888-588-6353
from the kitchen in the end to give feedback and to get feedback about the dishes. It’s a much more interactive way of understanding the hospitality and the restaurant business. “We want them to understand the food from here,” he adds. “We tell them why we’re cooking salt cod and why that cod is so important for the history of Newfoundland. How sailors from Galicia came here in 1517 to start this fishery and how that story connects with us, but also to the local people. We want people to understand that different kinds of eateries are possible.” Visit breadandcheeseinn.com for booking and dining information, and dig in to four of the Bread & Cheese Country Inn’s signature dishes in the following pages.
October 2025
73
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:52 AM Page 74
Tarta de Santiago, Almond Cake The Tarta de Santiago, named after St. James (Santiago), the patron saint of Spain, eventually became a staple for weary pilgrims trudging along the Camino de Santiago. After weeks of blisters and questionable hostel beds, what better reward than a dense, nutty cake dusted with powdered sugar and salvation? It wasn’t until the 20th century that someone got the brilliant idea to stencil the Cross of Saint James on top. This move instantly upgraded the tart from “pretty good snack” to “heavenly indulgence.” If you hike the Camino de Santiago, you’ll more than likely run into this cake. But if that trek feels a little out of reach, be happy in the knowledge you can enjoy it now – either at home or at La Roca, no hiking boots required. 250g ground almonds 250g sugar 5 eggs
zest of 1/2 lemon 1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon 1/8 tsp salt
Break 5 eggs into a bowl and weigh. Weigh out equal amounts of ground almonds and granulated or caster sugar of the same weight as your eggs, i.e. 5 eggs is approx. 250g, so then you need 250g each of almonds and sugar. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Whisk together the almond powder and sugar so they are evenly distributed. Whisk in lemon zest, salt and cinnamon powder. With the whisk running (if doing this by hand, you may need an assistant!), add the eggs one at a time. Make sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next. The final mixture will be a thick batter that falls off the whisk with ease. Spray or butter your tin and line the base with parchment paper before filling. The recipe is very forgiving, so you can likely use any approx. 9-inch round tin you have. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick in the centre comes out clean, but it should still be sticky and not dry. Better to undercook slightly than overcook, or you just might have to serve it with custard! Cool in the tin. Dust the top with powdered sugar, forming the cross of St. James, a paper copy of which can easily be downloaded from the internet, should you not recently have visited Santiago de Compostela to purchase one. We often serve ours with cinnamon parfait, but it lends itself to a range of accompaniments, ice cream, a berry compote, whipped cream … and it’s also delicious to eat as is!
74
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:52 AM Page 75
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
75
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:52 AM Page 76
Burnt Basque Cheesecake Over recent years, the Burnt Basque Cheesecake has become a star of social media. You can find it plain or flavoured, with chocolate, matcha, you name it. We like ours pure and unadulterated, just creamy and dreamy with that almost scorched top and topped with a hint of delicious bakeapple for the Newfoundland touch. 300g cream cheese 300g mascarpone 225g sugar 300g heavy cream (at least 35% fat) 4 large eggs
20g all purpose flour (to make glutenfree, use 18g of a gluten-free flour plus a pinch of xanthan gum) Seeds of a 1/2 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 tsp salt
Prepare an 8-inch springform tin by lining it with parchment paper. The best way is to cut two large squares, wet them and then crush them into a ball. Open out, shake off the excess water and double line your tin. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. Using a stand mixer and paddle attachment, cream together the cheeses and salt for 1 minute. Add the sugar and mix for another minute. Add the eggs one by one, mixing until each is just incorporated. Whisk the flour into the cream and let stand for 10-15 mins. Add to the main mixture. For extra creaminess, you can blend with a stick blender. Now, and this might seem counterintuitive but refrigerate the mixture for about an hour. Preheat the oven to 250°C. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan through a sieve to get rid of air bubbles. As you put the pan in the oven, reduce the temperature to 200°C. Bake for about 45 minutes. The top should be dark and caramelized – but not burnt! Let stand at room temperature for 2-3 hours, then refrigerate overnight. Cut and enjoy! We serve with a bakeapple coulis and bakeapple dust, or try a good slug of your favourite maple syrup, or to make it even more Basque, a cider sauce.
76
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:52 AM Page 77
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
77
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 3:47 PM Page 78
Bacalao con Chorizo y Pimientos: Salt Cod on Chorizo Piperade with Pil Pil Sauce A dish rooted in Basque tradition and reimagined with a nod to Newfoundland’s own cod legacy, this recipe balances smoky-sweet peppers, rich chorizo, and silky cod brought together with the iconic pil pil sauce, a luscious emulsion of oil and the cod’s natural gelatin. Rustic yet refined, it’s a plate that tells a story.
For the Cod & Pil Pil
For the Piperade
4 thick boneless salted cod loins Extra virgin olive oil (enough to submerge cod for poaching) 1 garlic clove (for poaching)
3 roasted red bell peppers (freshly roasted or jarred) 1/2 large onion, sliced (Julienne) 1 clove garlic, minced 100g quality chorizo, diced or crumbled 75g tomato sauce or diced tomatoes 1 tbsp smoked paprika Vegetable oil, for sautéing Salt to taste
For the Potatoes 2 large potatoes, sliced 2 cm thick (skin on) Olive oil (for sous vide or drizzle) 1 bay leaf Salt, to taste
Prepare the Salt Cod. Start with four thick, boneless loins of salted cod. Desalinate the fish by soaking it in cold water for 48 hours, changing the water at least three times during the process. This gentle treatment removes excess salt while preserving the cod’s beautiful structure. Once desalinated, gently poach the cod in extra virgin olive oil over low heat with one clove of garlic. As EVOO is rather expensive, you can replace it with good vegetable oil or a mix of both. This should take about 20 minutes — no bubbling or frying, just a soft confit. As the cod cooks, you’ll notice milky proteins blending into the oil — this is the beginning of your pil pil sauce. Prepare the Potatoes Choose two smooth-skinned potatoes and slice them into 2 cm thick rounds, skin on. If you have a sous vide setup, cook the slices at 90°C for 35 minutes with a splash of olive oil and a bay leaf. If not, simply simmer in salted water until just tender — not boiling, or they may fall apart. Drain and set aside. Make the Piperade While the cod cooks, prepare your pepper and chorizo base. Roast three red bell peppers, or use quality jarred roasted peppers. Slice into strips. Thinly slice half a large onion (Julienne style) and cook it 78
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 3:47 PM Page 79
slowly in vegetable oil over medium heat until translucent — no browning. Add the sliced peppers, a minced clove of garlic, and your chorizo (we recommend the one we make from Chinched Meats!). Stir frequently for 5 minutes. Add 75g of tomato sauce or diced tomatoes and a tablespoon of smoked paprika, stirring to bring everything together into a rich, rustic sauce. This is your piperade — bold, smoky, and vibrant.
Make the Pil Pil Sauce Remove the cod loins from the olive oil and set aside. Let the oil cool slightly, then pour it into a narrow container or blender. Blend until the mixture emulsifies into a sauce with a mayonnaiselike texture. This is the pil pil — delicate yet intensely flavoured. If the sauce breaks or is too thin, slowly add a bit more oil and keep blending.
Plate the Dish On each plate, arrange the potato rounds in the centre. Spoon the chorizo pepper piperade over top. Gently rest a cod loin on the sauce, and finish with a generous spoonful of pil pil over the fish. Serve immediately with a crisp white wine or cider, and enjoy the meeting of Basque tradition and Newfoundland bounty. 1-888-588-6353
October 2025
79
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:52 AM Page 80
Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Potato Omelette) with Optional Onion & Alioli A staple of Spanish kitchens, tortilla de patatas is a humble yet deeply satisfying dish made with just a few ingredients: eggs, potatoes, and olive oil. Some swear by the sweetness of slow-cooked onions, while others insist on keeping it pure — here, you decide. Served warm or at room temperature, it’s perfect for breakfast, lunch, or a late-night snack. A bold alioli on the side makes it even more irresistible. This one really is Spain’s national dish.
For the Tortilla
For the Alioli
6 eggs 600g waxy potatoes (about 4 medium), peeled and thinly sliced • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced (optional) 500 ml olive oil (for poaching and cooking) Salt
1 egg yolk (room temperature) 3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed 1 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar 200 g vegetable oil (neutral, like sunflower or grapeseed) Salt, to taste
Prepare the Potatoes (and Onions, if using) Peel and slice 600g (about 4 medium) waxy potatoes into thin, even slices — about 3–4 mm thick. If using onion, slice 1 medium onion into thin half-moons. A mandolin would come really useful here! Heat olive oil ( or vegetable oil, enough to submerge the potatoes — around 500 ml) in a deep frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes (and onions if using), and gently poach — not fry — them for about 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender but not browned. Drain the potatoes and onions in a sieve or slotted spoon, reserving a bit of the oil for cooking the tortilla. Beat the Eggs In a large bowl, beat 6 eggs with a generous pinch of salt. Fold the hot potatoes into the eggs. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to allow the eggs to absorb some of the potato flavour. Cook the Tortilla Heat 2 tablespoons of the reserved oil in a non-stick or well-seasoned pan (22–24 cm diameter) over medium heat. Pour in the egg and potato mixture and shake the pan to distribute evenly. Cook for 4–5 minutes, gently shaking the pan occasionally. The edges should begin to set while the centre stays soft and custardy. Now comes the tricky part: the flip. Place a large flat plate (or a flat pan lid) over the pan and carefully invert the tortilla onto it. Then gently slide it back into the pan to cook the other side for another 3–4 minutes, depending on how runny or firm you like it inside. 80
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
72_DHRecipes_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 3:56 PM Page 81
Nervous about flipping? No shame, many tortillas have ended on the stove top over the years, and there’s no need for that: you can always finish it under the broiler for 2–3 minutes instead. Just make sure your pan is oven-safe and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t overcook. Once cooked to your liking, slide the tortilla onto a plate and let it rest at least 5 minutes before serving.
Make the Alioli In a bowl or small blender, combine 1 egg yolk (room temperature), 3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed, 1 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Start whisking (or blending), and very slowly drizzle in 200 g vegetable oil (neutral oil like sunflower or grapeseed). Whisk continuously until it thickens into a glossy, smooth sauce. Adjust seasoning to taste. If it’s too strong, mellow it with a touch more lemon juice or a splash of water. Serve. Cut the tortilla into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature, with a generous spoonful of alioli on top. Perfect with crusty bread, salad, or a chilled glass of cider or vermouth.
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
81
84_Flashbacks_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:56 AM Page 82
reminiscing flashbacks
Croft at the Wheel “The Mary M. Beldin was skippered by my grandmother’s uncle, William Croft. Another relative, Fred Croft, is also connected to the wreck. The attached photo may have run in your pages at some point. I don’t think Hollywood could have done a better job casting a Newfoundland fisherman.” Jim Sullivan via email
Where We Belonged Here is a photo of Port Elizabeth taken in the early 1960s from the top of Osmond’s Hill. The boat in the picture is the Caroline Rose, owned by H.E. Senior and Son. Michelle Rowe via DownhomeLife.com 82
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
84_Flashbacks_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 10:56 AM Page 83
Casting Back in Time The Connolly boys – my cousin and brothers Bob, Reg and Pat – fishing around 1939. Helen Kelly Cambridge, ON
This Month in History On October 15, 1989, a group of experienced divers abandoned a planned dive at Middle Cove opting instead to body surf in the relatively calm conditions. Within minutes they were caught off-guard when 25foot waves began pounding, trapping them in a powerful rip tide. The Canadian Coast Guard responded immediately to the distress call and a Fast Rescue Craft from the CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell was dispatched from St. John’s harbour. The crew of the rescue craft – Chief Officer Gregory P. Peddle of Spaniard’s Bay, Senior Engineer Pierre Gallien and Leading Seaman Raymond C. Welcher – battled the turbulent seas but a breaking wave struck the craft broadside, capsizing it and hurling all aboard into the surf. Peddle, Gallien, and Welcher lost their lives that day in the line of duty. For bravery and conspicuous courage in a circumstance of great peril, each was posthumously awarded the Canadian Star of Courage. 1-888-588-6353
October 2025
83
94_DHHistory_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:08 AM Page 84
reminiscing
For over 35 years, Downhome Magazine has been at the heart of all things Newfoundland and Labrador. A comforting, familiar and constant presence in our province’s media climate, Downhome has been a name synonymous with ‘home’ for over three decades and counting. In This Month in Downhome History, we dive through our archives to give readers snippets of days gone by, highlighting major events, unique facts and the stories that matter to our readers.
October 1990 Volume 3 • Number 5
Fourteen-year-old Michael Power of Branch, St. Mary’s Bay, was elevated to the “hero” status recently when he dove in the water to save the life of another man. Edward Nash, 20, was riding his motorcycle down a wharf when his brakes gave out and he and the bike went over the edge. Nash, a non-swimmer, was going down for a third time when Michael dove off the 11foot wharf, grabbed him and swam to safety. “The kid deserves a medal,” said one witness.
The Dial-a-Poacher Line, recently put into effect in Newfoundland, is starting to pay dividends. The line can be used by anyone who wishes to report cases of poaching to the authorities – Fisheries and Oceans Canada. As a direct result of a phone tip, authorities recently arrested three men and laid a total of twelve charges. The men were fishing on the Serpentine River, which was closed at the time. Two of the men charged were from Mount Moriah, and one was from Ontario. 84
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
94_DHHistory_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:08 AM Page 85
October 1995 Volume 8 • Number 5
The airline industry has offered some highly discounted special fares that in some cases are up to 80 per cent off the regular ticket price. Tagged “get-away-fares”, the initiative was launched on August 14 by Canadian Airlines, which announced the special fares would be in place at 14 of its destinations. “The only two places in Atlantic Canada which were targeted were Halifax and St. John’s because they were on-line routes,” said Wayne Morrisson, spokesman for Air Atlantic. Reprinted from the Humber Log by permission.
One and a half billion creamer cups per year. The new plant in the old Picadilly fish plant on the Port au Port peninsula will soon produce that many small plastic containers to hold coffee cream. “We plan to ship about 900 million a year to the United States and about 600 million in Canada,” said Richard McCutcheon, president and part-owner of Picadilly Plastics Inc. Reprinted from the Georgian by permission.
Joanne Chafe thought her nursing graduation ring was gone forever when she lost it nine years ago. She hadn’t counted on Orel Brownlee and his trusty metal detector. The retired Ontario man recently found the ring in about a metre of water in a lake in Quebec’s Gatineau Hills. Inside was inscribed “J. Fowler, St. John’s.” Brownlee wrote to the mayor of St. John’s about his find, and the mayor sent the letter along to the newspaper. And that’s how Chafe–nee Fowler discovered her ring had been found.
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
85
94_DHHistory_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:08 AM Page 86
October 2000 Volume 13 • Number 5–
Sergeant John Carew of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment won a shootout with Canada’s best sharpshooters and earned a Canadian Queen’s Medal. Carew, a guard at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary, is the first Newfoundlander to win the medal in 36 years. Elsewhere, George Buffett of Grand Bank received the Medal of Bravery from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Buffett, 64, jumped into the freezing Atlantic Ocean last October to save a crewmate.
On a per capita basis, residents of Newfoundland and Labrador put more money into the Atlantic Lottery than residents of the other three Atlantic provinces. Last year, the per capita input from the province was $232.19 each, while Nova Scotians spent an average of $213.53. St. John’s native Cluny MacPherson, Lottery president, disclosed that the overall profit returned to the four Atlantic provinces was more than $338 million, an increase of 7.5 per cent. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians spent $73.1 million on break-open tickets, $42.5 million on scratch-n-win tickets, $51.5 million on online sales and $92.3 million on video lotto machines.
An agreement of understanding between Newfoundland and Labrador and Norway has been signed by Industry Minister Sandra Kelly and Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Olav Akselsen. The agreement will help promote the province’s offshore oil industry.
86
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
94_DHHistory_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:08 AM Page 87
October 2005 Volume 18 • Number 5
Edward John White, known as Sailor White to the wrestling world, has died on August 25, 2005, at the age of 56. White was born in St. John’s in 1949 and started his wrestling career in Quebec in the early 1970s, touring various countries including South Africa, Singapore and Germany. A member of the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame, White was a member of the World Wrestling Federation as the tag-team champion Moondog King in the early 1980s.
At this year’s Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival in St. John’s, nearly 1000 people set a new Guinness World Record for the greatest number of musicians playing accordion simultaneously. Music Store Owner Gord O’Brien and Musician Ray Johnston of Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers organized the event called the Accordion Revolution at Bannerman Park on August 6. Together, the 989 amateur and professionals squeezed their accordions to the tune “Mussels in the Corner” for five minutes.
Newfoundland and Labrador has been a haven for thrill-seeking adventurers this summer. On August 18, British explorer Dom Mee, 34, left St. John’s harbour en route to Exmouth, England. His goal is to be the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a kite boat, a 14-foot vessel propelled by wind power only. He hopes to reach England by the end of the month.
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
87
88_StLunaire_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:10 AM Page 88
reminiscing
Part Four
Moments as Time Flies By Lorne Compton
88
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
88_StLunaire_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:10 AM Page 89
Hockey has played a huge part in my life. I went
from pond hockey in St. Lunaire to senior hockey in Nova Scotia with the Greenwood Bombers in five years. I ended up fourth in team scoring as a rookie. Not bad for being someone who can only turn one way on skates! With a young family, I took time away from Nova Scotia Senior hockey to coach minor hockey and host a TV show called Hockey Beat. In Germany, I was a player/coach with the Senior Baden Knights and did colour commentary on live radio for the Military Senior hockey. Both of our boys played rep hockey. Our oldest, Jimmy, went on to win a Junior B championship with the Nova Scotia Windsor Royals and our youngest, John, a goalie, played exhibition games with the Alberta Junior Hockey League Camrose Kodiaks. In late 1990, while flying back from Qatar, I travelled with Mike “Wacky” Wheatley and General John Cabot Trail, whom Maritimers will recognize, Merv Russel of the Maritime Broadcasting System and hockey great Marcel Dionne. Marcel was a great storyteller, but so were the others; it seemed like a short flight to Germany.
After getting back from Qatar, I met Montreal Canadiens great Bob Gainey, who had moved to Epinal, France, as a player/coach and brought his team to Baden for a game. We hosted him and his family. I interviewed Bob on live radio after the first period, one of my fondest memories. Yes, he is a true gentleman and very humble. The Air Force was unique and a place to develop lasting relationships based on common experiences. I first worked on the Argus. It had a bubble at the front where a person could sit, and I have two specific memories. One was a flyover of Halifax harbour, and another was during a winter search for a downed aircraft in northern Quebec. I saw a perfectly round lake that looked like someone dropped a large marble. Then came the Aurora. I was one of the first people trained, part of the acceptance team, then moved into teaching. I was selected to be
Previous Page: Lorne during his rookie season with the Greenwood Bombers
Alasdair Pilgrim photo
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
89
88_StLunaire_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:10 AM Page 90
Above: Argus (rear) and Aurora aircraft like the ones Lorne worked on in Greenwood, NS Right: Signing autographs in London, Ontario part of the first team to fly an Aurora to Europe. I remember us hitting an air pocket and dropping 3000 feet somewhere between Scotland and England. I had the opportunity to be with a crew displaying the Aurora at the London, Ontario, Air Show and sign autographs. A picture made it into our paper back home with the caption “MCPL Compton signs rare autograph.” Before moving to Germany, I was part of a team at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. I was pictured in the Sentinel magazine explaining the CF18 Weapons Systems to a young couple from New York. Many historic events took place during my time overseas. The Cher90
October 2025
nobyl nuclear accident happened before we moved to Germany. There was soot falling from the sky in Baden. We carried dosimeters to measure if it was radioactive. I was part of a team supporting NATO operations. While teaching a Leadership course in Lahr in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. The hotel we were staying at became a home for many East Germans, many of whom were very shy at first and unsure of whom to trust, but very happy to be there. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and Canada decided to send in CF-18s, I was one of the first Canadians to arrive in Doha, Qatar. This unique experience created a special bond. My wife and I will never for1-888-588-6353
88_StLunaire_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:10 AM Page 91
get many from this team showing up at our apartment once we were all back home, and the resounding send-off we received when preparing to move back to Canada. We spent one year in Edmonton before moving back to Greenwood. I was invited to be part of initial discussions on the Air Force restructure, and shortly after, I decided it was time for me to leave the Air Force. When my Commanding Officer asked me what he could do for me as a retirement gift, I requested a flight to Newfoundland. The Aurora could not land at the St. Anthony airport, so we landed in Deer Lake, pulling up to the gate to drop me off and then again to pick me up a few days later. The Commissionaire at the airport asked me if I was someone important. I stayed busy after leaving the Air Force, working on contracts to upgrade the Snowbirds, perform Heavy Maintenance and Avionic Upgrades on the C-130 Hercules, and attending the Aerospace Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. I operated on Major Oil Sand sites in Fort McMurray, attended several Oil and Gas Conferences as an exhibitor and presenter, and attended a Food Equipment conference in Las Vegas. 9/11 happened while I was there. Obviously, my family had to learn to deal with my absences. My wife Cathy has had her share of moments where she had to be both parents, put up with me, get used to meeting new people regularly and join me in hosting functions. There were also challenges. Our oldest son fell on sharp metal and cut his knee to the extent that bone was protruding. He was rushed to 1-888-588-6353
the hospital, with our youngest son screaming, “Is he going to die?” While in Qatar, there were many times we rushed to the kids’ schools due to bomb threats. Our house burned down while we were in Newfoundland one summer, and when we got back, we had one week to find a place to live before I had to go to Virginia Tech for an internal business conference. When I left, the living room furniture consisted of two lawn chairs that had survived the fire and an ironing board for a kitchen table. While flying from Toronto to Edmonton years ago, I sat beside two retired teachers from Ontario who had not travelled much, so they started to work on their bucket list, first to see the Rockies. They were so excited and wanted to hear about me. As we finished talking, they both said, “You should write a book,” which started me on the journey to write these stories. Thank you for indulging me.
Lorne and Cathy October 2025
91
92_Colas_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:15 AM Page 92
reminiscing
Discarded Colas Barrels Sparked Ingenuity in Random by Lester Green
Growing up in Little Heart’s Ease, the two most common wooden structures near the water’s edge were stages and fish smokers. The roofs and sometimes the sides of these structures were covered in metal sheets that my dad, William Green, would pronounce as “colt tins,” or that was how I always understood the words.
92
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
92_Colas_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:15 AM Page 93
Hanuel Bryant’s colas-covered barn in Hickman’s Harbour.
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
93
92_Colas_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:15 AM Page 94
Colas tin covering the roof of Stewart Drodge’s sawmill in Caplin Cove, showing the resourcefulness of Southwest Arm residents Our family was never blessed with monetary riches, but our parents taught us the value of reusing materials in our surroundings. The colt tins were actually colas tins or colas barrels, discarded materials used by individuals in many projects. Remnants of collapsed buildings with colas tin roofs can be found in communities scattered around Trinity Bay and Conception Bay, and were likely used elsewhere in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the Southwest Arm area where I was raised, the barrel-like patterns could easily be recognized in stages, fish smokers, root cellars, sawmills, and sheeting that formed the foundations of other builds. But where did this material originate? What was the source of these barrel-like materials? While searching the online Digital Archives Initiatives (MUN), I stumbled upon an article titled “When Clarenville was 94
October 2025
the Colas Capital of Newfoundland,” published in the Gazette on September 5, 1997. The information about the Colas Plant at Clarenville came to light when Ann Cruickshank, the daughter of Terrance O’Meara, helped her dad move into a nursing home in England. Among his personal belongings was a report he had written about establishing a colas plant in Clarenville in 1937. She brought the report back to Canada, hoping to find someone to help place the document in the archives of Newfoundland and Labrador to preserve this historical information. She explained that in 1927, her dad began working for Colas, a Shell Oil division that produced a product called colas, an emulsified asphalt product used to surface airport runways. In 1937, after Colas received the contract for paving the newly con1-888-588-6353
92_Colas_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:15 AM Page 95
structed Newfoundland Airport (renamed RCAF Gander in 1941 and known today as Gander Airport), Clarenville was selected as the site for its new plant. Clarenville was midway between Gander and St. John’s and near the main railway line, allowing the material to be transported to the airports. Terrance O’Meara was sent to oversee the plant development at Clarenville, which had the required port facilities that allowed the docking of ships transporting barrels of colas to the plant, where it was processed and transported to the airports. To complete the required volume of colas to pave the runways at the Newfoundland Airport and repairs at St. John’s Airport required thousands of barrels containing the raw material. Once the material was
removed, the barrels were tossed over the nearby cliff, landing on the shoreline. Residents of the area would visit the dumping site and retrieve the barrels for personal use. You may wonder how the retrieved barrels became useful flat metal sheets. John Spurrell, a former resident of Butter Cove, explained one of the common methods used at the time: “Father would first remove both heads of the barrel and then, using the axe and sledgehammer, would cut the barrel lengthwise. The cut barrel would be tossed on the ground, and my father would ask the kids to jump on it until it was flattened. We would repeat this until Dad had enough to cover the roof of the building. Sometimes, we would pick off some tarry substance and chew on it as kids.”
Archives and Special Collections, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Clarenville Colas Plant in 1937 surrounded by barrels filled with asphalt, called colas, used in the paving of runways. The barrels were reused by area residents in building construction.
1-888-588-6353
October 2025
95
92_Colas_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/21/25 8:37 AM Page 96
Bill Longer and his daughter in front of fish smokers made of colas barrels at Gooseberry Cove.
Lawrence Drodge of Little Heart’s Ease recalls travelling with his father in their motorboat to Clarenville, landing on the shoreline, and collecting barrels. They removed the heads from the barrels, ripped them in the middle, and jumped on the metal until it formed flat sheets. These were loaded into the boat and transported to Little Heart’s Ease, where they were used to construct a 40-foot metal shed that his father and grandfather used to build boats. His father would use other colas tins to cover a cellar’s roof and ditches around their house. Joseph Seward, a former resident of the Southwest Arm area, recalls his memories of colas tins. “I grew up in Southport in the 1940s. Colas barrels, that’s what we call them, were used for many things. Sheeting for fish storage, shed roofs, and some96
October 2025
times for all four sides and the roof of a structure. To fill in the basement walls beneath the main house. I once saw a grocery store, a shop, built entirely with colas barrels, except for the floor. On and on it goes. You name it, and colas barrels could be used,” he said, adding “company owners would throw the empty barrels over the cliff, and boats would arrive and flatten the barrels to get more into the boat. I made many trips with my dad to bring home as many barrels as possible.” Leslie Dean, another former Southport resident, explains, “Colas barrels were well-sought items and found several common uses in structures around the Southport Harbour. Several herring/caplin smokers were fireproof and cladded with flattened colas barrels. There were several root cellars and stages with the roofs 1-888-588-6353
92_Colas_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/21/25 8:37 AM Page 97
covered in tins. All of these structures would take on the rusty reddish/ brown colour after exposure to the elements and lasted longer than the wooden felt/shingle roofs and cheaper, free for the taking.” Edgar Smith, Patrick Seward, and Joe Edward Smith used colas barrels to construct three and four-story fish smokers seen in the background of this historical photo at Gooseberry Cove, Trinity Bay. Recollection of my Grandfather, David Jacobs, fish smoker, was that of a two-story building attached to his stage and the fall days when my father would smoke herring. The late nights as we stoked the fire after entering the dark fish smoker, and the smell of the kippers. Today, I understand that my dad worked hard to feed his family of nine children. The Southwest Arm area was once dotted with A-frame root cellars similar to this photo of Dr. Maxwell
1-888-588-6353
Edgecome’s root cellar in Upper Gullies near the roadside. Its distinct barrel-patterned roof still stands as a testament to the longevity of the colas barrels, providing evidence of our historical reliance on these buildings to preserve food during the winter months. The foundation of this cellar, once located in the abandoned community of St. Jones Without, attests to the creativity of locals using scavenged discarded barrels from Clarenville’s Colas Plant. Visitors entering the harbour at Little Heart’s Ease are greeted by a fish smoker, once used to smoke kippers by Guy Drodge, now repaired and occasionally used by his son, Max. The smoker is a testament to the passage of time and the ingenuity of people who used discarded colas barrels during hard times to support families when money was “scarce as hen’s teeth.”
October 2025
97
98_Bartlett_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:23 AM Page 98
reminiscing
A Life Cut Short By Helena MacLean
98
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
98_Bartlett_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:29 AM Page 99
Ulrich Graf and the crew of submarine U-69 are on the hunt.
It’s been five days since they sank the merchant vessel Carolus in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is October 14, 1942, and U-69 is resting on the surface just off the southwestern coast of Newfoundland. Most of the crew sleeps, but not Graf. He is never complacent, always alert, constantly watching. Believing there is little chance of a target in these waters, he is still hopeful. It’s a clear night, and now he sees, less black than the sea or sky, smoke belching from a vessel’s stack. He gives the order to advance, slowly, until they are about 650 metres from his target. Does Graf know this is a ferry conveying passengers across the Cabot Strait from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland? Maybe, maybe not. He gives the command to fire the torpedo. It takes 43 seconds to reach the S.S. Caribou. Asleep in their cabin are honeymooners John and Marjorie Barrett. Just three weeks earlier, on the 26th of September, John and Marjorie stood before the rector of St. Jude’s Anglican church in Toronto and took their wedding vows. Marjorie’s sister and a group of their friends were there to support them and to celebrate at the reception that followed. And there was much to celebrate. Only two days before, John had received his “wings” as an RCAF pilot in Brantford, Ontario. Only twenty years old, he had graduated top of his class and been awarded a commission. Pilot Officer John Barrett was scheduled to be stationed in Vulcan, Alberta, as a pilot instructor. 1-888-588-6353
This was hardly surprising given his remarkable success in flight training and the urgent wartime needs of the RCAF. Recorded in his war records, the chief flying instructor wrote of John, “Outstanding throughout his course. Intelligent and willing. High average flying ability.” As the young people gathered that evening to toast the couple, John and Marjorie entertained them, John on the piano and Marjorie singing. She was well known in her hometown of Calgary for her vocal talents. John also had an impressive musical talent. Soon he would receive leave and they planned to travel to Curling, to October 2025
99
98_Bartlett_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:29 AM Page 100
Pilot Officer John Barrett and wife Marjorie were married for only three weeks when they boarded the SS Caribou visit John’s parents, John and Ena, and his younger siblings, Arthur, David and Rose. It was a happy and exciting time for them. John had certainly wasted no time in joining the RCAF shortly after graduating from Dalhousie University on May 13, 1941, with a B.Sc. At 19, he was the youngest to have done so to that date. Soon, he was off to Belleville, Ontario, for basic training. Precocious in every way, John completed high school at age 14 and won the Jubilee scholarship before graduating from Prince of Wales College in St. John’s. At that time, no degreeconferring university would accept so young a student, so John went to Memorial University College, where he graduated in 1939. It seems John and his siblings had an ideal upbringing on the west coast of Newfoundland. His father was a journalist and founding member of 100
October 2025
the Western Star newspaper, served as a local magistrate and loved to take his boys camping and fishing. John’s mother was an accomplished poet. They had met and married in Scotland during his father’s World War I service with the Newfoundland Forestry Corps. Ena brought her love of music, literature and nature to her new home. When pregnant with John, she and her husband took the arduous trip back to Scotland as it meant so much to her that her firstborn should be born there. And he was, on the 18th of January, 1922. A massive explosion wakes Marjorie. “John, what’s happening?” He quickly helps her into her coat and shoes. They grab their life belts and flee the cabin. Others fill the dark corridors. A man shouts, “We’ve been hit!” Panicked, they run towards the starboard side and the 1-888-588-6353
98_Bartlett_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:23 AM Page 101
lifeboat station. In the crush, Marjorie loses her lifebelt. More explosions shake the vessel. Terror mounts as they realize the boats were lost to the torpedo. “Come on,” says John, The ship is listing badly, and the air is full of steam and debris, glass and furniture are tossed about and now, fires. Cries fill the air. “We’re sinking!” Only two lifeboats here have made it to the water, and
as recorded on his attestation papers – but he lived a big life. In only 20 years, he proved to be academically and musically gifted and enormously popular wherever he went. When duty called, he did not hesitate to join the RCAF, where he exceeded expectations. He met, fell in love and married the woman with whom he thought he would spend the rest of his life.
John holds Marjorie’s hand tightly, “We’ll jump.” But before they can, a huge wave sweeps over them and washes them into the ocean. one, full of passengers, has capsized. John holds Marjorie’s hand tightly, “We’ll jump.” But before they can, a huge wave sweeps over them and washes them into the ocean. Later, it will be reported by a survivor that they witnessed a man pushing Marjorie onto the upturned boat. Was it John? They will never know. The minesweeper, Grandmere, assigned to escort the ferry across the Gulf, pursues U69, which escapes. The ship now returns to pick up survivors, including Marjorie, who has clung to the capsized boat for hours in the nightmarish chaos and the October cold and wet. Survivors are brought to Sydney, bodies to Port aux Basques. Marjorie spends considerable time in the hospital recovering from shock, hypothermia and trench foot. Eventually, she returns, a widow, to her family in Alberta. John’s body is never found. Pilot Officer John Barrett was not a big man – just 5'7" and 140 pounds 1-888-588-6353
Today, there are very few people alive who knew John, but lest we forget, John is commemorated on the Bay of Islands and the Port aux Basques war monuments in Newfoundland. He is also commemorated in Ottawa in the NL Book of Remembrance and on the Commonwealth Air Force memorial. At Dalhousie University, there is a John Hamilton Prize given annually in Chemistry. After John’s mother, Ena Constance Barrett’s death in 1967, a small slip of paper was found on which she had written a verse in Scotland while pregnant with John:
A Prayer for My Baby Sweet as the mayflower, straight as the pine God make this little child of thine And may the soul, its body fills Be strong, immovable as the hills Pure as the snowdrift, fair as the dawn God, may this little child be born And may the end of its journey be As a sun going down in a quiet sea. October 2025
101
102_GhostOldCart_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:27 AM Page 102
reminiscing
102
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
102_GhostOldCart_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/21/25 1:50 PM Page 103
There it was again. A wispy, indistinct form flitting through the trees above him, just at the edge of his vision. He stopped, and without turning his head, backed up several steps and quickly turned his head in the direction of the apparition. But it was gone. He ran forward for five or six yards, keeping his eyes on the trees where the apparition had disappeared, but he saw nothing. For three days in a row, he sensed that he was not alone on his walk to the beach. After finishing his farm chores, he always ran toward the road that allowed him to join his friends at the brook swimming hole. There, on each of the last three days, he had seen the wispy form keeping pace with him, ghosting through the trees just uphill from his path on the old cart road. The apparition always disappeared when the boy stopped to change into his swimming trunks and poke his clothes into the hole in the clay bank. He knew his friends were at the swimming hole because their clothes were placed into similar holes nearby, and he could hear their excited shouting. Initially, he felt fear of the apparition and considered returning to his home on the farm, but he knew his mother and Grandfather would quickly find more chores for him, so he kept going toward the beach. The freedom of the swimming hole outweighed the fear of the ghost. He didn’t mention what he saw or thought he saw to his friends. They would not believe him, or would think he had gotten too much sun while doing his chores. Still, it bothered him; at thirteen years old he should be past the age of believing in ghosts or fairies. The old Cart Road begins with a stand of tall birch trees close to the North side of Uncle Joe’s property. Less than 20 metres along the road, the sun-dappled path is overshadowed by ancient fir and spruce trees, which block all but the most persistent rays of sunlight. It was never gloomy, though, because the ancient trees had created their understory spacing and even allowed the occasional birch to intrude, opening the overstory to more colour and light. Every day, in every weather or season, a stroll up or down that old road was usually a delightful experience. 1-888-588-6353
October 2025
103
102_GhostOldCart_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:27 AM Page 104
One hundred years prior, the road began as a trail leading from the Northwest Beach to the farmland 90 metres above on the glacial plateau. As the first settlers of Salvage Bay (now Eastport) turned their hands from fishing to farming, they could not abandon the sea entirely. It still provided their primary source of protein and was their only route for transportation to nearby communities and the world further over the horizon. The beach and nearby brook provided spawning grounds for caplin, trout, eel and the occasional salmon. The caplin and kelp available for farm fertilizer from the beach prompted the settlers to widen the path to accommodate carts pulled by oxen and horses. The widening had to be done carefully and strategically because of the steep slopes of the Northwest Brook Valley. Our ancestors understood the havoc that would result from unchecked erosion and carefully reinforced the roadway with large logs dragged down from the heavily forested plateau. An unwritten agreement among the families was that no trees could be cut down above or below the road. Blowdowns were fair game if young trees were planted nearby, but no living tree could be harvested. The boy considered speaking to his mother about the ghost but decided against it. He had often heard her comment about fairies, especially when he or one of his siblings put on an article of clothing inside out. “Be careful!” She’d often say, “The fairies will get you!” He never knew when she was serious, and she discouraged discussion, but he noted that, when she went 104
October 2025
into the garden or berry picking, she would always carry a short length of red wool with her and double check her clothing, even making sure that garments removed because of the heat were never left inside out. The following weekend, after seeing the apparition, when his father was off work for two days, he, along with his father and grandfather, walked to the beach to put out the small speedboat to catch a few codfish. Grandfather had gone ahead of them to open the storehouse and retrieve the outboard motor and gas tank. The boy noticed that his father was touching certain trees as he walked down the road. These trees had all been knotted by Moss men over several generations. The boy knew every knotted tree and the name of the person who tied the knot. Starting at the top of the trail was a tree knotted by Grandfather William around 1895. That fir tree, though stunted by the knot, was over 15 metres high and 35 or more centimetres in the butt. His brother had knotted the soft growing tip of a fir tree the previous summer. The boy had watched him do it slowly and carefully so as not to break the tree. Surprised that his father was actively seeking out the trees and silently paying homage to his family, the boy gathered up his nerve and said, “Dad, you have walked this trail for your whole lifetime. I have seen you touch these trees before, but did you ever see anything strange in the woods here?” His father slowly came to a halt and looked at the boy quizzically. “What have you seen, my son? Have you seen a fairy?” “I don’t know what I’ve seen,” said 1-888-588-6353
102_GhostOldCart_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:27 AM Page 105
As if on cue, a wisp of mist arose from the depression and quickly dissipated among the birch and fir trees. the boy, now emboldened by his father’s response, “But for the past several trips to the beach, I’m sure that something up there in the woods has been following me.” His father was quiet for a moment, then asked, “What shape has this ‘something’ taken?” “It’s hard to describe a shape,” said the lad, encouraged by his father’s openness, “It’s pretty wispy, but in my mind, it appears to be a young boy.” His father was again quiet for a moment before saying, “You’ve probably seen Uncle Eugene.” “I don’t have an Uncle Eugene,” said the boy. “You do, or you did,” his father said. “Uncle Eugene was my older brother, two years older than me. Like all the Moss boys, he loved to go swimming in the brook. When he was thirteen years old, he stepped on a rusty nail, developed blood poisoning and died. When I was thirteen, I saw what you saw this summer. I didn’t believe my eyes at first and was scared out of my wits. After a while, I learned that the ghost meant no harm to me, and I concluded that it was Uncle Eugene going to the beach with me. You will get used to 1-888-588-6353
it. No sense telling anyone else about it. They probably can’t see it and will think you have gone off your head.” The boy and his father silently proceeded down the cart road, each lost in thought. When they came to the place that the children used as a change area, his father stopped and pointed up the slope to a misty depression around a tree root. “That’s where I think he resides,” said his father. As if on cue, a wisp of mist arose from the depression and quickly dissipated among the birch and fir trees. The boy felt the hair rising on his neck. He looked at his father to see his reaction and was surprised to see he was silently weeping, but smiling. A strange sense of calm then came over the boy, and he stepped closer to his father. His father put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and gave him a gentle hug; “You probably won’t see him after you get older,” his father said quietly. “I didn’t see him after I turned 15, but every time I walk this road, I always stop at this place on the cart road and say a silent prayer for my dear brother and reflect on the life cut short by a rusty nail.” October 2025
105
106_Giants_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:32 AM Page 106
reminiscing
Of bygone days of rail and a story of survival By Sean Ennis
106
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
106_Giants_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:32 AM Page 107
Growing up in Bishop’s Falls
was like living next door to Disney World. My hometown was a railroad hub for both the CNR and AND railroads, and in the 1960s-70s, it was a happening place to be.
As children, when my friends and I were not playing sports, we often spent warm summer days exploring the many gifts a railroad town could offer. Whether playing games from the top level of the railroad ice house or catching a ride on a slow-moving boxcar attached to a train headed west to stop at the diamond crossing, we were never without entertainment. Even though we were children, we still understood that because of the people with whom we were surrounded each day, we lived among giants. Those railway men dedicated their lives to ensure the commodities that were the lifeblood of the economy of our fledgling province moved silently and efficiently on ribbons of steel, bringing every town new and direct contact with the outside world. Like many of my friends’ families, mine was a proud railway family. Over the years, I witnessed my father Charlie Ennis telling many stories about the men he worked with and, in many instances, the courage and dedication needed for their chosen field. Before retirement, Dad was the Rules Instructor for CN for the Atlantic region and was very well known in railroad circles. He was an intelligent and articulate but humble man who cared deeply about our railroad and all who were in its employ. He spoke many times of years that, in the days just before Christmas, trainmen were called away from their homes to deliver all those special packages to the many small towns that dotted the rail line so that Christmas might arrive there. These runs were very Previous page: The author’s father, Charlie Ennis 1-888-588-6353
October 2025
107
106_Giants_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:32 AM Page 108
often done at the expense of seeing Santa arrive for their own families. Of all his stories, one that my father rarely spoke of – the details of which I am only now truly discovering – involved an incident in which he showed the bravery and courage he so often attributed to others. On January 22, 1943, my father, a young man of 23 at the time, was a brakeman on the first of two special trains leaving St. John’s headed to Bishop’s Falls to deliver their special cargo, the men of the Joliette Regiment of the Canadian Army. The soldiers were headed to Botwood to provide security for the seaplane base located there, which was being overseen at that time by the RCAF. This was wartime, and such troop movements were not uncommon in our province, as we were a geographic stepping stone to Europe. As they left St. John’s, the skies were clear and did not indicate what was in store. At their first assigned stop in Placentia Junction, news of the waiting storm arrived. Their train was a smaller 190 class engine, and given the conditions at their present location, the decision not to add a plow was made as it was felt that, given the load, it might be of little use. This decision would prove regretful. Merely nine miles later, their train ran into a storm that, at the time, would be described by Newfoundland media as the storm of the century. Subsequent railroad reports indicated that, when clearing the tracks days later, they encountered drifts of 14 feet! Not long after they entered the storm, their train became snow108
October 2025
bound, and its steam engine flared out. Due to the blinding snow and high winds, a flagman or other standard safety precautions were not an option. They had tried to secure their train, but were forced to retreat to the shelter of the train due to the extreme conditions. This created a much greater concern, as a second train with an even larger class engine was still scheduled to follow. They worried that because of the storm, the crew of the second train might not see them, resulting in a potentially catastrophic collision. After a discussion among the train’s crew, it was decided that the only option was for someone to walk back the seven miles to Long Harbour Station to utilize communication equipment, which would allow the second train to be held at Placentia Junction or St. John’s. My father volunteered and set out into the storm alone, using the telegraph poles which followed along the track as his guide. He’d later report that at times he’d sit and rest on the tops of poles that stuck out of some of the drifts. After hours of walking, he reached Long Harbour to find that the communications equipment was not functioning. He encountered a section crew at that location, and one of the men volunteered to go with him an additional eight miles to Placentia Junction. My father declined the offer from the older man as he was concerned that, should one of them fail, the other could not or would not leave and that two bodies, instead of one, would be found in the spring. My father continued to Placentia 1-888-588-6353
106_Giants_0609 Home Front.qxd 8/20/25 11:32 AM Page 109
An RCAF aircraft captured photos of the snowbound train after the storm. The event was featured in The Story of Newfoundland Railway in Wartime, published in the mid 1940s.
Junction, arriving after dark after walking for nearly 24 hours. He delivered his message, but because of the damage the snow and wind had caused to his exposed face, he was unrecognizable to the fellow railroaders he had known for years. The train had arrived at Placentia Junction and was held there until the storm abated. The weather had been so significant that the following day, a military plane was sent from Torbay to drop supplies to both stranded trains to assist the troops and staff until rescue could be made. This event was outlined in the book The Story of the Newfoundland Railway in Wartime, though it was rarely mentioned in our family until after my father’s passing. Some documentation was found in his possessions alongside additional information located in our attempt to uncover more about the event in later years. Today, our railroad is just a distant memory, if a memory at all. For those 1-888-588-6353
of us who lived through those times, we reflect with a smile as we think of a time when those two steel ribbons brought our province together as we strove towards a brighter future. We still warmly recall when men of iron ran the rails to bring the world to our doorstep. It can be said that in our province’s formative years, when the sounds of a train’s whistle carried on our clear Newfoundland evening air and reverberated through our many valleys, those were days when true giants roamed amongst us. October 2025
109
DH_subAdDPS-3_0609 Home Front.qxd 5/23/25 9:15 AM Page 112
Now more than ever a Downhome subscription is a great value. Not only do you save over $20 off the cover price, you receive: 1 Year (12 issues) OF DOWNHOME
Free WALL CALENDAR Free EXPLORE TRAVEL GUIDE 2 Issues INSIDE LABRADOR †
††
†††
}
All for just
$42.99 + applicable taxes
12 issues for $42.99* or 36 issues for $107.99*
Save up to $120 when you sign up for 3 years! Delivered with December’s issue. ††Delivered with June’s issue. Canadian mailing only. ††† Delivered with a spring and fall issue. *Plus applicable taxes
†
Tony McGrath photo
DH_subAdDPS-3_0609 Home Front.qxd 5/23/25 9:15 AM Page 113
Sign me up for a Downhome subscription Name:____________________________________________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________________________________________ City:__________________________________________ Prov/State: ____ Country: _______________ Postal Code: ____________________
Phone: (
) _________________________________
E-mail: __________________________________________________________________________ ❏ Cheque Enclosed*
❏ Credit Card
❏ Invoice Me
❏ I would like to send a subscription as a gift.
❏ Moving? Update address below.
Please send Downhome magazine to who I have listed below.
Card#:_______________________________________________________ Expires: ______ /______ Name:____________________________________________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________________________________________ City:______________________________________ Prov/State:_________ Country: _______________ Postal Code: ____________________
Phone: (
) _________________________________
SIGN GIFT CARD FROM: _______________________________________ * Valid in Canada on a 1-year term. Total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NB, PE $49.44; NS $49.01; ON $48.58; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $45.14; US $54.99; International $59.99. ** Valid in Canada on a 3-year term. Total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NB, PE $124.19; NS $123.11; ON $122.03; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $113.39; US $159.99.
Send to Downhome, 43 James Lane, St. John’s, NL, A1E 3H3 or call 1-888-588-6353
ORDER ONLINE TODAY! www.downhomelife.com
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 112
puzzles
The Beaten Path
Norma Sacrey 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.
M
G
K
E
S J
T
m
S L R
H
T I
n
H V
U
W
Q
S
R S
A
H
U
S
n
S
T
V
S
L
m
E
Q A mM M S J N K Q p R L T S m G p M A H G E B G W K T H A J V H T U I
T
n
n
S
n
H
L
R
n
W
E
G
G
T
J
R S
Last Month’s Community: Twillingate 112
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 113
Sudoku
from websudoku.com
Last month’s answers
?
Need Help
Puzzle answers can be found online at DownhomeLife.com/puzzles
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
113
Theresa Earle original photo
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 114
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: • First appeared on a map in 1675 • Celebrates local squid jigging • Welcomed the King and Queen in 1939 • NL’s first rubber plant opened here • A giant cross overlooks the town
Last Month’s Answer: Trinity
Picturesque Place NameS of Newfoundland and Labrador
by Mel D’Souza Last Month’s Answer: Garnish 114
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 115
In Other Words Guess the well-known expression written here in other words.
Last Month’s Clue: Refrain from tallying your fowl prior to their being birthed In Other Words: Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched
This Month’s Clue: Hubris arrives prior to the tumble In Other Words: ______ _____ _____ ___ ____
A Way With Words P O L A R
R A L O P
Last Month’s Answer: Polar opposites
This Month’s Clue
1. A lunch hut is a _____ _____ 2. A complimentary brew is a ____ ___
F L I P
catch you
Rhyme Time A rhyming word game by Ron Young
3. To throw away a morsel is to ______ a _____
Answer: _____ ___ __ ___ ____ ____
Last Month’s Answers 1. wage per page, 2. quiet riot, 3. Cat in the Hat
Scrambled Sayings 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.
’
D C A I D E E A D A E R H I C L E A O F E G L C A L I E R L I L E A I E L S I N I R E E S I N N O I I P N E S P T E T M H O K T P S I N S O U P T L O T R T S Y T N T W R S Y S R Y U
Last month’s answer: There can be hope only for a society, which acts as one big family, not as many separate ones. www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
115
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 3:55 PM Page 116
Rhymes 5 Times Each answer rhymes with the other four
1. important
____________
2. gossip
____________
3. disperse
____________
4. chubbier
____________
5. clank
____________
STUCK? Don’t get your knickers in a knot! Puzzle answers can be found online at DownhomeLife.com/puzzles
Last Month’s Answers: 1. ire, 2. flier, 3. higher, 4. crier, 5. buyer
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. PACE SCHLEAR
For best results sound the clue words out loud!
2. SAWMILLI BORRAUH
Justice Hymn Pull Reek West ____ _ ______ _______ Us Her Fur _ ______ Last Month’s 1st Clue: Ear Swan Forth Erode. Answer: Here’s one for the road. Last Month’s 2nd Clue: Hike Hallow Burp Layer. Answer: High calibre player.
3. NESTSNIP RMA 4. WEALTHCONTORT 5. NICEHYM CLIKET Last Month’s Answers: 1. Barren Island, 2. Harbour Buffett, 3. Kingwell, 4. Haystack, 5. Coffin Cove
A nalogical A nagrams Unscramble the capitalized words to get one word that matches the subtle clue. 1. SHE FINS LESS ~ Clue: all for one and none for all 2. A GIFT FIR ~ Clue: its beauty is in the eye of the spray can holder 3. SENIOR IMPS ~ Clue: it’s harder to get than forgiveness 4. SLAY BELL ~ Clue: powerful enough to break up anything 5. CLINK NEE ~ Clue: collared despite doing no crime Last Month’s Answers: 1. umbrella, 2. furniture, 3. birdwatching, 4. spiderweb, 5. destiny 116
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 117
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 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1-4: skip 1-10: enthusiastic 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1-41: tranquility 1-91: calmly 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2-22: picnic pest 3-33: take flight 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 4-94: store clerk 8-10: consumed 8-68: diminishing 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 9-39: carry 10-100: extension 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 14-11: sharpen 14-34: ‘50s dance party 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 18-16: son 20-18: pitch 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 20-50: yearn 24-22: breakfast grain 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 25-22: raglan 29-27: label 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 31-33: Camaro 31-34: freshwater fish 96-98: soaked 57-97: row 34-36: notebook 100-91: notable 65-67: standard 40-38: catch 100-97: notice 59-89: completed 44-41: child’s lofty toy 68-64: wine maker 44-50: aware 68-88: choke 44-74: store Last Month’s Answer 80-100: charged particle 45-47: immediately S C AR E D EWE S 83-53: precipitation 47-7: cart P R E F E RA B L E 85-55: raps 47-50: building section O I L E D E P P I R 85-88: hoodlum 47-67: fight TMO A N A G A T V 86-56: warm up 51-53: flipper S I N S UMR I C E 86-88: hold 51-56: most exquisite 86-89: giant 51-81: filled T N E T A P E R E D 92-42: recluse 53-56: roost RA I NADRO J L 92-72: she 55-15: packed meal A L L UR E D TOO 93-53: locomotive 55-59: easel Y L L AC I T I RC 96-56: flour grain 56-16: here and now S Y S T EMUMP S
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
117
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 118
The Bayman’s
Crossword Puzzle 1
2
3
by Ron Young
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
17
18
20
25
12
13
14
21
28
27
30
34
33
32
36
M
37
38
46
47
49
50
118
October 2025
35
41
40
39
44
43
42
24
23
22
29
31
16
19
M
26
15
45
48
51
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 119
ACROSS 1. rug 4. Institute of Cancer Research (abbrev) 5. tally 7. “___ yer partner, Sally Tibbo” 8. ace 10. gathering 12. small raspberry-like fruit 17. “___ split pea in a ten-pound tub” 18. innate skill for music 19. __ rode – tormented by nightmares (colloq) 20. Uncle __ Clouston – NL joke book author 21. the largest continent 23. Society of United Fishermen (abbrev) 25. “In her eyes there was _________, and the rose in her hair” 28. baby moose 29. switch 30. Newfoundland cross-island bus company 31. “___ for her own good that the cat purrs” 33. sadness 34. bunk 36. Johnny on the ____ 37. Screech 40. hook for catching seabirds (colloq) 42. “Go __ wit’ ya!” – “No way!” 43. riders 46. disagree 48. donkey 49. __ Anthony 50. leaving 51. hands DOWN 1. storage space in the middle of a boat 2. summer must-have in 2025 3. stage hole for dumping fish offal (colloq) 6. Unemployment Insurance (abbrev) 9. galloped www.downhomelife.com
11. bright dory colour 12. trawlers 13. Minnie _____ – legendary NL accordionist 14. lamb’s bleat 15. short for Edgar 16. armful (colloq) 20. emmet 22. shipwright lieutenant (abbrev) 23. ______ Island, Red Bay 24. unleaded regular (abbrev) 26. seaside community (colloq) 27. intergovernmental organization (abbrev) 31. island (abbrev) 32. ballad 35. caviar 38. we 39. cruel 41. year (abbrev) 43. split ___ soup 44. North Sea Gas (abbrev) 45. “When the wind shifts against the ___, trust it not for back ‘twill run” 46. deaf __ a haddock 47. “I’d know him boiled __ in a pot of soup” W A D E R R S N I T V E M I R N N A G A N T B W O O S T A R D W W E R R O A O F F A I R T O O M C H U M M Y U T E R O S I O N K C D S N E D T T I S B E T A M R A M A B N A T I O N A L O F F E R P L U I F M M I N A O C O P Y O G O U N C E N Y H H A D D O C K
ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD
October 2025
119
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 120
DIAL-A-SMILE © 2025 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.
_ _____ 2 34463
_____ 38379
___ 626
_ 2
__ 47
_______ 7655464
_____ 47328
_____ 96626
___ 437
____ 3937
Last Month’s Answer: If you want to look young and thin, hang around old, fat people.
©2025 Ron Young
CRACK THE CODE z
Each symbol represents a letter of the alphabet, for instance =S Try to guess the smaller, more obvious words to come up with the letters for the longer ones. The code changes each month.
_ _ _
D HQ
_ _ _ _ _ S
OpXOD z
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
O L b pQB ; _ _ _
XOD
_ _
\H
_ _
H3
_ _ S S
A Ozz _ _ _ _
D HQB
S _ _ __ S S
zQ m m ; zz
Last Month’s Answer: Never interrupt your opponent while he’s making a mistake. 120
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 121
© 2025 Ron Young
Food For Thought
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.”
give =
_
_
_ _
_
_
_
_
_ _
_
clan =
_
_
_
_
hairless = _
_
_
_
loaf =
l v z wd t
delivery =
w st d e
regulations =
_
[ wo V
_
_
_
_ _ _
_ _ _
_ _
_
o t[ [
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
October 2025
121
dt swt
_
_
sV
_ _ _ _
_
d e wz
w t d d tt
_
_ _
w w[l
l vzt
o t[ [
_
w t tw l
_
_
_
_
V ws l
Last Month’s Answer: Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. – Winston Churchill www.downhomelife.com
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 122
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 BID FAREWELL TO CFAs
Last Month’s Answers: 1. Trouser, 2. Mast, 3. House, 4. Bucket, 5. Van, 6. Boot, 7. Ridge, 8. Life buoy, 9. Transom, 10. Mackerel, 11. Fishing rod, 12. Wharf “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, 212 Pine St., Collingwood, ON, L9Y 2P2
122
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 123
HIDE & SEEK APPLES
The words can be across, up, down, backward or at an angle, but always in a line.
AMBROSIA BRAEBURN CAMEO CORTLAND CRAB
CRISPIN DELICIOUS EMPIRE FUJI GALA
HONEYCRISP IDARED JAZZ MCINTOSH SPARTAN
Q Y R K A V X U A C L I H D T Q V S Y Y C Y I C G J F J O K E H Z P S P O N V Y G C N R A F H X O D K R M F E C W K R Q D Z N E K V H I N R J O K R C L H U Z P M U P M D Z A U V O F G P G N P N O T W E L A L I X A N P D L G S U U A N S J V S E U L T Y U V D E L I C I O U S R R L D S I W O V Y X A N L Q V V H B E Z G R I D N A N S Q R B Q N C H N L X B I M G Q T U I Y D C X N E P I C K L K R G D P F T T L T T D S J B A M T R M A Y W D I H I Z H T H F R J Q Q V B H U R D Z U R R N I D T C S K Y Q B B Y A S R V O Q Y E S N B I T E F X T K P H J F R X M Z H V Q P K Z D I X E A A G M U Y H W L J B J D X Z U W D P E J O M B A Q N Z S P J W K N N N B H D C Y K J J B L D P A R S F L Q W I I F Z Q R C V F C K S E R A I S O R B M A U U W K R Q X Q P K A K M Z W L Q A X W C C Q G J X J O B M E N Z H H V Z A Z O O P Y C E K A W E S P W A A Y H Q Y N R F A B C F W H S O T N I C M I E O Q L A Y T A S
Last Month’s Answers
A C Q D P O K M H B Q K E B Q X R E W P L B B G R R G C X D L L B Q H P K S K Z J B B X G G C N B E B R T K K O U I V O U O P M N Q N O T T X F J B H T B Y J W V T A T J P N M U S N F N U I S Z F W Z Y Y P Y F S D R O F K C E P Q W O M O O R E S U P D S E H K T A I E X N S G E Z H H G E R E N A P I Q J M R Q S M A I L L I W Y E V Y I D S B I M P T G G O A U P I H K L X G P A V D H Y I Y Z B J H R X I I E L F Y X E Q H K A D U D J P R D R O S K N E H Z Z C L M W X X C Q R N A U C O Y U E T S W W Z R O I N U W A G T L F D V Q O L R S N Q E X O M T J Z G N K P O R G S E I O H I T Q F S P I R I X D U K K A Y R U O S R S Q H U P M H S X X P E O U U E U M N N Y D U D H T B Q C I H R S J U B M G A V Y U A C R C X A B H A X U W H Y I G R I M E S Q B L M L V X L L D Z L C L C V I P M J M M J K O A U M L I V X E B F L I I P L Z P M P Y G P T R V R I Q S H N F E Z M Z R K M K U Z M H D R C D T O K
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
123
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 124
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 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.” 124
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510_Puzzles_1701-puzzles 8/20/25 12:00 PM Page 125
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
125
2510Mktplace_0609 Marketplace.qxd 8/21/25 9:01 AM Page 126
Movers & Shippers
A Family Moving Families Professionally and economically Coast to Coast in Canada Fully Insured Newfoundland Owned & Operated
Contact: Gary or Sharon King
Not intended to solicit properties currently under contract
&' & ('&%$#"! ('&%$#"! '( '&# '( '&# #' #' # # !($# '! # # !($# '! ! #
Toll Free: 1-866-586-2341 www.downhomemovers.com
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 AWKmoving@gmail.com
Movers & Shippers
Ontario to Newfoundland and All Points in Between
Rates start at $175 for a 1 col. x 2" ad.
126
October 2025
Call Today! 709-726-5113 1-888-588-6353
Return Loads from NL, NS, NB, QC, ON at a Discounted Price
advertising@downhomelife.com
arent58@hotmail.com www.ar-moving.ca
905-424-1735
1-888-588-6353
2510Mktplace_0609 Marketplace.qxd 8/21/25 8:56 AM Page 127
2510_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 8/20/25 12:05 PM Page 128
GREAT GIFT IDEAS!
Fly on the Wall: The Best of Kevin Tobin #91961 | $29.95
Tsunami - The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster - Maura Hanrahan
Through Beothuk Land - Terry Foss
Chowder and Soups: 50 Recipes for the Home Chef - Liz Feltham #89885 | $22.95
What’s for Supper? -
Mummer’s Song: CD Enclosed - Bud Davidge
A Newfoundland and Labrador Christmas Wish - Necie
#91909 | $21.99
#91947 | $22.95
Thriving Liquor Business in the Prohibition Era Jean-Pierre Andrieux
#91609 | $34.95
Santa is Coming to Newfoundland - Steve Smallman - Hard Cover
#53807 | $19.99
#4055 | $16.95
Bonita Hussey
#92037 | $24.95
#79611 | $16.95 $6.00
ORDER ONLINE: www.shopdownhome.com
Prices subject to change without notice. Prices listed do not include taxes and shipping. While quantities last.
2510_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 8/20/25 12:05 PM Page 129
MORE SELECTION ONLINE www.shopdownhome.com
My Newfoundland Cookbook
Christmas in NL Memories & Mysteries -
- Chanelle Jefferson
Mike Martin
#91546 | $21.95
#77993 | $16.95
A Moose Goes A-Mummering
A Friend for Christmas - Mike Martin
- Lisa Dalrymple
#87451 | $14.99
#91550 • $27.99
#83078 | $19.95
Princess Sophie and the Christmas Elixir - Mike Martin #89802 | $14.99
#52955 | $12.95
2026 Ed Roche Artwork NL Calendar
Christmas in NL: Memories and Mysteries Volume 2 - Mike Martin
2026 Vertical Ed Roche Artwork NL Calendar #91551 • $17.99
TO ORDER CALL: 1-888-588-6353
2026 Ed Roche Artwork Agenda #91552 • $14.99
Prices subject to change without notice. Prices listed do not include taxes and shipping. While quantities last.
2510_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 8/20/25 12:05 PM Page 130
GREAT GIFT IDEAS!
CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
Carnation Milk Ornament
Tunnocks Caramel Log Ornament
#87477 | $5.99
#87475 | $5.99
Purity Hard Bread Ornament
Newfoundland Savoury Ornament
Fraser Farm Meatballs Ornament
#89149 | $5.99
#87476 | $5.99
Tetley Tea Box Ornament
Hawkins Cheezies Ornament
#89162 | $5.99
Zest Pickles Ornament
#89150 | $5.99
#89159 | $5.99
Good Luck Margarine Ornament #89157 | $5.99
#87479 | $5.99
ORDER ONLINE: www.shopdownhome.com
Prices subject to change without notice. Prices listed do not include taxes and shipping. While quantities last.
2510_Mailorder_Mail order.qxd 8/20/25 3:59 PM Page 131
MORE SELECTION ONLINE www.shopdownhome.com
Pineapple Crush Ornament
Newfie Slush Ornament
Fussell’s Cream Ornament
#89163 | $5.99
#89153 | $5.99
NL Christmas Cards - 10 Assorted
NL Christmas Cards - 25 Assorted
500 Piece Fogo Quilt Mummers Puzzle
Mummers in the Battery Fleece Throw
Mummers Hockey Fleece Throw
Mummers Boil Up Fleece Throw
#89532 | $3.49
#91522 | $24.99
#89531 | $7.99
#91523 | $24.99
TO ORDER CALL: 1-888-588-6353
#89161 | $5.99
#89794 | $15.99
#91521 | $24.99
Prices subject to change without notice. Prices listed do not include taxes and shipping. While quantities last.
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 132
the back porch the Labrador current
The Smokey Mountain Spectre By Nathan Freake
When Halloween comes around, I avoid the haunted
houses. I am the easily spooked type. As a child, I was frightened to death of anything out of the ordinary. I was the nervous wreck whose knees clacked together at the slightest nighttime noise. I’d avert my eyes from creepy masks and watch scary movies through the small slits in my fingers. I gave the spookiest-looking houses a wide berth when collecting candy on cold Halloween nights, the ones that you look at and think to yourself: “Now that person is obsessed with Halloween.”
I may have learned to cope with my fears over the years, but boy, it didn’t take much for kid Nathan to clatter his teeth at night in fear of what might be lurking in the dark. Of course, as everyone would say, there was nothing to be afraid of. Spooky ghost stories are just that: stories, figments of imagination meant for fun and entertainment. But what if the spooky stories hit a little closer to home? What if, instead 132
October 2025
of seeing and hearing about ghosts in haunted mansions across the globe on your living room TV, they actually came to life at night in your hometown? I was about 12 when I learned that this might very well be the case. “Guys, I have to tell you about the Smokey Mountain ghost,” says my friend, who shall go unnamed in case the paranormal creature decides to visit him. I kid. He continued. “My uncle, you know 1-888-588-6353
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 133
Tommy? He worked at the ski hill for a couple of years, and he told me about this ghost that comes out at night there.” Three or four of us were sitting in the basement of his house. It was getting to the point of the sleepover when I was just about ready to close my eyes and shut off any fear receptors in my brain. Not so on that particular night. The ghost, he says, lurked at the ski club in search of his brother, who got caught in a bad storm and never made it out. “Uncle Tommy was there one night, cleaning up after a party, and when midnight struck, he heard footsteps and banging on the door, and what sounded like a muffled yell: ‘Brother!’” Chills went down my spine. It’s a ghost story in its simplest form, but you have to understand the type of kid I was. Petrified. What shook me to my core is what he said next. “Sometimes, late at night, you can see him in the window. His face is white, his eyes are white, and if you catch his eye, he’ll bang on the glass, desperate to get to you, hoping you might be his brother. ” There’s something in those words that has never quite left me. Even now, as a father of two and one who should know better, that image has been lodged in my brain. The white face in the window, and the idea of a
phantom – a real one – trapped inside the walls of the ski club, hoping for his brother’s return that will never happen. I was never a frequent snowboarder, but I had spent many winters’ days in my youth on Smokey Mountain, zipping down the slopes. The Smokey Mountain Ski Club has always been a hopping spot for visitors and locals alike, rich with culture, history, and beauty. I had always known there was something you could feel in the air. What I hadn’t known, until that night, was its ghostly figure that stalks the halls and tends the flame in the hearth. That knowledge changed how I interacted with the place for quite a long time. Even to this day, whenever I step into the doors of the Smokey Mountain Ski Club (which is, sadly, far less often than I would like to), I can’t help but think, what if? I am older now, and even though I am much more in control of my fears – save for the occasional flight up the stairs to avoid the dark things lurking in the basement at my back – I still find myself wondering about the troubled ghost that resides in the Smokey Mountain Ski Club. The Smokey Mountain Spectre, I like to call him, as if giving him a name makes it feel like I have the upper hand.
Nathan Freake is a writer and educator from Labrador City. For any inquiries, you can reach Nathan at thelabcurrent@gmail.com
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
133
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 134
the back porch what odds
give and snake By Paul Warford
Exotic pets have always been a contention in my family since my mother tends to hate creepy-crawly things. Mom was also raised as a devout Christian and therefore, mistrusts the serpent on instinct.
134
October 2025
Can I just say, snakes aren’t so bad? I just
want to get that out before we get started. Why does it feel important to be the “cool” uncle, I wonder? My friend Miranda is the proud auntie of a new niece and nephew after her sister had twins (congratulations, Jessica & Shawn!), and already she’s obsessed with being the “cool” aunt, when she might in fact be the only aunt – I can’t remember if Shawn has sisters. Anyway, she’s making the kids fancy bibs on her Cricut, buying them splash pads and swingsets online, and urgently chasing that coveted status, which is funny to me cause the babies don’t even know what’s going on yet. Everyone is just a friendly adult to them for the time being, whether it’s Miranda or missus ringing through their baby formula at Sobey’s. I get it, though. Miranda wants to be the cool one, and so do I. My middle brother, Brian, was home from Mississauga with his wife, Andrea, and my nieces Willow and Holly, and the newest Warford addition, Max. Nanny and Poppy were some excited, and so was I; the kids hadn’t been home for a couple of years. Max was in a stroller last time, and this time he was walking and playing with old trucks hauled down from the attic that I’d forgotten all about. Willow is the oldest, and she’s quiet and contemplative. Like her father at that age, she doesn’t say much and tends to keep to herself. Like living with Brian in childhood, interacting and chatting with Willow becomes more meaningful as it happens simply because it’s a rare experience to begin with. I cherish each time we speak one-on-one. Holly, on the other hand, is more loquacious like me, and over lunch after landing, she spoke at length about the school she just left and the 1-888-588-6353
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 135
school she’s going to, her friends and her pets. Then Holly starts telling me she wants a snake. Exotic pets have always been a contention in my family since my mother tends to hate creepy-crawly things. Mom was also raised as a devout Christian and therefore, mistrusts the serpent on instinct. “What Odds” diehards might remember: I’ve kept tarantulas in the past because I love spiders for reasons I can’t explain. My parents were raised at a time when no one had money, and the dog was an animal kept on a chain in the yard. A snake doesn’t factor into that sort of upbringing; it makes no sense. These days, the family dog sleeps in their own bed and only goes outside for walks whilst wearing their custom harness. Things have changed. Besides, Nanny and Poppy aren’t involved in the decision when it comes to Holly and Willow’s potential reptiles (Willow volunteered that she’d like a bearded dragon). However, these animals were such a no-no in our childhood that Holly and Willow’s requested pets still seem significant even now. Brian likes dogs and monkeys, but I’ve never heard him say anything affectionate about snakes, so as Holly told me this at Pop’s Diner, I immediately thought to myself, “I gotta convince Brian to get her this snake.” “I think a snake sounds like a fine idea,” says I. “Y’know what exotic pet I’d like to have? An octopus,” which is true. As the days of their visit passed, I continued thinking about this snake www.downhomelife.com
and the likelihood that Brian and Andrea would cave and allow her one. I even considered just buying her the snake myself and forcing it upon their household in a true “cool” uncle move. You can’t get much cooler than a surprise snake. Then again, Brian and/or Andrea might disown me if I did such a thing, so I promised Holly as she departed that I would keep on her parents and really “push for it” on her behalf. You all have to keep the secret, but Andrea tells me that the snake is already a done deal; they just aren’t telling Holly yet. I can only assume the bearded dragon will also get the green light. I was so happy for Holly when I heard that I felt like I was getting the snake. I guess there’s a vicarious nature to all of this. Even in our messages, Andrea and I joked about how Nanny would never approve of such a thing when I was a kid. Andrea told me something even more thrilling in that exchange: Holly said that I was the “cool” uncle. I brimmed with pride then, in my quiet basement apartment, at the thought of meaning something to someone who means so much to me so many provinces away. Of course, it’s a somewhat hollow victory because Colin is my only competition, and he hasn’t been cool since 1999. Paul Warford began writing for Downhome to impress his mom and her friends. He writes and performs comedy in Eastern Canada. Follow him on X @paulwarford October 2025
135
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 136
the back porch ties to home
kelly’s island
buried treasures by dianna brown
With the shift in seasons, I wholeheartedly
welcome the longer evenings of fall; the cool chill in the air, and cosying up in a warm sweater or blanket to enjoy a hot cup of tea or a bowl of steaming beef stew. Living out west in the city, I miss the rich, vibrant colours of red, orange and gold of the maple, birch and poplar trees in parts of Newfoundland. I love autumn most of all, because it’s the season of thrills and chills, and I love a good ghost story, especially in October.
I’ve always been drawn to buried treasure. I recall how my curiosity for pirates and buried treasure was often provoked by the repetitive music-box melodies from the ice cream truck that would drive around our block. My eyes would scan the menu for Buried Treasure ice creams. Do you remember those? The cold treat consisted of orange sorbet with swirls of vanilla ice cream on a coloured plastic stick. It was the most exciting indulgence because after you 136
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 137
finished, an intricately designed character on the front and back of the stick would be uncovered. I kept a small collection of these sticks in my treasure chest jewelry box. It was a scarce treat, so the collection of colourful characters was as good as any loot I could keep in that chest. I went to school in Kelligrews, C.B.S., and I remember time spent in the schoolyard gazing out over the bay to Kelly’s Island. Tales of pirates, especially pirate Peter Easton and Captain Alphonsus Kelly, mesmerized my mind, and I craved to hear their blood-curdling legends. Kelly’s Island was a fortified base for these pirates, and I dreamed of one day unearthing their buried fortunes of gold coins. However, I was more fascinated by the pirate ghosts that guarded the loot. It was said that Captain Kelly, a lieutenant of Easton, shot one of his men with a flintlock pistol and buried him on top of the treasure, so that his ghost would protect the gold from thieving hands for eternity. Schoolyard stories warned that if you took anything off of Kelly’s Island, the pirate ghost would haunt you until you gave it back. Whether that part was true or not, no one I knew had the means to venture over the frigid waters, so it was always fun to scare the living daylights out of each other because there was no danger of actually taking something from the island. The thought of instigating the ghosts was fun, but only because we were at a safe distance, or at least we hoped so. My obsession with pirate stories intensified when my family took summer vacations around Newfoundland in the 90s. My mom, Nellie, grew up in Happy Adventure, Eastport, and I learned this town was named after Piwww.downhomelife.com
rate Peter Easton’s flagship, The Happy Adventure. I’ve also heard a different story, where Easton and his crew sought refuge in one of its coves, escaping capture by the French Navy. He later referred to his quest as a ‘Happy Adventure!’ Easton’s legend followed me further around the island when my family visited my great aunt in Codroy Valley. We’d always stop alongside the TransCanada Highway, just outside of Corner Brook, to search for the carved face of a man in the 40foot-tall cliff of Breakfast Head. To this day, I still think the image is a pirate. It’s said that pirate Peter Easton used the ‘Old Man in the Mountain’ as a marker, and that the face peers down in the direction of where three treasure chests were buried on Shellbird Island in the Humber River. Legend has it that all of Easton’s sites for buried treasure are guarded by ghastly pirate ghosts, ready to protect
the Old Man in the Mountain Sharon Bennett photo
October 2025
137
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 138
or seek vengeance on anyone who tries to take the treasure. Two of these chests are said to have been found, one in the late 1800s and another in the early 1900s, raising the hopes of treasure hunters to find the third undiscovered chest of gold. I believe this fascination with buried treasure is why I love beachcombing, searching for deep ocean secrets reluctantly given up by the rolling tides. You’ll find me with pockets stuffed full of interesting rocks, sea glass, driftwood, seashells and bits of rusted metal. I love treasure hunting with metal detectors along coastlines and magnet fishing from wharves and boats. I’ve only ever pulled up the odd fish hook or metal bottle cap, but the idea of discovering something unique is thrilling. The closest I’ve ever come
to treasure, and my absolute favourite find, is a cobalt blue sea glass marble. Ghostly pirate stories have followed me into adulthood as I recently finished my second novel, Saltwater Stranger, which is stitched together with underlying pirate stories that have fascinated me my entire life. During my summer visit back home, I finally set foot on Kelly’s Island. My childhood fantasy and grown-up imagination merged, and I could see the characters and scenes from my book play out in my mind’s eye. I would love to return to the island with a metal detector and hike the Kelly’s Island Trail. I’d love to hear your ghastly pirate stories and the greatest treasure you’ve ever unearthed to add to my favourite Halloween tales!
Dianna Brown is a hockey mom, an elementary school teacher and author of two novels: Saltwater Joys and Saltwater Stranger. She was born in Gander, currently resides in Calgary, and loves to visit her hometown, Kelligrews, C.B.S. You can reach her at diannabrown.tiestohome@gmail.com
138
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 139
Downhome subscribers SAVE and receive BONUS extras including:
12 issues Downhome magazine
Plus
Plus
Downhome Wall Calendar†
Explore Travel Guide††
42
Subscriptions $ start at
s PluTwo issues Inside Labrador†††
99* That’s like getting plus applicable taxes
5 FREE ISSUES!
Subscribe Today! www.downhomelife.com/join Tel: 709-726-5113 • email: mail@downhomelife.com * Valid in Canada on a 1-year term. Total inc. taxes, postage and handling: for residents in NL, NB, PE $49.44; NS $49.01; ON $48.58; QC, SK, MB, AB, BC, NU, NT, YT $45.14; US $54.99; International $59.99. †Delivered with December’s issue. ††Delivered with June’s issue. Canadian mailing only. †††Delivered with a spring and fall issue.
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 140
the back porch from our readers
IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN, THAT MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR GROCERY CHAIN HAS DECLARED WAR.
I don’t know why the government doesn’t put a stop to it. After all, there are no taxes on a turkey. As you might imagine, Aunt Lizzie is in a fighting mood. By now, she is a seasoned veteran, having already been through the Ham Wars there last spring. Not to mention a few minor skirmishes with the 10kg all-purpose flour and the not-soon-forgotten “dollar a can” evaporated milk campaign. Come to think of it, that was the only argument poor Fred ever won over her in their 50-plus years of marriage. Yes, my son, ol’Fred put the foot down on that one, alright. After he had filled the trunk of the car with case after case of tin milk and more in the backseat, he finally told Lizzie that was enough. After all, he said, if they broke a strut or two getting down the shore with the bumper scraping the pavement, she’d have to go halves on the replacement cost. Aunt Lizzie, after making a quick mental note of how many Bingo games she would have to forfeit to do that, gave in. 140
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 141
I know what you’re thinking: there he goes again, making fun of old people. Well, let me tell you, I’m not. Sure, I’m over seventy myself. But the specials don’t bother me so much ‘cause I live alone since the missus passed away almost 10 years ago. Now, what’s a fella living by hisself going to do with a turkey or a ham? Not to mention a car-load of tin milk. And just in case you think I’m picking on poor Aunt Lizzie, that’s not true. Sure, Mavis up the bay and her man got a pickup truck. You don’t want to get in her way around them turkeys. Then there’s Mary down the harbour. She pretends she’s blind, barrels through the crowd wearing those dark glasses like a freight train. It’s not just
the old people; the younger ones are just as bad, if not worse. I forgot to warn you about the time warp that’s somewhere in that store; that’s why us seniors carry hairspray when we go there. Ok, so what if old Mary was the one who told us about using the hairspray. She saw it in a movie on television. Old people like us can’t afford to lose nine months off our time here on Earth, and for sure and certain, the women don’t want to miss all them Bingo games. There you go again, thinking I’m some kind of crazy old fool. Well, I’m going to straighten you out on that real quick. During the last Turkey War, I was looking at the fruit and vegetables just as you come in the
The only thing I knew about birds and bees was that they both had wings and could fly. Sure, we were convinced babies came from the cabbage garden.
www.downhomelife.com
October 2025
141
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 142
There was a big commotion out in the parking lot when one of the young women collapsed going to her car. store, wondering who in the name of god could afford to buy any of that stuff when these three young women came in one after the other. Now, they were all young women in their mid-to-late twenties, different sizes and shapes, but none were in the late stages of pregnancy. I should admit here that growing up around here in my time, most young people never knew much about the birds and bees. Our parents didn’t talk about that stuff, and the teachers at school weren’t allowed. The only thing I knew about birds and bees was that they both had wings and could fly. Sure, we were convinced babies came from the cabbage garden. So, to get back to my story about the time warp. About 20 minutes later by my watch, the same young women looked like they were about to deliver. Now go figure that if you can. There 142
October 2025
was a big commotion out in the parking lot when one of the young women collapsed going to her car. The ambulance was called, and someone said it was caused by hypothermia. The policeman who showed up said it was a case of shoplifting. Don’t know where he went to med-school. None of them young women looked to me like they could lift a ten-pound bag of potatoes, let alone a shop. In the meantime, Aunt Lizzie, was once again armed to the teeth with her walker in front of her and the cane in her left hand, which again had that violent twitch in it. Thankfully, there were no unsuspecting visitors from the mainland. So she and Fred got away with their eight or ten huge turkeys, and yes, the sign said “two to a customer.” They had the car loaded and were on their way down the shore in less than two hours. Good thing, 1-888-588-6353
2510backporch_Layout 1 8/20/25 11:41 AM Page 143
too, because it was Thursday, Fred’s only night out with the boys at the Legion, and of course, Aunt Lizzie was going to Bingo – minus her cane and walker. She couldn’t resist telling Fred not to be wasting his money on beer, which he always thought was strange, being this was her fourth night at Bingo so far this week. I heard a couple of days later that Mavis and her man got pulled over by that same policeman. It seems halfway home, the police car came upon them
him in the chest with her index finger, leaving a hole in his bulletproof vest, she wasn’t even sure if live turkeys could fly. She was lucky he didn’t arrest her for assaulting a police officer. Meanwhile, Old Mary took one look at the situation through her dark glasses and decided to call in reinforcements. Her oldest son and grandson both own Alberta pickups. The whole thing was most likely planned down to the tiniest detail two nights before in the War Room – more com-
A couple of hours later, while all the commotion was going on in the parking lot with the young lady who collapsed, no one noticed the convoy of two Alberta pickups and the mini car between them that left the parking lot and proceeded down the harbour. and signalled for them to pull over. The officer gave Mavis’s man a ticket because he pointed out that the law required a loose load in the back of a truck should be covered or tied down. After all, if one of those frozen turkeys were to fly out of the pickup and strike an oncoming vehicle, someone could get seriously injured or killed. The officer wrote out a second ticket when Mavis, not too ladylike, tried to point out to him that frozen turkeys can’t fly. Furthermore, while poking www.downhomelife.com
monly known as the back porch of Mary’s house. A couple of hours later, while all the commotion was going on in the parking lot with the young lady who collapsed, no one noticed the convoy of two Alberta pickups and the mini car between them that left the parking lot and proceeded down the harbour. Old Mary always rides between the two pickups, but she’ll drive under the lead vehicle, and her grandson will close the gap if there’s any sign of a drone attack. October 2025
143
2510_photo Finish_0609 Photo Finish 8/20/25 12:20 PM Page 144
photo finish
Sunset Behind Me
Steaming home near River of Ponds. Lillian Patey River of Ponds, NL
Do you have an amazing or funny photo to share? Turn to page 9 to find out how to submit. 144
October 2025
1-888-588-6353
2510-Cover-NL_0609-Cover-NFLD 8/21/25 12:59 PM Page 3
2510-Cover-NL_0609-Cover-NFLD 8/21/25 12:59 PM Page 4