Not Too Long Ago ...Seniors Tell Their Stories The Seniors Resource Centre St. John's, Newfoundland Copyright © 1999, Seniors Resource Centre All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher. Address all inquiries to: Seniors Resource Centre Suite W240, 120 Torbay Road St. John's, Newfoundland A1A 2G8 1-800-563-5599 Design and layout by Jerry Cranford. Printed by Robinson-Blackmore Printing and Publishing. Financial Support for this project has been provided by the National Literacy Secretariat (Human Resources Development Canada) and the Literacy Development Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Cranford, Garry, 1950- Not too long ago ISBN 0-96851-0-9 1. Readers for new literates. 2. Readers - Newfoundland - History 3. Newfoundland - History I. Title PE1126.N43C73 1999 428.6'2 C99-950071-6 Dear Reader: On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Seniors Resource Centre, I am very pleased to present Not Too Long Ago, a collection of stories from seniors. To everyone who contributed stories, I wish to offer my heartfelt thanks. You have created a marvellous reading resource for seniors who are motivated to improve their literacy skills. It is most appropriate that this collection is being released in this International Year Of The Older Person. As members of our community of seniors, you have unselfishly offered these stories to other seniors who had learning challenges in their younger days. By creating a book of stories of such a high interest to seniors, it will make the process of learning and improving reading skills more enjoyable. Not only seniors and those learning to read will enjoy these stories. I am quite sure that everyone interested in Newfoundland and Labrador culture will be enriched by your experiences. I would also like to thank the Seniors Resource Centre's Literacy Project Committee for overseeing this project. Thanks also to the students in the Rabbittown Learners Programme, and those seniors who read the raw material and who made invaluable suggestions. Charles S. Rennie, Chair Board of Directors Senior Resource Centre Acknowledgements I wish to thank the sixty-three seniors who contributed to Not Too Long Ago. It is said that experience is a great teacher. If so, your experiences are about to give readers a great education in Newfoundland and Labrador history and culture. All of you have greeted me in your homes, and offered an open invitation to return. I would like to thank you for their hospitality. On behalf of generations to come, I congratulate you on your contributions to this book. Producing Not Too Long Ago took the cooperation of many people across the province. This would not have been possible without those who know our communities and who know our seniors. I wish to thank Joan MacLean of Northwest River and Janet Skinner and Donna Paddon of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In Cartwright, Jessie Bird also recommended many wonderful people to be interviewed. Across Newfoundland, contributors were recommended by our network of seniors, peer advocates, community leaders and personal contacts: Barbara Barrett of Arnold's Cove, Linda Bath of Bonavista, Dorothy Bonnell of Bell Island, Peggy Doucette of Port au Port, Theresa Greeley of Gander, Evelyn Grondin-Bailey of Burin, Harriett Greene of Port aux Basques, Stella Hollett of Burin, Catherine Pennell of Trepassey, Philip Power of Grand Falls, Gladys Snow of Rocky Harbour, and Jim Young of Twillingate. Thank you all. I would like to thank Coordinator Doris Hapgood, the teachers, and the students of the Rabbittown Learners Programme who workshopped the material. Thanks to Pam Rideout and Janet Goosney of Teachers On Wheels and the other members of the Seniors Resource Centre Literacy Committee. Thanks to our readers: Hazel Blackwood, Evelyn Percy, Rick Simon, Brigitta Schmid, and Mary Woodruff. Don McDonald and David White of the Literacy Development Council also offered valuable feedback and comments. Thanks to volunteer Jerry Cranford for the design and layout of the book. Financial Support for this project has been provided by the National Literacy Secretariat (Human Resources Development Canada) and the Literacy Development Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. Garry Cranford Writer/Researcher The Stories And Their Organization The stories in Not Too Long Ago were collected from seniors across the province, primarily through taped interviews, supplemented by written submissions. The reading style is as varied as the storyteller, and edited as little as possible, in an effort to retain the original flavour of the conversation. In all, there are sixty-six stories and poems. The goal of this project was to bring together, under one cover, a collection of stories that represented a culture to which mature Newfoundland and Labrador readers could easily relate. By doing so, it is hoped that the content will have as high an interest level as possible to those readers this book is aimed at: the adult reader. All major regions are represented. The stories are arranged into five sections based on the place of residence of the seniors telling them. For ease of organization, the material is grouped under the following geographic regions: · Avalon · Eastern · Central · Western · Labrador Generally speaking, the setting of each story takes place in the communities or regions of the province where the storyteller now lives. For instance, the trapline stories of Labrador are told by individuals who live in Labrador. However, there are exceptions. For instance, Frank Mercer's story is set in Labrador, but he resides in Bay Roberts, so his story is grouped with those of the Avalon. Likewise, the baby in the mailbag resides in St. John's, but her dramatic story took place on the west coast of the island. I would suggest that the reader study the Table of Contents. Either the titles or the sections under which the stories are listed will suggest the geographic setting. TABLE OF CONTENTS EASTERN Bell Island Miner Charlie Bown Seal Fingers Arnold Chafe The Bell Island Ambulance Arthur Clarke Outport Nurse Margaret Giovannini Recollections of Placentia Bay Berkley Ingram Baby In A Mail Bag Hilda Menchions Ranger Mercer's Mission Frank Mercer The Wreck Of Trhe Florizel (1918) Paddy McCarthy Straight From The Heart Phyllis Mercer The Hard Winter of 1959 Anastasia Molloy The Dog Harp Seal Richard Westcott BURIN-BONAVISTA The Rock In The Box Eric Blackwood Did John Cabot Land At Bonavista? Gordon Bradley I Lost My Love For School Rhoda Collins Food Aplenty! Wilson Hayward Maura Falton Milley Johnson I Worked For Sir William Coaker Ena Mifflin Midwife Ida (Mayo) Pittman Addie Pittman Twillingate Fisherman Hubert Waterman Farewell Eyes! Art Wicks Tidal Wave: Adrift In A House Pearl Hatfield Tidal Wave: On Great Burin Island Louise Hollett Tidal Wave: At Lord's Cove Mary McKenna Tidal Wave: My Experience Eloise Morris Tidal Wave: Kelly's Cove Marion Moulton CENTRAL Big Game Outfitter Howard Elliott The Lost And Found Teeth Dorothy Goodyear Turring In Twillingate - Overboard! Wilbur Greenham "Just There" Was A Long Way James John Train Conductor Gordon Lannon Caught In The Act! Madeline Lannon Twillingate Lighthouse Keeper Jack May Baptism Under Fire Ernest Peyton Shrove Tuesday Mary Pittman Station VOGF, Grand Falls, 1933 Geraldine Power A Drastic Hunting Experience Stewart Ralph The Ghost Of Aunt Sally Barker Captain Johnny Russell The Gully Enid Smith Ray Stoodley's War Story Tom Stoodley The IWA Strike Stirling Thomas Shipwrecked on the S.S. Bruce James S. Young WESTERN NEWFOUNDLAND Retired? Kathleen Abbott I Survived The Wreck Of The Caribou John T. Dominie Shipwreck At Piccadilly Cyril DuBourdieu I Called The Wilderness Mother Wild Norman Gabriel I Joined The Navy Ralph Harvey Campbell's Creek In The Forties And Fifties Florence MacDonald The Cow Head Double Axe Murder Amy Nicolle An Adventure In The Merchant Marine Harold Richards The Cement Sink Gordon Shears Cormack, Newfoundland, Part One Iris Shears Cormack, Newfoundland, Part Two Iris Shears The Lumberwoods, 1930 George Snow Port Au Port Midwife Millie Young LABRADOR Inge Barth's Story, Labrador Inge Barth My Labrador Life Ruby Budgell Blackberry Wine And Ranger Mercer Gladys Burdett Trapper From Paradise River Howard Lethbridge Father Showed Me Everything Maxwell McLean Going Through The Ice Cyril Michelin Grenfell Nurse From Northwest River Florence Michelin Aunt Emily Falls In Myrtle Morris Storytelling Florence Oliver Grenfell Mission Nurse Sheila Paddon The Fox Bait Leslie Pardy The Dirty Lynx Absalom Williams Bell Island Miner Charlie Bown Charlie Bown was born in Newfoundland. His father came from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland to manage one of the two companies mining on Bell Island. When Charlie Bown grew up, he went to work as a Bell Island miner. ON THE MORNING of January 17, 1938, I made my first trip down into No. 6 Mine. The previous week had been spent going to the Main Office to get hired on. I was given a small brass disk with a number stamped into it. With this disk, I became only a number, no longer a name. The number would allow me to go to the company store to pick up a miner's helmet, a wide leather belt for my waist to hold my lamp, coveralls and safety boots. I was told the hours of work: Ten hours per day, 60 hours per week at the rate of 32 cents per hour, or $19.20 a week. I was also given a book on safety regulations. About 6 a.m. on Monday morning I went to the dry-house, or change building, by No. 6 Mine. In this building I was given a line on which I could hang up my clothes.