Heart's Content to receive provincial heritage district designation

On Saturday afternoon, July 20th, 2013, as part of Heart’s Content Heritage Day, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) will celebrate the designation of the Heart’s Content Provincial Registered Heritage District and will unveil a plaque recognizing this designation.

“Historic districts are geographically defined areas which create a special sense of time and place,” says Frank Crews, Chairperson, HFNL. “Above all, a historic district of provincial significance must have a ‘sense of history’, minimal intrusive elements, and the district's historic characteristics must predominate.”

The origins of the Heart’s Content heritage district date to 1866 when a transatlantic communications cable was successfully landed in the community. Included in the district are staff houses built by the Anglo-American Telegraph Company and Western Union Telegraph Company as well as buildings associated with the development of the community such as Heyfield Memorial United Church, the Methodist School and the Society of United Fishermen (SUF) Hall.

The application for the designation of the district by HFNL was made jointly by the Town of Heart’s Content and the Mizzen Heritage Society. The plaque will be unveiled on the grounds of the Mizzen Heritage Community Museum at 2 o’clock pm on July 20th.

The event will also serve as the launch of the “So Many Stories, So Many Traditions” oral history booklet that was compiled between fall 2012 and spring 2013. The booklet launch will take place at a reception at the SUF hall following the plaque unveiling.

The event is free and open to the public.

Photo: A vintage photograph of boys from the community including

Lloyd Smith, Art Button, and Art Cumby.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Tolson Shears his Sheep

Yesterday evening Tolson Rendell of Heart's Content invited me to observe him shearing one of his sheep. It is a tradition that only two people in the town still practice, the other being his good friend Jack Smith. Tolson will be putting his animals out to pasture for the summer this coming weekend, so has lots of work to do before then. It usually takes him just over 2 hours to fully shear a sheep, and he uses scissors rather than electric shears because he believes them to be safer for the animal. He takes his time and makes sure to do a thorough job. Tolson clearly loves his animals and exclaimed "Isn't nature wonderful!" more than once during my visit. There were many newborns animals around the yard, and I couldn't help but notice how happy Tolson was to see them running around. This photo shows the mother sheep named Black being watched by her new lamb, who wasn't very patient about waiting for this whole shearing thing to be done. 

-Lisa

Tuesday's Folklore Photo

I know that it's spring now and snowy landscapes are not exactly what we want to be looking at, but I thought it would be nice to say goodbye to winter by looking at this fantastic photograph of unbridled winter fun. This photo was taken by Ted Rowe in Heart's Content during the early 1960s and shows boys playing hockey on harbour ice. Nowadays the harbour doesn't freeze over like this, and groups of children no longer gather together to play hockey outdoors. This photo is a nostalgic peek into days gone by--a special thanks to Ted Rowe for sharing it.
-Lisa

Getting Closer to Designation, Heart's Content

 

On the evening of February 27th, 2013, the Heritage Foundation held a public meeting in Heart's Content to discuss the upcoming heritage district designation. This designation, scheduled for July of this year, aims to commemorate the unique history and architecture that resulted from the long-term presence of the telegraph cable industry in this community. Our meeting took place in the beautifully restored SUF Hall, a historic building in central Heart's Content.We had excellent turn-out with over 25 residents showing up to ask questions and learn more about what this kind of commemoration will mean to the community. This meeting was important for the HFNL because it gave us an opportunity to find out what issues are important to the people who live here and how heritage-related projects might help address some of these. It was inspiring to have so many people show up and take interest in what is going on here, despite the blustery cold weather we had. Thanks to everyone for coming out, and for all of the great input. I look forward to a continued relationship with the town of Heart's Content, as well as the official plaque ceremony that we will be holding this summer.

-Lisa

Dale Jarvis addresses community members and discusses the impending heritage designation.

HFNL's George Chalker (in blue) standing with John, Bob, and Claude of the Mizzen Heritage Society.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Orangemen Marching Band

This photograph was provided by the Mizzen Heritage Society's archives in Heart's Content. It shows the Orangemen Brass Marching Band. At one time there were two marching bands in Heart's Content, and they played at all the different events in town. This photo is undated but is likely from the 1940s or 50s.

To learn more about the Orange Order of Canada, please click here.

-Lisa

A Valentine's themed ICH newsletter, sealed with a kiss!

In this special February edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, our contributors get all romantic. Learn about the Heritage Foundation's celebration of Heritage Day 2013, enjoy some traditional Czech pernicky (gingerbread), explore love stories from the appropriately named community of Heart's Content, see how an outport nurse celebrated her honeymoon, and lock up your loved ones. We love you, folklore!

Download the PDF

Contributors: Andrea O'Brien, Christina Robarts, Lisa Wilson, Nicole Penney, Dale Jarvis

Days of the Bulldozer

One thing you can count on during wintertime in Newfoundland is that everyone starts talking about the local snow plows. Whether you are happy with their work on your street, or have a dozen things to complain about, we all know that we are better off with them than without. I recently had a chat with Lloyd Smith of Heart's Content about how they used to deal with snow on the roads before the days of the plow. Our conversation was inspired by a photograph he showed me from 1959 of a bulldozer pushing snow off the roads. To see this photo and hear Lloyd's recollections of getting around during the winter when he was young, watch the video below. After that, hear him talk about how the town would use a horse and dray to deal with all the potholes that would appear once the snow had fully melted.


 
 

Fingers crossed that we don't get another huge snowfall anytime soon. In the meantime, let's all thank the local snow plowers who are doing a great deal of hard work this year. -Lisa

The Paranormal in Heart's Content

As a folklorist, it isn't every day that you get to hear a good ghost or fairy story, but then on some days, people will tell you two or three. Doing fieldwork for the Heart's Content heritage district this past Wednesday, a few residents shared some of what they know about the paranormal in Heart's Content. Art Cumby had a wonderful fairy story to share, along with a photograph of himself hanging out with the other boys he knew as a child. You'll find him standing up, wearing a striped shirt. He and his friend Art Button (also wearing a striped shirt) were just 11 years old when this happened to them:

Gina Balsom, on the other hand, has been working as an interpreter at the Cable Station historic site for several years. She explained that while she has never had any strange experiences or feelings in the old building, a few visitors certainly have. Here is what Gina had to say about working in a supposedly haunted space:

Thanks to Art and Gina for sharing their stories. In fact, I'm always looking for a good ghost or fairy story. If you know of any from the Heart's Content or Bay Roberts (my next heritage district destination), please drop me a line at lisa@heritagefoundation.ca.

-Lisa

Ponies, Perogies, Skateboarding and more

ICH Update for January 2013

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is conducting a needs assessment survey to measure the type and amount of ICH related training needed in the province; work continues on the Foundation's documentation of the Heart's Content Registered Heritage District; intern Joelle Carey starts work on a project identifying living Newfoundland Ponies; new ICH intern Christina Robarts works with Memorial University Department of Folklore professor Dr. Mariya Lesiv on "Newfiki" - celebration of eastern-European cultures in Newfoundland; the Rooms announces a scrapbooking workshop; and Nicole Penney presents on a collection of skateboard videos which will become part of the province's inventory of intangible cultural heritage.

Contributors: Nicole Penney, Lisa Wilson, Joelle Carey, and Christina Robarts
Download the PDF

ICH Conference in Flanders

Recently, ICH Development Officer Dale Jarvis was invited to take part in an ICH conference in Mechelen, Flanders. The topic was participative methods for inventorying or documenting elements of ICH, and the conference included presentations from Joanne Orr - Museums Galleries Scotland (Scotland), Paulo Ferreira da Costa - Institute for Museums and Conservation (Portugal), Hans van der Linden - Agency for Arts and Heritage Flanders (Belgium), Jorijn Neyrinck & Ellen Janssens - tapis plein – Center of Expertise for heritage participation and intangible cultural heritage (Belgium), Eva Van Hoye & Kim Van Belleghem - Heritage units Mechelen & TERF (Belgium), and Marc Jacobs - FARO. Flemish interface for cultural heritage; VUB - Free University Brussels – Heritage Studies and Ethnology (Belgium).

Download Dale's presentation on ICH inventory work in PDF