I Guess I Was a Fighter: Growing Up in Heart's Delight-Islington with Sadie Rowe

Sadie Rowe, originally of Heart's Delight-Islington, is a natural storyteller. She says she grew up in a time before smart phones and tablets, and found joy in buying candy for a penny and catching connors on the wharf, and playing hide and seek in the barrels inside Mr Aaron Rowe's cooper shop.

Here are some of her reminiscences about growing up in Heart's Delight-Islington!

Heritage Foundation NL · Sadie Rowe - Small As A Teacup

When I was born, I was only a pound and a half, and they could set me in a teacup. And people came from all over to see me. There was a gentleman from Heart's Delight who was from the Southeast side and he was home from Boston, and he came to see me and to take a picture because he said, "If I tell somebody this, they won't believe it." So, he said, "I just hope the picture comes out!" When I was born the midwife said that she placed me in a dresser drawer and told mom that she would come down in the morning and bury me, because, she said, "there's no way she's going to live." So, mom said, "Well, if she dies, it won't be in a dresser drawer." And she took me and placed me inside her nightdress and kept me there for about two months, you know, off and on. Wrapped me in flannel, and she used to feed me with an eye dropper with a tiny drop of milk with a little tiny drop of cod liver oil and boiling water, and they would sterilize everything. And that's how I survived. I guess I was a fighter because I wasn't going to reach the finish line and not win the race! So mom said I just came ahead and everything was fine.

Heritage Foundation NL · Sadie Rowe - Sledding In The Garden

We weren't allowed to do anything on Sundays, and I remember once Sunday my mother and father had taken my younger sister and they went to visit, and Mabel and I had been in Sunday School. So, when we came home, out in our garden there was a real steep hill, and it had a really good sheet of ice. And Mabel and I thought, well, we'd take our sleighs and go out and slide. I came out over the hill flying and almost went through the fence, and I realised that Mabel was coming. She was younger than me. So, I realised she was coming down behind me. So, I said, "I have to stop her because she's going to be hurt!" Well, when she came down the hill, she slid off her sleigh, came down the hill on her belly, and the buttons off her coat came down ahead of her, and they were rolling down the hill! And I just rolled with laughter! I managed to catch her when she got to the bottom, and all the front of her coat was torn where the buttons were. Well, we knew we were in trouble. And we went into the house and waited for mom and dad to come home, and when they came home they looked at us and knew that there was something. And Mabel showed mom her coat. Well, we never ever got spanked anyway but mom took Mabel up in her arms and dad took me, and I saw both of them cry because the tears were rolling off of their face, not because her coat was torn but because they realised that we could have gotten seriously hurt that day. And we got a good talking to and we were told that we were never to do it again. And I don't think Mabel and I went out in that garden to slide after. It really sank in that what we did was wrong.

Heritage Foundation NL · Sadie Rowe - Think Twice Before You Mess With The Girl

The teachers always went home to lunch, but the basement door was always left open in case it rained. When we'd come back to go to school we were allowed to go in there and wait for school to open at 2 o'clock. So, I guess one day the boys decided to play a trick on us girls and decided to lock us out and we got wet. So, me and a few more girls decided that we would tie them in the basement. So, we found some twine and we tied them in, and the teacher came, and we all went in school but a lot of the older boys was missing. The teacher kept looking and listening and finally asked, "What's going on here today?" No one said a word, so they kept asking. Then we finally had to tell him what happened. He said, "Well! We have to let them out sometime!" So, seeing it was my idea, he said, "You go and let them out." When I opened the door, of course, they looked at me and they were very sheepish and very ashamed of theirselves. So, they all walked in school, and the teacher said, "I guess a lesson was learned here today. You boys, you'll think twice before you mess with the girls again!"

Do you have memories of growing up in Heart's Delight-Islington? We'd love to hear them. Get in touch at ich@heritagenl.ca!

Do you remember being sent to the store as a child? #Folklorephoto

028.03.193 Four unidentified children in front of  Broad Cove with a jar of mustard pickles.
Photo courtesy of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.

The above photo shows four unidentified children in front of Broad Cove in St. Philip's, who look like they may have just come from a stop at a local store. One little girl holds a jar of mustard pickles, another has something in her hand, maybe a chocolate bar? Do you have memories of your parents sending you to the store as a child? How far did you walk? What did you have to pick up?

~ Kelly

#Folklorephoto Children with Sleds in Woody Point. Do You Have Memories of Sliding?

This photograph of "Bruce and Harry" ready to go sliding in Woody Point, is part of a collection of snapshots taken by residents of the Woody Point area. Images were collected by Charlie Payne and donated to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador as documentation of this Registered Heritage District. To see more items from the Bonne Bay area visit the MUN Digital Archives Initiative

8mm Films of Grand Falls-Windsor Families, C.L.B, and Community

The following four films are the final batch of reels I have digitized for the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society. They show various aspects of life in the area, with a mix of spliced together clips alternating colour film with black and white. The children and families shown in the reels are likely relatives of the photographer, Albert Hillier who had 4 siblings, and 19 nieces and nephews. I also wonder if his wife Enid is in the footage. Hopefully those who knew Albert will be able to identify some of these people in his life.

This first film starts by showing one of the Church Lads Brigade camps. Like one of our previous C.L.B reels, it shows some sort of silly parade with the adult C.L.B. members marching while wearing paper hats and carrying a flag made from a pair of white pants. Again, I am wonder if this was a tradition C.L.B. camps in general, or was it specific to this camp. The reel then changes to black and white (the scenes have been spliced together) and we see two women, a baby, and a young boy on a beach, and then in the back seat of a car. The next scene shows the young boy, and another older boy eating bread while sitting on the rocky beach, they are joined by a man who poses with the boy in front of the camera.

The next reel is a similar mix of colour film and black and white, what looks to be from different years. It starts showing a group of shirtless men outside drinking from a jug. Do you recognize the house in the background? We then see one of these men holding a puppy. The reel cuts to a game of football in front of the same house, likely with the same group of men. Then there is a scene showing a C.L.B event near a church. This clip is not very clear but you can see some of the buildings in the area. The reel then changes to colour, and appears to be much later footage. A young girl with brunette braids is on a boat and sticks her tongue out to the camera. Is she one of Hillier's nieces? The film cuts again to a man outside carrying a sack and a truck carries lumber in the background. A baby in a yellow beret sits in a pram looking at the camera. The last scene is black and white, very briefly showing a man standing next to a tripod setup, and what looks like a large pot over a fire.

Next is a short 30 second reel that shows men in a grassy area surrounded by trees, playing football and tackling each other. The same house that was in the background of the last film, can be seen in this one.

The final film of this collection, begins with a child in a red coat playing in the snow. In the background there is writing in the snow, most of which I cannot read but I do see the date 1945. The same child is then seen being walked in a stroller along a paved road. The reel cuts to a dark scene indoors, possibly with the same child, along with some adults. The child looks like they maybe playing with a camera. The reel then shows men outside in the winter, and various scenes of the Grand Falls-Windsor Mill and the dam.

Whether or not you have connections with the area, I hope you have enjoyed viewing these films. If you recognize any of the locations or people in these films, please email kelly@heritagefoundation.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep025 Charis Cotter on Kids, Writing, and Local History

Charis Cotter is an award-winning children’s writer, actor, and storyteller who has worked extensively in schools telling Newfoundland ghost stories and encouraging students to collect local ghost stories from their communities. In 2013 she published The Ghosts of Baccalieu, a book of traditional ghost stories by students from Tricon Elementary in Bay de Verde. Her latest storytelling presentation, The Ghosts of Grates Cove, is an hour of ghost stories from one of the most haunted places in Newfoundland, Conception Bay North.

We discuss Charis’s work as an author, how she teaches children facts through games and fun, school programs, and ghost stories.