Pouch Cove Heritage Committee launches new book

Guest blog post from Dan Rubin

On Sunday, May 4th at 2 PM, the Pouch Cove Heritage Committee will launch a newly published book of local stories and images, Pouch Cove – Our Home by the Sea, at All Saints Anglican Church in Pouch Cove. Everyone is invited to attend, to help us celebrate this major achievement.

The book was developed and designed by six members of the heritage group, who have assembled material for a 186-page, richly illustrated history of the communities of Pouch Cove, Shoe Cove and Biscayan Cove from the time of their founding up to the present. More than fifty people contributed photographs, stories and documents for inclusion in the book. With more than 230 illustrations and a comfortable spiral binding, the book is being hailed by readers as a major accomplishment and a milestone for the community.

Pouch Cove – Our Home by the Sea has sections about Early Settlement, Fishing, Sealing, Local Merchants, Losses and Tragedies, Local Agriculture, Veterans, Women’s Lives, local groups and associations, the Pouch Cove Public Library, Schools, Churches and Church groups, The Pouch Cove Volunteer Fire Department, Sports and Recreation, Holidays and Celebrations, Health and Healing. In addition, the Cape St. Francis Lighthouse, Shoe Cove Satellite Tracking Stations, East Coast Trail and Marine Drive Park are highlighted. Collected Stories and Poems and a section of 22 pages of photographs of local families complete the collection. Introductory sections written by Pouch Cove Mayor Joedy Wall, MHA Kevin Parsons and Dr. Edgar Williams set the tone for the rich collection of information in the book.

As Kevin Parsons observes in his Preface, “This book does a wonderful job of highlighting the resilience, kindness and rich history of Pouch Cove and its residents. It is so important that the stories of our rural communities continue to be told, so that our children can know and understand how their parents and grandparents lived, how they persevered as a community through the hard times and how they also enjoyed the good times together.”

Copies of the book are available at local outlets and can be ordered online from www.pouchcoveheritage.org.

The Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation and The HFNL

Here at the Heritage Foundation we love to help support the many different heritage groups around the province. Recently, we have been meeting with the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, and are helping them plan and organize an upcoming forum for the Baccalieu Trail.

The Baccalieu Trail is a 230km touring route in Newfoundland which runs from Markland, to Whitbourne, Heart's Content, Grates Cove, Bay de Verde, Victoria, Carbonear, Harbour Grace, Spaniard's Bay, Cupids, Brigus, and many, many places in between. The over 70 communities and stops along the trail are rich with tradition and heritage, and the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation is organizing a forum to bring them all together, share ideas, and offer support.

The planning is still in its infancy at this point, but we are working together to organize their event, and get things off the ground!

Keep an eye on the blog for updates and news about the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation.

if you're interested in attending on behalf of your community or foundation, please contact sarah@heritagefoundation.ca

The Protest Songs of Quidi Vidi

Confronting change can be a major challenge for the long-time residents of any community. Across the province, for residents of rural and urban communities alike, it's a struggle that many have experienced. For the residents of Quidi Vidi Village, for example, this kind of challenge has been persisting over several years. In terms of change around land use and development, it seems that the village is beyond the point of no return. During a recent series of oral history interviews I conducted "in the gut," many present and former residents reflected fondly on the village's past, but also stressed the negative impact of such drastic change, on both a personal level and on the welfare of the greater community.

Something that everyone can recall is how the community banded together to resist a development plan that was poised to alter the social and physical landscape that they had always known and loved. Here are a few protest songs written and performed by community members when a controversial waterfront housing project was underway. When these songs were being written, they didn't know yet what we know now: this development was going to happen, whether or not the community members were singing their songs... but as one former resident pointed out, "You can't say we didn't try!" To me, these are beautiful songs. They show creativity and integrity in the face of adversity, and represent the powerful ties that people tend to feel to where they are from.

We're Standing Up to Save the Gut, provided by Ed and Joan Soper.

Destruction Zone, composed by Kim and Judy, provided by Ed and Joan Soper.

Have members of your community written any protest songs? What are the issues and changes that you have confronted where you live? Feel free to contact me with your songs and stories. I'd love to know more. Contact lisa@heritagefoundation.ca.

-Lisa