The Torbay Airport 1954. Do You Remember Your First Trip on an Airplane? #Folklorephoto

028.03.059 Torbay Airport.
Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.

The above image taken in 1954, shows the first terminal building for the Torbay Airport, now the St. John's International Airport. The Royal Canadian Air Force opened the location as a military airport in 1941, constructing the first terminal building in 1943. It would become a civilian operation in 1946 and was run by the Canadian Department of Transportation.   

028.03.055 Pearl Squires in front of Trans Canada Air Lines plane. 1954.
Photograph courtesy of the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives.

These two photographs are part of the Allen and Pearl Squires fonds at the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives. Allen Squires was from St. Philip's and the fonds includes two sets of 35mm slides taken while visiting the area in 1954 and 1962.

For more information on the Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Archives, contact the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Heritage Programs and Services Coordinator Julie Pomeroy.

~ Kelly

Request For Proposals (RFP) - Municipal Museum Plan & Heritage Evaluation

The Town of Torbay is issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to identify qualified consulting firms to examine and present recommendations on the future of the Torbay municipal museum.

The Town seeks a firm with specific past experience in the research, preparation and delivery of reports for municipal museums, and cultural or heritage focused organizations.

Copies of the RFP and all inquiries relating to it, can be requested from the Town by emailing bparsons@torbay.ca.

Contract award is dependent on government funding approval.

Proposals will be accepted up until 12:00pm (NST) Friday September 30, 2016 and must be mailed in marked “Attn: Municipal Museum Plan & Heritage Evaluation” to the following address:

Town of Torbay
1288 Torbay Road
PO Box 1160
Torbay, NL
A1K 1K4

May bushes in Torbay and Middle Cove

One of the great, if now somewhat fading, traditions in Newfoundland is that of the May Bush. A few days ago, former HFNL staffer Lara Maynard sent me two pictures she had taken this month. The photo above, with the house in the background, is from Torbay. The one below is from Middle Cove.

May bushes have a long tradition, but are rarely seen today, so I'm delighted that people are still putting them up. A few years back, Lara wrote a description of May bushes for a little publication we did entitled "What is ICH?" and which is reprinted here:

“When I was a primary or elementary school kid at a Catholic school, each May students wore blue ribbons pinned to their clothes in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Blue ribbons showed up around our neighbourhoods, too, on May bushes – saplings with most of their branches cut off, except for the few left around the top with the ribbons on them. This tradition can be traced back to the ancient Celts, who used maypoles or boughs as part of springtime rituals and to bring good luck, especially for agriculture. The Christian Church adopted May as a month for the devotion of Mary, and the custom appears to have evolved to fit in there. The people I know who still put up May bushes in recent years seem to do it out of a combination of religion and tradition.” 

If you know of May bush in your community, take a photo and email it to me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

- Dale