Cable Avenue Exhibit and Oral History Project

As you may know, Bay Roberts has put in an application for Cable Avenue to become a provincially recognized heritage district. As a part of the designation process, I am currently conducting fieldwork here to collect stories about what life has been like for residents of Cable Ave. Though I have only met with a few people so far, I already have several remarkable stories from people who have lived on the street. Please stay tuned to hear some of these stories, many of which will be profiled at the Road to Yesterday Museum this summer. The exhibit we are putting together will help celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the district, and the history of Western Union in the town.

Lorn Kirby, long time resident of Cable Ave, reflects on raising children on this street.

90 year old Eileen Starr reflects on her time living on Cable Ave. beginning in the 1930s.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any information about the history of Cable Ave that you might have. I'd be particularly interested in seeing old photographs of the district or/and the people who were connected to it. Also, any personal objects that have a connection to the buildings here would also be wonderful to borrow for our exhibit. I'm very excited about this project, and look forward to many more visits with people who have memories of the cable company in Bay Roberts. lisa@heritagefoundation.ca, (709) 739-1892 ext.3.

-Lisa

Tuesday's Folklore Photo

"The Miner", depicting miner Billy Parsons, is one of a series of murals commemorating Bell Island's heritage. The iron ore mines were once the largest in the British Empire, extending more than 5 kilometres under Conception Bay. The abandoned #2 Mine was designated as a heritage structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006. 

Lumber Woods Carvings from Botwood

I recently came across these hand carved, wooden, lumbering figures at the C.L.B Sunday Market. I was told by the seller they were carved many years ago by a man from Botwood who had worked in the lumber woods. If you happen to know anything about these figures or have any carved lumbering figures of your own, I'd love to hear from you.

                               

You can reach Nicole via email at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca  or call (709) 739-1892 ex.6.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo - Dan Snow's Stone Wall

Dan Snow, a traditional stone wall maker and artisan from Vermont, has been visiting English Harbour on the Bonavista Peninsula for several years. He is a regular instructor with the English Harbour Arts Centre, and teaches dry stone wall techniques.

This is one of the walls he worked on in English Harbour in 2010. You can check out his website at www.dansnowstoneworks.com.

East-European Easter Eggs

Easter is this weekend and I thought that I would share some photos of East-European Easter Eggs created by two people I had the pleasure of talking to: Martina Krskova and Jindra Maskova. As well as some examples of Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Eggs).

 

Handpainted Easter Egg by Martina Krskova (from Slovakia)

 

 

 

 

 

Handpainted Easter Egg by Martina Krskova

 

Easter Egg decorated using onion peel by Martina Krskova

 

 

Easter Egg decorated using Easter themed tissue paper by Martina Krskova

 

 

3D Pernicky (Ginge bread) Easter Egg made by Jindra Maskova (from the Czech Republic). The 3D eggs are hollow on the inside so that you can put small items in the egg like a ring or a message.

 

 

 

Pernicky (Gingerbread) Easter Eggs by Jindra Maskova

 

 

Handpainted Easter Eggs by Jindra Maskova

 

 

Handpainted Easter Egg by Jindra Maskova

 

 

 

Pysanka (Ukranian Easter Eggs) Source: Pysanka 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos taken by Christina Robarts and Nicole Penney



Tuesday's Folklore Photo

Despite its fairly small size, Bell Island has at least 12 different cemeteries. Some of these are considered new, while others are historic, dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The cemetery pictured here is by far the smallest--it has a single headstone, carefully fenced off, on the side of a hill. It can be seen from the road when you are  driving onto the island from the ferry. One can't help but speculate as to why it is up there all alone. This single grave site surely has a story. Who is buried here? Why is this grave in this location? While I've heard a few stories about the person buried here, I'd be interested to hear your version. So, if you know anything about this little hillside graveyard, please email: lisa@heritagefoundation.ca. I look forward to hearing from you, and I'll be sure to write another post sharing people's answers to this query.

-Lisa

UPDATE: 
This information was provided by Ed Kirby who has roots on Bell Island. This is an interesting account, and it also points towards a mystery around the actual burial site connected to this headstone (pictured above).

"It’s that of Greg Normore, who supposedly was the first permanent resident of Bell Island, settling there around 1740. The headstone was moved to its current location in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I think it had previously been somewhere else on the hill, possibly in the old Anglican graveyard on the east hand side of the Beach Hill Road, or near the tram track to the west of the road. The tram, which was located between the road and the cemetery, moved people up and down the steep hill to the Beach ferry before Beach Hill Road was built. My mother’s family – both sides of it – were from Bell Island, and there was some skepticism that the site from where the headstone was moved was actually his burial site. The adults in the family said Normore’s actual burial site was unknown, and that the headstone was erected in an arbitrary spot overlooking the bay. The current site of the headstone is near the Catholic cemetery where the ground is about half rock and half clay, fit only for grazing and burying."

Swastikas and Star of David in vintage Newfoundland ad

One of the great resources for historical and cultural research we have here in Newfoundland and Labrador is Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative (DAI). For several years now, the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Office has been adding to the ICH Inventory on the DAI, building collections on things as varied as Newfoundlanders working high steel, to concerts and times, to bonfire night.

In addition to the ethnographic material we've been adding to the DAI, the initiative also houses a large amount of digitized newspapers, which is a fantastic resource to anyone doing Newfoundland-based research.

While looking for something completely unrelated, I happened across this intriguing advertisement for L.M Trask and Company on Water Street in St. John's, the "Oldest and Largest Dealers in Engines Mill Supplies and Boat Equipment."

The advertisement ran in the St. John's Daily Star of 3 March, 1920. And while it is interesting for what it is selling in terms of mill equipment of the day, what is more eye-catching to the modern reader is the printer's use of swastikas (and one lonely star of David) as a border.

For those of us who grew up post-World War II, the swastika is an immediate reminder of Nazi Germany. But before that, the swastika had a long and honourable tradition, and was a symbol of the sun, life, luck, eternity and various other concepts for a wide variety of cultures throughout Asia, Europe and indigenous North America. In the early twentieth century, when the Daily Star ran its ad, the swastika was a not uncommon symbol in North America, and was used in a wide variety of logos, advertisements and printing applications.

In March 1920, I doubt that L.M. Trask and Co. knew that, across the Atlantic, a fledgling National Socialist German Workers' Party would adopt the Hakenkreuz (hook-cross) as its official symbol the same year.

Two Great Talks

 This past week Julian Smith of the Willowbank School  visited Newfoundland to talk about contemporary issues and developments around cultural landscapes theory. Both of these talks had a fantastic turn-out -- over 40 people attended the Harris Centre's Synergy Session with another 40 people watching on-line through a webinar. In Bay Roberts at the Visitors Centre we had a wonderful group of over 30 people from at least 4 different communities. I think that this shows that the people of St. John's and surrounding communities really care about their physical and cultural environments, and want to learn as much as possible about how we can move forward with sensitive development in a booming Newfoundland. 

Leslie Harris Centre's Synergy Session, March 20th, 2013.

Julian Smith presenting at MUN for the Synergy Session.

The crowd in Bay Roberts listening to Julian Smith's presentation.

Many thanks to Julian Smith for coming out to speak to us about his work, and to all of the people who came out to our events. It was a great success for everyone involved. I'd particularly like to thank the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development for organizing the wonderful session at MUN. I'd also like to thank Marilyn Dawe for all of her assistance in organizing and promoting Julian's talk at the Bay Roberts Visitors Centre. 

-Lisa Wilson

Newfiki at The Rooms

 

Last night The Rooms in collaboration with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, presented an evening of stories exploring the experiences of new Canadians. Dr. Mariya Lesiv (Memorial University) asked her guests questions on their personal experiences moving from their old homes in Eastern Europe to life in Newfoundland and Labrador. This event was part of World Storytelling Day, a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling, and the first of three events celebrating East-European cultures in Newfoundland happening this week.

 

Thaddeus Dreher, 94 years old, was deported from Poland after World War II and lived in South America before arriving in Newfoundland in 1959.

 

 

Inna Levchuk, a freelance reporter who moved from the Ukraine to come Newfoundland to do a degree in journalism in Stephenville later moving to St. John's.

Ioana Dobre, a grade 12 student who left Romania at the age of 6 with her family, lived in New Jersey until she reached junior high and then moved to Newfoundland.

Margarita Kane, a taxi driver who moved over to Newfounland from Bulgaria.

 

 

 

Don't forget that there are more Newfiki events happening this week. Tomorrow night there will be a Cultural Concert night event at Cochrane Street United Church starting at 7pm and is free admission. Please use the entrance on Bannerman Street.

 

Newfiki Cultural Concert Night

Friday March 22 7:00-11:00pm

Cochrane Street United Church

Free event

 

A celebration of music, song, story, poetry, and food, allowing people to experience different aspects of culture. Participants will be from Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland, demonstrating different aspects of their home culture.

 

 

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at christina@heritagefoundation.ca or call 1-888-739-1892 ext. 7