The Mount Pearl Public Library Memory Mug Up

This morning was the second in a series of Memory Mug Ups events, this one taking place at the Mount Pearl Public Library. Memory Mug Up's are an informal gathering where participants have a cup of tea and share memories of their lives. In this case the focus was memories of Mount Pearl and the group told stories ranging from the 1950's to the 1990's. We talked about the various shops and hangouts, amenities available in the community, the Mount Pearl Curl, transportation, and other aspects of life in the area. We also shared memories of where people grew up before they moved to Mount Pearl, including childhood games and rhymes. One interesting coincidence was having participants who realized they had lived in the same house on Blossom Avenue, one having sold the home to the other in the early 1970's! 

The Memory Mug Ups are part of the Collective Memories Project, an oral history initiative which invites seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing. Our next Memory Mug Up will take place at the the Marjorie Mews Public Library in St. John's on February 22nd from 2:30 to 5:30.

For more information on how you or your community organization can get involved, email Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 ext. 2

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Linda Kane and Terra Nova Motors

Linda Kane and Terra Barrett.

Back in December Kelly and I met up with Linda Kane at the Cupids Legacy Centre. Linda had given the ICH office a box of unidentified reel to reel tapes she had found in her father's collection of materials. Linda thought the materials were related to Terra Nova Motors where her father worked from the age of 16 or 17. Through our partnership with Memorial University's Digital Archives these reels were digitized and placed online.

Inside the Terra Nova Motors Showroom.

Kelly and I met with Linda to do an interview about her memories of Terra Nova Motors.  Linda brought pictures and memorabilia to jog her memory and this material was also digitized.  This includes some advertisements including the one shown below as well as photographs of the building, the cars and the showroom.  There is even a photo of Linda and her sister Marilyn seated in the back a car in the showroom.  Linda's father, Clarence Reid, was a manager and as such the girls spent time in the showroom on Sundays when their father did the books.  When I asked Linda what stood out the most about the showroom she said, "Probably the smell of the cars and the leather.  Vinyl wasn't the prominent thing back then.  It was nice clean cars with chrome."

Clarence Reid pictured in an advertisement for Terra Nova Motors.

If you want to learn more about the showroom or Terra Nova Motors you can listen to Linda's interview here or the reel to reel audio here. I've also included an excerpt from one of the reels of the Terra Nova Motors from the 1970s as well as Linda singing the jingle she remembered from the 1950s.

1970s Terra Nova Motors jingle from digitized reel to reel tapes.
Linda Kane singing 1950s Terra Nova Motors jingle.

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep067 Cod Sounds

Lori McCarthy grew up in the small fishing community of Bauline, of about 200 people, on the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The traditional foods of her childhood feed her passion to tell the stories of her province through its people, culture and food. Out of this passion she started Project NL Food, a province-wide endeavour to visit various communities and speak with generations of people that hold their culture close to their heart. Lori also owns and operates Cod Sounds, a company which is devoted to celebrating the province’s unique foods with travellers and locals alike through hands on experiences like beach boil-ups, mussel picking and berry picking.

In this interview, we talk about how the Project NL Food got started, traditional recipes, family foodways, the barter system, hunting, teaching, workshops, and food tours.

photo: https://www.instagram.com/codsounds/

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/703/rec/1

Portugal Cove-St. Philip's Memory Mug Up - Friday, February 10th

Share Your Stories at the Memory Mug Up!
Do you have knowledge of the Picco's Ridge plane crash of 1978? Can you describe the place names in the community? How about the names of the gullies and pond? What can you tell us about the Bell Island Connection? If you have answers to these questions or have memories of growing up in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, you are invited to attend the Memory Mug Up!

The Memory Mug Up is an informal story sharing session for seniors, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. The Heritage Foundation of NL will be hosting three Memory Mug Up events for seniors this February.

The goal of the program is to help participants share and preserve their stories. The town is particularly interested in information about place names, cemeteries, names of local ponds, fishing history and families, the 1978 plane crash, Bell Island connections, and ghost stories. We would love to have a chat with you about your memories of the community!

The event is free! You bring a memory of growing up, we’ll supply the tea and biscuits, and we will all have a chat. Following the sessions, those who are interested can set up a time to have their stories recorded and archived by one of our story collectors.

Portugal Cove- St. Philip’s Memory Mug Up
Friday, February 10th, 10:00am
Recreation Center (next to the Town Hall)
1119 Thorburn Road, Portugal Cove- St. Philip’s

The Memory Mug Ups are part of the Collective Memories Project, an oral history initiative which invites seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing. It is a project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL), the Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and Seniors, the Interdepartmental Working Group on Aging and Seniors, and is funded through the Department of Seniors Wellness and Social Development.

For more information on how you or your community organization can get involved, email Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 x2.

#Folklorephoto A 'Cathedral Window' Quilt by Joan Smith

A beautiful detail of a 'Cathedral Window' quilt made by Joan Smith and used in her home. In 2013, the Heritage Foundations Lisa Wilson interviewed Joan and her husband George, primarily about growing up in Heart's Content. While at their home, Lisa took photos of some examples of Joan's quilts and hooked rugs. The interview and photos are part of the Heart's Content section of the ICH-Avalon Peninsula Fonds on MUN's DAI .

Click on the link below to listen to the interview:
Smith, Joan and George 1. Interview about growing up in Heart's Content. 

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Levina Fraser of Isle aux Morts

Lavina Fraser on her 90th birthday in August 2016.

In October I had the opportunity to do an oral history interview by phone with Levina Fraser.  Levina, originally from Isle aux Morts, currently lives in Oromocto, NB but has vivid memories growing up in Newfoundland.  In this interview Levina remembers her childhood in Isle aux Morts - going to school, chores such as washing laundry, knitting, spinning and carding wool as well as the lack of electricity, indoor plumbing and cars.  Levina also describes with pride how her grandmother worked alongside midwives and doctors to deliver babies in the community.  If you want to learn about life in a small fishing community before confederation or hear the alphabet recited backwards give this interview a listen!

The recording can be found here on Memorial University's Digital Archives.

Levina Fraser age 20 at Mount Royal in Montreal, QC.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - Name that meal!

Photo by Meghann Jack.

Last Thursday Dale, Kelly, and I drove to Marysvale for a series of oral history interviews as part of the Collective Memories project. The interviews took place at the Heritage House which functions as a museum and tea room during the summer. The community has received some funding to have the interviews fully transcribed and these first four interviews were sent to a transcription company in central Canada over the weekend.

We received the full transcripts this week and noticed something a little curious. During the interview with Patricia Whalen and Shirley Ryan, the pair discussed garden parties in the community. They were talking about a particular food which was eaten at the party as well as taken away. The transcribers in mainland Canada were unable to figure out what food was being discussed. Read the excerpt or listen to the clip below and let us know what food they were talking about!


Shirley: And when I first moved down here we had garden parties. I'd never seen a garden party, I mean we had fairs up in the mainland, but garden parties, oh my gosh … Oh it was marvellous.

Dale: So what would happen at a garden party?

Shirley: They'd have little boats for the children and they spin wheels for numbers and they had boats and … Oh it was grand … In the churchyard … Either that or in the hall … On the hall. It was great, oh my gosh. And they had a big meal. [Unintelligible 00:32:12] plates, everybody would go in the hall and sit down and pay for their [unintelligible 00:32:17] plate and have it … Either that or takeout.

Patricia: Take it home.

Shirley: Either one.


Name that meal!
~Terra Barrett

Mount Pearl Memory Mug Up - Monday, February 13th

Mount Pearl Public Library

Share Your Stories at the Memory Mug Up!

Which of your memories would you like to preserve for future generations? What are your dearest childhood memories? What advice would you give your 18-year-old self? If you have answers to these questions, you are invited to attend the Memory Mug Up!

The Memory Mug Up is an informal story sharing session for seniors, where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. The Heritage Foundation of NL will be hosting three Memory Mug Up events for seniors this February, in Mount Pearl, Portugal-Cove St. Philip’s, and St. John’s

The goal of the program is to help participants share and preserve their stories. Whatever story is important to you, whether it a personal story, a story about a family member, or a story about your community, the Memory Mug Up program can help you to preserve and share it.

The event is free! You bring a memory of growing up, we’ll supply the tea and biscuits, and we will all have a chat. Following the sessions, those who are interested can set up a time to have their stories recorded and archived by one of our story collectors.

Mount Pearl Memory Mug Up
Monday, February 13th, 10:30 am
Mount Pearl Public Library
65 Olympic Drive, Mount Pearl

The Memory Mug Ups are part of the Collective Memories Project, an oral history initiative which invites seniors to record their stories and memories for archiving and sharing. It is a project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL), the Provincial Advisory Council on Aging and Seniors, the Interdepartmental Working Group on Aging and Seniors, and is funded through the Department of Seniors Wellness and Social Development.

For more information on how you or your community organization can get involved, email Dale Jarvis at ich@heritagefoundation.ca or call (709) 739-1892 x2.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep066 The Writer of Riverhead

Dale Jarvis and Patrick Collins, photo by Kelly Drover.

Patrick Collins, born and raised in Riverhead, Harbour Grace, is a retired educator who taught in various communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. He finished his teaching career in education as a Curriculum Program Specialist, working in Avalon Peninsula School Districts. He is also a writer of historical fiction and has published five literary works. Currently Patrick teaches at The Canadian Training institute, Bay Roberts.

We chatted with Patrick Collins about where his interest in history started, the 1871 murders of Jane Sear Geehan and Garnett Sears on the southside of Harbour Grace which Collins wrote about in his book Belonging, railway memories and his work as a station operator, writing historical fiction, and his next book What Lies Below.

• Check out Patrick's Facebook page here. 

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/722/rec/1