Living Heritage Podcast Ep087 Grand Falls Memory Mug Up Part One

Yvonne Courtney remembering her childhood in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Part One of our Grand Falls Memory Mug Up, recorded in front of a live studio audience at The Classic Theatre on July 14, 2017. We heard stories of horses and goats, sneaking in to the movie theatre with flattened nickels or fake tickets, stories of memorable local characters, the influence of strong woman, and memories about growing up in the community. The mug up was was part of the town's Salmon Festival activities and was organized by the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society and was a staged interview with six local community members. In part one we hear stories from Andy Barker, Yvonne Courtney and John Edwards.

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#AdaptingHeritage Forum 2017 - Introducing Crystal Braye

Crystal Braye is a folklorist with the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador. She holds a bachelor of arts in cultural anthropology from Wilfrid Laurier University and a masters in public folklore from MUN. Since 2012, she has travelled around the province learning from boat builders and fishermen to enhance the museum's collections and exhibits. Audio and video recordings, photographs, and boat design and construction details are archived and exhibited online and at various locations across the province - including the Wooden Boat Museum headquarters in Winterton.

At the forum, Crystal will be moderating a panel called Heritage in the Landwash – Safeguarding Coastal Traditions. If you would like to hear more about Crystal's work, you can listen to our Living Heritage podcast episode with her by clicking here.

Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place on October 25 and 26. The cost of registration is $75.00, and $18.75 for post-secondary students. For full program details click here. To register click here.

Do you know this building in Heart's Content? #Folklorephoto

Do you recognize this building in Heart's Content? This photograph was taken in 1994 and is part of the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation slide collection.

#AdaptingHeritage Forum 2017 - Introducing Dan Rubin

Since arriving in Newfoundland fifteen years ago, Dan Rubin has been deeply involved in local history and heritage, as the founding chair of the Pouch Cove Heritage Society. He was lead author and editor of the book Pouch Cove: Our Home by the Sea which received the Manning award for community history in 2016. But Dan is also a groundbreaking gardener and seedsman.

At the forum, Dan will be discussing his earth sheltered greenhouse project which combines the traditional root cellar with a greenhouse that is built with modern materials. If you would like to know more about Dan's work, you can listen to our Living Heritage podcast episode with him by clicking here.

Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place on October 25 and 26. The cost of registration is $75.00, and $18.75 for post-secondary students. For full program details click here. To register click here.

#CollectiveMemories Monday - Chip Bags and Memories

Photos of the framed chip bags and tickets. 

Photo courtesy of Kelly Jones.

On our trip out to Grand Falls-Windsor for the Memory Mug Up event back in July we were told the story behind the framed chip bags that hang in the Classic Theatre on High Street. Listen to the clip below to hear Shawn Feener, the owner/operator of the Classic Theatre, explain the story behind the tickets and chip bags.

What was the first movie you saw in theatres?
Or where was your first date?

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - When Historic Places Meet Food: Sea Salt and Thyme

Sea Salt and Thyme. Photo by Katie Harvey. 

Sea Salt and Thyme is located on Convent Road in the historic and picturesque community of Brigus, Conception Bay North. Formerly St. Joseph's Convent, this building was constructed circa 1860. On September 11, 1861, four Sisters of Mercy, their reverend mother, and her assistant set out from Portugal Cove aboard the steamship Ellen Gisborn for Brigus. This was to be the first foundation of Mercy to be established outside of St. John's. Upon their arrival, the sisters immediately started their work; visiting the sick and teaching music, art and various other subjects. The convent was closed in 1991 and has since changed ownership several times.

In 2017, the building was converted into a restaurant and B&B by Rod Delaney. On the main floor, you can visit the pub or dine in one of  their multiple dining rooms. The nun's old living quarters on the second floor have been transformed into rooms for guests. Rod explains:

"There's a confession booth still up there and intact. There's a clear outline of crosses on the walls. And some of the details within the rooms are definitely loaning themselves to that time and particular type of history."

Spicy blueberry chicken wings. Photo by Katie Harvey.

This past labour day weekend, on a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive around the bay, we decided to stop in and check out this newly opened restaurant. We sampled a variety of items from the menu including: spicy blueberry chicken wings, pickled onion rings, orange ginger stir fry with seared tuna, a lentil burger and beat salad with croutons and balsamic reduction. For dessert, we ate deep fried oreos with a salted caramel sauce.

Orange ginger stir fry with seared tuna. Photo by Katie Harvey.

Although we weren't able to see the upstairs portion of this building, it was easy to imagine the life this building had previously lived. The well preserved architectural details paid tribute to the fact that this was once a religious building where nuns lived and taught. It is wonderful to see old buildings that are dying adapting with time to remain functional.

-Katie Harvey

Living Heritage Podcast Ep086 How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland? Part 2

Part Two of “NL Stories: How do Newcomers Experience Newfoundland?” - excerpts from an evening of storytelling with new residents of Canada. The event was recorded live on Thursday, June 29, 2017. It was hosted by the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, with support from the Helen Creighton Folklore Society and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The MC and organizer for the event was Marissa Farahbod, a graduate student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, with stories from Leonardo Linares Gutiérrez (from Cuba), Maria Moreno (from Colombia), Yohei Sakai (from Japan), and Ellie King (from the UK).

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#AdaptingHeritage Forum 2017 - Introducing Grace Shears

Grace Shears is the Risk Manager at AbbyShot Clothiers Limited in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador. Grace holds the advanced level certificate in Health, Safety and Environmental Processes through the University of Fredericton, NB. She is a former Military Veteran and has also served as a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross on the Disaster Management team.  In 2014, Grace joined the AbbyShot team and has been dedicated to quality control, product development and supply chain management. She is a major contributor to the empowering energy and culture of AbbyShot.

At the forum, Grace will be discussing her work with AbbyShot with particular focus on the incorporation of traditional knitting into their Outlander products.

Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place on October 25 and 26. The cost of registration is $75.00, and $18.75 for post-secondary students. For full program details click here. To register click here.

#AdaptingHeritage Forum 2017 - Introducing Clare Fowler

Clare Fowler grew up on Bell Island. She spent time working in fish plants and other food processing plants before moving to Ontario in 1999 to do the Chiropody Program at the Michener Institute for Applied Health.  She moved to St. John’s in 2004 and worked for a decade before switching gears and following her passions for art and craft.  She completed the Textile: Craft and Apparel Design program with College of the North Atlantic in 2016 and is now a full time crafts person and maker with an open studio at the Quidi Vidi Village Craft Plantation.  Her body of work focuses on the use of seal fur and seal leather.

At the forum, Clare will be discussing her work where she utilizes traditional Newfoundland and Labrador sealskin to develop couture products. She explains:

"My work is exploratory.  I’m not afraid to use colour, texture, and to pair it with different materials.  I’m compelled to be bold and unapologetic in my designs.  I see truth in the material.  The resiliency, hard work, the beauty produced by harsh conditions.  It is successful evolution; it is a smart textile.  Anything a synthetic textile would try to emulate, Nature has already perfected in this fibre.  The creative potential I see in sealskin is nurtured by my emotional relationship to it.  It embodies so much of what the world needs right now.  It is local, sustainable, humane, and possesses the most wonderful combination of durability and biodegradability.  You can wear it a life time, and it will then return to Mother Earth.  I’m inspired to push the limits / boundaries / properties of what the material can do.  I’m inspired by the sealers themselves and their strength in the face of adversity."

If you would like to learn more about Clare's work, you can listen to our Living Heritage podcast episode with her by clicking here.

Forum on Adapting NL's Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place on October 25 and 26. The cost of registration is $75.00, and $18.75 for post-secondary students. For full program details click here. To register click here.