Heritage Week - Petty Harbour Memories with Betty Cheeseman. #nlheritage

Betty Cheeseman in the Heritage Foundation office. Photo by Terra Barrett.

On June 30, 2014, as part of the Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove Oral History project, I interviewed Betty Cheeseman of Petty Harbour about growing up in the community, children’s games and social events such as community concerts, Christmas baking and visiting, and household chores such as gardening, cooking, and washing clothes.

In describing her childhood Betty said:
There was no pavement then. It was all dirt road and we would play in the schoolyard. Hopscotch. We would draw out the hopscotch with our sticks in the sand and we had lots of time and lots of fun.

Listen to Betty interview here on Memorial University’s Digital Archives.

~Terra Barrett

Booklet Launch - Merchants and Memories of Main Street, Windsor

Main Street, Windsor. 1944. Photo courtesy of GFWHS.

The Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) and the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society present a booklet launch at St. Joseph’s Parish Hall in Grand Falls-Windsor on Saturday, March 4th, from 2:00-4:00pm.

“A Little Montreal: Merchants and Memories of Main Street, Windsor” is the third booklet in the Collective Memories Series produced by the Heritage Foundation. This booklet focuses on the memories of people who grew up, lived, worked, and shopped on Main Street with a particular emphasis on the merchants and shops of Main Street, Windsor.

“It was very small but it was like a little Montréal. A lot of different cultures and sights and sounds,” described Corey Sharpe. “The business owners on Main Street came from China, Lebanon, Syria, Russia, Norway, Ireland, United States, England so it was a melting pot of cultures.”

Sharpe was one of several residents of Grand Falls-Windsor who were interviewed as part of the oral history project completed by HFNL in conjunction with the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society.

“This booklet developed as a result of conversations with the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society,” says Terra Barrett, a researcher with the foundation. In recent years the Heritage Foundation has assisted with the digitization of some of the Society’s archival materials but most of that material focused on the AND company, the mill, and the former town of Grand Falls,”“This project focused on Main Street in order to showcase and learn more about the Windsor part of the community.”

The Main Street booklet is part of the foundation’s Collective Memories Project. This project is an initiative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office of the HFNL, with funding provided by the Department of Children, Seniors, and Social Development. The Collective Memories Project invites seniors to record their stories and memories for sharing.

The booklet launch is open to the public and will include light refreshments. There will be copies of the booklet available at the launch as well as a PDF version which will be placed online. For more information please go to www.collectivememories.ca or call Terra Barrett at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5.

Several members of the Grand Falls-Windsor Heritage Society with Heritage Foundation staff. Standing L-R: Joe Shapleigh, Jim Locke, Dale Jarvis, Brian Reid, Terra Barrett, John Blackmore. Sitting L-R: Cathy Simpson, Audrey Burke. 2016. Photo by Kelly Drover.

Heritage Week: Clarenville Oral History Collection

Interviewers Megan Vardy, Stephen Bonnell, and Sam Adey

Over the summers of 2014 and 2016, nine oral history interviews were conducted in Clarenville by Sam Adey, Stephen Bonnell, Dale Jarvis, and Megan Vardy. Most of the interviewees talk about growing up and life in the community and surrounding areas. Where Clarenville acted as a travel junction, the railway is an important aspect of the interviews, effecting those who worked with the railway and those who used it. Albert Noseworthy, Lindo Palmer, and Baxter Tuck talk about their work with the railway. Another industry important to Clarenville is the emulsified asphalt and creosote industries, which is the focus of John Stanley's recording. Victor Pittman talks about health and medicine in the area, where his Uncle Jim was a self taught medical practitioner. Gord Tilley talks about his ancestor Joseph "Scholar John" Tilley, who is considered a founder of Shoal Harbour. Gloria Downey is interviewed about growing up in Clarenville, her favorite pastimes, and her experiences acting with the local theater group To Be Announced. As a significant business person in the area, Geneva Cholock talks about being a photographer and the various shops she has owned through her life. Joan Tilley's interview focuses on her experiences growing up in Scotland, moving to Newfoundland as a war bride, and the changes she has seen over the years.


To listen to these interviews, visit the Memorial University of Newfoundland Digital Archives Initiative.

~ Kelly

From Syria to St. John’s: Newfoundland Foodways Workshops. #NLheritage

From Syria to St. John’s: Newfoundland Foodways Workshops

When most people think about the food culture of Newfoundland and Labrador they think about Jiggs Dinner, toutons, and tea buns but rarely do they think about  shawarma, falafel, and baklava.  Immigrant culture is an important part of our community that often goes unnoticed. Here in Newfoundland there is a strong international community, which is slowly growing.

This year, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (HFNL) wants to celebrate Newfoundland foodways traditions with a series of baking workshops in St. John’s.  The first two workshops will share some of the food being baked in the city.  The first will be a workshop on traditional Newfoundland tea buns, and the second on Syrian baklava.

"Through this project we hope to celebrate the variety of traditions and cultures in  Newfoundland and Labrador today," says Dale Jarvis, folklorist with the foundation.  "These are important traditions which are a part of the changing culture of St. John’s.  The food we eat is an important part of the culture of any place and is often an expression of identity.”

Tea buns are a staple in the province with many mothers and grandmothers handing down recipes to their children and grandchildren.  Baker Alanna Wicks of The Rolling Pin Bakery, who learned her great-grandmother’s recipe from her father, will teach students the basics of tea bun baking including her family’s secret ingredient.

Abir Zin, a recent immigrant to the province, has perfected her rosewater cream cheese filled baklava recipe since her move to St. John’s.  Abir will teach participants how to make baklava, a sweet Turkish pastry, popular in the Middle East.  This recipe has been perfected by Abir since her family’s move, and is adapted from her mother and mother-in-law’s recipes.  

Registration for each workshop is $20, which includes detailed instruction, a copy of the recipe, and all supplies.  While we wait for the buns and baklava to bake we will also have a chat about the food traditions of Newfoundland and Syria.  

Newfoundland Tea Bun Workshop
Wednesday, March 1, 7:00pm
Canon Wood Hall, St. Thomas’ Church, 8 Military Road

Register for the Newfoundland Tea Bun workshop here.

Syrian Baklava Workshop
Wednesday, March 8, 6:00pm

Canon Wood Hall, St. Thomas’ Church, 8 Military Road

Register for the Syrian Baklava Workshop here.

Pre-registration is required, and there are limited tickets per event. You may register online, or contact Terra Barrett at the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador at 739-1892 ex.5 or terra@heritagefoundation.ca

Heritage Update - Special edition on Heritage & Municipalities #NLheritage

In this edition of the Heritage Update, we celebrate Heritage Week by focussing on the special role that municipalities have to play in safeguarding the heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Articles:

• What Municipal Governments Can Do To Foster Their Heritage Resources;
• Documenting and Digitizing Intangible Cultural Heritage in Municipalities;
• Municipal Stewardship of Heritage Structures;
• Designating Municipal Heritage Sites; and,
• How Towns Can Run a "Memory Mug Up" Event

Download the newsletter in PDF format here.

Heritage Week #Folklorephoto Bringing Heritage out of the Attic #NLheritage

This photograph shows artifacts in the attic of Brett House in Joe Batt's Arm, Fogo Island. Since this photo was taken by Gerald L. Pocius in 1992, the house has become the Brett House Museum and in 2003 was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Brett House also received a Southcott Award in 2007. Brett House is part of the Brett Property Municipal Heritage Site, which includes the house, two outbuildings, and fencing.

For more information on Brett House visit the Heritage Foundation and the Town of Fogo Island. For other material on Joe Batt's Arm, check out the ICH material on the MUN DAI.

Heritage Week - Cape Race Collective Memories #NLheritage

VA 55-3.4; Cape Race [lighthouse], Newfoundland.  Photo courtesy of The Rooms.

As part of the Collective Memories project the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is helping community organizations, municipalities, and church groups digitize their oral history collections to make them accessible for future generations. Collected stories are made available through Memorial University’s Digital Archives Initiative, which is a free, public website where the HFNL stores the photos, videos, and interviews it collects.  If you have something to be digitized - get in touch!

One of the collections we have digitized is the Cape Race collection which consists of nine interviews from the area.  These interviews focus on some of the communities on the southeast tip of the Southern Shore such as Portugal Cove South, Drook (Druke), and Long Beach.  There are a number of stories about fishing, farming and keeping animals, shipwrecks, and memories of working at the Cape Race Lighthouse.  If you want to hear stories about cases of beer and whole hams being salvaged from shipwrecks then have a listen to the Cape Race Collection.

~Terra Barrett

Notice: Marjorie Mews Memory Mug Up - Wednesday, February 22nd

Marjorie Mews 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.

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.

Marjorie Mews Memory Mug Up
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2:30pm
Marjorie Mews Public Library
12 Highland Drive, St. John’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.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep068 Queen Bee of the NL Beekeeping Association

Catherine Dempsey is a Newfoundlander by Choice, having spent 35 years living life and enjoying the special culture of her adopted home. With a background in book selling and teaching, and two decades promoting the history and heritage of the province, Catherine now lives on four acres in Flatrock, raising a garden, chickens and bees. Catherine is also the President of the Newfoundland & Labrador Beekeeping Association, which encourages those interested in keeping bees to work together to learn best practices, and to protect the province’s honey bees from pests and diseases.

In this podcast, we talk about how Catherine got interested in bees, bee species, hives, keeping bees, the association between bees and gardening, tips for people getting started in bee-keeping, and the politics of introducing new bees to the island of Newfoundland.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/720/rec/1