Two distinct geographics regions make up the Northwest Territories. First, there is the boreal forest. Boreal is a term relating to a forest in the northern North Temperate Zone that is mostly coniferous trees such as pine, spruce and fir. Referred to as taiga, it is the more southern “treed” portion of the area.

The second area, known as the tundra is obvious from the stunted vegetation and rocks. The cold climate does not allow for a long growing season and although plants may be many years old, they are significantly smaller than their southern relatives.

The two large lakes, Great Slave and Great Bear are so deep that sonar cannot reach the bottom and most of the water in the Northwest Territories can be consumed without being treated or filtered first.

Over 50% of the population is Aboriginal. The Dene people can be traced back 10,000 years. The Dene travelled the great waterways to hunt caribou and other animals.

It is believed that the Inuit crossed the Bering Strait about 5000 years ago. Explorers from Europe visited in the late 1500′s and the 1700′s brought fur traders to the region. There is a consistent population of Metis, who are descendants of the French Voyageurs or fur traders and Cree or Ojibwa women. In 1789, the explorer Alexander Mackenzie investigates the longest river in Canada, which was ultimately named after him.

In the 1800′s people came to the territories looking for whales to hunt.

A typically nomadic population began to settle in stable communities near trading posts, mission schools and RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) stations.

In 1870, the British passed land to the Dominion of Canada. This land included everything north and west of Manitoba. The southern boundary was defined in 1920 and NWT was divided in 1999 to form the new territory called Nunavut.

The 1930′s increased the population when gold was found and Yellowknife began to grow into a city. The gold mining is being depleted but the diamond mining industry is growing. The first diamond mine in North America was opened in 1998. There are now 3.

Yukon Territory CanadaYukon’s name and history are deeply rooted in the legends and experience of the First Nations people. Stone tools found in caves on the Bluefish River are dated to 20,000 years ago, proving that the area was inhabited at that time.

First visitors to the Yukon came from Russia by way of the Alaskan coast in the 1700′s. A Dane in the Russian Navy, Captain Vitus Jonasen Bering, explored the land. He recounted stories of great numbers of furred animals that led to Russian fur trade in Alaska. Yukon First Nations groups traded with Russians, Americans and the British. Eventually the Hudson’s Bay Company and some American companies set up trading posts along the Yukon River.

The year 1870 brought prosperity to the Yukon when George Carmack, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie discovered gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in 1896. Dawson City became the center of the ensuing frenzy. It’s population grew to 40,000 people. Fortunes were made for a few from the gold and for many on the services supplied during that time.

Yukon and Alaska had been tied together through waterways and sea. It was disappointing to the Yukon people when the Alaskan panhandle was given to Alaska during a land dispute, leaving the Yukon with only 200 km of Arctic Coast. Three mountain passes allow travel between the Alaska and the Yukon. The interior of the territory is a large plateau with a tundra plain along the Beaufort Sea.

On June 21st above the Arctic Circle, there is more than 24 hours of sunlight. On December 21st there is 24 hours of darkness. The climate is sub-arctic; the average temperatures do not rise above 10 degrees Celsius (50F)for a maximum of four months per year. Brrrr!

When I first travelled across the prairies I thought there couldn’t be anywhere more boring; until I had the opportunity to spend a few days on a farm. Now I realize that beauty is everywhere as long as we take the time to see it. The prairies are just as incredible as every other geographical area of Canada and after days horse riding through Saskatchewan farmland, I developed a true appreciation.

If you think this province is just flat land and farms, think again. Farmland only covers about one third of Saskatchewan, forest covers half, while one third is under water. The northern portion is bordered by the Northwest Territories and is covered by the Canadian Shield (oldest known rock on earth).

Athabasca Provincial Park is home to the most northerly sand dunes in the world. The south shore of Lake Athabasca also offers approximately 100 plant species not found anywhere else.

Estevan which is situated in the southeast corner of the province receives the most sunshine-filled days in Canada.

Manitoba borders the east, Alberta the west. The southern border bumps up against North Dakota and Montana.

It’s name is derived from the Cree word “kisiskatchewanisipi,” or “swift-flowing river.” A testament to the four major rivers: the Assiniboine, the North Saskatchewan, the South Saskatchewan and the Churchill.

As with the other Canadian provinces, Saskatchewan’s growth began through the fur industry. An agent with Hudson’s Bay Company, Henry Kelsey, was the first non-aboriginal to follow the Saskatchewan River into the plains of the province (around 1690). Trading posts and settlements followed.

Settlements grew after the Dominion Lands Act of 1872 and the building of the railroad.

Saskatchewan separated from the Northwest Territories and became a province in Canada in 1905.

This is the only province in Canada where the majority of population is neither British or French. Instead it is a mix of a variety of ethnic heritages including German, Ukrainian, Scandinavian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, British and French.

Quebec is the largest Canadian province in Canada, with the northern section being a vast wilderness. There is skiing in the Laurentian mountains, farming, a continuous forest of trees and waterways including the St. Lawrence River, while the cities in Quebec are known for their late-night parties.

In 1534, the Gaspé peninsula was the landing spot of famous explorer Jacques Cartier who claimed the land of Quebec for the Francois I, King of France.

Almost 100 years later (1608) Samuel Champlain landed on an area the local Indians referred to as Kébec and founded a trading post there. Today Quebec City stands in its place.

For years the English and the French fought over the vast wilderness of Canada and the riches that the beaver pelts provided.

In 1763, the French and English Kings signed the Treaty of Paris which granted England the rights to Canada.

Quebec was one of the four original provinces that formed the Dominion of Canada in 1867 but on October 30, 1995, all of Canada collectively held its breath while Quebec voted to become a sovereign nation. In a narrow margin of 50.58% to 49.42, Quebecers voted “no” and chose to remain within Canada.

Prince Edward IslandBeautiful red soil and beaches with green fields that look like rich tapestry from the air, make it a beautiful retreat. The province is also steeped in history, beginning with the first residents, the Micmac Indians. They thought the island appeared as though it was resting on the waves and named it Epekwitk. When the Europeans arrived in 1534, led by Jacques Cartier, they changed the name pronunciation to Abegweit which can be interpreted to mean “lying down flat”.

When the French arrived they called P.E.I., Ile Saint-Jean, the British translated the name to English and referred to it as St. John’s Island.

It adopted it’s current name in 1799, in honour of Edward, Duke of Kent and father of Queen Victoria.

On September 1, 1864, The Charlottetown Conference was held in P.E.I., to discuss forming a Canadian union. The island has since been called the “Cradle of Confederation”, and although this is a notable distinction, P.E.I. still waited until 1873 to join the Dominion of Canada. (Canada was formed in 1867) Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is known for it’s potatoes, but it offers many other wonderful products such as lobsters and Malpeque Oysters from Malpeque Bay. Tourism is also another important industry. Lucy Maude Montgomery helped to put P.E.I on the world map with the book, “Anne of Green Gables”. A visit to the island would not be complete without a tour of Green Gables House, or to a theatre to see the play.

Up until 1997, the only way to reach the island was by sea or air. Ferries have run back and forth for years, but now the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered waters is another option. It is almost 13 km (8 Miles) long and is 20 stories above the sea.

Island Hymn

Fair Island of the sea,
We raise our song to thee,
The bright and blest;
Loyally now we stand
As brothers, hand in hand,
And sing God save the land
We love the best.
Upon our princely Isle
May kindest fortune smile
In coming years;
Peace and prosperity
In all her borders be,
From every evil free,
And weakling fears.
Prince Edward Isle, to thee
Our hearts shall faithful be
Where’er we dwell;
Forever may we stand
As brothers, hand in hand,
And sing God save the land
We love so well.

The Words by Lucy Maud Montgomery 1908

Toronto’s history dates back, long before Europeans came to settle Canada. It initially was a meeting place for First Nations people (North American Indians) and has a protected harbour that the French and British also used for trade and settlements. Toronto is derived from the Huron word for “meeting place”.

n 1788, the British purchased the land from the Mississauga Indians under the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe. He named the new town “York” and it’s beginnings can still be seen in the historic garrison of York near the Canadian National Exhibition grounds in downtown Toronto. It’s current name was adopted in 1834 when the town was incorporated.

Over the years the city has grown despite two major fires. It has established many educational, cultural and architectural facilities. Toronto offers an extensive public transit system which includes buses, subways and streetcars. It is one of the safest cities in the world, with a crime rate lower than many other cities of equivalent size.

Toronto has wonderful live theatre, rivalled only by New York City and London, England. It’s restaurants and communities are diverse as a result of the variety of people who have immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto. This can be seen in Toronto neighborhoods named Greektown, Little Italy, Indian Bazaar, Little Poland, Portugal Village, Chinatown & others. Visiting these places is like taking a trip around the world without leaving Toronto.

Sports fanatics can get their fill by taking in a hockey game with the Leafs, basketball with the Raptors or a Blue Jay baseball game at the Dome.

Shopping is plentiful as well and in the winter months – you don’t even need to go outside! Walk the labyrinth of shops under Toronto’s streets – no coat required!

Geographically, Toronto is situated on Lake Ontario’s northern shore, closeToronto Skyline to its western end. It is within a couple hours drive to the American border, Niagara Falls and recreational activities such as skiing, camping & hiking outside of the city. There are many golf courses too!

It is the georgraphic location that has helped to build Toronto into the finance, industry and commerce powerhouse it is today. Half of the population of the United States is within a days drive of Toronto. It is the second largest car manufacturing area in North America (after Detroit), the third largest stock exchange based on value’s traded, and 7 of the top 10 information technology companies have Canadian headquarters in Toronto.

The Evangeline Trail follows the along the Bay of Fundy, known for the highest tides in the world. Watch whales from BriarNova Scotia Island at the farthest point of the Digby Neck. Take a tour through the Annapolis Valley where the fertile farmlands produce delicious fruits and vegetables and many spin off industries such as soap making.

The earliest inhabitants of Nova Scotia were the Mi’kmaq Indians. Their history tells of a magical Indian named Glooscap that could control the tides in the Bay of Fundy. The Glooscap Trail offers visions of nature at it’s most pristine and beautiful. The cliffs near Parsboro are striking – look around and find some more history in the plentiful rocks and fossils.

The Lighthouse route is a testament to the seafaring history of Nova Scotia – visiting the town of Lunenburg is a must. Besides being home to the famous Bluenose it is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Peggy’s Cove offers a view of Nova Scotia’s most famous lighthouse.

cape bretonThe Cabot trail is another tour with breathtaking scenery and beautiful vistas. It is named after John Cabot who was the first recorded explorer to set foot on Nova Scotia (in 1497).

Nova Scotia was settled in 1604 by French Acadians and came under British rule in 1713. It was one of the first of four provinces that signed the Confederation that became known as “Canada”.

Have you heard about the huge totem pole we have here on the island of Newfoundland?

We call it the Heritage Tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and if you ever come to visit Newfoundland’s west coast you can see it right from the Trans Canada Highway.

But let me tell you why you should stop and have a much closer look at this 52 feet high, 4.5 foot wide 9 ton phenomenal work of art!

Do you like exquisite wood carvings made by human hands?

Then this Heritage Tree is for your eyes ! It has 56 incredible carvings brought forth from the tree that depict the Newfoundland way of life that goes back long before the arrival of the Vikings ( 999AD) right to Joey Smallwood(1949) and the Hibernia Oil rigs of today off our east coast. It’s all there on the Heritage Tree – icebergs, puffins, a Newfoundland dog,Heritage Tree1 John Cabot,(1497), Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1583), Dr. Sir Wilfred Grenfell, Shanadithit (last of the Beothuck race), resettlement, coat of arms, a Viking Knarr(ship), a Maritime Archaic Indian(4500BC), Churchill Falls, The Nfld and Labrador flags, moose, The Dorset Eskimo Archeological quarry site, Signal Hill(Marconi), Newfoundland 20 cent piece, The Newfoundland Forest Rangers, The Button Accordion and so much more!

Just travel down the TCH (Trans Canada Highway) about 8 kms east of Newfoundland’s city of Corner Brook and you’ll arrive in the little town of Steady Brook. Right there in the majestic Humber Valley in front of the Marble Mountain downhill ski mountains, you’ll find the Heritage Tree. Take exit 8 and a hundred yards away you’ll view this 417 year old freshly cut totempole-like structure standing solid, historical and wonderful.

Being part of the Heritage Tree committee I proudly stood there almost every day watching the “artisans du bois” carve away at this awesome 65 foot massive log. Wood carver Bernard Benoit, who carved about 48% of the Tree himself over two years, used to smile at me whenever I’d say, “I have another drawing for you Bernie!!”. Then I’d joke with him and say, “Gosh you have an easy life just chipping away at wood and being paid for it! Sure we all know the image is already in the wood just waiting to come out!”

Heritage Tree2″Ah, but Mike…,” Bernie would humorously retort with his great wit, “It takes an ‘artist’ to know where that image is within the tree!”

To see these artists work was amazing. Bernie, Scott Butt, Colin Mahoney and Norman Young were four dedicated artists who chipped at this huge cedar tree every day in rain, wind, hot sun and cold snow. Then in the evening for relaxation in the cabin we provided for them, each would have their own little project to work on. Bernie was forever working on this junk of birch making it into an eagle with a snake in its claws. Colin would play his guitar, Scott would work on some brilliant aboriginal idea and Norman would work with soap stone. Their relaxation time was always of an artistic nature.

But whose idea was it to have a Heritage Tree?

Trevor Bennett, a good friend of mine, a walking Newfoundland Heritage Treeencyclopedia, a man of many years, a gifted poet, even the Mayor of Steady Brook at the time, was the brainchild behind the Tree. Trevor is the son of the famous England-born Nurse Myra Bennett who faithfully served the people of Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula for 80 years delivering thousands of babies and even pulling over 5000 teeth in her lifetime!

Trevor had always wanted to illustrate the history, culture and heritage of Newfoundland in some sort of visible way besides his writings and his poems. So one day it hit him when he was asked in 1996 what his town of Steady Brook was going to do to contribute and celebrate the 1999 Jeux du Canada Winter games. Why not find a tree big enough and carve out images and icons and historic incidents that represented Newfoundland and Labrador?

But where could such a tree be found?

He needed a tree that would be BIG enough and that would last hundreds of years? One of those huge British Columbia cedar trees would do the job!

That’s where Newfoundlander Dan Preshyon entered the picture. He was working at the time for Western Forests Products of B.C and was given permission to cut a 65 foot section of a 5 ft. wide cedar tree and it was graciously donated to the cause. With Newfoundlanders all across Canada lending their time and equipment to transport the Tree across our great Nation, the Tree arrived in Newfoundland and ended up at the site at Marble Mountain. It was placed under a huge military-donated tent and the first carvings on the tree started with the tree on its side.

The tree was then erected on Feb 2nd,1999, the top part completed first, just in time for the Jeux du Canada 1999 Winter Games and was an awesome sight to see. The following two summers, the carvers went back at the tree and, using up to three tiers of scaffolding, finished the lower half carvings out in the open. Razor sharp chisels flicked fragrant smelling cedar chips much to the delight of tourists who watched, gathered souvenirs, and marveled at the images seemingly coming forth from the cedar wood.

Today the Heritage Tree stands completed but the project is a never ending love story. Funds are needed for a wheelchair boardwalk around the Tree, viewing telescopes, spotlights, descriptive panels and a small interpretation center.. Donations from anyone with an interest in preserving our Newfoundland heritage and culture are greatly welcome. For instance, even just a small donation (a loonie will even do) and a 49 cent stamp placed in an envelope and sent to me, PR person Mike Madigan, will have me return to you an autumn coloured postcard of the Heritage Tree. Just be sure to have your address in the envelope and I’ll transfer it and your stamp to the postcard. (see below for web site and address and info)

And finally, if you are interested in suggesting a final carving, there is ONE space left that is entitled “For a Future Carving”. If you know your Newfoundland history, suggest with your donation, a person, scene or icon for this vacant area on the Tree. The committee would love to hear from you. Think about this: when this tree was first beginning to grow 417 years ago from a small seedling, Sir Humphrey Gilbert was just claiming Newfoundland for England in 1583. So there is no time like the present to help out in any way possible.

In fact, as our committee likes to say, “This Heritage Tree is our past, our future, and our PRESENT to YOU!” Hopefully it will stand for generations to come.

About the Author
Mike Madigan is a member of the Heritage Tree Committee, Mike Madigana teacher, and a musician with the Sharecropper Trio of Newfoundland who have written a song about the Tree. Use his web site www.
thesharecroppers.net to link to the Heritage Tree which will soon have a new web site. Donations & ideas can be sent to:
Nfld and Lab Heritage Tree, Box 202
Steady Brook, NL, Canada, A2H – 2N2
Telephone 709-686-5427 or email: mike@theshare
croppers.net

All Heritage Tree photo’s are courtesy of Linda Kay Bruton

It is an amazingly beautiful calm evening with a spectacular sunset, almost as if the Controller of the Universe is saying “All is well.” The reflection of the pink sunset on the still water of Shoal harbor makes the whole harbor look like a gigantic sheet of pink satin, and as each small craft leaves it appears to be cutting the satin like a seamstress would cut the lovely material. The red, yellow, blue and gold of the life vests add another dimension of color to the picture and it is truly a sight to behold. The race is on, and the little boats are straining at the bit to get out to open water where they most like to be, to do what they were made to do.

Last year was our first year back in Newfoundland after many years “up along”, and the food fishery opened, and we watched the boats leaving one by one. My husband had no boat, but friends and neighbours invited us to go along, so he went with them, caught fish and enjoyed it so much. This year he has had time to shop for and buy a boat, and is happy to take whoever would like to go, repaying kindness and courtesy that was shown to him in the Newfoundland tradition. Tonight he already had planned to take a friend with him when another young man called to see if he could join them and take his young son too. Sure he could, and off they went, happy faces reflecting the general feeling that prevails over us all.

Yes, this year we have our boat. We searched every nook and corner in Trinity Bay and beyond until we found her, and as soon as we saw her we knew she had to be ours. She is brand new, built by a man and his son in St.Jones Within. She is a beauty, a strong, sturdy craft. Sixteen feet long, six feet in the beam, and we think we have the Queen Mary. The twenty-five horse power motor moves her along slick and sure. Every day that she does not leave her mooring we can still drive by the little wharf and see her patiently waiting for us. I call her the ‘Kylee G’. After our little grand daughter who lives so far away. When Kylee is older, she will know that a smart, beautiful little boat was named for her, and she will know that we were thinking of her always, even though a long distance separates us.

A friend dropped by to see our boat on his way across Newfoundland and remarked “I thought you would have a bigger boat than that!”. I was crushed. I thought we had the best little boat in the world, and I still think so! When we were shopping for a motor for her my husband remarked that if he didn’t soon find a motor he would have to grow longer arms to bjlowe5be able to row his boat. The Kylee G. bobbed about as if she were laughing.

This small craft gives us the freedom to explore the bays and coves, to have boilups on different beaches with friends, to search for mussels at low tides while the eagles circle overhead. She comes obediently to us from her mooring and stays while we load her full of everything four people would need for a day out on the water. Then our friends get aboard, then us,, and we just sit there and think she is a grand ship.

The little boy who goes out fishing tonight will love her, his eyes wide with the delight of it all, especially when he is in the company of his dad and the other men. He has his new life vest, his blond hair ruffled, his toothless smile a sight for any photographers’ lens.

When we were looking for the Kylee G., we saw so many boats that looked sad, so many boat owners now too old to fish anymore, so many who had moved away, the boats falling into disrepair with nobody here to care for them. To see an elderly fisherman having to sell his boat is heartbreaking. He stands beside his boat and tells stories of better days, when the fish were plentiful, days when he was young, and his boat was new. One man said he would prefer to burn his boat than sell her to someone else, all so very sad.Probably that is what led us to the Kylee G. She is new, with fresh paint and no past history, her history begins with us and it has already started.

It makes me question “What happened?”. What happened to the Newfoundland of my childhood when the first question after school was always “Goin’ out in boat?” Our scrawny knees and attitude of “No guts, No glory” leading us to mischief like commandeering someones’ boat, rowing around for as long as we liked, then losing an oarlock or towpin, and having to scrounge one from someone else’s unsuspecting little boat to replace it. None of us could swim, we were all warned to stay away from the wharf, but the pull was too great, and we repeatedly went to the boats, went fishing, and caught the fish too! Now a little boy thinks it is a real adventure to go out on the bay for an evening. What a change there has been, but the fish went and with them went a way of life.

But for the length of time of the open fishery maybe we will see the Island of our younger days. The boats will be launched, men will be yarnin’ on the wharves, women complaining about the mess of the men, and telling them to hurry up, there are things to do at home! Hopefully Newfoundlanders will see that part of our heritage of the sea come to life for this short time. More people and boats out, more friends made, more proudness in their voices if they catch a good size fish, and with it catching for a brief moment some hope for the future and for Newfoundland.

During the time of the open fishery maybe some dear old fisherman will catch his last cod, and maybe some young child will catch their first one. At least we can hang on and hope, and enjoy Newfoundland the way it used to be. It will never really be the same, as the winds of change blow over everything sooner or later. Our Island in the Sea is changing, and we need time to adjust, to let the next generation steer the course, and I am sure we will find that the universe is unfolding as it should. Meanwhile, we are going fishing. We are going to feel the salt on our lips and the wind in our faces, and we will smell the salt air and remember.

As we move out little boats into the future, the fighting Newfoundland spirit will get us through as it has before during bad times. We will get through the loss, and we will accept whatever the winds of change will bring.I never dreamed I would have one of those little boats of Newfoundland when I played the song about them over and over while I was away from the Island, but now I do have one. And it is glorious. Those little boats of Newfoundland really do mean the world to me.So for a short time we will use our little boats, get a glimpse at the Newfoundland of bygone days, and hope for the wind to be at our backs as we move into the twenty-first century.

Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe,
Lowe@superweb.ca

As I walked up to her she asked “Where’s your husband lately?” That caused me to go into explaining that the boat was docked in another place and so she didn’t see him at the wharf as much now. She told me about her sore hands, I told her what cream I used, stashed my fresh produce in the car and left, an hour and a half has passed by now. But there’s a reason for this you see, it is because I live in a little community tucked up in the bottom of Trinity Bay called Shoal Harbor. It joined Clarenville in 1994 but ask anyone around and if they are from Shoal Harbor, then that is what they will tell you, not Clarenville, the adjustment has not been made quite yet. This little community has a population of approximately fifteen hundred people, (combined with the Clarenville population there are fifty three hundred people in total. Shoal Harbor has two small grocery stores, a church, post office, municipal building, two furniture stores, a gas station, an iron works company, a winery, a funeral home, a fly-in charter service, a locksmith shop, a garden nursery business and two recreational vehicle sales businesses, plus a recreational vehicle and small engine repair shop. It also has a long history of being linked to the Newfoundland Railway, and also people worked at the Hardwoods plant in Clarenville. It has just the right mix of people to make life interesting, characters who can bring a laugh on the worst of days. It is small enough that the local people know me even if I don’t know them, for you see, it is I who am the ‘newcomer’. But anybody who knows the Lowe family knows me from our frequent vacations, and they know and appreciate the fact that I love this little town. Shoal Harbor has a big heart, and people with concern for others, and they show it. It is a little place but it is an anchor in the lives of its’ people.bjlowe2

Two years ago my husband and I returned to Shoal Harbor to retire. He is a Lowe, a descendant of one of the founding families of Shoal Harbor. For thirty-five years we were away, but the pull for Shoal Harbor brought us home. Shoal Harbor has changed quite a bit since that day in 1967 when my husband first brought me to visit his parents. The fishery didn’t affect this community as much as the decline of the railway, and eventually the loss of it completely. It was then that the winds of change started to blow over Shoal Harbor, and it has been evolving and changing ever since then.

Let me take you on a tour through our little town. For me the day starts with sitting and looking out the big windows of our house onto golden and orange leaves falling now, pumpkins sitting on a rock, and the birds pushing and shoving to get a good seat on the feeders that I keep filled for them. All seems well so we can start our tour. We will drive to the gas station at the top of ‘Milton Hill’ as it is called, because our town ends there and Milton begins. A building supply and furniture store, with an adjoining convenience store and hair dressers shop complete the picture here. Always a beehive of activity usually, and generally one meets someone they know and a yarn begins. Then we turn back, down past well kept lawns, lovely hanging baskets, and occasional yard sale signs. The sea is always visible on the left driving down through and one can see Random Island and a small boat can be seen making its’ way to Smith Sound, going under the ‘bar’ or causeway, that connects Random Island to the mainland.

Along the route there are small businesses, then a large business with a parking lot full of trailers, snowmobiles, seadoos and all sorts of outdoor equipment. The lane to our house is just beyond that parking lot. Further along there are more carefully for properties, a little lighthouse sits on one lawn, and a windmill to swirl in the breeze for effect. A little convenience store comes into view, and just down the road is a furniture store that at one time was a school, then down from the store is a fenced in a playground with usually several brightly clad children enjoying their playground by the sea, with their caretakers watching over them. Further along are a Municipal Building, and Post Office and next to the Post Office is a beautifully kept United Church with the Graveyard on the hill beyond it. A graveyard where one can see the headstones with the familiar names of Mills, Ploughman, Clench, Lowe, Tilley, Tuck, Wiseman, Mills, and other ancestors who have walked here before us. Houses are springing up everywhere. Further in the road is the elementary school with its’ recess time music of the children’s voices. The road will take you up and around the cove, past Shoal Harbor River, always gorgeous, and up around the bend some beautiful big trees, lovely homes, and if you are still you can hear the call of the blue jay and the rushing of the river. This road will take you down to the wharf and the end of Shoal Harbor as it gives way to Clarenville, to the wharf where the lovely lady sells her produce. Otherwise you can drive straight over the causeway and come to the same place, the wharf where a small boat named ‘Misty Sue’ sits on her collar, with other little Newfoundland boats keeping her company.

bjlowe3In summer and fall, people are walking, chatting, their dogs on a leash and straining to chase the seagulls. One seagull has laid claim to a rock and at a low tide he looks like a mighty ruler, sitting on a granite throne surrounded by golden seaweed. The sandpipers dash to and fro on the shore and an occasional kingfisher dives for his prey. In the winter we have geese that stay and slip and slide around on the ice, but they stay. They leave in summer and come back in late fall. It is considered a strange phenomenon these geese, but that is what they do, and in winter one can find people feeding them from the shoreline. Shoal Harbor is in fact a Canada Goose Sanctuary, and proud of it.

Lines of freshly laundered clothes hang out to dry, a clothesline of salt fish hanging on a line in the sun looks wonderful, and the tricycles of the preschoolers can be seen here and there, and usually the children wear their helmets now. I often see things that are reminders of days gone by but at the same time it is a community where most of us have e-mail addresses, and send messages back and forth in the way of the twenty-first century. But it is still a place where a man can find, always, a few people to help haul his boat up on the point, where the minister and postmaster know your names and the names of your children, where people call my husband by his given name while I use a nickname, and it causes a chuckle many a time.

We have had our tour, come for coffee? Small community isn’t it? But who left the bag of tomatoes on the doorstep, who came and plowed the snow when it was necessary, who called when they wanted a nice photo taken of their skidoo, the people who live here and share with us, that’s who, a nice touch to life. We sit over coffee in my sun room and look down past the colorful trees and see an enormous barge of wood coming into Clarenville, and the binoculars come out, yes, it looks like a moving island! How do they do it? And, no, you will not hear a lawn mower start on Sunday morning until church is through, until people are out walking the trail of the old railway bed, the dogs are barking as their owners throw bright orange balls for them, and the boys have their bikes out. Shoal Harbor has changed, and is changing constantly. But the change is not all bad, because to move ahead requires change and the people know that.

My husband arrives from his foray into the woods, cutting firewood, takes a look over at the barge, asks if the Flicker woodpecker was here today, he says he saw his friend at the garage, and was told that one of the community elders was very ill. We all know the lovely man and are sad about his poor health. Come back and visit us again. The tea and craft sales will start soon and the church ladies will be all decked out and looking wonderful, making tea, serving cookies, and admiring the crafts and preserves. The geese will be in the harbor, and people will welcome you back as will the honking geese.

Yes, you have visited Shoal Harbor, as I did for many, many years, but now I am not visiting, I am home. This little shoal water harbor, tucked up in Trinity Bay has brought me home to stay. You’ll be welcome if you come back, I’ll be here, and so will Shoal Harbor and if you have time I will show you the Trout Hole, a deep hole further up the river where the children always like to swim, and maybe take you to some other secret little beautiful places as well.

And if you have enough time we can share some stories of the days gone by, the antics of the now fifty-plus age groups, and the stories they remember from their younger days here. Folklore is everywhere, and is just as interesting as Shoal Harbor itself. A little community that has stood the test of time, and has a beauty that continues to overwhelm, and a character that you can feel in the air. Shoal Harbor is moving into the twenty-first century with its’ head up, looking forward to the future with a genuine belief that although things change, some things can remain the same. For me it is ‘Home’, and to be here is a dream come true.

Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe,
Lowe@superweb.ca