Still unresolved

After some two hours of wrangling Tuesday night, Witless Bay council appears to be back to square one when it comes to resolving allegations of conflict of interest involving two councillors.

Despite prolonged debate, and the unusual scene of councillors at the centre of the alleged conflicts actually participating in the debates about how to handle the conflicts, all the chamber could do in the end was vote to ask for a meeting with an official in the Department of Municipal Affairs for advice.

The failure of council to resolve the matters means the allegations have pushed into the eight straight month of controversy with the town failing to follow three written orders from the Minister of Municipal Affairs to resolve the issue.

Mayor Sébastien Després said council did move to resolve the matters in the past month, but the more he talked about the issues the clearer it became that the two councillors at the centre of the allegations, husband and wife team Ralph Carey and Dena Wiseman, actually participated in the private meetings, helped frame how the matters would be resolved and sat in on the votes which council held, in camera, to try resolving the matters. Their participation in those debates and presence at the votes raises questions as to whether they are now in a further conflict of interest.

Tuesday’s meeting, meanwhile, began with all seven councillors voting to adopt the minutes of the last public meeting as well as the two private meetings. Council also tabled the report from the Minister of Municipal Affairs, which advised the town that the province cannot register the Town Plan because of irregularities in the way council handled the document. In that report, Minister Keith Hutchings also advised council, for at least the third time, to resolve the conflict of interest allegations involving Carey and Wiseman, and advised that that should happen before council tries to rectify the situation with the Town Plan.

It soon became obvious that no resolution on the two sets of conflict of interest allegations was in sight. One allegation concerns Carey and Wiseman’s participation in a discussion about snow clearing on Pond Path, a private lane where they own property that is about to be rezoned to allow residential development under the proposed Town Plan. The second allegation pertains to their participation in the vote on the Town Plan.

Landowners in Witless Bay, who are detrimentally affected by changes in the Town Plan, have charged the pair had a monetary interest in the new document, which rezones their land for development. Councillor Kevin Smart was also accused of being in a conflict of interest because he too owns land that is being rezoned and can be developed once the new Town Plan takes effect.

“In terms of the progress council has made to deal with this first allegation… we discussed this at a privileged meeting where a motion was made that councillor Kevin Smart was not in a conflict of interest, and that motion passed,” said Deprés. “And subsequently another motion was made that councillors Wiseman and Carey were not in a conflict of interest and that motion passed.”

After further discussion, however, it became clear that during that privileged meeting, councillors Carey and Wiseman participated in the discussion on how to craft the votes on the conflict of interest allegations and actually got to vote on the allegation involving Smart, while Smart was given the opportunity to vote on the allegations involving Carey and Wiseman.

Deprés said the town subsequently met with a lawyer and obtained an opinion that none of the three councillors were in a conflict of interest. But not all the councillors felt the same way as Deprés. One of them, apparently, made a motion that council proceed with the Friendly Hearing ordered by Municipal Affairs so that Carey, Wiseman and Smart could defend themselves against the allegation before the remaining councillors voted on whether to vacate their seats or not. However Deprés said that motion was out of order.

“So that’s where we stand today,” the mayor reported.

Councillor Wiseman then made a motion that council disclose the lawyer’s opinion to the public. Councillor Carey seconded it, noting a couple of times that he himself did not have a copy of the five page opinion. After some discussion, in which councillor Albert Murphy pointed out that he had only received the lawyer’s opinion 10 minutes before the start of Tuesday’s council meeting, Deprés suggested Wiseman withdraw the motion.

Council then got into an argument over whether councillor Murphy could participate in the vote on the conflict of interest allegations concerning the Town Plan, because he has a brother-in-law whose land is affected by the document. It was Murphy himself who asked for a ruling on the matter, indicating he wanted to make sure he didn’t break conflict of interest guidelines. Wiseman argued Murphy was in a conflict of interest and should not participate in the vote and indicated she was opposed to leaving the council chamber for the vote on the allegation.

Deprés supported Wiseman’s contention that Murphy was in a conflict of interest and said he should not vote on the matter.

Councillor Réne Estrada countered the mayor was being overly technical.

Councillor Ken Brinston then moved that council refer the matter to Municipal Affairs for clarification. That motion carried unanimously with all seven councillors voting.

Debate on the second allegation, involving the discussion about snow clearing on Pond Path, turned out to be equally complicated.

Deprés said with regards to that allegation, a Friendly Hearing was held on April 21 in which Carey and Wiseman were given a chance to explain themselves. The mayor said a lawyer for Carey and Wiseman convinced him that council would not be able to defend itself if council vacated their seats and they took the matter to court.

Deprés, who was the person who initially raised the accusation of conflict of interest against the pair following a meeting on September 16 last year, said he has since come to realize that he was in error and so there is no conflict, he insisted. The mayor said the discussion about Pond Path didn’t occur in an official public or privileged council meeting, so it didn’t constitute a conflict of interest.

Councillor Murphy said the mayor’s statements contradict his earlier statements made in correspondence to the Department of Municipal Affairs.

After prolonged argument, in which Wiseman and Carey participated, Mayor Deprés called for a motion on whether the husband and wife pair was in conflict when it came to the matter of snowclearing on Pond Path. Murphy moved a motion to that effect, but it didn’t draw a seconder. That meant the motion failed.

Deprés then gave up his seat as chairman so that he could make a motion that Carey and Wiseman were not in a conflict of interest.

“I’m confused,” said councillor Smart. “Did we not some time ago make a notion that Ralph and Dena were not in a conflict of interest?”

Deprés replied that back in November or December council did decide, after hearing from the pair’s lawyer, that the two councillors were not in a conflict. This was while two seats on council were vacant and the town was under orders from Municipal Affairs to hold a by-election to fill the vacancies so that it could resolve the conflict of interest issues.

However, the information about the lawyer was never communicated to the public and there is no evidence that council made the Department of Municipal Affairs aware of it either.

Deprés insisted “it is so cut and dry” that Wiseman and Carey are not in a conflict of interest.

Councillors Murphy, Brinston and Estrada looked skeptical.

At this point Town Clear Geraldine Caul intervened. She argued it was clear that it was going to take more time for council to resolve the issue, so she suggested the item be moved to the end of the meeting so that could could get some regular town business done.

Murphy then moved to defer the matter pending a further meeting with Municipal Affairs.

“I second that,” Said Smart.

When Carey raised his hand to vote on the motion, Wiseman cautioned, “Don’t put your hand up, Ralph. For God’s sake don’t put your hand up.”

Council then voted to pass the motion with Carey and Wiseman abstaining. When it was pointed out to council that under the Municipalities Act an abstention is recorded as a no vote, signifying Wiseman and Carey had participated in the vote regarding the conflict of interest allegation against them, Carey and Wiseman left the chamber and Deprés called the vote again. However, they returned for the next agenda item, which was a discussion on the correspondence from Municipal Affairs about the conflict of interest allegations.

It's a reunion

By Judy Brazil

Stella Maris in Trepassey became a central high school in September of 1963.  The Principal was Sister M. Ephren Johnson.  For the first year (1963-64) the building was not ready for occupancy and school was held in the Convent and auditorium of the Holy Redeemer Church.  The enrolment was approximately 125.  The Staff then included Stella Devereaux and Margaret Curtis and Sisters Ephren Johnson, Hildegarde Doyle and Benedicta Burt. 

The first school year for Stella Maris was 1964-65  when it officially opened its doors and served students from the communities of Portugal Cove South, Biscay Bay, St. Shott’s and Trepassey. The staff included Marie McNeil, Stella Devereaux, Margaret Winter, and Sisters Dympna Bishop and Hildegarde Doyle with an enrolment of approximately 130 students. Father Frank J. Mullowney, who was the Parish Priest back then, was the driving force behind its construction.    

In 1971, Holy Redeemer Elementary (K-6) was built and in 2002 was consolidated with Stella Maris Central High, which today is called Stella Maris Academy (K – 12) and under the Eastern School District. 

Many things have changed within these 50 years and most especially the school’s population.  At its peak approximately 37 years ago, when the Trepassey fish plant was in full operation, we had approximately 750 students in total from K – 12 (both schools combined).  Today we have 42 from K-12. The new Gymnasium, which was officially opened in May of 1991, is decorated with numerous Provincial banners for various sports, but especially basketball. Ted Winter, a former teacher originally from Clarkes Beach, introduced the sport in the year 1966 when he first began teaching at Stella Maris.   He was only 17 years old when he arrived to teach,”still receiving the baby-bonus,” as he quoted at one time. Winter was later labelled the “Father of Basketball” and Trepassey was referred to as the ‘Basketball Town.’

If there was anything good that came out of all this, the most rewarding was the bonding friendships among the many teams and coaches, who still today, get together to reminisce and laugh about by-gone days.

Not only in the field of Sports did SMA excel, but students also received many provincial and regional awards for drama productions, Speak-Offs, poetry, artwork, heritage projects, and the list goes on.

A large number of students who finished school, branched out into the world to further their education and work skills, ending up in all parts of the country and beyond. Stella Maris produced many wonderful students who have been very successful in all types of careers, which speaks volumes of the calibre of teaching they received throughout the years.

This year Stella Maris will mark its 50 years in operation. Celebrations are planned for July 10, 11 and 12th  in Trepassey.  Excitement fills the air as we eagerly await to see many of our former students and teachers along with their families and Friends. We will begin on a Friday evening with the official opening ceremony at 6:00 PM and this will run into Sunday with the Cemetery Mass, Brunch and closing ceremony. During this weekend, there are plenty of activities planned for both young and old alike.  We have basketball, a 10 KM run/walk, Kitchen Party, outdoor festival and dance, a great variety of children’s activities including a magician, bouncy castle, etcetera. All this of course is weather permitting. We will have a substitute venue for most activities. A wonderful and active committee has been formed to help prepare for this big event and I feel quite confident it will be a great success. All we need is good weather with plenty of Alumni back home with us, and plenty of visitors to help us celebrate. 

We need to spread the word to the general public with the hope that many of our former students, teachers and staff will hear about it and decide to visit us for a weekend of reminiscing, music, laughter and fun.  One highlight of the opening ceremonies will be to acknowledge a very prominent ex-resident - a former student who many years ago accomplished something we can all be proud of –and what better time to do this, than at our 50th Anniversary Celebration.  

We have many ex-students who are now gone, but will never be forgotten. We plan to do a Memory Wall with their photos and names. But we need help from family members and friends. We need a photos (5x7 preferred) with the name, date of birth and date deceased, submitted to us as soon as possible. This cannot work without your help, as it is impossible for us to remember everyone. 

For more information and to keep up with what’s on the go, follow our facebook page, Stella Maris 50th Anniversary as periodically we will be updating our postings. Or you can call the school 438-2361 or email Judy Brazil at the school’s email address: judybrazil@nlesd.ca

'More things on the go'

It was a full gymnasium at the Rec Centre last week as the Goulds Recreation Association presented certificates to some of the 91 local youths who were nominated for their volunteer work in the community.

Local MHAs John Dinn and Keith Hutchings helped present the certificates at the event, which coincided with the celebration of National Youth Week.

“The goal of youth week is to celebrate youth, their achievements and their commitment to their communities,” said Nicole Chaytor, the recreation coordinator with the Goulds Recreation Association. “Youth Week also gives us an opportunity to recognize and give back to the youth who have given so much to their communities through their volunteer efforts. And that’s what the Goulds Recreation Commission wanted to do: we wanted to recognize the volunteer efforts put forward by the youth of the Goulds and the youths attending our schools.”

Chaytor said the efforts of local youths are part of the picture when it comes to assessing what makes the Goulds a great place to live and its schools great to attend. “Their volunteering is very important for many reasons,” she said.

People of all ages volunteer, Chaytor said, but when a youth does it, is special because “you are looking at a young person who is being unselfish in his her life.”

Volunteering offers young people a chance to socialize, help others and support causes they believe in, she added.

“In the end, it comes down to the fact that they know they are needed and that the people directly affected by their work are deeply appreciative of it,” Chaytor said. “Youth who volunteer for the right reasons… are our future. Through volunteering, they learn that their existence is important and they can make a difference in the world around them.”

The chairperson of the Goulds Recreation Association, Michelle Downey, echoed those thoughts. “Many, many eons ago I was one of you,” Downey joked. “I was a youth. I started at St. Kevin’s with an Allied Youth program.”
Dabbling in Allied Youth led to involvement in other volunteer activities, said Downey, who credited the teachers and staff of St. Kevin’s for their support back then. “And I know they continue to do so today, they encourage all types of volunteerism in the school and they give a lot of their time for you guys,” she added. “It’s a trickle down type of situation – the people you help will hopefully volunteer as well, your friends and members of your family.”

You don’t have to be part of a formal organization to be a volunteer, Downey argued. There are many individual initiatives that youths undertake on their own, such as shovelling an older person’s driveway,that constitutes volunteerism.

“The joy that I get from volunteering is a big part of my life,” Downey said. “I receive tenfold what I give. I wouldn’t be here tonight if I wasn’t involved in the community, I wouldn’t have the friends I have, if I hadn’t been volunteering the community. So I want to thank you all here tonight and encourage you to keep on the path of volunteering for many years to come… You can certainly make a difference in your community.”

Kilbride MHA John Dinn, who probably has one of the longest and most diverse resumes as a volunteer in the province, also praised the efforts of the students.

“Volunteerism is very important,” said Dinn. “If you took all the volunteers in the Goulds, you would probably need the old (Memorial) Stadium to put them in, because I think we have more volunteers here than anywhere, because we have more things on the go here in the Goulds than anywhere else. And that’s what makes us special here in the Goulds.”

Helping people is very important, said Dinn. “Because the day is coming when you are going to apply for something and have a resume done. And if you can write down that you volunteered, it’s very, very important.”

Dinn said he recently supplied a reference for a young woman in Kilbride who was applying for Medical School. She contacted him a couple of weeks ago, he noted, and said the volunteer activities she had listed on her resume seemed to make the difference in getting accepted.

“It’s very important,” Dinn repeated. “So keep up the good work, and thanks for the work you do. I’m sure you are helping a lot of people.”

Ferryland MHA Keith Hutchings said volunteers play an integral part in their communities. “I always say that governments and agencies can make bricks and mortar into buildings and that sort of thing, but it’s our volunteers who really make our communities and make our regions. So congratulations to you for everything you do.”

Hutchings, who is the Minister of Municipal Affairs, pointed out the theme of Municipal Awareness Week this year is youth leadership. “I certainly encourage you now and in the future to think about getting involved in municipal politics and politics in general, or any kind of civic engagement in your communities,” he said, “because the youth perspective is so important in terms of policy development and building for the future.”

Ward 5 councillor Wally Collins said he supported what all the previous speakers had to say.

“Volunteers make up the community,” he agreed. “And the more young people who do it, the better. John said it earlier: There’s more going on here in the Goulds than in any other community… So I wish you all luck and congratulations.”

The young people receiving the certificates were drawn from a bevy of groups including the Goulds Leo Club, Girl Guides, Goulds Hoopsters, St. Kevin’s Parish, St. Paul’s Parish, St. Kevin’s Allied Youth Community Post, the 4H Challenging Pioneers, among others. The youths who were recognized included:

Crush gets a little, arena gets a token nod from Bay Bulls recreation budget

It was only $5,000, but members of Bay Bulls council spent a long time Monday night trying to figure out a way to carve it up among two groups looking for financial help. In the end, neither group fully got what it was looking for. Instead they received token amounts of funding with council voting to withhold $3,500 of the pot in case it’s needed for summer maintenance work.

The two groups looking for help were the Southern Shore Crush Softball Association and the Southern Shore Arena Association.

The Crush was also looking for approval from council to act as the scheduler of the town’s softball field, so that all activities on the field are coordinated through one organization. It got that.

But the $1,000 council voted in funding for the group won’t come anywhere near the amount needed for new washrooms at the softball field located on back of the Regional Lifestyle Centre on Cemetery Lane West.

Mayor Patrick O’Driscoll said the Crush has managed to land a couple of large tournaments for the field this summer. The association has also managed to build a canteen at the site, he added, out of funds left over from last year’s registration fees. But with as many as a hundred young people and their parents using the field on any one night, washrooms are needed, he admitted, as the kids are relieving themselves in the woods around the field.

“When it comes to the funding request, I don’t know what to say,” the mayor said.

O’Driscoll explained the town only has $5,000 in its recreation budget aside from the money it uses to subsidize the Regional Lifestyle Centre and contribute to the operations of the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association. He added that no money was allocated in the budget for the arena this year. So if council was to grant both requests, it would have to take the money from the Regional Lifestyle Centre fund, he argued.

Deputy Mayor Harold Mullowney said that would be a good way to kill the Lifestyle Centre. He pointed out that council had agreed when the centre was built that it wold have to subsidize its operations for a few years, and that the financial picture there is seeing considerable improvement.

Councillor Rick Oxford asked if council could use funds from another area of the budget to cover the requests.

“You can move categories somewhat, but it’s not something you want to get into on a regular basis,” cautioned Mullowney.

O’Driscoll said council should try to stay within the proper budget for recreation. He added the playground area near the field needs crushed stone and the dugouts “are in bad shape,” suggesting the town has other needs for the money too.

Oxford suggested council give the Crush and Arena Association $2,000 each and retain $1,000 for the maintenance work.

Councillor Joan Luby pointed out that that amount of money won’t cover the work needed to install a septic system for the washrooms.

“They’d have to put some funds toward it (too),” Mayor O’Driscoll said of the Crush.

Luby asked Mullowney to repeat the reasons why other towns are not contributing to the arena, which he had spelled out at the last meeting, the chief one being that some towns object to contributing when other towns and Local Service Districts don’t fork over a cent.

“That (attitude) doesn’t benefit the arena one little but, countered Oxford, who argued council should at least contribute a nominal amount this year and make better provision for the arena in next year’s budget. “We’ve got $5,000, it’s not a lot of money. Even if all that went to the arena, it would only be a token contribution,” Oxford said.

Oxford turned his suggestion into a formal motion that council split the amount and give $2,000 to the Crush to help with the washrooms and $2,000 to the arena, while holding back $1,000 as a contingency.

Mullowney said he would like to hear from a member of the Finance Committee before voting.

O’Driscoll, who is a member of the committee, said he examined the accounts himself and repeated there is only $5,000 allocated in the category.

“We can only work with what we’ve got,” O’Driscoll said. “Let’s make everybody a little happy and spread the wealth… How about we do this - $1,500 for softball, $1,500 for the arena and $2,000 for maintenance?”

Councillor Luby wasn’t convinced that was a good idea. “So are we going to do that every year the arena asks for money?” she asked.

“Well, we didn’t do it (contribute funding) for the last three years,” the mayor noted.

“There are a lot of children in the community who benefit from that arena,” said Oxford. “And to be absent three years, and now into a fourth year, and then a fifth year, sixth year and seventh year and not giving any money to the arena where so many kids are benefitting from the facility and have ever since it was put there… I think $2,500, $3,500 even $4,000 is still only a token amount.”

Oxford added the Town of Witless Bay has contributed $6,500 this year.

“Yes, but they don’t have a big building in there to pay for like we do,” Luby said, referring to the Lifestyle Centre.

Mayor O’Driscoll argued that funding the washrooms for the softball field is a higher priority given that children are peeing in the woods and near the dugouts making it a health issue.

“And there’s a big river where those youngsters go (to pee),” Luby added.

“We’re talking about a token contribution so that it cannot be said again that we are not participating in any way to the arena,” Oxford said. “I mean if we’ve only got so many dollars to work with, we’ve only got so many dollars to work with. But just out of respect and as an acknowledgment for a facility in our region, as a town (we should) make a token donation to the facility that benefits so many kids in our community.”

Mayor O’Driscoll then added a friendly amendment to Oxford’s motion changing it to the town buying a sponsorship sticker on the arena’s boards for $400 or $500, while giving $1,000 to the Crush and keeping the rest of the money in-house for maintenance.

The amended motion passed unanimously.

Riverhead honours its volunteers

The Town of Riverhead used National Volunteer Week to honour some of its long time volunteers earlier this month.

VOCM Open Line host Paddy Daley, whose father hailed from Riverhead, served as guest speaker for the event.

Riverhead Mayor Sheila Lee said about 80 people attended the dinner, including about 20 who don’t actually live in the community, but who contribute to it.

Lee used her speech to contrast the volunteerism of years ago with the style of volunteerism today to show that people in rural areas have always extended a hand when needed. “In my community, there were no organizations like the Legion, or recreation committees, or council,” explained Lee, who grew up farther down the bay. About the only volunteer groups that existed were ones connected to the parish, she explained. “But then I thought about all the good deeds that people did for each other in those days to help each other out, even to the point of staying up in the nighttime when someone was dying to help a family out.”

Lee also used the occasion to read a chapter from her first book, which highlighted the contribution of one of Riverhead’s earlier citizens. It was about a midwife, who happened to be Daley’s grandmother, and was written by the woman’s daughter and granddaughter.

“You could hear a pin drop the whole time I was reading the story,” said Lee. “I had their attention right from the beginning. It was so appropriate.”

Daley asked for a copy of the story to take home to share with his sons. 

Leaders of local community groups were also invited to give a synopsis of their activities “to give a sense of all the great stuff that is happening through volunteers,” Lee added.

Placentia – St. Mary’s MHA Felix Collins presented certificates to some local volunteers in recognition of their efforts.

Riverhead fire truck being readied for action

The fire truck that went off the road and crashed while its operators were responding to a fire in the Gaskiers during a severe winter storm in March has been repaired and even repainted and is being readied to go back into service.

“It was a pretty scary experience,” Riverhead Mayor Sheila Lee said of the accident.

The fire broke out around dawn on March 16 during the height of a storm. The lone man in the house managed to escape. Volunteers with the Riverhead Volunteer Fire Department had trouble reaching the scene because the highway was covered in thick, wet snow.

Some people in the area were concerned that equipment from the Department of Transportation had not been out to clear the road that morning. But Lee said it was during the eye of the storm and it would have been pointless for maintenance crews to try clearing the road before the wind and snow subsided.

“We’re so blessed that it wasn’t a big tragedy,” Lee said of the crash involving the fire truck. “The weather was so bad and visibility was zero. If that truck had gone off in another place, like over a bank, people could have been killed.”
There were two firefighters aboard the truck when it went off the road. Some 14 volunteer firefighters answered the call. One of the them, who happened to have a plow on his pickup, tried to clear a path for the fire truck. “Talk about going beyond the call of duty,” Lee said. “I never saw such devotion as these firemen have.”

Lee reckoned the truck is about 15 years old but was well maintained and in very good shape before the accident. “It’s going to be as good as new,” she said. “There is going to be a $5,000 deductible. Thank God that we got it resolved to have that household fee to have a bit of fund there for things like this that come up.”

Lee wasn’t certain of the size of the repair bill. “I think it’s $20,000 or more,” she estimated. “With the (insurance) policy we have, the first $5,000 is a deductible.”

Goulds chiropractor switches focus from Kilbride to Ferryland

The proposed change in electoral boundaries has made Goulds chiropractor Dr. Jeff Marshall switch the focus of his election bid from Kilbride District to Ferryland.

Under the proposed changes, Kilbride would be eliminated with much of the district to fall under a new riding called Waterford Valley. Ferryland District, meanwhile, would stretch northwards, albeit slightly. It would run from St. Shotts, as it does currently, to the Ruby Line in the Goulds.

Marshall had previously won the Liberal nomination for Kilbride district. The Goulds makes up approximately 40 per cent of the population of the newly adjusted district of Ferryland. Petty Harbour – Maddox Cove makes up a further eight percent, meaning the north end of the district will be a key battleground among the candidates for the Liberal and New Democratic parties and the incumbent, Keith Hutchings of the Progressive Conservatives. Bay Bulls to Tors Cove comprises about 27 per cent of the district’s population, while Brigus South to Cappahayden has about 18 per cent of the vote and Portugal Cove South to St. Shotts, which includes Trepassey and Biscay Bay, has about seven per cent.

The figures may actually be skewed a little higher in the Bay Bulls to Tors Cove area. The population counts are based on the 2011 census. In the four years since then, Bay Bulls and Witless Bay has seen considerable residential growth.

Marshall said what now comprises Kilbride district will be split four ways, if the plan proposed by the Electoral Boundaries Commission is passed by the legislature. Kilbride proper would be rolled into the district of Waterford Valley, Brookfield Plains into St. John’s West, Southlands into Mount Pearl – Southlands, and the remaining part of the Goulds that wasn’t already part of Ferryland would be added to that district.

“I was surprised,” Marshall said of the proposal. “But to be honest, I think the changes really make sense with the Goulds being all together and there is a lot of historical connection between the Goulds and Petty Harbour and the Southern Shore. I was surprised, but you’ve just got to roll with it and run in the district that feels most like home.”

Marshall spent a lot of time the past two years campaigning, first for the Liberal nomination in Kilbride, and then for the seat itself. Kilbride is held by PC MHA John Dinn. Marshall said his work in Kilbride won’t be wasted. “Ultimately the goal is to elect as many Liberal MHAs as possible so we can have a better government after the next election under Dwight Ball. So other candidates will benefit from the work that I’ve done there. We really had a team effort…”

Asked to identify the most important issues in Ferryland district, Marshall said infrastructure is important in the Goulds, as are the same issues that are important across the province, including health care, education and employment. “Newfoundland just officially booked its 17th straight month of job losses,” Marshall noted, “and there’s a lot of economic uncertainty, so we need a solid plan going forward… As far as further up the Shore, I’m working right now to try to set up meetings with municipal leaders and community leaders in the area to make sure that I’m very up on the issues in that area. Through my involvement with the Irish Loop Chamber of Commerce I’ve gotten to know quite a few people and I think I’ve got a good idea of the issues, but I want to make sure I’m consulting people who are in the area and who are involved in those communities to make sure I have a solid handle on everything.”

Marshall said he is not intimidated by the notion Ferryland is one of perhaps three or four districts where the PCs might retain a seat. “I know Keith a little bit and I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” said Marshall. “I think he’s a great person. But I’m just focussing on putting myself out there to the people of Ferryland district and giving them a solid choice. I think the fact that it seems to be such a safe PC seat can be sometimes a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy and it might make it a little intimidating for someone to put the work in and put themselves out there as a Liberal candidate for that reason. I’m just going in there, concentrating on what the issues are for the people in the district and working hard to make sure everyone knows who I am and what I stand for and really get a reputation as a hard worker. It’s really just to give the people what they need and that is a solid choice so that when they go to cast their vote they’ll know there is a committed candidate who’s an alternative for their vote.”

Marshall said since announcing his intention to run for the Liberal nomination in Ferryland he has been pleasantly surprised by people who have reached out from different parts of the district offering to join his campaign.

“I think a lot of people are excited to have a candidate who has committed so early to the district and who is willing to put the work in,” he said. “I think I’ve proven in the last year with my work in Kilbride that I’m not afraid of hard work and that I’m willing to be visible and vocal on things when necessary. And I think people are just excited to have the option, an alternative, because the perception is down there that a lot of people didn’t expect to have a Liberal candidate until the very last minute and a lot of them thought it might be a name on a ballot. So I think there is a lot of excitement there knowing that it will be a race and a very well contested campaign. It should be great for the people of Ferryland, because they’ll actually get to discuss issues. I’m hoping that we can have a candidates’ debate during the election and things like that, something that may have been missing in the last couple of election cycles.”

Marshall said he would welcome a contested nomination for the Liberal nod, because it’s important to test your campaign organization. “It also gives you an opportunity to reach out to a lot of new people,” he said. “I found the contested nomination was very helpful for that reason in Kilbride district.

While his party got the PCs to agree to an amendment to hold an election this year as part of the deal to pass the legislation setting up the Boundary Commission, Marshall allowed the vote could be delayed into next year. The whole point of Premier Paul Davis introducing Bill 42 was to delay the election in the first place, he wagered. “So I wouldn’t be too surprised if they try to delay the election even further,” Marshall said, “but I think the people of the province are ready for an election and that public pressure will be enough to make sure that they call it in the fall of 2015.”

Marshall is married to Christa Mallay, who along with being his wife is also a fellow chiropractor and a partner in their business at Bidgood’s Plaza. The couple have a 13 month old son, John. Along with being a Liberal candidate, Marshall is also a member of the Goulds Lions Club and a former treasurer of the provincial Liberal Party. He spent the past year as president of the Irish Loop Chamber of Commerce.

'None the worse for it'

John Lahey was 29 when he met Rita Hayes. The 25 year old woman from Brigus South was working as a maid for a merchant family in Cape Broyle, the same family Lahey worked for as a fishermen, truck driver and jack of all trades. On Tuesday, the couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

“Mrs. Kate was trying to match us up for a while,” Rita recalls of the woman she worked for at the time. “She’d go, ‘You get him now, he’s a fine man.’”

Once they became acquainted, John would walk the four miles to Brigus South to court Rita.

This past Sunday, couple hosted a crowd of relatives and friends at Ruby Manor, where they moved last year after spending all their married lives in Cape Broyle. The party also celebrated each of their respective birthdays. John turned 99 on April 23 while Rita marked her 95th birth two days earlier.

Rita laughs when asked the secret to staying together for 70 years. “We always got along,” she says. “If there was anything to be said, we said it to one another and had it over with. That was it. I don’t know if they (the children) ever heard us arguing.”

“We never did any fighting,” agreed John, who one year shy of a century still has a sharp mind and a razor like sense of humour.

But while their marriage was a solid partnership, life wasn’t always easy for the pair.

“I had like to be a widow woman the first year we were married,” Rita says.

John was manning a line from a cod trap that was bolted into a cliff on shore when a wave swept him off the rock he was on and started spinning him among the boulders in the water. “I had hip rubbers on me and a rubber apron,” John remembers. “They got filled up with water.”

John kept his wits and was strong enough to swim and stop himself from being dragged down or smashed on the rocks. When the sea calmed down he swam out to a dory where the lone fellow fishing it helped him cling on until another boat came over with enough men to haul him aboard.

Rita remembers her new husband coming home soaking wet.

Both John and Rita came from large families and were aware of the rigours of working in rural Newfoundland in the 1940s and ‘50s. As children, they had been used to hard times. The hard times continued after they married in 1945.

“We grew our own vegetables all of the time,” said Rita. “There were two little stores in Cape Broyle, and that was our grocery shopping. That was as far as we got.”

The stores were owned by Johnny O’Brien, known as ‘Old Mr. Johnny,’ and Jim O’Brien. Both had fishermen working for them trapping cod and making fish. John worked for 13 years with Ron Ryan, Jim’s son, fishing in the summer and hauling wood in the winter behind a 1,300 pound horse.

“He’d go Monday morning and come back Saturday,” Rita says of her husband’s wood hauling days.

John still bears the effects of so much hard work. He is tall and straight, and though his fingers are buckled with arthritis, his hands remain as big as baseball gloves and his body still retains a muscular looking physique. He was so big and strong looking that when he was younger some people would ask if he was a policeman, Rita says.

“You worked hard,” John allowed. “And you didn’t get much for it.”

John also drove a truck for the O’Brien’s, picking up split and dried cod from as far away as Portugal Cove South. He can still picture driving into the community while it was still dark, the lights twinkling in the windows of the houses. All the cod was laid out on flakes and the rocks along the beach.

“There was fish straight around everywhere then,” said John, “drying on flakes all along the road.”

Fishing would start with the laying of salmon nets in April, then came the cod trap fishery and hand lining.

John would get up at 3 a.m. on the mornings he set cod traps. Later in the morning he would haul them. “If there was any fish you would stay at it all day,” he says. “And then in the night you’d be splitting fish.”

Rita can remember him coming home for lunch. He would use part of the short break to take a nap sitting up in the chair.

“You were on your feet all the time,” Rita says. “And women worked just as hard. They had the house and the children and everything to look after, in the gardens and everything else.”

A lot changed in 1949 when Newfoundland joined Canada. Among the changes was the baby bonus. By then the Laheys had the first three of their five children.

“We were looking forward to the big cheque we were going to get,” says Rita, “six dollars a month. That was what it was. But that was good coming in at that time. Although it was small, it was a help.”

Confederation also meant pensions for old people. Shortly afterwards the road up the shore was paved too. Then came electricity and television.

Trips to St. John’s were still rare. “Nobody would go, they had nothing to spend,” John jokes.

“That is the truth,” says Rita.

But they would make a trip in the fall of the year, if there was anything left to spend. Like most places on the island, fishermen in Cape Broyle had an account with one of the local merchants. During the fall, winter and spring, they lived on the account, charging their food and supplies with the merchant deducting the amounts from the fish they caught in the summer. Some years there was very little ‘pay’ left over by fall. Occasionally there was none at all.

“They took every cent you had now mind you, they didn’t want to give you a cent out of the store,” Rita recalls. “You’d beg for it. If you had a hundred dollars coming to you in the fall, you were a lucky person.”

And that’s when you would go to St. John’s to buy winter groceries.

“There was no unemployment then,” Rita adds.

Anyone who couldn’t get work or didn’t have money could ask for welfare, but that wasn’t much, nor guaranteed. Some people, such as Lahey, might make a bit of extra money in the winter by clearing the road with a horse and plow on those occasions when it was covered in snow and someone needed to get to the hospital in St. John’s.  

But life still had a magic to it. Rita remembers as a child that each community had its own little schoolhouse and nearly everyone had big families of 11 or 12 children. John came from a family of 11 brothers and sisters. They kept a horse for work and a cow for milk. Like many others, both John’s and Rita’s families kept hens and sheep.

“That was your Christmas Day dinner – mutton,” says Rita. “We’d be some delighted when we’d come home Christmas Eve night. We’d all be fasting then, see, and we’d walk up to Cape Broyle for Midnight Mass – that was four miles from where I lived – and we’d get home at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. Mother would have mutton cooked and we’d be some delighted to get the smell of mutton. Then we’d have a feed and go to bed.”

March was known as ‘the hungry month of March,’ Rita explains, because that’s the time of year when groceries would be running out and the boats carrying supplies to the outports would sometimes get trapped in the ice. When you were hungry there was no point in asking for food, you just accepted that you had to do without it, she says.

“We see the good times and we see the bad times,” Rita allows. “We had bad times when we were growing up, but we were all happy, all hands were happy and united.”

For entertainment, there were card games, and the occasional dance. For the dances, people would bring along something to contribute to the cooking pot for a feed of colcannon. In summer time, fishermen from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia would visit the community, often looking to buy homemade spruce beer as their ships loaded up with bait.

Religion played a major role in people’s lives and Christmas and Easter were special occasions.

“Holy Week was a big week in Cape Broyle,” Rita says. People went to Church in the morning and again at night. That included school children, who would attend Mass before walking to school.

Asked what he gave up for Lent, John cracks, “I had nothing to give up.”

Rita says what they did give up was butter, meat and maybe milk for their tea.

There was no sugar. People sweetened their tea with molasses.

Dances ended at midnight, says Rita. “And you had to be in too. After that they’d be out looking for you.”

Things weren’t quite as tough by the time the pair married in 1945. The war was over and the Americans had pumped up the Newfoundland economy a bit thanks to the bases they operated. John got work for a while at the base in Pleasantville. But it still wasn’t what you’d call easy. When the Lahey’s first child, Michael, was born, John gave up smoking the pipe and chewing tobacco because he could no longer afford such luxuries. Michael was followed by Mona, Adrian, Anita and Margie. John never did go back to smoking.

But when he was 58, John had to stop splitting fish and cut back on a lot of his work. He found himself out of breath easily and weak.

“He couldn’t walk up the lane,” Rita says.

A doctor in St. John’s told him the blood flow through the main valve of his heart had narrowed to the size of a pinhole. John was put on medication. He kept active and still worked, though he had to avoid lifting heavy things. By then, the two oldest children were raised and ready for work themselves. When John was 73, his health got bad again and he underwent open heart surgery.

Looking back on it all, the couple are satisfied they did the best they could. “They all got reared up and they were never hungry,” Rita says of their children. “We saw to that. We did without ourselves to give to them… We had the hard times, but we had the good times too… We’re none the worse for it. If you don’t strain yourself, work don’t hurt you.”

Hailey's Shave fundraiser has special meaning for Goulds family this year

Saturday marked the fourth year in a row for Hailey’s Shave, a fundraiser for Camp Delight and the Candlelighters organization and according to organizer and mom Sonija Walsh, it was the most meaningful one yet for her family.

That’s because the dad in the family, Paul Walsh, faced his own battle with cancer this past year. Paul finished radiation and chemotherapy treatments two weeks ago and is looking hale and hearty. In fact, he stood in for daughter Hailey, who opted not to have her locks shorn this year as she is participating on the cheerleading squad with her school, St. Kevin’s Junior High in the Goulds, and they have a regional competition coming up.

“Shortly after Hailey shaved last year – she did it in May and Paul found out in June he had cancer, only a couple of weeks after,” Sonjia said.

But Paul did so well with his treatments, he even managed to gain weight at the end, though he was really sick from the chemo treatments at first.

The couple, who are originally from Cape Broyle but now live in the Goulds, got a front row seat to the effects of cancer on a family in a way they had not expected. It gave Sonjia an even deeper appreciation of the need for fundraising efforts such as Hailey’s Shave.

The impact is financial as well as emotional, Walsh said. “It’s a major burden,” she noted. “I know as a wife, with my husband being sick, how stressful it is. While the person who is sick is focused on getting better, you’ve got to deal with the household and the finances and keeping the family together.”

Walsh said she really feels for families who have a child with cancer. In many cases, she said, one or both of the parents have to give up their jobs to accompany the child on visits and stays at the hospital. “You can’t keep a job like that, when you’re going back and forth (to the hospital) all the time just for appointments alone,” Walsh said.

The money raised for Camp Delight and the Candlelighters, Walsh said, enables families to send their child to summer camp with his or her peers, who also have cancer, and have fun in a safe environment so that the parents don’t have to worry or go through expenses they can’t afford.

Camp Delight is located off the Salmonier Line. It lasts eight days and is open to children from seven to 17 whop have cancer, as well as their siblings and bereaved siblings. Like most summer camps, it provides the children with an opportunity to experience personal growth. The camp is organized by the Candlelighters Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (ww.candlelightersnl.ca).

This year’s Hailey’s Shave was the biggest yet in terms of activities. The venue was the gymnasium of Goulds Elementary, which was lined with booths including Pixie Mommas and Glitter Tattoos. There was a guest visit from Buddy the Puffin and a donation of a stick from the Ice Caps for a ticket draw. A canteen was also in operation to provide soup and snacks.

“We tried to cover it all,” said Walsh. “Our goal is to get more awareness… And we’re really looking to expand next year – the bigger the better.”
Walsh said she and fellow shavers Kathy Ricketts and Melissa Randell would like to shave many more heads if they get the chance.

Six children participated in this year’s shave, raising some $3,172. The number is a little lower than usual, because Paul, who works offshore, unavailable to raise money from his fellow workers. But the amount is on top of the approximately $25,000 the annual Hailey’s Shave events have raised for Camp Delight.

The total amount raised may have been down slightly, but the effort and heart that went into it wasn’t.

“This year meant more to me than all the rest of them,” Walsh said.

Chamber of Commerce elects new directors

The Irish Loop Chamber of Commerce marked another busy year during its annual general meeting and election of officers, held at the Sapphire Lounge in Bay Bulls last week.

Some 28 people attended the event, which is higher than past years.

“I've heard it said that people tend to overestimate what they can do in a day, but underestimate what they can do in a year. I think we're proof of that this year,” said outgoing president Dr. Jeff Marshall, who highlighted some of the chamber’s achievements in 2014-2015.

“We totally rebranded the Chamber with a new logo and identification,” said Marshall. “We revamped the Chamber Membership Kit, launched a membership drive, attended numerous events and announcements, attended the symposiums and provided input to The Harris Centre Report on the Irish Loop, contributed to the Laurentic Conference committee with the Cities of Donegal and Derry, Ireland, developed a new Chamber website and social media program, and imagined and produced LoopEx'14, the first ever Business-to-Business Trade Show on the Irish Loop and the first at Southern Shore Arena.”

Though it was in its infancy, Marshall said the LoopEx was a huge success. 

“After speaking with those who had booths, we learned that people made great sales contacts and most will be back this year,” he added. “Not only does LoopEx showcase business to the local community, it also raised the profile of business in the loop to those outside our region.”

This year’s LoopEx is slated for June 20 at the Arena in Mobile. Marshall said the event is being held a little later than the one last year so that it doesn’t have to compete for attention with similar shows scheduled in the St. John’s area around the same time. “We’re pretty excited about it,” Marshall said. “I think that’s going to be even bigger this year and continue to grow.”

The chamber also created and staged the Seagull Awards, the first ever business and bocial achievement awards program on the Irish Loop, Marshall noted, and held another successful Fall Fair.  

Marshall said the chamber also put an emphasis on developing contacts and sharing resources with other like-minded organizations in the region such as the Southern Avalon Development Association (SADA), based in Trepassey, and the East Coast Trail Association (ECTA). SADA has been contracted to provide some of the Chamber’s bookkeeping and administrative services.

“The chamber has got a pretty broad reach and I want to make sure we’re pooling our talents when we can,” Marshall said.

ECTA actually has a representative on the Chamber’s board of directors this year as a result of the election of officers. Mona Rossiter of Calvert will represent ECTA on the chamber’s board and the chamber on ECTA’s board. Other directors on the Chamber’s board for the coming year include Mike Rose of Rose Synergies based in Witless Bay, Carol Ann Devereaux of the Trepassey Motel in Trepassey, Linda Cook and Denise Leonard of In ‘da Loop Restaurant & Lounge in Fermeuse, and Marshall, who operates Back Home Chiropractic in the Goulds. The group will meet soon to establish the executive positions including president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary.

One exciting new development on the horizon, Marshall said, is the development of a Loop App for mobile phones. It will replace the Chamber’s traditional printed business directory. “This is going to the first in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Marshall. “Based on your location it will tell you what’s closest to you, you’ll be able to search any kind of service, it will tell you what services are coming up as you’re moving along the Southern Shore highway. It’s pretty exciting technology really.”