Remembering Leading Seaman Allister Charles Austin By John Dekhane The Second World War tore across countries and continents, drawing millions into a conflict that would reshape the world and redefine courage. In its path, it swept up ordinary men from quiet towns and coastal villages, calling them to serve in the fight against tyranny and…
Discarded colas barrels sparked ingenuity in Random By Lester Green Growing up in Little Heart’s Ease, the two most common wooden structures near the water’s edge were stages and fish smokers. The roofs and sometimes the sides of these structures were covered in metal sheets that my dad, William Green, would pronounce as “colt tins,”…
By Mac Moss There it was again. A wispy, indistinct form flitting through the trees above him, just at the edge of his vision. He stopped, and without turning his head, backed up several steps and quickly turned his head in the direction of the apparition. But it was gone. He ran forward for five…
by Lester Green Often, we reflect on times gone by and challenge our minds to think about the earliest settlers, the true pioneers of our province. What would life be like to depend entirely on land and sea? What were the challenges of harvesting a virgin forest and the waters that washed its shorelines? As…
By Kim Ploughman My father was there for my seventh birthday, but the next day he was gone. Gone as in, “Gone to the ice.” I don’t remember him leaving that early spring morning on April 8th, 1967. What ensued in the weeks ahead, however, forever snagged itself in my childhood memory net. That day,…
By Dorothy Bowering Robinson In 2003, my husband Francis and I flew from Boston to St John’s to see where both my grandparents had been born and lived until they emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. My grandmother and her family lived at French’s Cove, Bay Roberts while my grandfather was across the causeway…
Throwback to the Fireside Yarn published in the September 1998 issue of Downhome Magazine. A Lost Child by Edith Burrage A very long time ago in the early 1800s, there lived a man named Michael Howley. Mr. Howley was a very distinguished gentleman, and owned all the land on the road side by the…
Throwback to the Fireside Yarn published in the July 1998 issue of Downhome Magazine. Death Tokens and the Strange Case of Mrs. Dower by Dale G. Jarvis Newfoundland has a great tradition of what are known as death tokens. A death token is where a person becomes aware, through some paranormal means, that a…
Throwback to the Fireside Yarn published in the October 1996 issue of Downhome Magazine. The Strange Tale of the Bristol Hope From the book Ghost Stories from Newfoundland Folklore by Alice Lannon and Mike McCarthy. This unexplained event at Harbour Breton occurred in the spring of 1867, and involved a ship belonging to the Newman…
A St. John’s woman shares remarkable stories of resilience and determination The distinguished gentleman smiles from under his wide-brimmed dress cap. His American military uniform dating near the end of World War II doesn’t name him, but a prominent star on the left-arm crest of the sharply-pressed shirt indicates a technical sergeant air force rank….
