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….
From the Archives: July 1996 issue of Downhomer Magazine Superstar Shania Twain Regular Guest at Newfoundland Club by Ray Reid For those of you who get weak-kneed at the mere sight or sound of Superstar Shania Twain, you may be surprised that Shania was a regular guest at the Conception Bay Club with the late…
A tragic accident overseas rocks the southwest coast of Newfoundland in the summer of 1941. By: Lester Green For several Newfoundland families, news of the tragedy that occurred on Deeside Road, Scotland, on July 5, 1941, involving several Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit members, was overwhelming. Communications were slow during this time, and the exact dates…
By: Retired Pilot Tom Green I first met Roy Cooper when I applied for a job with Eastern Provincial Airways of Gander, Newfoundland back in the 60s. I was taken on as a station agent in Deer Lake, where their sked flights used to stop on their way to points in Labrador. Roy told me…
By Roy Dwyer There was a time when dogs were plentiful in the harbour. Back then, families that didn’t have a horse usually had one or two dogs which, when harnessed to a hand-slide, were useful for hauling water and firewood during the winter months. Gunners found them useful as well. While most gunners used…
By Lester Green I spent many hours captivated by the ancestral history recorded in Mom’s collection of “snaps.” The photograph of a submarine fastened to the pier at St. John’s waterfront would cause my imagination to go into overdrive. Questions floated in my head. When and where was this taken? Who owned the submarine?…
