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?…
By Nicola Ryan In 1944, when Harold and Margaret Tucker borrowed $2,000 from the NL Savings Company to purchase a piece of property in Topsail, they had big ideas. A little confectionary stood on the site, but Harold remodelled it into a successful family-run restaurant. The Dew Drop Inn served up the best fries in…
By Kim Ploughman The folklore around the French Shore is a colourful one, but one story is especially riveting. It involves a skipper, his worried wife, a sea trunk, a mystifying visitation and a riveting wake. In his 1986 book, Sea Stories from Newfoundland, Michael Harrington shares this strange story, which is still talked about today…
By Tom Rissesco, ATC I found Air Traffic Control (ATC) to be a very interesting and exciting job. It also had its moments of stress! A few years ago, I was remembering three exceedingly stressful emergencies I had in the Gander Tower back in the day, including the greatest human interest emergency I had ever…
By Joe Ryan In the early evening of September 6, 1922, a group of 16 long-distance runners stood near Octagon Pond on the outskirts of St. John’s, nervously awaiting the starter’s whistle. In the distance, about 10 miles away, lay the city and St. George’s field. These runners were about to participate in the first…
As we head into our 35th year at Downhome, we’re taking a trip down memory lane. Every month for the next 12 months we’ll unearth a little snippet of Downhome history to give you a glimpse into what was on our radar way back when. Here’s one of the stories we ran in June 1988,…
