Once, while I was visiting with Nan in the little cove, the people decided to have a ‘time’ to raise some money for the church. Now I was somewhat confused as I really didn’t know what that meant. Most places have what they call a garden party, or a festival, or even a bazaar, like in my home parish. The people in the cove had no use for such fancy terms. They just called their fundraiser a ‘time’. And why not, after all, this is the little cove.

As you might imagine, this took a fair amount of planning and preparation. All the people took a part with the ladies doing most of the organizing, as the men had to go out fishing twice a day every day. The women decided on a cold plate supper with a dance to follow. Now, nobody had any money, so every family contributed their share of salads and meat. My mom was visiting the cove at the time so she was asked to ‘cut out’ the suppers, which she agreed to do. All that remained was to supply music for the dance.

Money was needed to “pay the fiddler,” which would probably cost the enormous sum of ten dollars. Where to get such a large sum of money caused a lot of debate. It was finally decided to charge a small entry fee to take care of this. Now, to find someone to provide the music was another problem, as musicians were in short supply. I couldn’t wait to see “the fiddler” because I had never seen one before. It was decided to ask young Bernard to do the job.

Finally the whole thing was planned out. The women would prepare and serve the suppers, the men would get the schoolhouse ready for the whole thing. Bringing chairs and tables from their own homes, decorate the little place. A notice was written up to give the parish priest so he could announce the event in the different churches on the Sunday so the other communities in the parish would know, hoping they would show up and support the little cove in their efforts.

A week later the even was due to take place. All the women were on pins and needles – they wanted the event to be a success so they could show the bigger communities of the parish what the little cove could do. People did come from all over – Grates Cove, Bay de Verde, Caplin Cove, Low Point and even some from Old Perlican. The table was set a dozen times until everyone who wanted a supper had one. Of course they paid for the supper, sorry I can’t remember how much it cost, after all, I was just a little boy. I wasn’t part of the planning committee. It was time for the dance to begin so the women hurried to clean up from the suppers.

To my great disappointment there was no fiddler. The person who provided the music was indeed Bernard, John Thomas’ son, but he played an accordion. But he played all night so he more than earned his ten dollars. Nan danced with everyone and had a wonderful time. Everyone enjoyed themselves. The dances were old-time square dances, with some lances and reels thrown in for good measure. Everyone was tired when the night was over, and the men had to get up at sunrise to go fishing.

Before Nan and the other women went home they counted the money they had made. After paying the fiddler who actually played the accordion, they had over one hundred dollars left to turn over to the parish priest that Sunday. It was decided that Nan and John Thomas’ wife Josephine would present the money on the people’s behalf before mass in Grates Cove. Nan was so proud she was ready to burst, and the priest was surprised that a little community of less than thirty people could raise so much.

Cyril Griffin
New Perlican, NL