Dear friends, I am submitting an excerpt from my husband's book, Coming Home, a Christmas story for the December 2011 issue of Downhome. I think it is a delightful memory. In 1952, Lind was living in Dugald, Manitoba, having moved there earlier that year from Pouch Cove and Bauline with his young family. He was the minister in the United Churches in Dugald, Oak Bank, Anola and Plympton. At the time, there were no telephones in Bonavista North outports, and there was only limited communication with his Newtown home by mail or telegram. I have an audio tape of the CBC program; it was rebroadcast, along with similar programs, some years ago by CBC Radio in St. John's. I do not have a photograph to accompany the story. For your interest, Coming Home was published in Saskatchewan in 2002. It is partially autobiographical; it includes some history of the Barbour family, stories of the sea, and of the modern-day Newtown area. Downhome sold the book at the St. John's retail outlet - it was also included in magazine advertising. My dear husband passed away in August, 2009. He is buried in the United Church (Barbour) cemetary in Newtown. Yours sincerely, Mary Beth Nicks-Barbour A Christmas memory, as written by the Rev. Lindbergh Barbour in his book, Coming Home A few days before Christmas in 1952, we received a telegram, "Christmas in Newtown will be broadcast on CBC Radio on Christmas Day. Be sure to listen." A CBC crew travelled by train and boat to Newtown to produce this program. Newtown was chosen because it was an outport community that had been recently rejuvenated by the resettlement plan promoted by Premier Smallwood. The program told the story of people from Cape Island and Pinchard's Island leaving their communities, which had been settled in the early 1800s. About 60 families moved their houses to Newtown. The Cape Island houses were hauled by tractor over the frozen marshes to their new location in Newtown. The Pinchard's Islands homes were hauled by muscle power to the shore line. Large empty oil drums were placed inside on the floor of the houses and firmly braced - then the houses were launched into the ocean. The large drums gave both stability and buoyancy as the houses were towed by motor boats to the Newtown shore line. Each house was then hauled by muscle power from the ocean over rocks and hills and placed on new wooden foundations. The traditional "Johnny Poker" song, which was used to coordinate the effort of having everyone pulling together, was a familiar sound that year. The program told the story of the new Newtown. It also included part of the Christmas service from the United Church, and part of the Christmas concerts of both the United and Anglican church schools. It included the traditional visit of the mummers, when people - children and adults - dressed in costumes, always in disguise, visited various homes, often with a musician to provide music for singing and dancing. As we listened, the big surprise was to discover that they were visiting my parents' home, and I heard their voice welcoming the mummers. Besides the singing and dancing, my Uncle Man sang the folk song, "Lukey's Boat." For that half hour, the miles seemed to melt away, and I was back in Newtown, sharing the familiar traditions of Christmas.   Submitted By: NULL