It was in June of 1972, I think it was, when my high school friend Brendan Molloy called me and offered me a job on a summer project for 70 Dollars a week. Our first project was to build a shack to keep us in out of the rain and Lord knows Trepassey sees its share of FDR. (Fog, Drizzle and Rain) Some days after returning from lunch our friend Terry would be lying in the sun wearing his winter parka and sunglasses. That was in late June. Summer was still a couple of weeks away.

Father suggested I could make more money at the fish plant. He was right. Sometimes quality of life and being outdoors is more important. I will pick someplace I want to be over money any day. It did not take long until all the supplies we needed showed up and we were put to work. It was a fun summer. We had an old radio and a couple of the boys would bash it up using it as a hockey puck. Young Cyril was taking Electronics in college. He was our radio miracle man. He kept that thing operating even when no outside casing was left on it.

Three or four years later, money was allotted for a new indoor arena in the same place. Again we procured a summer project landscaping and painting the front of the building white. Poor Bill, our Foreman, tried more to be our babysitter than anything else and we kept him busy locating us because most of the boys were basketball players and could run like the dickens. So hiding from the boss became the order of the day.

It was decided to name the arena the F.W Mullowney Arena in dedication to our parish priest. The Father helped start basketball in our town. It was only fitting to call a sports arena after him. In the early 90’s after the Northern Cod collapsed, a lot of families moved away to seek employment. The hockey arena closed and the space is now used as storage for RV’s and boats. Reasonable prices. I never played hockey myself. But my son did and we spent many evenings and weekends in cold arenas watching our young Whippersnapper Defenceman. You know president Truman had a saying, “The Buck Stops Here.” Well with Aaron our son, The Puck Stops Here. He is smart and solid. Kids would try and check him. They would just bounce off like a rubber ball. Well this ends another saga in the Yarns and Giggles section.
See Ya!