Keeping in touch

Our monthly Coffee Mornings found a permanent host in The Rooms restaurant. No need to pay admission and free parking for 3 hrs. Our next Coffee Morning takes place on May 28th at 10:15 AM. Bring your friends, visitors from away or potential new members. Look for further dates in our June Newsletter and blog updates.

SUMMER ACTIVITIES AND TRAVELS

The St. John’s Haunted Hike starts up again in June and runs through September. This is an “ambulatory theatrical tour through the historic and haunted streets of St. Johns downtown core, with old-fashioned storytelling at its dramatic and spine-tingling best”. Call 709-685-3444 for more information or visit .

Cathedral Crypt Tea Room: The Cathedral Crypt Tea Room will be open from the first week of July until the first week of September, on weekday afternoons from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. The Crypt is a pleasant place to relax and enjoy a Newfoundland tea after sight-seeing around town. The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is itself a beautiful historic building and is open for viewing during the summer months. It is located on Gower Street between Cathedral Street and Church Hill. Enter The Crypt through the parking lot at the back of the church.

Shakespeare by the Sea: All shows are in the St. John’s Cabot 500 Theatre, Bowring Park. The theatre is located behind the playground in the west end of the park, just west of the swimming pool. All shows are weather dependent. Please call 576-0980 on show day for weather related inquiries or visit their website.

Random Passage Movie Set: The movie set for Random Passage at New Bonaventure, 14 km. from Trinity, is well worth a visit. There are tour guides who will explain how it was constructed,etc. The site provides a fascinating and realistic insight in to early outport life. There are signs along the highway from the Trinity turnoff. You park at the Church and it is a short walk to the site.

L’Anse aux Meadows: There you will find a Viking village called Norstead, where you can see how the Vikings lived. It is wonderful to be able to go inside the houses and interact with the Vikings. They have a blacksmith, carpenter, and a boat builder to name but a few citizens, and you can chat to the Chief and his wife, or the weaver. You can also taste delicacies cooked the way their forefathers did such as mussels and caribou stew. The Vikings proved to be very friendly and it was a great way to bring history alive.

Middle Cove Beach A great place for a morning or afternoon get away, or a spur of the moment picnic. This is a pebble beach approximately 10 minutes (driving) from St. John’s, in between Torbay and Logy Bay on Route 30. With a spectacular ocean view and nestled between cliffs that are home to various seabirds, it’s a natural wonder that’s close to home. There have been many sightings of whales there as well. Pack up the kids, some food and drink, pails and shovels, and an extra set of clothes. Around 15th August there will be a pottery event on the beach. Check your local newspaper for the exact date. Clay pieces will be baked in kilns erected on the beach and are for sale then. Have fun!

Baccalieu Trail to Brigus, Spaniards Bay, Salmon Cove & Northern Bay Sands:
Travel on the TransCanada highway west for about 1 hour to route 70. Travel north about 14 kilometres to the Brigus turnoff. Historic Brigus is the birthplace of northern explorer Captain Bob Bartlett. His former home, Hawthorn Cottage, is a national historic sight and well worth a visit. Brigus also hosts the blueberry festival each August. In Spaniards Bay pottery enthusiasts will enjoy a stop at Fairy-Tale Pottery located on the main highway. If you have a full day to spend, carry on to Harbour Grace, headquarters for a famous pirate of the 17th century, Peter Easton. In 1932 Amelia Earhart left Harbour Grace to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. You will also find the oldest stone church in Newfoundland here.

Signal Hill Tattoo, starting July 2
This Pageant features military drills, music and manoeuvres of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Foot, c.1800. Performances on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 3 pm.

Railway Coastal Museum, 495 Water Street, Web Site: www.railwaycoastalmuseum.ca

Newman Wine Vaults, Water Street, 739-7871
This place is just past downtown going west towards Mount Pearl. University students give a tour and historic talk on the shipping trade that brought fermented wine to Newfoundland for storage. Very interesting and samples too.

Sights along route 10
Bay Bulls & Witless Bay: Drive along route 10 south of St. John’s for about 1 hour for some excellent hiking, whale and bird watching .
The Colony of Avalon: A favourite of our family is the Colony of Avalon located in the town of Ferryland, a one hour drive south from St. John's. There is an Interpretation Centre, Gardens of plants favoured in 17th century, a Conservation laboratory and our favorite, the Archaeological Dig. The dig consists of six sites uncovering the remains of the English colony founded in 1621 by Sir George Calvert, who later became the first Lord Baltimore. Visitors can view archaeologists and the field crew as they uncover legacies of the past.
The Cape Race Lighthouse: An impressive old lighthouse in a beautiful location which went into operation in 1856. Visitors can still enter and climb around the stairs that wrap around the walls up to the light. Did you know… Cape Race was the only land based point to receive the Titanic’s distress call.
Avalon Wilderness Area: Home to a herd of over 5,000 Newfoundland caribous.

Summer Swimming Holes

Topsail Beach is a Provincial Park about 20 minutes from town, straight out Topsail Road. When you get very close to the ocean watch for a sign on your right to lead you down to the water. There are washrooms and a small playground, a pond swimming area which is great for air mattress floating as well as ocean swimming. Fairly easy to keep an eye out for kids but you always have to be careful of the tides. The beach/ sitting area is rocky but not uncomfortable. There is no shade to be found to escape the sun but because you are on the ocean the breeze keeps you cool.
Butter Pot Provincial Park is also a campground only 20 minutes from town, west on the TCH. The exit is well marked and there is a small per vehicle day use charge. The pond has a sort of sand beach and a grassy area to spread your blankets. Many people show up with there coolers and BBQ’s and settle in for the day. Can sometimes be a little crowded. A good place to go if you want to do a bit of hiking before you enjoy the water.
Marine Drive Park is located on Pouch Cove Line, route 21, about 30 minutes from town. This park has a per person day charge. There are water slides, boat rentals, playground , picnic tables, washrooms and a canteen. The fresh water lake has a beach with some sand and the surrounding area is grassy. This park can also get a little crowded and therefore stressful if you are trying to keep an eye out for your kids. The kids enjoy it here but it can get pricey with the waterslides, boats and canteen.
Holyrood Park is located on the Holyrood access road, exit 36 off the TCH, about 25 minutes from town. You will pass the Willows golf course on your right and just further on your left is the swimming area. The admission charge is $1.00 per person. This is actually a dammed up river with a bridge to access both banks. The area is grassy and offers some shade. One side is shallow and great for small children; the other side is deeper with a dock area. This is a relatively small swimming hole and therefore easy to keep track of your kids. Never very busy, this is my favourite swimming spot.

The CAPLIN are coming!
We are soon approaching caplin and whale-watching season here in Newfoundland. Caplin are a small, silvery fish who spend most of their lives offshore but come inshore to spawn. Spawning takes place on beaches in June and July. This is truly a sight to behold as thousands of sparkling silver bodies throw themselves onto the beaches. Wildlife is attracted to this food source, such as other fish, seabirds, eagles and ospreys. Perhaps most notably for us, whales are attracted to one of their major food sources, so once the caplin arrive you know the whales won’t be far behind!
The caplin arrive on our beaches during typical “caplin weather” ie foggy, misty, dank, damp days in early morning or evening. Wander along to places, such as Middle Cove, and you will see many people on the beach harvesting the fish. It’s a great time to take the kids fishing - a sure-fire success for them.
Traditionally caplin were spread on gardens as fertilizer but they were also eaten. They taste good fried whole in butter. Dried salted caplin are a traditional Newfoundland snack roasted on a stick over a campfire. I have also heard of people stringing them up along washing lines to dry and then pickling them in the juices left over from the saltfish.
Newfie saying: “Foolish as a caplin” meaning “a very silly person”.

Whale-watching
Soon after the caplin arrive on the shores of Newfoundland, the humpback whales arrive in the surrounding waters. In the northwest Atlantic, the humpbacks winter in the Caribbean, where they mate and calve. A newborn will typically weigh around 2 tons and measure 5m in length. When it is weaned, around 11 months, it will be about 8-9m long and will be fully mature at 11m, by which time it will typically weigh around 30-40 tons. A female humpback usually calves every 2 years and can live for 30 years. In April the whales begin their journey north to the feeding grounds around the waters of Newfoundland . Around the Avalon, sightings are very common from June to August.
Whales are fascinating mammals to watch. They breach (leap into the air), lobtail (strike their flukes on the surface of the water), they lie on their sides and roll over, waving their huge flippers in the air. The undersides of the flukes have unique patterns of black and white, so it is possible to recognise individual animals. There are many opportunities to whale-watch in Newfoundland. There are numerous vantage points all around the coast and some of us are lucky enough to be able to watch from our own homes.
Whale-watching boat trips can be taken Bay Bulls with : Gatherall’s tel. 334-2887, O’Briens tel. 753-4850 or Mullowney’s , tel. 1-877-783-3467. You could even try sea-kayaking with Stan Cook, tel. 1-888-747-6353.

May 2008 Newsletter excerpt

Newcomers Annual Year End Dinner A Garden Party

At The Bungalow, Bowering Park Monday, May 26th 2008 6:30 pm Reception 7:30 pm Dinner
Cost: $ 35.00

In keeping with tradition our final social of the 2007-2008 Newcomer year will be an evening filled with friendly faces, good food and a few surprises. This year’s theme is “Garden Party” and our venue is the beautiful Bungalow in the heart of Bowring Park.

The park was officially opened on July 15, 1914 with the planting of a Linden tree by the Duke of Connaught. All are invited and encouraged to attend this social as we often don’t get a chance to see much of each other over the summer months lovely dinner will be prepared by Red Oak Catering and the menu selections are on a separate page at the end of the Newsletter. Each guest will receive a complimentary drink ticket and a cash bar will be available. Mark the date on your calendar, find a sitter if needed and spend an evening with friends.

If wish to attend, please RSVP to Andrea D. no later than Monday May 21st. Be sure to enclose your cheque for $35.00 made payable to Newcomers’ Club of St. John’s together with a copy of your menu choices.


Message from the President

Hooray, hooray it’s the first of May!

Isn’t it wonderful to have virtually all the snow gone and the early flowers blooming? Now the green grass is starting and buds on the trees are starting to swell. Spring is officially underway. We surely were blessed with wonderful weather for our April Social at “On Ocean’s Edge”. Thank You to Andrea Deutsch and Basia Price for the sweets and everyone who lent helping hands. This year’s May Social will certainly have unique undertones with no new Executive to introduce or to take over. The future of Newcomers’ will be interesting to see exactly how it plays out beginning in the fall. I still have hope that the familiarity we all enjoy will be missed, and a group of members will take over making sure ladies meet new friends and get to know St. John’s. I hope to see all our members at the last Social on May 29th. It sounds like a fun spring evening and will end the year in a big way

Ann Graham, President

St. John’s Newcomers’ Club Cruise

June brings along warmer and sunnier days, as well as pods of whales. Gatherall’s offer wonderful 1 ½ hr large catamaran cruises ideal for puffin and whale watching leaving from Bay Bulls to Gulls Island.
Newcomers’ Club is organizing a cruise either at 9:45 am on Saturday June 21, or June 28, 2008.
All family members and or visiting friends are welcome. More details at Gatheralls
In order for our group to receive a discounted rate, we need 30 participants. If you are coming to our May social, consider registering for this June event. Otherwise call Hana with your preferred schedule by May 27th, so that we can reserve the cruise. We will go on the day majority of our members prefer. It could mean going out with a bang in case no new executive is voted in at the end of May, or a lovely start for the summer and planning for Newcomers’ future. Hope to see you all.

Morning Coffee

Wednesday May 14th, 10:00 – 11:30 am

At the provincial Museum“The Rooms”- Café.
Join Newcomer friends for a visit and purchase a
coffee or tea and snack if you desire. This location
should simplify issues with arranging a hostess
each month. Invite any new friends or neighbours
to St. John's to our informal get together.

If you are new in town and feel kind of lost or just in the mood for meeting people,
this is a time you should mark in your calendars.

Interest Groups

Community Volunteers

The National Quilting Conference ‘Quilting on the Edge' is being held at Memorial University Campus from June 2^nd through until June 8^th 2008. The organizers are looking for volunteers to help with the conference.


Get Together Crafts
As always, we meet every Thursday morning from 9:30-12:00 at the Sobey’s community room on Merrymeeting Road.

Please join us! Bring your own project or get inspired.

Out to Lunch

May 23^rd 12 noon

The Pantry, 70 Clinch Cres.

RSVP by May 21^st

The Pantry is a lovely little spot just behind the Janeway Hospital with all proceeds going to programs of the Autism Society. We booked this restaurant earlier in the year but had to cancel because of snow. Perhaps this time we’ll be blessed with a hint of green in the trees and a few spring flowers.

Moms & Tots

Summer is the best time of the year in Newfoundland, please let me know if you are interested in meeting between June and August. Since I will be here, we can still meet at parks and beaches!

By being a convener, an executive and interviewing for Meet the Member, I have met many people. I was shy at first but in the end I enjoyed meeting many nice people. I met a lady for coffee for the first time to interview her.

She is now my very good friend. I encourage people to get involved and make the best of their time in Newfoundland.

Asuka D.

Book Notes

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Wednesday May 7^th 9:30 am

The Road by Cormac McCarthy received a rating of 7.2 with 8.5 as a high and 5 as a low. The bleakness of the post apocalyptic setting makes for a rather dark read but not necessarily depressing. Father and son hold on to the belief that there are other “good guys” on the road. The writing style also mimicked the “sparseness” of the book. The ending was good as it gave hope and some closure to the story. Most found it to be hard to put down once they got started.

*Please note that May’s meeting is on a Wednesday and not a Tuesday. See you then.

Newfoundland Corner by Hana Semerad

Mists in May, heat in June

Well, the number of canceled flights in the Atlantic region on March 18^th is sufficient proof it was no Sheila, but rather Patrick and Sheila, so the foggy and wet days of last week end of April should not be a great shock to us. The return of the cooler temperatures is due to the higher than usual number of icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. I hope you were able to see the spectacular berg in Pouch Cove (see Tony’s photo below), whose sharp peak looked like a sail of a tall ship from the approach via Torbay. However, the few sunny and warmer days last week did help clear nature of most of the snow piles, our lawn’s colour is changing from drab bleak dirty brown to tweed speckled with green of new grass blades. Even some courageous tulip bulbs survived the yo-yo effects of thaws and timidly push new plants through the softened earth. Pretty soon may poles will appear, and the mayflowers, which will encourage a lot of grassing among the many teenage Grade XII Prom attendees.

The seniors adhering the local traditions will try to collect May water obtained by melting snow that falls in May, used for medicinal purposes; people will try anything to make the notion of actual snow fall in May more tolerable. Sorry, unless it can restore eye sight to the blind it will not do as an excuse for winter’s overstaying its welcome. Let us hope that if there is any more snow in May, it is but a light dusting not requiring any more muscle power, or worse yet the use of a snow blower, and we will be able to sweep the snow away with a broom In any case, be very careful and use your old broom. Under no circumstances are you to buy a new broom in May, to find out why go to your usual source quoted below, or wait for the June newsletter.

The following are definitions of some colloquial expressions from the Dictionary of Newfoundland

and Labrador which Hana used in the April Newsletter:

If the first days in April be foggy, rain in June will make the grass boggy – Foggy weather in early April indicates a rainy June.

floption – state of confusion

get out and push – that’s unbelievable!

dwy – snow, snow flakes

far as ever a puffin flies – a long distance