They say you’ll find Newfoundlanders in nearly every corner of the world. They also say that you can take people out of Newfoundland but you can’t take Newfoundland out of the people.
Four former residents of Hermitage-Sandyville, who came home to participate in the community’s 2010 Come Home Year activities, can certainly testify to the above points.
The residents took time out from visiting family and friends to talk with the Coaster on August 21.
Lloyd Short
Lloyd Short was 37 when he left Hermitage to work in Abbotsford, British Columbia in 1981.
Short said, “I had a trade in commercial refrigeration and was working on the plant here then. However, the plant operation went ‘belly-up’ and I was suddenly out of work.
“I had a friend in Abbotsford, so I bought a one-way ticket to go out there and look for work.
“I found work pretty well immediately and, six weeks later, my wife and family moved out with me, and we’ve been living out there since that time.”
For the next 23 years Short worked with the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Abbotsford. He retired at the ago of 60 in 2003 and now lives with his daughter in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
“Life in Abbotsford, a city of about 120,000, was a culture shock to me at first. Life was a lot busier and faster than it was in Hermitage, but we adjusted quickly and settled in to our new lives.”
Short has visited Newfoundland on a number of occasions since 1981 and said that he wanted to return in 2010 for two special reasons.
“I wanted to be a part of the 2010 Come Home Year activities and I also wanted to visit my sister who is receiving medical treatment in St. John’s at this point in time.”
Although Short has been away from Newfoundland for nearly 30 years he is still, and will always be, a Newfoundlander at heart. He started writing poetry in the early 1990s and many of his large volume of poems center on Newfoundland.
“You should read some of my poems to know how much I miss this province. It’s interesting in that it was the Gulf War that got me started writing poetry. After my first several poems, the floodgates just opened up and all these crazy ideas came out of my head.”
Anyone who has read Short’s poetry knows that his ideas and thoughts are far from crazy. For example, one of his poems/songs was included on the Gaultois Come Home year CD in 1993.
Although Short retired in 2003 he took a part time job in 2005 for two days a week, where he sometimes meets people from this province.
“Just two days before I came home I met a guy in our store who was originally from Corner Brook who said he wished he was coming home with me.
“Sometimes I wish I could have stayed in Hermitage, but I have no regrets about leaving. We have three children and five grandchildren now who are all in the Chilliwack area.
“We have no immediate plans to come back to live. I’m quite content to be in B. C. now, but I’ll never forget my Newfoundland roots.”
Raymond Francis
Raymond Francis left Hermitage in his late teens to live in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia with his parents.
Francis said, “My father was a fisherman who worked out of Lunenburg for about eight months a year. Mom got tired of being home alone for most of the year so my parents moved up there to live.
“I was still single when I finished vocational school in Burin and went to live with my parents.
“My wife, Mary (nee Lilly) came up the next year. We got married a year later and have been living in Lunenburg for the past 40 to 41 years.”
Francis, an electrician by trade, works with a power company that buys and sells power out of the Lunenburg area. He has been superintendent of the company for the past five years.
“We’ve enjoyed living in Lunenburg. I like my work, we raised five children there and I have a sister and a brother there as well. We’re all very close which makes life much better for us.
“We used to visit Hermitage quite often years ago, but we haven’t been coming back as often since my wife’s mother passed on. We were unable to make it back for the last Come Home Year, so we were determined to make it home this time around.
“We wanted to get back to see as many of our friends and family members as possible. We’re having a great time and have certainly enjoyed this event.
“While we love returning every now and then we have no plans to retire here. We have our grandchildren all around us, and we enjoy being with them very much.”
Raymond Blake
Dr. Raymond Blake moved to Hermitage from Pushthrough when he was about 10 years old. Following his graduation from John Watkins Central High he moved on to Memorial University where he earned BA Hons and BEd degrees in 1980.
After teaching in St. Anthony for five years he earned a Masters Degree and a PhD from York University in Toronto. After teaching at Mount Allison in Sackville, New Brunswick for a period of time, he was recruited to run a public policy research institute at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, where he and his family have lived since 2000. His research work covered the fields of Canadian politics, nationalism and identity, social welfare and resource policy.
He is currently a Professor of History at the University of Regina.
Dr. Blake’s academic life has certainly been very interesting. He has written several books and from September 2009 to August 2010 he was chair of the Canadian Studies Endowment at the University of Dublin in Ireland.
Dr. Blake said, “Craig Dobbin, the well-know Newfoundland businessman, founded the Endowed Chair of Canadian Studies at the University of Dublin. The university invites people who have an established presence in Canadian history and literature to hold the chair for a year.
“I was the first Newfoundlander to hold the chair which is quite an honour for me. The post involved travelling around Ireland and lecturing at various institutions.”
Although his academic life has taken him far away from Hermitage-Sandyville and Pushthrough, Dr. Blake has never forgotten his Newfoundland roots.
He said.” You don’t have to be in the physical environment to appreciate where you come from. My wife and I have made it part of who we are in remembering Newfoundland, and we’ll always be proud to say to our friends that we’re from this great province.
“My wife and I, and our two children, try to get back here as often as we can.
“We certainly want our children to know about their Newfoundland connection. We have a huge collection of Newfoundland art, songs and literature at our home in Regina. One of our children’s favourite meals is toutens. That’s who we are, and we want to pass our Newfoundland heritage on to our children.
“Just the other day, Ben – our 14 year old son – and I were catching mackerel on the Government Wharf here. On the way back to the house he said to me. ‘Dad, I consider Hermitage to be my home’. Now, he’s never lived here for more than three weeks at a time, but that’s a good sign that my wife and I have passed on our love for this province to our children.
“Right now, I can’t see us coming back to Newfoundland to live when I retire as we’ll probably want to stay close to our children.”
Wanda Harding
Wanda Harding, 44, is a former resident of Sandyville who has been working in Beaumont, Texas since 1992.
Harding said, “After graduating from John Watkins Central High in 1984 I went on to Memorial University where I completed a science degree in the late 1980s. From MUN I went on to complete a nursing program in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. In 1992.”
Having a nursing degree was one thing, but it was quite another thing to gain a foothold in the nursing profession in Canada in the early 1990s.
After sending out about 300 nursing applications across Canada and receiving no responses, Harding decided to try for a job in the United States.
“My dad was a geography teacher, so we got out the maps and looked at possible places I might find work in the U.S. I’m from the ocean, so I wanted to be near the salt water. I was offered a job in Beaumont, Texas, which is on the Gulf Coast, as a high-risk labour and delivery nurse, a position I’ve held for the past 18 years.
“I could possibly find full-time work in Canada now, but I’ve got 18 years of good work experience in Beaumont. I’ve never worked in Canada and I would be at the bottom of any seniority list if I came back here to work now.
“I love my career in Texas - I work, I teach and have too much put into all that now to just give it up and walk away.”
Although Harding has been in Texas for the past 18 years, her heart has never really left Newfoundland.
“When people ask me where I’m from I always say Newfoundland. I think about this province every morning, every day and every night. I have about 3000 Newfoundland songs at my place and everyone I know fully realizes that I’m from Newfoundland.”
Harding said that you will find Newfoundlanders in the great state of Texas.
“Houston is the fourth largest city in the U.S. and they have a Newfoundland club there. We get together sometimes and especially during Christmas and New Year’s.”
Harding returns home nearly every year and said that she was especially glad to be home for the 2010 Come Home Year event.
“When I was home in 2009 they told me about this Come Home Year activity, so I immediately made plans to be here this year. I’ll always come home to visit as I have such a strong connection to this province and this particular area. I may retire here for six months of the year at some point down the road.
“Regardless of what happens, Newfoundland will always be a very special place for me.”
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