My sister put up, on Facebook, an old photo from from 1966. It was a photo of the Queen Elizabeth Regional High School Volleyball Team.
This is the photo
The photo brought back many memories of my time in high school especially the many sporting activities that I was part of. I loved team sport and through much practice, I became pretty good at most sports. Basketball was one exception. I spent too much time being called for traveling so I dropped basketball. Many players on the volleyball team also played basketball.
The date 1966 was what really reminded me of an important time in Newfoundland’s history. It was what made me think about the topic come home year newfoundland. The year 1965 was when The Trans Canada Highway was finished across Newfoundland. In my opinion that is when we really started to feel Canadian.
The then Premier, Joey Smallwood decided that with the Trans Canada finished we should have a Come Home Year in 1966. There was a lot of planning and promoting leading up to the start of Come Home Year.
We were all excited. For me and my family, we would be meeting relatives that we never knew existed.
I recall cousins from the Boston area. They were fun to have around. One memory of their visit was a trip to Bellevue Beach. The caplin were in and my aunt, who was rather big decided to go for a swim with the caplin. She looked like a whale with her long black dress floating on the water. The caplin scattered but I still have a vivid picture of that event.
Another memory from those celebrations were the many out of province license plates that were around. We would play games trying to guess which province or state plate, the next car going pass, would have. Ontario plates were in the majority as many Newfoundlanders had moved to Ontario for work.
My parents had plans for us to go to Ontario, when we moved in to the St John’s area from Creston PB back in 1957, however; my father found steady employment in St john’s and area as a carpenter.
I consider myself a Canadian with Newfoundland Labrador my home.
Do you have memories from the 1966 come home year Newfoundland Labrador celebrations?