Day 1 (September 10, 2024): A day down 'Memory Lane'

In June 1959, my dad was ordained by the Newfoundland Conference of the United Church of Canada, at a service held in Grand Bank, NL.  While there, he learned he was being assigned to Burin Pastoral Charge as his first post-ordination charge, with a start date of July 1st.  During the summers of his time at Pine Hill Divinity Hall in Halifax (now Atlantic School of Theology), he was sent to summer postings on the prairies.  In summer 1958, while leading a youth camp at Carlyle Lake in Saskatchewan, he chased a little Scotch Terrier down the beach to retrieve it for the woman who owned it.  In the process, he literally bumped into my mom, who was staying at the lake with her aunt.  The ensuing story is too long for a blog entry about the Burin Peninsula, but suffice it to say, the subject of marriage was quickly introduced by the 18-year old who was in a pre-med program at the university of Saskatchewan.  That wedding took place in Carnduff, Saskatchewan on Hallowe’en 1959, exactly four months after Dad started his work in Burin.

To better understand what she was getting into, Mom took the train from Saskatchewan to Goobies, NL late that same summer - her first introduction to the east coast - where Dad picked her up and drove her down the dusty, unpaved Burin Peninsula road to Burin, which she immediately fell in love with. (She was already quite in love with Dad!)  After the October 31, 1959 wedding, they flew back to Newfoundland to start married life and ministry together as a team in Burin.

2024 is the 65th anniversary of all the events listed above.  When I was in Newfoundland earlier this summer, Dad commented that he would really like to see Burin again, so I promised to come home before the summer was done and to take them there. And that is the pretext for this road trip to The Boot!

We pulled out of their driveway in Clarke’s Beach at 9:22AM.  After short stops in Swift Current and Parker’s Cove, we arrived in Marystown at 1:30PM, where we had a picnic lunch.  The 19C late summer weather was just perfect. 

After lunch, we headed to Big Salmonier to check into our AirBnB for the evening.  After getting settled, we headed to nearby Epworth to visit a lovely couple with whom my parents have been friends for decades.  Then we headed to Burin to explore all the nooks and crannies of Burin Bay that were so beloved and familiar to Dad and Mom.  

After a final stop to visit the memorial to the victims of the 1929 Great Burin Tidal Wave, we headed back to the AirBnB for a home-cooked meal to end our first day of the trip.

The Burin Peninsula, aptly called, "The Boot".

It is a huge peninsula, as evidenced by the driving distances above. 

The beginning of the Don Jamieson Highway - a.k.a. The Burin Peninsula Highway... a.k.a. Route 210.... a.k.a The Heritage Trail.

Swift Current

The typical barrens of the Burin Peninsula. 

Parker’s Cove

No trouble to tell when you’re in Marystown, the hub of the Burin Peninsula, where big box stores and fast food outlets abound. 

Marystown has a salt water inlet, which resembles a river, flowing through it. 

A picnic lunch at the Marystown tourist information picnic table. We liked the little spot so much that we went back for lunch again on our return pass through Marystown.

A wonderful visit with long-time friends, Cecil and Florence, in Epworth. 

Burin

Burin's Heritage Park.

Looking over the harbour towards Collin's Cove, Burin.

Dad and Mom, with Burin United Church in the background.

Burin has a wonderful heritage park and boardwalk. 

Burin's Heritage Park even boasts a great little outdoor theatre.

Burin United Church, now known as Zion United Church, was Dad’s first appointment after his June 1959 ordination. He started there on July 1, 1959.  On October 31at of that year, Dad and Mom were married in Saskatchewan, and Mom joined him in ministry at this church that November. 

This was the Manse, next to the church in Collin’s Cove, where Dad and Mom lived after getting married. My brothers Peter and Andy were born a stone’s throw away. They all lived in this house until June 1964, when they moved to King’s Point, in Green Bay. (And that's where I entered the scene!)

On rhis very spot, the Burin Cottage Hospital existed, where Peter was born in 1961 and Andy in 1963. A modern hospital has now replaced it in another part of Burin, and there is no hint that the Burin Cottage Hospital ever existed on this site. 

Memorial to the Tidal Wave of 5PM on November 18, 1929, located in Port au Bras. 27 people in five communities surrounding Burin died in the tidal

wave, which stemmed from a 7.2 earthquake on the Grand Banks and sent a wave up to 37m tall into the eastern Burin Peninsula. That’s the height of a 10-storey building!

Our AirBnB for the night, in Big Salmonier. 

The waters of Burin were teeming with smelt.