Remembrance Week Poster and Literary Contest

St. Kevin's High School in the Goulds is congratulating all the students who participated in this past fall’s Remembrance Week Poster and Literary Contest, which was hosted by Branch 34 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Ferryland, which serves the whole of the Southern Shore, Goulds and Petty Harbour, as well as by the Provincial Command as the contest was province wide. Teachers Tracy Nixon and Greg White were also thanked for encouraging the students to submit their art designs and literary works. Initial judging was done by volunteers at local Legion branches. The winning entries were then judged at the provincial level. Among the St. Kevin’s students who participated were, from left: Noah Peters (3rd place in Poetry), Lucas Mercer (2nd place in Poetry), Lara Geves (1st place Colour Poster), Alyssa Byrne (1st place black and white Poster), Isabelle Chaignon (3rd place black and white Poster), Meredith Parsons (3rd place colour Poster), Charlotte Philpott (2nd place colour Poster), and Nixon. Missing from the photo is Cara Kelly (2nd place black and white Poster).

Ferryland mayor looking forward to busy 2025

By Mark Squibb

Ferryland Mayor Aiden Costello says water and sewer infrastructure maintenance kept council busy in 2024.

Costello said a new water treatment plant commissioned in 2022 required additional maintenance, and on top of that, there were several leaky water lines that needed to be addressed throughout the year.

Some of the underground lines, said the mayor, are 30 and 40 years old.

“We’re only a small town with a small budget, and so when you’re dealing with $100,000 in water issues, it takes a lot out of you,” said Costello.

The mayor said the Town has been in ‘planning mode’ and working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to develop plans for a dock. Council has also completed a flood hazard mapping project and begun preliminary work on securing funding for a new fire hall.

Council has also been working on plans for future use of the historic courthouse building.

“We’re still in the planning stages yet, but we’re hoping that within the next year we may be able to move ahead and make some changes to the building and have a tenant take over the building and make it an attraction for the town,” said Costello.

The mayor said the annual Fall Fair was once again a success, and the Town is looking forward to hosting the event again in 2025

Looking ahead to this year, Costello said council will spend a fair chunk of change on improving the town’s water system.

He said the Town is also working with Climate Atlantic to develop a long-term climate change preparedness plan. Costello said it should take about two years to complete, and when in place, Ferryland will be better able to acquire provincial and federal funds.

Costello said council is also working closely with the town’s major tourism operators to better develop Ferryland’s tourism industry.

Colony of Avalon manages to keep unearthing the past despite funding challenges

By Craig Westcott

Despite a lack of comprehensive permanent funding from any level of government and the vagaries of Newfoundland's tourism industry in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the foundation that manages the Colony of Avalon archeological site in Ferryland managed to keep on keeping on last year with plans in place for improvements next year.

At the foundation's annual general meeting last month in Ferryland, board chairman Mike Harrington saluted the contributions of the board members, who are all volunteers, and thanked the Colony’s executive director, Kate Pitcher, for all the work she does in managing the operations and keeping the staff well motivated.

Surprisingly, one of the first things Harrington had to do in presenting his annual report was explain why the meeting was so late this year. The foundation usually holds its AGM later in the year anyway with a review of the previous year's financial statements, meaning the figures under review are more than a year old. This time they were a little bit later than that.

"We rescheduled several times, in case you didn't notice," said Harrington. "I'll note that the reason for the two postponements for this AGM was that the financial statement was not complete, that's why both times we had to reschedule. We received the final financial statement yesterday (December 14), believe it or not."

All told, the Colony took in some $430,569 in revenue and grants in 2023, but spent $482,934, leaving a deficit of $52,365.

The Colony's biggest source of revenue, as in previous years, came from sales at the gift shop – some $123,748, Harrington noted, adding that is "almost 29 per cent of the total. That's sales, not profit, obviously."

The Colony also received some $87,860 in unrestricted grants from the federal and provincial governments. That's money it is free to use to fund its operations as it sees fit. It also received some $57,242 in restricted grants. Those are monies that have to be spent on specifically identified projects, such as repairs or enhancements to the Colony's premises.

The Colony got some $45,032 in student employment grants in 2023, and significantly, solicited $61,579 in donations, which marked a 422 per cent increase over the previous year. 

Some $36,335 was taken in by way of admission fees paid by tourists, which also marked an increase, about an 11 per cent over the amount collected in 2022.

The Colony was able to earn some $1,977 in interest thanks to a smart financial move. The Foundation took advantage of a federal Covid program that allowed businesses and organizations to borrow up to $60,000 and as long as they paid back $40,000 of it by the end of 2023, they could keep the remaining $20,000.

"It was too good a deal to pass up," said Harrington. "So, we did that, and we did not spend any of that money, we just stuck it in a savings account and that's the interest that we earned on it."

Another source of revenue for the Colony turned out to be a bit of a puzzler for the foundation's board members, namely $9,272 in "miscellaneous" revenue, most of which was said by the accounting firm to represent an overpayment of Harmonized Sales Tax.

"We only recently learned about this," Harrington said. "And we'll be reviewing it with the accountant. So right now, this is a bookkeeping entry, and if correct, and if we can convince the CRA that it is correct, which is not always an easy task, we likely won't get it credited back to us until likely 2025. So, we have to explore that some more."

On the expenditure side, the Colony paid out $260,534 in salaries in 2023 to the 21 people who worked at its archaeological digs, laboratories, gift shop, and tourism operations. That was about 54 per cent of the operating costs, Harrington pointed out.

The other big cost was the gift shop, which spent some $100,106 on goods for reselling to tourists.

Insurance coverage cost the Colony $20,091, while utilities were another $15,936.

On a positive note, the Colony finally has high speed internet, and at a cheaper price than it had been paying for the slower service it endured previously.

"So hopefully, now, we'll be spoiled by our high-speed internet," Harrington joked.

Another positive note was that interest costs on long term debt fell in 2023 to $1,856 compared to $3,053 the year previously. That because the foundation managed to pay off one its two long term loans from the Celtic Community Business Development Corporation. 

"The second one will be paid off in the spring of 2026," Harrington said. "And while we like CBDC, we look forward to not sending them a cheque anymore."

After accounting for all items, the Colony's deficit in 2023 was $41,967. Its total value net assets stood $123,863, and it finished the year with cash resources of $48,026, money which was used going into 2024 to pay operating costs.

“As you've heard me say many times before, and I'm going to repeat it again," said Harrington, "we are a non-profit, and we prove it every year."

The end of the chairman's report on the financial statement ended, as it had started, with a wrinkle.

"Normally at this point we would ratify the selection of the accounting firm for fiscal year 2024," said Harrington. "However, as I said earlier, we received the fiscal year 2023 financial statement yesterday, mid-day, and while the whole board has seen it and accepted it, and we had seen a draft prior, as a board we really need to sit down and explore the reasons for why it was so late, and have some further discussions with the accountant and also to get some more information on this HST overpayment issue, which was a late breaking revelation to us. We only heard about it in the last couple of weeks. So, I think we must postpone the decision on who our accountant will be for next year."

As for the 2024 season, which will be reported on officially next December, Harrington was able to give a brief overview that showed things are looking up. 

"Visitation was up (17.36 per cent) in 2024, and participation (in programs) was up significantly," he said. "So, thanks to Kate and the staff for providing the best visitor experience in Newfoundland and Labrador."

The total number of paid admissions in 2024 came to 3,259, compared to 2,639 in 2023, 2,530 in 2022 and 1,472 in 2021, numbers that reflect the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Colony and tourism generally. 

"Overall, we're not back to pre-Covid numbers, which I think is a reflection of the general tourism situation on the island,” Harrington said. “And of course, this year we had the Argentia ferry situation (in which the new ferry was delayed coming into operation) and a threatened Air Canada strike that didn't help matters either. But the trend is up, which is good."

The cost of operations again exceeded revenues in 2024, Harrington said, but the foundation did manage to get meetings with funding officials in the provincial government and with a couple of federal representatives to talk about future possibilities.

"And while the meetings were encouraging, in the end they haven't really contributed to the bottom line," Harrington admitted. "There is an ongoing effort among heritage organizations to press the Province on increasing CEDP (Cultural Economic Development Program) funding... All heritage organizations get CEDP funding, as do some arts organizations. Arts funding went up in the past few years, heritage funding has not gone up in the past few years. Actually, it hasn't gone up in over a decade. So, there is an effort to press that, and if you're ever talking to your MHA, bring it up, please."

Colony of Avalon Foundation Chairman Mike Harrington

A 1695 half penny coin and first ever Algonquin relics among highlights of Colony’s 2024 field season

An aerial view of part of the Colony of Avalon grounds showing some of the stone falls and features that have been discovered by archaeologists over the years. This past summer proved to be one of the most successful seasons in terms of finding artefacts.

By Craig Westcott

Every year when Dr. Barry Gaulton presents his end of season archaeology report on the digging done at the Colony of Avalon site in Ferryland, he starts with a slide showing the biggest find of the year. This time, he started his talk with three slides; there were that many interesting arte-facts found in 2024.

“This year was exceptional in many ways,” said the Memorial University professor who serves as the Colony’s chief archaeologist.

This past summer Gaulton’s team focused on four parts of the site, two with a bit more urgency because of the damage they have been sustaining from storm surges and coastal erosion along the waterfront, including from Hurricane Ernesto this past fall.

The two more inland locations, on the southside of The Pool Road, were tackled in the hope of shedding more light on the early construction activities and operations of the Colony founded in 1621 by Baron George Calvert, and later by Sir David Kirke, a privateer and trader who served as Newfoundland’s first governor, who was based in Ferryland.

The waterfront area work included continuing an excavation from the previous year below the late 17th century cobblestone pavement, while the other involved digging a one by four metre trench in an area behind a more modern erection colloquially known as ‘The Moose Shack.’

“As it turns out, the small number of 17th century artefacts that we found in 2023 hinted at much more substantial and deep midden deposits revealed this year in 2024,” said Gaulton.

Midden is the archaeological term for a garbage deposit. They are often rich sources of arte-facts yielding food bones, cookware, and other detritus tossed away by people living centuries ago.

“There was a whole variety of English clay tobacco pipe bowls, there was also a variety of relief moulded decorated (pipe) stems produced in the Netherlands, there was an assortment of glass beads, including a really nice blue and white tube bead, as well some oval beads and some seed beads,” said Gaulton. “We found a circular lead gaming piece in the same area this year, we found some North Italian marble slipware, as well as a whole variety of ceramic pieces, pieces from North Devon, some milk pans, some case bottle glass, we even found a broken clay pipe stem that was drilled out to make a crude whistle. All of these objects clearly suggest there was a domestic (garbage) deposit originating from a nearby house, the location of which has yet to be determined. A notable find from this year from the midden that’s worthy of special attention is a couple of pieces of clay tobacco pipe that were decorated in what was referred to as the ‘running deer motif.’ These pipes are exceptional because they were actually made by Algon-quin peoples in Virginia and Maryland. This is the first such find at Ferryland in over 30 years of archaeology and as far as I know, it’s the first such find in Newfoundland if not in all of Canada, so quite an exciting discovery. As to how it got to Ferryland, the logical assumption is the pipe likely arrived along with shipments of tobacco from the Chesapeake in exchange for Newfoundland salt cod.”

Gaulton thanked the efforts off all the field and lab staff, and other staff for helping the season a success. He had particular praise for Neil Jordan and his “uncanny ability to sniff out parts of the site that are interesting, informative and rich in artefacts.

“The plan for 2024 was to excavate a test trench directly behind the moose shack to record any intact cultural deposits, or surviving features,” Gaulton said. “Although no structural features were found, there were thick cultural deposits from both the 17th and the 18th centuries, and these contained a tremendous number of objects associated with daily life in Ferryland. And even before Neil reached those deeper intact deposits, the upper disturbed layers hinted at good things to come in the form of a William III ha’penny (coin) dated 1695.”

Gaulton said the deposits suggest there was “intensive” occupation in the 18th century of the lower ground near the waterfront known as The Pool.

“This is evidenced by large quantities of English ceramics, including a variety of earthen wares and stoneware, there were English wine glass fragments, there were German stoneware pieces, pieces of flint, all sorts of clay tobacco pipes... and the area really was so rich in artefacts that Neil enlisted the help of our very own Lucille Hynes and Sarah O’Brien, both of whom found lots of objects on site including a wonderful example of a clay pipe produced by Reuben Sidney of Southampton, England.”

Gaulton said one of his favourite pieces discovered by Jordan was a small brass lock plate from a little box or chest that still had its springs and levers intact.

Below the 18th century layers there was a thinner 17th century deposit that contained a variety of similar objects.

“Given the richness of these deposits and what they can tell us about life in 17th and 18th cen-tury Ferryland and given its location along the exposed waterfront, we hope to return to the ar-ea in the future and continue additional excavation,” Gaulton said.

Another highlight of the past season was a ground penetrating radar survey conducted on The Pool Road. The results will be analyzed over the winter. “This may allow us to ‘see’ underneath the road for intact wall features and cobblestone pavements and slate drains and such,” said Gaulton.

The team also started mapping the Colony with a drone this past summer to start documenting the changing waterfront.

A third area excavated was an early 17th century drain that was associated with a brewhouse and stable that had been built in the 1620s.

“This work was part of a larger project looking at the various sanitation systems built during the Calvert period here at Ferryland,” Gaulton said. “Our goal this summer was to expose a small section of that drain that runs directly under the Colony’s cobblestone street. We also wanted to remove the capstones, take soil samples from inside the drain, record details on its construction, and finally attempt to determine the exact direction of that drain as it snakes its way under-ground, under the cobblestone street and under the current street so that we could locate its eventual outflow.”

The first part of the work was easy enough, Gaulton said, but tracing the direction of the drain proved harder. It turned out to be almost completely filled with silt. After managing to probe to about 30 feet, the archaeologists called in a sewer inspection crew from the City of St. John’s, who showed up with sewer cameras and other gear. In a last-ditch attempt to trace the line, they tried pumping a nontoxic red dye into the drain that eventually emerged near the seawall and inner harbour.

The fourth area explored is the former site of a buttery that served Calvert’s Mansion House. It was the first time excavating the area since 2012, when the location of the buttery was record-ed. This summer the archaeologists decided to explore near a small section of mortared stone wall between the buttery and a garbage deposit that had remained unexcavated. They began by removing the upper section of the stone wall that had once housed the Mansion’s adjacent kitchen building in order to get at the underlying midden.

The work indicated that parts of the neighbouring kitchen building have been modified and in-filled over time. “So, this really has the potential to change our interpretation of this particular building associated with the Mansion House,” said Gaulton. “Excavation of the associated refuse deposit in 2024 also revealed very clearly two distinct occupations, the first one associated with the initial construction and occupation back in the 1620s, and an overlying layer consisting of objects discarded in the second half of the 17th century based upon objects such as datable pipe bowls.”

The uppermost deposit also contained an interesting collection of artefacts, Gaulton said, in-cluding a large number of bones preserved in the mortar in the nearby wall. “Students and visi-tors were especially fascinated by all the rat bones, including the well-preserved mandibles and teeth,” he added. “These things were balanced with other informative pieces, things like a bale seal fragment. We found a pewter spoon handle, a small copper bell, we also found a tiny little silver sequin, some pins and needles fragments, and some large chunks of ceramic milk pans manufactured in places like England and Portugal. This is yet another area that is clearly worthy of further investigation…

“To conclude the 2024 field season was a resounding success and it really reinvigorated plans for future archaeological work at Ferryland,” Gaulton said. “There’s clearly more we can do to un-derstand this 17th century village, and so much more we can do to share with the community and the general public.”

Busy agenda for last meeting of the year

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Witless Bay last week held its last public meeting of 2024.

Kicking off the meeting was a vote to ratify an e-mail vote of December 6 to approve installation of a new septic system at the Town Hall at a cost of $21,447, and to award onsite excavation work at an additional cost of $11,850. Both prices are exclusive of HST.

Council also approved the purchase of a number of items for the fire department, including a bunker suit at $2,500, a P25 radio at $3,186, and a number of firefighting hoods at $4,300. According to Fire Chief Jack Gatherall’s most recent report, the department has responded to 266 calls as of December 1. Given the current call trajectory, the department expects to close out the calendar year with upwards of 285 calls — a 25 percent increase over last year.

Council also requested approval from the provincial government to borrow funds from the Community Credit Union to finance upgrades to the recreation grounds to help address flooding problems.

The project, valued at about $1.17 million dollars, is cost shared with the provincial government on a 90/10 split. The Town will be on the hook for about $106,539, which they will take out as a loan from the bank. The loan will be amortized for five years at an interest rate of 4.34 precent.

“As most residents of the town know, flooding has become a frequent problem, especially over the winter months and when we get heavy rain,” noted councillor Jacob Hayden.

Council also approved, in principle, a residential development along Dunn’s Lane.

New Appeals Commissioner appointed

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Bay Bulls held its final public meeting of the year December 9, and despite the meeting lasting only about 15 minutes, council attended to a number of matters ahead of the new year.

The first matter of business was to ratify the purchase of four culverts at a total cost of $4,697 plus HST. The culverts were needed to address an immediate concern within town.

Council also approved-in principle two residential developments, one on Northside Road and one along the main road, awarded a recruitment services contract at a cost of $3,250, plus HST, and purchased 40 compost bins at a cost of $1,800, plus HST, for use in a compost program. Residents will be able to buy a bin from the town hall at a reduced price.

Council also attended to a number of housekeeping items, such as approving the 2025 public meeting schedule, appointing Mitch Moran as Appeals Commissioner for 2025, approving town hall Christmas hours, approving prizes for the Christmas Light it Up Challenge, approving pre-authorized payments for 2025, and awarding staff Christmas bonuses.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien took a moment to remind residents that beginning in 2025 garbage will be picked up on Thursdays, and Mayor Keith O’Driscoll closed out the meeting by wishing residents a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Steady as she goes on tax rates in Bay Bulls

By Mark Squibb

Bay Bulls council will hold the mil rate steady for residents and commercial businesses at 5.0 and 14.75 mills respectively.

Council approved both the 2025 tax structure and budget during a special meeting held November 28.

Budget 2025 was balanced at just about $3,787,361, down from the previous year’s budget of $4,387,032. Town Manager Ashley Wakeham said a large chunk of government funding approved in 2024 for phase 2 of the Long Pond Trail project accounts for the difference between both budgets.

Council has applied for capital works funding for both 2025 and 2026 but those numbers were not included in Budget 2025 as the money has not yet been awarded.

The Town has also launched a new tax assistance program offering a 25 percent reduction to qualified low-income residential taxpayers.

Wakeham advised the early payment discount date has been moved up to March 31 from May 3 to comply with the new Towns and Local Service District Act that will replace the Municipalities Act on January 1.

Bay Bulls to get new tourism signs

By Mark Squibb

The Town of Bay Bulls hopes to catch the eye of people passing on through with a pair of new signs along the main road.

One sign will be placed at the intersection of Southside Road and the Main Road and the other at the St. John’s Road and Main Road intersection, pending approval from the provincial government.

“We are trying to promote tourism and advertise this lovely centre that we have here, and our restaurants, rest areas, new park, tour operators, and the municipal building, all right here in our ‘downtown core,’” said Town Manager Ashley Wakeham. “It’s a great idea to direct traffic down here so people visit this lovely town rather than drive past it.”

Council approved a number of other action items during the meeting, including a motion to award catch basin cleaning to the lowest compliant bidder at a cost of $5,520, plus HST.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien noted the Town received a number of bids and a variety of prices.

Ferryland holds the line on tax rates

By Mark Squibb

Ferryland council has approved the 2025 budget and tax structure and will hold the residential and business taxes steady at 6.9 and 10.9 mils respectively.

And although council has not raised any taxes and has committed to holding the mil rate steady, Ferryland Mayor Aidan Costello advised that residents will see some increases to their tax bills owning to a $25 increase for garbage collection courtesy of the Eastern Regional Service Board (ERSB) and rising property value assessments.

“We’re happy to say that council has not directly increased our taxes,” said Costello. “Indirectly, you’ll see some increases. But we’re happy to say we managed our budget and we’re looking forward to another good year.”

Costello said the budget, approved this November, has been balanced at just over $600,000, down about $60,00 — a decrease of about eight percent from last year.

Costello called it a “trim and slim” budget, adding that staff have found cost-saving measures at the water treatment plant, and repaired a handful of leaks over the last couple of years.

“We were losing a lot of water through those leaks, so we fixed those, and that has helped us cut back on water expenses extensively,” said Costello.

The mayor said line items such as fire protection services, snow clearing, road maintenance, and water and sewer remains the Town’s big-ticket items.

Roughly half of council’s overall revenue is generated through taxes.