Masterless Men know how to put the festive in Shamrock Festival

The Masterless Men bandmembers include, starting from left: Mock Greene on bass, Wilf Curran on guitar and lead vocals, John Curran on guitar and lead vocals, Greg Walsh on fiddle, and Dave Lush on banjo. Greg and Dave also sing backup and harmony vocals. Masterless Men photo.

By Mark Squibb / July 21, 2023

Brothers John and Wilf Curran of the Masterless Men have played in many a festival in their time, but there’s nothing quite like playing the Shamrock Festival in their hometown of Ferryland.

“For myself and John, we’re playing at home, and we don’t often get the opportunity to play at home,” said Curran. “And I think with the exception of a couple of weekends we may have missed because the band was booked somewhere else, we’ve played almost every single festival. And you’re playing before your hometown and seeing your friends and people you haven’t seen in a while, and so it’s nice to be able to perform for them. And sometimes you do different songs, songs that you probably didn’t do at the festival the weekend before, because you’re home and you know some of the guys there like these certain songs. It’s really special.”

The band has been a festival mainstay from the very beginning.

“The Masterless Men have been involved with the Shamrock Folk Festival since the Masterless Men were formed, which was 32 years January past,” said Curran. “Even before the band was formed, my brother John and I performed in the festival in its early days.”

And while much has changed since the festival’s inception in 1986, such as the inclusion of family friendly sessions complete with bouncy castles and laser tag, much has stayed the same.

“The Southern Shore flair, the Irish flair, hasn’t changed at all,” said Curran. “I see some of the same faces I used to see way, way back in the early days… the people who go because they love music and they love to get outdoors.”

Curran added the Southern Shore Folk Arts Council building is the perfect venue for a night of singing and dancing.

“The Saturday afternoon session is on the deck, so you’re right out on the water,” said Curran. “And then the building itself, the way they’ve maintained the building’s structure and kept all the old wood is phenomenal. I go to a number of events at the Folk Arts Centre and I’m in awe of the old wood and the rafters and the way they’ve renovated it. It’s just a beautiful place to spend an evening.”

The Masterless Men (not so named, it turns out, because the men don’t have wives, but in a nod to a group of legendary late 18th century and early 19th century runaway seamen and workers who escaped servitude from early Newfoundland plantations to live as free men away from the coast) will be playing Saturday evening, along with the Dolly Kits and Karla Pilgrim and the Mayflowers.

“It’ll be a fun night, because they know how to have fun on the Southern Shore,” said Curran.

The Southern Shore Crush Orange U11 girls team goes undefeated

The Southern Shore Crush Orange U11 girls team went undefeated at this year’s Const. Moss Memorial softball tournament. It’s the second year in a row the team has won the tournament. In the back row from left to right, are coach Nicole Martin, Kennedi Pardy, Kayleigh Dalton, Bree Joyce, Rhea Doyle, Abbi Sullivan, and coach Audrey Dalton. In the front row, from left to right, are Italia Costello, Lauren Johnson, Emilee Martin, Grace Boland and Jenna Keough. Missing from the photo are Leah Legge and coach Laura Doyle. Photo by Anne Windsor 

Festival to get an earful of talented home-grown duo the Dollykits

The Dollykits include (from left) Kelsey Arsenault and Katie Barbour.

By Craig Westcott / July 14, 2023

There's a new act performing at the annual Shamrock Folk Festival next weekend, but they're old hands at performing, despite their young faces, and no strangers to the stage in Ferryland.

The Dollykits are scheduled to play in the main event evening session Saturday night with the Masterless Men, Karla Pilgrim & The Mayflowers, and other special guests. The duo is composed of Kelsey Arsenault and Katie Barbour.

"We've been playing together for I would say 20 years," said Arsenault. "We grew up together, but as a duo we just started in the last year gigging together more seriously. But we've been playing together forever."

The pair, both actually from Ferryland, play everything from Irish traditional to country to folk covers "with a few of our own originals as well."

Both are extremely talented singer/songwriters in their own right.

"I've actually got a solo album coming out at the end of the summer," Arsenault noted, "and Katie has written some on her own. But we'd like to get into songwriting more as a duo as well."

Arsenault has a song debuting today, Volcano, which will also be included on the Gallery Walls album later this summer. If Volcano is anything to go by, the album will be well worth getting.

Arsenault said the pair won't be performing much of their original material at the festival, which is better designed for Irish-Newfoundland traditional sing along type music, which they both also enjoy.

Both artists have played the festival many times.

"I grew up playing the festival," said Arsenault. "It was my first gig actually. The first time I ever sang on the stage was up on the Southern Shore."

She was 4. Arsenault performed with her mom Rhonda O'Keefe Arsenault.

So far, the Dollykits have played The Black Sheep and O'Reilley's downtown.

"We've been busy all summer," said Arsenault. "We haven't done a ton of gigging this summer, but we also played at the Keeper's Kitchen up in St. Shotts."

The Shamrock festival will be the biggest crowd to see the pair perform together as the Dollykits. By all accounts, it will be worth seeing.

"They're really good," said Don Maher, co-owner of The Black Sheep on George Street. "They're really engaging. The audience here loved them."

Arsenault's full-time job, meanwhile, is with the CRA, but she is also a certified Music Therapist with a Masters degree from Waterloo University. Barbour is a teacher. But being from Ferryland, with music pretty well in the blood, neither can stay away from the call of singing and songwriting on the side.

The name of their act is a tribute to their respective grandmothers.

"My grandmother's name was Dolly (O'Keefe) and Katie's grandmother was Kit (Clowe)," said Arsenault. "The two of them have since passed away in the last couple of years, but we were both very close to our nans and we thought we'd do a spin on both their names as a way to kind of keep them alive and to breed a little bit of their legacy into what we do."

Moving one bay over

Witless Bay hires former Bay Bulls manager Jennifer Aspell

By Mark Squibb / July 14, 2023

In another Friday night meeting, Witless Bay council last week voted to hire Jennifer Aspell as the Town’s new Chief Administrative Officer.

“Jennifer is a capable and committed individual who has a strong track record in municipal and business administration,” said Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard. “Under her tenure the Town of Bay Bulls made great strides including the beautiful walking trail at Long Pond, as well as instituting processes and work plans that proved very beneficial to the efficient operation of the Town of Bay Bulls. Jennifer has built great working relationships with government departments and funding agencies that will prove greatly beneficial to the Town of Witless Bay.”

Aspell served as Bay Bulls Town Manager for the last five or so years, and was an integral part of that town’s monthly council meeting, keeping the meetings in order while also offering clarifications and further explanations to the media afterwards.

“Jennifer and her family have a long history of contributions and volunteering for the town of Witless Bay,” said Yard. “I know she has a passion for the town and is eager to put her energy and experience into moving the Town of Witless Bay forward in a positive manner.”

Aspell, who lives in Witless Bay with her family, once challenged a decision of the previous council when they approved a resident’s application to construct a garage on his property in June, 2020. Aspell had argued it would negatively impact the view of the ocean from her home. The Eastern Regional Appeal Board, during a hearing held on March 9, 2021, recommended the Town permit the construction of the garage as the dimensions fit the Town’s requirements and the impact on Aspell’s ocean views was thought to be minimal.

She is being called on to replace former Town CAO Sean Kavanagh.

Council voted to fire Kavanagh in June of 2022, but had to motion to fire him multiple times over the coming months due to procedural errors.

Aspell will be the sixth top bureaucrat at the Town Hall in Witless Bay in the last four years. Former Town Clerk Geraldine Caul served in the position twice. She left the Town’s employment earlier this year.

Former town manager sues Witless Bay council

By Mark Squibb / July 14, 2023

Former Witless Bay town manager Shawn Kavanagh has filed a statement of claim against the Town of Witless Bay seeking $135,329 in wages, plus punitive damages.

According to Kavanagh’s statement of claim registered at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland on June 19, the Town of Witless Bay hired him on February 1, 2022, to serve as Town Manager on a fixed term basis from February 14, 2022, through till December 31, 2024.

The agreement between the Town and Kavanagh specified a four-month probationary period during which time Kavanagh could be fired either with cause or without, but the agreement did not provide “clear and unambiguous terms” that would allow for the Town to fire Kavanagh outside of that probationary period nor before the expiration of the agreement on December 31, 2024, according to the claim.

None of the allegations contained in the document have yet been tested in court. Up to press time this week, the Town had not filed a Statement of Defence.

As alleged in the statement of claim, the Town fired Kavanagh on February 23, 2023, by written notice and without cause. The claim further alleges Kavanagh was provided only two weeks pay in lieu of the notice.

Kavanagh is claiming that in doing so, the Town breached his employment contract, and furthermore claims the termination was in violation of the Municipalities Act as appropriate procedures for dismissal of a town manager were not followed, and that this caused harm to his reputation.

Though Kavanagh declined comment for this story, during an interview in November of 2022, he claimed council had not followed proper procedure in that it did not inform him ahead of time that it would be voting to terminate him, nor was quorum met the first time council voted to fire him.

As a point of fact, the motion to terminate Kavanagh was brought before council a number of times and approved each time, although procedural errors meant the vote had to be recast time and time again.

Kavanagh, who is represented by Devin Drover of Benson Buffett PLC Inc, is seeking $135,329 in pay that he says the Town owes him, as per the initial agreement. He is also suing for punitive damages, interest, legal fees, and “such other relief as this Honorable Court deems just and equitable.”

Witless Bay Mayor Trevor Croft said this week he could not comment on the matter as it was a Human Resources issue.

Bay Bulls project comes in under budget

By Mark Squibb / July 7, 2023

In today’s world of inflation and post-pandemic prices, you often hear of projects going overbudget.

It’s much less common to hear of projects coming in under budget, but that’s exactly what happened in Bay Bulls.

During the June public meeting, council approved a release of $35,465 in funds earmarked for upgrades to Cemetery West Road and Station Road.

“Those are funds that were allocated to that project, but we came in under budget, so what we’re doing is formalizing, and sending in documentation to the Gas Tax Secretariat, to free up those funds,” explained Town Manager Jennifer Aspell.

Council, with the exception of Mayor Keith O’Driscoll and councillor Jason Sullivan, who were both absent from the meeting and thus did not vote on the matter, unanimously approved the motion.

Since 2019, the provincial government has allocated $437,116 in gas tax funds for the Town of Bay Bulls, based on a 2016 population of 1,500.

The former council had earmarked $152,678 of that money for upgrades to Winnonish Drive, but the new council unanimously voted to cancel those upgrades during the October meeting of last year. Instead, council applied to complete a 450-metre section of the walking trail around Long Pond at a total project cost of $95,508, plus HST, as per project estimates.

Speed hump request causes debate in Bay Bulls chamber

Town Manager says ticketing speeders is outside Town’s jurisdiction

By Mark Squibb / July 7, 2023

A resident of Bay Bulls who had requested six speed humps be installed along Sheldon Drive and Marsh Road will have to be satisfied with just the one.

Council discussed the request, which was for four seed humps along Sheldon Drive and two along Marsh Road, during last week’s meeting, from which Mayor Keith O’Driscoll and councillor Jason Sullivan were both absent. Of the three councillors present, there was some disagreement as how to best approach the request.

Councillor Shannon O’Driscoll motioned to install speed bumps and signage along Sheldon Drive, as per the request.

Councillor Corey Ronayne off the bat noted council had refused a similar request for speed humps at a recent meeting.

Deputy Mayor Jason O’Brien added that, as per the Town’s Traffic Calming Policy, the date for accepting speed hump requests had already passed. Such requests had to be submitted no later than 10 calendar days before the June monthly meeting.

O’Brien said six speed humps were too many for such a small stretch of road, and suggested council make a friendly amendment to the motion to reduce the number of speed humps being voted upon.

He added the real problem is not the number of speed humps in town, but the number of speeders, and the best way to resolve safety concerns would be to have drivers ease off the gas pedal.

To that point, Town Manager Jennifer Aspell noted the Town cannot ticket speeders, as that falls under the purview of the RCMP, and the most the municipality can do is install traffic calming measures in an attempt to curb speeding.

As to O’Brien’s suggestion to reduce the number of speed humps being voted upon, councillor Ronayne suggested council approve just one speed hump along Sheldon Drive.

O’Driscoll, however, said she would prefer council approve all four.

“There’s a lot of young kids in that area playing, and it’s better to be safe than sorry,” she said.

O’Driscoll’s original motion was put to a vote, and O’Brien and Ronayne both voted against it.

Councillor Ronayne then moved that council install a single speed hump along Sheldon Drive.

That motion was approved, with all three members of the five-person council present being in favour.

Mobile Central High teacher recognised for contribution to sport

Andrew Mackey of Mobile Central High School was recently honoured with a 2023 School Sport NL Regional Recognition Award for the St. John’s Region. Submitted photo

By Mark Squibb / July 7,2023

If it’s a school sport, Mobile Central High’s Athletic Director Andrew Mackey is involved in it one way or another.

From coaching sports to organizing tournaments, Mackey is integral to the school’s athletic program.

“We’re a small school, but we decided we wanted to get involved with a little bit of everything, which has been paying off the last couple of years,” said Mackey, who said that not only have school teams won a number of provincial and regional titles over the last number of years, but the school itself has been named the SSNL School of the Year two years running.

Mackey was recently honoured with a 2023 School Sport NL Regional Recognition Award for the St. John’s Region.

“To be honest, I was pretty surprised,” said Mackey. “I didn’t even know that anybody had put my name forward for nomination. But it’s pretty exciting for sure.”

The school has long had a reputation for sports involvement fostered under former longtime athletic director and teacher Shawn Doyle, who retired a couple of years ago, and an enthusiastic body of parents, teachers and volunteers.

Mackey has picked up the mantle of that leadership and kept running with it. The school of 400 boasts over 30 sports teams.

 “That ranges from basketball to volleyball, badminton, ice hockey, ball hockey, table tennis, cross country, cheerleading — we’re pretty well into everything,” said Mackey.

Witless Bay to kick in on Canada Day fireworks

By Mark Squibb / June 29, 2023

The Town of Witless Bay will purchase fireworks for the Bay Bulls to Bauline Athletic Association’s Canada Day festivities.

Council approved the request during last week’s council meeting and voted to spend up to $1,000 on the products.

Earlier this month, the Town of Bay Bulls committed $1,400 to the event, which will be held in Bay Bulls this year.

At the time, members of Bay Bulls council had expressed their desire that other towns would be willing to contribute to the festivities, which are attended by folks from the entire region.

Bay Bulls council intended for staff to write the BBBAA and ask whether other towns would be contributing financially to the festivities.

Witless Bay settles on new location for dog park

Mark Squibb / June 29, 2023

After voting last July to move the dog park, members of Witless Bay council last week voted to prepare a tender to construct a fence at the soon-to-be new facility.

“We made a motion, last year I believe it was, to relocate our dog park and right now where we’re planning is close to Southside Track right by the changerooms, so it will be really handy for everybody,” said councillor Ralph Carey, who made the motion to prepare a tender.

Carey went on to explain the Town is looking to install about 130 feet of chain link fence from the existing chain link fence off the Puffin Centre parking lot to the corner of the change rooms.

The run of fencing, complimenting preexisting fencing, will box off an area to be designated as the dog park, which Carey said would be the most cost-effective way to go about the work.

Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard seconded the motion.

“Like councillor Carey said, we made a motion to do this last year so I’m really happy to see it move ahead,” said Yard. “We have had a lot of feedback from residents about the lack of an accessible dog park facility. I have looked into (it), not that we want to have a luxurious dog park, but I have looked into some designs that other jurisdictions have had, so that rather than just have a flat piece of land, we have some things there. It would be really great if we could get some kind of water source for the dogs. But, in the meantime, I am looking into some different things we could have in the dog park. Like, I’m trying to get some prices on doggie bags for picking up waste, so when I get that together, I will bring that to council for further consideration.”

The former dog park was located in the same general area but could only be accessed by trespassing over private property.

The park remained closed while council sought a solution.