Editorial Comment


27 September 2007
Dieppe, NB


The response to The Port Albert Project has been overwhelming. The comments thus far have been very favourable and supportive of the site, and have confirmed my belief that there are others who hold Port Albert very near and dear to their hearts.


There are some of you that I know personally, and others that I have never met, but know of whom you are because I recognize your parents or grandparents names. I have not had the opportunity to write each of you personally, so please allow me this opportunity to say a collective THANK YOU to all of you for all of your kind and wonderful comments.


I would also like to say a very special thank you to Karen Wells, Editor of The Pilot, who took an interest in the story behind the development of the website, and brought it to you in this week's edition. Without her support, there would still be a lot of folks out there who may never have heard about our efforts to preserve the history of Port Albert through this website.


As you will note by the feedback on the "Your Comments" page, we have heard from folks throughout NL and from across Canada. Most have ties to Port Albert in one form or another, and we are so very glad to have heard from each and every one of you. This site is about you and for you. Please don't feel that because you don't have any "old" photos or stories to contribute that you don't have anything to offer, because you do. Just the fact that you are sending us comments is in itself a welcome contribution. But don't stop there! Commit your recollections to pen and paper, dust off that photo album, or send us an email about your memories of Port Albert.


I've tried to think of things that bring back memories of Port Albert for me, and some of the things that I remember most include bringing water with buckets and a hoop, catching tomcods on my grandfather's wharf and running up to the house with each one I'd caught, asking if it was a trout. Other thoughts turn to getting dressed in an ice cold bedroom in the middle of winter, and then running down over the stairs into the only warm room in the house - the kitchen!!

Is there anything better than standing on the head of a wharf, with the tide top high, a soft rain falling and your line in the water trying to catch a whitefish? Of course there is, and that's eating the whitefish after it's been cleaned, rolled in flour and fried in Eversweet™ margarine!


Then there were those long summer days spent on the beach below Joe Bennett's garden, with a fire made from driftwood, cooking up mussels in a can held over the fire with rabbit wire. Or when the boats would come in from the codtraps, loaded to the gunnels, and us boys pitching fish onto the wharf with pitchforks. No one had much money then, but we made the best of what we had, and had fun at the same time. There was nothing like making homemade ice cream in winter. Half the fun was in making it, and the other half of the fun was in eating it!!


And who could ever forget going over to Henry John Peckford's or Cec Mercer's stores with ten cents and buying a bottle of Fanta Orange Crush? Ten cents bought a lot of things back in the mid 1960's. One could get a bag of Adam's Potato Chips for five cents. I can't remember if trout hooks were 2 for a penny or two cents each, but I'm sure one of our visitors will advise me on that. A box of Seadog matches was two cents. Ten cents worth of candy back then would fill a small paper bag, and if one was frugal, he or she could make it last a whole day. And let's not forget the fun of sharing one's chips and pop with friends, in the truest sense of the word! Everyone ate the chips and drank out of the same bottle, and little pieces of chips floating around in the pop did nothing to deter the next person from taking a drink!! Ahh, the joys of youth!!


We have also received a request from Mr. Victor Cassell, who is the website administrator for the Town of Cottlesville, asking if we would provide a link to their website. I am only too pleased to be able to do this, and would encourage one and all to visit our sister community to see what's happening in their part of Notre Dame Bay.


I will close my ramblings for now, wishing that tonight I was going to sleep in Port Albert, with the bedroom window open listening to the waves as they lapped at the rocks below. That, however, will have to be put on hold until I once again am able to visit the place that will always be home for me... Port Albert!


Terry Alexander

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