Thank you for a Regatta Day to remember

Jane and I came to Newfoundland with our two young children with the intention of a normal sort of trip to take in Regatta Day in St. John’s and get ourselves around to the usual tourist places — Signal Hill, Cape Spear, Petty Harbour — collecting family pictures.

Of course, we’d heard about Newfoundland hospitality; what we were not prepared for was the incredible sense of community that we met and felt immediately welcomed into. A week and a half later, as we prepared to fly back home to Ontario, it was strange to think that in such a short time we had found a little bit of home right here in St. John’s.

Travel to Newfoundland has been on our wish list ever since Jane visited three years ago as part of a conference trip. A taxi ride was all it took to set things in motion. Her driver, Randy Snow, hearing that she was “one of those sliding seat rowers,” eagerly began to tell her about the Regatta and how it is done here in St. John’s. When she left the cab, she was already planning the trip, and before leaving the Island got a copy of a book about the famous 1901 Outer Cove crew, Gerard Doran’s “A Stroke in Time.”

Reading Gerard’s book was our first real window into the world of rowing on Quidi Vidi. Even as sliding seat rowers, both Jane (who grew up in Fredericton) and I (in Hamilton, Ont.), had heard of the famous St. John’s Regatta, but knew little more than the number of rowers in the boat, that the seats didn’t move, and that there was a 180-degree turn in the race course.

While all Canadian rowers certainly take pride in the Regatta’s status as the oldest continuous sporting event in North America, most (including us, at that point) have never been.

I struck up a correspondence with Gerard after reviewing his book for the World Rowing Federation website in 2016. Two years later, our family of four was staying at his house for Regatta week after a good first few nights at the Homeport Apartment Hotel. It felt immediately like moving in with family. A neighbour provided a crib for our threemonth-old, and Gerard’s wife, Carol, delighted our two-anda-half-year-old by enlisting him in very important role of “assistant plant waterer.”

As for getting to the pond, Gerard and Carol thought nothing of handing over a set of car keys and Jane was soon heading down to Quidi Vidi for rowing sessions with her adopted Marco crew — when the wind wasn’t blowing, that is. She had been listed as a second spare for coxswain Patricia Murphy’s Stream Team and when an injury in Marco opened up a seat, Patricia, Gerard and Marco coxswain Jackie Handrigan knew what to do.

For Jane, an Olympian and world champion slide seat rower, it was significant as an opportunity to take part in one of our sport’s most historic events. The camaraderie of her Marco teammates, who unhesitatingly welcomed her as one of their own, made the experience that much more exceptional. As for me, my chance to get out on the water came in the Fun Regatta the Saturday before the big race. It was something I won’t soon forget and I, like Jane, am grateful for the patience and acceptance of those in my crew.

Individually, the many acts of generosity and kindness we encountered could have been those of friendly people in any Canadian town, but there just seems to be something about this particular place and the unique people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Maybe it’s the history of this once independent Dominion, maybe it’s the geography; Newfoundland can seem set apart from the rest of Canada, yet in so many ways, Newfoundlanders set a standard to which all Canadians can aspire.

Travel to Newfoundland has been on our wish list ever since Jane visited three years ago as part of a conference trip. A taxi ride was all it took to set things in motion.

Alan Oldham London, Ont.