EXTRAS
CALENDAR CUSTOMS
CALENDAR CUSTOMS
NEW YEAR'S EVENTS
by Gail Hussey-Weir
December 2025
by Gail Hussey-Weir
December 2025
This page will feature photos and stories relating to events surrounding New Year's Eve as it was celebrated on Bell Island in the mining years.
The next two photos are of New Year's Eve celebrations at the Canadian Legion c.1964-65. Photos by Tom Careless, courtesy of his son, Dave.
The two photos below are of Lance Cove Road on New Year's Day 1959 following the snowstorm of New Year's Eve 1958 that is described below by RCMP officer John E. Religa. The photos were taken by Phonse Hawco from his house on Lance Cove Road and were published in the Submarine Miner, January 1959, p. 6.
The following story is from RCMP officer John E. Religa, who served on Bell Island from 1954 to 1961. This is from his book, Behind the Scenes: Anecdotes About a Police Officer's Life and Work in Newfoundland, Oceanside Press, Pouch Cove, NL, 1997, pp. 83-84.
It was New Year's Eve, 1958. Constable Alex Halliday and I were working over that holiday period. The clubs and taverns were crowded with people for the traditional parties. During the evening, a storm struck the Island and, in a short period of time, dumped about one foot of snow. Sometime after midnight, we were doing a patrol on foot of Bennett Street and Town Square. As we got to the bottom of Town Square, we found that the winds had blown in the plate glass window of the Simpsons-Sears Store. While we were waiting for Kirby Hunt, the manager, to make his way there, I decided to pass the time sitting in a leather reclining chair that was in the window. From the comfort of that chair, I enjoyed watching people plodding home by foot from the Canadian Legion Club. The women who had on long dresses had pulled them up to their knees to make it easier to walk in the snow. The chair was so comfortable that I ended up buying it.
The photo below shows the Simpsons-Sears store on Town Square at the corner of No. 2 Road in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Photo is from the Southey Collection of slides at the MUN Library, Archives & Special Collections, Coll-202.
It was New Year's Eve, 1958. Constable Alex Halliday and I were working over that holiday period. The clubs and taverns were crowded with people for the traditional parties. During the evening, a storm struck the Island and, in a short period of time, dumped about one foot of snow. Sometime after midnight, we were doing a patrol on foot of Bennett Street and Town Square. As we got to the bottom of Town Square, we found that the winds had blown in the plate glass window of the Simpsons-Sears Store. While we were waiting for Kirby Hunt, the manager, to make his way there, I decided to pass the time sitting in a leather reclining chair that was in the window. From the comfort of that chair, I enjoyed watching people plodding home by foot from the Canadian Legion Club. The women who had on long dresses had pulled them up to their knees to make it easier to walk in the snow. The chair was so comfortable that I ended up buying it.
The photo below shows the Simpsons-Sears store on Town Square at the corner of No. 2 Road in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Photo is from the Southey Collection of slides at the MUN Library, Archives & Special Collections, Coll-202.
