By JIM HILDEBRAND
The Pilot
BOYD’S COVE — “I’m on cloud nine,” exclaimed Karen LeDrew Day, supervisor of the Beothuk Interpretation Centre Provincial Historic Site. “We were excited with anticipation that the official opening of the Provincial Historic Sites 2012 season took place at the Beothuk Interpretation Centre.”
There was no doubt in Derrick Dalley’s mind that this would be the natural place to open the historic sites for the 2012 tourist seasons. The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation who presided over the opening on May 11 with Lewisporte District MHA Wade Verge remarked that, “The launch of historic sites is a very important event and Boyd’s Cove has one of the provinces premier locations in the Beothuk Interpretation Centre.”
“This season, exciting events are happening at all of our Provincial Historic Sites,” said Minister Dalley. “You can Follow Footprints at the Beothuk Interpretation Centre, see Trinity After Dark, Rant and Roar at the Big Store in Bonavista, and Get Connected in Heart’s Content. Take part in Encounters with History and meet interesting characters through new interactive performances at Bonavista, Cupids and Commissariat House. Our Provincial Historic Sites have something for everyone to enjoy. I invite residents and visitors alike to explore and discover some of our incredible history.”
Provincial Historic Sites include the Commissariat House and the Newman Wine Vaults in St. John’s, as well as the Colonial Building (closed for renovations); the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse and Mockbeggar Plantation in Bonavista; Visitor Centre, Hiscock House and the Mercantile Premises in Trinity; the Heart’s Content Cable Station; the Beothuk Interpretation Centre in Boyd’s Cove; the Cupids Cove Plantation; and Point Amour Lighthouse in Labrador.
Residents and visitors are invited to check out the Provincial Historic Sites demonstrations series in July and August including an opportunity to dig up the past at Cupids Cove Plantation, learn about using birch bark at the Beothuk Interpretation Centre, and practice navigation skills at the Newman Wine Vaults. Also, there is an opportunity to discover downtown St. John’s from Commissariat House with a new smart phone scavenger hunt.
The festivities in Boyd’s Cove were also attended by Grade One Students of Campbellton’s Greenwood Academy. The students participated in an exercise of making their own talking sticks and moments of reflection in the site’s Spirit Garden.
The Spirit Garden was dedicated in September of 2011 and serves to honour the Beothuk People as a place for all peoples to gather, reflect and connect whether emotionally, physically and/or spiritually.
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