Fisherman's Road

The following letter to the editor is published in today's edition (Aug. 15th) of the St. John's Telegram. The above picture is of the Jeep I was driving in October, 2012 when I had a head-on collision with a moose on the western edge of Terra Nova National Park. Find the story here . I wasn't injured; the moose dragged itself to the side of Trans-Canada and died within minutes of the collision.  With all due respect to Steven Fletcher — who’s been paralyzed from the neck down since 1996 when his car struck a moose (”it’s better to run into a brick wall”) — he’s out to lunch. His letter to the editor ( “Moose cull makes sense for road safety,” Aug. 10 Telegram) argues that the “obvious solution is to cull (in other words, kill) all the moose on the island.” Fletcher is absolutely wrong, and even to suggest the wiping out of an entire moose population (“invasive species” that they are) is foolish. The best way (not the only way) to curb moose/vehicle collisio...

More quotes from the Grand Punt Race, Townies vs. Baymen, held in St. John's harbour on Saturday, Aug. 10th. The Baymen wiped up the harbour with the Townie crews ( see race times and more quotes here ). Best quote from the after- race get-together at the Duke of Duckworth: Asked to explain how the Baymen team managed to CRUSH the Townie men's crew, Bayman champion Kevin Purchase had this to say: "The Townies forgot to untie their boat from the wharf." "Next year I'll waterski behind the baymen punt." — Mark Wilson, an organizer, on how the Townie men's team might stand a chance of winning next year. "Instead of Screeching you in, we'd Townie you in with half a spoonful of water from the harbour," said Cyril Greeley, a Townie rower, to one of the Baymen champions on next year's pre-punt race ceremony.

In the first ever Grand Punt Race, Baymen vs. Townies , held in St. John’s harbour this morning, the Baymen annihilated, crushed, and desimated the Townies. Which is fair to say considering the Baywomen’s time was 6 seconds faster then the Townie men over the same course. Times Women: Baymen (Jill Penton, Helen Couves), 29:03:21. Townies (Donna Connors, Simone Lilly), 30:58:64. Men: Baymen (Kevin Purchase, Craig Freake), 22:27:96. Townie (Brothers Cyril and Kevin Greeley), 29:09:33. Top 4 reasons that the Townie men —Cyril and Kevin Greeley — gave for losing their race: 1)     We ran into a moose. 2)     That race was our warm up. 3)    We planned it that way — we didn’t want to scare the baymen off. 4)    We stopped at the Keg (restaurant) to sign autographs. Times Women: Townie (Donna Connors, Simone Lilly), 30:58:64. Baymen (Jill Penton, Helen Couve...

                                   Tickets to win this punt will soon go on sale.  The following statement was released Monday by The Narrows Group during a news conference on the St. John's harbour front. ••• Welcome and thanks for coming. My name is Ryan Cleary, Member of Parliament for St. John`s South-Mount Pearl, but I`m here today in my capacity as chair of The Narrows Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing the historic entrance to St. John`s harbour. This is Mark Hiscock, co-chair of The Narrows Group. The Narrows Group has teamed up with the organizers of The Great Fogo Island Punt Race to launch the 1st annual Grand Punt Race, Townies vs. Baymen. The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 th – weather permitting, Aug. 11 is the alternate date – with the first race getting under way in the waters off Harbourside Pa...