Blueberry Festival, Brigus, NL

It’s been a busy couple of days in the small historic town of Brigus. The Blueberry Festival began with a parade that was short and sweet. These are the winners of Muff and Duff, the “Missed Blueberry” contest from last year (for men only).

A dancing troupe, who also entertained on stage the next day, danced down the street.

Fire Department trucks were there, of course.

And there were a few old cars, but nothing I consider antique, as well as some other entries. However, the town itself is very old, dating back to 1612. I love the old houses, some of which have whimsical names/signs, and many that are so close to the street they have to check traffic before opening the door. That’s because the houses were built before the streets.

The Hawthorne Cottage, home of Captain Robert Bartlett (see below for more about Capt. Bartlett), is here, and we plan to tour it tomorrow.

There was quite a variety of booths selling everything from food to quilts to novelties. Many involved blueberries, of course.

Don found a great gift for Susie to go with Denny’s ugly stick – a fish-shaped tambourine!

Denny got a new cap, free!

We listened to many hours of music from a variety of groups.

People danced.

Children danced.

The dancing troupe danced.

A lot of people gathered under a big tent yesterday when the skies opened up and dumped rain for about an hour.

A river developed under our feet.

One woman took refuge in a washroom!

Volunteer firefighters came to our rescue and kept the tent from collapsing under the weight of water pooling in the tent. They couldn’t fix the hole in it, however.

These boys thought it was great fun to play in the rain!

This morning we had a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon and sausage at the Recreation Centre. We had a nice conversation with a couple at our table. We soon learned that she is Marion Bartlett, closely related to the famous Captain Robert Abram “Bob” Bartlett who accompanied Robert Peary’s expeditions to the North Pole 1898-1909, and has possession of many artifacts of Capt. Bob’s.

She and her partner Dan invited us to her home a few blocks away to view the collection. The home is beautiful, and was formerly a restaurant. Marion bought it at auction, did some modifications to it, and lived there with her husband until his death. It is now her summer home.

I didn’t take any pictures of the inside out of respect for the integrity of the collection, but suffice it to say that I felt like I was in a museum. What a fine collection! I hope it will one day find its way to an appropriate archive.

Here are some views from the 2nd story deck in the back of the house. Too bad it was a little overcast today.

Thanks, Dan and Marion, for an interesting glimpse of history!