Author: admin

By: Bill Barron

“A LOOK BACK” 1965 Provincial Senior Championship

THIRD STRAIGHT TITLE FOR ARGENTIA

Vandouser hurls no-hitter in finals

The Argentia Seals again hold the top perch in Newfoundland senior softball. Backed by the strong armed pitching of Jack Vandouser and Curt Holstein, the hustling Argentia ball club under coach Matt Ahearn swept their third straight provincial softball crown over the weekend in the 13-team double elimination series.

It was a tournament filled with major upsets and some of the big teams that got an early exit were St. John’s, Harmon and Labrador City. It was three determined clubs from CBN, Placentia and CBS that were around in the final stages to challenge the defending provincial champs.

The championship series narrowed to Argentia and CBS and in the final ball game Vandouser twirled a no-hit gem in a magnificent display of pitching as his mates pushed across seven runs. Opposing Vandouser on the mound was 19 year old Ford Metcalfe who carried the upstarts from CBS to the finals. In the championship game he ran out of steam as Argentia banged out nine hits. All of the runs came in the second and third innings with four in the second. Vandouser in pitching his no-hitter walked three and struckout the same number. With two out in the seventh it took a running catch by the Argentia center fielder to preserve the no-hitter. Jim Neve and Gene Davis had two hits each for the winners.

Read full story here

https://www.nlfastpitch.ca/NewsDetails.aspx?NW_News_ID=367

A few days ago, my wife and I took a walk, on the trailway, from Pond Rd to Anchorage Rd. It took us a couple of hours because  we had to be careful on the areas that were damaged by the storm.

There are some barricades in place to prevent people from accessing pars of the trail. I know that we weren’t supposed to walk certain areas, however; I wanted to get some pictures to show you the damage.

We enjoy walking the trailway and we are hoping that council will be able to open up all or some of the portions that are really impassable. We did pass a few people on the trail.

A few pictures showing the devastation that was cause by the storm. In addition I have added links to news articles. Most of the photos have a black spot in the corner. That’s my glove as it was a little chilly and I didn’t realize that I was covering part of the lens.

The above section is between Pond Rd and Ledrews Rd

The photo below is just east of Tilley’s Rd.

The photo below is west of Fagan’s Rd.

The cost to repair the Trailway will be over 10 million dollars. I have viewed some of the damages and listened to the news reports. This is a link to photos and news releases.

CBS Trailway news reports and photos.

CBC News

Lance Cove Beach Looking West and East

Please e mail steve@cbsnl.com if you have a photo to share

I drove down to Worsley Park today to see if there was anybody sea trouting. The tide is out so I would imagine that there will be some folks here when the tide rises. This area brings back a flood of memories. The photo shows the lower end of Squires pond, Manuel’s Head, the gut and Kelly’s Island in the background.

I recall one afternoon, back in the 1960’s, and the ice was in with a Northerly wind. Four or five of us had walked, on the ice, down to the beach. We went down to the ice flows and crawled upon one.  It was very slippery and I started to slide into the water under another pan of ice. I grabbed hold to one of my cousin’s legs and pulled myself up. He got a little mad because he didn’t realize the danger I was in and thought I was going to pull him in.  It was a frightening experience.

In the winter, we would play hockey. I’ve played many games here. I recall one spring Sunday afternoon when the temperature was around 4 degrees and we were playing in slush. There were a few holes in the ice and we would have to jump out onto the ice. We were very fortunate that nobody fell through the ice.

When my wife and I were courting, we would walk down around Manuel’s River, The Flats, Squire’s Pond and up the beach. There were times that we were able to cross the gut and then climb up Manuel’s Head. Our walk would take us up the opposite shore of Squire’s Pond or we would walk up the bank to Cherry Lane and then back to my parents home.

I’ve done some fishing for sea trout but did not catch any of the bigger ones. I did see some big sea trout that were caught here and some of them were entered into contests and won. Not sure if people still trout here.

My wife and I come down here during the summer for a picnic. Well, not really a picnic, we pick up a fish n chips and come here to eat it. We usually stay in the car, however; there are picnic tables scattered throughout the park.

The area from where this picture is taken is now a town park. The Worsley Center Link

This is the rock we used to sit on to put on our skates or just to relax during our walks.

I have lived in Conception Bay South for over fifty years, My parents moved from Creston South, on The Burin Peninsula, in 1958 and except for eight years, have lived in CBS. There were a few times, in the winter, that I considered moving to St.John’s. Many of us can remember the stress of driving Topsail Highway during those winter storms. During most of those storms I would arrive at work, in the east end of St John’s, before my fellow employees who lived in the city.

I like CBS. I enjoy the weather, the friends that we have here, the country feel, the bay, Manuel’s River and the many sports that I participated in over the years. Thinking back, I was always proud to say that I was from Conception Bay South. This is my home.

I have asked a number of people why they moved here and they say, it’s close to the city, the weather is better here and we just feel good living here.

When we first moved here, there was no council. Each town had it’s individual identity and we knew many of the family names that lived in each community, Most of us would have attended the old Queen Elizabeth Regional High School. Each town had their own hockey, softball, or soccer team. I was fortunate to have played on many of the Manuel’s teams and we did win a few championships, especially when Ford Metcalfe played hockey and softball with us. Also, I was thankful to have played on the all star soccer and softball teams. Those were happy competitive days.

As mentioned above, we moved away from CBS for eight years. Those eight years were spent in The Ottawa area. We moved there because our oldest daughter had twin boys born premature at 26 weeks. Her and our son-in-law needed help so we moved there to help them with the boys. We missed CBS and looked forward to moving back. It took eight years but when we felt that the boys would be ok, we moved home.

Why are you living in Conception Bay South?

I took a short today on the trailway in Kelligrews. The winds were extremely high and as you can see, by the photos and the video, the waves were pounding on the beach. I enjoy the sound of the water beating against the beach rocks and dragging some of the smaller rocks down the beach.

I went for  short walk, on the trailway, this afternoon. Only met one couple and as we were passing, I commented on how sloppy the trail was. The other gentleman responded..”I was going to say the same thing.” Today I walked from Anchorage Rd. to Kitty Ades turn. I decided to walk back on the sidewalk. Great afternoon for a walk. Just a few photos today.

Looking back towards Anchorage Rd

Ducks at Conways Brook

One of my first cars was a second hand Hillman Minx. I bought it from someone in Mount Pearl. It was a standard shift and the shifter was between the two bucket seats. It was similar to the one in the photo. Photo courtesy of Curbside Classic. You can click on the photo to visit the website. This car has many stories to tell.  See below photo.

One story concerns former Premier Danny Williams. I played softball with The Manuel’s softball team and played on both the junior and senior all star teams. We were in Placentia for a minor softball tournament and I was helping to coach the minor team.

Some of us were billeted at my cousin, Jim Wiscombe’s home in Jerseyside. Danny Williams was one of those who were staying there. I drove down to The Old Pink Lady, in Placentia, to pick up some of the group. A side note, Charlie Walsh, the owner of The Pink Lady at this time ended up working with me at Harvey’s Travel.

I drove up to My cousin’s house and up into the driveway. I touched the brake but there was no brake. I found out later that a brake line had broken.  There was a fifty foot drop on the other side of the road. Thankfully, the hand brake worked. I can only imagine what might have happened.

I had to wait until Monday to get the brakes fixed and Danny and I believe it was Donnie Power, said that they would stay and drive back with me on Monday. The return trip was without a hitch and I dropped my friends off at their homes in St John’s.

That was over fifty years ago and I don’t remember speaking to Danny or Donnie since that day.

This is a photo of Ron Adams and me at a junior softball tournament in St John’s. I believe it’s 1966 in Pleasantville. There was a problem uploading the photo.

Welcome to CBSNL blog. My name is Steve Wiscombe and I have been a resident of Conception By South since 1957. It was in 1957 that we moved from Creston PB to Manuel’s and I began grade 5, at The Topsail United School.

My brother Sam and I would walk to school and come home to lunch most times. Really, we ran from Topsail to Manuel’s and back. Some afternoons we would walk Chamberlain’s Beach and come home via Chamberlain’s Rd. If we were really adventurous, we would walk down to the Flats and up through a path behind Ted Butler’s store or up through Doug Hiscocks.

Walking to school on many winter days was difficult. Many drivers didn’t obey the speed limit and we would get splashed by the wed snow. Yes, those were the good old days in our childhood.

Our recreation was, swimming in The Flats or many of the swimming holes on Manuel’s River, climbing the river banks and trouting. in the winter we would play hockey on Squire’s Pond or Chamberlain’s Pond.

Some of our childhood friend’s were The Hiscock’s, The Cairns, The Adams, The Mercer’s, The Metcalfe’s, The Millers, The Squire’s and in school The Tippett’s, The King’s and other families from The Topsail area. There were and are many others but as you get older you forget who they were. Send a comment if you were missed.

I met a couple on The Trailway today and this was there first visit. Their comment, “This is a beautiful trail.”  The groomer had just gone over the trail and the snow was hard and made for good walking. I was hoping to meet my cross country ski friend as this would be a good day for skiing.

Most of the people I saw today were walking their dog. For some reason, there are a few who do not pick up their doggy doo.

I did see one person biking the trail. He had an off road bike so the trail was perfect for biking.

Below are a few photos that I took on the trail between Anchorage Rd and Dawson’s Run.