Community spirit alive and well in the River

Despite our province's newfound oil riches, there are many stories about smaller communities in rural Newfoundland and Labrador that have died or are dying a slow death due to poor economic times.

Hard times at home usually lead to people packing up and heading to the capital city, or to greener pastures on the mainland of Canada.

We all know there is a mini Newfoundland in Alberta and clusters of Newfoundlanders in every other province.

There is no doubt that the economy plays a significant role in the viability of a community. However, in my opinion, the heartbeat of a community is its volunteers.

This was very evident on the weekend of Aug. 7-9 when a small group of volunteers who had been working together for just over a year, brought together over 300 people for a celebration of the past, present and the future.

The celebration was called the Riverhead Reunion.

It started with registration at the Harbour Breeze where those who had been waiting for the past 12 months to see old friends and neighbours gathered to greet each other, and there were old pictures and memorabilia to laugh and cry about.

The official opening of Danny Cleary Drive took place on Friday, and on Friday night a dinner and dance.

The committee had asked a local resident to write a song about the River. Written by Randy Stone, who also served as guest speaker, the song as sung by Justin Bowman of Carbonear.

What a wonderful song that paid tribute to what the River means to those who live there or have lived here! And what a voice to deliver it!

Most danced their legs off until 3 a.m., and some continued partying around kitchen tables and on backyard patios.

On Saturday there was a Mass that saw the St. Joseph's Church filled to the rafters. It was followed by a "Kitchen Party" in the old St. Joseph's School (now the Riverhead Hall).

The old school never saw so many people since it was filled with students from K-12. Between all the wonderful jigs and reels that were played, you could almost hear the voices of Master McCarthy and teachers Alice Fahey and Angela Hickey, just to name a few. They danced and sang until the wee hours of the morning.

On Sunday there was a service at the graveyard followed by family day at the old school. There were many fun activities for the children including face painting, the fish out pond and bouncy castle along with free hotdogs and drinks.

For those of us in attendance it seemed like everything flowed easily and perfectly.

But none of this could have been possible without the hundreds of hours of work by the volunteers who gave of their time and talent to put the reunion weekend together.

From start to finish, I never heard a complaint, except about the humidity, which was beyond everyone's control.

Chaired by Pat Collins, the committee's executive included: Phyllis Cleary Reyonlds, Alice Littlejohn Hunt and Maureen Collins Callahan. Sub-committees worked on different events, about 20 in all. They made what seemed impossible, possible.

That is just what happens when people with kind hearts and good intentions come together with a purpose. The endless hours of meetings and fundraising culminated in the first ever Riverhead Reunion, but hopefully not the last.

I was one of the hundreds of people who enjoyed the weekend activities. No, I never helped out; I was asked but was already committed to my studies. Instead, I enjoyed the reunion as a member of the community and marvelled at how each event went smoothly into the next. I have memories to last a lifetime!

I hope the volunteers realize what a wonderful thing they did for Riverhead. They put life back into the old school and gave a sense of community to one and all.

We realized that Riverhead is more than a place on the map, it is a community with great history and spirit and people. Hopefully, the Reunion Committee will stay together so that on a yearly basis we can have Riverhead Days for many years to come.

Many years ago, I left Riverhead and moved to Ontario to work. After about five years I returned. I thought it was the pull from the province that made me long for home, but now I know for sure it was this place called Riverhead that I pined for, and where I will live for the rest of my life.

There is no place like the River.

- Michelle Cleary-Haire resides in Riverhead with her family.