Joe Ryan was born in St. Joseph's and lived there basically a life time. At 93 his memory is good. He can compose poetry and he loves to dance. He and his wife, Stella raised 11 children. He now resides at the Elizabeth Guest Home in St. Catherine's.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND GROWING UP...

When we went to school, we brought splits and wood in our turn. We left home 8:00 in the morning and got out at 4:00. We had a nice teacher and a two-seater desk. Sometimes the fella next to you would copy, and then you'd both get in trouble. The teacher had a strapper and then you'd be put in the corner on your knees. You'd be wore out by evening. We had games like getting in a bag (sack race). If we got in trouble in school, mother would bar(1) us in the house.

In the 20s we had a time (dance) over in Mt. Carmel. We crossed the ice, me and Aus Daley. We had a good time. Going home, the ice started breaking up. Down I went. I had a big overcoat on and I had a longer(2) with me to keep me up. I said to my guardian angel, "look after me", and she did. I was some tired when I got across. I said to Aus, "I'm not going back no more". When I got home, mother said, "I dreamt you got drowned." I told her my guardian angel took me up. It was 5:00 in the morning. Another night, we got home and we had no wood. My father said, "go out to the black nap" (spot for wood in by Horse Head, Colinet Island). They cut rampikes and spruce there. When the ice was there we wore cans on our feet to get a grip. It was 3:00 in the morning when we got back. Mother had on a big feed of cabbage and potatoes. We were so tired we lay on the floor and had a big nap.

In 1930, I went to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia fishing on a schooner. It had 10 dories. The main boat would anchor and then they would go off and set their trawls. One time they spent 72 hours without stopping. We cleaned and stored the fish. Back then there was no salt. We kept it cool with a tarpaulin over it. Our skipper was from Montreal. He would give us money to go to the restaurant for a sandwich. There wasn't much money then. In all, we got 2100 kentle of fish. Another time we went to a restaurant and had a few drinks of liquor. Back then a bottle was $1.50. One night we went to a dance. I met a girl and had a date. Her name was Veronica Hickey. I got married in 1943 at the Cathedral. Mrs. Tobin had a boarding house in St. John's. She had the "time" there and never charged me a cent (she was from Colinet). We had five bottles of rum. That was a lot. That's all I got to say.