Madeline and Arthur were born, reared and spent their lives in small communities. They have been married 60 years and raised 11 children. They tell of a good life together and would change very little about it.

A GOOD LIFE

Arthur: My father brought the name McEvoy to Newfoundland. His name was Frank McEvoy. There wouldn't have been a McEvoy here except for he moved here from Nova Scotia. I was born January 15, 1914 in Shoal Bay (a beach between Mall Bay and Admiral's Beach in the country) . My family spent 30 years there, but the older ones moved to the Island and got married. It was lonely down there – being the only family. Shoal Bay was a good place to live, but in winter time it wasn't very safe. One night a pan of ice beat in the front door. I can remember the day we left Shoal Bay. My mother said, "Good old Shoal Bay, leaving it after 30 years". I was six when we moved from there. I went to school on Colinet Island when I was seven.

We had a giant wood stove and we had to take turns burning wood (bringing wood in and lighting the fire). I went to school for seven years. We had good teachers – we learned shorthand (the same as today) and Latin. I was also an altar boy. The teachers wanted me to go to college but my father didn't have the money to send me, so the teachers taught me everything they knew. They couldn't teach me any more. After I left school I went to the fishery and fished with my brother. At age 27 I met Madeline. She was 17.

Madeline: We got married on June 1, 1941. The weather was warmer than now. We got married and started having children. We had eleven kids. Raising kids wasn't bad. We were all healthy and everything went well. There were a lot of ups and downs through life – sickness and health.

Arthur: I built a nice little house, a bungalow that I built when I was 18. When our family started multiplying, I built a second story, but before I finished they started leaving to move to Admiral's Beach and we had to tear all down. It was like the song, "chances are great that the plant will close down. I think we should leave boys, and build a new town." My son, Frank, paved the way for moving off the Island. Some people thought really hard about leaving, but that was all you could do. We were all for it. Our son, Frank, came home. He was working away and he saw the misery of what people went through. The Linehan family Rita and Jack) and Vince Dalton and family were already here. The first winter we lived in a camp and cut logs and built the house our son Willie is living in. Then we built the house we are living in now. People had wonderful homes on Colinet Island, but had no choice but to move to Admiral's Beach.