Sports Day was always a fun and happy time for the people in the community. It was a time to relax and play a few games or get in few races. It was a time to see friends and family from other communities who would come to the Sports Day in Mary's Harbour. Years ago most of the Sports Days in Mary's Harbour were held on Easter Monday. People from surrounding communities such as Fox Harbour, Rexon's Cove, Willlam's Harbour and Port Hope Simpson would travel to Mary's Harbour by dog team. The people would stay with family or friends in Mary's Harbour. I remember some houses would be packed with people. Some houses would have as many as 6 or 8 people staying with them. They would sleep on the floor, but they did not mind that.

On Sports Day there were always lots of races. There was usually always a dog team race. This race was very popular and always attracted a crowd. There would be dog teams from Mary's Harbour and from other communities as well. This was always a fun event and people would be laughing and cheering on their favourite dog team. The winner got a prize. I don't remember what it was, but it was only small and not worth very much money. There would also be three legged races, running races and sack races. There were small prizes awarded for these races, but people did not get in them for the prize but for the fun of it.

There would also be lots of games on the go as well. I remember one game in particular. A long smooth pole was greased all over and stuck up straight. A ham would be tied to the top of the pole. Then people had to try to climb the greasy pole and try to get the ham. If you climbed up the pole you were allowed to keep the ham. This was a hard game and hardly anybody could climb to the top. Many people tried, but when they got so far up they would slide right back down again. This was a fun game to play and also a fun game to watch. If nobody would climb the pole then the ham was given to the person who climbed the highest. There was also another game I remember, this game was for the children. A old man would put on an old coat that would come down to his ankles. Then woman would sew little bags of candy unto the coat. Then the old mm would take off running. The children would then chase him and grab the candy from the coat. The children sure loved this game. There would also be Tug- of-War contests. Mary's Harbour would take on Port Hope Simpson and Fox Harbour would take on Rexon's Cove and so on. It was not serious competition but just for fun.

When nighttime came there would be a big time(9). The women of the community would cook soup, cakes, pies and all sorts of other goodies. They would charge 50 cents or a dollar for a supper. We sure had some feed on Sports Day. The money that was raised from the supper would be donated to the Grenfell Mission. At night the boys and the girls would be out courting. It was a chance for boys and girls to date somebody outside the community. Later on that night there would be a big dance. There would be somebody playing the accordion and somebody else playing the violin. People would be out on the floor doing the step dance and having all kinds of fun. The dance would carry on until all hours in the night. When the dance was over we would all go home and go to bed. The next day everybody would return home again to their communities. Then a week or two later the people of Mary's Harbour would go to Fox Harbour or Port Hope Simpson for their Sports Day and the fun would start all over again.

9 Time - soup supper and dance