The Badger Riot
Page 30
The people of Badger: Mary Card Killam – thanks for the www.newfoundwebbers.com thread and for your support in all things, from start to finish. For you who opened your homes, your hearts and your memories to me: Mike and Margaret (Patey) Murray,Gordon and Margaret (Saunders) Patey, Ted Patey, for his video of the 2003 flood. Clyde and Marie (Gill) Loder, their daughter Lorna (Loder) Stuckless, Reg and Cora White, Mrs. Doris Burt, Fred and Hilda Wells, thank you for your hospitality and support. Earl Penney, who told me about the Company snowmobile and other stories, and his daughter Velda Penney Hewlett, Albert and Jean Loder Lush, for spending an evening talking, many thanks to you all.
Howard Noseworthy, who for four hours sat and introduced me to the wongers, the cable boat, the River, and who sang me a great song, The Shores of Twin Lakes, thank you.
Special mention must be made to Ms. Irene Matthews, my grade school teacher, who first showed me that it was possible to write and who, in my opinion, has a command of the written English language that is second to none. Her book, Memories of Badger: An Anthology of Reminiscences, O. I. Matthews 1991, was invaluable to me in recapturing the old-time feel of the town.
My gratitude and thanks to Gordon Butt for help with things past, Cyril Hannon, former Assistant CNR Agent at Badger, for help with train schedules and other matters, Frances MacDonald Newman for her advice, and Harry Hayden, for giving me his old books and notes. A special thank you to Matthew Aylward, who talked to me about burial practices in Bonavista Bay.
To those that have passed away while this was being written:
Ignatius Paul (1938–2005), Vice-Chief of the Exploits Valley Sple’tk First Nations Band, whose tales and stories of the Mi’kmaq community of Badger in the 1950s were wonderful and whose heart stone will stay with me always.
Marmaduke Noel (1914–2007), who, at ninety-four, still retained in his memory passionate views of the strike. Mrs. Elsie Loder (1914–2007), a lovely gentle lady, who related her memories of a terrible time seen through the eyes of a young woman.
To John Kitchen, author of By the Sweat of my Brow, with whom I spent many hours discussing the logging industry.
Although I consulted many articles and readings at the Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University and at the A.C. Hunter Library, Newfoundland Room, the most definitive account was found at the Rooms by an archivist who came in on her day off to bring it to me. It is “We are only Loggers: Loggers and the Struggle for Development in Newfoundland, 1929–1959,” Dufferin Sutherland (Ph.D. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1995) 183–87, 291–98.
A slim book called The Savour of Things Past, the Ongoing Book Committee, 1986, which I found in the most unlikely place, had a great article by Elmer Ball, a native of Badger, called “The Badger Drive,” in which he describes the working life of a wonger, a word that has long dropped from use. Thank you to the Ball family for giving me permission to use it.
I also drew heavily on A Class Act, Bill Gillespie, 1986, Creative Printers, for the labour side of the dispute.
A video of Landon Ladd speaking to MUN students in 1983 brought the famous union leader to life for me once again in “Only the Strong are Free – the Newfoundland Logger’s Strike of 1959,” H. Landon Ladd CCLH Video Memorial University 1983.
Because the railway figured so largely in the 1950s, I drew on The People’s Road: on the trail of the Newfoundland Railway, Wade Kearley, 1995, Harry Cuff Publications, and Next Stop: Gaff Topsail, Mont Lingard, 1996.
To the facilitators of the many writing classes: Gordon Rodgers, to whom the idea for this story was first pitched. His support and encouragement were the impetus that put me on this path. Also, Carmelita McGrath, JoAnne Soper Cook, and Paul Butler. By the time I reached Paul, I knew where I was going but didn’t know how to get there. Thank you, Paul, for showing me the way. To all of you, your knowledge, patience, and expertise were invaluable.
Thank you to all the people who wrote me on the newfoundwebbers site with your stories:
Especially Madonna Piercey Mercer, Merlyn Dicks, Jerry Lush, Wallace Hoddinott. Others known only by their nicknames: Blue, Charity, Salty, river, Whammy, ocean, Diet Coke girl, Starve Gutted Gull, Viking, Pat, Dusty, Weezie, and many more.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to my publishers extraordinaire at Flanker Press – Garry, Margo, and Jerry Cranford – who gently led me through the editing process. From them I learned that it’s one thing to write a story, but it’s quite another thing to get it between two covers and onto the shelves.
A special thank you to Anne Hart for editing this book.
My late husband, Felix Ricketts, took great pride in everything that I wrote. His favourite comment was, “By the jumpin’s, old girl, you can sure put it together.” Even though it is sad that he is not here physically to see my book published, I always feel he is with me in spirit, encouraging me, pushing me along to the finish line.
Even though this story is woven around a true event, all characters are products of my imagination. Any errors in interpreting the logging operations during the 1950s are mine and mine alone. The eyewitness account of the riot is from my own memory of the event.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JUDY (DAY) RICKETTS was fourteen years old at the time of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) Strike of 1959. A native of Badger, she, along with other schoolchildren, watched from the roadside as loggers and local authorities came together in a famous melee that effectively ended the strike. She believes that the children of the day never recovered from witnessing this terrible event in Newfoundland’s history. Fifty years later, she knows that the emotions still run deep. Judy can be reached by email at jaricketts@nf.sympatico.ca. Her author website is www.jaricketts.com.