Interview #49

Name: Alimeta Perry

Sex: Female

Age: 73

Place and date of birth: St. Alban's, September 26, 1925

Education: Grade 6

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Housekeeper

Number of children: 13

Names of children and where they live:

Ann Perry (Bay Roberts) Pat Perry (Deceased)

Fabian Perry (St. Alban's) Gerard Perry (St. Alban's)

Gordon Joseph (Deceased) Chris Perry (St. Alban's)

Tom Perry (Toronto) Loyola Perry (St. Alban's)

Sharon Perry (St. John's) Joan Perry (St. John's)

David Perry (Head of Bay d'Espoir) Tracey Perry (St. Alban's)

Mary Diamond (Head of Bay d'Espoir)

Phone: 538-3929

Place of interview: Long Path (St. Alban's)

Date of interview: March 16, 1999

Interviewers: Curtis Hoskins and Colin Pittman

Alimeta Perry was born in St. Alban's on September 26, 1925. Her parents were David Willcott and Martha Collier, both of St. Alban's. Her grandmother was Elizabeth Collier. She was the middle child of eleven children. Her house was located out Long Shore in the area where Max Willcott's store use to be. It was a two-story house with a big kitchen. She remembered having a long table to accommodate the large family. They had one stove in the kitchen and one stove in the back kitchen. A pump was put in the corner when they dug their well. Before this, her family went down to the brook and got water. This was done three or four times a day. The first person to get to the brook in the morning had to chop a hole in the ice. Water was needed every day for washing clothes, scrubbing floors, and other household chores. She remembered people bringing a hoop to bring buckets of water back to their homes. When people started digging their own wells, it became more convenient to get water.

Alimeta recalled that water was heated on the stove for washing clothes. She filled two tubs with water. One was used to scrub the clothes with a scrub-board and the other one was used to rinse the clothes. This usually got done around eleven a.m.. Before this chore started, her family had all their wood for the day cleaved. This was always done after the children were ready for school. If people knew bad weather was coming, they made sure they had enough wood. They packed up the wood in the corners of their houses. Alimeta's family had large apple trees in their garden. The apples were fed to the pigs that they raised. The pigs were killed in the Fall to provide food for the winter.

Her father worked in the woods and spent weeks at a time logging. He took bundles on his back and walked long distances to go to work. He also towed the wood to the sawmills. He did a lot of logging in the Corner Brook area. When he returned from work, Alimeta remembered that he always brought back something to eat. He hunted for rabbits and birds and did some fishing.

Most of the food and other supplies that people of Bay d'Espoir needed was brought in by coastal boat. It docked off in the bay and men loaded the freight in motor boats. They carried the freight to shore and packed it in the store houses. The coastal boat came in every week. In the winter time, it came in as far as it could and people went out to meet the boat.

Most of the clothes Alimeta's family had were made by her mother. Any clothing worn by the older children that had become too small was turned over and used for the younger children. Her mother also hooked mats for the floor. The floors, at that time, were bare with only a coat of paint on it. They floors were scrubbed with a scrub brush.

Many families back then, including Alimeta's, had their own gardens. They grew potatoes, cabbage, turnip, and other vegetables. She remembered gathering kelp to put in the garden. Also, hay was cut with a schye and put into barns. They fed the sheep and horses with the hay.

Some fun things Alimeta remembered doing while growing up were playing bat ball and going to dances. She and her friends spent many hours playing bat ball on the back of the old school. Dances were held on the second story of the school. There, concerts and most social gatherings took place. In the middle of the room, there was singing and acting. During a dance, this place was used to serve cake, syrup, and sweet biscuits. Another pastime Alimeta remembered was listening to the radio on Friday and Saturday night. Her family listened to Jack Walsh.

Alimeta's school days were similar to many other people during that time. She remembered bringing wood from home to lit the school stove. She left school after finishing grade six to help support her family. She was part of a large family. When the war came about, three of her brothers went overseas. She said, "Everyone had to pitch in and help out the family."

Church was an important part of life while Alimeta was growing up. Alimeta attended the old church that was located where the fire hall is today. She was a member of the choir. She recalled going up the stairs to the choir balcony and the stair case was shaking. Eventually, the top part of the church was torn down and people used the bottom part. It became known as the Underground Chapel. Alimeta was taught to sing by Father St. Croix, who loved singing. He also taught her Morse Code.

Alimeta said that Father Hayes came to St. Alban's after Father St. Croix left. He was a very strict priest but Alimeta said he was a very good and important man to the community. He served as the community doctor as well as the priest. Everyone went to him when they got sick. Alimeta's husband Gordon did a lot of his clerical work because he was so busy. Besides Father Hayes, Aunt Rose Collier was another person people turned to for medical help. When Alimeta was five years old, she was picking up kinglings for Sheila Cox and her finger got severely cut. Aunt Rose told someone to get turpentine and she applied it to Alimeta's finger. Alimeta said, "It worked very well and it saved my finger."

Today, Alimeta lives in Long Path. She feels things are different today but she is just as happy as she was in the past.