The story has been imbedded in our provincial psyche for years. Cassie Brown brought it to life, in vivid detail, in her book “Death on the Ice,” a novel that has been required reading in the high school curriculum for years. For the people of Elliston, the story had particular significance. In the pursuit of a livelihood for their families, eight men and boys from that town went to the seal hunt in 1914 and, through a series of tragic circumstances, never returned.
The Orange Hall in Elliston, where their bodies were laid out for mourning, still stands, just as tangible as the stories that were told and re-told in the ensuing years at kitchen tables and family gatherings in this small, coastal community.
One can only imagine the weight of the grief that lay over this place in the weeks, months and years after their deaths, or the impact of the loss had the immediate families and the community at large.
In that time, without the benefit of today’s technology to share the news, the families of the 72 sealers who perished in the Newfoundland sealing disaster , and the loss of the SS Southern Cross, must have felt so very much alone.
If the event had occurred today, there would be an outpouring of support and emotion and the entire province, the nation, would rally to lend support and condolences.
Until Brown’s book, in fact, the story was lost; the significance of the headstones that shared the same date of death - March 31, 1914 — was lost with the passage of time.
Passion and determination, however, are ensuring the story is being renewed and will never be forgotten.
For that we have to commend Myrtle Stagg and the folks of the Elliston Heritage Committee, Tourism Elliston and the Elliston Town Council – all who played a part in seeing the possibilities of a dream and worked hard to make it real.
The dream started to take shape several years ago; a thought spoken of and pondered out loud many times since then.
The dream – a physical memorial to honour the men of Elliston, and the other sealers, who lost their lives in the quest to provide sustenance for their families.
Thanks to hard work, and a measure of providence, a Sealers’ Memorial envisioned by the folks of Elliston will soon be a physical monument that will testify to the hard work and struggles of the men and women of a century ago to build communities by earning a living from the resources around them.
Myrtle Stagg gives huge thanks to people like Sheilagh Guy-Murphy who, through her connections, led the group to Lieut. Gov. John Crosbie.
Without doubt, Crosbie’s passion for telling the story of sealing — there’s no doubt about that for anyone who has ever heard him speak at any public gathering — and his connections to the province’s business community, propelled the idea of a Sealer’s Memorial towards the final goal perhaps a little more quickly than a small group of dedicated local volunteers could have mustered on their own.
However, it is ultimately thanks to the seed of the idea — the thoughts and vision that dominated the minds of the people of Elliston for so many years — that launched this honourable dream on its way.
In deciding to take on this idea, Stagg and her neighbours and fellow volunteers, proved that good ideas are worth pursuing and, once the dream is unleashed and finds support from the larger community, anything is possible. Friday was a momentous day in Elliston. It will be nothing compared to the moment when the Sealers’ Memorial in Elliston is officially opened, and ready to tell the story of our sealing past to the world.
When the curtain is pulled back in 2014 to reveal the artwork that will tell, in one poignant image, the story of the 1914 disaster and loss to the community, the entire community of Elliston should be ready to bask in the well-deserved applause.
Reuben and Albert John Crewe would be proud.
Barbara Dean-Simmons
