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Contributed by ralphsfirst, an ePodunk user. March 11, 2009 Pluses: Brig Bay is one of the many picturesque and peaceful villages sprinkled along the coastline of Newfoundland. Once a thriving community supported by fishery and forestry activities, it is now without any real economic foundation. But it still has a richly hospitable cultural foundation, which is probably of greater vaue than the economic one anyway! Any visitor in Brig Bay will have no trouble finding a friendly face, a comforting voice, or an invitation to "a cup o' tea" in someone's home. And the "cop o' tea," as anyone who has accepted such an invitation knows, would qualify as a full course meal anywhere outside of Newfoundland! Minuses: Economic deprivation is by far Brig Bay's greatest enemy. The great traditions of earlier times have ground to a halt. Honest work, proudly maintained properties, and family lands fillling with the homes of each new generation were once an unquestioned expectation. Now each generation of youth must leave to find employment, landmark homes fall into disrepair, and family lands remain as lonely empty fields. The people who still live there continue to display the pride of the old days but the population is dwindling. Contemplating such a condition stirs a deep sadness. A good place to... ...be on a warm summer day with a gentle westerly breeze... A good place to stay away from any day there is even the tiniest hint of northeast wind and rain!!! The establishment of Brig Bay as a community is thought to have been started by Louis Garreau, a French fishing captain who based his operations there in the 1800's. The names of some of the families who lived in Brig Bay around Garreau's time were Jackman, Hoddinott, Lawless, Rumbolt, and Sheppard. Families today with connections to some of those pioneers are: Allingham, Cunard, Etheridge, Hoddinott, Samson, Sheppard, and Wells. Ancestral roots for most of these families can be traced to Britian and France.
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