Reprinted from Decks Awash, Volume 15, Number 6
November – December 1986
Photographs from MUN Digital Archives
Dwight Hillyard
Dwight Hillyard’s Grade 12 day starts with a 17-mile bus ride over the gravel road from St. Jones Within to Clarenville. It’s not just the time taken getting to and from school that’s wasted, but his home location also prevents him from participating in extracurricular activities.
“I was on the Student Council two years back but it was so hard to get to meetings that I couldn’t really take part in all the decisions,” Dwight explains with more than a hint of regret. “I liked Peter Soucy’s drama classes, but the bus transportation took care of that, too.
“St. Jones has only 120 people so there isn’t much arranged in the community. When you’re talking sports it’s softball in summer and that’s about it. I’ve been on a softball team in St. Jones and we played Sundays, but I really wasn’t a great success at it.”
Dwight’s father is a carpenter on construction work and he could be off on a job anywhere in the province. His mother works at the Holiday Inn. With just a sister at home to keep him company at times, life could be a trial, but he is quick to point out that life in a small community does have its advantages, too. “It can be a struggle to keep yourself occupied. What happens is that you end up visiting Clarenville every weekend. Compared to life in an urban community, life might seem boring but we’re so close to the woods we can do a lot of things like hiking, hunting, fishing and driving the trails, especially in winter,” he concludes.
________________________
Transcribed by Wanda Garrett, October 2018
These transcriptions may contain human errors. As always, confirm these as you would any other source material.