The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

As Budget time rolls around, we start thinking about the priorities of the Town for the year to come.   To frame this thinking, I have used the recently published data from the 2016 Census to give a clearer snapshot of Clarenville. Here's what I found... pt The Town of Clarenville is odd - in a good way  As most of the Province's town's beyond the isthmus shrink and age at an alarming rate, Clarenville is one of the few towns in Newfoundland and Labrador that continues to grow and whose population median age sits a full four years younger than the provincial median.   The 2016 Statistics Canada Census sheds a beacon on light on Clarenville.   What follows are some of the key findings: Age/Education - The Median age, the age at which half the population is above, and half below, of NL in 2016 was 46.  The major population centres, with the opportunity they provide, tend to attract younger people.  Clarenville...

  Bare Mountain is one of the prominent features of the Clarenville's skyline. It towers some 156 meters above Clarenville’s harbour .  You can reach the peak of Bare Mountain relatively easily along the Bare Mountain hiking trail that can be accessed at numerous points in the town.  At the top, you can overlook most of the town, Random Island and Smith Sound as it leads into Trinity Bay.   Beyond Clarenville residents, people are familiar with Bare Mountain because of the prominence of the large star that sits at its top.   Each Christmas season the star is lit - making it visible from the Highway many kilometers beyond Clarenville's boundaries.   The Bare Mountain Star was a 1967 Centennial project of the Town of Clarenville. The original Centennial Star was designed, welded, wired and assembled by students and faculty in drafting, carpentry, electrical, welding and pipefitting programs at Clarenville campus.  They e...

2018 marked the thirteenth year of Clarenville's free outdoor concert series, Arts Under the Stars.  The 2018 season got underway on July 5th with the amazingly talented Kellie  Loder, and was followed by some great shows from established and up-and-coming artists.   Check out these selections by clicking on the photo... Aug. 16 - Brad Tulk Aug. 9 - Dave Panting & Greg Simm   Aug. 2 - Rick Fines and Morgan Davis July 26 - Janet Cull July 19 - Celebrating Local Talent for Clarenville Day Kathleen Fillier & Andrew Best  Gerry Organ & Mackenzie Baird The Lazy Daisies (Kira Skinner & Grant Pelley)  July 12 - Jordon Harnum Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/F7vKt5n5tTLE7GAq7 July 5 - Kellie Loder Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/izVvZ746GhVAB9mM8 Arts Under the Stars is made possible because of the generous contr...

The Town of Clarenville has a lot to offer and unfortunately, not everybody knows that. Clarenville also has the geographic advantage of being the "gateway" to the Bonavista peninsula - one of the largest tourism destinations in the province. Over the course of 2018, I've been putting together a series of short videos about Clarenville's (and the region's ) "must see" places that I have entitled "In Our Backyard".  Each video has been shot with drone. If you have any suggested places, let me know ;) iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Ps7eOQHy8M" width="560"> iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"...

Here is a link to our collection of Drone Videos and Photos over Clarenville, NL Canada . This file is updated regularly.  CLICK THE PHOTO TO ACCESS ALBUM

You can watch the broadcasts of this year's Clarenville's Council public meeting linked here. Thanks to the Packet for recording and broadcasting Meeting 1-7. Meeting #9 -May 8, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/134170426640511/videos/1813311718726365/ Meeting #8 -April 24, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/134170426640511/videos/1798077740249763/ Meeting #7 -April 10, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1882728781746187/ Meeting #6 -March 27, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1867511536601245/ Meeting #5 -March 13 , 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1851669324852133/ Meeting #4 - Feb 27, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1835245813161151/ Meeting #3 - Feb 13, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1819408188078247/ Meeting #2 - Jan 30, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1804169972935402/ Meeting #1 - Jan. 16, 2018 https://www.facebook.com/NLPacket/videos/1788878904464509/ ...

You've got to wonder - Why are some many towns having such trouble attracting a competitive slate of candidates for this coming September's municipal elections? This question has always been in the back of my mind - but on Tuesday, at the conclusion of the Clarenville municipal election nomination period, it came full frontal. Despite the fact that we have an excellent slate of new Councillors (I hope I am near as good as the rest), I was floored when I found out that Clarenville; the 12th largest town in the province - a town that has always had a competitive slate, and frankly, a town with many, many "engaged" citizens - would not have to hold an election because only seven names were put forward for the seven available seats (Clarenville normally holds a separate ballot for the single mayoral seat and for the six council positions). Wow! There are many potential reasons for why this could have happened.  Poor timing,  lack of interest,...

July 1 was much anticipated this year.   The day had two very distinctive parts: Part 1, the somber remembrance of the tragedy of Beaumont Hamel and Part 2 - the joy of Canada Day. This year - and next year are significant for each of the two parts.   This year marked the 100th anniversary of Beaumont Hamel and it brought out several hundred residents to honor the Newfoundland men and women who gave their all in WW1.   Next year marks the 150th anniversary of Canada and this year's pre year celebrations brought out many young and old alike. Part 1: Beaumont Hamel #WW100 Video 1 - 100 for 100 - Men from this region who took part in WW1 and Beaumont Hamel Video 2 - July 1 Commemoration Part 2 - Canada Day #149 Celebrations with a performance by Quickdraw and fireworks in the Park

R alph Lethbridge is not your typical 71 year old  Entrepreneur, Husband, Dad and Grandfather.   He's what we call in Newfoundland & Labrador - a "Character".   He is Boonie. Boonie Lethbridge is one of those characters that you will find throughout small town Canada.   Boonie (as he is affectionately known) has been the go-to person to buy real, local Christmas trees in the Clarenville area since 1984.   EVERYONE knows him and kids in particular love him because he bears a striking resemblance to Santa!! That's not the only resemblance - his heart is as big as Santa's too!   His trade-mark white beard is the reason, and very few people remember seeing him without it.  Over the past few years several prominent citizens of Clarenville have died from ALS, including Corwin Mills,  Dolores Balsom &  Pat Cole . T his fall after the death of Mr. Mill's,  Dolores' husband Alex and Boonie were chatting.  Boonie suggeste...