The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

The Esso on Memorial Drive in Clarenville @ 137.9 The Esso on Newfoundland Drive in St. John's @ 129.4/ltr Reports are coming out this morning that the price of gas will be going down by up to 4 cents a liter tomorrow in the weekly Thursday gas price setting shell game.  So WAIT AND  BUY YOUR GAS TOMORROW!! But my concern about gas goes beyond un-explainable yo-yoing of gas prices. My concern lies in that fact that there is almost a 10 cent a liter difference between the price of gas in Clarenville and the price of gas in east end St. John’s.  No doubt we have the Costco Corporation to thank for driving their immediate competitors’ prices down, but when the difference is sustained for such a long period of time it gets me thinking that there is something wildly wrong and sinister about gas pricing in this province and more particularly, in our town.  If gas companies can afford to keep their prices significantly lower in St. John’s for such an extended period of t

Random Thoughts...: New Curtain Theatre's Coffeehouse Series a Hit : New Curtain Theatre's Coffeehouse series is in full swing and is truly a great night out. For $15 you get entertainment plus a deliciou...

Random Thoughts...: Who's Running for Clarenville Town Council? : I ask because people are declaring their intentions all over the province. The current Mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor will be running again. T...

I have had a day to digest the potential impact of the of the Provincial Government's budget cuts on the town of Clarenville.  As I noted in last week's blogpost on this same subject , we have good reason to be concerned.     As a service centre for the region, Clarenville has a high proportion of jobs that are filled by professional people in various government departments & agencies - most notably in health and education.  In fact,  one in four jobs in this town are government type jobs.    Based on the information/calculations below, I estimate that the 2013 budget could potentially lead to the elimination of between  45-54  jobs in Clarenville this year - most of which are occuppied by well educated, younger individuals with families who are making over $50,000 annually.     No doubt, the Hebron ramp-up will cushion the effect of these potential government layoffs on the community and on local businesses, however if our experience from Hibernia is any indic

Here's a few of the great performances from Thursday's show - more will be added.  If you are looking for a particular performance and would like to see it here email me and I'll add it... pauldtilley@gmail.com Riverside Choir Shae-lynn Winsor (Violin), CHS Saxaphone Quartet & APPA (Celebration) Anthony Paddon Elementary Choir

The Clarenville Co-op held their annual general meeting this past week and I see from their financial statements that they invested just over $4 million into the development and construction of their new store/carwash/gasbar on Shoal Harbour Drive.  By any measure, that’s a substantial investment by the Co-op in its future.    I use the word “investment” purposefully.   Anyone who has had the opportunity to visit that new facility will know that it is as good, or better, than any comparable facility anywhere – It came at a high absolute cost but it stands as a testament to the Co-op’s commitment to Clarenville (and the region) and its members.  I want to see that same commitment shared more broadly in Clarenville by developers and businesses.  To illustrate my point,  drive past (or better, walk past) some of the stuff that has been built in Clarenville lately and take notice.  The vast majority of the commercial buildings that have been “erected’ over the past number of y