Celebrating with good friends, good food and music is a part of everyday life in Newfoundland.
This Canada Day weekend, the Cambridge Newfoundland Club is hosting it’s annual Newfie Reunion from July 1-3.
“This year will be our 51st annual reunion,” said Jamie Squires, president of the club.
“The event was meant to be a garden party for Newfoundlanders back in the day that they started in 1971. We missed the last couple years with COVID-19, and we missed celebrating last year which was our 50th reunion celebration. But this year, we are making up for it.”
This is the first big event to be held at the club since the pandemic.
“Being our 51st anniversary, we have Canada Day Celebrations planned, all decorated, inside and out. We have a live band and a DJ Friday night from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. It’s $10 cover charge and everybody is welcome,” Squires said.
Saturday, July 2, the Newfie Reunion continues and will be open from 1:30 until 6 p.m. It is free admission all day, with a DJ inside and a live band outside.
“Our kitchen will be open with our famous and traditional fish and chips, with dressing and gravy. Then we close for a couple hours to give our staff a bit of a break. We reopen with our nighttime event with a live band outside, a beer garden outside and a live band inside.
The nighttime event will take place from 8 p.m. -1 a.m. again with a $10 cover and everyone is welcome.
Family Day will be on Sunday from 2:30 – 6 p.m. and it’s free all day complete with barn yard animals for the kids.
The Cambridge Newfoundland Club is where good friends meet to get a taste of down home. But, Squires says, being part of the Newfoundland Club isn’t just for Newfies, it’s for everyone.
“We have a big community here in Cambridge. We get calls every year and people wonder if you have to be a Newfie. You don’t. Everyone is welcome and we really want to get that out there,” Squires said.
Hosting great entertainment featuring traditional Newfoundland music, local acts, tributes, and international recording artists, the club also hosts regular dances, darts and card nights and offers wedding and hall rentals.
The club is something of a "home away from home" for Canadians from Newfoundland.
The club’s goal is to develop good fellowship and democratic ideals; to promote fellowship and social activities among Newfoundlanders in Ontario; to preserve Newfoundland traditions of music, literature and the arts; and to promote cultural understanding and cooperation with the traditions of other groups in Canada.
Squires has been president of the Newfoundland Club since 2013.
“This year, at the reunion celebration, I will acknowledge all past presidents since 1973 since I didn’t get to do it at our 50th celebration,” he said.
Anyone can join the club for a $10 annual fee.
“Right now, we are at about 200 members, but we look forward to getting numbers up again and have people join us,” Squires said.
“The Newfie Reunion is great time to get together, and we hope for a fun weekend this year. We’ve been closed these last two years and being a non-profit organization, we donate to all charities wherever we can in Cambridge and back home in Newfoundland. So now that things are running again, we are excited to start donating again.”
Whether people are from Newfoundland, or just interested to take part in some good old-fashioned Newfie fun, there are many traditions to look forward to this weekend.
“There will be a lot of people having fish and chips with dressing and gravy, we will be doing ‘screech ins’ to make people honourary Newfoundlanders, and we will have our bands that will offer a lot of music from Newfoundland,” Squires said.
“People are really excited to be back, and so am I. It’s going to be a great time.”
For more information, visit here or the Cambridge Newfoundland Club Facebook page.
