For this province’s 13th premier, upholding treasured family traditions around Christmas
ensures home remains where the heart is
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Premier Dwight Ball warmly greets his guests. His wide smile and the welcoming words on his bright apron hints there’s nowhere he’d rather be than entertaining in his home-away-from-home kitchen on a mausy Monday evening. Of course, there is something missing; his family.
Family Memory
Being in politics means he needs to be where the action is, so he holds down the fort in the big city while his wife Sharon, his daughter Jade and his granddaughter Antonia remain at home on the west coast – though they are never far from his thoughts. The MHA for Humber-Gros Morne holds a treasured family memory as we speak; a recipe that instantly takes him back in time.
“My daughter was in Brownies, she was only eight maybe, and she had to submit a recipe for a cookbook they were making that involved the parents. This is that recipe. This is what we used to make with her,” he shares proudly.
He begins preparing the dessert as he speaks; chopping the butter before peeling and chopping the fruit.
“Typically, we’d do this in the fall of the year, around Thanksgiving, but then we’d make it a few more times 
throughout the winter. It’s Christmasy, I think, because of the cinnamon.”
Proud Grandfather
The Premier stops to glance at his phone – not for work, but to show off pictures of his granddaughter who turned one in October.
“This is our second Christmas with Antonia, Jade’s daughter. And so much can change between visits home.”
Weekends have become so different with a baby around, he shares with a smile. “You are always trying to carve out extra time. It’s sometimes two weeks between times we get to spend together and just recently, I was away for a two week period. She wasn’t walking when I left. This time, when I went back, she was walking and was proud as a peacock. She was going around, so cute.”
So much to do, so little time, goes the well-known adage. The Premier says they find the time to do what’s important.
For our full, uncut interview with Premier Dwight Ball purchase our Dec 2-8 issue.