Newfoundlanders and Labradorians came home for Come Home 2022 celebrations and the province welcomed many first time visitors too.  The weather coorperated with record breaking sunshine for one record setting NL  summer.

There was a little something for everyone to enjoy. Wonderbolt Productions celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, and they dazzled and delighted audiences all summer long. The George Street Festival was a huge hit and so was the Churchill Park Music Festival with both attracting huge and enthusiastic crowds. 

But whether it’s the large concerts on George Street or the smaller gatherings on an outport wharf, it’s been quite a summer to celebrate, Premier Andrew Furey said. “To see this (Come Home 2022) come from a concept to reality, and then to see the return, well the actual numbers speak for themselves,” he said as he launched into some cheerful chatter about the rise in tourism numbers throughout Come Home 2022. And the fun continues through the fall too with Come From Away: The Concert and Tell Tale Harbour yet to be celebrated and enjoyed. 

What was your favourite Come Home 2022 experience? Was it the Stanley Cup or a concert? Was it seeing family or friends or was it a wedding celebration that was delayed due to the pandemic. 

Share your super summer story with us at letters@nfldherald.com 

Charles & Camilla’s 2022 Royal Tour

Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, arrived St. John’s on May 17th to begin a three-day Canadian tour largely focused on reconciliation with Indigenous people. 

The couple attended a welcome ceremony at the provincial legislature with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon then it was off to Gov. House and Quidi Vidi.

Photos provided by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, taken by Alick Tsui Photography.

Kellie Loder Proves They’re Fearless

Not only is Kellie Loder selling out shows, but they are selling totally out of merch at these performances as well, they added when The Herald swung by for a chat. “The opportunity to be on a national television show, what that has done for me is amazing. People stop you on the side of the road and people shout at you from their cars. And it’s so positive,” they said of appearing on Canada’s Got Talent. 

 Had reality set in yet? Since being a  national sensation on CGT, so much had changed. “You work so, so hard for so long to get that sort of recognition that when you finally get it it’s a bit wild. Like, I still feel like I’m a small town kid from Badger and now people are wanting to carry my things and bring me water and food and steam my clothes. And I’m like, ‘What’s happening right now?’” 

Loder also felt “different” seeing their face on a NL Herald cover. “I would go to the store and The Herald would always be on the front counter, and I would see different faces every week on the cover and I always wondered if I was ever going to make the cover, do you know what I mean? I always wondered that, even when nobody knew who I was.” Well, now they certainly do! 

Show Your Pride in NL

Irma Gerd made NL proud as one of the contestants of the third season of Canada’s Drag Race. 

Gerd told The Herald that “The amount of support that I’ve gotten from all of Atlantic Canada, not just Newfoundland, has been overwhelming. Just positively overwhelming in the best way.” 

Pride events throughout NL recognized and celebrated the diversity of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community within the province and the Provincial Government sponsored St. John’s Pride Week as a part of Come Home 2022. Sponsored events included Drag on Water held on Saturday, July 23 as well as the St. John’s Pride Parade

Staycation with the OZFM Summer CREW

Kali Kenny and Noah Perchard hit the road in the OZFM Staycation Summer Cruiser and brought the cheer and the joy to many as they travelled the province throughout the summer of 2022.

Kenny told The Herald that being a member of the Staycation Summer Cruiser Team was a “dream come true.” 

The Regatta Returns

For the very first time in Royal St. John’s Regatta history, there was a Women’s Long course race. 

North America’s oldest annual sporting event concluded with repeat champions in both the men’s and women’s races. NTV were winners of the Men’s Championship Race and Hyflodraulic won Stirling Communications Women’s Championship Race with a time of 5:11.

This year’s Regatta saw crowds return to the banks of Quidi Vidi Lake for the first time since 2019.

Jaida Lee Makes History

At 16 years old, Jaida Lee became the first female to compete in Men’s Baseball at the Canada Summer Games in 2022. The teenage baseball sensation and her father, Dave Lee, shared with media how “unreal” the experience was,  included the fact that she got to throw an opening pitch at a Blue Jays game.

Alex Newhook Brings Home Lord Stanley

Colorado Avalanche forward and St. John’s native Alex Newhook couldn’t stop smiling the day he brought the Stanley Cup home to St. John’s! 

The timing couldn’t have been better and fans young and old couldn’t get enough of the party that came with Lord Stanley held during Come Home 2022 celebrations.

About being only the third player from Newfoundland and Labrador to win the Stanley Cup, Newhook shared how he received congratulations from the other two who had done so before he did – Daniel Cleary and Michael Ryder. Newhook cheered along with fans so loudly as he yelled, ’Our fans are the best in the world’ that Newhook seemed to  have lost his voice during part of the Stanley Cup parade.

Was it emotion or cheering along with fans that cause the brief quiet spell? Probably a bit of both, but whatever the reason, it was a grand day in the province and an unforgettable day for Alex Newhook and his family and friends. Congratulations! 

There’s a Newfoundland and Labrador saying that’s usually tossed around when it’s a brilliantly glorious day filled with sunshine: ‘the sun’s splittin’ the rocks,’ the saying goes. While historically we don’t get many such days living in this often windswept province, Team Canada’s curling dynamos, Team Gushue, have given us two glorious Olympic medal wins to bask in the glow of. 

It might not be February sunshine, but we’ll take the glory of gold and the brilliance of bronze medals brought back home by Brad Gushue and Mark Nichols anytime.

Brad and Mark – who were back on the Olympic podium after 16 years following the bronze medal win at Beijing 2022 alongside teammates Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker, as well as alternate Marc Kennedy – took some time to sit down with The Herald following their latest Olympic adventures. 

The story is now the stuff of legend: Team Gushue defeated Team Shuster of the United States 8-5 in the bronze medal game. The province and country erupted. A familiar feeling. 

Brad Gushue, along with then teammates Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Jamie Korab and Mike Adam, represented Canada in curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy, where they won the gold medal by defeating Finland 10–4.

Return to Real Life

While sporting their medals for our cameras, Brad and Mark were all about family on the day we chatted. 

It was a big day for Mark’s family as Emmett, four, had just finished his first day of kinderstart and the proud daddy got to take his son to school.  

“It marked the return to real life right away, which is awesome. I’m just as excited that I got to be home for his first day of kinderstart and to be bringing him to school as I ever am on the ice and to be a part of that for him was awesome,” Mark opened sweetly. 

Seven-year-old Beckett stood proudly beside his father as wife Colette finished adjusting Emmett’s shirt for their Herald photo session.  

Since daddy was at school dropping Beckett off, the two-time Olympic champion took some time to answer a few questions tossed his way by the school kids. Mark laughed.

“They want to know how heavy the metal is, what other sports I got to see while I was in Beijing. Did I meet any other athletes? What was the food like? And then they ask other questions like, how many medals do you own? It’s just  amazing how much the Olympics can captivate such a young audience, and it’s super cool to see how much they watched and cheered us on. That’s the stuff that really motivates you,” he said.

Brad Gushue is dad to two daughters. He understands Mark’s sentiments.  “When we lost that semifinal game, it was actually the thought of, how were my girls going to feel, which made me so emotional after the game. I was pretty good until I came ‘round the corner and saw them on the screen with the families there watching from home. When I saw the girls, it really hit,” he said.

Toughest Game Ever

Sixteen years after Olympic gold, now being a father, priorities have changed, he added. “At the end of the day, they were proud of whatever we did and to come home with a bronze medal, that’s pretty exciting. The first thing they wanted to see before they even saw me was the medal. It’s exciting. They were thrilled and filled with excitement. That meant more to me than winning the bronze.”

When asked if one game stood out, Brad doesn’t hesitate: the one for the win, of course. “The bronze medal game was the toughest. I’ve said that was the toughest game that I’ve ever had to play and I still stand by that. Coming off the loss in the morning and playing for so much … it was hard because you had all the emotions, the disappointment, but also the excitement and nervousness to play for a bronze medal and trying to wrestle all that to come through and play a pretty good game. I was pretty proud of how we did.”

Brad’s wife Krista and daughters Hayley and Marissa all share their pride in  the entire team, in fact Krista says the pride in ‘the b’ys’ comes from everywhere. 

“The girls, they’ve seen how much hard work has gone into getting to the Olympics. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get there as a family, but seeing them on that podium – seeing the benefits after everything they’ve put into it – it was amazing and couldn’t get any better. 

“Brad’s always talked about how you’ve got to find something you love to do, and just give it your all, and we got to see that. And knowing how much support we had from everyone just made everything that much sweeter,” Krista said.

Mark’s wife Colette, who was born in Saskatchewan, agreed. “It’s nothing but love and support any time I’ve ever gone anywhere, whether it’s following a win or whether it’s following a loss. Our two boys are heavy into hockey, so I’m in hockey rinks all weekend long and I always get a pat on the shoulder saying, ‘Good luck to the boys,’ or ‘Great game last night. Keep it going.’ It’s always love and support anywhere we go as people cheer (Brad, Mark and the rest of Team Gushue) on,” she said. “It’s that kind of love and support that makes this place home,” she added.

‘Back to Newfoundland’ 

“I am from Saskatchewan, and I moved here in 2005 and I love it. We did have that small stint where we moved away for two years, but as soon as I was pregnant with Beckett I knew we had to come back. That was always on my mind, how we needed to get back to Newfoundland so we could have a family here,” she said. 

Speaking of family, both Krista and Colette share that they have become close and that “Uncle Brad” and “Uncle Mark” are both important to each other’s children. 

“My boys don’t know any different. We’re family and we like it that way. My family doesn’t live here and Mark’s sister lives away now, so to have that love and support on the ice and off the ice has meant a lot to me, especially for Beckett. He really looks up to the boys (on Team Gushue) and he actually sees a lot of the hard work, a lot of the determination and the sacrifice. He knows when Dad can’t come to a hockey game it’s because the boys were working hard and that’s actually pushed him a lot harder. He skates harder and he tries harder. He’s actually seeing the big picture now and putting it all together and he knows what it all means,” she said.

We ask the families if they were nervous wrecks while cheering on at home. Krista nodded. “Absolutely. I was nervous. We had a very upsetting loss in the semifinals and curling is a mental game, you have to use your head, so we were very, very upset for them knowing how hard they worked to get there and knowing how close they got. And I know Brad. He was more worried about disappointing us than anything else and when they won, the first thing he said was ‘Were the girls happy? Were the girls proud of me?’ That’s Brad.”

Brad smiled. What’s next? we ask.  “You know what? We’re kind of hitting a point now where we’ve played together, the four of us, for three years. I’ve been with Geoff (Walker) and Brett (Gallant) now for 11 years, and Mark and I, outside of the break we had, 20 plus years.” 

But there’s been changes, he added. “Geoff recently married and moved back to Alberta, so who knows what the future is going to hold for the team, but to go to the Olympics now, come home with a medal? It’s a great moment for this team because we’ve been arguably one of the greatest teams of all time and to get an Olympic medal to go with the World Championships and the Briers and the Grand Slams is pretty cool. So I think we’re all very proud of the run that we had.”

Mark feels the same, he said, adding; “We’ve been through it all together right back to our junior days, 20 years ago. So now, to win bronze and have our families be part of that?”

A Special Moment

“It was a special moment, and we had weird challenges while we were over there so for us to fight through and battle the way we did to come home with the bronze medal, I don’t know that it can get much more special than that. We were able to get through it all together and get the outcome that we got, and that’s worth celebrating.”  

We ask Brad if he has any advice for anyone out there working towards any goal in life.  “Just do something you love,” he said simply. “Winning is not always about Olympic medals. You have to find something you want to do, and I love curling. Anybody that knows me knows how much I care about curling and how much I just enjoy going down and throwing rocks sometimes just by myself,” he said.

“Nobody else is around and no one is watching, but still you are practicing because you love the game. It relaxes me and makes me feel comfortable and I think because of that, I’ve gotten better and gotten to this stage. But it isn’t about the Olympics, it isn’t about the medal, it’s about the journey, it’s about the experience and the work you put in doing something you love.”