Champney's West Day's Events Aug 3 – 5, 2012

Friday Aug 3

• There will be a kitchen party at the hall from 7:30 - 11 pm. This is a “music and friends event” put off by The Goose Cove Kitchen Party Group, who are donating their time and effort as a fund raiser in support Champney’s West Aquarium Project. Tea / Coffee and a sandwich lunch will be served. Admission is $7 per person. There will be 50/50 ticket sales.

• There will be an 80's party at Johnny's place from 11pm - 2 am. Darrell and Krystal Freeman are devoting their time and the use of Johnny’s Place in hosting the Party. BYOB, come as you are and socialize. Music by Darrell admission is free. Remember to recycle and have a good time with regard for others.

Saturday Aug 4

• As always down home cooking will be available. Soup, sandwiches and fish and brews will be dished up at the town hall from 11am - 2pm. Prices will be posted.

• 50/50 Bingo games start at 2:30 pm

• Games of chance will be taking place down on the waterfront during the afternoon. Come on down and try your luck!

•The waterfront will be hoping with musical entertainment throughout the day provided by local artists. Come listen to the down home sounds, admission is free.

Sunday Aug 5

• There will be a fundraising breakfast hosted by a wonderful group of people that have decided “to be here by choice in Champney’s. It runs from 8:30 am - 12:30 and only cost $ 8:00 per person. All proceeds of this event will be donated to the Aquarium fund, please come visit for breakfast; chances are it will be more than you can eat!

• The recreation group will have games of chance down on the waterfront during the afternoon starting at 1Pm. Games include ring toss,

• The first annual walking on water event will start at 1 Pm. Come check this out all you need is to have your own shoes that you can walk on water with! The trick is to be able to use your shoes to be able to walk on water out to a buoy, navigate it and get safely back to shore. The person with the best time get’s bragging rights and the company of Martha and Bertha in a photo op.

• The great Atlantic Cardboard boat races start at 3pm, get your boats built and get ready to have a time to remember. There are boats already lining up and crews preparing to show their muster in this race. This year we will also have a $ 50.00 prize for best boat judged as most creative by a panel of judges, and a $50.00 prize for winner of races as an honor for their achievements. Entry boats will race each other this year “two at a time” and compete for bragging rights. There are also challenges being issued and sponsored races that will take place to the finish. Boat crews can challenge each other and donate to the cause at the same time. These changes will deliver additional amusement.

• There will be a treasure hunt for Kids after the cardboard boat races. They will be using metal detectors to find buried things. Everyone gets a cold drink and the person that discovers a marked winning $1 coin gets a $10 prize. This event is held with donations by the freeman family.

• Various singers will be performing on the water front during the day and after the boat races and until the fireworks start at 10 pm.

• Rosie’s Snacks will be donating 15% of Hog Dot and Hamburger sales made during Champney’s West days to the recreation group and the Aquarium Project. The take out is located on the waterfront.

 Ella Freeman Memorial Heritage House is now open daily. The Museum will be open throughout the Champney’s West Celebrations. This would be a good time to visit. The museum contains an artifact display, an audio/visual display, and an in depth written history of the people and the place. There is a vast amount of written materials and numerous pictures of early settlement circa 1675 and up to today. To Read more about the Heritage House Click Here

Champney's West Days August 3rd to 5th 2012

This year Champney's West celebrations will start on the evening of Friday August 3rd with a kitchen part at the hall. There are many events planned for the whole weekend to be capped off with the Great Cardboard Boat Races and Regatta on Sunday followed by fireworks in the Evening.

A full schedule of events and times will be available here on Tuesday Evening. Check back and learn about all the fun that is planned, including an improved version of the races.

Artistic Rendition of Champney's West Aquarium

The picture below is a scaled down image of an artistic rendition painting of the future aquarium. The actual painting by Cathy Driedzic is on display at the Recreation Center in Champney's West, along with a descriptive brief on the project.

Cathy very kindly made this painting, which allows us to provide a visual impression of what this community hopes to achieve by this project. Having this rendition or vision of how the end result could look like, helps us tremendously in delivering the message, goals and objectives of this project.

A Few Words on the Artist

Cathy paints fresh and luminous watercolour paintings. Her use of transparent colors and a limited palette produce paintings that are filled with light and a sense of calm. Her watercolours have been exhibited in galleries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, France and are currently in several galleries in and around St. John's. Her prints and drawings are also shown in her home studio, which is listed in the Studio Guide of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cathy has won awards for her drawing and painting in New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Her artwork has been selected for the collections of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the City of St. John's.

Her husband Bill has committed his spare time and his knowledge in fostering this project by being a champion and diligent supporter, since day one. We feel very fortunate that Cathy and her husband Bill have a summer home in Champney's West. They have become very much involved with community activities and they have decided to be “Home by Choice Residents”, devoting a tremendous amount of hours helping the community in any way they can. Bill and Cathy have both volunteered their time and put their abilities to work in support of making the Champney's West Aquarium a reality.

They have also both endeared themselves in the hearts of population of the whole community. They have given us smiles, time to chat, thoughts, advice, help and input and friendship. They have spent so much time in planning and working with everyone to help foster initiatives toward strengthening the future of the community, that it becomes difficult to thank them or recognize them enough, mere words don’t really explain level of enthusiasm and dedication that they have given nor our appreciation.

Thanks Cathy and Thanks Bill!

More information on Cathy’s work can be found by visiting her website Visit Cathy.

Updates from the Group

We will have more details available here on July 27. The volunteers are having a series of meetings and are working on the details and chores required to help make this project a reality. When you have time, please check back here for updates on the progress of the Aquarium project. Book mark and share this link.

The Champney's Recreation Group has many individuals that spend a great amount of volunteer hours dealing with applications, writing proposals, answering calls or making them, dealing with regulatory issues, raising money and dealing with all aspects needed in moving things forward. This behind the scene support often goes unnoticed, yet it is so important and needs to be recognized. Tip your hat to them, a truly devoted and dedicated group!

We ask you our website visitor to do us a favor, take a moment and comment below, your input is important to us! We are all volunteers and your opinions matter, remember if you don't voice them we can't hear them!

It's time very soon for Champney's West Days! and preparations are underway. We are going to release news so have a look on here Thursday, rumor has it that some exciting things will take place this year.

Reminder to members: There is a meeting scheduled for 8 pm on Tuesday July 24 of the entire recreation group. Let's all do our best to attend it!

Be well and be you ... Thanks

New Director For Grand Seduction Film

Actor and filmmaker Don McKellar has been named the newest director of “The Grand Seduction,” stepping up in what one producer has called a “situation of emergency.” McKellar will direct the film, an adaptation of the French-Canadian 2003 blockbuster



“La Grande Séduction” produced by Montreal-based company Max Films and St. John’s producer Barbara Doran, which will be shot in Champney’s, Trinity Bight, starting in July. The area has also featured in “The Shipping News” and “Random Passage,” also produced by Doran.

The film has a budget of $11 million, and most of the cast and crew are said to be locals. McKellar is the third director hired for the film since it was set to start shooting late last August.

Read Full Story At This Link

The Quebecker comedy La grande séduction will have an English Canadian, French and Italian remakes.

The English Canadian version will be shot in Newfoundland-and-Labrador, an Atlantic province of Canada and will be known as The Grand Seduction. This film with a budget of $11 M will be shot between August 28 and November 15.

Be Sure To Come Visit Champney's West!!

Ice On Rocks Rough Sea Near Fox Island 2009

This picture was taken after a storm during the spring of 2009. The spray was freezing to the rocks and made an interesting display.

Ice Berg Seen Near Champney's West 2009

This picture was taken when the sun was setting as seen from a boat while looking at an ice berg in Champney's Harbor Trinity Bay.

Champney's West Concerts

One of the characters from one of the many hilarious concerts performed by the Champney's West Recreation Group and Company.

Maybe you would like to leave a comment here and add a description of your own or nominate him for an award somewhere! He wasn't voted "Off The Island".

The annual concert is well received loved and anticipated be hundreds.

Champney's West Cardboard Boat Races

Boats made only of Cardboard, Duck Tape and Paint

The highlight of the Champney's West celebrations each August is the gathering at the waterfront, to watch punt races, listen to music, play games, to watch the saltwater gladiators and witness or participate in the hugely popular cardboard boat races. The Champney’s West waterfront events are attended by hundreds of people, in fact all available space along the wharf, local stages and the road is often packed with people.


The visitors gather to enjoy the Champney's West cardboard boats races

Each year 20 or more unique vessels (creations) made from only from cardboard pasted together with duct tape and painted in all types of designs and colors, are launched into the harbor. All the brave sailors make their runs attempt to paddle their creations about a quarter mile, out to a buoy marker and back to the beach, without getting wet. Some make it while other crews find themselves capsized, dunked or flooded, boarded by other crews and so on, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Some of the wonderful creations are often sailed sideways, in circles or almost upside down, which keeps the spectators cheering and shouting in anticipation of the next dunking. Even still, some boats are sometimes paddled backwards over most of the course, while others sink at the launch site.

The boats come in many sizes and shapes, some look like teacups, others like dinosaurs, and some are hard to explain while others actually look like boats! There has been a toilet shape, a chamber pot, a trawler, a diamond, and a block of cheese, just to name a few. The creations are often decked out with flags and balloons; some have sails made of undergarments and the like, others have themes, some fly the Jolly Rodger and all have colorful paint jobs. Crews have been dressed as pirates, hippies, sportsmen, maids, fishermen, etc. Some folks have been sporting hat and tails and the attire of some cannot be properly described.


An imaginatively attired crew.

It is believed that largest boat in the history of the event was named the Island Ferry, a 20 foot cardboard and duck tape ship, crewed by a dozen people. Not only did the Island Ferry make it around the course, but it did so in style with half the crew jumping up and down, spraying water in the boat and playing to the crowd, without sinking! A Monty crew of brave souls indeed, to jump on a hull made only of cardboard!!


The Island Ferry was created and built by Howard Duffett and family from Port Union

The races are not about winning. No one seems to care about that. It’s all about fun, entertainment and joining into the community spirit. People come from the USA, Europe and many parts of Canada to attend the summer celebrations in Champney's West. Many visitors make boats and join in the race and the smash up derby as a grand finally. These folks have the pleasure of telling friends back home that "Yes it floated" and we made it ourselves!


Compact but extremely creative!

A quote from a story done by Barbra Dean Simmons reporter for the newspaper The Clarenville Packet...

“But it was obvious from the start that this race is not about winning. It's about having fun and building community spirit in the process. And in that goal, the race and its organizers have succeeded. You could see the spirit it in the smiles on faces, and hear it in the cheers and applause from the crowd. This small, rural out port might have its share of fears and challenges in an uncertain world, but they were certainly set on the shelf this past weekend. This weekend was about having fun, celebrating not only the existence of a community but the imagination and do-anything-for-a-laugh mindset of its citizens.”

Click here to see more pictures of the Champney's West cardboard boat races.

Ella Freeman Memorial Heritage House

The Heritage museum in Champney’s West became a reality due to a couple of significant occurrences. The first, being the generous gift of the original house, made by Dr. Marjorie Ragosta in honor of her mother Ella Freeman. The second being the hard work and dedication of local volunteers, supported by government programs, to restore the house, acquire local artifacts and begin recording the written history of the people.

We are happy to say that we have now created a web page introducing the Ella Freeman Memorial Heritage House, to tell you how it came about and to give you a glimpse of what you will find in there when you visit.

Read More Here


Historic Champney's West with ice in the harbor

In 2010 CWRG achieved the goal of establishing a Heritage House Museum. This building and the archives it holds came about as result of the significant support and the dedication of many individuals and organizations. The Ella Freeman Heritage House Museum was created and came to life with a ribbon cutting ceremony in August 2010. Many individuals have contributed volunteer time and effort to enhance the building and many of our elders have donated items and memories to the project.

Did you know that the building and land now housing the heritage house was donated by Dr. Marjorie Rogosta and family along with a tremendous amount of her research?

Click Here to Read More and Enjoy

The Island in Trinity Bight Newfoundland

Getting to Champney’s West

Getting to the village of Champney's West Newfoundland, better known as "The Island" is easily accomplished by paved all weather roads. If you are arriving by road follow Route 230-21 from the Discovery Trail. The road to the Island starts at Port Rexton, crosses an Isthmus after a short distance and leads right to the Champney’s West a historic fishing port and photographer's paradise.

Discovery trail is highway 230; on it visitors navigate their way along the Bonavista Peninsula. Beginning at Clarenville where it meets the Trans Canada Highway, Discovery trail winds its way to Bonavista, the place where John Cabot made landfall in 1497 and discovered North America.

If you are arriving by boat, once in Trinity Bay set course and navigate to Champney’s West Harbor located at N 48.38319 / W 53.29807 or UTM 22 U 329832 E 5361493 N. View your charts and pay attention for rocks and shoals marked. Bennett’s point rock and sunker are marked with a light buoy. The dock can accommodate loaded fishing vessels up to 65 feet or small large pleasure vessels.

What to See and Do In Champney's

The Island offers spectacular scenery along the Fox Island hiking trail where you climb to the top for a panoramic view of beaches, hills, marine life, seabirds, icebergs and miles of blue water. You will also find evidence of the fortifications established here in 1711 by Captain Crane. More on Fox Island Trail

The local wharf in Champney’s West was the historical meeting place of the community and remains the focal point of many activities today. The sheltered harbor is lined with fishing stages that are well up kept and provide a real glimpse of what historic Newfoundland fishing “Rooms” looked like. Local fishing boats are commonly seen in the harbor.

Champney’s West and its people are well known for their hospitality, musical talent, the annual cardboard boat races, old fashioned concerts, it’s heritage house museum and most of all dedication to community preservation.

To see all that the Island offers and to get to know us better use the page links above. Please take a minute to check out our latest initiative to create new attractions. We are raising funds to create the Champney’s West Aquarium Project.

Come Visit Champney's Town!

Here's a sample of a sing along at the community hall

The recreational groundfish fishery will be open in waters around the province for three weeks this summer from Saturday, July 24 to Sunday, Aug. 15 and for one week in the fall from Saturday, Sept. 25 to Sunday, Oct. 3.

As in previous years there will be a daily bag limit of five fish, and a boat limit of 15 fish when three or more people are fishing.
Come to the Island and fish!

Hike The Fox Island Trail

The Fox Island trail begins in the community of Champney's West and follows a loop of approximately 3 kilometers. Much of the trail is fairly easy to hike however the portion of the trail that leads to the the headland of Fox Island raises over 35 meters and is classed as being difficult.

Fox Island (Fox Head) isn't an actual Island anymore. It is connected by an isthmus to Champney's Island which in turn is also connected by another isthmus to the mainland at Champney's Arm. The Image below shows the beaches along the isthmus as seen from the top of Fox Island. The town can be seen in the background.

Fox Island Isthmus - Picture By Barb Walters

The most talked about of the numerous attractions along the trail is located on the lower plateau of Fox island. Here there is clear evidence of trenches that were used as a defence during Queen Anne's war that began in 1701 as a result of conflict between England and a Spanish-French alliance. It ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which granted sovereignty of Newfoundland to England and gave the French fishing rights from Bonavista to Point Riche.

An archaeological dig on Fox Island in 1995 revealed the remains of approximately 15 earthen features or structures, a number of which are in excess of 8 m in length. The principal area of occupation was enclosed with an earthen parapet wall, and a number of bastions were strategically positioned on prominent points of land.

A visit to Fox Island will illustrate why it was chosen as a fortification to protect the surrounding area including the historic town of Trinity. From Fox Island on a clear day you can see miles in any direction including south across Trinity Bay, east to the headland called the Horse Chops and west to Trinity. Historic (sailing) war ships could be spotted well in advance from this point of observation.

The geographical nature of the location ensured that there were few points where a possible attack from land could be carried out. The only way in by foot is across the isthmus. The remainder of Fox Island is composed mostly of shear rock cliffs that drop nearly straight down into the ocean. This feature made defense measures easier to carry out. The trail up to the top of Fox Island first leads to the area known as "the porch". At this point you can see were the defense trenches were constructed to defend against attacks from land. Visit our history section for more information.

Once you reach Fox Island be sure to check out the "Initial Rock" a soft rock in which many people have craved their names and initials over the years. There is also a Geocache located nearby to find and leave a trinket in if so inclined.

Along the trail there are many excellent view points from which to observe the ocean, whales and other marine life, as well as splendid rock formations including sedimentary rock strata located at Quart Cove as seen in the image below.

Quart Cove

The trail begins and ends in the village of Champney's West and your hike wouldn't be complete unless you tour the town and visit the waterfront with that is dotted with restored fishing stages and includes an excellent wharf and sheltered anchorage. This was the historic gathering place of people young and old and still is today. In fact it's scene of the annual Champney's West days celebration. An well attended event that include cardboard boat races, local music, fun and games and more.

View of Wharf Area - Picture by Barb Walters

How to get Here
You can access Google Maps below for coordinates and directions.
View Larger Map
For numerous other maps and navigation methods use this Wikipedia Toolserver Link

Come visit us, hike the trail, see the sights, meet the people and have a trip to enjoy and remember!

About Champney's West

Champney's West - locally known as the Island - Is located in Trinity Bight along the north shore of Trinity Bay. The town has 56 full-time residents whom work hard to add to the quality of life and to keep the community alive and active. During the summer the population increases when many vacationers and part time residents spend time in the community at summer homes.

The Island has a very interesting and lengthy history dating back at least 337 years. At various times in it's history well over 200 residents called Champney's West home. It was once a thriving fishing community due to it's excellent harbor and proximity to fishing grounds. Today the harbor remains in top condition with many renovations having been recently made to fishing stages (rooms). There are however far less full time fishermen than seen in days gone by.

Sometime during the spring of 1675 the Brigantine Mary, a 100 ton sailing ship was commissioned to navigate to the new world specifically the isle of Newfoundland. The "Mary" was under the command of John Le Cross, a well known fishing admiral of the time.

After making the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, Captain Le Cross reached the Island of Newfoundland and entered Trinity Bay on the north side. He then traveled on until he reached the land mark known as the Horse Chops. From the Horse chops he sailed further into the bay and came upon the entrance of a inlet known as Salmon Cove. Upon entering salmon cove he apparently made the decision to investigate the potential of the area with the view of determining the suitability of the location for establishing a "plantation".

The written account of the voyage is contained in the log of Captain Le Cross and a quote from it reads as follows:

[upon entering the mouth of the harbour we took soundings on the western side of the harbour where one stand alone rock lying adjacent to a point running to the south exists, it seems to be the only visible rock protruding from the water the depth of five fathoms was observed, lying to the east of this point is a low sloping point of land, this itself assures a safe and sheltered cove. Moving northwards a small island was observed lying no more than a hundred feet eastward of the mainland, here advantaged us to make fast the Brig between the mainland and island. was here that we observed an in draft lying to the west with only a minute amount of water remains at bottom tides, the low sloping land at waters edge gives us a fair advantage where we can place rooms and plant crops. One can only perceive as to the sheltered safety of one place. Thence northwards of this little island is the bottom of this long sheltered harbour, this here that a river of such is observed, one can only imagine the ease of cutting lungers and timber farther in draft. On either side of the river there is ample amount of water to tie a hundred ships. To the east of the island there is a small inlet charactered by steep sloping hill which offer the most ample protection from prevailing winds. Water depths can be from 5 to 20 fathoms in depth and one could navigate at anytime within this cove]

Captain Le Cross established a plantation in the area of Salmon Cove, likely in what is today known as Champney's West. This was at the time were the Migratory Fishing industry was ending in Favor of a "planter" live here type system. Please visit our history section for a more in depth presentation of the known history of Champney's West. Read More Champney's History Here.

Working Toward The Future

Since our successful Come Home Year and dedication of the Ella Freeman Heritage House in 2010, the Champney’s West community has been planning to add a wonderful new attraction on the Bonavista Peninsula: The Champney’s West Aquarium. Please take a moment to learn more by clicking here!