THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503070047
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
The emphasis is on the last syllable: Newfoundland.
And if you have to think about where it is, you're not unlike eight of 10 people I asked. Most of them placed it somewhere in Northern Europe.
I had to think for a moment myself when I heard Isle of Wight County had visitors from the island off the eastern coast of Canada.
This marks the fifth year Marg and Joe Sweet have journeyed south for the winter, and they stay for several weeks. They started the tradition when they signed up for a golf excursion to Virginia Beach.
But being from Newfoundland - well, maybe I'd better tell you a little about their home first.
Newfoundland, about 42,000 square miles, has a population roughly one-third the city of Norfolk's, Joe told me. He describes it as a ``sportsman's paradise'' - very rugged, with rocks and pine trees, tiny villages whose inhabitants trace their roots back to Scotch, Irish, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen who set up temporary fishing camps on the island - and stayed.
Spring begins in July, and the island has a growing season of only about two months. Average annual snowfall is near 16 feet. This year, the Sweets told me, the snowfall probably topped that.
``You know it's snowed when you open a 7-foot garage door and you can barely see daylight,'' Joe said, laughing.
There are few restaurants and not much recreation, except for caribou or moose hunting and neighborly get-togethers, when folks bring musical instruments and specialty dishes like seal meat.
Both the Sweets took an early retirement and moved from mainland Canada to Newfoundland, where Joe was born, about six years ago. He was a mechanical engineer working in the nuclear power industry. Marg worked in computers.
They knew they wanted to be a part of the rugged, sparsely populated land, but Joe is a big golf enthusiast. Marg is just learning the game. There's little golf in Newfoundland, so they started planning their vacations around that interest.
When they came to Virginia for the first time, they loved the area yet found the beach ``nice, but noisy.'' The next year, they stayed in Newport News on Warwick Boulevard. There was a murder at the convenience store next to their motel.
``I don't think we've heard an ambulance in the six years we've lived in Newfoundland,'' Joe said.
``Or a police car,'' Marg added.
Meanwhile, they discovered Isle of Wight County and Smithfield Downs, a nice, no-pressure course where the owner greeted them personally the first time they played.
``Gerald LaBoone recognized us as strangers, came out, shook hands and told us to try the course,'' Joe said. ``He was an ambassador of goodwill for Smithfield.''
Everywhere they went, they said, they found other ambassadors of goodwill - in the restaurants, the grocery stores, the shops.
``I think it's the attitude of the people,'' Joe said. ``Everybody is friendly. We've never felt rushed.''
Joe said Virginia, and especially this area, could be one of the nation's best-kept secrets. Compared to Canada and Newfoundland, he said, it's also a bargain. At home Joe pays $56 a carton for a Canadian brand of cigarettes that happens to be manufactured in Richmond. Gasoline is more than $3 a gallon. And natives pay 19 percent tax on everything they buy, Marg said.
``It makes Virginia a very reasonable holiday,'' Joe said.
These folks from Newfoundland now are on a campaign to convince their friends what a neat place Isle of Wight County is. This year, they have two other couples joining them here for a few days.
The Sweets will be here through the end of March. Next year, they hope to extend their holiday to three months.
They love the peace and tranquillity they've found here. They love seeing robins in March. And green things.
And our local director of tourism should certainly love all of this. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Marg and Joe Sweet
by CNB