Celebrating Sandy Point

After recently announcing it had acquired additional property on Sandy Point, the Nature Conservancy of Canada is getting ready to host an event to celebrate the island.

Sheri O'Keefe, Shell conservation intern with the national charity, dropped by the Georgian office last week to talk about the upcoming event.

"Basically, what it's going to involve is a few presentations talking about the natural and cultural heritage of what used to be the town," said Ms. O'Keefe.

"We'll also be discussing a lot of the rare plants and rare plants that are found there."

She said the general public is encouraged to come out to the event and bring along artifacts or mementoes relating to Sandy Point.

"We'll just basically have a table set up and they can put their item on the table and then later on, when we're having a mix and mingle type thing, they can go over and say, 'this is what I have here and what it means to me,'" said Ms. O'Keefe.

Invited to speak at the event is Don Downer, who published Turbulent Tides: A Social History of Sandy Point.

"The book was done in '97 and it chronicles the history and culture - and little bit about the ecology - of the area," said Mr. Downer. "It will be that, plus some things that have happened since."

Mr. Downer noted he was fascinated with Sandy Point since the 1960s, when he was working in the area as a biologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and subsequently married a woman from Stephenville Crossing.

Ms. O'Keefe said she hopes many area residents take part in the Sandy Point celebration, which gets un-derway at 6:30 p.m., July 17, at the Royal Canadian Legion in Stephenville.

For more information, Ms. O'Keefe can be reached at 709-746-0980 or sheri.o'keefe-@natureconservancy.ca.