Greeting the Queen BY CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN The Georgian

On June 18, 1959, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh landed in Newfoundland to begin a 45-day tour of Canada and the United States. Pick up a copy of this week's Georgian to see our special commemorative coverage looking back on the royal visit. Photo courtesy of Bay St. George genealogical society

On June 18, 1959, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh landed in Newfoundland to begin a 45-day tour of Canada and the United States.
    In St. John’s, they were received by Governor General Vincent Massey and Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. After leaving the capital, the royal couple made their way to Gander, Deer Lake, Corner Brook and Stephenville.
    To mark the 50th anniversary of the royal visit, the Georgian has compiled the memories of various people who were there the day the Queen and Prince Philip visited Stephenville.

Meeting her Majesty
    Theresa McIsaac and her parents, Isabella and Arthur McIsaac, originally of 5 Bayview St., visited the Ernest Harmon Air Force base to see the Queen and Prince Philip as they were preparing to depart Stephenville.
     “My mom, being the proud parent, got me dressed up in my plaid skirt with the big pin and took me with them,” she said.
    “I was overjoyed to meet the Queen and had time to perform a short version of the Sword Dance for her. I still remember the smile on the Queen's face as she watched me dancing.”
    Even though Ms. McIsaac called it a “moment in time,” her mother did not have a camera to take photos at the event.
    “The Queen gave me a beautiful can of candy with her picture on it. I kept the can for quite a few years, then left it at my parents house once I left home,” said this current Alberta resident.
    “My brother Frank used it to store trinkets, then he left home. Some years later, while visiting home, I found that beautiful can out in the back yard full of rust. I searched the Internet in recent years trying to find the exact can, with the same photo of the Queen – but to no avail.” 

Long-time admirer
    Muriel Chislett described the royal visit as a day she would never forget.
    “It was fascinating to me because I was always an admirer of the royal family and interested in them,” she said.
    “We didn’t have a television – we didn’t even have electricity in Jeffreys at that time. Every week we would get a paper called the Star Weekly and I could never wait for it to come to get pictures of the Queen.”
    Ms. Chislett said she also remembers the wedding of then-Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip of Greece in 1947.
    “We listened to it on radio. When the Star Weekly came, there were pictures of the wedding and, in fact, I still have them.”
    At the time of the royal visit, Ms. Chislett was working as a schoolteacher in Jeffrey’s.
    “I drove in and I brought a Grade 3 student with me and the student was John Gillam,” she said. “I would have done almost anything to get to Stephenville that day to see her.”
    Once in Stephenville, she met up with her mother, two aunts and a friend, Alan, who would later become her husband.
    “I had a cousin who was working on base and she took us in on base that day,” said Ms. Chislett. “We were at the side of the street as the Queen passed by. She waved to everybody.”
    Ms. Chislett also remembered the day for something else.
    “I bought a dress at Bannigan’s ¬– it was down there where McDonald’s is now.”

Taking a break
    Stephenville Councillor Laura Aylward was a young professional working at the Harmon Airforce Base in 1959.
    “I was working on the main street on the base – you know where the Aliant building is across from the town hall? I was working in that building in telecommunications – I was a switchboard operator/supervisor with the Americans,” she said.
    “We just went over to the window to see the parade and the Queen was going along and she was waving to everybody. That’s the most I saw of her. I don’t know if she saw us, but we were waving.”

Family affair
    It was an early rise for May Lomond, who travelled from Port aux Basques on a train to see the Queen and Prince Philip.
    “We were living in Port aux Basques and my husband was working in here with the power company, West Coast Power, on a short-term project,” she said.
    “So, my son, who was three at the time, I got him up at four o’clock in the morning and we came in on the train and my husband met us at Noel’s Pond, and we got off and went in to see the Queen.    Ms. Lomond said they stood amongst the crowd as the Queen and Prince Philip drove past.
    “That was 50 years ago, I don’t really remember the details, but I know we did get to see her,” she said. “There was so much hype about seeing the Queen.”
    Ms. Lomond said her son, who’s now living in Alberta, remembers going in on the train to Stephenville.
    “This is one of the things my son remembers – everybody had flags, the Union Jack,” she said. “On the way back, I stopped at a convenience store near the Midway Motel in that area … and I bought a little candy dish with their pictures on it, and I still have it.”

A long journey
    Mary Gale was a schoolteacher in Port aux Basques when the Queen and Prince Philip visited Stephenville.
    She said an excursion train starting in Port aux Basques was arranged to pick students and others up to go and see the royal couple.
    “There was no buses back then, the train was the only means to keep the students together,” she said. “Students and teachers; boy scouts, girl guides and their leaders; and a couple of policemen boarded the train, we all took our lunches with us. We were brave – we had about three dozen students each with no other chaperones.”
    She noted the Queen was held in high regards and her Majesty was promoted as a privilege to be seen.
    “Some of them had never been out of their community before, back then you didn’t have the highway paved through, so getting on the train was a big thing for them. It was like a sightseeing tour, including picnic baskets and all that jazz. The train stopped at all parts along the way, including Doyles, South Branch, St. Andrew’s, Jeffreys, Robinsons and the Crossing.”
    Once the train reached Stephenville Crossing, Ms. Gale said a shutter engine took the train onto the Harmon Airforce Base.
    “We lined up along both sides of the road and the motorcade, I guess, came from the plane and drove up to the headquarters building. When she drove past, she just waved and we waved back.
    “She got up on the steps of the headquarters building and said something, I don’t know if we heard two words or not, and then she went inside with the bigshots. We left, got aboard the train and came back home.”

A student’s view
    Local historian Bill O’Gormon was an Elementary School student living on the Port au Port Peninsula in 1959. He remembered a bus taking students into Stephenville to see the Queen and Prince Philip.
    “Our school was paraded out to St. Stephen’s Parish out there by A. V. Gallants and lined up along the road – watching and waving flags and stuff like that,” he said.
    “I vaguely remember being there with the crowd along Main St. It was such an amazing thing to see her go by in a car. It certainly made an impression on me, because it was such a marvelous thing that was happening.”

Queen of Canada
    After leaving this province via plane from the Harmon Air Force base, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh would go on to formally open the St. Lawrence Seaway and visit every Canadian province and territory.     Over the course of the tour, it was estimated the Queen shook more than 5,000 hands, attended 61 formal and 81 informal functions, and gave 50 speeches.
    “If I have helped you feel proud of being Canadian, if I have reminded you of the strength which comes from unity and if I have helped draw your attention to the bright vision of the years ahead, I shall feel well satisfied, because I believe with all conviction that this country can look forward to a glorious future,” said the Queen during a speech at the end of the tour.