St. Paul's River: Then and Now
By: Collin Goddard
On the Lower North Shore of Quebec, Canada, is a small town that goes by the name of Riviere Saint Paul, or in English, St. Paul’s River. This little town is just another tiny dot on the big world map, but for many of us ‘Coasters’, it's a place we call home. All of our culture comes from that place and several other villages that line the Lower North Shore, or the Coast. The jobs we and our families work, the food we eat, the houses we live in… and so on. However, St. Paul’s River, small as it is, has changed a lot in the past years, despite its location and population. I’m writing this to record our way of life as told by my own grandparents, and compare it to how we live now.
I’m a high school student here in St. Paul’s River, on the Lower North Shore of Quebec. My grandparents, whose names are Valerie Keats and Martin Conway, are the two family members who told me all about what life was like when they were my age. With the help of my school and MIA, I’m writing this to tell you some neat details about the Coast, as we call it, our culture, and how life for us has changed here so much in so little time.
St. Paul’s River is very small; much smaller than a village or town in Montreal, or Toronto, or New York, or Paris, or wherever you’re reading this from. I’d say the distance from one side of town to the other is only a few kilometers at most, and as for the population, maybe around 350-450 residents at the time I’m writing this. More than 50 years ago, when my grandparents were still in school, it must've been much less. So let's take a look from their perspective; what was life like on the coast over half a century ago?
School - 50+ Years Ago
Starting with school, according to my grandmother, there were two schools split by the two religions in town, Catholicism and Anglicanism. They went to school from 9:00 until 3:30, and afterwards they would go outside to play various outdoor games, ranging from hopscotch, to Baseball, to Hockey. They had no janitors, so the girls would take turns cleaning the classroom and parents and children alike would go to the school on the weekend to clean the floors together. In elementary, they also had a woodstove, so the tweens and guardians had to take turns putting in fires so the school wasn’t cold.
Running the school was a task that students were supposed to do to make sure everyone was warm and clean during the school day. In class, they just learned how to read and write, do basic math, and school only went up to around grade 7.
School - 2023
For me, now, it’s very different. Presently, our school has two janitors, and runs classes from 8:45 until 3:10. There are no wood stoves in the school, as we have electric heaters instead, so the school is always warm unless the power goes out, which only happens around once a year. After school, students from different villages will ride home on the bus, while those that live in St. Paul’s River will disperse into their own friend groups, go ride around on dirt-bikes, or just walk home, which is what I usually do if I’m not planning to hang around with my friends.
There are various clubs, for example, sports that are practiced either during lunch or after school. Other than that, many kids nowadays won't play in the roads because of, y'know, cars. Plus, nowadays, with the existence of phones and videogames, we barely need to go outside anyway, so if kids aren't hanging out in real life, they're often calling each other or playing games instead.
Classes nowadays are a lot more complicated: we go up to grade 11, my grade, and we learn English, Math, French, Science, History, Geography, Finance, Ethics and Religious Culture, most of the standard curriculum courses that are taught in schools around the world today.
Employment - 50+ Years Ago
When my grandparents were young, according to my grandfather, he started working a job when he was only 14. He worked seasonally in a fishing boat with his father, a summer job that was very common in that time period. After leaving high school, that’s what most male students would do, as fishing was pretty much the only job they had for males during that time besides being a priest or store employee.
Teaching was another necessary job filled in by whoever had the experience. If students didn’t stay and work one of those few jobs, they would probably leave the Coast and work somewhere else in Canada, something my grandfather did for a year much later in his life.
Employment - 2023
Today, there are many more jobs, ranging from Municipality / Government work, to working for our very own "Coaster's Association", to working with the CISSS/CLSC. That's not all, either. The Schoolboard or the CSSL is always employing, the Whiteley Museum offers jobs to student workers every summer, and construction is happening all over the Coast. I & S Seafoods also employs students in the summer, just like the Whiteley Museum. We don’t have as many options as there are in big cities, but there are still plenty of things to do and get done.
Culture - 50+ Years Ago
Culture back then on the Coast was all about the outdoors. After school, the youth would go out onto the roads and play Baseball in the summer, and Hockey on the ice in the winter. The rules of those sports were much the same as they are today. Other road games like hopscotch were played in the summer, or when the bay in town froze over during the colder months, a popular activity other than Hockey was just skating. It was outdoors fun, and good exercise!
When kids or adults alike didn't feel like going outside, they would visit each other and play cards and board games. Cards was much more popular then than it is now. Holidays were different then, as well. For example, instead of trick or treating on Halloween night, my grandfather and other tweens would go around and play tricks. There were often night time dances with live music played with guitars, accordions, and fiddles (violins).
Culture - 2023
Todays culture has differences and similarities to how it was over 50 years ago. For example, everyone will still play hockey and skate around when the bay freezes over in winter, but during the summer, baseball isn't as popular, but it's slowly coming back, and road games, don't happen at all, for obvious reasons. However, tweens will still gather into groups and walk around town talking and having fun.
People still visit each other, but not as often, due to technological advances. When visiting, instead of board games or cards, children will often just talk or play video games. Holidays are much more extravagant, with lots of candy to be found on Halloween night (I'm not complaining) and many more gifts during Christmas. Dances are not as common today, but many people in town still play music with string instruments and accordions.
There you have it: a small insight into how the Lower North Shore operated then, and how different it is in present day. St. Paul’s River is a beautiful place, so if you want to learn more about us, we have a website at https://whiteley.miaexplore.com/en/, or you could always come visit us yourself, since everyone where I live is generally welcoming to new people. Thank you for taking the time to read about our home and our people!
Left - Martin Conway Center - Collin Goddard Right - Valerie Keats