Thanks to Broadway Across Canada, I got to go back to Newfoundland last night at TCU Place in Saskatoon for the opening night of Come from Away.
I love this story of light in the darkness, hope amid the pain, and how a small community in Canada was impacted by a terrorist attack in New York.
It opens and closes the same way: welcoming everyone to the rock, first in 2001.
“When the sun is coming up, and the world has come ashore,
If you’re hoping for a harbor than you’ll find an open door.”
This was Operation Yellow Ribbon, the plan to redirect 224 diverted planes and the more than 33,000 people across Canada, half of which went to Atlantic destinations, including to Goose Bay, Gander, and Stephenville in Newfoundland, Moncton, St. John’s, and Halifax in the Maritime provinces, and other destinations in Canada like Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.
These places were chosen because of their airport capacity. Gander was the stopping location for refueling planes to make the route from North America to Europe so it was designed to handle high volumes of air traffic. The advancement of jet planes to make the trek without refueling left Gander with their airport and no reason for planes to stop anymore.
“You’ve all seen the airport–used to be the biggest airport in North America. Planes used to stop here to gas up from everywhere.”
On Sept. 11, Gander seemed to have a bigger job than most as everyone in the community rose to be the light during something absolutely unthinkable.
Thirty-nine planes were diverted to Gander. The community of 10,000 people housed, fed and took care of near 7,000 passengers and crews who were caught in the air when the American airspace closed.
Going to Newfoundland and experiencing the power they have to take care of people for yourself is completely different than anywhere else in the country.
This is just what you do in Newfoundland, home of hurricanes, fishing disasters, and a challenging provincial economy. Everyone steps up to help when help is needed.
Watching the documentary on the making of the musical and the 10th anniversary of 9/11, no one in the town seemed to notice there was this amazing story there.
“We try to give them money, but they won’t take it.
No m’son. You would’ve done the same.
I drank all your whiskey.
I would’ve done the same.”
While I was born in Saskatchewan, I have spent some time in the surreal world of Atlantic Canada. While we are all Canadian, not everyone has the heart than Atlantic Canadians do.
I was in Stephenville, Newfoundland from May to August 2006 and I am still kicking myself for not asking about the aftermath of 9/11.
Eight flights and 1,100 stranded passengers were diverted to Stephenville International Airport and the town of 6,623 people and was, in a previous life, an old air force base.
I was an 18-year-old Saskatchewan farm girl on my own for the first time traveling with Katimavik and Newfoundland was last stop of a nine-month journey to live and work in Canadian communities.
There is no shortage of stories how we were taken care of in Newfoundland. The best compliment I have received in my life is that Saskatchewan people have that very same heart. I tend to disagree since those are big shoes to fill.
Thanks to my husband who bought us tickets for our anniversary, including one for my little sister, another Broadway lover stuck living far from New York.
Full tank and Tunes 