Back in the day, a man named Rodway from Kingwell decided to go to Renews in his boat, the Maple Leaf, to set his cod traps. The fish struck in on the Southern shore that year around July 1st and they were plenty. The Maple Leaf was fully loaded with salted fish well before the trap season was over but a local man offered him room on shore for salting any more that he could trap and other local people helped him when they could.

Catholic fishermen of the time fished two days a year for the church. One of those days was Lady Day, August 15th. Mr. Rodway was Anglican and in appreciation of the help he had received from the Catholic fishermen, he fished with them that day for the church. He and his crew landed almost 40 quintals of fish and didn’t keep one fish for themselves.

Around the end of August, he loaded his boat and made ready to sail. As he was heading out, the people of Renews gathered and sang “The Maple Leaf Forever”. Mr. Rodway and his crew were welcome in Renews for many years after.

(adapted from John Lou Ennis’ book Adapting To A Changing Situation In Placentia Bay - available from Sadie Griffiths in Placentia).