Trevor’s Nan

When you live in a small town in rural Newfoundland and you get a summer job in a gift shop there and you have a Nan who can paint, it doesn’t take long to realize that your Nan should have her painted Christmas ornaments for sale in that shop. So this is what occurred just recently at The Roost!

How this story began

Earlier in the summer we hired Trevor for 8 weeks as a technician. His position was created as a summer opportunity under the Federal Student Job Program. In his position Trevor has been responsible for entering data in to our online store which is part of this website. The process for entering a new product starts with a good photo, a clear written description and all the other shopping details about the product that are necessary for people to shop. With thousands of products to choose from in our shop, getting the majority of them in to the online store is a big task. In addition to this work he has been covering the shop for breaks and doing other tasks as assigned. As a result Trevor has become very well acquainted with the Newfoundland made products that we sell.

So the second part of this story goes like this - we already knew that Trevor's Nan lives just up the road from the shop. He and his Nan have a very special relationship. Not to give away any secrets but we suspect that Trevor's Nan might spoil him just a bit and it is pretty obvious that Trevor thinks that she is pretty special too. Trevor almost always goes to his Nan's for lunch and one day recently when he came back he asked us if we would like to see Nan's Christmas ornaments.

Even though we have known his Nan (Ann Darrigan) for a while we had no idea that she made ornaments and hand painted ones at that! We soon had a few samples to look at and we were very quickly convinced that these would be a perfect fit in the shop. We now have about 60 ornaments in the shop on display as well as photographed and added to the online store (by Trevor of course).

So here is a nice picture of Nan with two of her ornaments. Ann's father was responsible for cutting the variety of ornaments shapes that she uses out of wood and before his death he cut out so many that she thinks she will never run out! With a variety of shapes to choose from, Ann starts her magic creating these beautiful one of a kind ornaments. Each has its own ribbon for hanging. These are just a few samples of these lovely handmade ornaments that would be the perfect souvenir of Newfoundland. And in case you missed them while visiting the shop, you can shop at home with lots of choice!

One of the most rewarding aspects of running The Roost has been sharing the stories of the Artists and Artisans who bring their unique handcrafted pieces to us. Trevor and his Nan are just one example of how we have been able to "make their story ours" and share it with everyone who has an interest in this beautiful province.

Talk soon

Janis