For Immediate Release
(This will be a multi-part series; released weekly prior to Targa Newfoundland 2018. We will provide insight and information into our competitors, staff, and volunteers; highlighting our supporting communities, business owners, fans and residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.)
Brigus, Newfoundland
Targa Newfoundland would like to congratulate Brigus and the supporting communities, on another hugely successful Blueberry Festival this past weekend. Thousands of visitors and locals alike; ate, danced, and browsed tables full of local foodstuff and wares for sale, during this past unusually sunny, hot weekend.
Brigus is not only famous for the area’s (supposed) million+ pounds of blueberry export per year, but has always been known for beautiful rustic architecture, numerous lush flowering gardens, and winding narrow streets and lanes. The “greatest ice Navigator of the 20th century,” Captain Bob Bartlett, resided in nearby Hawthorne Cottage, a National Historic Site of Canada. (Sorry visitors it’s currently closed for 2018 season due to upgrades – MA)
Not far from Brigus, the village of Cupids has the honor of being the location of the oldest English colony in Canada. An ongoing archaeological dig at Cupids has unearthed over 150,000 (400-year-old) artifacts, many of which are now on display in the Cupids Legacy Centre where you can learn the history and story of all the squabbling and attack by pirates and fishermen both; that eventually led to all-hands abandoning the settlement, in the early 1600’s.
There were many “Arctic Heroes” and sea Captains, who originated from the Brigus area:
- Captain John Bartlett, who sailed with both the American explorer Isaac Israel Hayes, and Admiral Robert Peary
- Captain Sam Bartlett who sailed with Admiral Robert Peary
- Captain Robert Bartlett, who was in charge of the S. Roosevelt when Peary reached the North Pole, and who later survived the wreck of the Karluk
- Captain Arthur Bartlett and Captain William Norman, who rescued Admiral Adolphus Greely
- Captain Isaac Bartlett, who rescued Captain Tyson and crew of the U.S. Polaris, in the Strait of Belle Isle in 1872, after drifting on an iceberg for 1500 miles
- Captain William Bartlett, known as “the Commodore of the sealing fleet in Newfoundland”.
- Captain William Munden built the schooner Four Brothers, the first one-hundred-ton schooner in Newfoundland (built 1819 – Brigus).
(Source: Wikipedia)
No adventure to Brigus is complete without a walk to ‘The Tunnel’… Carved out of solid rock and leading down to the harbour underground, the passageway has been rumored to have been used by pirate Peter Easton to store his looted ‘treasure’ (likely from John Guy’s nearby settlement at Cuper’s Cove/Cupids.)
Many of the towns in this area are extremely old, dating back over four hundred years, and are some of the oldest established settlements found in all of North America.
For an excellent historical account of the Brigus area, please visit the Town of Brigus website here.
For some lovely images of the area, visit the Provincial Travel and Tourism site here.
Brigus has been a long-standing host of Targa Newfoundland (Thank You!) and we look forward to racing there, every single year. The ‘Brigus Bridge’ is well known throughout Targa team circles as one of the most prolific jumps, of all the Targa stages. Many vehicles become fully airborne during the Brigus stage; to the grin of people, photographers, and drivers all! Targa Newfoundland will be running closed-road high velocity stages through the communities of Brigus and Marysvale (head for the Baccalieu Trail) on Friday, September 21st, 2018. We hope to see you all out there!
Contact:
Robert Giannou 1-709-682-7900 rgiannou@targanewfoundland.com
President
Mike Aylward 1-709-330-5325 mikea@targanl.com
PR & Media
David Noseworthy 1-709-222-2053 david@targanl.com
PR & Social Media
Owned and operated by Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, Targa Newfoundland is one of three internationally recognized Targa motorsports events in the world. The 2018 event starts with our two-day optional Driving School on September 13th & 14th. The Tech/Registration Day is September 15th. Prologue Stages occur on September 16th. The actual competition will start in St. John’s on September 17th and concludes back in the capital on September 21st. The annual rally will cover more than 1,500 kilometers of the challenging, twisty roads of the central and eastern portion of the island of Newfoundland, including over 440 kilometers of closed-road, flat-out Targa stages.