Clarenville Culture
The culture of Clarenville, like most service towns, is becoming increasingly
diverse. As the demand for services increases, people are needed to provide
them. Because of the small population of our town and province, that often means
that people must be hired from other provinces and countries to fill the
positions. While Clarenville is predominantly of Western European descent, it
would be difficult to find an area of the world that is not represented in our
town.
Religion
Like the rest of our province and country, the predominant religion in the
Clarenville area is Christianity. There are five major Christian denominations
in town including: The Salvation Army , Anglican Church, Pentecostal Church,
Roman Catholic, and the United Church, along with several minority religions.
Canada Goose Sanctuary
The area of Clarenville and Shoal Harbour is designated as a no hunting or
trapping reserve. The start of this project dates back to 1922 when Mr. Clyde
Tuck found goose eggs and put them under a hen to hatch. He kept these goslings
as pets during the winter and the hunting season. By 1962 he had 67 geese.
Despite
his efforts some of these geese fell prey to hunters and trappers. Sometime
during the 60's he decided to let these geese go. Inevitably, Mr. Tuck's
domestically raised geese had attracted wild geese as well. They came every year
to feed and enjoy the peaceful environment during their migratory journey. The
Clarenville Rotary Club decided to recognize the area as a Canada Goose
Sanctuary because of all of Mr. Tuck's effort.
Recreation
The Clarenville area also has some nice bars and clubs like West Side
Charlies, McNalley's, The Playhouse, Rod's Pub, Thristy's Bar, along with the
bars and clubs we have a Theatre and a Bowling Alley, we have two golf courses,
one in Port Blandford called Twin Rivers, and another called Brookside in
Hatchet Cove. We have a regional sportsplex with a swimming pool, racketball
courts and a weight room. We have two malls, a Tim Horton's, McDonalds, and a
Don Cherry's Restaurant. We have a park called the Elizabeth Swan Memorial Park
which is named for one of the provinces foremost figure skating pioneers which
features picnic / barbecue facilities, and also a playground for children. There
is also a race track located very close to Clarenville where the best race car
drivers in Atlantic Canada have raced.
Sports
People from the Clarenville avid sports participants. They have several
hockey teams (there is a high school hockey team called the Cougars) and midget
teams. Almost every weekend in the winter the stadium is host to a hockey
tournament. In the last couple of years, Clarenville has hosted the Provincial
Midget Softball championship, the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games, and
many more events. The schools in the Clarenville area are all very involved in
sports with almost every school having teams in sports like basketball,
volleyball, and softball.
Schools/Colleges
The four schools in the Clarenville area: Clarenville High School,
Clarenville Middle School, Clarenville Primary School, and Balbo Elementary are
under the jurisdiction of Vista School District. The Clarenville area also has
Keyin College, and College of The North Atlantic for post-secondary training.
Municipal Government
The Town of Clarenville was incorporated as municipality in 1951, with
Mr. Ernest Drover as the first mayor of the town. The new and modern Town Hall,
which houses the Fire Hall was opened in 1971. Clarenville shares its fire
fighting capabilities with Shoal Harbour and has a Volunteer Fire Department
consisting of thirty members.