I grew up in Stephenville.. Most people who visit there say it sucks a
nd I hate that attitude. Its a cool diverse place. Most people say it sucks without even being there. They compare it to Gander, Grand falls.. all the other so called "big" centers in Newfoundland. Now.. I know if I grew up in st. john's my whole life and then went to Stephenville, I would probably think the place was hole/dive/skeetsville too. But growing up there with good friends was good.. I mean.. it sucked only having Reitmans and Eclipse to shop for girls clothes. But just a 50 minute drive and we had Corner Brook. I am going to Make a list of the top reasons why I think Stephenville is cool!!!!( and also why you should go there for a visit.. perhaps during the weeks July 22-August 4.. Come Home Year. Get to see 
Stephenville at it's best!!
Stephenville... ugly???? Really?
Top 10 Reasons I think Stephenville is Cool
1) Stephenville has a very Large arts community. Lots of Musicians and Artists. You can go to a bar on most nights in Stephenville and there will be local stephenville musicians playing there. They don't have to get bands from other places.. there are enough right there in town!!
2) It doesn't really have that "Outport" feel.. You don't see boats and shacks unless you want to. you can go down to Port Harmon and see all that. Some people will say that they don't like that about Stephenville..Thats it's not like the rest of Newfoundland. I guess its like that because of the American Influence back in the day!!
3) DOMINO PIZZA HOUSE. Not the chain.. the local Domino pizza house.. but as us stephenvillians call it.. "DOMINO's" The restaurant was opened several years ago by a gentleman named Claude Estoppey. Back in the 80's the Big Chain Domino's sued Mr. Estoppey for a large figure for copyright reasons.. Turns out Mr. Estoppey's business was opened about 10 years before the Big Chain!!! He counter sued for twice as much for his troubles and Domino the big chain had to add the 's to their name. They make the best subs and pizza's.. I would recommend the Large all meat, extra cheese with green peppers.. although the "combination" is a town favorite.. its also DIRT cheap.. try.. $7 for a large pizza with 5 toppings..!!! and its not like the big dirty street pizza's you get in st. john's. .they make a nice clean, easy to eat pizza!!
4) There is
a Downtown!! Unlike most communities and towns in Newfoundland that only have little shops and convenience stores.. We have a Main Street. That has Banks (4) Restaurants, Bakeries, Local Businesses, Tims, Furniture stores, Florists, Cafe's and of course.. a local hangout " The Food Center Parking lot" Thats the Car hangout.. "Arlims" ( big 
department store) Is the Pedestrian Hangout. There are also about 10 bars on Main Street. One that has been there for about 40 years or more. The brown derby. It is mostly known as a big skeet bar but lately has been coming around to a younger generation. Back when I was a teen you would see old men literally falling out of the bar at 2pm on a Monday afternoon.. or any other day. And the age group would be from 50-80!! Now its probably 19-80!!!
5) Famous Visitors!! The queen, Elvis, and even JD fortune!!( whahn waaahnn
)Back in the day when the base was open Elvis actually played in Stephenville. And then.. In 1997's season of the Stephenville Theatre Festival an aspiring actor Jason Dean Played the part of elvis in the Elvis show " are you lonesome tonight" Turns out It was JD fortune.. hahahah My husbands band jammed with him at clancey's.. of course he wanted to do Elvis tunes.. Pretty funny.
1) Stephenville has a very Large arts community. Lots of Musicians and Artists. You can go to a bar on most nights in Stephenville and there will be local stephenville musicians playing there. They don't have to get bands from other places.. there are enough right there in town!!
2) It doesn't really have that "Outport" feel.. You don't see boats and shacks unless you want to. you can go down to Port Harmon and see all that. Some people will say that they don't like that about Stephenville..Thats it's not like the rest of Newfoundland. I guess its like that because of the American Influence back in the day!!
3) DOMINO PIZZA HOUSE. Not the chain.. the local Domino pizza house.. but as us stephenvillians call it.. "DOMINO's" The restaurant was opened several years ago by a gentleman named Claude Estoppey. Back in the 80's the Big Chain Domino's sued Mr. Estoppey for a large figure for copyright reasons.. Turns out Mr. Estoppey's business was opened about 10 years before the Big Chain!!! He counter sued for twice as much for his troubles and Domino the big chain had to add the 's to their name. They make the best subs and pizza's.. I would recommend the Large all meat, extra cheese with green peppers.. although the "combination" is a town favorite.. its also DIRT cheap.. try.. $7 for a large pizza with 5 toppings..!!! and its not like the big dirty street pizza's you get in st. john's. .they make a nice clean, easy to eat pizza!!
4) There is
a Downtown!! Unlike most communities and towns in Newfoundland that only have little shops and convenience stores.. We have a Main Street. That has Banks (4) Restaurants, Bakeries, Local Businesses, Tims, Furniture stores, Florists, Cafe's and of course.. a local hangout " The Food Center Parking lot" Thats the Car hangout.. "Arlims" ( big 
department store) Is the Pedestrian Hangout. There are also about 10 bars on Main Street. One that has been there for about 40 years or more. The brown derby. It is mostly known as a big skeet bar but lately has been coming around to a younger generation. Back when I was a teen you would see old men literally falling out of the bar at 2pm on a Monday afternoon.. or any other day. And the age group would be from 50-80!! Now its probably 19-80!!!5) Famous Visitors!! The queen, Elvis, and even JD fortune!!( whahn waaahnn
)Back in the day when the base was open Elvis actually played in Stephenville. And then.. In 1997's season of the Stephenville Theatre Festival an aspiring actor Jason Dean Played the part of elvis in the Elvis show " are you lonesome tonight" Turns out It was JD fortune.. hahahah My husbands band jammed with him at clancey's.. of course he wanted to do Elvis tunes.. Pretty funny.6) Scenic Spots!! If you were in Stephenville you probably are thinking.. "thats the ugliest town I ever been in". Well the town itself isn't the most wonderful looking town
around but there are se
veral little hideaways you can go to. Stephenville in nestled in the middle of The bay st. George area. There are so many little communities around, excellent swimming spots, camp grounds, trails, mountains, beaches and other little secret spots that are really fun to find. One time a group of my friends and I decided to hike over Indian Head. Once we got over to the other side we found the most beautiful rolling hills of the greenest grass I ever saw!! and a little secluded beach at the bottom that was surrounded by mountains. No litter, no people.. it was gorgeous.
7) Check Day! Stephenville, like I said in my last paragraph, Is surrounded my little communities. The unemployment rate in these areas ( just an educated guess) is around 90%. So on the 1st and 15th of every month Stephenville is literally a circus of sorts. You will see a large yellow bus parked outside of the food center and all sorts of characters getting off to go shopping or to the bar or whatever. When I was a kid I hated going to the mall or anything around these times but as I got older I enjoyed the entertainment of it. People swearing very loud, 100's of people outside the foodcenter smoking with there babies in their lap, accents like you never thought possible, and for sure you would see at least 10 kids getting a smack on the ass!! We used to call it "child abuse at the mall" day!! Now as I got into my 20's and worked in the costumer service industry I would really hate check day.. cause I would have to be dealing with these people swearing at me, watch them swear at their kids for touching say, the interact machine. . . and people that really, frankly.. stank!!! I know this sounds mean.. But I am from Stephenville so Its OK for me to bitch about it!! hahaha
8) Jesus lives in Stephenville. The weirdo's. I know every town has their local town weirdo.. but whats cool about Stephenville is they have many. So many that we made a book of them. Now not all of these town weirdo's are known to everyone, but Say, 50% of the book are well known. Well there was Mosey byrnes.. who for some reason people outside of Stephenville call Mosey Murrin. He was the only Homeless person that I ever heard of in Stephenville. He would go around with a wheel barrel containing his belongings and go house to house looking for food. Also there is Jesus. He would ride his bike around town and scare the shit out people. For years no one knew if he was dangerous or now.. I was scare to death of him!! Sometimes he would be wearing old 70's clothes, other times- just a speedo!! Then there is Ronnie, The bag lady, The cat lady, Penny man, Gertie, Annie, $2 Nancy and Many Many others.. These all have been around since the 70's.!!
9) Bars.. And Lots of them.. Stephenville has more bars per capita than say.. George street.. Ok.. thats a bit of an exaggeration. Ok.. so on Main street alone there is The Royal, Brown Derby, 104 Main, The Redwood, The Club, Paddy's pub, The Dragonfly, The Bar( same owner as the club???? really!) Then there is Clanceys, Razoolies, Jacobs, The Santa Maria Club, Westside Charlies, The legion( 2 bars in one) and The Silverdollar. Then if you count all the bars that are in Hotels there is Emiles Pub, Keyano, Hotel Stephenville lounge. Alot of Bars for a Small town.
10) Drives around the Peninsula. The Port au Port Peninsula is just about 20 minutes
from Stephenville. There is nothing I love better than Getting out of town and down into the country. There are so many little communities do
wn there. You can also find a lot of good hiking trials and swimming spots. You will see big yellow school buses with curtains parked in yards being used as makeshift homes, Mulit-colored houses, Bizarre Lawn Ornaments, and all kinds of other sites. You really get that Newfoundland feel down there.. but it's still not really Outport-ish. Also there is a Restaurant down around that way that serve a Mean poutine!!
around but there are se
veral little hideaways you can go to. Stephenville in nestled in the middle of The bay st. George area. There are so many little communities around, excellent swimming spots, camp grounds, trails, mountains, beaches and other little secret spots that are really fun to find. One time a group of my friends and I decided to hike over Indian Head. Once we got over to the other side we found the most beautiful rolling hills of the greenest grass I ever saw!! and a little secluded beach at the bottom that was surrounded by mountains. No litter, no people.. it was gorgeous.7) Check Day! Stephenville, like I said in my last paragraph, Is surrounded my little communities. The unemployment rate in these areas ( just an educated guess) is around 90%. So on the 1st and 15th of every month Stephenville is literally a circus of sorts. You will see a large yellow bus parked outside of the food center and all sorts of characters getting off to go shopping or to the bar or whatever. When I was a kid I hated going to the mall or anything around these times but as I got older I enjoyed the entertainment of it. People swearing very loud, 100's of people outside the foodcenter smoking with there babies in their lap, accents like you never thought possible, and for sure you would see at least 10 kids getting a smack on the ass!! We used to call it "child abuse at the mall" day!! Now as I got into my 20's and worked in the costumer service industry I would really hate check day.. cause I would have to be dealing with these people swearing at me, watch them swear at their kids for touching say, the interact machine. . . and people that really, frankly.. stank!!! I know this sounds mean.. But I am from Stephenville so Its OK for me to bitch about it!! hahaha
8) Jesus lives in Stephenville. The weirdo's. I know every town has their local town weirdo.. but whats cool about Stephenville is they have many. So many that we made a book of them. Now not all of these town weirdo's are known to everyone, but Say, 50% of the book are well known. Well there was Mosey byrnes.. who for some reason people outside of Stephenville call Mosey Murrin. He was the only Homeless person that I ever heard of in Stephenville. He would go around with a wheel barrel containing his belongings and go house to house looking for food. Also there is Jesus. He would ride his bike around town and scare the shit out people. For years no one knew if he was dangerous or now.. I was scare to death of him!! Sometimes he would be wearing old 70's clothes, other times- just a speedo!! Then there is Ronnie, The bag lady, The cat lady, Penny man, Gertie, Annie, $2 Nancy and Many Many others.. These all have been around since the 70's.!!9) Bars.. And Lots of them.. Stephenville has more bars per capita than say.. George street.. Ok.. thats a bit of an exaggeration. Ok.. so on Main street alone there is The Royal, Brown Derby, 104 Main, The Redwood, The Club, Paddy's pub, The Dragonfly, The Bar( same owner as the club???? really!) Then there is Clanceys, Razoolies, Jacobs, The Santa Maria Club, Westside Charlies, The legion( 2 bars in one) and The Silverdollar. Then if you count all the bars that are in Hotels there is Emiles Pub, Keyano, Hotel Stephenville lounge. Alot of Bars for a Small town.
10) Drives around the Peninsula. The Port au Port Peninsula is just about 20 minutes
from Stephenville. There is nothing I love better than Getting out of town and down into the country. There are so many little communities do
wn there. You can also find a lot of good hiking trials and swimming spots. You will see big yellow school buses with curtains parked in yards being used as makeshift homes, Mulit-colored houses, Bizarre Lawn Ornaments, and all kinds of other sites. You really get that Newfoundland feel down there.. but it's still not really Outport-ish. Also there is a Restaurant down around that way that serve a Mean poutine!! 
