Description
Step and Copy was a sport carried out usually by older children and teenagers in outport Newfoundland. The objective was to successfully leap from one ice pan to another by briefly stepping on one or two smaller pans, while others following would try to do the same. More accomplished steppers could navigate as many as 8 or 10 pans, and not always in a straight line. However, even the best sometimes fell into the icy water and had to remove their boots, socks, and pants and beat them dry on a wharf post. After this procedure, the guilty party would hang around and delay going home, hopeful that Mother would not notice. She usually noticed.
The foreground of this image features Youngs’ and Greenhams’ stages, on the Southside, Twillingate,and looks across Shoal Tickle towards Burton’s Point, Northside. The sailing vessel lying derelict in the harbour is the Lester N. Peckford. As kids we would swing from her ropes and cables into the salt water.
