ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — In the otherwise orderly Neighbourhood Pharmacy stands a display case filled with a ragtag assembly of old photos, almanacs, medicines and ointments that sound as if they were dreamed up by a fantasy writer.
Looking at these strange concoctions of Witch Hazel Distilled Extract or Iodized Throat Gargle is a great way to pass the time for customers of owner and pharmacist Robert Doyle.
Gus Fanning is one of Doyle’s regular customers and has a doctorate in earth and ocean sciences. Six years ago, while looking over one of the almanacs on display, he had an idea.
“I said to him, 'Robert, you know, we could probably do something like that (and) I bet I could do better weather forecasting,'” he said.
Growing up, Fanning enjoyed reading the almanacs his parents had lying around. But the island of Newfoundland was always lumped in with the Maritime or continental climate, despite the province’s Atlantic climate, Fanning said.
“So, we started off with just doing the island to kind of get things rolling and, ultimately, now we’re (forecasting) Labrador and Newfoundland,” Fanning said.
Fanning collects data from about 30 weather stations, and historical data that sometimes goes back a century, to make his forecasts.
“There’s just so much data to pull through,” he said.
“It takes a full day to run one month, (but) I love it.”
By taking a previous year’s forecast and comparing it with the weather recorded for that year, Fanning says, his forecasting is now at 74 per cent accuracy.
Doyle says he hadn’t realized how difficult writing was, 30 years of scribbling on prescriptions notwithstanding. But his interest in documenting the history, culture and people of Newfoundland and Labrador has since become a passion.
He attributes this to his grandfather, Gerald S. Doyle, who printed songbooks like “Old-time Songs of Poetry of Newfoundland,” a publication widely distributed throughout the province along with a variety of products — Gerald was also a pharmacist — like Doyle’s Cod Liver Oil, Beef Iron and Wine and Essence of Ginger Wine.
Since the first edition, Doyle has printed songs from his grandfather’s collections and retold familiar stories such as the Great Fire of 1892. But he’s also discovered and researched stories that were thought to have no concrete conclusion.
While Doyle and his wife, Toni, were visiting Italy, a waiter mentioned to them that there was a graveyard nearby where Canadian soldiers were buried.
There they found the grave of Duncan Mercer, a soldier who died in 1944 at the age of 19. After some research, Doyle discovered Mercer was born on Young Street in St. John’s, just around the corner from Neighbourhood Pharmacy.
Mercer was part of a unit that was instrumental in breaking through the Gothic Line, Doyle said. It was the last line of defence Adolf Hitler had in Italy.
“It was one of Canada’s greatest accomplishments in the war,” Doyle said.
After printing Mercer's story in the 2020 edition, Doyle received a phone call from Mercer’s nephew, who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“He said, ‘I just wanted to let you know I was named after Duncan … and my mother, Duncan Mercer’s sister, is still alive,’” he said.
After 75 years, at nearly 90 years of age, Mercer’s sister found out what had happened to her brother.
“It was just so rewarding for me to discover that his family now knew more about his life and death, and where his grave was located,” Doyle said. “They’re actually making plans to go visit his grave.”
This year’s edition includes a dedication to the life and work of archivist Larry Dohey, a profile of actor Allan Hawco, a timely story about a woman named Ethel Dickenson who lost her life working on the frontlines of the Spanish flu pandemic, a story on the golden cod of Gilbert Bay, Labrador, and more.
Copies of “Doyle’s Almanac of Newfoundland and Labrador” are available at Neighbourhood Pharmacy located at 78 Queen’s Rd. in downtown St. John’s.
