Marina's Mini Mart, Burnt Cape Cabins & Cafe, and Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve Stroll and Scoff

Marina’s Mini Mart, Burnt Cape Cabins & Café, and 

Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve Stroll & Scoff

(Ted & Marina Hedderson, Raleigh)

Ted and Marina Hedderson are quite the businesspeople. They operate Marina’s Mini Mart in Raleigh, population of about 167, and have done so since 2001. As Ted explained, “the Mini Mart was owned by Marina’s father for thirty-five years and called Ross Taylor’s store at the time.” In 2001, when Marina’s father decided to retire, the Heddersons purchased the store and have been running it ever since. They franchised through TRA first, then with Clover Farms and now with Kwik-Way, selling confectionary items, groceries, a little hardware, and paint. Ted characterizes their store as a true “convenience” store.

When asked what he likes about having a business in Raleigh, Ted replied, “The thing I like most about having a business here is we can stay here in this area. That’s one thing. And we are able to make a good living at our business here - and to be able to make a good living in rural Newfoundland is something to be proud of.” The Heddersons certainly do have a lot to be proud of, as they run three businesses. Ted also has a contract for bussing students from Raleigh and Ship Cove to school in St. Anthony.

Soon after purchasing the Mini Mart, Ted and Marina purchased a home across from their store. They received JCP funding to renovate the house, ultimately creating two vacation houses that are open year round. The cottages each have three bedrooms, with a complete kitchen, overlooking the picturesque Raleigh harbour. They include wireless internet, Satellite TV, and even a BBQ for patrons. Not long after acquiring the two vacation homes, Ted began operating Burnt Cape Cabins & Café. The Café is open during the summer, with a menu specializing in local seafood, wild game, and homemade desserts (many made with traditional Newfoundland berries). In addition, they run seven other cottages, two with two-bedrooms and five with one bedroom. Patrons have many of the same amenities as in the vacation homes, as well as an on-site laundromat. While the vacation homes are available all year, the seven cottages are open from the first of May until the end of November. Ted also operates the Viking Motel, a 12 room motel that he recently renovated along with the caretaker's room.

Ted Hedderson in his Cafe

Perhaps one of the most interesting and valuable businesses the Heddersons run is the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve and Scoff. Ted runs these two-hour tours, offered at 10 A.M. and 1 P.M. They begin in Raleigh at the restaurant. Ted first takes the guests in his vehicle and drives them around Raleigh. As he explains, “I take them for a full tour around Raleigh and I tell them the history of Raleigh, and how it was back in the 1920s with regards to the fishery, how many people are in the town and the history of the town.” He takes them to three or four places along Raleigh including a local sea cave before going to the Ecological Reserve, where he shows the guests the rare floral and fauna found along Burnt Cape. The Ecological Reserve is home to some three hundred rare species of floral and fauna, many that are only found there. He also shows them the frost polygons or sorted patterned ground formed when water intensely freezes and thaws over time, creating an interesting pattern in the ground as bigger rock gets pushed out from a center pressure of fine grain material and mud. Ted called these shapes mounds and explained, “vegetation starts to grow like the rare plants and flowers take hold because it has shelter from these mounds.”

At the end of the tour, guests have the option of having a traditional Newfoundland meal at Burnt Cape Café. Ted prepares a dish called “padderra”, which he explains “is an old fashioned Newfoundland dish that was first created when the fishermen of the towns like where I grew up would go out cod jigging all day and they’d take their hard bread and their salt pork scrunchions and onion and midday they would take a couple of the fish they would have caught, heading ashore to soak the bread and create a dish on the beach shore for their lunch.” Ted fries the fresh cod in the pork scrunchions and onions, frying it until it flakes, then adding breadcrumbs until it has a nice golden brown colour. He serves the dish with moose sausages, a beverage of the guest’s choice and one of their desserts made from local Newfoundland berries.

Ted is passionate about his businesses and it was a pleasure to get a tour of his cottages, Café, and the general store. Thanks, Ted!

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Please visit the Vinland Futures Research and Development Corporation website (www.vinlandfutures.ca) and follow us on Twitter (@vinlandfutures).