The year 2025 is coming to a close, which means the Gazette is offering its end-of-year glimpse into the outside lives of some members of the Memorial University community.

Read on to learn about some of the “extracurricular” activities a few folks at Grenfell Campus, the Faculty of Science on the St. John’s campus and the Marine Institute get up to outside of their regular work hours.

Jennifer Broadbent

Jennifer Broadbent is a self-professed Christmas fanatic.

So much so that she and her husband, Mike, recently opened a 100-acre Christmas tree farm in Pynn’s Brook filled with Balsam and Fraser fir trees for patrons to choose from, complete with a “magical” gift shop.

Ms. Broadbent, a counsellor in Grenfell Campus’s Counselling and Psychological Services, says they want their customers to feel like they stepped out of reality for a little while and into a space that feels like a Hallmark movie.

Outside the gift shop stands an eight-foot nutcracker that greets customers with classical Christmas music.

Inside, three real trees are decorated with ornaments for sale and Santa Claus can be found sitting in the corner greeting children and adults alike. Customers can purchase photo packages, or they can just visit and chat with the big guy.

Hot chocolate is served free of charge, and there is an animatronic reindeer by the cash register that moves its head like a real reindeer.

“Kids love to pet him and ask questions about how he gets back and forth from the North Pole,” Ms. Broadbent shared. “We also have reindeer food, which we hand out to the children for free and encourage them to sprinkle it on their lawns on Christmas night to help give Santa’s reindeer “extra energy.” The reindeer food is made of oats and sprinkles and donated by my lovely mother-in-law, Jane Broadbent.”

Their imaginations aren’t stopping there, either.

“In the future, we imagine outdoor Christmas movies, sleigh rides, camping domes — the possibilities are endless,” she said.

Having always dreamed of a Christmas-related career, when the former owner of the tree farm retired, Ms. Broadbent jumped at the opportunity.

“I have always loved Christmas. My favourite childhood memories are of Christmas eves spent with my extended family in Stephenville and watching the sky for Santa’s sleigh as we drove back to Corner Brook,” she said. “My sister and I struggled to sleep on Christmas Eve, and still to this day, I have never slept past sunrise on Christmas morning.”

Being in the Christmas tree business means the holiday is now an all-year-round endeavour, not just the crunch months of November and December. An electric fence surrounds the premises to prevent moose and other large animals from eating the trees, so in the off-season, the Broadbents walk the perimeter a few times a week to check its condition.

Closer to Christmas, they clear the area around the trees they’ll be selling, make sure the bailer and chainsaws are in working order and prepare the inventory for the shop.

Ms. Broadbent says they have been “overwhelmed” with the support and encouragement they’ve received from the community.

“I’ve had some Grenfell faculty and staff members volunteer to help out at the farm. So many people have reached out to thank us, however, the pleasure has been all ours. Seeing the faces of children and adults alike who are able to remove themselves from the hustle of “real life” and be in the moment is truly a blessing.”

If you’re wondering, yes, Hallmark Christmas movies are Ms. Broadbent’s guilty pleasure. Her favourite is Tis the Season to be Merry as well as the Three Wisest Men trilogy.

“Some are awful, but I do it for the always happy endings.”

And, she believes in Santa Claus, “without question.”

Darrell Wells

Darrell Wells has worked with wood all his life, starting out building toy boats in his grandfather’s shed.

The instructor in the Marine Institute’s School of Ocean Technology even built his own house and garage. In recent years, he began working with the intarsia process and other wood crafts.

A family uncle introduced him to intarsia: a mosaic wood art method of fitting and glueing pieces of wood together that originated in 15th-century Italy.

“I was immediately attracted to it when I saw his work about 10 years ago,” said Mr. Wells, who hails from the Head of Bay d’Espoir but currently resides in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s.

He decided he would give it a go and started by researching American artist Judy Gale Roberts, a renowned intarsia expert, who offers tips and tricks and sells patterns.

Next was upgrading his woodworking equipment with scroll saws, flex sanders, Dremel sanders and bandsaws. For really detailed work, he has a scroll saw no bigger than a hair.

“You name it and I probably have some versions of the tools required,” he said.

To begin a piece, he chooses a pattern that he then cuts out on a scroll saw. Some pieces may have 10-20 parts, others may have hundreds.

Mr. Wells says true intarsia uses many different types of wood in a single pattern. Western red cedar is a popular choice of wood because of its various shades and its relative softness to most wood types, making it easier to sand.

Some species of wood are difficult to get locally, so he has bloodwood, cedar, wenge, maple, yellow birch, juniper, zebra wood, basswood and purple heart wood shipped in from as far away as British Columbia. More recently, he has been using pine and then staining the pieces to get his desired effect.

“I like working with wood. I enjoy starting a new project and seeing the finished results after all the sanding and finishing,” he said. “It’s very satisfying. Sometimes during the process, I may say, ‘Well, that looks awful,’ but after some more sanding and such, the final product works out.”

Mr. Wells can do a complete piece, such as a wolf, in a couple of days; more complicated pieces can take up to a month to complete.

As woodworking is a hobby that he mostly does for his own creative pursuit, he says he limits requests. However, he does take some requests from his admirers, including Christmas-themed pieces to help make the season festive. He’s even made some pieces for his Marine Institute co-workers, friends and family.

“I appreciate when someone looks at a piece and likes what they see,” he said. “All the hard work is worth it.”

As a dedicated woodworker, it’s not surprising to hear he has some retirement projects already lined up to add to his personal collection: several large, 3-4 feet wide patterns with many hundreds of pieces involved are in Mr. Wells’ creative future.

First up? A tiger panel.

Stephanie Saunders

For the past 20 years, Philip Antle has served as a volunteer firefighter with the Holyrood Fire Department.

Mr. Antle’s dedication to his community inspired his niece, Stephanie Saunders, to fight fires, too — and this summer the pair battled some of the most devastating wildfires Newfoundland and Labrador has ever seen together.

Ms. Saunders, an administrative staff specialist in the Faculty of Biology, says she has always been drawn to roles where she can help people and make a meaningful difference.

She also wanted a change in her life and a challenge. She got exactly that when she took on the one-year recruitment program while juggling her full-time job and raising two young boys.

“The training was intense, especially since I started with zero firefighting experience,” she said. “I had to learn everything — from putting on all the protective gear and using a breathing apparatus, to handling tools for forcible entry, hose operations and ventilation. There were written exams and practical tests too, so it really pushed me both physically and mentally, but it was worth it.”

This past summer’s wildfire emergency was “unlike anything” Ms. Saunders’ had ever seen. She says she’ll never forget driving into Holyrood at the height of the fire.

Despite it being the middle of the day, the sky was filled with thick, dark grey smoke, and visibility was almost zero. She says her body shook with adrenaline as she watched a wall of fire move through the forest.

The fire crews worked tirelessly through the intense heat, hiking up steep hills through burning and smouldering forests, their boots crunching on charred debris. Helicopters and water bombers flew overhead, dropping water every couple of minutes.

“It was loud, chaotic and surreal,” she said. “When we were sent to assist with the Conception Bay North fire, it felt like Holyrood, but on an even larger scale. Amid the chaos, what stood out most was seeing so many fire departments come together seamlessly, working as one team.”

Ms. Saunders’ Holyrood Fire Department includes eight other women — something she is very proud of. She says women bring a lot to the table in firefighting.

Resiliency, adaptability and an ability to look at situations from a different angle are major assets on a team, she says. She also says women bring a lot of compassion for the people they’re helping and for each other.

“Having a diverse crew makes the whole team stronger. It feels good to be part of that.”

And for any woman who is thinking about following in Ms. Saunders’ footsteps, she says you “absolutely belong here!” She says you don’t have to be the strongest person in the room — you just have to be willing to learn, work hard and push past your comfort zone.

“Firefighting is about teamwork, resilience and determination. If you have the heart for it, there’s a place for you.”

When asked how she juggled firefighting with all of her responsibilities, Ms. Saunders says there were days when she had her laptop at the firehall to keep up with work tasks and went days without seeing her kids. She’s grateful to her supportive husband, who stepped in and handled both parenting roles so she could serve the community.

“It was definitely exhausting at times, but honestly, I’m really proud of how we got through it as a family.”