The generosity of Richard Parsons
By Olivia Bradbury/Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Conception Bay South’s annual Winterfest begins this week. Filled with many exciting activities and events for residents, the festival makes use of various facilities throughout town. One of them is the Richard Parsons Rotary Clubhouse and Richard H. Parsons Memorial Field. The clubhouse is a hub for groups and events in the community, and is named after a man who gave much to the town and to people in general.
Richard Parsons — affectionately known as Dick or Uncle Dick by most who knew him — was born in 1917 in St. John’s. During the Great Depression, his family lost their apartment and moved to Duffs in Holyrood. Most of the family moved to New York around 1940, but Richard remained, having met Annie Morgan of Seal Cove. The two married, settled in Seal Cove, and began a family. They had one daughter, who was their eldest, and seven sons.
Richard worked as an engineer’s mate on the steamship the S.S. Meigle. He witnessed boats get torpedoed during World War II, but the S.S. Meigle came out unscathed. In 1951, he built an extension onto his family home that served as a pub, and around 1960 he began a trucking company. In 1962 he began the Parsons & Sons Bus Company, which today is known as Parsons & Sons Transportation. He started with three used school buses and started ferrying students from their homes and back to the regional high school in Foxtrap. A couple of years later, Richard sold his trucking company to focus on the bus company. Today, it is one of the largest bus companies in Eastern Canada with a modern fleet of school buses and as well as top of the line motorcoaches serving the tourism sector.
Parsons was also very involved in sports in CBS. He often sponsored and donated to organizations and events and was one of the founders of the Conception Bay South Senior Hockey League. The league’s trophy, the Parsons Memorial Trophy, was donated by Richard and Annie Parsons in memory of three of their sons who died young. Richard was inducted into the Conception Bay South Sports Hall of Fame for his sponsorship of sports.
There’s many a hockey player and senior league fan from CBS who can recall riding one of Parsons’ buses to Prince of Wales Arena in St. John’s to take in the action between Foxtrap and Long Pond, or Topsail and Seal Cove or the other teams. Often the stories and tales exchanged on the buses were nearly as fun as watching the hockey itself.
Scott Parsons describes his father as extremely generous, constantly donating to charities, sports organizations, and so on. He recalled an instance in which the family had to go to the bank because they had an overdraft. When Scott checked the account, he saw that his father had donated $32,000 to various causes since January. When Scott mentioned this to his father, Richard replied, “My son, I had potatoes and gravy one time for Christmas dinner during the Depression. There will be money when I’m dead and gone. Don’t worry about it.”
Richard also held fundraising events at the pub. Scott recalls his father fundraising to get someone an electric wheelchair, and to help someone travel out of province for cancer treatment.
“Anything that was on the go, he and Mom were up for it,” said Scott.
The Parsons made cold plates and dinners, presented awards, and more if it helped someone out.
“He really, really enjoyed being a part of that,” Scott said of his father. “He loved the community, and he loved the people in it.”
The Richard Parsons Rotary Clubhouse came to be after local softball players decided they wanted somewhere to store equipment. They approached Scott, who was a member of the Rotary Club, and asked if the club could donate a small structure such as a baby barn. Scott brought it up at the next club meeting, and eventually it was decided they could build an even better structure than the athletes were asking for. Thus, the clubhouse was born. It has a kitchen, bathrooms, and a big area that is often used for important community meetings and social gatherings. The clubhouse was named after Richard, which Scott said was unexpected and a great honour.
Scott also highlighted the efforts and contributions that his mother Annie made to the community and their family.
“She was the tie that bound,” said Scott, who describes her as a very hard worker and a big part of Richard’s success. “She’s as much responsible for all these accolades as my dad.”
When they opened the local ballfield, also named in honour of Richard —the Richard H. Parsons Memorial Field — they invited Annie to bat for the first ceremonial pitch. Scott does not believe she ever played softball, but when they pitched the ball, she hit it. “It was magic, it really was,” he said.
Richard died on May 23, 1997. Annie died on May 13, 1999. But thanks to their generosity over the years, their legacy lives on.
The Annie Parsons Shield, the coveted prize awarded to the series winning girls high school team, will draw some of the biggest crowds during Winterfest as the Queen Elizabeth Pioneers battle against perennial rivals Holy Spirit Falcons.
The 2025 CBS Winterfest runs from February 7th to February 15th. The Richard H. Parsons Memorial Field and, by extension, the Richard Parsons Rotary Clubhouse, will serve as a Winterfest venue on February 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Activities taking place there will include snowshoeing, snow art, sledding, axe throwing, and more. There will be a boil-up of campfire foods such as beans and toast, and the CBS Kin Club will be providing free hot dogs and hot chocolate.
When it came to sports in the communities that eventually came to form the Town of Conception Bay South, there was no bigger supporter than the late Richard (Dick) Parsons. The Richard Parsons Rotary Clubhouse, named in his honour, will host a number of Winterfest events again this year.