RAMEA, N.L.—Ivan Giles may live in Nova Scotia, but the 34-year-old carpenter and part-time musician’s heart belongs to his hometown of Ramea, Newfoundland.Getting to the tiny outport island community of Ramea off the province’s southwest coast requires an hour and 15-minute ferry ride — on a good day — from the town of Burgeo. That’s 22 kilometres away, across a picturesque swath of the Atlantic Ocean.“There’s a song they used to play on our community channel every Sunday about Ramea and it’s called ‘Only Thing Grey’ by George Keeping. The first line of the song is ‘My heart’s beating faster as the ferry creeps closer to the island out in the sea.’ It’s beautiful, right,” Giles, who lives in Dartmouth, N.S., said in a recent interview.“It tells a very great representation of Ramea itself and the people, and your heart does beat faster and you just can’t wipe the smile off your face because you know that you’re getting closer. It is really unexplainable. It’s just a feeling of pure happiness.”Inhabitants of this wee island proudly refer to themselves as puffins, a nod to Newfoundland’s provincial bird that frequents the area and serves as the community’s mascot.This week, hundreds of those human puffins have flocked back home with family and friends to celebrate this unique place they call home. Giles is one of more than 800 people who’ve planned their summer vacation around Ramea’s Come Home Year (CHY), a celebratory event that’s particularly prevalent in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The presence of these former residents and their guests has temporarily tripled the town’s population — from 400 to about 1,200. From Aug. 7 to 11, they’ll help fill Ramea’s days and nights with music, dancing, food and festivities. This week, the streets are unusually busy, filled with peop ...
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