ROCK BARRA, P.E.I. — ROCK BARRA — Sandra Fraser was walking along the beach on P.E.I.’s north shore when she heard something that would change her life — the soothing sounds of drumming, singing and chanting.
Suddenly, she felt a force pulling her in that direction. She felt a deep connection to it. She could literally feel a healing power emanating from those sounds.
The native of North Lake discovered those sounds were coming from the Rock Barra Retreat just off the shore. Rock Barra is a private artist’s retreat, located just west of Souris, that is built for the contemplation and practice of the creative and healing arts.
“I just waited for my opportunity and found out there was something going on,’’ Fraser said. “I ended up going as much as I could (to the retreat). I stumbled upon it accidentally and fell in love with it right away because I had never experienced that.’’
The property is a spectacular 20-acre site with grand views of the ocean, sand dunes, a fresh water pond, a spunky little river, fresh water springs, six acres of woods with a walking trail, woodland flowers and herbs and a first-class beach.
Fraser said the retreat has made a big impact on her life, made very clear by the tears in her eyes and her voice cracking with emotion.
“It’s very healing to me, very grounding,’’ she said. “It touched my heart. It just opens me up to let go of the past, things that didn’t go so well. We all need that as far as I’m concerned. We need that connection where we can be with people that are of the same mind, that are there for the greater good of all. It’s built for healing as far as I’m concerned.’’
At the time. Fraser had just met the love of her life. And they decided their first date would be at the Let Them Eat Cake event, Rock Berra Retreat’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
That event goes once again tonight at the Haviland Club in Charlottetown. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15 a person at the door.
Kaitlin Doyle, the new chairwoman of the board of directors for Rock Berra Retreat, said P.E.I.’s star baker, Wendy McIsaac, will be whipping up some treats and she’ll be one of about 20 bakers making cakes for all to enjoy.
There will also be a silent auction, featuring items donated by local artists, and there will be entertainment, including Teresa Doyle, Jon Rehder, Patrick Bunston, Kaitlin Doyle, Dylan Tierney and Jonathan Gallant.
All proceeds will support the retreat, which is managed by a volunteer co-operative.
Teresa Doyle and her late friend, Kate Poole, co-founded the retreat.
The late Sam Sniderman, owner of the Sam the Record Man franchise, purchased the 20-acre property back in the 1980s to prevent it from being scooped up by foreign land owners.
In 2000, Teresa Doyle suggested to him he build a centre for the creative and healing arts on the property. Sniderman told Doyle to do it herself and promptly gave her and Poole a 50-year lease on the land for $1 a year. The catch was they had to take care of any development.
“Kate and I started with three little airstream trailers and then we decided we needed a building. We heard there was a movie company coming to Prince Edward Island and so we stalked them for two months,’’ said Doyle.
The movie was “The Ballad of Jack and Rose’’ starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
Sure enough, the movie production crew handed over the building to the Rock Barra Retreat co-operative in 2003 that would become the workshop and performance hall for the retreat.
Around 2010, Doyle said they switched it from a private enterprise to a co-operative. They have a board of directors, and the operation is not-for-profit.
They run the Sunday Night Concert Series in July and August. Some of the guests this summer will include Richard Wood, Gordon Belsher and Tim Chaisson. They also run the occasional Wednesday show.
Kele Redmond said before she signed on to handle communications and promotions for the retreat she felt a deep personal connection to the property.
“I wanted a place to connect with myself, with nature,’’ Redmond said. “I often spend a lot of time here alone. I would come here for a weekend workshop, but then I would just spend time here so that I could deepen my connection to land and sea.
“It was a great place for some healing restoration that I needed to do and it was a great place to develop my own healing arts project as a facilitator. But you need to fill up your own creative cup before you can help other people do the creative and healing work they come here to do.’’
When the concert series first began in the early days of the retreat, they’d get 50 people over the summer. These days, every show sells out and they end up hauling in more than 500 per season.
Kaitlin Doyle said her parents used to take her there to camp when she was just a child. With no running water at the time or electricity, she quickly learned to fall in love with nature.
“To have that real raw experience as a child for me was pivotal in my life,’’ Kaitlin says, noting that the retreat left her with a sense of freedom and safety. “This is like a spiritual home (for me). To feel so connected to a piece of land (is amazing).’’
She said it’s different than living in a normal home where distractions such as mobile phones and televisions can steal away a person’s attention.
“For me, Rock Barra is a place of community, a place of connection that we get to share with hundreds of people . . . you witness people healing, transforming, changing and experiencing a sense of playfulness and connection that they don’t experience in their day-to-day life.’’
About the Rock Barra Retreat:
- About a 10-minute drive west of Souris
- Property encompasses 20 acres
- Was originally bought by Sam Sniderman (Sam The Record Man) to protect it from foreign ownership
- He signed a 50-year lease with Teresa Doyle and Kate Poole in 2000 to have it converted into a centre for the creative and healing arts
- Some of the movie “The Ballad of Jack and Rose’’ starring Daniel Day-Lewis was filmed at the retreat during the summer of 2003
- The co-operative that runs the retreat kept the workshop and performance hall used by the movie production. The Sunday Concert Series is held there now
- The retreat is open to the public only for daytime workshops. As time goes on they may begin presenting longer programs and possibly offer overnight accommodations
- It is a drug- and alcohol-free retreat
- For more information, email [email protected], text 902-969-0367 or visit www.teresadoyle.com/rock-barra-retreat/
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