People flock to Newfoundland in search of the Come From Away kindness and find it

Janet Hayward didn't show too much outwardexcitement Friday night as she walked toward a Gandertheatreto see the musical that inspired what she calls her "NewfoundlandQuest" but she did arrive a full hour early.

The 54-year-old high school teacher from Indiana has spent thepast three weeks driving all over Newfoundland to capture theessence of its people, culture and landscape, and relay it for herstudents.

She began dreaming of the trip after she saw Come FromAwayover a year ago on Apple TV Plus. The musical tells the storyof the town's efforts to care for thousands of people stranded thereon planes grounded after the Sept. 11, 2001,attacks in the U.S.

The story gripped her, and she couldn't let it go. So she applied for, and won, a special grant for teachers in Indiana to embark onthe journey.

"It's the kindness of the whole thing," Hayward said in an interview.

"I really wanted to meet the people behind thekindness."

She is among many, from all over the world, who have come to Gander in search of that kindness. And she was not disappointed.

Thirty-eight planes carrying more than 6,500 people were ordered to land at the Gander airport on Sept. 11, 2001. The town has apopulation of about 11,800 people and Come From Awayis aboutthose who opened their homes, community halls and businesses toshelter the "plane people" for the five days they were stranded.

Its characters are based on real people in Gander, and the real things they did to dampen the passengers' horror as they learnedwhat had happened.

The musical was a smash on Broadway, running for a record-setting five years at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City.

TheGander production is the first fully-staged presentation of the musical in its hometown, according to Michael Rubinoff, the play'soriginating producer. He congratulated Friday night's crowd forsnagging "the hottest theatre tickets on the planet."

'A profound change in my life'

Barbara Amiel Pearson first saw the musical in 2017, during a particularly dark time in her life. She lives in Florida, and shesaid she was "despondent" after Donald Trump's victory in the 2016election.

"I had lost hope in this country, I had lost hope in theworld, I had lost hope in people," she said in an interview this week.

"And then I see this play ... and I felt like I had to go and see if people could really be this good."

She arrived in Gander for the first time in October 2017.

"I hadone goal: I wanted to meet Newfoundlanders," she said. So she wentto the Tim Hortons across from her hotel and started talking topeople.

Amiel Pearson, 72, said she met people on that trip she is stillfriends with today, including Gander resident Diane Davis, who isthe inspiration for the character Beulah Davis in the play.

As is a common experience for many Newfoundland visitors, bothPearson and Hayward were invited into strangers' homes for meals,tea and lengthy chats.

Amiel Pearson returned to Gander in 2019, and she'll be arrivingagain next month; she has front-row tickets for the Come FromAwayperformance on Aug.12. She says her will includesinstructions for her two daughters to use part of their inheritanceto visit Newfoundland.

"It really caused a profound change in mylife," she said.

Derm Flynn said he's heard many stories like Hayward's and AmielPearson's, but he's still moved by each one. He was mayor of nearbyAppleton, N.L., on Sept. 11, 2001. He and his wife, Dianne, took insix passengers.

"We're not used to a big deal being made of the fact that we caninvite someone into our home for a cup of tea," he said this week,adding that Newfoundlanders don't want to be seen as "blowing theirown horns."

"There are contrary Newfoundlanders, just as there are contrary people all over the world," he added.

The Flynns' story is told through the Derm Flynn character inCome From Away.About a year after the play opened on Broadway,they began hosting an event for tourists called Meet The Flynns, where they invite people into their home for lunch, tea and a chat.

They've entertained guests from the rest of Canada, the United States, Australia and Germany, he said.

They charge for the visit, but it's a way to give people who'veseen the play the kind of welcoming experience they're looking for,Flynn said.

Hayward hopes to instill in her students a sense of the kindnessshe has discovered in Newfoundland.

To that end, she plans to startan after-school social club. She'll get students together to talkabout themselves and their interests and what they'd like tocontribute to their community. And then, together, they'll undertake"one wonderful kind act or service a month," she said.

In the meantime, her husband and both of her sons have joined herfor different parts of her Newfoundland adventure, and they've lovedit as much as she has, she said.

"We'll definitely be back."