Time is the most valuable thing a human can spend.
The frustrating thing about time is that there never seems to be enough of it, right?
When you're having fun, living in the moment, making memories and just enjoying life, that's when time seems to play its weird tricks on you. You blink and a month goes by. You yawn and it's been half a year. Before you know it, you're posting something on social media about the year that was and what may lay ahead because, bingo bango, it's New Year's Eve, buddy! December 31st of *INSERT YEAR HERE*! And you're doing this because, apparently, it's become tradition for you - my Facebook timeline memories reminded me of that past midnight.
I'm a writer, and that's what writers do; they write. But hey, if you wanna skip ahead and go further down your timeline to something more entertaining, please do and I'll take no offense. There are more entertaining things going on around here than my meager thoughts and ramblings. For example, last night I saw there was a hilarious anecdote on the Outlook Bulletin Board page about someone who chose to do a review of the slush machine at the D&E here in town. I swear, this is true! Of course, small town drama won out yet again because someone misconstrued what the guy was saying about the quality of the product and the fact that he couldn't get through to the owners because of the language barrier. The post got deleted, but that didn't stop me from laughing my butt off.
Elsewhere in 2024, when people weren't so bored that they chose to spend their evening reviewing Slurpees at their local convenience store, it proved to be an interesting year:
- The village of Loreburn was devastated by a roaring fire that took the old F.W. Cobs Company grain elevator.
- Students at LCBI High School blew spectators away by creating a walk-through display that spoke volumes about the impact of residential schools.
- Olympic gold-winning athletes took center stage at a banquet in Outlook recognizing the strides that females have taken in hockey and sports.
- A freak pipe burst in the inner workings of the Outlook swimming pool in January saw its closure for the 2024 season, causing public outcry and criticism.
- The horrific loss of five people at a home in Davidson due to suspected CO poisoning and then a fiery blaze that scorched the scene left many people heartbroken.
- A former Outlook area resident, Matthew Ballek, pled guilty to a child pornography charge in the U.S. following a lengthy undercover investigation that led to his arrest. Ballek will learn of his fate in March, facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- With the war over wages and threats of strikes between the provincial government and the SK Teachers Federation taking center stage in the spring, it led to key events either 小蓝视频 cancelled or changed, such as the annual HOOPLA provincial basketball championship, which was retooled and went on as scheduled with the help of parent volunteers.
- The Conquest Shrimp Feed marked 50 years, with tales of hockey days gone by taking center stage as stories were told in the rink by former players and coaches from over the years.
- Impressive renovations and extensive cleanup jobs helped bring the Bounty Theatre hall in Outlook back into prominence, where it's now officially one of the town's several performance venues.
- The annual Prairie Festival in Outlook brought three days worth of entertainment, activities, events, food, and good times to the people of the riverside community.
- 12-year old Ella-Rae Malinowski, from the family farm just across the 小蓝视频 Saskatchewan River up north by Swanson, talked to me about her many fundraising efforts over the years, starting when she was much younger.
- The work done by staff at The Outlook newspaper, including yours truly, was recognized in the Saskatchewan Legislature by local 小蓝视频 Dana Skoropad. That one was pretty cool and very unexpected!
- Fundraising and awareness went into overdrive for Outlook's new fire hall, which is expected to begin construction in the spring. The project is already approximately 80% paid for with donations and pledges.
- The Outlook newspaper, celebrating 115 years of publication in 2024, moved uptown into a new office location just beside the Bargain Shop.
- Will Hardy of Outlook was candid and honest when I spoke to him about his late brother Bud, who was serving as a combat medic on the Ukrainian front lines when he was killed by a Russian drone strike back in June.
- A collision between a truck and an SUV on Highway 15 near Broderick saw a woman from Outlook killed at the age of 69.
- Local politics in Outlook saw then-mayor Maureen Weiterman exit her role prior to the civic election season, which was then filled by Ryan Husband.
All of this, and about 1000 other things that happened in Outlook and the surrounding Lake Diefenbaker regional area.
And in the year ahead, there will be 1000 more other things that will happen.
We'll experience them, whether they're good, bad, sad or even ugly things. That's life. That's what we all signed up for. And we'll all learn a few new things about each other.
Tom Petty wrote, “Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks.” That about sums up daily life, doesn't it? It's simplistic, but it's also beautiful in its own way.
Myself, I saw some change in 2024. The end of June brought with it my time ending with The Outlook newspaper, at least from a strictly employee-employer standpoint. With the paper moving up town after the sale of the building to Pederson Insurance, as well as my status moving from an employee of Glacier Media (owners of The Outlook newspaper) to an employee of Harvard Media (owners of the 小蓝视频 news website), I switched to working from home. Yes, my articles still run in The Outlook and they always will, but it's certainly been different these last few months. I got too used to driving to an office every day for over 17 years, and now I just......don't.
But that's life; it has to change and you have to roll with the punches.
Looking back at the last year, I'm always impressed with the stories and the happenings of this small, west central part of the province. We're certainly an interesting people, capable of making for some captivating stories.
But enough of this 'looking behind us' melodrama. It's time to look forward, because that's simply all you can do, right? So where do we go in 2025? Where do *I* go? Well, I'm keeping a few things close to the vest on that one, but I'm excited, I'll tell you that much.
In 2025, we need to say 'Hi!' to each other more often and not just on Facebook. Talk to each other. See how your friends and family are doing. Check in more. The thing about life is that we don't know how much of it any of us are going to receive, so *now* is the time that counts.
Friends, I wish you the absolute best in the new year that's ahead of us. I hope it brings you happiness and comfort.
Tom Petty (yup, he showed up again) is my favorite songwriter of all time, so I'll end this with some choice lyrics he wrote for his song, 'Wildflowers'.
'You belong among the wildflowers,
You belong in a boat out at sea,
You belong with your love on your arm,
You belong somewhere you feel free'
Cheers, everyone.
DWR
12/31/24
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
