A recent three-day excursion with three grandchildren kept my husband and I on our toes! Land of the Loon resort in Blue Huron Provincial park located on the edge of Prince Albert National park was an action packed time! We rented an 1,100 square foot handcrafted log cabin on this newly developed private property. The only downfall is the weather turned cooler with high gusting winds creating white caps, which wasn’t pleasant! Our 10-year-old outdoors-wise grandson was in charge of making and keeping the outdoors fire going most of the day. A wasp nest was hanging from below a deck board and needless to say some of us came home with a few stings! There were even wasps and yellow jacket hornets hovering around the beach area so one had to be alert. Good times were had and the kids met some their own age from North Battleford whose parents are acquaintances with two of our clan. Good news is that us old people survived but came home exhausted but happy!
Shell Lake curling rink burned down on Saturday and we had gone past this village late Friday en route from our northern trip. Thankfully no one was injured ! The local fire crew and nearby citizens helped put out the fire! Cause unknown.
Long time former residents of Mayfair, Ruth and Lawrence Martin recently celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary. Ruth taught at Mayfair Central School while her husband farmed. They, along with youngest son Mark, moved to Saskatoon 11 years ago. Our son Ryan purchased their farm.
Belated birthday wishes to Ann Ewanchuk who resides in Ruth Whyte Manor, North Battleford, who celebrated her 93rd birthday Aug. 10. She along with husband Uhan owned and operated Whitkow hotel for many years.
Doug Grigor formerly from Mayfair turned 90, but with COVID restrictions wasn’t allowed a celebration, according to his wife Alice who still resides in Mayfair. His birthday was April 29.
Outdoor barbecues are always well attended with weather permitting and this is the case last Saturday. The Mayfair Hoffnungsfelder Mennonite church had a large hungry crowd with the Toews family doing most of the work for the fundraiser. Teresa Toews reported that their auntie Dorothy Talbot from Tees (near Leduc. Alta.) and family took in this event on their Saskatchewan visit. People did stay to visit friends and neighbours after eating.
Rodeos are also a great outdoor activity and again Leoville hosted the annual rodeo with a large enthusiastic crowd of participants and spectators. It is always the long August weekend and is well organized. Kevin, Lauren Liebaert and family participated in many events. To name a few, Lauren registered in barrel racing, calf roping, steer riding and, along with Julie Scott (near Salisbury) from Mullingar, team wild cow milking! Other participating former locals from our district included three Lehman brothers, Dusty from Viking, Alta., Dawson from Kelowna, B.C. and Ashton from Paynton and Lauren’s brother, Brennan Huard, from North Battleford. Some children’s events were mutton riding and chicken catching! Apparently Martensville a few years ago also put on a well attended rodeo but that is no longer, so many await for Leoville’s.
I found a drowned squirrel in a half a pail of water on my cabin deck. Poor thing! I speculate that it was jumping from tree to tree towering over the cabin and misjudged or maybe slid off the tin roof, thus ending the little creature’s life!
