southeastdistrict

The Weyburn Lacrosse Association was named the winner of the 2020 Promotion and Development Award from the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association, at their virtual annual meeting held recently.

SLA president Javan Bexson made the announcement in a video post on Facebook, explaining the Weyburn association was recognized for their work in promoting the game in spite of COVID-19.

“This association didn’t let the pandemic stop them from growing the game of lacrosse. Volunteers found ways to offer opportunities to try lacrosse in neighbouring communities that allowed for the promotion of lacrosse in a safe manner,” said Bexson in announcing the award.

He noted while the Weyburn association wasn’t able to use their usual facilities for lacrosse due to COVID, they offered lacrosse outdoors as they started a new field lacrosse program in Weyburn, “which allowed players to continue their development by gaining a passion for the other side of lacrosse.”

As a result of the efforts of the volunteers for the Weyburn organization, said Bexson, “community support for the game of lacrosse has been tremendous, and the volunteers have really outdone themselves this season.”

In response to receiving this award, the Weyburn Lacrosse Association stated, “We are very humbled to be the recipient of the 2020 Promotion and Development Award at this year’s Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association’s AGM… We have received a tremendous amount of support from our families and community partners along the way. Without their support we would never have been able to accomplish what we did in 2020.”

Article and Photo Courtesy: Greg Nikkel, Weyburn Review

Grenfell
The Town of Grenfell embraced this season’s challenges with respect to COVID-19 and its related restrictions, using the opportunity to be creative and dream up new leisure options for its residents.

In early December, the Town’s Public Works Department worked diligently to construct a foundation and perimeter for what would become the community’s first public skate trail and outdoor ice rink.

The winding skate trail, adorned with holiday lights and features, meanders through the Grenfell Recreational Park Campground, ending at a 5,500 square foot outdoor rink where opportunities for public skating and shinny are endless.

Borderland Co-op’s Fuel Good Day raised more than $6,164 this year. The event featured a lunch time drive-through barbecue and a 50/50 draw at the Moosomin, Rocanville, and Whitewood C-Stores. Proceeds, including 10 cents a litre of all fuel sales all day, went to KidSport, which helps kids whose families can’t afford it, participate in sports by helping with registration and equipment costs.

Beth Oslund, who serves as president of KidSport Pipestone Qu’Appelle was happy to be a part of this year’s Fuel Good Day. “My mom used to do it for the last 20 years, she passed away last year, so I took it over and continued on what she did,” said Oslund. As a mother herself, she feels that this is an important cause. “I have kids myself and as a single mother it is a challenge sometimes if kids want to do things and KidSport makes things easier,” said Oslund. The reason that Oslund keeps doing it is seeing how KidSport has helped children over the years.

“We have had some kids who have succeeded and gone on. We had one who now plays in the NHL actually that we supported years ago, and it’s great just to see those kids happy that they get the chance to get out and do something that they may not otherwise be able to,” said Oslund.

Oslund’s father, Wayne Shepherd, was also on hand to help out on the day. “There are a lot of kids that want to get involved in sport and this is one way to help them,” said Shepherd. Both daughter and father were glad to have the Co-op support KidSport with their Fuel Good Day. “They work every year with a different organization and KidSport was this year,” said Shepherd.

Even in the time of Covid-19, KidSport helped families in Moosomin. “We paid for five families over at the Moosomin pool here this summer. That was 10 kids all together that we bought a family pass for, so they can take classes,” said Oslund.

KidSport began as a program of Sport BC in 1993. The goal was to help families overcome the prohibitive cost of sport. Since then they have expanded across Canada and have helped nearly 1 million children experience the joy of organized sport.

In the last five years alone, KidSport has raised over $40 million nation wide and has helped over 188,000 Canadian children participate in a season of sport. Last year in Saskatchewan, KidSport granted $1.61 million and helped 13,858 children across the province.

Tera Harper of Borderland Co-op was glad to join up with KidSport on their third annual Fuel Good Day. “We do a Fuel Good Day every year, and every time an organization applies, or it is chosen, by the Co-op. This year we decided to do KidSport because of Covid-19, people losing their jobs and being in dire financial states. We thought KidSport would be an amazing organization to support this year, because the kids are going back to recreation soon. People can apply and get funding for their children,” said Harper.

The drive-through barbecue was an invention of necessity. “We had to be creative, because of Covid-19, so hopefully it works out okay because it is the first one we’ve ever done,” said Harper.

Article Courtesy: Yorkton This Week, Victor van der Merwe

Like so many other sports in smaller communities, curling simply doesn’t happen without the input of numerous volunteers. One such volunteer at the Bienfait Curling Club earned an award from Curl Sask recently for all the work he’s done to grow the game in the southeast.

Ken Bonokoski was named the winner of a Walter Ort Curl Sask Volunteer Award yesterday for his dedicated work. The award is handed out annually to volunteers who, in the words of Curl Sask, work quietly behind the scenes or are an active leader of the club.

“We’ve been sitting on it for a little bit here, waiting for curling clubs to start meeting and opening up again,” said Estevan Curling Club manager Pauline Ziel Grimsrud, who helped nominate Bonokoski. “Last night, they held a meeting and it was an honor to go out and present Ken with his certificate and to give him the public recognition that he so much deserves.”

According to Ziel Grimsrud, anyone who’s involved in curling in the southeast knows Bonokoski. He works long hours at the club and has ever since he began working in the mid-1908s. He’s helped with everything from ice-making to organizing tournaments and league play in that time.

“Ken is really the lifeline of that curling club,” she said. “He’s done it many years without maybe the recognition within the curling community as a whole that he deserves. This was our opportunity to step forth as part of the curling community and say, ‘Ken, you’ve really done a wonderful job.'”

Between bonspiels and learn-to-curl events, there are always spots open for those who want to volunteer in curling. And that’s to say nothing of those volunteers needed for regular day-to-day operations, not least of which are ice-makers.

“If it weren’t for our volunteers,” Ziel Grimsrud said, “whether it’s Bienfait, Estevan, Lampman, Midale, Oxbow, any of those curling clubs in the southeast corner, if it wasn’t for our volunteers, we would be in dire straits. There are countless hours put in for everything from putting the ice in to running your booths and lounges.”

Ziel Grimrud added the Bienfait Curling Club is a very active club, and their support has helped grow curling and keep it running not only within Bienfait but throughout the southeast. She also said their relationship with Estevan’s curling club has been very close and they have many people who belong to both clubs.

Article Courtesy: Discover Estevan
Written by Rob Mahon

By identifying the unique aspects of its heritage and culture, Redvers is able to move forward with action plans to build community capacity and engagement.

Redvers, located in southeast Saskatchewan, is one of several communities that have connected with ThriveSask, a Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance (SEDA) program, to help identify and build plans related to their culture, heritage and other community pillars.

By encouraging communities to identify existing services and programs, and fostering interpersonal relationships, ThriveSask allows for the development of well-rounded community capacity-building plans that include a place for heritage and culture. Redvers received support from SaskCulture’s Community Cultural Engagement and Planning grant to implement this program.

The Redvers project focused on a 100km radius around the community with a focus to identify and report on an inventory of community assets that relate to culture, heritage, and other community pillars.

“Our organization gathered after there were meetings with people from outside Redvers to identify needs in Redvers that locals don’t normally pay attention to” says Bonnie Rutten, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Redvers. Under the direction of Project Lead Christina Birch, and using sources as varied as community engagement sessions to historical preservation studies, these assets were identified and cataloged.

The project identification included both natural and built structures, but also made efforts to ensure that intangible assets such as community traditions and stories, were also collected and gathered as part of the cataloging process. With the help of Heritage Saskatchewan Facilitator Kristin Catherwood, community stakeholders and residents were able to engage with the process and ensure that community representation was at the forefront of this project. “I think all organizations should really take a tour of their own town, and other towns, to see where they can improve” says Rutten.

With the identification of community assets completed, the focus has now shifted into the creation of several action plans – divided into short-term and long-term plans – that have been taken before the community for refinement, input, and implementation. through the use of these community engagement sessions, the community has also built a greater capacity for community leadership and laid the groundwork for creating a more connected and involved working group of individuals, community organizations, and businesses.

The baseline data collected through community input, as well as through the identification of community cultural assets, has provided a clearer idea and plan for the best use and maintenance of these assets for years to come. The investment in community engagement, and providing capacity for community leadership, will also ensure that future short and long-term plans involve a cultural component in community planning. “think outside the box and work together to make your town unique!” Rutten adds.

Established in 2018 by the SEDA, the ThriveSask program was created to provide support for communities and downtown improvement organizations to build resilient and vibrant economies, with a focus on building connectivity between heritage, community and economic development. the program is further enhanced by fostering a collaborative approach by identifying and aligning existing services and programs provided by public and non-profit sectors.

Article Courtesy: SaskCulture