2005 Saskatchewan Centennial July 23 and 24
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Many communities chose to have local celebrations in honour of the province's centennial. The hamlets of Estlin, Gray, Riceton and Bechard joined together to host a series of activities.
Saturday July 23 - all events in Gray Noon Registration 1pm Parade (see below) 2pm Main Street Stage - Opening Ceremony (see below) 3-6pm Rink - historical displays, ice cream, tea room Memorial Hall - beer gardens 3pm Main Street Stage - Entertainment/Talent which included a performance by puppeteer Sheila (Myers) Edgar. 4:30pm Main Street Stage - 306 Sport Hall of Fame Induction (Myrna Bonsor, Crystal Frisk, Mac Paton) 5-7pm Memorial Hall - dinner 7pm Main Street Stage - dance Sunday July 24 Riceton Sports Grounds 8-11am Pancake Breakfast SaskTel hot air balloon rides (weather permitting) 9am Slo-pitch Tournament Gray 9:30-10:30am Interdenominational Church Service at Gray United 11am-3pm Rink - historical displays, ice cream, tea room Lori Boesch (Event Chairperson) opening remarks
Welcome to the Estlin/Gray/Riceton/Bechard Saskatchewan Centennial Celebration!!! Small town Saskatchewan is really the place to be – not only this summer for the opportunity to celebrate our province’s centenary – but to appreciate what a ‘sense of community’ can do! We welcome the crowd here today – recognizing some frequent visitors, others home for a visit with friends and family and especially the newcomers to rural Sask. Small towns need participation to survive and we have to count on everyone in the community to support our activities. Our opening ceremonies will begin with our special guests being led in by Sarah Yeo (a former area resident) playing the bagpipes, Andy Frisk (another former area resident) in red serge representing the RCMP, followed by our special guests; Mr. Ralph Goodale, Mr. Don McMorris, Mr. Bill Gillis, Mr. Roy Black, Mrs. Jean Coldwell and Mr. Con Bechard. Please welcome them. The national anthem is now going to be performed by three generations; Sharon Frei, her daughter Karen Butel and her son Jordan. Please rise – I would now like to invite Ralph Goodale the Minister of Finance and our Member of Parliament to say a few words. To get in the celebratory mood, we now have a group to perform the official Saskatchewan song written by Brad Johner. Singing Friends and Neighbours are a group of farm ladies who enjoy singing for your entertainment. They represent the communities of Estlin, Gray, Kronau, Lajord, Lumsden and Regina. The director is Marilyn Hill from Lumsden. Ladies – Now our MLA for Indian Head/Milestone, Don McMorris – The Gray School and community children will now come up on stage. Cheri Helstrom and Penny Wiebe have been coaching this group and from watching rehearsal yesterday I will say you are in for some participation! Alyssa Johns-Wozney is the group’s MC. We have invited a representative from each of the four participating communities to say a few words. Leading off the group will be Bill Gillis representing the host town today – Gray. Bill is mayor of all and committee member of everything and has lived in Gray his whole life. While working on the house lists you will see around town – it seems that Bill and Bebe Gillis have lived on every street. He is definitely the go to guy for all information. Bill – A story that I have heard recounts a Mr. Black speaking to Mr. Green (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) back in the days of party lines. At the end of the conversation Mr. Black said goodbye to Mr. Green and also to Mrs. Brown (a supposed eavesdropper) who in this case was caught – because she responded with a goodbye. I must say though – the days of the General Rings and eavesdroppers sure must have made it easier to spread the word regarding any news. That seemed to be one of our challenges over the last few months – to keep the locals informed. So, Mr. Black – speak on – we are all listening! Pull of the Land is a stage production that was written by Beth Robertson and was originally performed in Harris, SK. Morgan and Angela Moats (of Riceton) will now perform a song from that play ‘Prairie Sentinel’ - a tribute to the grain elevators that used to dot the landscape. Our next town rep is from Riceton – when asked to participate in today’s ceremonies – she accused us off choosing her because she was old – well not only is she old, but we also learned that Jean (Purves) Coldwell is also the longest standing resident of the community and a representative of one of the original pioneer families! So, Jean on all accounts you make a spectacular spokes-person for Riceton. Con Bechard is the representative for the town of Bechard. Con has spent his life in our communities and witnessed many years of changes. I have heard Con referred to as the ‘front man’. He arrives in advance of his sons’ and the Cleanfield Farm Services spray units. Morgan and Angela will now perform a second song from Pull of the Land – Sky High – let’s appreciate our never-ending horizon and our (nearly always) blue skies. Announcements;
I will now invite Friends and Neighbours to perform The Days of Long Ago. This is to the tune of Auld Lang Syne and the chorus is printed on the back of the Schedule of Events – please sing along. Enjoy the weekend. Some notes;
the ties that bind
Prior to the Saskatchewan Centennial celebrations, locals (middle-aged) approached locals (more senior) to tell some 'stories'. Those stories became the ties that bind DVD along with some celebration weekend highlights. We also encouraged residents (past and present) to provide updates for a the ties that bind Volume III. These two items were distributed post-event. |
Attendee list;
Anaka, Robert and Ruth Anaka, Warren and Gina Baker, Terry Bassingthwaighte, Carol Beaudet Bechard, Con and Audrey Bechard, Ken and Joyce Bechard, Blair and Cindy Berenbaum, Geri Beingessner, Mark and Connie (Black) Black, Roy and Josie Boesch, Carla (Paul) Boesch, Laurence and Carol Boesch, Dean and Shirley Boesch, Kris and Carpenter, Ginny Boesch, Lori Boesch, John and Jeni Boesch, Paul and Tanja Boesch, Steve Bonsor, Myrna (and family) Brogden, Beau and Shelley Brunas, Todd and Janice (McGillivray) Brunas, Irv and Lois Burrows, Diane (Thompson) and Brian Burwell, Dorothy (Hendrickson) Butel, Karen (Frei) and Steve Carnegie, Bill and Sheila Clark, Mary (Yeo) and Jack Clarke, Ken and Glenis Clay, Anne Cleveland, Glen Coleclough, Kathleen and Jeff Coldwell, Clarence, Jean and family Colquhoun, Mabel Copeman, Sharon (Glaze) Copp, Pat (Beaumont) ?? Cornish, Matt, Maria and friend Cross, Shirley (Schultz) Cross, Gerald and Vi Daborn, Jackie and Robin Davey, Keith and Donna (Boesch) Dobrowolski, Donald and Jackie Dobrowolski, Nick and Thelma Dobrowolski, Dennis and Michele Dobson, Marlene (Gooding) Douglas, Curly and Norma (Helstrom) Drew, Evelyn and Wanda Drew, Lyle and Carla Dunning, Kitty East, George Eberhardt, Kathy Ehmann, Jim and Leanne Ehrmantraut, Bill & Jean (Richardson) Felske, Elaine (Helstrom) Florek, Deb Ford, Donna Ford, John and Elsie Frei, Randy Frei, Sharon Frisk, Barry and Crystal (Dunning) Frisk, Andy and Sharon Galon, Jean (McGillivray) Ganne, Joy (Burwell) Gervais, Albert and Fran Gillis, Carl and Joan (Knoke) Gillis, Bill and Bebe Gillis, Ken Gillis, Rick and Shannon Gillis, Doug and Annette Gutiw, Diane and Pete Glasser, Lorna (Henry) Glaze, Bob Glaze, Gord and Viola Good, Elaine (Moats) Gooding, Audrey Gooding, Dale and Janice Gooding, Glynn and Debbie Struthers Gooding, Keith and Dorothy Gooding, Morley and Leeta Gooding, Duke and Wendy Gooding, Bruce and Carolin Graham, Don and Charlene (Aitken) Hannan, Ev Hannan, Tommy Helstrom, Dave and Cheri Helstrom, Darren and Diane Hendrickson, Terry and Barb Hendrickson, Ken and Maxine Hendrickson, Mark Henry, Gwen Henry, Floyd and Teenie Henry, Neil and Joan Hozempa, John and Laurie Huber, Gary and Shannon (East) Hutchinson, Ronald and Marion Jansen, Tim and Lynn (McGillivray) Johnston, Bill Jones, Bruce and Deena Kerney, Perry and Shelley (Lafoy) Kelly, Randi, Greg and Lindstroms Marschall, Jeff and Kim (Kelly) King, Trevor and Colleen (McGillivray) Kirkpatrick, Lance and Raylene Knoke, Ev Lafoy, Corky and Betty (Aitken) Lafoy, Larry Layman, Gord Layman, Lucille Lewis, Orval and Diane (Clay) Lewis, Todd and Terry Lewis, Rod Lewis, Don and Anne Lewis, Bob and Peggy Little, Patrick Lieppi, Jean and Victor Luebke, Carl and Joyce (Boesch) Marean, Fred (et al) Maynard, Grant and Monique McCabe, Bill/Tracey Kirkpatrick McAllistair, Diane McGillivray, Hugh and Louise McGIllivray, Doug and Lois Mintern, Pat and Cliff Moats, Isabella and Shirley Monson, Jim and Neta (Lafoy) Moats, Don and Kim Moats, Lee and Laurie Matai, Ali Moats, Emmy Mohr, Roger and Deserai Piche Monz, Joanne and Richard Mooney, Curtis and Deb (Frei) Morgan, Delmar and Cheryl (Ford) Mossing, Reid and Myrna Moyse, Loree Myers, Doug and Pat Myers, Joey and Bachynsky, Natasha Myers, Blaine Novak, Bernie Novak, Eric Parker, Rhett and Natasha Paton, Mac and Leona Perkins, Brian and Sharon (McGillivray) Phillips, Bill and Arlene Phillips, Diane, Joanne, et al Pitchko, Rob and Brown, Lindsay Posehn, Kathleen Pratt, Olive and Harold Prophet, Doug and Bonnie (Dunbar) Rakochuk, Bill and Laurel (Burwell) Reich, Kay Schaefer, Steffi and Andreas Schmeling, Beverley Schwanbeck, Ron and Gaye (Burwell) Steve, Marj Stuike, Richard and Heather Swartz, Lynn and Mona Templeton/Aitken Templeton, Brian and Yvonne (Gooding) Templeton, Kay and Doug Tennyson, Gerald and Geraldine Thompson, Jack and Alyce Tillier, Angela Ulrich, Ron and Bev Ulrich, Leo Van Dusen, Bud and Connie (Lafoy) Vernon, Neil and Cindy Wahl, Kevin and Val Wallace, Warren Wiebe, Jen Winter, Donnette Wozney, Rob and Mandi Wozney, Leonard and Joyce Yeo, Dale |
