I recently came across a couple that has spent all of their lives in Ontario, with at least some if not most of their time in the Niagara Falls region.
After 60 years in the east, they recently moved to a small community in Saskatchewan to start a new life. And boy, were they impressed with how we do things here.
With genuine surprise and inspiration in his voice, the gentleman told us about the community days they recently witnessed at their new place. And it wasn't the celebration itself that impressed him so much, it was that community spirit that's well-known to people in Saskatchewan, but not so much to outsiders.
"They had an auction there for the village," he said. "And a cooler with beers would go for $2,100, perogies sold for $900." This community support we all know first-hand here, was something, he said, he's never seen to this scale in Ontario.
It's all about the cause here. When it comes to the cause that matters to the community, I think even the greediest Saskatchewan people are generous. People here get their shoulders together and help. Be it a community need or a valuable development project, a personal tragedy or even a dream (iced tea stand fundraisers also see pretty unbelievable support every so often) there is always someone to offer help and others to support the cause.
After talking to that Ontarian couple, I felt a little sad that I don't have that fresh eye anymore. Even though I still wholeheartedly appreciate life and people in Saskatchewan, I don't get as surprised.
On Sunday I got to be at the Estevan legion for the benefit for Darrel Tessier. A terrible tragedy for the family and the community. Nothing will bring Leigh-Ann back; hopefully, doctors and time will help Darrel. I can't imagine how tough it is. But any load may feel a bit lighter when others are there for you to share the burden, be it emotional or financial.
And the community once again did its job – the legion put a call out and got things going, related businesses stepped in with support, and then people got together to help and show that they care. In a short amount of time, the legion managed to put together a supper for almost 300 people with 100 per cent of the proceeds from ticket sales going to Darrel, and it also created an avenue for donations.
It was so well organized that they made it look easy, but I know that events like this are never a piece of cake to put together.
It was a feel-good event, and it was great to be a part of it. But I wasn't surprised with either it being held, or how successful it turned out. At this point, for me, it was almost expected. It was just a matter of who will be the first one to step forward and how exactly we, as a community, are going to do something to help.
When you live like that long enough, you forget it can be any other way. But it indeed is in most other places I've been to.
What we have here is hard to explain to outsiders. A long time ago, before working for the Mercury, I was in Toronto, and in a downtown bar I was trying to explain to a group of curious Ontarians how awesome Saskatchewan was and how proud I was to live in that province. That was before I learned through reporting all I know about the community here now.
They probably thought I was a weird immigrant that hasn't figured things out yet. Well, I had then as much as I have now, and I was as proud of calling Saskatchewan my new home when broadcasting it in that bar, as I still am.
But without having people down here, letting them into our lives and helping them see what we see, it's hard to explain where this pride stems from.
(In that sense, I really liked Yellowstone's line about the California activist getting to learn what ranching in Montana is indeed about.)
I know it's idealistic, but sometimes I feel that for the east to understand and listen to the west, we'd need to have people come and spend some time down here, especially every one of those running this country, because there is definitely a lot to treasure and to be proud of here. I'm sure they'd understand it, just like those Ontarians that moved here. They'd just need a bit of time.
P.S. I know I've probably been too much of a community cheerleader lately, but there were enough valid reasons for that, so be it.
