Yorkton Stories podcast

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Sigga Houston: the purposeful life of a pioneer doctor 50:20

منذ 26 يومًا50:20

50:20

Dr. Sigridur (Sigga) Christianson Houston and her husband Dr. Clarence Joseph (CJ) Houston operated a medical practice in Yorkton for nearly 50 years, after a year in Watfort City, North Dakota. Both were graduates of the University of Manitoba College of Medicine. In their practice in Yorkton, she had a well-known and well-deserved reputation to make babies thrive, which brought mothers and children from a hundred or more miles away. What most people at the time did not know was this: when she graduated medical school in 1925, she was only the fourth woman of Icelandic descent to become a doctor, and the first Icelandic-Canadian woman to achieve that. Although we haven’t been able to verify this, she was very likely also the first female doctor to practice in Yorkton. Not to forget about the secret she kept for most of her life. Or the Icelandic bean soup recipe. And on our website at www.yorktonstories.ca you will also find almost 90 minutes of 8mm film shot by CJ recording the life of three generations of the Houston family from 1936 to 1976, including scenes and events in Yorkton. Text us your comment…

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Metro Prystai: his life in his words 48:26

منذ 8 weeks48:26

48:26

The hockey career of Yorkton’s Metro Prystai has been well documented. He had a storied career with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings over a span of 12 years in the 1940s and 50s, scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Red Wings in the 1952 finals, back when there were only six teams and only the very best made it to the top, let alone the Stanley Cup playoffs. He won two Stanley Cups with Detroit, and was named to the NHL All-Star team three times. He was not the first with a Yorkton connection to make it to the NHL; he was one of several dozen. But he was Yorkton’s own, born and raised in a house on Ontario Avenue close to St. Mary’s Church, the second-youngest of seven children born to Harold and Annie Prystai, Ukrainian immigrants. Metro and most of his contemporaries have passed on. But in 2003 he sat down with Terri Lefebvre Prince, then the city archivist, and they recorded two hours of conversation during which Metro reflected on his life. And Frank Block wrote and recorded an audio book, The Metro Prystai Story, in 2015. With the permission of both the City of Yorkton and Mr. Block, we have used that audio, as well as information gleaned from online sources, to produce this podcast remembering the life of Metro in and outside hockey, much of it in his own words, with insights from those who knew him well. Text us your comment…

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Yorkton, the volleyball factory of the 1980s 1:01:11

منذ 14 weeks1:01:11

1:01:11

When it comes to Yorkton sports dynasties, the dominance of Yorkton volleyball teams and players in the 1980s stands out. Senior hockey had a good run with the Terriers winning three league titles and four provincial championships between 1967 and 1972. But nothing compares to the boys’ volleyball teams of the 1980s and the players, all 18 and under in age. Most were coached by Dennis Pomeroy, who became a legend in the sport. The Yorkton Regional High School Raiders boys teams won nine consecutive provincial championships in that decade, and the male club teams – the Macs -- had their share of successes. For many of the male players, volleyball stuck with them, and they stuck with volleyball. Of the 19 players who formed the 1982 juvenile (age 18 and under) and midget (age 16 and under) Macs, six are still very actively involved in the sport as coaches, referees and officials, as are others from later 1980s. The girls teams did not receive the same level of attention as their male counterparts -- they flew somewhat under the radar. But that same decade was the start of outstanding volleyball success for one player, the pinnacle of whose career was playing for Canada in the 1996 Olympics. We talked with four men and two women who were part of those successes, and who are still active in volleyball 40-plus years later. Text us your comment…

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Alexa tells us about forensic pathology 31:43

منذ 18 weeks31:43

31:43

We haven't asked Siri, the Apple virtual assistant, about forensic pathology. But we did ask Alexa -- no, not Siri's counterpart at Google, but Alexa Haider, who graduates this spring after four years of studies at Trent University in Peterborough, ON. I know Alexa from her work at Deer Park Golf Course the past two summers, and when she told me what she was studying, I was, to say the least, very surprised. It's not a field of study and employment we hear a lot about. And not something I expected to hear from a bubbly outgoing young woman who never fails to provide a cheerful welcome to golfers at Deer Park, even early in the morning. Forensics is science-based detective work, not new to many of us familiar with such TV show titles as the CSI series, Law and Order, Criminal Minds, NYPD Blue, NCIS and going all the way back to shows I'm more familiar with -- Murder She Wrote, Columbo, Kojak and the original Hawaii Five 0. It was the "pathology" part that got me. It is the study of diseases and causes of death. It involves things like autopsies and the examination of bodies and organs. When combined with forensics, we are talking about doing this in relation to crime. Murders. That type of stuff. It piqued my curiosity about how high school graduates decide on careers, why she chose that after graduating from Sacred Heart High School in June of 2021, where she goes from here, and what did she think about that first autopsy? Text us your comment…

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The changing face, and faces, of Yorkton 1:14:42

منذ 22 weeks1:14:42

1:14:42

Almost sixty years ago, when I first came to Yorkton, it was a very "white" community where the names were predominantly Ukrainian, German or British, reflecting the founding and early settlement of this part of the prairies. Census data from the past 15 years clearly show how things have changed. In 2011, about four percent of the population of Yorkton consisted of immigrants who were born abroad and had emigrated to Canada. Five years later, that percentage was about 10, and in the latest census of 2021, it was close to 14 per cent. It is likely to be higher still when the next census takes place in 2026, given the recent influx of immigrants into Saskatchewan. Founded by people who mainly came from the British Isles, Yorkton is now a multi-cultural community which people from as many as 60 different countries call home. We talked to seven local immigrants about their experiences coming to Canada and Yorkton, about their likes and the challenges related to that. Not surprisingly, winter weather was a recurring topic! Text us your comment…

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Not your conventional clergyman 36:41

منذ 25 weeks36:41

36:41

Shawn Sanford Beck -- born, raised and educated in Yorkton and area -- is now a pastor with the United Church in Saskatoon with a special mission. He was an Anglican priest, a position he left due to some unresolved conflicts with that denomination. He subscribes to and has written about Christian animism, is a member of the Order or Bards, Ovates and Druids, teaches Green Priestcraft, and considers himself a Christo-pagan. He is an author, as is his wife Janice and one son, and the family lived off the grid north of North Battleford for almost nine years before returning to church duties in Saskatoon. He is not your conventional clergyman. His intent is not to convert you. But for those interested in looking at Christianity from a different and wider viewpoint, he offers ample food for thought. Text us your comment…

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Hamton SK: only memories and ashes remain 26:34

منذ 31 weeks26:34

26:34

The village of Hamton is like many Saskatchewan communities between Yorkton and Canora… still on the map, but not really there anymore. But to say there is nothing left of Hamton is a mis-statement. It looks that way from the intersection of the grid roads to the west and south, since the triangle that was the village, between those two roads and the old rail line, is overgrown with tall weeds, shrubbery, and a few trees. Until 2018, there were buildings still standing, but abandoned and unused. Then one weekend in early May of 2018, whatever was left of the village of Hamton burned to the ground. Gone. Was caused the fire? Mother nature? A grass fire? A controlled fire set by someone that got out of hand? Somebody must know. Yet it remains a mystery. Text us your comment…

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Teaching sustainability and learn-by-doing in remote Africa 45:57

منذ 35 weeks45:57

45:57

Lesotho, a landlocked country in southern Africa, is home to about two million people, including Ivan Yaholnitsky, whose family name is familiar in the Yorkton area. The Yaholnitsky family farmed south of Mikado. Ivan went to the University of Saskatchewan, and what he is doing in Lesotho is the topic of this podcast. Lesotho is a poor country. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s income comes from farming, and a quarter of the population is unemployed, according to the government of Lesotho website. That’s where Ivan arrived in 1987, to teach at the high school in the village of Bethel, in the eastern part of the country. And that is where he still is today. He and Antonia Nthabiseng from the village were married there in 1993, they raised a son and daughter, and that same year Ivan established the Bethel Business and Community Development Centre, or BBCDC, which teaches and practices sustainable development and learning by doing. Text us your comment…

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Yorkton and computers: back in the early days, and now 41:53

منذ 38 weeks41:53

41:53

It's almost 50 years since the first computers started being used in Yorkton. We talked with Andy Balaberda, the first local computer teacher, and Rick Coleman; he and Warren Gamracy were very early entrants into the business of computer sales and support, with Rick also developing software. My own household also started using computers very early on. There you have it: three old guys – Andy, Rick and myself, all of us in our 70s and each with 40 to 50 years of computer use and experience behind us. We talk about when it all started in the 1970s, and share views about computers, the changes over the past 50 years, and the future. Text us your comment…

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Perry Ehrlich: the lawyer who has them singing and dancing 21:56

منذ 43 weeks21:56

21:56

Perry Ehrlich left Yorkton in the early 1970s to attend the University of Saskatchewan. He became a successful lawyer in Vancouver, and continued to indulge in his love of music and performing; 30 years ago he founded Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! He has been called an impresario for conducting two one-month music camps each summer which attracts kids from literally around the world, and for teaching and nurturing a performing troupe of teenagers called ShowStoppers. They appear year-round in concerts, on TV and radio, and at numerous conventions, awards dinners, galas, sporting events and corporate and charitable events throughout BC. At www.yorktonstories.ca you can see and read much more about Perry, his work with young performers and more. Text us your comment…

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Yorkton's General, judge and more 42:51

منذ 47 weeks42:51

42:51

This is the story of Alexander Ross – he had a middle name which started with the letter E, but in no sources, including when he was received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Regina, is his middle name mentioned. He was generally referred to as Brigadier-General Alexander Ross. Our story is drawn from many sources, including information compiled by Ruth Shaw and available on the Yorkton Legion website. Not all sources agree on all details, not surprising considering much of what we discuss is as much as 100 years old. But the basic facts about his early life, military career and life in Yorkton as a judge are not in dispute. Including his contributions to what is now York Lake Golf Club. Text us your comment…

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The challenge: motivating youth 32:09

منذ 1 year32:09

32:09

Jason Payne has taught at the Yorkton Regional High School since 2002, but his involvement with youth and sports has expanded greatly beyond the boundaries of the school. His dedication to high school sports and youth sports in Yorkton is unquestioned, yet in 2018 he nearly hung up his whistle. “I was burnt out by the demands of coaching. Instead of quitting I focused on the holistic development of my athletes and building environments based on high-performance. It has made all the difference.” He pursued a Masters of Science degree in Sport and Performance Psychology in 2021, and a newsletter he now publishes about coaching youth is read by more than 1,700 world-wide. We talked about motivating young athletes, and motivating young people in school. We talked about motivating young people to prepare for adult life. Text us your comment…

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Dr. Brass Academies: a turnaround for a struggling school 42:18

منذ 1 year42:18

42:18

In the 2010s, Dr. Brass elementary school in Yorkton was down to under 90 students, and consideration was being given to closing the school. It is one of the older schools in Yorkton and parents in the area preferred to send their kids to other newer schools in the city. Today it is bursting at the seams, primarily due to a program that started in 2020 to attract students not only from within the school’s immediate area, but from other areas of Yorkton, and from nearby communities, including Kamsack, Melville and Saltcoats. The reason for the turnaround? Six academies that provide all students in grades 5 through 8 with additional learning and activity opportunities. Text us your comment…

1
About co-ops and Cambodia 38:05

منذ 1 year38:05

38:05

Cambodia is a country of 17 million in southeast Asia, sandwiched between Vietnam to the east and Thailand to the west, with Laos bordering it to the north. Eighty percent of the population lives in rural areas, and 57 per cent of households in the country are involved in agricultural production, mainly rice. It is a poverty-stricken country. It's also a long way from Yorkton, but in 2010 and again in 2015 Warren Crossman, who farms in the Orcadia district and is a longtime activist in the co-operative movement in Saskatchewan, spent time there. In 2010 he was an advisor to a non-profit and non-political farmer organization representing a network of village-based farmer organizations. He went back in 2015 on a private visit, for reasons he explains in our podcast. Text us your comment…

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The homeless: we don't know their story 38:08

منذ 1 year38:08

38:08

In Yorkton, where there are no homeless encampments, it would be tempting to think that it's one problem we don’t have to deal with. But that would be a mistake. Most of us may not see it every day, or at all, but homelessness happens in Yorkton just as it does in larger cities. The people who work with the homeless and deal with it on a daily basis are well aware of the issue, and have some very definite ideas about what could and should be done about it. We talked to Angela Chernoff, the co-ordinator of Bruno’s Place on Dominion Avenue, an emergency shelter for adults; and Martha Gares the manager of Housing Support at SIGN, the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

1
A tale of two barbershops 45:39

منذ 1 year45:39

45:39

Ben and Tony's Barber Shop was an iconic institution in Yorkton from when the two shared a business starting in 1961 to Ben's retirement in 2008. Tony continued on his own until 2013. When he closed his shop, it provided the impetus, and inspiration, for Sean Craib-Petkau to get into barbering, and establish a men's barbershop that is reminiscent of earlier years. Two barbershops. Similar, but different. Speaking of different, yes, that is me doing the narrating. The voice is still in the process of recovering from a spring cold. I can accept that, but it would be good if it was actually starting to feel like spring in Yorkton as we go into the Easter weekend. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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When the news was printed on paper 59:54

منذ 1 year59:54

59:54

The history of newspapers in Yorkton now spans 132 years, starting with The Messenger, published in 1892, two years before Yorkton officially became a village. It was written by hand on notepaper, and reproduced by stencil. But we wonder, in 2024, if the writing is on the wall for newspapers printed on paper, as we explore the long history of this first, and for for several decades as Yorkton was established and grew, the only means of local mass communication. For me, this story is up close and personal, having been one of the founders and the editor of Yorkton This Week, an upstart weekly newspaper that in 1975 took on the behemoth of media companies at the time, Thomson Newspapers, a Canadian company with massive holdings at home, as well as in the United States and Britain. Thomson owned The Enterprise, which by then had been the dominant newspaper in Yorkton for 80 years. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

1
Raising the curtain on community theatre 1:02:01

منذ 1 year1:02:01

1:02:01

From early travelling shows that entertained settlers in the Yorkton area, to occasional local little theatre productions, Open Lit nights at the old Yorkton Collegiate Institute starting in the post WWII years, elaborate musicals performed by students at Sacred Heart and Yorkton Regional High Schools starting in the 1960s, the founding of Paper Bag Players in 1984, Broadway musicals by Yorkton Community Theatre in the first decade of the 2000s, and the establishment of Free My Muse drama school for children and teens in 2005, Yorkton has long had live theatre, and still does. Attendance may, at times, go up and down, but the passion and dedication of the actors and crews has never waned, and has led some to careers in theatre and film. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Clay Serby: Reflections on life in politics 53:05

منذ 1 year53:05

53:05

Clay Serby was first elected as the New Democrat member of the Saskatchewan Legislature for Yorkton in 1991. While he and Premier Roy Romanow had their differences initially, they became close friends, and Clay subsequently served in cabinet in high-profile portfolios – Health, Education, Highways, Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. It was under Romanow’s successor, Lorne Calvert, that Clay reached the highest level of any Yorkton MLA, deputy premier. He also continued in the Agriculture portfolio, and dealt with economic development and rural development specifically. It’s now just over 16 years since Clay left provincial politics, and government, in November of 2007 in order to devote his time to dealing with health issues – cancer – for which he had been under treatment for the previous three years. We talked about life in politics, and in government, which he viewed from a side few of us get to see. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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4 for Fore! 1:16:13

منذ 2 years1:16:13

1:16:13

It is January in Yorkton, where a golf season of five months is considered a good year. We're still at least three months from teeing it up, but talk about the game seldom takes a break for golfers; it's a form of self-preservation to make it to the next season. We talked with four golfers at various stages of their game: one who played pro golf on the PGA and other tours in the 1990s, one who turned down a chance to play pro on the ladies tour, one who is now entering his third full year as a young pro, and one who is off to college in the US in the fall on a golf scholarship. All learned their golf at Deer Park in Yorkton. Apologies for the homonymous episode title. For one who loves to play with words, it was just too good to pass up. For those not familiar with "Fore!" it's what golfers shout when their ball stays from its intended path and is headed for spectators or other golfers. The word is most likely of Scottish origin, a shortened version of the word "before" or "afore". It essentially means "look out ahead," and may have originated with the military, where it was used by artillery men as a warning to troops in forward positions. At one time golf courses employed forecaddies, whose job it was to watch where balls went, and mark them so the players could find them. That is still done at professional tournaments, although they are now generally referred to as ball spotters. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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The Balmoral Hotel... and those tunnels 40:43

منذ 2 years40:43

40:43

The Balmoral Hotel on Livingstone Street was a Yorkton landmark for almost 90 years. It was owned in the early 1900s by Harry Bronfman, whose family later owned the vast Seagram empire founded on the production and sale of liquor. Their booze business started primarily at the Balmoral during prohibition from 1915 to 1924, leading to stories about tunnels, Studebaker Whisky Six cars, a blending and bottling operation housed next to the Balmoral, and much more, as we talked about in the previous podcast. In 1950, the Balmoral was sold to Emanuel and Marj Balacko and friends from Winnipeg, with the Balackos taking sole ownership a few years later. They owned and operated the hotel until their retirement in 1980, and lived in a suite in the north wing. Their son Ron, a toddler when they took over, grew up in the hotel. We talked to him about his parents, the hotel, and, of course, those tunnels. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Yorkton, where Harry planted the money tree 43:49

منذ 2 years43:49

43:49

From 1928 to the early 2000s, the Seagram corporation was one of the giants in Canadian industry. Its primary business was making and selling alcoholic beverages – it owned such distinguished product lines as Crown Royal, Chivas Regal Scotch, Captain Morgan rum and many more, including the distribution rights to Absolut vodka. But that wasn’t the whole story, or the full extent of Seagram’s business assets, which spanned the globe and included investments in oil, fruit juice, entertainment and more. Not bad for a company that had its roots in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, specifically in the Balmoral Hotel on Livingstone Street, where the Cornerstone Credit Union parking lot is now located. Not bad for a young man whose father bought the hotel in 1905 for Harry and his older brother Abe, who did not stay here. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Take what you need, leave what you can 46:21

منذ 2 years46:21

46:21

A community fridge opened in Yorkton in mid September 2023. It's a place where someone who has no food to eat, and at the time doesn’t have the means to buy it, can go anytime day or night, every day of the year, and find food for themselves and their family. It's also a place where those who would like to help people who have little or no food can drop off donations of food, also anytime. It's a mutual aid project operated by a working group of volunteers who want to help solve problems -- in this case food insecurity in the community -- through collective action rather than waiting for someone else to come to the rescue. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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What's in a (street) name? 34:47

منذ 2 years34:47

34:47

Most Yorkton streets are named for people who were part of our story going back to the founding of York Colony in 1882. Mayors, council members (called aldermen until about the 1980s, then councillors), prominent business owners and others who were deemed worthy of the honour have all lent their names to local roads. But that doesn't account for all streets and avenues, and some have an interesting (and sometimes surprising) history, as we explore in this podcast. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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A podcast about podcasts. And an idea 28:54

منذ 2 years28:54

28:54

We answer questions about podcasting for those who may be interested in contributing ideas, starting their own podcast, or who may just be curious about how this all works. After hosting a workshop for Yorkton Culture Days 2023, the idea of putting all that information out there for all to hear seemed like a good idea. And we conclude this podcast with another good idea -- a co-operative podcast umbrella or hub for Yorkton where we broaden our look at our community today, and places, people and events from the past. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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The many sides of Stan Obodiac 1:00:53

منذ 2 years1:00:53

1:00:53

To the people of Yorkton back in the late 1940s and 50s, a young man who was born and grew up here, Stan Obodiac, was a bit of a puzzle. He was a really good athlete, and a sometime-writer for the Yorkton Enterprise weekly newspaper. He played hockey, baseball, golf, softball, bowling and soccer. He wrote at least 10 books, several of them while living here as a young man, several of his later ones best sellers. But the local coffee row didn't quite know what to make of him -- did he have a real job? There is much about him worth telling. There are many sides to the man, and to his life. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Gertrude Ingham: the quiet rebel 47:46

منذ 2 years47:46

47:46

Anna Gertrude Ingham of Yorkton was the subject of a cable television documentary called The Quiet Rebel in 1993, which told the story of why and how she developed a revolutionary program for teaching grade 1 kids to read. Why a rebel? Her methods did not always meet with the approval of education authorities, but she persisted because it worked, the kids liked it because it was fun, and the parent had high praise for it because many of their children in grade 1 were reading after only a few months of school. We talk with Shirley George, her daughter and collaborator. Shirley was involved in producing the book called The Blended Sound-Sight Method of Learning which was published in 1967, and worked with her mother in conducting workshops for teachers in western Canada. We talk about her mother, about the Blended Sound-Sight program which which she herself taught in Edmonton for several decades, and about teaching it to other teachers. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Food we love 23:21

منذ 2 years23:21

23:21

Our years of reading about food from many cultures, collecting recipes from family, from our own time in the food business, and being graciously given recipes by other restauranteurs, allows us to explore some of them in this podcast, and tell you some of the stories behind our favourite foods. Questions or comments? Please get in touch . We'd love to hear from you. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Preserving our heritage: whose responsibility? 40:24

منذ 2 years40:24

40:24

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Yorkton Stories

1
The flour mill: 125 years of history 44:17

منذ 2 years44:17

44:17

In 1898, J.J. Smith built a flour mill at the new site of Yorkton, which had moved south a few miles from the original York Colony settlement to be alongside the new rail line. The mill, built of brick where most mills of the era were wooden structures, went from a bustling village hub to a dilapidated eyesore by 2000, suitable only for the wrecker's ball, many thought. Today, 125 years later, the grounds and building are again a busy place for community activities, with more to come, due to the work of a non-profit historical society and many volunteers. We trace the up and down and up of the flour mill as we hear from Carman Smith of Barriere, BC, the grandson of the original owner and builder, as well as those involved in saving and restoring the mill in recent years. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Curt Keilback talks to himself, and to us 42:54

منذ 2 years42:54

42:54

Curt Keilback started in radio in Yorkton, following on the heels of his father Jim who moved to Regina to continue an illustrious career that started in Manitoba and continued in Yorkton. After leaving Yorkton, Curt was the broadcast voice on both radio and television for the first edition of the Winnipeg Jets, and the Coyotes of Phoenix, Arizona, calling the play-by-play for 2,400 NHL games. Now retired and back in Winnipeg, Curt wrote a book about his hockey experiences, short vignettes where he remembers the hockey people and happenings spanning a 17-year career. The book is called Two Minutes for Talking to Myself , and he talked to us about all of that, about his dad Jim, and more. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

1
Life of Lai and later 43:19

منذ 2 years43:19

43:19

The Broadway Restaurant in Yorkton, also called the Broadway Café, was a longtime local institution serving Chinese and Canadian food. It was operated in the early days by Joe Mak, an immigrant from China who had come to Canada with his younger brother to work as cooks for the crews expanding the railroad westward. The younger brother had left his wife and three sons in China when he came to Canada. The middle son's name was Lai Foo. Lai Foo never really knew his father, who came home to China but died soon after. But he was a favourite nephew of Joe Mak – Uncle Joe – who would play a major role in his life. The story of Lai Foo’s early life is told in a book called Life of Lai, written by Carl Mark, the second-oldest son. It recalls his story from the time Lai was 13 years old and entered the military college in Bejing in the pre-communist years, and his rise to being selected for officer training, and becoming an officer in the military police. But it was wartime and his family, Uncle Joe in Canada in particular, didn’t want Lai involved in war. He arranged for his immigration to Canada, all described in great detail in the book, which ends when Lai arrived in Canada in 1950. The podcast continues the story from there, when he was no longer Lai Foo, but was known as Bob Mark who, for the next 43 years, operated restaurants in Yorkton and briefly in Hanna, Alberta. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

1
Cemeteries near a lake of good spirits... or the devil? 32:51

منذ 2 years32:51

32:51

Bill and Joyce Anaka spent part of the summer of 1996 creating an inventory of two dozen cemeteries in the RM of Good Lake, part of a project sponsored that year by the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society. It was familiar territory for both of them, having grown up near the south end of the lake. Joyce's grandfather first came there in the 1880s because of the good grazing land, and the Gunn family became well-known to the area, including Yorkton, for Gunn's Beach, and later Gunn's store, which provided goods not only for the local rural residents and nearby Indigenous people, but for the many visitors to the lake in summer. Now 97 years of age, Joyce recalls the summer of searching out cemeteries, some of them abandoned in bushes or plowed over, one of them in a rural road ditch, and creating an inventory of those buried there, at least where the names on headstones were recognizable or obtainable. She also talks about her family's history on the land that now forms part of Good Spirit Provincial Park. And we talk about the name of the lake. Back in those days, Good Spirit Lake was known locally -- and still is referred to today by many oldtimers -- as Devil's Lake. Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

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Two generations, two dome houses (and a potato farm) 46:58

منذ 2 years46:58

46:58

Fifty years ago, Elwyn Vermette with help from a lot of friends built a geodesic dome house just south of Yorkton along Highway 9. About 20 years ago his daughter Tonia, with Elwyn's guidance and assistance, built a monolithic dome house close by. This is the story of those two projects which resulted in two one-of-a-kind houses that stand alongside a seed potato farm which Elwyn also started. You can hear this podcast and see photo galleries and links related to this topic at www.yorktonstories.ca . Text us your comment…

Yorkton Stories

1
Yorkton Stories: an introduction 13:02

منذ 2 years13:02

13:02

Yorkton Stories will launch in May of 2023. Dick DeRyk, the researcher, writer and podcaster, provides an introduction and overview of the new venture which will explore the history and present-day happenings in the Saskatchewan city. Text us your comment

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