Where to start with my stay in Biggar. I had no idea that this stop of the trip was going to have so much activity. Not sure where to begin so I'll start from the top.
Aunty Ann
I'm staying with my Aunty Ann who was married to my dad's brother. It seemed that her ultimate goal was to feed me as much food as possible. First thing on the agenda was a quick tour of Biggar. She pointed out every business in town and we even went on a tour of the greenhouse where she volunteers at. She made sure I got to see every sign my cousin Jerry had made in town. Two of the signs were of famous curlers from Biggar and another was of the Hanson Buck which was shot by a local farmer that was in the guiness book of records for the most amount of points.
Aunty Ann is also quite the talker. I don't think she ran out of things to say the whole time I was there.
Hutterite Colony
Aunty Ann once taught at a Hutterite colony near Spring Water. She asked them to give me a tour of the colony while I was in town. The interesting thing about Hutterites is that they spare no expense when it comes to farming technology. All the equipment is top the line. When colonies first started forming, they insisted on educating their children to the age of 15 after that they begin to work on the farm right away. Back in the day, they were way ahead of their time because most people never got educated up to that age. As the rest of the world advanced they stuck to their ways and when a boy reaches 15 he's out of school.
My guides for the tour were 3 of the older boys in the school. They were dressed up in typical Hutterite garb. I think they were just as fascinated of me as I was of them. They couldn't believe that cities the size of Vancouver exist. I asked them if they followed hockey and they got very excited. They asked me if I've ever been to a hockey game and were astounded that I couldn't count how many I've been to. We went through a pig pen and the noise was incredible. I recorded a video of it that you can check out on my gallery. They asked if GM Place got as loud as the pig pen and I said that you could barely talk to the person next to you it gets so loud. It really made me feel privileged to have experienced going to Canucks games. As the tour went on we went into a building that had Calgary Flames logos everywhere. One of them would always run towards the logo and try and cover it up before I would notice. They showed me where they slaughtered the animals, defeathered ducks, milked the cows, stored the potatoes, and where they shot pucks at a door they have to replace. It was interesting to hear how these boys knew how to do almost everything on the farm, whether is was mending saddles or butchering a pig. One really interesting thing they showed me was a machine that would put together beeswax frames. It was built by a man who was 81 and had only a grade 5 education. The boys seemed quite proud of the device. I wish I could have stayed longer, but we had to go to Spring Water (pop: 20?) to see my cousin Jerry.
Mini Family Gathering
We got into Spring Water and found Jerry downstairs working on some signs. He sort of has a monopoly on the sign market of Biggar. The new version of the Biggar sign was actually made by him! We had a quick cup of coffee and chatted for a while. He even found me a left over hat from the Muc Family Reunion of 1993!
Brent brought his new golf clubs and we headed out to the old golf course grounds that used to be here. We popped off a few shots into the field that was once a fairway before the train stopped stopping in Spring Water.
That night we had a mini family gathering. Jerry and Debbie came over along with their kids Arlen and Nasha. I officially became old that night. I was talking about how the last time I saw Arlen he was a little baby. Now he's 13! Same with Nasha, she was a toddler last time I saw her, and now she's growing into a beautiful young woman. I remember when I would receive comments about how I used to be such and such size... now I'm delivering those comments. Brent, his girlfriend Collet and her daughter were there too. Of course Aunty Ann had prepared more than enough food. Afterwards Brent, Jerry and I had some beers while we watched the slow demise of the Canucks.
Malt Plant
The next morning I got a tour of the Prairie Malt plant where Brent works. The plant is a major source of jobs for the people of Biggar. Brent said that he's seen orders of malt go to Granville Island Brewery! I had to ask permission to take pictures and some of my pictures had to be deleted because they showed proprietary operating procedures. Because of this I don't have a picture of the kilning area. Brent provided a great tour and I learned a lot about what malt is and how it's made. I'm now a more educated beer drinker as a result.
I guess because Brent works at a malt plant he appreciates a good beer. I told him that Shaun loves Coors Light and he laughed at that. He has a friend that's gone on beer tasting tours and they would rinse their mouth out with Coors in between tastings.
Saskatoon
Instead of departing from Biggar I thought it would be fun to go into Saskatoon for an evening and leave from there. Brent offered to drive me there and we went to see his twin sister Brenda. Before we visited her we got off downtown and checked it out for a bit. During our stroll we saw Colin Mochrie! For some reason I completely forgot that I had a camera on me so I didn't get a picture. After a few scenic pictures we went to Brenda's house. She and her husband Simon have built a beautiful house in a nice area of Saskatoon near Broadway. Brent, Brenda and I went to a pub off of Broadway and had a few pints and some food. Brenda snuck in payment for the whole bill, thanks Brenda!!! Since she has a five year old (Nathan) back at home she couldn't stay out with Brent and I as we hit the bars of Saskatoon. We went to a bar called Lydias to shoot some pool... I believe I was ahead 7-5 for the night. After that we went to a bar called Bud's and we saw a band from Vernon BC called Redfish. I introduced myself to the band and pushed CBC Radio 3. They were quite familiar with the site and even remembered talking to Mary-Anne Korosi, the New Music Canada overlord.
It was getting towards the time to leave to catch the 1AM train so Brent dropped me off at the station. We said goodbye and I quickly crashed on my seat while on my way towards Winnipeg. Thanks again Brent for all the driving and entertaining me for most of my stay in Saskatchewan!
It was great seeing all of you in Saskatchewan! I hope it won't be 11 more years until I come out for a visit again.