Yearly Archives: 2010

As we left perhaps the largest parade our small town of Kindersley has ever sponsored (about an hour long with everything from military displays to horses to square dancing to tractors to the closing firetruck and street sweeper), I began to wonder.

How many people showed up?  This is our 100th anniversary as a town so we have a number of visitors.

Now, there were eight blocks of viewing, two sides of the street.  So that is 16 blocks of people.  In our block there were approximately 10 store fronts.  We fit around 15 -20 people per store front.  So maybe up to 200 hundred people per block with 16 blocks would make around 3,200 people lining the streets.  Take a look at the picture below.  Maybe it is easier just to count the people?  And this is without the first block of people.

How many do you see?

Wandering with relatives is relatively easy.  You have the same roots, the same legacy and oft a closely tied shared history.

Such was the case for our time on Thursday.  For 8 hours we played horseshoes, crazy ball and bowling.  We ate sausage from a recipe concocted by our grandparents.  We listened and sang of prairie life. 

And as I walked away, I reflected on this Baker reunion.  There were two couples who had the last name of Baker.  The rest were diverse – from Somerville, to Opseth; from Dies to Stonehouse.  If we were to count by name only, four out of 60 participants would pass as a Baker.

So, as the old saying goes – “Watch what you say about someone,  they may be your relative!”

We are one day closer to our family reunion.  Tomorrow will be a time together to chat, eat and view the panorama of life.  Those from 94 to those just over 1 year old will descend upon our chosen venue.

There will be the older generations remembrances.   Our daughter will meet relatives she’s never met before.  The grandchildren will be the center of a number of conversations and comments. 

But for tonight, we walked the neighbourhood, talked to friends and saw the grandchildren head to bed quickly and quietly.  We’ll see if a day filled with new people and new experiences winds them up tomorrow.  If so, may the clock quickly unwind and may they rest comfortably, as they are doing tonight.

In the space of a month – and that really isn’t a lot of space!

Relatives are great to have around.  You sit and reminisce, think of the past and may even talk of the future.  In the best of reunions you play games, and guitars and wake the neighbours and watch fireworks.  That’s been our experience to date.  On Thursday we head to the final of the three planned reunions.

This final reunion is coordinated with the 100th birthday of our town, a town in which my aunts and uncles were born and raised.  So, not only will we survey the land of life as relatives, but also as neighbours and friends meet from around the world.

So, there will be fireworks, and free pancake breakfast, and professional music, and more food and fun and fellowship.

What more could one ask?