Murray Wood: The day Canada Became a nation
April 9, 1917 was Easter Monday. On that date, 109 years ago, Canadian soldiers made history at Vimy Ridge. Murray Wood ...
The last thing child evacuees will remember from their stay in Saskatoon is zipping through an obstacle course and meeting hockey great Wendel Clark.
“I know the last few weeks haven’t been easy because it’s never easy to be away from the comfort of your own home,” said social services minister Donna Harpauer outside the Henk Ruys Soccer Centre in Saskatoon.
With the last evacuees waiting to go home, Canadian Tire brought their Jumpstart Games program to the fields behind the soccer centre, including a blow-up obstacle course, a bouncy castle and more outdoor games.
“It’s awesome of Canadian Tire to have this even where you can have a little fun even though you are away from home,” Harpauer said.
Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer mingles with evacuees in Saskatoon on Friday.
Staying in touch with the wildfire situation in northern Saskatchewan, Clark, who was just announced as an inductee into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame, said he got the call last night to come help Jumpstart send kids back home with a cheer.
“It’s been up to three weeks and some of the families and kids have been cooped up living away from home in situations that are uncomfortable so Jumpstart, coming in providing fun I think it’s great,” Clark said.
Not having been evacuated himself, Clark said he sympathizes with the families, especially the parents who have been keeping their kids in check.
“The parents have probably been dealing with the most of it, kids probably thought it was neat for the first couple of days they thought it was like a camping trip and then as it extends to three weeks it gets to a long time and the nerves are a little shorter.”
Many of the evacuees still in Saskatoon are from La Ronge, and with less than 80 evacuees remaining, many are expected to make it back home as evacuation orders have been lifted for La Ronge, Air Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. The highway home opened at 1 p.m.
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