Grainy viewing: Canwood’s grain elevator to display Grey Cup

Blue Jays fans in Saskatchewan may have heard about the World Series games projected onto the side of Canwood’s grain elevator, and now the man behind those projections is bringing his equipment back.

Ryan Peekeekoot initially got the idea to broadcast baseball on the structure on Halloween, during Game 6 of the World Series.

The village of Canwood is located about 160 km north of Saskatoon.

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That evening, his band, Black Rain, was scheduled to play at the Canwood Bar. While on the way to pick up his gear for the performance, he was listening to the radio and heard about the game.

Peekeekoot, who’s always been a Jays fan, called up the bar’s manager, asking if he could project the game onto the grain elevator, which can be seen from the bar. She approved, and that’s when he and his grandma got to work setting it up, putting a projector on the dashboard of his car so that it could shine through the window and onto the white tower.

Peekeekoot also put a speaker on the roof of his car and used an FM transmitter so people could listen while they sat in their own cars.

“It’s like a drive-in movie theatre experience,” he said.

For that first night, Peekeekoot said roughly 10 cars came out to watch, in addition to those who brought chairs and sat outside. During Game 7, that number increased to roughly 12 to 15 cars.

He said people thought it was really cool and were thanking him.

Even those from the highway got a glimpse of the games as they drove past, and they’d honk their horns and yell, “Go Jays go,” Peekeekoot said.

While he’d projected a movie onto the elevator back in August, which is what really “got the ball rolling on the elevator,” the World Series ended up garnering a lot of attention from both media outlets and the community.

He said he’s been getting a lot of messages asking if he was going to do it again, and the answer is yes.

He’s looking forward to bringing the community together again by projecting the game, “plus it’s the Grey Cup. It’s our only pro sports team.” According to Peekeekoot, that makes it a “great idea.”

When asked if he’s a Roughriders fan, Peekeekoot said, “Of course I am, hard not to [be].”

Projecting for good

Outside of displaying sports games on the side of structures, Peekeekoot also owns the Lonesome Pine Hill Diner and Drive-In.

It’s a restaurant that shows movies on the weekend in Ahtakakoop, the reserve Peekeekoot lives on.

“Drugs, gangs and alcohol are major problems for most communities, especially Native communities,” he said. “It leaves the youth with a lot of time on their hands with really not much to do.”

So, Peekeekoot built this space as a way to help his community, giving young people and families a positive way to spend time together on the weekends.

His business is the reason why Peekeekoot owns all the right gear to put the World Series, and now the Grey Cup, onto Canwood’s grain elevator.