The sound of the whistle
May 24, 2005
By Cam Tait
WEYBURN, SK // The railway runs parallel here, east to west, along Highway 39. Several times a day, a train slowly makes its way down the track, sometimes stopping traffic at the railway crossing where people go in and out of town. Its whistle - perhaps more common on the prairies than even pick-up trucks and grain elevators - echoes throughout the town during the daytime and even when night falls. In the
Weyburn Coliseum, one of the town's most celebrated buildings because of the Weyburn Red Wings, the whistle sounds whenever the home team scores, reminding all in the arena where they are: small town Saskatchewan.
There are no skyscrapers here. No light rail transit systems. Very few franchise restaurants - heck, the walls of the town's first Tim Hortons have just gone up. But there's more here. There's a community of people; farm folks, as my mother would say, who come together in spades whenever there's an event in town.
This was evident when the town played host recently to the Royal Bank Cup, the Canadian junior A hockey version of the Stanley Cup. Some 138 teams started the season last fall with hopes of getting into the final five. But this isn't a hockey story. This story is about exposing young men to the real meaning of community.
Like every junior hockey player here, they all hope to make the National Hockey League - where the city lights might show the way down the wrong alleys and through doors where bad things can potentially happen. But the young men whose passion is hockey now have the small town experience...and it has been quite the journey.
It began five years ago when a few hockey-crazed people thought Weyburn should host the Royal Bank Cup. In Saskatchewan, the only other city putting a bid forward was North Battleford. When the votes were tallied, there was a tie - five votes a piece. Lady Luck sided with the gang here when the president of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League cast the deciding vote for Weyburn.
After winning the western Canada bid, Weyburn and Newmarket, Ontario were the two cities competing. A major reason why Weyburn wanted to host the tournament in 2005 was to help celebrate the province's 100th anniversary. When the Newmarket group found that out, they very graciously withdrew their bid so this city of 10,000 could host the tournament.
There was a mountain of work to be done - from finance, to legal, to media, to making sure there were enough hotel rooms for the five teams, dignitaries, and hockey officials. A total of 600 volunteers rolled up their sleeves and they certainly did their town proud.
There are many things the young men will take from their nine days in this small prairie community. Many of those things are far away from the hockey rink: the people who gave strangers a ride to the rink; the volunteers who put on a great buffalo dinner at the awards banquet; the atmosphere of a small town that comes together to help everyone in every way, and so much more. People who played junior hockey here some 30 years ago come back every summer because of the great relationships that developed here.
And for this reporter, the sound of the train's whistle coming through town will forever be a cherished memory.
Cam Tait is a sports reporter and columnist for the Edmonton Journal. He covered community investments and volunteers for 19 years. E-mail Cam at cam@charityvillage.com with thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
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