Residents of Weyburn, you are hereby charged to act as ambassadors for a one-week period.

As anyone who lives in or near Weyburn should surely know by now, the 2004 Saskatchewan Summer Games will be upon Weyburn from Aug. 8 to 14.

During this period, approximately 1,800 athletes from nine zones around the province, along with coaches, managers and zone mission staff, will converge upon our fair city to compete for top honours in amateur sport for our province.

Much like our nationally-best athletes will be doing in the latter half of August in Athens, Greece, at the Summer Olympic Games, these young people will be performing their best to reach the top level they can over this one-week period.

For many people, the Olympics are the pinnacle of true amateur athletic endeavours, but in many ways these Games are an even purer representation of what athleticism is all about. We don't have any professional athletes-turned-amateur for the sake of winning their country a medal, we have junior and senior high school students and college and university-age students competing in some cases for their personal best, but ultimately for top honours in the province.

Some of these athletes will get enough of a taste of the competition to aim for the national and Olympic levels later on - but it will depend on their experience here in Weyburn.

For many of these athletes and other visitors, this may be their first visit ever to our city, and this is where the residents of the city and area can shine. Many are already putting forward their best foot as volunteers, helping out with the venues, serving food, providing security, driving athletes and officials to their respective venues, and so on.

For the average resident, they can show themselves friendly, suggesting some of the many, many activities that will be going on that week, both with cultural events and, on the last weekend, the Wheat Festival, Chamber Street Fair, Horticultural Show and concert stage down at River Park. All are designed not only for the residents of the Weyburn area to enjoy, as we celebrate the heritage of agriculture and many fine talents of our residents, but to provide a taste to our visitors of what Weyburn is all about.

Prior to the current slogan as the "Opportunity City", Weyburn was long known as the "Hospitality Capital" and indeed, many visitors have commented that our southeast centre is just that. Pay a visit to those stopping in at River Park through the summer, and several of those visitors will talk about the friendliness of our people.

This will be what visitors will take away when they remember their time in Weyburn - more so even than the winning of medals, or experiencing a Ghost Tour of Heritage Village or an event at the Wheat Festival, it will be the people they have met and befriended in Weyburn that will stay special in their hearts, and will bring them back again in the future.

The greatest good will come as we welcome those visitors with open arms and warm hearts.