A folder in my drawers is labeled "Ernestly: Current Notes."
It has been in place for many years, and is opened chiefly when I pull the front cover toward me to place in the folder another "Current Note" for the ever-thickening store of timeless treasures. Their purpose: to supply grist for the Ernestly mill.
Today I decided to plunder the folder for tidbits to be incorporated into the current week's column. There is enough material to fill a modest book, not just a single column. Some of the "unforgettables" even challenge my memory of what they were about.
One slip of paper simply bears the phrase "Fort Qu'Appelle Stone Church." I distinctly remember on a morning walk after a night in that handsome town admiring the little stone structure, constructed in the late 19th century as a Methodist church. Beyond that simple fact I am lost. So if any reader happens to visit (or live in) Fort Qu'Appelle I would take it as a favour to learn if there is anything compelling about it beyond the lean offerings in this paragraph.
Another brief entry is titled "Davidson: chicken wings". I do recall stopping at a highway-side diner on the outskirts of Davidson, and noticing a reference to the day's special of "buffalo chicken wings".
A passing oldtimer who struck me as a Saskatchewan farmer of a familiar down-to-earth breed glanced at the "special notice" and declared: "How in Hades do you get chicken wings from a buffalo?!" How indeed! I seem to recall the word he used was a common variation of "Hades".
Another reference was to "Homecoming meetings, Carlyle".
Most regular readers of this column are old enough to remember Saskatchewan Homecoming '71. This was an initiative dreamed up by a provincial government department during the Thatcher years, purporting (and succeeding) to bring thousands of former Saskatchewan residents back in the summer of 1971 to visit families, friends and former hangouts.
The province was divided into 12 or more zones, with a chairman in each. It was my privilege to serve as chairman of the southeastern zone extending from the Manitoba border to Highway 6 on the west, and from the Trans-Canada on the north to the U.S. boundary. An important duty was to organize meetings in major towns to impress on community representatives the importance of the promotion and encouraging discussion of its many possibilities.
For an early spring day I scheduled a meeting in Carlyle, (to be followed next day by a newspaper association meeting in Saskatoon). It had been my plan to drive to Saskatoon after ending the Carlyle session. Lo and behold, I awoke to deep snowdrifts everywhere and - after checking with contacts in Estevan and one or two other points - decided to postpone the Carlyle meeting for a few weeks.
I drove to Saskatoon, and all signs on Highways 39 and 6 supported my decision. Returning a few days later, I was subjected to the fury of provincial representatives who had traveled to Carlyle via Highway 33 and had not seen any signs of heavy snowfall. Their opinion was that I had canceled the meeting as a personal convenience.
The postponed meeting was still on, and lo!, on that date I awoke once more to snowdrifts equaling the previous one. This time I dared not call it off, and drove to Carlyle. And believe this, it was a replay of the previous scene. The snowdrifts ended just beyond Griffin or Froude, and there was a good turnout from all points east of Weyburn.
A further note about Fort Qu'Appelle. Again visiting the town for an overnight stay, I stopped at a small motel suitable for my needs, and was fascinated by a front-door sign with the following legend: "If locked ring buzzer once, then be patient. Thank you. Cold water."
That takes care of a few items.
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