Weyburn’s newest project underway, the Pioneer Woman Statue committee, has made some excellent progress in a relatively short time, and they are now looking forward to possibly unveiling the statue by Mother’s Day this coming May.
One of the outstanding issues, besides needing to raise some additional funds over and above the initial goal of $120,000, is to decide the final location for the statue that will do justice to the subject and intent of this statue project.
From the start, the intent of the statue committee is to raise awareness of the role pioneer women played in establishing the communities of western Canada, in particular the prairies region, and the Weyburn area, and to pay tribute to what they accomplished and the sacrifices they made for future generations.
The response shows that this committee has struck a chord in area residents, particularly those whose grandmother, great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother was one of those pioneer women, and whose stories were passed down through the generations about the experiences these women had in coming to an untamed frontier and setting up farms and communities where there were none.
In order to properly pay tribute to these women, a unique bronze statue has been commissioned, and this is largely what the raised funds will be paying for; the remaining funds that need to be raised will be to set up the statue and landscape and light the area up properly. So, the location of this statue will be a key to this tribute, but this hasn’t yet been decided on.
A number of locations had been suggested, and these came down to, 1. the flower garden area at the intersection of Fifth Street and First Avenue; and 2. a location overlooking River Park near Confederation Drive.
The location at Fifth and First should get consideration as one of the favourites of the statue committee, as this is a high-traffic area of the city so a lot of people will see it, plus a school and the city’s swimming pool facility and Jubilee Park are all nearby.
That corner could be done up very nicely as a park area that invites people to come by and see it, and give thought to those remarkable women who played such a key role in helping establish the prairies, and this province, and the southeast area where we live and work and play. This is an important and overdue tribute project, so let’s do it right.
