Yukon band students visit

A group of band students from Whitehorse were in the Yorkton area last week as part of an exchange program.

The students were staying with families in the Broadview district, with students there planning on going north in a few weeks.

"They will come to see us at the end of May," said Rebekah Bell spokesperson with the Yukon group.

The Whitehorse band members, and those from the local school spend time practicing as a combined group while in the same city.

"We did five performances yesterday together," said Bell, adding that included stops at schools in Whitewood, Broadview, Grenfell and Woolsley.

The exchange was funded through the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada (SEVEC), said Bell.

The exchange also included time for lots of sightseeing including a visit to the farm of Dale and Tracey Richter. The Broadview-area couple were presented the Farmer Recognition award at the 2012 Grain Millers Harvest Showdown.

Bell added they also toured a dairy farm, which was of particular interest.

"There's probably only a couple of cattle farms in all of the Yukon," she said.

The group of 23 students from Grades 9-12 at two schools in the Yukon Territory capital were on the city last Thursday visiting both the local Western Development Museum branch and Godfrey Dean Gallery.

Bell said the Saskatchewan experience has been very different from the Canadian north, even if Whitehorse is only a city of 28,000.

"Farm communities have a different atmosphere," she said, adding there is a closeness seen in things such as potluck suppers. "It's all about community."