Cree River Development Trading Post in Blaine Lake held its official grand opening Feb. 11 with many family, friends, community members and dignitaries in attendance.
Owners Fred and Melanie Campiou were overwhelmed with the level of community and family support during their grand opening. Honoured guests Scott Moe, Rosthern-Shellbrook MLA, Martha Campiou and Ernie and Irene Crowder joined Fred and Melanie in the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Martha Campiou, Fred's aunt, introduced the speakers and explained the meaning of traditional blessing and prayer that was presented by Melanie's father, William Dreaver of Big River First Nation, also known as Whitefish Lake.
"He has retained the sacred ceremonies of our people," explained Fred referring to William, "he is the teacher in relation to our culture. It is traditional that the leaders of our Cree Nations do a prayer blessing and we want to thank our elder teacher for his blessings here this morning."
"We built a business that people can be proud of and benefit from. We want to show the younger generation that it is possible to fulfill your dream. It is my hope to inspire other First Nation people to start a business, to create a living that provides value, dignity and respect. Those are the same values that the Canadian society has. We want to try and bridge the gap between First Nations and non-First Nations through business and education, explained Fred. "We continue to encourage First Nations artisans to continue to prosper."
Ernie Crowder, mayor of Blaine Lake, extended appreciation to the Campious for constructing a new building for their business in Blaine Lake. "It is a great honour to Blaine Lake and its residents that you envision a future in our town," expressed Ernie.
Vivian Nemish, representing the Blaine Lake & District Chamber of Commerce, thanked the Campious for selecting Blaine Lake as their choice of business and for strengthening the community's business core.
Scott Moe acknowledged the Campious for having the confidence in the province of Saskatchewan, rural Saskatchewan and most importantly, the community of Blaine Lake to start their new business.
"It is a real testimonial of the strength of our communities and province," commented Scott.
