REDVERS — Last year, 2024, was the year of Redvers’ 120th anniversary. As the committee went about planning a homecoming celebration, it was noted that attendance for Canada Day had been diminishing for the past several years. Many residents had begun using the beginning of July to get away to the cottage or take holidays and it was felt that a lot of work was being expended for the sake of a few.
That’s the problem with planning an extravaganza in a smaller community.
A suggestion was put forth – why not choose another weekend, when more would be around, and combine homecoming and Canada Day?
That’s what happened and it turned out to be a huge success. So successful, in fact, that a homecoming was planned to celebrate Redvers’ 121st anniversary and Canada’s 158th birthday at the same time.
A lot was planned for people to take part in or watch. A slo-pitch tournament was held – actually, it started a day early, on Thursday and finished on Sunday. Twelve teams from Redvers, Alida and Storthoaks competed for the fame of being crowned champions.
On Friday, the very popular and fun horse race, sponsored by Craig Gaudet of I/G Wealth Management, occurred. Eight contestants, dressed in inflatable horse costumes, ran through an obstacle course. Bidders were very generous as they ‘purchased’ the horse they thought would win. When the race was over, the winning horse received a trophy plus 30% of the pool, while its backer pocketed 50 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent went to the Homecoming Committee. All the other equine participants took home prizes.
Also taking place on Saturday was a car and motorcycle show, sponsored by KC Auto Services and Frank’s Auto Body. The kids had an opportunity to shine on vehicles of their own – they pedalled mini-tractors while pulling weights behind them. There were three age categories to make it fair – three-and-four-year-olds, five-and-six-year-olds and seven-and eight-year-olds. Redvers Ag Supply was the sponsor of that event.
Saturday wrapped up with a pulled pork dinner, an outdoor concert at the Ag Arena with Sask Steel (a four-man band based out of Saskatoon) and, of course, fireworks.
Saturday was over, but the weekend wasn’t. Sunday started with a pancake breakfast provided by the Knights of Columbus. The ranch rodeo, which had begun on Saturday, finished on Sunday. The rodeo featured roping events, skills events, a show by the Truco Trick Riders, a candy scramble for the kids and the loonie straw bale, which was a scavenger hunt for money hidden in a haystack. There were other activities throughout the day for kids, including a toonie swim…and a parade for the whole family to enjoy.
That completed the homecoming. And just so Canada Day didn’t feel totally left out, the fireworks came out on Tuesday for the second time in four days.
Another successful celebration. Now the planning begins for Redvers’ and Canada’s birthdays next year.
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