Residents of the Valley View Heritage building in south-central Estevan paid tribute to local first responders Thursday afternoon.
The majority of the residents in the senior citizens’ facility gathered on the walkway in front of the building to clang pots and pans while local law enforcement personnel drove by in their police vehicles. Officers had their lights and sirens activated.
It was the latest effort by people in Estevan to pay tribute to first responders and other essential services personnel.
Darlene Himmelspach, a resident of Valley View, organized the rally after hearing that a similar event was happening in Regina.
“Everybody has pots and pans. It’s appreciation to the people that are out there risking their lives like the nurses doctors and others.”
She believes it’s good for essential services workers to know how much people appreciate them in the face of COVID-19.
In addition to the Estevan Police Service and RCMP, Himmelspach said they wanted to also recognize firefighters; doctors; nurses who tend to the sick; people working in grocery stores; truck drivers who deliver groceries, since they have to work long hours to make sure there are groceries; the employees who make sure the shelves are filled each day; the Southern Plains Co-op for delivering groceries for free; employees who go to work early and open the stores for the elderly people; people who stock shelves every day; all the employees who work and care for the sick in the hospital; pharmacists who fill the prescriptions for the sick; ambulance drivers; people who deliver Meals on Wheels; and those who work at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home.
“If we’ve forgotten anyone who deserves recognition, we apologize. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts. It wouldn’t be possible without your hard work,” Himmelspach said.
Next week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
