There is something to be said for tradition and history, and for the legacy left to us by all those generations who went before us, laying the foundation of the society and community we enjoy today.
There are times tradition is felt to be a weight, like shackles of long-held chains to be released from, so one can pursue new ways of thinking or acting.
In the classic movie and stage musical “Fiddler on the Roof”, the lead character Tevye sings “Tradition” as one of the key songs of that story. He clings to tradition as long-honoured and long-held ways, but is saddened and shocked to find his daughters all turning from that tradition as they follow their hearts in different directions.
Now, for most people, tradition is not so onerous as to be a major life-changing set of rules, and as demonstrated by upcoming events in Weyburn and area, can be a way to show how people used to live as they settled the prairies and established Saskatchewan as a growing and thriving province.
In Weyburn, the annual Wheat Festival is coming up on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 5 and 6, with many of the events centred around the Heritage Village. There are a range of demonstrations and activities, all showing different ways our pioneering families lived and worked as they broke sod and established farms, villages and towns.
There is also the annual Horticulture Show on Friday, and the bread-baking contest at the Soo Line Historical Museum, which people can tour as they come in for a slice of fresh-baked bread and jam.
There are also similar celebrations in Midale, also on the weekend, with their museum open for viewing, and displays of working antique tractors along with a demonstration of threshing the old-fashioned way.
Besides being a lot of fun to attend, for people of all ages and all walks of life, there is a lot of value to take in events like this, as they connect us to our local history.
They remind us of the struggles and sacrifices and pure hard work that people had to undertake just to survive, and to establish new lives and new communities on the prairies.
Some of the day-to-day traditions of that time may have passed on, but the legacy they have left to the current generation, and the history they have left for us, is the fruit of those traditions, and like the history, should not be forgotten and swept aside, but remembered. Without their hard work and sacrifice, we would not be here today. — Greg Nikkel
