I still remember New Year’s Eve 2009 like it was yesterday.
I was in Saskatoon, sitting in the temporary press seating area for the World Junior Hockey Championships, eliminating an item from my sports bucket list: watching Canada and the U.S. play in that tournament on New Year’s Eve.
Canada prevailed 5-4 in the most ghastly of hockey finishes, the shootout. Since I was in the press box, I couldn’t yell or scream or cheer or jump up and down, but deep down, I was celebrating, even if the shootout was necessary.
A short time later, I was in the area known as WorldFest, where fans gathered after games for a drink or some quick food and a festive atmosphere. Most nights it was fairly quiet, but as I’m sure you could well imagine, that night, it was hopping, especially after Canada had rallied to knock off the loathed Americans.
It was almost 10 years ago.
I can guarantee you that the start of the next decade won’t be so memorable for me. I won’t even get to watch Canada-U.S. at the World Juniors; they’re playing on Boxing Day this year.
But it is amazing how quickly the past decade has flown past and how much things have changed.
I think about the stories I covered. The flood of 2011 probably stands out the most. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly 10 years since the Souris River swelled beyond its banks, and submerged a village, people’s homes, farms and tourist attractions.
For those of us who witnessed and experienced it, will we ever forget those two months, culminating in the submerging of Roche Percee in June of that year.
There have been other great moments. We’ve drawn the interest of the world with our carbon capture and storage facility. We celebrated the opening of Affinity Place (or Spectra Place, as it was known at the time) and lamented the demise of the Civic Auditorium seven years later. The Shand Test Facility and the Saskatchewan Energy Training Institute opened, too.
We played host to the TSN Kraft Celebration Tour, the Saskatchewan Summer Games, the Western Canada Cup and numerous memorable concerts and festivals. We secured a new CT scan machine, held hundreds, if not thousands, of wildly successful fundraisers, and celebrated the accomplishments of many in sports, culture, education, health care, politics and more.
We’ve also seen the tone of the community change. Ten years ago, it was a boom time. Saskatchewan and Canada had emerged from the global recession, faster than most, I might add, and activity was picking up in the city once again. Between the strength of the oil sector, and the potential that existed for CCS in coal-powered generation, the sky was the limit.
If something happened to oil or coal-fired power, well, we’d have the other, right?
The price of oil collapsed more than five years ago, and SaskPower has decided not to retrofit Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station, spelling the end of those two units that generated power for homes and jobs for people.
Now we’re wondering what our population will be and where the jobs will be after those two units are retired, and whether Unit 6 at Boundary Dam and the Shand Power Station will have a future, too.
The people responsible for economic development and business growth in the community have suddenly become some of the most important people in Estevan. And they’ll never face more pressure than they will in the next few years.
Other changes? Ten years ago, Netflix was in its infancy. You could still find a video store or two. Social media wasn’t the powerhouse that it is now. Smart phones were just beginning to become prevalent in society; now everyone seemingly has a mobile device to keep them forever connected to the world.
On Jan. 1, 2010, we were looking forward to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, which were just weeks away. Now it’s been nearly a decade since Sidney Crosby’s Golden Goal and the dozens of other memories associated with what remains the high point of Canadian sport.
Science and technology have evolved, changed and changed several times more. Many of the concepts that were state of the art or revolutionary 10 years ago became antiquated a few years ago.
Personally, I escaped the world of rent and purchased a condo. I said goodbye to my 30s and entered the world of middle aged and crazy. Ten years ago I was merely crazy. And because I needed that much more stress in my life, I’m now the editor of two papers instead of one.
I’m still driving the same car; that’s about the only thing that has stayed the same. That, and my beloved Vancouver Canucks still haven’t won the Stanley Cup.
I don’t know what I’ll be talking about 10 years from now, both personally and professionally. Hopefully I’m still writing for these papers. Hopefully, you’re still reading my writing.
And hopefully Estevan and southeast Saskatchewan weather the uncertainty that we’re facing now, and we’re a stronger community and a stronger region 10 years from now.
