It was a busy year for northeast Saskatchewan in 2022, as pandemic restrictions lessened, many businesses and events opened up, and people got back to projects that were halted or delayed over the past couple of years.
James Smith Cree Nation: In the early morning of Sept. 4, 10 people died and 15 others were transported to hospital with injuries in relation to a stabbing rampage on the James Smith Cree Nation.
This led to a multi-day manhunt for Myles Sanderson. He was later arrested by police but then died shortly after.
The community has since tried to move on from the tragedy, receiving multiple visits in that time from Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Carrot River New School: The Town of Carrot River made huge strides in the construction of its new school.
While the project was announced in the summer of 2020, a large portion of the leg work began this year.
In late March, finalized designs were released, which centred around a student commons area.
Then, in late June, the North East School Division (NESD) officially hired the contractor that would be building the new school, Wright Construction.
By September, Premier Scott Moe headed to the site, as Carrot River, NESD representatives and local students celebrated a sod-turning event.
Construction is currently steadily progressing, as they hope to welcome students into the new building by early 2024.
The project will replace and combine Carrot River Elementary and Carrot River High schools and will attach to the existing high school gym.
Local Communities in Bloom: The Melfort and Kinistino Communities in Bloom (CiB) programs were back to in-person, national competitions.
Each community had out-of-province judges visit, in late July, as they were rated on a scale from 1-5 blooms.
Kinistino received recognition for its generous involvement of past and present residents, receiving a 5-bloom rating.
Meanwhile, Melfort won its first-ever national championship.
They won after beating out fellow competitors the Village of Chipman, NB, the Village of Petitcodiac, NB, and the Village of St. Paul, Alta.
Melfort Curling Rink: The Melfort Curling Rink had a big year of change, as it went through the first phase of its revitalization project.
The club announced in March that both the ice plant and the roof needed to be fixed or replaced.
They held different individual fundraisers, before holding its 50th anniversary in September.
This was when Bourgault Industries gave $100,000 for 10 years of naming rights, as the rink was renamed the Bourgault Curling Centre.
Brandt also gave them $50,000, as the rink’s lounge is now the Brandt Last Rock Lounge, and Viterra gave $25,000 to rename the locker rooms.
Then, in mid-October, the provincial and federal governments invested over $300,000, as part of their infrastructure projects to build more resilient, greener communities.
Since then, the Club has also requested over $600,000 from the City of Melfort.
Softball Canada Melfort: The Canadian Senior Women’s National Softball team stopped in Melfort to play an exhibition doubleheader against the Czech Republic.
This marked the first Saskatchewan stop of their 2020 Tokyo Olympics Bronze Medal Celebration Tour and their fourth stop overall.
Team Canada also made stops in Prince Albert and Saskatoon, before they headed to Birmingham, Alabama for the World Games.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: The North East School Division recognized NDTR by visiting a handful of local First Nation communities.
Over 300 staff went to Muskoday First Nation, Kinistin First Nation, Cumberland House Metis Nation, Red Earth First Nation, and One Arrow First Nation to participate in different cultural activities hosted by each community.
The NESD also had a presentation of their own, as after receiving a grant from the Saskatchewan Government, they created an educational video about the ways of First Nation life, which is set to be introduced into the new curriculum.
North East Team Canada Hockey: The Melfort Mustangs and the Humboldt Broncos each had a player who made the Team Canada West roster for the World Junior A Challenge.
Zac Somers, a Melfort local, was the first Mustang to represent at this tournament since defenceman Tommy Brown made it in 2008-09.
As for the Broncos, Calgary’s Ethan Zielke was the only other Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) player to make the team.
Meanwhile, Battlefords North Stars head coach and Humboldt-born and raised Brayden Klimosko joined the pair as an assistant coach.
Team Canada West finished fourth in the tournament.
Top Doctor: Hudson Bay doctor, Pieter Maree, was named the Saskatchewan Medical Association’s (SMA) 2022 Physician of the Year.
Dr. Maree is a physician at the Hudson Bay Primary Health Care Clinic.
He originally came to Canada in 2003 after immigrating from his homeland of South Africa.
High School Football: The Melfort Comets Football team won the 4A provincial championship.
The 9-man team went undefeated this year, with a record of 9-0, for the fourth time in the past 10 years (2012, 2014, 2019 and now, 2022).
Off-season training, Super Bowl watch parties, local camps and even provincial junior and university camps were opened back up, which the players took full advantage of.
A Place to Remember: The Humboldt Urban Garden Sanctuary (HUGS) opened in June of 2022.
The project was originally proposed back in 2018 but due to COVID, operations were shut down and the project was delayed.
While HUGS wasn’t specifically designed for the Broncos tragedy, it does serve as a memorial to reflect on that and whatever other tragedies, anyone may face.
Not only did it open after four years in the making, but it went on to win a national award just three months into its existence.
The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association presented it with the Green for Life Community award.
The garden currently sits at the Humboldt District Hospital Grounds and includes hundreds of trees, shrubs, and perennials, along with a large area of turf.
Top 10 in Canada: The U15A Melfort Spirit girl’s softball team won its first-ever A-level provincial title in program history.
They did so in July after posting a perfect 8-0 record.
This led them to Saskatoon in early August to compete at nationals, representing the province as Team Saskatchewan 1.
While they didn’t end up medaling, they finished in 10th place, which cemented them as one of the top 10 teams in the country.
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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter @BenTompkins_8
