Go west young man, go west.

By Christalee Froese

I’m not sure who said it first, but it’s pretty much gospel here in the grain belt. Us Saskatchewanians are more eager to hustle out of this province than gophers are eager to stick their heads out of holes.

The mere sound of a graduation ceremony sends visions of mountains and pine trees dancing through our heads as we run for the hills - preferably those in Alberta or B.C. Our hills here in Saskatchewan just don’t seem to measure up.

And as for those greener pastures to the west, well, it’s sometimes nice to hear that they’re not always as green as they first appeared to be.
This brings me to a story about a lovely family of six who recently moved into our fine prairie village of 500. They’ve been grazing on the green pastures of B.C. all of their lives and now have happened upon a little piece of paradise, that (believe it or not) lies right here in Saskatchewan.

They could have had a vacation home on Vancouver Island, at Whistler or in Lake Louise, but no, not these folks - they’ve bought a vacation home in Montmartre, Saskatchewan - did I mention our population has recently climbed from 494 to 500.

There are no mountains here, no ocean-front beaches, no array of trendy restaurants or night clubs to choose from, but, low and behold, a family who appears to have it all in bustling Burnaby, B.C. has migrated east to Saskatchewan - to buy a VACATION home.

Call them pioneers, call them trendsetters, call them crazy if you want, but the fact of the matter is that they’ve seen something in Saskatchewan us local yokels often choose to run from.

They’ve come here so that their four children (aged eight to 14) can walk to the corner store unattended. It’s as simple as that. In all of their lives as a family, they have never, ever let their children go anywhere alone. And this is simply because it was not safe to do so.

Can you imagine? I know I can’t.

The only reason I’m scared to walk downtown in my town is that it might take too long because I’ll have to stop and chat with every neighbor I go by - and I might even have to pet a few dogs which I just happen to know by name.

I must admit that I do stay locked up in my home on occasion, but that’s just because I’m tired of socializing on the street. And as far as jogging alone goes, the only impediment there is people stopping on the road to ask me if I need a ride back to town.

As for my son and his friends, well, almost every person in this town knows them by name, asks them how many teeth they’ve lost this week or offers them money just for being cute (this is not an exaggeration).

So, imagine the shock of these four urban children who have moved into our little village. They can’t believe that people just come up to them and chat, and that these chats are often followed by invitations for a visit or a home-cooked meal. In one week of living here, the kids claim they already have more friends than they had at home. And as for walking around unattended, it’s pretty much a daily occurrence.

It was actually quite humorous the first time I met these four delightful ‘city kids’ at the park and put them through my usual round of questioning.

Me: “So, who are you visiting.” (I knew they must be visiting because I just happen to know every single child in this town by name and birth date).
Them: “Nobody. We live here.”
Me: “You live here? Really?” (How could I possibly have missed a new family moving in - I’m not getting out enough) “Well, where’s your house?”
Them: “Number 13, 2nd Street.”
Me: “Hmmm … I don’t know any street numbers in town, but who used to live there?”
Them: “We don’t know.”
Me: “Well, who are your neighbors?”
Them: “We don’t know.”
Me: “Where is your house again?”
Them: “Number 13, 2nd Street.”
Me: “No, I mean WHERE is it? Like is it across the tracks?”
Them: “Number 13, 2nd Street.”
Me: “Okay, how far is it from the ice cream place?”
Them: “Just down the street.”
Me: “Oh, okay. I know the one. Mrs. Shlosky used to live there before she sold it to the Nagels and then they moved over by the rink and now … well, I guess it’s your vacation home now. Welcome to town.”

So, to those of you who crave bigger cities with brighter lights, don’t forget how grand life can be when you can walk down the street without giving a second thought to what is just behind your back.

This Burnaby family knows that we’ve managed to hold on to something that has slipped away in most cities across this country and that ‘little’ something is safety and security.

We in rural Saskatchewan may not have shopping malls, delivery pizza or 24-hour access to a slurpy machine. But what we do have is an amazing sense of community and security that is getting harder and harder to find any where else.

Go west young man, go west- unless of course you want to find peace, serenity and security for the whole family, for that, go to rural Saskatchewan.