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| Lots and Lots of grain & specialty crops, as far as the eye can see. Almost without a tree is sight. |
As I wandered I thought I had had enough of the TransCan highway do I looked for a road south to maybe get into Montana so I took highway 4 south. Things started to get interesting when I filled up with gas in Cadillac the clerk told me the road got poor and I might like seeing the small towns east on highway 13. So away I went with little hope of seeing much and just take a better road south. I took pictures along the way a bit to convey the country side I was seeing.
By Chance a visitors centre center sign was getting some letters put on by this guy and I figured I had a chance.
I pulled in and he said he was only going to be here for 20 minutes and it was lucky I caught him. The place was a donation from a local guy with his collection off animals that he hunted thru out Africa many years earlier. This guy invented a hay/straw bale stacker that was a big hit in its day. He was insistent that I visited the towns art gallery.
By Chance a visitors centre center sign was getting some letters put on by this guy and I figured I had a chance.
I pulled in and he said he was only going to be here for 20 minutes and it was lucky I caught him. The place was a donation from a local guy with his collection off animals that he hunted thru out Africa many years earlier. This guy invented a hay/straw bale stacker that was a big hit in its day. He was insistent that I visited the towns art gallery.Leaving Medicine Hat started with a ride around the downtown area, going to a closed visitors center, closed museum and a closed garden centre. I just got on the highway East. Sunday must be a slow day for these visitor centers because I passed 2 more a ways down the road but no luck. I took some road pictures to give an idea of what the landscape looked like.
As far as one's eyes could see the land just rolled on and in some areas you could not see any trees in any direction. That must have been a big prairie at one time. McCormic-Deering came along and invented the steel plow and tractors and the prairie was converted to cropland.
What the heck, from the outside it looked pretty nice. Architecture and landscape set it apart of most things I saw since Calgary. Inside was a WOW. No pictures!?
After a deliberate walk around I asked if the Director of the gallery was available. The receptionist Sandra said the Director was the owner and he was in and would check and see if he had time for me. Bill Shurniak was distinguished, gracious with a very pleasant demeanor. I explained that it was by chance I was directed here and what a coincidence it was and I needed pictures for my blog, if he would permit me. We talked about the need for copyright issues for the artist and how copies of artist works were being copied. I understood and thanked him. He offered me to take pictures of the rooms without any close up or head on pictures and I said that was all I needed. And thanks.
After finishing the pictures I asked him to view them and offered to delete any he was uncomfortable with and, Bill was fine with them. I showed Bill and Sandra how to reach the blog and we viewed it a bit. They seemed generally interested and were happy that I would blog the town and his gallery but reserve or shy to have their own pictures taken. I understand peoples privacy and have respect for it. He was a international banker and lived in Hong Kong but this is where he grew up and his parents homestead was. They have since passed and Bill restored the family homestead and I learned he had visitors from around the world visit the open house when it was completed. Many of the art pieces were gifts as well as purchases for this collection. He also featured local as well as renowned artist in exhibits and showings. Nothing in the gallery is for sale, its a collection for the community with no admission charges. Only an obscure donation box without any signage. I was compelled to express my appreciation but only had large bills and they had no change for my fifty. I suggested we take thirty dollars from the Plexiglas donation box and I leave the fifty in there. He was generally shy about donations, saying that they were not necessary, I confirmed how I would feel privileged if he used it for more flowers some where in town if he did not need it for the gallery. Then he expressed how he convinced the town council to make a landscaped park in town on a vacant piece of property on Main street which I saw on the way to the gallery. 
Their is no end to this guy's generous influence. I could not help think of the contributions that Irwin Miller had made to Columbus Indiana with his influence and contributions. The similar nature of these men suggests to me that their paths had crossed over the years in banking some where. I of course did not think of it at the time I was there to ask Bill if their paths ever crossed. This is a good example how one person can make a big difference.After the visit to the Shurniak Art Gallery I stopped to take some pictures around town and also the park. I spotted in town a farm hardware store called Peavey Mart and hoped to purchase a unique sledge hammer I saw previous in Whitehorse but was unable to fine for purchase earlier in the trip. They had them and I purchased because they had two different kinds. Feeling good about the purchase and the helpfulness of the staff there I asked if I could get their pictures. A little conversation followed and they confirmed Moose Jaw was a great place to visit. Moose Jaw was one of Al Capone's hideouts in Canada.
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| Rebecca (helpful young historian confirming Moose Jaw) and Travis(bound for big things) |
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| Yvonne, on the right, keeps things moving by directing staff special details getting ready for their local CTV news station visit featuring Saskatchewan cities and towns activities |
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| While checking out of Peavy Mart, Yvonne asked what I did not like about Canada. My response was gas by the liter Warren Jolly Mossbank and the price. A customer chimed in that he fills up in Montana whenever he can. Saskatchewan ships its crude and gas to the states and its cheaper there than right here where it comes from. Taxes he said, we all agreed on the problem its the politicians. She told one politician who asked who she was going to vote for and she replied "the honest one" and he did not like that and she rarely votes because of so few choices and even the good ones change when they get elected. |
On the way to Moose Jaw I saw a dynamic harvest of wheat with some good looking equipment. This was very interesting and some pictures were warranted. I also made some video's of the wheat harvest and the farmer invited me into the cab of his tractor for an interview. It was just awesome. This 180 acre field was polished off in no time. Sixty bushels per acre and he had a total of 10,000 acres to do. What an operation. They sell all the the durum wheat for human consumption to a government Wheat Board at a fixed price with additional supplement money if the market permits when the wheat is sold. Warren says this wheat is used to make pasta.
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| Warren Jolly from Mossbank, Saskatchew |
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| Video of wheat harvest |
I finished up the nite at the Comfort Inn but now I am plagued now with upgrading my sleeping places since being with John. I stopped at two places and rejected them before reaching this Hotel. Good nite tom
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