ST. BENEDICT — The community of St. Benedict came together on Aug. 8 to host a village fundraising event.
The Summer Sizzler included a progressive 50/50, silent auction and raffle table, dunk tank, games for kids, bouncy castle, face painting, horse-drawn wagon rides, horse rides, food and craft vendors, tattoos by Humboldt Ink, beer gardens and an outdoor cabaret featuring Crooked Creek.
Richard Pilon, former NHL defenceman for the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers, and the St. Louis Blues, was at the reins for the wagon rides. Pilon grew up in St. Louis, SK, and chatted with the guests in his wagon as his team took them for a trip around the village. Richard and his team are regularly invited to provide rides at events in and around St. Louis.
All proceeds from the event will go towards renovating a room in the St. Benedict Community Centre, which will be a new home for the village’s Canada Post services. The postal service was previously located at Tree House Treasures, but the new direction taken by owner Sarah Ethier means that, for the continued viability of the postal outlet, a new location was needed.
The St. Benedict Library sponsored a miniature horse visit to the Summer Sizzler. Izzy, a 33-inch-tall mini-horse, was the inspiration for a colouring storybook called Barn Buddies, written by Karen Muckalt, mother of Izzy’s owner, Noël Bowman. Muckalt and her daughter provided horseback rides, and Bowman demonstrated riding in a side-saddle.
At her arena outside of Humboldt, Bowman facilitates learning programs, which include Izzy and her other animals, to help people acquire life skills and build confidence. Children start as what Bowman calls ‘barn buddies’ when they are too young to be riding, but they want to be around the horses. They learn to be comfortable with horses by working with Izzy before moving on to the larger horses.
Children and adults enjoyed the opportunity to interact with Izzy and her pals, and Karen Muckalt complimented the event on Facebook, saying, “The organizers did a fantastic job orchestrating a family-friendly event.”
In small communities all across Saskatchewan, the community centre is a vital part of the infrastructure and heart of the community. These centres are often repurposed buildings whose first life became financially unsustainable as children grew up and moved away, leaving a declining and, in many cases, aging population behind to keep the hometown going. In St Benedict, where the former school building has become the village’s hub, the community centre is home to a fitness centre, library, the village office, and soon the Canada Post site. In the gymnasium where children once played dodgeball and shot baskets, the community gathers for open gym nights to play pickleball, learn new crafts, or attend other community events, including the annual snowmobile rally held each January. St. Benedict Community Centre is a nonprofit managed by a board of directors and officers, and provides rental spaces for various organizations, clubs, and businesses. The gymnasium can be rented out for events.
The next job on the list for community planners is raising the funds to repair the roof at the far end of the building, where the years have caused a few leaks. Any extra money raised by the Summer Sizzler will be used for that.
