At least four Kamsack residents were among the approximate 2,000 persons who had attended a reunion at Quill Lake July 29, 30 and 31.
For two years the residents of the community of Quill Lake, with a population of about 400, planned, organized and prepared for the Homecoming 2016 reunion.
Starting Friday evening the socializing began in the Quill Lake Community Hall. As visitors lined up at tables to register for the weekend event, old friends hugged, laughed, shared stories and were made to feel welcome by the organizers. Many volunteers had been recruited and were genuinely assisting visitors by answering questions and pointing out locations for the weekend activities.
Several large tents had been erected on the fastidiously groomed sportsground. This area was also meticulously marked in anticipation of the pre-registered guests who set up camp spots in their designated portion of the field.
The invitation to the reunion had stated: “Open to absolutely everyone who has ever lived in Quill Lake, wishes they had, knew someone who did or hopes to in the future...and that’s everyone!”
Although a lot of the attendees had lived in Quill Lake at one time and had attended school, there were those who had never lived there, but had ties to someone who had in the past. One couple from Powell River, BC, attended because his grandfather had homesteaded in the Quill Lake area in 1903. All of his family had left the area by the 1930s but there was still a need to return to the town where his forefathers had toiled.
“Any Homecoming bringing people back to your community is so important,” said Linda Ingram, head of the homecoming committee when asked about how important the event was to the people of the community. “It keeps your connection to home, and that’s all we’ve been hearing all weekend was how wonderful it was to come back to Quill Lake and to meet up with family and friends. It’s just wonderful.”
Ingram also spoke about the amount of support from the community.
“We’ve had a wonderful group of volunteers that have been meeting for the past year,” she said. “Then coming on to this weekend, we’ve had people that are returning home to the homecoming step up and take so many of the jobs, it’s just been overwhelming.”
Socializing was the main thrust of the reunion, but the homecoming committee also had many entertainment features lined up for visitors to enjoy, including an arts-and-crafts display, slo-pitch tournaments, beer gardens and dances held simultaneously at both the hall and the sportsground, class reunions at the school, a children’s midway, a talent show in the hall, Accent Credit Union Car Show on Main Street, a parade, Cactus Jack Horseshoe tournament and a fine display of fireworks to round out the weekend on Sunday evening.
There was a St. John’s Ambulance first aid station on site all weekend, Ingram said, indicating that they provided the homecoming committee the peace of mind that the home-comers would receive exceptional medical care if needed.
After the event concluded, Haven Seto, community services co-ordinator for the St. John’s Ambulance, wrote in a note to the homecoming committee that “our team had an absolutely wonderful time there! They want to express their sincere gratitude for treating them like family while they were out there.”
The many posts made by appreciative home-comers to the homecoming Facebook page during and after the event were indicative of the success of the event. Among the descriptive terms used were: wonderful, amazing, fantastic, memorable, unbelievable, enjoyable, spectacular, elaborate, well-planned, and tremendous.
“It was an amazing weekend,” Chelsey Loehr said as she summed up the event. “Thank you to everyone who organized it and worked so hard! Wish we didn’t have to wait 10 years for the next one! Felt great to be home!”
In addition to Jan Derwores, attending the event from Kamsack were: Jim Pollock, Glen Sterzer and Maryanne Chutskoff.
