The hockey career of Yorkton’s Metro Prystai has been well documented. He had a storied career with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings over a span of 12 years in the 1940s and 50s, scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Red Wings in the 1952 finals, back when there were only six teams and only the very best made it to the top, let alone the Stanley Cup playoffs. He won two Stanley Cups with Detroit, and was named to the NHL All-Star team three times.

He was not the first with a Yorkton connection to make it to the NHL; he was one of several dozen. But he was Yorkton’s own, born and raised in a house on Ontario Avenue close to St. Mary’s Church, the second-youngest of seven children born to Harold and Annie Prystai, Ukrainian immigrants.

Metro and most of his contemporaries have passed on. But in 2003 he sat down with Terri Lefebvre Prince, then the city archivist, and they recorded two hours of conversation during which Metro reflected on his life. 

And Frank Block wrote and recorded an audio book, The Metro Prystai Story, in 2015. With the permission of both the City of Yorkton and Mr. Block, we have used that audio, as well as information gleaned from online sources, to produce this podcast remembering the life of Metro in and outside hockey, much of it in his own words, with insights from those who knew him well.

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When it comes to Yorkton sports dynasties, the dominance of Yorkton volleyball teams and players in the 1980s stands out. 

Senior hockey had a good run with the Terriers winning three league titles and four provincial championships between 1967 and 1972. But nothing compares to the boys’ volleyball teams of the 1980s and the players, all 18 and under in age. Most were coached by Dennis Pomeroy, who became a legend in the sport. The Yorkton Regional High School Raiders boys teams won nine consecutive provincial championships in that decade, and the male club teams – the Macs -- had their share of successes. 

For many of the male players, volleyball stuck with them, and they stuck with volleyball. Of the 19 players who formed the 1982 juvenile (age 18 and under) and midget (age 16 and under) Macs, six are still very actively involved in the sport as coaches, referees and officials, as are others from later 1980s. 

The girls teams did not receive the same level of attention as their male counterparts -- they flew somewhat under the radar. But that same decade was the start of outstanding volleyball success for one player, the pinnacle of whose career was playing for Canada in the 1996 Olympics. 

We talked with four men and two women who were part of those successes, and who are still active in volleyball 40-plus years later.

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We haven't asked Siri, the Apple virtual assistant, about forensic pathology. But we did ask Alexa -- no, not Siri's counterpart at Google, but Alexa Haider, who  graduates this spring after four years of studies at Trent University in Peterborough, ON.

I know Alexa from her work at Deer Park Golf Course the past two summers, and when she told me what she was studying, I was, to say the least, very surprised. It's not a field of study and employment we hear a lot about. And not something I expected to hear from a bubbly outgoing young woman who never fails to provide a cheerful welcome to golfers at Deer Park, even early in the morning.

Forensics is science-based detective work, not new to many of us familiar with such TV show titles as the CSI series, Law and Order, Criminal Minds, NYPD Blue, NCIS and going all the way back to shows I'm more familiar with -- Murder She Wrote, Columbo, Kojak and the original Hawaii Five 0.

It was the "pathology" part that got me. It is the study of diseases and causes of death. It involves things like autopsies and the examination of bodies and organs. When combined with forensics, we are talking about doing this in relation to crime. Murders. That type of stuff.

It piqued my curiosity about how high school graduates decide on careers, why she chose that after graduating from Sacred Heart High School in June of 2021,  where she goes from here, and what did she think about that first autopsy?

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Almost sixty years ago, when I first came to Yorkton, it was a very "white" community where the names were predominantly Ukrainian, German or British, reflecting the founding and early settlement of this part of the prairies. 

Census data from the past 15 years clearly show how things have changed. In 2011, about four percent of the population of Yorkton consisted of immigrants who were born abroad and had emigrated to Canada. Five years later, that percentage was about 10, and in the latest census of 2021, it was close to 14 per cent. It is likely to be higher still when the next census takes place in 2026, given the recent influx of immigrants into Saskatchewan.

Founded by people who mainly came from the British Isles, Yorkton is now a multi-cultural community which people from as many as 60 different countries call home. We talked to seven local immigrants about their experiences coming to Canada and Yorkton, about their likes and the challenges related to that. Not surprisingly, winter weather was a recurring topic!

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Shawn Sanford Beck -- born, raised and educated in Yorkton and area -- is now a pastor with the United Church in Saskatoon with a special mission. He was an Anglican priest, a position he left due to some unresolved conflicts with that denomination.

He subscribes to and has written about Christian animism, is a member of the Order or Bards, Ovates and Druids, teaches Green Priestcraft, and considers himself a Christo-pagan. He is an author, as is his wife Janice and one son, and the family lived off the grid north of North Battleford for almost nine years before returning to church duties in Saskatoon.

He is not your conventional clergyman. His intent is not to convert you. But for those interested in looking at Christianity from a different and wider viewpoint, he offers ample food for thought.

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The village of Hamton is like many Saskatchewan communities between Yorkton and Canora… still on the map, but not really there anymore. 

But to say there is nothing left of Hamton is a mis-statement. It looks that way from the intersection of the grid roads to the west and south, since the triangle that was the village, between those two roads and the old rail line, is overgrown with tall weeds, shrubbery, and a few trees. Until 2018, there were buildings still standing, but abandoned and unused. Then one weekend in early May of 2018, whatever was left of the village of Hamton burned to the ground. Gone. 

Was caused the fire? Mother nature? A grass fire? A controlled fire set by someone that got out of hand? Somebody must know. Yet it remains a mystery.

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Lesotho, a landlocked country in southern Africa, is home to about two million people, including Ivan Yaholnitsky, whose family name is familiar in the Yorkton area. The Yaholnitsky family farmed south of Mikado. Ivan went to the University of Saskatchewan, and what he is doing in Lesotho is the topic of this podcast.

Lesotho is a poor country. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s income comes from farming, and a quarter of the population is unemployed, according to the government of Lesotho website. 

That’s where Ivan arrived in 1987, to teach at the high school in the village of Bethel, in the eastern part of the country. And that is where he still is today. He and Antonia Nthabiseng from the village were married there in 1993, they raised a son and daughter, and that same year Ivan established the Bethel Business and Community Development Centre, or BBCDC, which teaches and practices sustainable development and learning by doing.

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It's almost 50 years since the first computers started being used in Yorkton. We talked with Andy Balaberda, the first local computer teacher, and Rick Coleman; he and Warren Gamracy were very early entrants into the business of computer sales and support, with Rick also developing software. My own household also started using computers very early on. There you have it: three old guys – Andy, Rick and myself, all of us in our 70s and each with 40 to 50 years of computer use and experience behind us. We talk about when it all started in the 1970s, and share views about computers, the changes over the past 50 years, and the future. 

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Perry Ehrlich left Yorkton in the early 1970s to attend the University of Saskatchewan. He became a successful lawyer in Vancouver, and continued to indulge in his love of music and performing; 30 years ago he founded Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! He has been called an impresario for conducting two one-month music camps each summer which attracts kids from literally around the world, and for teaching and nurturing a performing troupe of teenagers called ShowStoppers. They appear year-round in concerts, on TV and radio, and at numerous conventions, awards dinners, galas, sporting events and corporate and charitable events throughout BC.

At www.yorktonstories.ca you can see and read much more about Perry, his work with young performers and more.

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This is the story of Alexander Ross – he had a middle name which started with the letter E, but in no sources, including when he was received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Regina, is his middle name mentioned. He was generally referred to as Brigadier-General Alexander Ross. 

Our story is drawn from many sources, including information compiled by Ruth Shaw and available on the Yorkton Legion website. Not all sources agree on all details, not surprising considering much of what we discuss is as much as 100 years old. But the basic facts about his early life, military career and life in Yorkton as a judge are not in dispute. Including his contributions to what is now York Lake Golf Club.

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