Northern expats gather in Edmonton
Former residents share memories at 28th annual Yk/NWT reunion
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Friday, July 17, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
"The North, as vast as it is, is a very small place." That's how former Yellowknife resident Gordon Oystrek sums up the appeal of the annual Yellowknife/NWT reunion, which held its 28th event in Edmonton last month.
Gladys Beland: Organizer plans to feature Northern-themed music for next summer's event. - |
"People that are from the North have a kind of a bond," he said. "It's a very proud feeling that you're from there. You get to know people a lot better. You never forget where you came from."
More than 100 people attended the June 20 reunion, held in Edmonton's High Park Community Hall on 154 Street.
Close to 30 of the registrants were first-time participants, according to organizer Gladys Beland, who lived in Yellowknife from 1963 to 1992.
Now based in Stony Plain, Alta., Beland has helped co-ordinate the last five reunions, serving as committee president for the past two years.
Last month's reunion ran for 12 hours, with meals served at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. City of Yellowknife and NWT flags and old photographs decorated the tables and the walls.
"Everybody just mingled and visited. Old friends, new friends," said Beland. "The closeness of the people living in the North forms long-lasting friendships."
One of Beland's sisters who still resides in Yellowknife, Margaret Beauchamp, met her in Edmonton for the event. Several other Yellowknife residents and a couple from Hay River also participated.
"This reunion isn't just for ex-Yellowknifers, but for anyone who lived in the NWT and for those still residing there," said Beland.
Stan Cochrane, one of Beland's brothers who still lives in Yellowknife, donated door prizes for the reunion on behalf of his company, Northtech Drilling.
Oystrek, who moved to Victoria one year ago, also donated door prizes in the form of four of his acrylic paintings of the Northern lights and sub-Arctic wildlife. Although he did not attend this year's reunion, he plans to make the trip next summer.
"I see a lot of people I haven't seen since I left high school," he said.
The reunion kind of recreates the experience shared by many long-time Yellowknife residents of sitting at the old Miner's Mess downtown, where a homeless person, a miner, a judge and a politician may share a meal and conversation around the same table, he added.
"That's what the North was like. Everybody had something in common and everybody pitched in," he said. "You can move to a big city and never know your neighbour for 20 years. But in Yellowknife everybody knew everybody."
Sid Johnston travelled further than anyone else, coming from Belleville, Ont., where he has lived since moving away from Yellowknife in 2008.
"I meet different folks every time," he said. "A lot of the same people are there every year. It's nice to see some of the old timers. I spent most of my days in the North so I have more friends up there than anywhere else."
The organizing committee plans to send a reunion newsletter to past participants this fall. The 2016 reunion is scheduled at the same venue on June 18.
