4 HOME FRONT A Greeting from the Publisher
7 FROM HOUSE TO HOME
Pantry Perfection: Bringing Order to the Chaos
~ Photo Jenna Rutherford
13 BACKYARD PICKLEBALL
The Home Court Advantage
23
SUNNY THE SHE SHED A Place to Relax and Reset
~ Photo Candyce April
Dianne and Harry Smith fell in love with pickleball. So much so, they turned a chunk of their acreage property into a home court to the delight of family, including son Nathan, son-in-law Jay and grandsons Beckam and Carter.
Photo Lillian Lane
31 HOMETOWN REFLECTIONS
Summer Fun and the Saskatoon Playgrounds Association
39
MAUREEN’S KITCHEN
Grocery Store Ice Cream—Transformed
~ Photo Maureen Haddock
43 USING YOUR HOME AS A CANVAS
The ‘Sonshine’ House
~ Photo Karin Melberg Schwier
Summer is here and it’s time to get moving. Sure, we hardy souls in Saskatchewan are accustomed to making the most of Winter. We’ve adapted some interesting methods for being active outside; we strap some boards to our feet and hurl ourselves down a hill. We carve up the ice with blades of steel while passing a puck around a frozen pond. We go back to that same hill, sit on a piece of plastic and hurl ourselves again, hopefully stopping short of the parking lot. In the Spring, when Mother Nature can be very reluctant to give up that snow and ice, we are still intent on getting out for some fresh air. In this issue, we explore the great outdoors during our trademark shiny Saskatoon Summer and how we make the most of this brief but glorious season.
Get ready to twack, dink and smash with a look at the pickleball phenomenon that is transforming backyards into Saskatoon’s fast-growing obsession. I am personally a pickleball fanatic. Come inside the She Shed project, and get inspired to create your own small space of solitude. Learn about the evolution of playgrounds in our city with our resident historian Jeff O’Brien. View the labour of love by a son who turned the exterior of his house into a tribute to his father. All this outdoor summertime goodness, plus hot weather cool-down treats from our favourite foodie Maureen, and a DIY pantry transformation from the budding internet star Jenna.
So find a comfy patio chair, grab yourself a glass of something cool and enjoy this issue. Summer is short; soak it up!
Happy Reading!
Issue 66, Summer 2024
ISSN 1916-2324
info@saskatoon-home.ca
Publishers
Amanda Soulodre
Rob Soulodre
Editor
Karin Melberg Schwier
Contributors
Candyce April
Jeff O’Brien
Jenna Rutherford
Julie Barnes
Karin Melberg Schwier
Lillian Lane
Maureen Haddock
Amanda Soulodre OWNER & PUBLISHERReceive every issue of HOME right in your mailbox for $20/year by subscribing at www.gethomemagazine.ca
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“Pantry goalzzz”
“I could live in there.”
“This is the pantry of all pantries.”
“Can you come makeover my house?”
“Are you even freaking kidding me?”
“J E N N A oh my stinking
word this is incredible!!!!!”
“OMGGGGG JENNA STOP IT!!! LIKE I CAN’T!!!! Can I come crash in ur pantry?”
“����������”
With over 5,000 likes and 430 comments, Jenna Rutherford’s Instagram reveal of her pantry renovation
garnered plenty of positive feedback.
A few people seemed perplexed by the transformation, commenting that it couldn’t possibly be the same pantry, because it looked much more spacious in the “after” photos.
BY: JULIE BARNES PHOTOS: JENNA RUTHERFORDBut there’s a simple explanation for that—the shelving isn’t as deep, says Jenna.
“The shelving in the original pantry was 17 inches deep, and I ended up shortening it down to 14, so that in itself widened the space.”
Clearing out the clutter also helped.
The original pantry “was a catch-all,” says Jenna. “Board games, garbage, toys—everything just got tossed in. You know how you invite company over, and you throw everything into the pantry?” That was a common occurrence in her home, pre-renovation.
Jenna’s goal was to create an organized, functional space where “everything has its place.”
New lower cabinetry now conceals snack drawers for her kids and other kitchen essentials, while open shelving (backed with white shiplap) provides a perch for pantry staples organized in clear containers. An appliance tower keeps her stand-mixer and other small appliances contained in one easy-to-access spot. There’s also dedicated spaces for the vacuum and household cleaning products.
Just inside the pantry door are two narrow wooden
racks, home to some of the family’s cookbooks, but it “could also be used as a plate rack,” Jenna says.
This functional, streamlined space is a result of a lot of meticulous planning.
Jenna doesn’t use design software, preferring to sketch out her ideas on paper. She then transfers her measurements on to the walls with tape.
“I always tell people, buy some painter’s tape, throw it on the wall where your measurements are, and look at it,” says Jenna. Often, once she sees it in front of her, she’ll find something that needs adjusting.
The pantry transformation was part of an online biannual event called the One Room Challenge (ORC). Do-ityourselfers with an Instagram account can participate by uploading regular posts of their progress over the course of eight weeks on a room they’re transforming.
Out of thousands of
participants, Jenna was selected to be one of 20 featured designers. She was also the first Canadian to be featured.
That honour came with certain deadlines she needed to meet—like regular progress updates on her blog and Instagram account.
“Every week, on a certain day, we had to have our blog post ready and published,”
Jenna says.
The biggest “challenge” of the ORC for Jenna wasn’t a material shortage or measuring error.
“Should I say the ‘C’ word?” she asks.
When she was three weeks away from her completion deadline, her husband Brock came down with COVID. She caught it two days later and was “knocked out cold for two weeks.”
Due to their illnesses, they decided to hire out the tile work—she planned a striking black chevron backsplash.
At the last minute, the tile installer they hired cancelled on them.
With her deadline for the ORC the next day, Brock and his father stayed up until 3 am to get the job done. Brock worked on the installation, while his father cut the tile in the garage.
Brock installed the tile single-handedly (literally) as he was recovering from surgery on his bicep two days earlier. “His one arm was not functional,” says Jenna, adding that Brock was “the true hero of that pantry” renovation.
“The next morning, I grouted it as fast as I could, wiped it all down, staged it, took pictures and sent it in because it was due that day,” she says.
That’s when the kudos started kicking off on Jenna’s Instagram account.
Aside from the compliments,
Jenna says it felt great to see the pantry perfectly organized, and the best part was “it stayed that way.” Everyone, including her kids, put things back “exactly where they belong,” which was her ultimate goal for the space.
Jenna and Brock are now in the process of building a new home.
“We are contracting a lot of the work out, but keeping it as basic as possible as I’ll be doing all the extra builds, like the mudroom and accent trims,” Jenna says. “I’ll be doing all the design work myself.”
Without a doubt, it’s going to be ����������
Julie Barnes
This is the fourth in a series featuring Jenna’s DIY transformations. Watch for Jenna’s next project in the Fall issue of HOME.
Pack your bags! It’s a great time to visit North Dakota for an unforgettable, affordable holiday. Say hello to the rugged outdoors of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and nearby cities ready to greet you. When getting away is this close, what are you waiting for?
BY: KARIN MELBERG SCHWIER
To paraphrase Kevin Costner—if you build it, they will pickleball. A dad-invented sport that only a few years ago would have people asking “Pickle what?” is now a burgeoning industry featuring clubs, leagues, tournaments, equipment, gear (really, who doesn’t want to wear a “Dink Responsibly,
Don’t Get Smashed” t-shirt?)
Aside from commercial venues, there’s also a growing trend that keeps pickleball fanatics happy in their own backyard. It’s the home court advantage.
The Island Origins
The game was invented by some dads on Bainbridge
Island—just across Elliott Bay west of Seattle, Washington— over 50 years ago. Today it’s one of the fastest growing sports in North America. After a game of golf one day, the dads—Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell, joined a bit later by Barney McCallum—were looking for a way to entertain their kids, and create some
family-friendly competition. They cobbled together a few sports to get things rolling, and made up some rules. A bit of tennis, a little pingpong, and a dash of badminton, the game was born.
It was Joan Pritchard, a competitive rower, who came up with the name in reference to the leftover
non-starters in a ‘pickle boat.’ The pieced-together game reminded her of those thrown-together teams. There was a rumour that the game was named after the family dog Pickles who used to run away with the ball, but Joel Pritchard eventually admitted this wasn’t the case as the sport started to catch on.
And catch on it did.
Dianne Smith and her husband Harry retired in December 2019. Becoming snowbirds was their retirement plan and they chose the Palm Springs area as their winter destination locale. After they bought a home in an over-55 community in Indio, California, they stocked up on bikes, walking sticks, hiking boots and prepared to bring their golf clubs out of the closet. Enter COVID-19 in March 2020 and the couple was forced back to Canada after just a few weeks. They didn’t go back until November 2021.
“As we finally got to explore our new digs, we wandered upon a group of people playing on small courts. We soon learned it was pickleball,” recalls Dianne. “The laughter was infectious and players so
kind and welcoming. Two days later we showed up with paddles, ready to learn the game.”
Just two-and-a-half years later, Dianne is a now a certified Level 1 coach helping others learn the sport.
“It has added so much joy to my retirement including good health and a tribe of friendships. To avoid injury I find myself stretching, doing yoga and small weights, likely getting in better shape than ever; well, in a lot of years for sure.”
Phil Greenwood, a pickleball booster and competitive player, is the owner of Bridge City Pickleball Hub (BCPH) in downtown Saskatoon.
Like Dianne, Phil first learned of the game on holiday. He saw it in Victoria, sort of a pickleball’s throw from where the game was invented.
“I first saw it listed at a recreation facility where I took my daughters to play badminton,” Phil recalls.
“The vacation then took us to Kona, Hawaii. At the pool, I met this friendly couple who were headed to the courts for one last hit before going back to the mainland. I was curious and it intrigued me enough to go watch. Then someone invited me to play.”
And that was it.
Phil found himself opening a pickleball facility in Saskatoon in November 2022. By December, the BCPH had 423 members.
“Bridge City came about as an expansion of Queen City Pickleball Hub in Regina,” Phil explains. “The opportunity came up to convert a curling club
into a pickleball facility. It was an ideal property to help fill the need here.”
Open every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., there’s an opportunity for casual play and serious competition all week long. The Saskatoon momentum is fast and furious in everything from friendly novice play (dare we say the gherkin league?) to fierce competition, and no one sees that trajectory slowing down any time soon.
The first permanent pickleball court was built in the backyard of Joel Pritchard’s neighbour, Bob O’Brien. That was in 1967. Since then, some pickleball enthusiasts have devoted a section of their property to hone their skills.
“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in North
America,” says Dianne. “It’s so inclusive at any age, but it can be difficult to find a court especially for practice. Our home is on an acreage south of Saskatoon. A large area behind the shop was the perfect spot for a court. It already had asphalt and the right dimensions.”
In 2022, Dianne and Harry hired a company to paint the court lines. They gathered used chain link fence panels.
“We added a portable net and voila, we created a pickleball court at home.”
Dianne advises other home court builders to be sure the playing surface is level.
“We thought ours was good enough but someday we would like to improve on that,” she says. “Dents and bumps in the asphalt can really affect the ball. Also
balance can be an issue if the court runs down hill a bit, particularly for senior players! The kids don’t really care or notice any of that.”
Dianne and Harry’s home court has also provided them with the opportunity to practice often.
“Drilling is so important and yes, we are a little on the competitive side,” she says. “Tournament play, round robins, and buckets keep us busy. We meet new people and spend time with wonderful like-minded friends. We purchased a pickleball machine which gets used a ton. If one of us is busy or unable to play we still have a practice partner sitting in the shop.”
drained and compacted site.
Phil echoes Dianne’s advice about building a court at home: start with a well-
“Use 30 MPa (measure of strength) concrete with lots of rebar or minimum four inches of asphalt. Or you can install Plexipave tennis court surfacing,” he says. “Spend the few extra dollars for good nets. Either a “Crown” portable or a permanent style with a crank. Also make sure it’s big enough!”
Phil recommends a 35’x 65’ minimum flat foundation.
The backyard court is a good family and friends venue, and is an opportunity to practice at one’s own schedule. Still, the camaraderie of a public facility is a big draw for many.
“I have an indoor court at home but rarely use it,” says Phil. “I choose to travel 200km each way instead because that’s where the players are. But having a court literally steps from your back door does have some advantages, and is great for family pickleball, and as a way to get your friends, your kids’ friends together for some good fun.”
Phil. “Many players turn into
Phil encourages people to contact their nearest organization or sports venue to learn the rules and skills. Qualified instructors will help new players avoid developing bad habits, especially for people who want to excel at the sport.
“I think pickleball is, for the most part, very social and welcoming of everyone. I’ve played with people from eight to 97 years old, one-armed, wheelchair, new players, all the way to the best in the world,” says
six grandchildren come over often. I just love getting a phone call from one of the grandkids; ‘Hey Grandma, okay if we come and play pickleball?’”
Anyone who knows pickleball is also familiar with the noise controversy, one that has seen squabbles, lawsuits and even calls to police. One B.C. couple threatened a hunger strike to protest the court next door and petitioned the city to move it.
The balls tend to make a loud ‘thwack’ when they meet the paddle, and if players are good, that sound is rapidfire. A B.C. report notes the noise can exceed 80 decibels, an intensity of sound comparatively as loud as a vacuum cleaner, garbage disposal or lawnmower. Not to mention the competitive nature of players with the vocals that go along with it. This could be annoying for a neighbour living a few feet from a home
court. Various pickleball equipment manufacturers have tried different materials for balls and paddles to cut down on the sound.
Phil suggests the face-toface approach.
“There are different options out there but nothing works if your neighbour is against it. Sound-reducing mesh on the perimeter, softfaced paddle, softer ball are all things you can try. But,” he advises, “the best is to invite your neighbours over and get them hooked on playing the game.”
Hooked like Dianne and Harry. “We absolutely loved everything about pickleball,” Dianne says. “The sense of community, something fun to do together, and what a great way to get to know your neighbours. Long story short, our hiking poles and golf bags haven’t left the garage. We have, however added a few extra paddles and a collection of balls. You could say we’ve definitely got the pickleball bug.”
Karin Melberg Schwier
1. A sport that is a combination of tennis, badminton, and table tennis (ping pong).
2. Played both indoors and out on a badminton-sized court with a slightly modified tennis net.
3. Played with a paddle (smaller than tennis racquet, larger than ping pong paddle) and a whiffle ball (plastic ball with holes). The ball must stay inbounds.
4. Can be played as doubles or singles.
5. Serves (underhand) are made at the baseline, must be cross court and cannot land in the no-volley zone or “kitchen" (the red area seen in the photo below)
6. The ball must bounce once per side to start the game.
7. Unlike tennis or badminton, only the serving team can score a point.
8. Most games are played to a score of 11, except for occasional situations within tournaments to 15 or 21 points.
9. Pickleball is enjoyed by all ages and skill levels, both recreationally and competitively.
Bridge City Pickleball Hub took over the Granite Curling Club building in November 2022. It has over 1700 members in Saskatoon that range in age from 14-80 years old (most between 20-70) with skills ranging from very beginner to advanced.
– Fundholders Marg and Don Ravis
BY: KARIN MELBERG SCHWIER
PHOTOS: CANDYCE APRIL
Superman had his Fortress of Solitude. Batman had the Batcave. Children the world over have fashioned treehouses and forts using nothing more than a few sticks, bent nails, cardboard, tarps and imagination. Men have their gender-specific Man Caves and, in response, a growing trend for women is the She Shed. Even Elsa ran
off to self-imposed isolation in her Ice Palace.
What all these bastions of seclusion have in common is the pure, unadulterated desire to enjoy one’s self. By oneself. Me Time, the key to inner peace. There’s no one who understands that need better than those behind the YWCA’s Hope Lives Here campaign. Part
of the $19 million fundraiser is a joint project between the YWCA and the Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association (SRHBA). It’s a chance to win one’s very own She Shed, imagined by William Wolf Interior Design and built by Nu-Fab Building Products. Whitney Buettner from Grace & Grit Construction, and Ben
Lukash with Forgotten Forest Customs, also lent their “incredible talents,” say organizers, to make the project a reality.
The Female Sanctuary
Whether it’s a dedicated space for reading, writing, relaxing, yoga, crafts, art, gardening—just thinking— there’s a certain vibe
to a She Shed. Project lead Candyce April of William Wolf Design allowed her mind to conjure up what was “comfortable, accessible, light and airy,” she says.
“An escape, a place to just relax and reset.”
That aesthetic is in keeping with the YWCA campaign to provide women and children with a welcoming, warm and safe place to stay.
The She Shed project took root last spring. Candyce was walking with her fouryear-old son in Riversdale.
“There was a homeless man sleeping on a bench. Beau pulled my hand and said, ‘Mommy, look! That man is camping. Can we do that too?’ I found myself not knowing what to say. Homelessness is such a complex thing to describe to anyone, let alone a young child.” She noticed more low income families struggling with homelessness, depression, pain and “all these people are a lot closer to home than I had ever imagined.”
Candyce considered ways to help using her design skills and time. “Life can be
so loud and chaotic, but I want my children to grow up knowing it’s normal to help others in need. It should be a daily activity.”
The concept of a She Shed was something she always thought was missing from the annual HomeStyles show. “Women are catching up to men in not only the homebuilding industry here but around the world.”
She partnered with Karen Kobussen from SRHBA who came up with the name, Sunshine Cottage. “We nicknamed her Sunny,” says Candyce. As she considered the layered textures, colours, materials and organic elements, Candyce thought about the top five most desirable aspects common in any sanctuary space.
1. Three-Season
A wall-mounted fireplace gives off heat for colder
days and nights, and walls are R22-insulated. There is electrical, and a sink has an outdoor hook up that is compatible with any garden hose.
2. Cozy
The couch turns into a bed, and a loft offers extra sleeping space. A bar fridge keeps items chilled. Cabinets have a pet dish pull-out for furry friends. A wall outlet is situated above the fireplace for a television.
3. Space Utility
Cabinetry is designed for light office work, and can also serve as kitchen and bar. The high ceiling and vertical wall panels produce a more spacious feel.
4. Design and Character
The design is all about comfort, and may be subtly feminine (the fireplace
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has a pink flame option). There are pops of colour, but the use of white and organic colour tones on both exterior and interior ensures hues will work well anywhere.
Wood elements throughout and a woven chandelier add warmth and texture. A mix of metals is complemented by the shiplap walls and luxury vinyl plank flooring; attractive, durable and lightweight since the cottage will travel during the raffle period.
“An amazing group of suppliers and trades created community around this project,” says Candyce. “The best way to spread a little hope is to spread a little sunshine. Everything about Sunny is uplifting and hopeful.”
Karin Melberg Schwier(For information on the raffle: www.ywcasaskatoon.com/ sunshinecottage/)
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We have always played. There has never been a culture anywhere or at any time which has not played games. Whether just for fun or with serious intent, organized sport or free form activity, it’s still play, and whether we’re children or adults, we all do it.
From 1930–1961, a body called the Saskatoon
Playgrounds Association (separate from the city Parks Board, and funded largely by an annual civic grant) ran Saskatoon’s recreational facilities. Skating rinks and swimming pools, ball diamonds and football fields, paddling pools and the playground units that still operate every summer to this day, were all under the care
of this volunteer, citizen-led organization.
By the late 1920s, Saskatoon was booming. Unemployment was down, wages were up, and the city was growing. By the end of the decade, the value of building permits issued by the city—not a bad way to
measure economic activity— rivaled the best years of the pre-war real estate boom in 1909–1912. That spring, the Saskatoon Eclectic Club (later to morph into the Kinsmen Club) declared that funds raised at its annual carnival would go toward a summer “playgrounds program” of organized, outdoor sports for children. Winnipeg,
it was claimed, spent $40,000 per year on playground programs. Regina had recently voted $5,500 for the same purpose. It was time for Saskatoon to step up.
It was clearly aimed at the underprivileged—a way to keep poor children off the street and out of trouble.
“There is no reason,” the newspaper suggested, “why a modern city like Saskatoon should have a Whitechapel or a Bowery [where] little children are morally and physically stunted because their only playground is the street.”
The playgrounds were open daily except Sundays all through July and August. There were sandboxes for the little ones, baseball and volleyball, basketball and
athletics, games, picnics, bonfire parties, community singing and even basket weaving. In the evenings there were activities for senior boys and men, alternating between Bedford Road and Nutana Collegiates. It was a success. The two playgrounds averaged about 80 children a day and there
were plans to do it again next year. The 1929 program ran three playgrounds, at Buena Vista and Bedford Road schools, and at the West Side Park (nowadays Westfield Optimist Park, at 19th Street and Avenue J South). That summer, nearly 30,000 children attended, an average of 571 a day.
But after the season was done, so was the Kinsmen Club. “We’ve taken it as far as it will go,” they said. “Now it’s up to the city.”
T he city wasn’t much interested in running a playgrounds program. But thanks to recent amendments to the provincial City Act, it could now pay someone
else to do it. So, in the fall of 1929 City Council struck a committee under aldermen J.S. Mills and R.M. Pinder to look into it. Mills, a school teacher, was a staunch supporter. “Winter and summer recreation for young people” was the chief plank in his civic election campaign that year. Pinder was an ardent sportsman who would later become president of the Saskatoon Quakers hockey club. So it shouldn’t have surprised anyone when they recommended that a civic playgrounds program be established, paid for out of the public purse but run by an arms-length board. Its aim, in Mills' words, would be to provide “outdoor games [and] activity for children which would not only teach them good sportsmanship, but keep them out of mischief.”
The Saskatoon Playgrounds Association was incorporated on May 12, 1930. Its purpose was to “supervise,
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control and operate public playgrounds; public paddling pools; public skating and hockey rinks; public swimming pools; public
toboggan slides; and other, similar recreations.” Under the agreement with the city, it was also responsible for keeping the equipment
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in good repair, for hiring qualified staff, and most especially, be legally liable if anything went wrong.
The City grant that year was $12,000; a considerable sum. But for the people of Saskatoon, it was money well spent. Equipment was bought and staff was hired, including the director, George Ward, who for the next 35 years would be synonymous with sport and recreation in Saskatoon. There were four playground units initially: City Park (nowadays Kinsmen Park, which included Saskatoon’s first paddling pool), West Side Park, Buena Vista Park, the Albert School grounds on Clarence Avenue (now the Albert Community Centre) and Bedford Road High School.
The 1930 season was an unqualified success. “Saskatoon has received full value for the expenditure,” the newspaper exulted that fall. The playground units had an average daily attendance
of nearly 1,100 children, for a total of 55,000 over the summer. Attendance at the Avenue H Swimming Pool (Riversdale, nowadays) hit 62,000 people, including 48,000 children. There were swimming and diving lessons, and two wellattended public swim meets. That winter, the Association operated four skating rinks and a number of toboggan slides, which, like the swimming pool charged admission in order to defray expenses. Despite this, they typically ran at a deficit.
In 1931, the Playgrounds Association asked for a substantial increase to its grant. But thanks to the world-wide Depression, just starting to pick up steam, it got a cut instead. The next year was even worse. By 1934, the annual grant was down to only $5,000. The Kinsmen Club helped by raising money for equipment and facilities, but they were lean years nonetheless.
The Association was lucky to even survive. In 1932, Mayor J.E. Underwood proposed dissolving it to save money, with the various programs and facilities possibly being taken over by the Parks Board. It may be that he was thinking about going back to the way it was before 1928, when the only public recreational facility was the Avenue H Pool. If so, he misjudged popular sentiment. We liked the new programs. A lot. His proposal was met with opposition both on City Council and from the public, and it was pointed out that little savings would be realized if the programs remained, since the money would still have to come
from somewhere.
So the Playgrounds Association weathered the Depression and the war that followed. By the late 1930s, the annual grant was creeping up again, and by 1945 it was receiving $8,250 a year. Less than 1930, but considerably better than 1935.
After the war, things changed. All across Canada and at every level of government, sport, physical activity and play came to be seen as critical to a healthy, functioning society. It wasn’t just about keeping kids off the streets and out of mischief anymore. It was about making Canada a better place.
Perhaps in those Cold War years it was all a ploy to keep young men fit so they could more easily be turned into soldiers. Maybe it was recognition that people now had more leisure time, and that it was in our best interest to fill it. “The Devil finds work for idle hands,” as the saying goes. Or
maybe, after all those years of drought, Depression and war, we just wanted to have a little fun. Whatever the reason, all across the nation, the post-war period saw an explosion in publiclyfunded sport and recreational programs and facilities.
It helped that we now had the money to pay for them. By the 1950s, the Canadian economy was going full guns. In 1949, the Playgrounds Association bought out the run-down Cairns Field baseball stadium (on Idylwyld Drive across from 26th Street) installing new lights for night games and making other, muchneeded improvements.
There were new swimming pools. Lathey Pool was built in 1955 and Mayfair Pool in 1959, plus fifteen new paddling pools. On top of that were tennis schools and baseball games, ice rinks and warm-up shacks, marble tournaments and monkey bars.
And of course there was the Children’s Day Parade. Held every Exhibition Week from 1950–1984, it featured
floats planned, built and manned by the children from the playground units. It was the high point of the summer program, with floats that explored the worlds of myth, legend and literature, from King Midas to Walt Disney.
During this time, the functions of parks and playgrounds continued to be separate. But in 1960, the city began looking at ways to combine what were increasingly regarded as being one and the same thing. On January 1, 1962, the Saskatoon Playgrounds Association ceased to exist,
replaced by a new city Parks and Recreation department, with a citizen’s advisory committee providing direction and oversight.
Today, the Playgrounds Association is barely even a memory. But its legacy lives on in Saskatoon’s firstclass parks and recreational facilities—reminders of the work and commitment of those who, from 1928–1962, dedicated themselves to the goal of ensuring that people here had a place to play.
Jeff O’Brien
Crossmount is a 55+ aging-in-place community and agri-tourism destination 5 km south of Saskatoon on Lorne Avenue (Highway 219). Nestled into 480 acres of natural prairies this community has much to offer by way of amenities.
Open to the public, our agri-tourism area is called THE GLEN. Here you will find our event venue, Arts Barn, cidery, outdoor decks and a natural pond.
Our aging-in-place community is comprised of five sizes of independent homes all built with safety in mind so you can stay in your home as you age, even if your health needs change. Lifebridge at Crossmount health clinic is onsite with weekly clinic hours open to Crossmount residents and the public. We take care of the maintenance, snow removal, landscaping, and garbage/recycling pickup so you can enjoy daily adventures without the chores.
Escape to the cidery to sample different flavours of our hard apple cider, all handcrafted on site. Outdoor spaces provide a backdrop of orchards and our pond. Orchard tours are available during summer months, but must be pre-booked. As spring turns to summer, yoga nights, corn hole leagues and other special events will be running in our green space beside the cidery.
For information about our independent homes or to book a personal tour, please email info@crossmount.ca or phone 306-374-9890. You can also learn more about Crossmount and our amenities through our website at www.crossmount.ca.
Visit the Arts Barn. Experience the Pine & Thistle Kitchen + Bar for a relaxing venue offering delicious food options. Stop at the Market Box Boutique & Cheese Production Facility. Here you will find unique prairie made products and a variety of cheeses handcrafted on site. If you are lucky you can see the cheese being handcrafted.
This summer, we are enjoying homemade, glutenfree chocolate chip cookies filled with creamy HäagenDazs chocolate ice cream. We are also loving ice cream cookie-clown creations. Decorating an entire brick
of Chapman’s Butterscotch Ripple ice cream to match our summer mood is also fun! Ice cream treats can be made days in advance and shared easily with expected or surprise guests. When the weather is
heating up, and we want to enjoy our time outdoors, Crunchy,Chocolatey,Layered Ice Cream Dessert can be served right from the freezer. Allow a few minutes on the counter before slicing. The contrasting layers
BY: MAUREEN HADDOCKof this dessert are visually appealing so plan to remove it from the pan before slicing. I have a springform, rectangular pan that measures 9” by 13” and the sides are easily removed. However, if you don’t
have a springform pan, line a regular pan with parchment paper leaving enough parchment at the top to lift the dessert to a cutting board. This Layered Ice Cream Dessert
recipe serves 16 people, but if you aren’t expecting a crowd, make two 8” square desserts. Serve them on separate occasions
Maureen HaddockThis festive looking ice cream treat begins with a 2-litre Butterscotch Ripple brick of Chapman’s ice cream surrounded by cream-filled tube wafers. We topped this dessert with whipped cream and used broken tube cookies to garnish. Crumbled Skor bars, Smarties, or toffee bits would be delicious as well. This idea can be adapted for any season or occasion. Imagine a Christmas theme using mint ice cream, a garnish of chopped After Eight mints, and a red velvet ribbon to complete the look. This dessert slices well, is tasty, and extra slices can be returned to the freezer.
Grocery Store Ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 13-ounce can evaporated milk
5 cups mini marshmallows
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut (I used sweetened)
Step One: Make the Sauce
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 bricks of vanilla ice cream (2 litres each)
In a saucepan, mix 1 cup of chocolate chips with the evaporated milk. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to boiling. Lower the temperature and boil gently, uncovered, for 4 minutes, or until thickened, whisking constantly. Add 5 cups of mini marshmallows; heat and stir until melted. Chill the mixture.
Step Two: Make the Crust
In a skillet, stir 1 1/3 cups of coconut in 6 tablespoons of butter, cooking until browned. Stir in the cereal and nuts.
Spread three cups of cereal mixture in the bottom of a buttered 9” by 13” pan. Set the rest of the cereal mixture aside.
Step Three: Assembly
Arrange half of the ice cream over the 3 cups of cereal that you previously spread in the pan. Ladle half of the chocolate sauce over the first layer of ice cream.
Add a second layer of ice cream and top that with the remaining chocolate. Finish with the last of the cereal mixture. Cover the dessert and freeze until firm.
NOTE: Each 2-litre brick, sliced, provides one layer of this dessert. The idea is to make each layer of ice cream relatively level, keeping in mind that the chocolate sauce smooths out any irregularities.
Serve: Let the frozen dessert stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
We also enjoy Pecan Crust Ice Cream Pie with Caramel Sauce, which originated with the Best of Bridge ladies decades ago.
Ice cream cookie sandwiches can be made from a favourite family cookie recipe and grocery store ice cream. Make them ahead and store the sandwiches between layers of wax paper in the freezer.
We love the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-1 Baking Flour package. These cookies are soft and can be enjoyed while frozen. One doesn’t want to break a tooth on an ice cream sandwich.
I have shared the recipe at www.getabiggerwagon.com.
These little clowns can be time sensitive to create. I suggest plopping scoops of ice cream on several cookies and placing them in your coldest freezer until serving day. Once they are frozen hard, your guests will have several minutes to decorate their own character and take a photo of the fun results before devouring their work.
November 22, 2022 was colder than usual but still a sunny day at the Malberg farm near Aylsham. After the wheat, oats and canola harvest, father and son Rod and Allen had done those mundane chores to batten down for winter. Ever since he was a child, Allen and his dad were inseparable. Rod
called his boy ‘Sonshine,’ and they were often up at sunrise, working together until sunset. There were three family birthdays that week, so the Malbergs had gathered.
“Dad loved farming, but he was an ice road trucker, too, just like on the TV show. That morning, he was on his way
to Tisdale to pick up a rig,” Allen remembers. “Highway 35 was like a skating rink from rain the night before, and a truck and trailer came at Dad sideways. He tried to avoid them, but they hit Dad on the driver’s door. He was killed just south of where the Humboldt bus crash happened. He was only 62.”
An eerily similar accident in 1978 claimed the life of Allen’s grandfather, Rod’s dad, near the same site.
On that tragic Tuesday in November 2022, the sun set at 5 p.m., yielding to a waning crescent moon. That night Allen stood outside, alone and grief-stricken, trying to comprehend. He looked
up at the darkening sky as he and his father so often did together after their workday. This time, he wondered which star was his dad.
Lifting the Darkness
Allen worked through the aftermath of the crash during colourless winter days, despair compounded by after-effects of the pandemic. By spring, Allen was searching for a way to honour his father, a hardworking man with such a sense of fun and mischief. Back in 2013, Rod and Allen
bought a 900-square foot house on 11th Street just off Broadway in Saskatoon, relatively close to Homestead Ice Cream, the business they owned together. Built in 1923, the house interior was last updated in 2011. In the spring of 2023, Allen started giving the plain grey and white exterior a hard look. There was potential there for something, though he didn’t know exactly what.
“I always liked the vibrant ‘jelly bean’ homes in Newfoundland. There is a red house in Nutana, and
a yellow one a few doors down. I liked the homes in the neighbourhood with colourful front doors,” explains Allen.
An outlandish idea was taking shape.
“One day it was gloomy and raining. I was thinking about Dad and having an especially hard time. I happened to drive by the Riverhouse Gallery on Spadina in Riversdale. I had seen it before and always wanted to stop in, but never had. Something made me stop that day."
There inside was artist and gallery owner Cecilia Elizabeth amidst an explosion of primary colours. Allen looked around the interior crammed with her jubilant art. Initially, he was thinking of commissioning a painting. But if she could do what he had in mind—a somewhat larger piece—he was in the right place.
“I was speechless as I looked at her pieces, her energy, the colours,” he remembers. “Her home, the gallery, the artist herself. I felt like it was right to ask if
she could do a mural on my house as a tribute to Rodney Charles Malberg.”
As it turns out, she could.
Sonshine’s Memorial
“I was looking for a prairie sunset,” Allen says. He was very particular about that. A sunset and moon rise combination was even better to remind Allen of being at his father’s side after long days on the farm. “Cecilia showed me pieces in her gallery that were like what I imagined.”
An artist since 1970, Cecilia owns the Riverhouse Gallery on Spadina Crescent, where she creates art and teaches classes. She lives in the top two storeys of the 1908 Victorian.
“Allen was so enthusiastic about doing this, first just a painting and then that grew into an exterior mural,” Cecilia says. “We did a sketch to start with and it sort of fell into place. I wanted the challenge of not only the artwork. I’ve done a number of murals in Saskatoon and around the province. The other challenge for me was the physical demands of the job. The scaffolding, long days, the physical work it would mean. I knew I was capable, but at 73, I wanted to prove it to myself.”
The project began August 16, and the pair discussed details right down to when the actual painting began. Cecilia’s goal was to finish by the end of that month, and she did. The mural, ‘Joy, Happiness and Peace,’ is the opposite of typical funerary art. Instead, it is both a cheerful icon and soothing balm for Allen.
“Cecilia painted clouds on the windows only over the spots that you can’t see through from inside anyway,
and I love the effect. And I love the birch trees since it reminds me of the farm and Dad. The black and white bark with the most colourful leaves is really great.”
Allen, who lived in the house while the mural creation was underway, recalls stepping out to watch the progress.
“I was always excited about her work, but at the same time I wanted to somehow wait until the end to see the whole thing.”
The sunset and moon rise feature is on the north side of the house so, ironically, sunshine is the biggest threat to the vibrancy of colours. Allen plans to add a spray sealer to help the colours last longer, and he’s also planted his father’s favourite apple trees that, in time, will provide shade.
This spring when the weather warmed up, Cecilia began work on the east alley side of the house to extend a four-season birch forest
“I wanted to wait until the spring because last fall those darn maple bugs were everywhere!”
Though it’s an established character neighbourhood, most homes on 11th Street are relatively sedate, with a few exceptions. Allen was a little worried about the reaction people would have. He’s often out in front, watering plants, and ends up fielding questions. People often ask about the interior of his house and he explains the outside is the showstopper. The inside is “just ordinary.”
“At first I was concerned neighbours might not approve,” he says.
“I wondered how I would handle explaining why I wanted this, the thing about my dad. Turns out everyone likes it. Lots of people ask if an art gallery is coming or some arts business. I am like, ‘no sorry, I just live here and this is all.’”
While she was at work, Cecilia too got a lot of feedback from neighbours and passersby.
“People constantly stopped to comment,” she recalls. “Everyone was so positive. ‘A nice addition to the neighbourhood.’ People said they’d would come back regularly to check on the progress.” Cecilia’s own home and gallery is no stranger to rubberneckers; people often stop to take photos and ask questions.
But as with so many things in life, paint is not permanent
and the irony is not lost on Allen. If at some point, the tribute for his “taken too soon” father runs its course, then “it’s just paint and it can be changed.” He’ll be left with hundreds of photos.
Unlike the tattoo Allen got of a two-foot long totem in Haida Gwaii not long after his father’s death.
“Dad loved curling, farming, cars, fishing,” says Allen. “Four wheeling and sledding with his kids and grandkids, working on trucks. Joking around. He loved Halloween with my sister and me when we were teenagers. Dad wasn’t just a farmer, though that was his passion. He was a real entrepreneur. He had the trucking business and ended up doing a lot of ice road work in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.” Allen grins. “We went to ‘ice cream school’ together
after buying Homestead. Dad’s favourite was rum and raisin.”
As Allen putters in his yard or glances out the front window toward 11th Street, he often sees people on the sidewalk leaning in for a
better look. They point and take pictures. People pose for selfies. The one constant: everyone is always smiling. “Dad would really be happy about that.”
Karin Melberg Schwier
