DriverWorks Ink had a booth at the Frontier Days trade show this year and Al and I spent time visiting with lots of great people, including Bryce Burnett, author of our book Homegrown and other poems. Bryce is a local rancher as well as a poet and a member of the Swift Current Ag & Ex board of directors, serving as chairperson of the Livestock section of Frontier Days.
Here's a photo journal of our time at Frontier Days 2015.
Howdy, partner! Welcome to Swift Current's Kinetic Park!
This is the door to the office of the Stockade Building, where we were set up as part of the commercial exhibits/trade show.
Here's my partner in publishing (and my husband too), Al Driver, telling customers about our amazing Prairie books written by Prairie authors, including me.
Outside the Stockade Building, there was a lot going on too.
West Coast Amusements was set up to entertain with amusement rides, games, food, etc.
Doc's Town is a section of Kinetic Park that features preserved Prairie buildings and other features such as farm machinery.
I didn't know Case tractors were ever blue. I suspect this one was painted and then moved to this property. The Case tractors we drove on the farm, when I was growing up in Alberta, were a distinctive orange colour like this one - which looks a lot like the one we had. (Seeing the photo of this two-toned orange Case tractor just took me back almost 50 years to my days as a 10-year-old frantically trying to reach the clutch and brake as I turned the corner while pulling the baler behind the tractor. Yikes!)
But back to Swift Current's Frontier Days...
Walking around the grounds, I enjoyed the old buildings, but I did stop and do a double-take when I saw this...
It's a DINOSAUR!
A man dressed as a dinosaur actually - moving every so often and freaking out whoever happens to look that way. It's part of an educational display to tell folks about that era.
"Alright, heart... you can slow down your beating again now..." I said to myself.
At supper time, this was the best place to go on the grounds.
The Tea House offered home-cooked meals, like this turkey dinner, complete with lemonade and a dessert of lemon cake and ice cream.
For $14, this was all ours to enjoy. That's right, ours. Al and I shared this delicious meal as well as the roast beef dinner the following evening.
Another fine feature of these meals - the profits from the meals went towards the maintenance of Doc's Town on the grounds. Win Win!
We got a chuckle out of this ironic sight - a burly Hutterite farmer holding this very pink, very feminine, inflatable "Princess Power" mallet. It just goes to show you the warm heart of this fellow.
And we saw cowboy hats. Lots of them.
Even on little guys like this one, who was enjoying his berry-flavoured drink on a hot, hot summer day. (His parents gave me permission to take and share his photo.)
On another stroll around the grounds, I headed toward the barns. I enjoyed seeing this operational "General Store" selling cold drinks, snacks, and various hardware and other items.
These cattle are being led between the barns.
A 4-H Angus class is being judged here. (Our author and friend Bryce Burnett raises Black Angus cattle and Tarentaise cattle, by the way.)
These riders are lining up for their turn in the ring.
A heavy horse event is being judged.
I asked this woman's permission to take a photo of her shirt. Every time I see angel wings, I think of eight-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner, subject of my award-winning book Never Leave Your Wingman: Dionne and Graham Warner's Story of Hope (shameless plug).
This woman graciously stopped walking and posed for me.
I thanked her. She will never know how many people have smiled and been given a tiny bit of joy and hope because of the shirt she wore that day.
I got a kick out of the prizes offered on the midway. Minions were everywhere...
... including in the lap of this tiger!
Minion Fall Down ... Can't Get Up!
WHAT ... IS ... THIS?
That's exactly what I said to myself as these spry young fellows walked by our booth one afternoon.
I caught up to them a couple aisles later and, being the shy young men that they are (not), they quickly began posing for me when they saw my camera. Clever guys.
But it must have been ridiculously hot in those outfits since it was plus 34 degrees Celsius most days of the fair! The things some people will do to make an entrance, hey?
We were pleased to see people stop at the booth of STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation, which operates in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba). "STARS offers time, hope and life-saving transport to critically-injured patients."
Jeffrey Dickson, the STARS community relations officer for Saskatchewan, was selling lottery tickets for STARS.
My favourite line from Jeff came when a man accidentally tripped on a chair by Jeff's booth. Jeff quickly responded with, "This is the right booth if you're going to get hurt." Jeff may not be a paramedic, but he has a great sense of humour and works for a good organization.
And the BIG NEWS of the fair for us?
Bryce Burnett has been notified that his book, Homegrown and other poems, has been named a Finalist for a 2015 Will Rogers Medallion Award. How great is that?
Bryce's book of cowboy and other poetry celebrating Prairie rural life has already won an Honorable Mention in the Poetry category of the 2014 Great Midwest Book Festival. How nice would it be to win another award!
Congratulations, Bryce! Well done.
(Bryce and I stopped for a selfie to celebrate his book being named Finalist in this prestigious competition.)
The Will Rogers Medallion will be handed out this fall in Fort Worth, Texas. We'll keep you posted on how Bryce's book fares.
Al Driver and Bryce Burnett had a visit at our booth one evening, when Bryce could take a break from his Ag & Ex duties.
And our daughter Lisa Driver visited us for a bit one day too. Lisa is the author of the award-winning spiritual wellness book, Opening Up: How To Develop Your Intuition and Work With Your Angels.
Shortly after this photo, she and I drove to Regina to get ready for her bridal shower! yes, this is going to be a great, busy summer!
But first, farewell from Swift Current's Frontier Days!
May your summer include time for you to relax and have some fun.
May you find joy in the simple things, the images and sights and sounds that surround you.
Most of all, may you find time to be with the ones you love.
Happy summer, everyone!
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