After a
productive training week in Calgary it was time for us three to part ways and
begin planning our summers in each of our provinces. For me, my trek to land of
the living skies began on April 28th. I left a breezy Calgary around
noon and my Envoy was packed to the max. The next stop for me was Regina! I
began driving and soon realized that the drive was going to be full of three
things: flat land, no trees and bumpy roads. However, that did not stop my
excitement of moving to a new city and experiencing something brand new for the
summer. After 793 km and a few stops at local gas stations, I made it safely to
Regina. On the drive I stopped to take a few pictures of how much water there
is in the fields out here. I don’t think that the farmers will be in the fields
anytime soon. In fact, places in Saskatchewan have declared a state of
emergency with high amounts of water causing flooding. I am sure glad I brought
my rubber boots!
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| Some of the flooding |
After driving through the heart of Regina, I finally found the
place that I will be staying in this summer. After numerous trips into the
house and up the flight of stairs I had all my bags in my room. I met the lady
whose house I am living in and had a great visit with her and her daughter. They
told me what I should do or see in the city while I am here. I was tired from
the trip so we said goodbye and I had my first sleep in Regina. When I woke up,
I thought I was in a nightmare. I looked outside and it was a winter storm. I
couldn’t believe it, but that is Canadian weather I suppose.
Wednesday
was my first day in the office in Regina. I met Belinda Wagner and she showed me where
the office is that I will be working in and around the grounds. Then I was able
to dive into my planning for the summer. Over the last three days I have been
getting pretty good responses from schools. I currently have 11 school
presentations confirmed in May and early June. I have worked on various
projects that are for the school presentations. The biggest project that
I have completed is a postcard for a takeaway for the school kids. The main
aim of the postcard is for the students to take home and show their parents
what they learned through our presentation. I am very excited to see the final
printed copy.
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| Learning how to judge |
Over the weekend I was able to attend a judging clinic in
Weyburn, Saskatchewan. A fun fact I learned about Weyburn is that it is the
home town of one of the greatest Canadians — Tommy Douglas. This was the first
judging clinic that the region had put on for the kids. There was a great turnout
and 80 kids were registered. There was a variety of ages in attendance; from
clever buds to older senior members. The members judged dairy heifers, light
horses, beef heifers and market steers. I helped with registration, helped the
younger kids with filling out their judging cards and taking reasons. A judge
first went through what to look for when judging a certain class and good terms
to use. The kids were then given 15 minutes to judge the class. Then they had
to give their reasons to the judge, a leader or me. I got to interact with most
members there and met Erica Easton. Erica is going to New Zealand as a team
lead for the World Angus Forum in October so it was really nice to meet her. I
had a great time in Weyburn and it was so good to see so many young energetic
4-Hers that wanted to learn.
Even though we interns are spread throughout the country we
keep in constant communication with daily emails. We are all working on
different projects each day and getting prepared for presentations, so our days
are never dull! Finally, spring is here in Regina and I cannot wait to see what
the rest of this internship has in store for us.
Posted by Karla Ness
Feedback: kness@cdnangus.ca
