So it is Wednesday night, September 29th as I write this. I am in my hotel room in Melfort, Saskatchewan after a successful third day of my Saskatchewan fall tour.
The trip started off on not the best note… I was so tired when I woke up Sunday at 6:30am. It was pouring rain all the way to the airport, and I was generally feeling under the weather. My mom drove me to the airport, and as we got there I started to get more excited for my trip. Running into a dear old friend now working for Westjet was also a nice surprise that increased the smile factor. The plane ride was a typical plane ride… I read the news paper for the first half of the flight and slept the second. I awoke as the plane was landing in Regina, gathered my things (I assumed all of them) and waited to get off the plane and on the road.
It was just one of those days when life throws challenges. I am aware of these days more than ever and try to see them as character builders or the flipside to the balance of the universe rather than anything negative. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t say I didn’t get a bit rattled as the bricks persisted throughout the trip. To avoid losing my sh*t a few times I reminded myself that though certain aspects of the day were frustrating as can be, at least the sun was still shining outside – In fact, I had many things to smile about - more than I did to frown about.
My next reminder that life has as wicked of a sense of humour was when I approached the car rental companies in the airport. Of the six or more companies there, only one had a line up. And it was a huge line up. And of course it was the company I was dealing with. Enterprise was busy on this sunny prairie Sunday. Still line up or not, Enterprise was still better than AVIS. HELL, a stick in the eye is better than AVIS. I won’t even get into the rant that explains my disliking for AVIS. Let’s just say after trying to find competence within this company for years by being a loyal customer I was repeatedly let down. GFY(AVI)S!!! I was happy to use a new company and offer my loyalty upon some decent customer service.
I am going to call it right now… This is going to be another long one I think! Readers beware. This could cut into your work time, your homework time, your sleep time, your Jersey Shore time or you Christmas shopping… Nah, I’ll try not to make it that long!
So, I finally got the keys to my car and was stoked to get on the road. My bags were at the Westjet counter, as a nice attendant had collected them and was holding them at a desk for me. As I approached the desk I realized I did not have my I-Pod. I had left it on the plane. INSTA-PANIC!!! CRAP!!! Yeah I wrote CRAP haha… maybe not so much what I was saying to myself in the Regina airport, but for the sake of PG factor I said crap upon the realization that I was suddenly i-Podless. Honestly it wasn’t even an “I have to buy a new one thing.” I was mostly upset because 1) I have 17000 songs on my I-Pod, and this library has been a long time in the making. 2) And even more disturbing, I was on the road with no music. Now some people might think listen to the radio, but not for me. I can’t stand the radio! I do not enjoy hearing the new Nickelback once every hour –m once in my lifetime is too much Nickleback. Ever since I found punk rock, the radio has been dead to me. The only exception being maybe talk radio or Jason Ellis on Faction… Besides these options, I would rather listen to nothing. And seeing I had no X-FM and wasn’t really feeling AM radio for hours of driving I would be doing all week I was apparently in a real jam – with no jam.
Hoping to intercept my I-Pod before it left the airport aboard the plane I forgot it on; I rolled my ass as fast as I could for the Westjet counter, but no such luck. I was bummed to say the least. I wouldn’t accept it was gone though and kept telling myself to keep positive. I could get it back. The nice guy from Westjet who helped me with my bags explained that they would contact the plane when it landed in Vancouver and ask about my I-Pod. I was not satisfied with this and demanded that they contact the flight crew while they were still in the air and ASAP because the longer my I-Pod was in the seat pocket (where I now remembered leaving it) the lesser my chance of getting it back were. I guess persistence pays off, because about half way through the 2+ hour drive from Regina to Saskatoon, my speaker phone rang and a nice employee from Westjet explained that my I-Pod had been found and would be on the next flight to Saskatoon for me to pick up. STOKED! This trip had turned around 180 with a phone call. Positive thinking goes a long way in life, and so does compromise…
Once I had got into my rental car, a sweet little ride by the way, I remembered I had a couple of hundred songs on my Blackberry that would suffice in the meantime: Manowar, Against Me!, Turbonegro, The Flatliners. I was in good shape. And as an added bonus I quite liked my rental car, and had no trouble getting my wheelchair in and out of it. Focus on the positives right!?
The drive to Saskatoon is a little over a couple of hours when driving the speed limit. So I arrived around dinner time. My room at the Sandman in Saskatoon was decent. I was happy mostly with the location. There is a Shark’s Club attached with good food and plenty of friendly and attractive servers. Even better, for me anyways, was the hotels proximity to a Full Serve gas station! Yes, right across the street baby! Full Serve gas stations are to people in wheelchairs like jock-straps are to football players… they might sometimes smell a little funny but they are your best friend when you need them. Most random analogy ever?
I went grocery shopping at Superstore in Saskatoon and picked up the usual staples for a road trip: apples, granola bars, water and dried fruit snacks. I try to eat as healthy as I can avoiding fast food and junk food. I got a good sleep the first night and was out the door and headed for Warman, Saskatchewan around 8:30am, Monday. The sun was shining and the fall colours were brilliantly presenting themselves in every which direction I looked. My Blackberry pumped out a best of sort of playlist of tunes, so my face was wearing a smile. The tour was starting off great!
I arrived in Warman quite early. The community was a bit bigger than I had imagined, and the school was very new and nice. The principal greeted me as I entered the door. Mr Stanvilov was a very friendly man, who I could tell was grateful to have me at the school. He thanked me for coming to Warman then explained there had been a fatality over the weekend involving a car crash and the mother of some students at the school. This was sad to hear, and a reminder that as much as I enjoy speaking to young people it really is serious business… life and death. Since the crash had just occurred, the students’ who lost their mom were not going to be in attendance, but that wasn’t to say that it wouldn’t be emotional for those who knew and cared for this family. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by this tragedy.
I had a good crew of teachers and students helping me set up the AV. All appeared to be running smoothly, until my computer started to give me grief. See I was still using my back-up laptop that I have been using since that unfortunate incident last March when a bonehead cab driver ran over my good laptop, and then refused to pay for it. Lawsuit still pending on that one. As sketchy as my back-up laptop could be, it still had worked in all previous attempts enough to project my videos and play with sound. But on this day it was not to be. Just as the 500+ students started to enter the gymnasium (a time when I would normally start my skate video / tone setter / intro) my computer froze, then it crashed! I never got it up and running in time, and continued to watch the laptop reboot, crash, reboot, crash and so forth throughout the duration of the presentation. It was frustrating, but I didn’t let it affect my talk. If anything, I spoke with increased conviction and passion in order to fill the gap of not having videos.
Still, without videos I could tell that the students and staff at Warman were moved by my presentation. I was approached by a number of students, and some teachers. Mr. Stanvilov told me that the presentation was a success. Quote en Quote “The grade 12s never sit that quietly through presentations.” I was stoked leaving Warman. After all, this was my first presentation of the year. I had overcome some adversity and still delivered to a room full of teenagers. Sure, I wished I could have at least shown my skate video (there were a ton of skaters at the school), but overall I was happy. There were a lot of cool people in Warman. I am glad I go to visit, and hope to be back again one day. Thanks for the shirt… watch here to see the videos you missed.
And one more thing about Melfort… Sonia is awesome! and so is Carlyne!!
My next stop on Monday was Aberdeen. To keep up with my AV catastrophes (no exaggeration or anything!!) my GPS (voice of Cartman from South Park) led me the long way to my next destination. I should have experienced my first prairie ferry, but instead was rerouted back through Saskatoon adding an additional and unnecessary 50minutes to my trip. I realize how stupid the routes my GPS gives me are at home where I know where I am going. I prefer not to even imagine what ridiculous routes Cartman curses me along when I am out of town. Yep, on the road I just listen to Cartman swear his face off at me and take the directions as potty mouthed gospel. I figure ignorance is bliss.
I was happy to see some familiar faces in Aberdeen, which is always nice. I felt so very welcomed there. Everyone was super friendly and excited; despite I’m sure sensing how flustered I was. I clearly recall huffing and puffing (but not blowing anyone’s school down) as I tried to get my laptop working. But it was not to be. Fortunately a SADD student ran home to grab her laptop, while another cool SADD student ran to my car to grab my wheelchair handles to pull me onstage. I was in good hands in Aberdeen. Mrs. Lalonde leads a great team of students. Team work is great and “I love it when a plan comes through… right BA??” A-Team reference for anyone wondering.
We got the AV going after a few speed bumps, and I was able to show both my opening and closing videos in Aberdeen, much to my delight. The presentation went quite well, as far as I could tell. I felt that the standing ovation at the end was a good way of judging my effectiveness. I really enjoyed my visit on and off the stage in Aberdeen. The SADD group there are a great group of students and teachers who made me feel so welcomed and so appreciated. They even made a sweet welcome poster for me. Thank you all!
I left Aberdeen for Saskatoon on a mission to buy a new laptop. Thankfully, a new Best Buy had just opened in Saskatoon. I remembered passing it on my way into town the day before and figured I could find it by memory. Unfortunately I was looking right instead of left and drove right by. When I reached the familiar Sandman Hotel where I was staying, I knew I had gone too far. I pulled over the car and searched Google on my Blackberry for Best Buy. I was pretty happy when an address showed up on first search. Maybe my luck was turning around. I punched the address for Best Buy into my GPS and followed Cartman’s cursing.
I have been to Saskatoon only a few times, but I do feel that I kind of know it. The city is surrounded in a huge circular road way that is called Circle Drive. It really is quite ingenious, because you can get literally anywhere within the city limits by just continuing to follow the circle. So graced with this knowledge, I was a bit sceptical of the directions Cartman was cursing me in. As I drove down countless residential streets lined with tall trees of gold, crimson and brilliant orange I thought maybe this could be a shortcut. And what a scenic one shortcut at that!
All was good until I reached what looked to be a rougher part of town with no Best Buy in sight. The location my GPS led me to certainly was not Best Buy ELECTRONICS. In fact, I saw no large retail outlets anywhere in sight. Annoyed now, I pulled over and checked my Blackberry to compare addresses. Maybe I had typed it out wrong I thought. NOPE! WT…!? I was about to call Best Buy to explain how AWESOME it was that they had the wrong address posted online, wondering if it would take a Geek Squad to decipher the sarcasm in my voice. Then upon closer inspection I saw that I was in fact at the Best Buy I had looked up… only I had ironically looked up Best Buy ESTHETICS, not Best Buy ELECTRONICS. Best Buy Aesthetics could not help me out, since it was my computer that was dishevelled and infected and not me (thankfully of course)… though at this point a temple massage would have felt great. I reminded myself to remain calm, even as my blood started to boil. I looked up the correct address and looked ahead at my route. It looked more like a parking lot than a roadway. Anyone wondering if there is rush hour in Saskatoon… Yes, yes there is.
Furthermore, anyone wondering if the big cities in Saskatchewan also use prairie directions… Yes, yes they do. Ok, it wasn’t quite turn at left at the grain elevator, follow the grade until you reach Owen’s place then turn right, but the address to Saskatoon’s new Best Buy was merely a crossroad that further complicated things for KB.
I went a bit nuts in Best Buy. After venting to the poor unsuspecting Geek Squad manager Garret, I ended up not only buying a new laptop, but also leaving my old POS laptop to be devirused, debugged and deloused. I figured this was a lot more practical than the other option I had considered. You know… Hurling the old laptop into the Saskatchewan River. After all the pain it had caused me the thought of having it DESTROYED gave me a twisted smile. But what good would it do me? I’d be better off with two than one - one for business and one to download tunes with. I left Best Buy feeling grateful to have reliable equipment for the remainder of the tour… Sure I was $800 poorer than when I had rolled in, but can you really put a price on piece of mind? Best Buy can and did.
I had some chores ahead of me Monday night, when really all I wanted to do was chill… maybe write a blog, but that was not possible. I am not sure if any of you have ever set up a new computer, but it is quite the process. I got the basics installed… my video, my wireless mouse and that is about it. My new laptop would not allow me to access the internet, and as far as I could tell I had no word program to write on, but oh well… I guess I could just go to bed and get a good sleep instead of writing a blog… I could stay up late and write a blog and miss out on sleep another night… Maybe Wednesday night!
Tuesday morning I spoke in Colonsay. Colonsay is a quaint, clean little town about 40 minutes south east of Saskatoon. I had been there before a couple years before, and I had great memories from my last visit. As I pulled up to the school, I felt great vibes. This was going to be a good day. And the sun was still shining too! I was met in the parking lot by the principal, and reunited inside with familiar faces from Colonsay’s SADD team. The talk went great. The new AV equipment worked perfectly. The students, staff and parents in the audience were wonderful. I had an awesome experience in Colonsay, and was bummed I couldn’t stay longer… I’m pretty sure the students wouldn’t have minded either. Thanks to everyone from Colonsay! Keep up the awesome work SADD team!! Thanks for the shirt too!
My next destination was Humboldt, Saskatchewan. I had first heard of Humboldt when the city was up to Terrace in CBC’s Hockeyville contest. I can still remember parts of the catchy “Humboldt is Hockey Town” jingle that I fondly recall hearing between intermissions during NHL games in the 2008 / 2009 season. It was a beautiful drive from Colonsay to Humboldt. Contrary to what some people might have heard, driving in the prairies is quite an enjoyable experience. For starters, there is next to no traffic. The roads are straight and the rolling hills, countless lakes, and endless stretches of meticulously tended farmland really compliment the blue skies (blue skies that I always seem to travel under when I visit this great province.)
Humboldt is one of the bigger little communities have visited in all of my travels around Saskatchewan. According to the locals the combination of a MacDonald’s, a Dairy Queen, A&W and 7-11 make Humboldt a city, not just a small town – I agree. I pulled up to the school, windows down and Iron Maiden blaring from my rental car. Students enjoying a peaceful lunch break in the sunshine did not seem startled by this metal intrusion. Actually they seemed stoked. I watched happily as metal horns were flashed my way and a mini-circle pit even started among a few die hard metal dudes. I had a good feeling about this place! There were more familiar faces inside the school, among them Cst. Trevor Scott, Mrs Marshall as well as current and alumni SADD students. I was quite pleased to learn that I would be speaking in an auditorium and even more pleased when I was led into the venue. I had great sight and sound to work with, and the seats looked really comfy, just like mine YAY!!! I have to say, as of today (and not to take anything away from the other presentations I have done on this tour) Humboldt has been the best talk of the tour. It was perfect. The audience, the venue… and I was pretty on my game too. It just jived!
After my presentation in Humbolt someone asked me my favourite Maiden song… This is it right here.
I left Humboldt stoked and headed for my next destination and home base for the next two nights, Melfort, Saskatchewan. I had never been to Melfort and was happy to arrive at the Travelodge where I would be staying. The amazing sunset that the Land of Living Skies delivered upon my arrival was a nice compliment no doubt. I got a good sleep and was up around 6:30am Wednesday, and feeling on top of my game – four presentations down and seven to go. The summer rust was gone, and I was stoked on the tour!
My first presentation Wednesday was in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, about 30 minutes east of Melfort. I had first discovered Tisdale while driving from Hudson Bay to Saskatoon years ago during a previous Saskatchewan tour. When I first passed the sign Welcome to Tisdale: Land of Rape and Honey, I thought I had misread. I actually pulled over, turned around and drove back to see if my eyes had just played a trick on me, but they hadn’t. I assumed it didn’t mean what it appeared to mean, but I had no idea what else it could mean. More than anything, I thought it was pretty funny, so I took pictures and posted them on Facebook. I have since learned that Rape and Honey has to do with grape seed and canola. This shows the purity of the prairies… If somewhere like Surrey, BC had such a name… WOW!
At the CYAID in Regina this past May, I met a ton of people as usual. One of these people was Cahli. She told me that she was from Tisdale. I said “ahhh, the Land of Rape and Honey!” It was agreed that I should speak there this year. I also asked that a Tisdale shirt be a part of the deal, and did Cahli ever come through on that one. Check out my rad shirt. My presentation in Tisdale was also pretty rad. It was a large audience, and they were all into hearing my story; as far as I could tell from the stage they were anyways. Thanks to Cahli and everyone in Tisdale who made my visit, my shirt and my presentation possible. The standing ovation was pretty sweet too!! I had a great time in your awesome town, and hope to be back again.
From Tisdale, I headed back to Melfort. I had a presentation at Mefort and Unit Comprehensive High School l there. Apparently the SADD group in Melfort had heard about me through the grapevine, so there were no familiar faces when I arrived at the school. But that didn’t matter because they students there, especially the SADD students were so welcoming and awesome. Thanks for the card by the way!! I made friends with everyone pretty fast, and enjoyed the spirit and senses of humour that I encountered there. These were like minded people, that I really enjoyed being around. The presentation was rad! I hung out for hours afterwards signing postcards and hanging with students from the school. From the gymnasium I headed outside with a small entourage. We continued to hang out and chat in the parking lot for more hours… Danielle, Destiny, Michelle and Almost Bieber. Part way through our hang out session I was approached by a mom and daughter.
STORY: I believe in energy big time. The entire universe has energy, and we as people are no exclusion to the rule. I also believe that like minded energies attract each other: negative – negative / positive – positive and so on… I seem to attract a lot of people who have been through difficult times in their lives. I think that people relate to me because I so openly share my most difficult challenges in life. The mom and daughter who approached me in Melfort were another example of energies attracting. They had lost their son / brother in a car crash about a year ago. The pain was still fresh. The daughter had found out about me through mutual friends on Facebook and had been following my blogs and story online. They just so happened to recognize me as they drove past a parking lot in Melfort, Saskatchewan… a guy from BC (a long way from home) with a similar story to theirs just sitting in their small rural hometown on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. What are the odds? We met and spoke and exchanged stories. There was a bond that couldn’t be denied. Believe it or not, I encounter stories like these a lot.
After the mom and daughter left the parking lot, I continued to chat for a bit with the posse of students. It was getting cold though, so we decided to part ways. The students told me they would come visit me later, and we could hang out in the arcade located in the lobby at the Travelodge where I was staying. Now, I don’t normally hang with students, but being on the road and having the ok by one of the students parents made it cool as far as I was concerned. We met later on that night and it was super fun. No video games were played, since the two games looked like they were circa ’79… They had pong! Serious Pong! and some other game that looked similarly lame. So we had coffee, water and hot chocolate and hung out instead. It was cool to have some company.
I started writing this blog that Wednesday night. I was up until around 1am before I decided to call it a night. I didn’t have the password for my website handy anyways, so postponing the blog wasn’t the end of the world. I might have got 4 ½ hours of sleep Wednesday night. Needless to say I was feeling pretty tired on Thursday. I packed my bags to the car and left for the hour plus drive northeast to Nipawin, Saskatchewan. My GPS gave me a few worries on the way, missing roads and then only being able to get me to Nipawin, but not specifically the school. So I relied on my own brain, a brain that feels atrophied from lying dormant since I first purchased a GPS and stopped using my instincts to navigate. I was losing it a bit as it seemed that Nipawin had at least a dozen 1st avenues… which was the one I was looking for? I would find my way eventually.
They were really prepared for me in Nipawin, which I was grateful for because I showed up a bit later than I wanted to. The principal made sure that everything was set up and was super accommodating. The SADD students were all awesome and helpful too. When I started speaking it seemed like the audience was unsure of whether they could laugh at my jokes. I understand when audiences have apprehension because the nature of my topic is very serious. However, I do somehow manage to have some fun with it. I had my first pass out / seizure of the year in Nipawin, and during the time that the student was lifted from the floor and led from the room I felt that the audience and I really bonded. It’s interesting how incidences like a fellow student having a seizure can bring people together. It kind of broke the ice. I can’t explain it really… maybe it’s just like how any time of adversity can bring people together. From here on out the presentation really seemed to click with everyone. I could feel the energy in the room change, and the change was for the better. I had minimal time after finishing my presentation until I had to leave for Hudson Bay. Before I left, I chatted with a few students and did an interview with a local newspaper reporter.
The sun was shining for the entire2hr drive southeast from Nipawin to Hudson Bay. The scenery changes in the approach to Hudson Bay. Suddenly forests of pine and spruce rise from the farmland. The change is impossible not to notice. To me it almost seems like a new province, but unknown to me (until I just wiki’d Saskatchewan Forests) and I am sure many others, Saskatchewan is half covered in forests. I rolled into Hudson Bay and was met by a teacher and students at the door and led inside. I had been looking forward to my talk at HBCHS, as I had been a great experience visiting three years prior. My last visit was really hyped, and I signed a ton of autographs on some of the most random things I had ever signed. Knee pads topping this list. Well hype was in the air again on this visit. The staff, the SADD students, the rest of the school and the local credit union loaded into the gymnasium. I had an awesome audience. When I was done speaking, in typical Hudson Bay fashion I signed autographs and random things… most notable a retainer case and a roll of duct tape for the credit union. Thanks to everyone from HB! I love coming to your city. Thanks especially to the SADD group and the credit union for your support, hard work and sponsorship.
It was a long haul from Hudson Bay to Saskatoon – a 3+ hour drive northwest. When I arrived in Saskatoon, I went straight for Best Buy (not Best Buy Aesthetics!) and picked up my debugged, deloused and devirussed old laptop. I got back to the Sandman for the second leg of my stay there just after dark. I was happy to be back in Saskatoon for a few reasons. My friend Sydney lives here now agfter moving from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and I was happy to be visiting with her that night; I also had met a sweet girl at the Shark Club named Leanne and was looking forward to seeing her again; lastly, I was reunited with my hoodies and flannels I had forgotten at the hotel when I checked out on Tuesday. My brain has been pretty forgetful on this trip. But fortunately luck has been on my side. I had good visits and good times Thursday night and wore my Rancid hoody that I had feared I may have lost just days before. It was a great night.
Friday morning was another challenging one. The entire time I have been in Saskatchewan my GPS has overestimated my arrival times. So I have gotten into the habit of giving myself less than the suggested time to get to wherever I am going. Well, the estimated time given to me to get to Maidstone was pretty bang on, so I found out once I started driving north from Saskatoon on Friday morning. To add to the problem, I left my room a bit later than I had hoped after yet another battle with technology. This time around I was trying to download the new Bad Religion album that I had ordered and have been dying to listen to since it came out Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was not be Friday morning. Frustrated and late, I eventually gave up.
I knew pretty early into my trip that I was going to be tight on time in getting to Maidstone. The minutes on my GPS were not rapidly decreasing as I drove toward my destination. But even more disturbing was the rapid draining of my rental car’s fuel supply. I drove on hoping to see a gas station, and a full service one at that, yet the road ahead did not offer any fuel options. Finally, I saw a gas station, but it wasn’t full service. I was too tight for time to get out and pump my own gas, so I pushed on hoping that the next town (12kms away) would have a gas station. It did. Unfortunately, grass and weeds had grown over the pumps. It had obviously been closed for a while… The sign on the highway claimed that the next town / city were the Battlefords. Only they were 47kms away. I had already been driving about 30kms with my gaslight on. I didn’t have time to backtrack. What do I do? STRESSED to the MAX I cross my fingers and hope that I will make it to the Battlefords before I run out of gas. I talked to the car most of the way… One more kilometre, one more kilometre, come on car you can do it. I willed the rental all the way to North Battleford and finally putted into a Fas Gas Full Service station on fumes.
I was stoked to have gas!!!!!!!!! Onward I drove to Maidstone. I arrived about 8minutes late feeling like an ass for being tardy. Tardy ‘tard indeed. Thankfully nobody seemed to be bothered at the school. The massive SADD team of students and advisors, the principal and everyone else I met were so kind. Maidstone is a great town full of great people. I spoke, they were a great audience, and then my closing video started up. We were about ¾ of the way through when the power went out. Yet another speed bump for the tour, but onward I went. I wrapped up the talk and afterwards took pictures outside with the SADD group (like half of the school!) and I signed a few pictures too. The great people in Maidstone sent me on my way with sandwiches, veggies and a bag of nuts (sounds bad – not like that) and a book on everything about Saskatchewan. What could’ve been a disastrous day had turned into one of, if not the best of the tour. I left Maidstone smiling!
My next stop was another familiar town called Lashburn about 30minutes northwest. I had spoken at Lashburn years ago, and was also happy to be back here. My last talk in Lashburn was pretty sweet, but yesterday was AWESOME! Friends from a neighbouring community called Hillmond also joined the assembly. I had also spoken there before too, and I learned upon speaking to a beautiful advisor from Hillmond that the students were stoked to see me! I was stoked to see all of them. I could not have asked for a better presentation to close out the week of touring in Saskatchewan. Talk number ten in five days was incredible. I could feel everyone in that room feeling my story. I gave them everything I had and then some, ad-libbing and even doing a little stand-up butt break / stretch / intermission thing. This was a very unique presentation for me. It stands out among the so many that I do, and I know that I will not soon forget it. I want to thank Jennifer, the SADD students and schools for making yesterday possible. I left Lashburn with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. What a day, what a week, what a tour!!!!
I got back to Saskatoon around dinner time last night feeling very proud and happy with the way the tour had gone. I love Saskatchewan, and this week and these words you just read (all nearly 6000 of them) explain why!
I want to thank absolutely everyone who made this week such a success: teachers, principals, sponsors, SADD groups, students and great people I have met along the way… THANKS! I spent a probably combined 8 hours writing this blog. This one is for all of you. If this week is any sign of the upcoming school year to come, I can’t wait to see where it all goes from here. I definitely kicked 2010 / 2011 with a bang! Thanks Saskatchewan!!!
-: )
Kevin
PS. I talk about finding a way… I always find a way. Well I am pretty stoked for all of the sponsors I have now who are helping me help you find a way. Have a look at my home page and all of the schools who support my cause. Maybe through a program at one of these schools you can find your way to happiness, success and a great, rewarding life!!
PPS: I hope you feel better soon CFMT! Love ya!! Hoping this will make you smile