Day 12

We finished on schedule!!!!!!!!!

All day Duncan, Dan, Brad, Crispin, Ryan and James worked out a system for the final cables.

Rand, Kristiana Kim and Brenda-Dale were hard at work on site clean-up.

Allistar and Dion worked to finish the ‘Snagging Lane.” Charnele and Shaylyn were in charge of painting!

Brad’s parents, Garth and Gloria came for a visit and brought us some sweet treats to keep us motivated. Cheryl, Charmaine and Zoe came for a visit from Standing Buffalo. They helped to paint the ‘Snagging Lane.’ You can always count on SBDN to show up and lend a hand- it was great to see them back at it again.

After a couple days of painting, the sign crew (Marlene, Charnele, Shaylyn, Heather, Brenda and more) were ready to put up the sign. Justin, Heather, Ryan, Brenda-Dale, Warren, Rex and Kate helped to dig the holes and find materials for yet another tripod- not our first but our last of this trip. Estelle and Marlene gave us advice on how to screw the sign on and Brenda-Dale and Justin worked out a way to make it happen! The sign looks absolutely beautiful.

Dion took some of the group on a very special mission to find some of the Buffalo that live in Kinistin. After driving through fields, bushes and a marshy area we spotted them grazing in a field.

We finished the day with a Community BBQ and Arbour Celebration. The community came out to celebrate their hard work and accomplishments. Marlene presented us with a beautiful card from Kinistin and each student received a special award as voted on by community members…..The results are in:

Crispin won the Bluest Eyes award.

Ryan won the Sexiest Smile award.

James won the Most Macho Guy award.

Kate won the Kindest Person award.

Duncan won the Sexiest Guy award.

Dan won the Sexiest Voice award

Brenda-Dale won the Cutest Girl award.

Rand won the Sultry award.

Brad won the Hottest Guy award.

Kim won the Saucy award.

Kristiana won the Juiciest Girl award.

Justin won the Cutest Boy award.

We left the site tonight with a great feeling of accomplishment. All of us have created something amazing that will serve as an important cultural centre in Kinistin in the years to come. Along the way we conquered obstacles, learned new skills, made amazing friendships and had a Free Lab to remember!

Day 11 Continued!

Our project makes the news!!!

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Reserve+welcomes+arbour+project/3330947/story.html

The Saskatoon Star-Pheonix came out on Saturday to interview us about the project. Here is the article!!!

Day 10

We got to the site on Monday morning and were greeted by our new friends Stacy, Charnele, Riley, Christine, Shaylyn, Heather and Eja who were ready to paint the sign for the Pow wow grounds. They spent the day painting an amazing sign! Kinistin will be proud. Riley helped with cement mixing and everything he was asked to as usual- what a guy!

Though the day got off to a slow start we managed to get so much done! We lashed all of the tripods to keep them sturdy over the years. We had an amazing surprise visit- a cement truck! After only an hour all of our cement was poured- a welcome relief to those mixing it using only a wheelbarrow and some shovels.

So many band members came out to help today. They helped with all of the details from tamping to filling. We had gravel and a water tank delivered. Things are really coming together here in KSN.

To finish our day Estelle had us over for dogs, burgs, and some amazing fruit cheesecake- a lovely treat that really made us feel like we so well looked after. It’s like Marlene and Estelle are our moms while we are here- helping us, feeding us, and even directing us when we need it!

Day 11

We have made many new friends in Kinistin- and some are animals. Every morning and night we are greeted by several dogs who call KSN home. We have even named some of them. Scampers, Pudge, Muffins, Kevin, Roosevelt, Humpy, and Legend sit on our porch, play together and sometimes we even give them some treats!

Today is going to be big! It’s time to string the cables. Stay tuned for another update soon.

Day 9

We began the day by making sure that all of the tripods were level- a very important part of the structure. We continued our cement work. We all worked hard in the hot sun doing various tasks- filling holes, tamping, adjusting tripods, developing a plan for our cable, going on water runs to make cement.

There might have been only one minor setback……someone who’s name shall not be mentioned might have lost the keys to the Rec Centre. No biggie- we now just have to climb in the window every time we want to get in….a strenuous task but one we are up to. No setbacks are going to stop this crew from taking a knee and figuring out a way to get the job done.

We worked until dark and were treated to some amazing cloud viewed as a storm passed us by and later an amazing sunset in the ‘Land of the Living Skies.’ Some of the team members even made it to Lake Kip to cool off.

Day 8

The weather has been hot and sunny! There were many gravel runs, extra measurements and even some cement mixing. A “snagging lane” was marked around the outside of the structure as requested! We began measuring the cable for the inner ring of the arbor. We had lots of volunteers come out to help us with all of our work. Justin’s parents came and paid us a visit- the surprised us by bringing us some cookies, a puffed wheat square (a Saskatchewan specialty!), lots of water and gatorade, pepperoni sticks, beef jerky and some delicious spicy habanero pepper chips which revived our energy levels and helped us finish the day. Only our friend Dion was missing in action- he had to take his grandkids to the Melfort Fair. He brought us back some doughnuts to share- a welcome treat after a day in the sun!

After a hard day of work we managed to set up all of the tripods (even the one where most of the large rocks were located)! We were on a roll.

Some of the gang went to Melfort for Pizza and dancing (dance moves so good Melfort will never forget them!)

Day 7

Today was quite productive! We finished digging all the holes required for the tripods despite running into issues with large rocks in the ground. With the aid of the backhoe and some helpful hands, we were able to get them all out!

Meanwhile, the cable and the rest of the poles, donated from SaskPower, were delivered. The poles were then measured, cut, and labeled.

The arrival of three more team members brought fresh energy and excitement to the work site. That night, we worked late to erect all the poles. Tomorrow, we plan to calibrating them to the right angles and bolting them together.

Day 6

At home base, some members of the team designed the entry sign for the site with the help of some interested kids. Painting in color starts today! Rodney, a local artist, has volunteered to paint scenery onto the sign.

Back on site, a dedicated team worked to finish auguring the rest of the holes. Meanwhile, with the help of some community members, tripods were being erected. By the end of the day, five out of sixteen of the tripods were finished.

Rex and Marlene treated the team to a barbecue at Lake Kip. There was swimming, marshmallow roasting and ice cream for all!

On a side note, Justin has been participating in tri-weekly poker nights and has become the community’s favorite bounty! He hasn’t won yet, but we’ll keep you posted!

Day 5: Wednesday, July 21, 2010

During the day, we split into two groups to allow one group to focus on getting the 48 holes dug (6 feet deep!) while the other team worked on sorting and measuring the power poles. After the poles were measured we began to cut them length: 18 feet long for the two support poles and 26 feet long for the single spar (for more information about spars see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spar_%28tree%29). We're still short a few poles, so have been able to secure a few more which will be delivered tomorrow.

Throughout the day we ran into a few technical difficulties with dull chainsaws, broken generators, broken starter, shortage of hydraulic fuel for the backhoe and missing tent poles (for the tent we're putting up for a little shade on the site).

On a more positive note, the day was also filled with a few fun activities: we ate lunch with the Kinistin Lands Committee at the Hidden Meadows Golf Course and spent the evening at the Beardy's pow wow! A few people could help themselves from sketching the arbour.

PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED SOON.

Day 4: Tuesday, July 20, 2010

In the morning a group started to lay out where each tripod would stand - marking the centre of the tripod with a stake. At the same time a group worked on constructing the first test tripod. From the first test tripod, we shifted the angle of the hole and lengthened each post. Once we figured out where each post should sit on the ground, we were able to mark out all 16 tripods onto the site.