Walk the Cross a popular event

I hope you all had a Happy Easter, with family or without, it is a meaningful time of the year. The Good Friday Walk the Cross was well received by the community. There would have been even more come out to take part but the notice was quite short. Folks would like to commend the group who put the program together. It was a lot of work, but they obviously knew what they were doing. Now we look forward to doing it again next year.

There’s been a local cribbage tournament going on, and the loser finally came out a winner. One has to find ways to keep occupied during this pandemic and this was a lot of fun.

The power was off March 26, for 2 1/2 hours, but the power crew was out and fixed the problem pretty quick.

Word has come of the sudden passing of a former Meota resident, Brian Fitzgerald, in Calgary on March 30. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.

Spring seems to be here with the arrival of geese, swans and mallards. The robins have arrived at Taber, Alta., so will soon be here. The early flowers are bravely poking their heads out and blooming; Johnny Jump Ups are some of the first. The deer are stopping to snip off the early bulbs as they pop up, but soon there will be other food for them. 

We are waiting for word when the local golf course will open. It was a popular place last summer and will be again this year. With travel restrictions and all the regulations, it is great to have a facility like we have, at our doorstep.

While Joyce was here she watched and listened to the funeral of a friend in New Zealand. She was able to identify our relatives as they entered and moved about. I find this technology hard to believe, but it is what is going on. 

A walk about Meota on Sunday afternoon showed many families were getting together, so hope they were able to play it safely and all will be well. Most seniors have had their first shot, so should be somewhat safer than before. Time will tell.

A drive along Lakeview revealed some shingles had given up their hold in the big winds we have been having, so hope everyone checks their roofs.

The folowing was submitted by Kathy Dmytryshyn:

In the early morning of March 20, we awoke to the worst possible situation that a person could ever imagine. Our house was on fire. Our son Al, daughter-in-law Anna, our two grandchildren, Bethany and Rylan, and Bethany’s friend Mya were home for the weekend. The best possible thing that came out of this tragedy is that we all escaped the fire and can live to talk about it. We will rebuild and make new memories.

The house and contents were a total loss.

A big thank you to the Meota Fire Dept for saving our yard.   We can’t even begin to thank them for what they did for us. A big thank you to all our friends and relatives who have reached out to us and offered their assistance.

The following writeup comes from Trudy Janssens:

This year, 2021, Good Friday morning saw the launch of a new tradition.  An actual wooden cross was lifted up and carried to specific locations in almost all the towns along Highway 26.  Starting in Meota the cross was transported by car to the next community. It was carried around Vawn, Edam, Mervin, Turtleford, Spruce Lake and St. Walburg. It was intended to go all the way to Loon Lake and Goodsoil, but seven out of nine towns was all that was possible given the time available and the distances.  This event was non-denominational and followed all the provincial guidelines for Covid. 

In Meota the walk started at Memorial Hill with 53 people in attendance. The scripture reading started with the story of Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphant ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. The prayer focused on the sacrifices the veterans made for our freedom. We also acknowledged the Indigenous people who are keepers of this land. We found out later that we had two believers from the Moosomin Reserve who came as representatives of their community.

From there we walked to the United Anglican Church and the story of Christ’s passion continued. All the Bible readings were taken from the four Gospels and told the story of the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. In Meota the locations chosen were,  the R.M. Office, the Community Park, the Downtown, the Senior’s Housing and the Catholic Church. Every location had a reader who told the story of Christ’s life leading up to His death on the Cross. After every reading a prayer was shared. The prayers all pertained to the location we were at. The men and women in local government, sports centres, senior centres, local businesses, fire and emergency medical services, as well as volunteers. Each reading was based on the scriptures that told the memorable journey of Christ leading up to the cross and each prayer was spoken together to lift up our communities to make them strong and vibrant. In Meota we ended the walk with the playing of the song “The Old Rugged Cross” being amplified out of the Catholic church doors!

This format was repeated in each village with numerous volunteers reading scriptures, leading prayers and then carrying the cross to the next location.  It was heartwarming to be together as the greater Christian community and we heard it was particularly exciting to see that Thunderchild had a large presence in Turtleford where they spoke a powerful prayer. 

We learned that “the ground is level at the foot of the cross. No one is too good to need Jesus, nor is anyone too sinful to be saved.  The ground is always level at the foot of the cross.” How true and what a wonderful way to commemorate the Easter weekend. Thanks to all the organizers, writers, readers and cross carriers for making the event an event worth repeating every year.