ESTEVAN - Kevin Mortenson's family has long been a part of the community, both through the business world and with volunteering.
Mortenson was born and raised in the Energy City. His father Don opened Don's Tire Shop in 1958, and the company remained in the family and was a fixture for well over 50 years. Don Mortenson was also part of the Estevan Lions Club, the Estevan Kinsmen Club and was an avid member of the local square dance club with his wife Frankie.
Kevin Mortenson has followed in his father's footsteps; he ran Don's Tire for years and joined the Lions Club in 2000.
He gives his parents a lot of credit for setting good examples of community leadership.
"Both my dad and Nick Morsky had told me … as soon as I started operating the tire shop – I took over from dad in 1994 – that you have to … take your community seriously because these are the people that are going to be supporting your business while you're operating it," said Mortenson in an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday.
Mortenson and his wife Linde stayed in Estevan and raised three children: Samantha, Brooklyn and Donny. All three are now adults.
It was around 2000 when Mortenson started getting serious about volunteering and doing more for the community beyond his job. Morsky invited Mortenson to an Estevan Lions Club meeting, and Mortenson has been a member ever since.
In around 2002 or 2003, when Brooklyn was five or six years old, she decided she wanted to play soccer. Estevan Youth Soccer was looking for volunteer coaches, and even though Mortenson didn't know anything about the sport, he decided to volunteer as a coach. He remained in the role until 2013.
He also had a couple of stints as the soccer association's president and he held other executive roles. He also volunteered with painting lines.
"Last year was the first time in quite a few years that I wasn't involved with soccer," said Mortenson. "I wasn't painting lines. I was on the board up until last year, but I was just painting the lines, and obviously, it has to be done."
Mortenson recalled that 24 hours before his first stint as soccer president ended in 2013, he became the president of Estevan Minor Football.
"Steve McLellan was leaving for Alberta. He was president of Estevan Minor Football at the time. I wasn't the first choice, but I was the eventual choice for taking over for Steve."
A lot of people think he was one of the founding board members of minor football, but he wasn't. Mortenson said Sheila Leach-Dougherty and other people deserve the credit for getting minor football off the ground in 2008.
Donny started playing minor football in 2008 with the U10 program. That led to Kevin coaching and becoming involved. Before too long, he started officiating.
"I say it every year, and I'm trying to put my foot down, that this is the last year I'm going to officiate football. But I've been saying that for probably 10 years," said Mortenson.
Except for two years when his son was at the U12 level, Mortenson coached a U10 team almost from the program's inception until today.
He has also been involved with the Southeast U18 Estevan Kinette Club Viragos female team since it started in 2020.
"I spearheaded that with Shanelle Rioux. I've been a manager or a coach. I'm stepping away from coaching, but I'm always on the field. I'll hold the bags or just help set up drills whenever possible, but I don't have the influence of a coach anymore," he said.
Mortenson said he would continue to help out the Viragos as much as needed, and he is now the commissioner of the Prairie Girls' Football League, a role he is enjoying. Over the winter, he will be focused on recruitment, not just for the southeast entry, but for other teams in the league so that female football can continue.
"It's not just an Estevan problem. I've talked to Melville and Moosomin especially, because they're pretty close to us, and the feeling you get from their coaches is if they don't get any more girls, they're probably not going to have a team in 2025," said Mortenson, who wants to see a couple more teams in the circuit.
Interest has been shown from the Regina area, but they're not yet ready to field teams.
As for his business involvements, Mortenson still has the old Don's Tire Shop at the intersection of Fourth Street and Kensington Avenue, so he's going to make good use of the building now that it's vacant by opening the Cancukcade family entertainment centre in the near future, with an assortment of arcade games for people to enjoy.
Mortenson has been hosting private birthday parties and sports team windups, and he has also been renting out bouncy castles, which have been seen at events in the community. The business will have a couple inflatables, including a soccer area. He's also working on an indoor miniature golf area and an artificial ice surface and boards with an interactive net for shooting. An axe-throwing range and a tennis simulator are other options he's investigating.
There will also be ice cream after he purchased the Cherry on Top truck 18 months ago.
Mortenson has been involved with the local economic development committee and wants to see more businesses move to the community.
He said it's been rewarding to do all of this in Estevan and help the community. He would like to see a few more people step up and be more involved to give some fresh faces and voices, and also help young people get involved and stay in the city.
"Hopefully the community will grow," he said.
