It's amazing how quickly a year can go by.
At this time 52 weeks ago, we were looking forward to 2022 and all the potential that it had in store. Not only were we looking forward to the Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship that would be coming here, but we were also anticipating the day in which we could plan and host big events without having to worry about COVID-19 restrictions, vaccine mandates and masking requirements.
It took a couple months to have those widespread restrictions lifted, and it took longer to see some of the big events return again, but most of the events and the activities that we enjoyed so much before 2020 are back.
As for the Centennial Cup, it proved to be a memorable week for our city and the showcase of Estevan that we hoped it would be.
Of course, this year was more than just events. It kept us busy with the different news stories that were happening here. It kept you, our readers, busy as you tried to keep pace with all that we were covering, either through the pages of the Mercury or online through our provincial news hub, www.sasktoday.ca.
Every year is busy. Every year is memorable in its own different ways. Every year has its interesting moments.
We were crowned SiriusXM's Music Town for Western Canada because we wanted to be Music Town. We won because we had the most votes. And we deserved to have the Dallas Smith concert in September.
We discussed, at length, the future of our community once again. We thought about what it could look like if industries that have been vital to us since our inception weren't accessible any longer. And this is a conversation that is going to happen for a number of years.
Our community has been enriched by the arrival of people from Ukraine, who were forced to flee their homeland. We don't know how long these recent arrivals from Ukraine will be here, but we're thankful Estevan is their chosen home.
The support for the people of Ukraine is another example of the generosity of the people of our southeast communities.
It hasn't always been easy in the past 12 months in southeast Saskatchewan. We've had our share of tough times and adversity. There have been stories and tales we haven't wanted to hear, but we can't take an ostrich approach and bury our heads in the sand.
So, what's next for us?
We're going to have more marquee events. Two curling events in late January and early February – the Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts women's curling event and the SaskTel Tankard men's curling provincials – will bring a lot of people to Estevan.
Yes, it's going to be tough to see Affinity Place unavailable for hockey games and figure skating for weeks, but nobody can deny these two provincial curling events will have a big impact on the local economy, and hopefully set the table for bigger curling competitions.
We're hoping to move another step closer to the normal we knew before 2020. Those who didn't get to have their event in the first few months of 2022 might finally get that chance this year. It's been 10 months since the last of the widespread COVID restrictions were lifted. We hope they won't have to return.
We're hoping that the price of oil will remain strong and that we will experience the economic benefits. When the price of oil is high, it's better for the southeast.
We're looking forward to discussions about small modular reactor nuclear technology, progress on the new nursing home that we so richly deserve and further talks on ways to improve the community.
It's been, for the most part, a great 12 months for Estevan and the other communities in southeast Saskatchewan. We're hoping it will be even better this year.
And it's our intention to be there every step of the way.
