The Heritage Advisory Committee announced the 2018 winners of the Heritage Awards at the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Citizen and Group of the Year awards ceremony.
Scott Hellings, chair of the city’s Heritage Advisory Committee said the “annual awards honour the individuals, groups and organizations who have worked to promote and preserve our city’s rich heritage.” The winners were as follows:
Heritage craftspeople or tradespeople: Brandon Cochrane, Murray Rimmer, and John Trodd. This award was given to three individuals who volunteered their time to work on the city’s clock towers.
Heritage advocacy and education: Gord Johnson, for the many years he has promoted Moose Jaw and tourism, with a particular focus on the city’s beautiful heritage buildings.
Heritage advocacy and education: Kayleigh Olson. She has compiled an impressive archive of materials related to the history of First Nations in Moose Jaw. Olson has also been a vital part of the committee that is currently trying to get the former Wild Animal Park land renamed to reflect the Indigenous peoples who originally inhabited the land.
Long-term stewardship of a heritage building: Scotiabank. The Heritage Committee says Scotiabank has done a great job of preserving their beautiful downtown building. Earlier this year, they refurbished their cornice and brick. They are the only bank in Moose Jaw still fully operating out of a heritage building.
Restoration: Ron Papandrea of Michigan. Heritage Committee chair, Scott Hellings, and Councillor Crystal Froese accepted the award on his behalf. The Committee says on a tour of the Moose Jaw cemetery on the east side in September, they noticed that the headstone of Tasnisakawin Brule was missing. The wife of Black Bull, she is the only First Nations person buried in the cemetery.
The Committee was concerned that the headstone had been vandalized. The Committee took a decision to replace the tombstone but upon return, the stone was back on the grave, fully refurbished. It was later established that Ron Papandrea took it upon himself to repair the headstone. Papandrea is the author of a book titled They Never Surrendered: the Lakota Sioux Band That Stayed in Canada. The Heritage Committee thanked Papandrea for taking this initiative.
