Saskatchewan Gathering Place

Have you ever wondered where old farmers gather after they are retired? After there is no more work in the fields and maybe the farms are sold – what happens to them?

That is a Canadian riddle by the way… here is the answer. In Yorkton, Saskatchewan they are at the Mall drinking coffee.

The setting is perfect – open, easy and you can sit for as long as you like with your friends…tell as many jokes, tall stories and fabrications as you want to – and every one will accept you no matter who you are!

The popular TV program of a few years ago called “Cheers” was situated in a bar in Boston with some unusual characters in that setting. The familiar lyrics take you into the scene…

Sometimes you wanna go..

Where everybody knows your name

and they're always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see,

the troubles are all the same.

you wanna be where everybody knows your name

Yesterday I was there again…in the Gathering Place for old farmers. They were a happy bunch – jovial, joshing, telling tales of their latest travels.

One man by the name of Dennis, I have known for a number of years, told of his recent stay in Texas for three months. He loved the warm weather and wanted to stay another month but his wife felt they had to get back home – grandkids and kids – you know…
This man is typical of the fairly large group gathered in the Mall yesterday.

I think it is a ‘prairie thing’ to gather like this. They were ‘Roosting’ while waiting for the next thing to happen in your life or on your flight path.

On the two hour drive to Yorkton we saw literally thousands upon thousands of Snow Geese gathered in the miles of open fields. They were resting and waiting for the signal to be given, the temperature to be right, the good warm westerly winds to come – telling them that they could move on north.
That sight alone of the millions of waiting geese is not possible to portray with a single camera shot…you need a video of the fields as you pass them at 60+ miles an hour, to catch a glimpse of the mile upon mile of sitting geese. In fact at one stretch I caught 15 miles(15 minutes) of fields filled with geese sitting side by side… for as far as you could see – not only that long but that deep. There were geese back in each field as far as you could see into the horizon.

It is one of the Canadian Wonders that you can catch in Saskatchewan. It happens as they feed on the harvested fields with the grain that has fallen to the ground after the combines have moved through the area.

Back in the Yorkton Mall… it is 2:00 PM, lunch is over and we have the same scene – not millions – but dozens upon dozens of men wearing their caps, dressed in dark leather jackets, eating and drinking together. The average age would be around 75+. Many were well into their 80s. They are waiting for the warmer weather to come so they can join their sons and grandsons out on the farm again. Their grandsons and sons now own and operate the farm that was so much a part of their lives for so many years.

What a treat to have witnessed the Saskatchewan Gathering Place again.

Read all the words below of the lyrics…. Now they have new meaning for me….

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~

Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Cheers Theme) Lyrics

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.

Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

All those nights when you've got no lights,

the check is in the mail.

And your little angel hung the cat up by it's tail.

And your third fiancé didn't show!

Sometimes you wanna go..

Where everybody knows your name

and they're always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see,

the troubles are all the same.

you wanna be where everybody knows your name

You roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee is dead,

the morning's looking bright

And your shrink ran off to Europe,

and didn't even write.

And your husband wants to be a girl!

Be glad there's one place in the world

Where everybody knows your name

and they're always glad you came.

You wanna go where people know,

people are all the same.

You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

[Repeat]Where everybody knows your name.

And they're always glad you came.