Latest news with #Shaunavon
CBC
16-07-2025
- Sport
- CBC
What is the Boomtown Cup?
The Boomtown Cup is a lawnmower race held annually in Shaunavon, Sask. The event was started by a group of friends in 2018 and helps raise funds to support the local community. In the past, they have given back to the local splash park, the dog park and many sports groups. This year, they're working toward building an indoor pool for the community.
Hamilton Spectator
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Library hosting concerts with Mr. Eric
Shaunavon Library is hosting two concerts this week featuring Eric Paetkau, aka Mr. Eric. Paetkau is both a children's performer and folk singer/songwriter, with deeply rooted classical music foundations. Mr. Eric is touring Saskatchewan libraries for the second year in a row with his high energy, engaging children's show. Paetkau, who resides in Toronto, will perform 43 shows in Saskatchewan from July 3 through early August. Shaunavon will host both a children's performance and a folk music concert for adults. Shaunavon Librarian Anne Bennett says, 'We had the opportunity to have Mr. Eric perform a children's show for us this summer through the generous sponsorship of the Sogn Family Foundation. With Eric's varied musical background, we thought it would be fun to also offer one of his folk music concerts for adults as a fundraiser for programming at the library.' The folk concert takes place at the Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre on Wednesday evening, July 9 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20 and are available in advance at the Library or Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre, or at the door. The children's program will hit the stage on Thursday, June 10 at 9:30 am, upstairs at the Veren Wickenheiser Centre. Children of all ages are welcome to attend this free event. Paetkau's vast 30 year classical music career included the role of Conductor for Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra from 2015-2022. His musicality has bridged into folk singing and songwriting and he's developed a solid presence as a children's entertainer. Regarding his move from classical music to other genres, he explains, 'I wanted to do some other stuff and explore other creative outlets. I never thought I would do children's music, but I helped a friend who worked at a daycare, and found myself creating little songs for the children and I loved it.' He has also published a children's book. Paetkau's songwriting extends to the folk genre with original compositions that he sings and plays on an acoustic guitar. He says, 'My folk style is James Taylor/Leonard Cohen, and it's very different from what I write for children. I tell the stories behind the songs, add some humour and perform a few of my children's songs at the folk concerts as they have content that adults will also appreciate.' Paetkau encourages locals to attend. 'Come out to a performance, have some fun and let's share some music together!' He emphasizes, 'My children's show is over-the-top silly with lots of sing-a-long, movement and interaction with the crowd. I love to see them react and to make the kids (and adults) giggle.' Paetkau has conducted and performed (violin and viola) in thousands of concerts throughout the world during his classical music career and is also the founder and conductor of the two-time JUNO-nominated group of 27 Chamber Orchestra. Visit or for more information. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CTV News
28-06-2025
- CTV News
Saskatchewan historic hotel with history of murder and mystery now being restored
When you walk throughout the Town of Shaunavon, many will notice a handful of historic buildings. Many date back to the early 1900's. Of them all, there's one that stands out. Not just for its age but for its notorious history of murders and tragic string of events. The Grand Hotel, located on 37 Third Avenue East. 'Neglected building, not an abused building' The Grand Hotel once served as a stop over spot for travellers coming to the town. It has sat vacant and untouched for over 40-years. Though it has stood silent for years, one man from B.C. is aiming not only preserve a piece of the past, but to bring more purpose to his own life. Kent Karemaker, originally from Vancouver, said he had been struggling with mental health issues and depression, which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'In a capital city during the pandemic, working remotely from home, I really struggled with depression. A lot of it was finding purpose in life, like reasons to get up every morning and something to light a fire under me,' he explained. Expand Autoplay 1 of 31 The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, later experiencing a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929 and experienced a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Shaunavon, Sask. Shaunavon, Sask. is a town in southwest Saskatchewan. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Shaunavon, Sask. Shaunavon, Sask. is a town in southwest Saskatchewan. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929 and experienced a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929 and experienced a fire, dynamite explosion, and three murders throughout the years. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) Karemaker said he has always had a passion for restoring furniture. He even restored two homes in the town. 'I was kind of hooked once I did two houses in front here and then I wanted to set my sights bigger,' he said. He reached out to people in the town to see if they knew of old, abandoned or worn-out heritage homes he could tackle as his next project. 'Through a post on Facebook, a friend of mine contacted me and she said, 'Hey, what about a hotel?'' Karemaker got in touched with the hotel's previous owner, Brad Bakken, and took over ownership a little over two years ago. 'I paid $20,000 for this building, which is probably around 15,000 square feet, so it's a big one,' Karemaker said. Kent Karemaker Kent Karemaker, originally from Vancouver, B.C., is working to preserve a piece of the past at Shaunavon's Grand Hotel. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) 'Last hurrah of the 20's' The Grand Hotel was built and opened to the public on November 28, 1929, with Fred Mah and Mah Hop as the owners. The opening would have been during the end of the Roaring 20's and the beginning of the Great Depression in Canada. The total cost to build the hotel was $35,000. The Grand Hotel The Grand Hotel in Shaunavon, Sask. first opened to the public in 1929, during the end of the Roaring Twenties and the beginning of the Great Depression in Canada. (Photo source: Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre) 'It opened, I believe one month before the stock market crash in 1929, which is probably about the worst time to open a hotel because that's basically when Saskatchewan started shrinking,' Karemaker explained. When it opened, hot and cold water was available in all 38 rooms, with steam heat and all new furnishings. The Grand Hotel When the Grand Hotel first opened in 1929, all 38 rooms had hot and cold water, as well as steam heat and all new furnishings. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) Rooms would have been available for guests to rent for $1.25 a day. Bathrooms were shared among guests with only one bathtub on each floor and two toilets, one for ladies and one for men. Kathleen East, Shaunavon's local historian, explained that many bizarre events took place in the hotel over the years, including a fire in 1932, dynamite explosion in 1933, and three murders in the hotel in 1940. 'It was run as a hotel by the Chinese family until 1940 when two of them were actually murdered in the front of the hotel,' she said. Just two months prior, RCMP Sgt. Arthur Julian Barker was shot and killed in the same spot. 'That particular person got off on insanity, but they were connected within two months of each other,' East said. Barker's photo hangs in the front of the hotel where the murder happened. RCMP Sgt. Arthur Julian Barker RCMP Sgt. Arthur Julian Barker was shot and killed in front of the Grand Hotel in 1940. Two more people were murdered just two months later. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) Apartment block Eventually, the hotel was converted into an apartment block by George A. Baird of Moose Jaw. The building would later be known as the Beverly Court in 1943. A furnished single room would run for $35 a month with the resident paying the electricity. East said there would be many young women who would come to town for work and would stay at the apartment building. 'There were usually a lot of single people living there. Then the other one that was quite common was elderly people that needed a place to live,' East explained. One of the last two residents who rented a suite before the building closed down was Jamie Mercer. Mercer had come to Shaunavon for work and was 17-years-old at the time. Jamie Mercer Jamie Mercer was one of the last two residents who rented a suite before the building closed down. She was 17-years-old when she came to Shaunavon for work. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News) 'Looking back at it, I think how did I ever stay here by myself? Seventeen-year-olds are kind of fearless, I guess,' Mercer said. 'You come in, you close the door, this is your spot. It didn't bother me that it was empty.' Mercer rented a room for about four months and despite the building's history, she managed to make the small space her own. 'I believe I had a small table right there. Bed. Pretty much that was it. A bed. There was a closet,' she said, standing in her old room. The boiler system in the basement of the building had stopped working at the time and was not going to be replaced, forcing Mercer and the other tenant to vacate. The Beverly Court was listed for sale in January of 1997, with the Bakkens taking over ownership then. 'Revitalize every element' Karemaker has already begun work on the restoration process of the hotel. He's poured $60,000 into just replacing the roof alone. 'The roof has been replaced. The bulk of the electrical, including all the switches and boxes and everything. All of the main lines coming through have been done. I have replaced over 40 broken panes of glass. Resealed and repainted all of the lower-level exterior windows.' When the apartment building shut down, the building sat empty for years, giving Karemaker much of the original finishings and most of the existing furniture to work with. 'I have some of the original bed frames and that sort of thing. I have restored a lot of furniture. The basement houses a lot of the original sort of back-end things. So, all the original laundry equipment is down there. The 1920's boiler system is still intact,' he said. The Grand Hotel The original boiler system, as well as the original laundry equipment, are still in tact and housed in the hotel's basement. (Angela Stewart / CTV News) 'I have everything original to work with. The plan is to revitalize every element of the building and put it back into use.' Karemaker has been documenting his work on the hotel through social media, under the Facebook page, Grand Hotel Shaunavon. With a clear vision for the restoration, Karemaker plans to bring back the hotel's original 1929 charm for those wishing to stay the night. 'I want this place again to be a bit of a retreat,' he explained. 'Bathrooms will be shared with a couple exceptions; suites have private baths and then there will be modern bathrooms. That's the only modern concession I'll make, other than Wi-Fi.' He said there will be no TVs in any of the rooms. 'I also want it to feel authentically 1920's and I think nothing would kill that vibe more than walking into your room and seeing a flat screen. I don't want there to be any sign of electronics that didn't exist in the 1920's,' he said. Those who work at the hotel will also play the part, including Karemaker himself. 'Black and white maid outfits. I'll be in a three-piece suit with a pocket watch.' With the original boiler system out of commission, there is no running heat in the building, so work on the restoration is limited to the warmer months. Karemaker expects the renovations to be wrapped up in about four years time, with an opening date to fall on the hotel's 100th anniversary. Those who are interested in checking out Karemaker's progress so far can attend an open house on July 20 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Hamilton Spectator
03-06-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Shaunavon receives provincial recognition for Age-Friendly work
Shaunavon received Provincial Recognition for their Age-Friendly work during a ceremony held last Friday, May 30 at the Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre. Shaunavon is the ninth community in the province to receive recognition from the Government of Saskatchewan through a recommendation provided by SSM (Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism). Initiated by the World Health Organization, Age-Friendly communities exist in countries across the world. In Saskatchewan, Age-Friendly operates under the oversight of SSM. Provincial Recognition may be achieved when a community has demonstrated commitment to the Age-Friendly milestones including: forming a local committee, securing the support of municipal government, assessing the needs of the community, and developing action plans to address the identified needs. In Shaunavon, the work of an Aging in Place Task Force in 2021 led to the formation of the Age-Friendly Shaunavon Committee. A municipal resolution was passed in February 2022 stating that the Town of Shaunavon will actively participate, support, promote and work to assess and improve accessibility and inclusion for older persons, persons with disabilities, children and youth in all aspects of community life. Through a Facilitating Independence Grant administered through SSM, the committee hired a part-time Senior Resource Coordinator and opened their downtown office location in 2023. The group offers many programs and services that address the needs of older adults in the community, and includes many intergenerational opportunities. Several dignitaries were on hand for the event including: the Honourable Lori Carr, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors and Rural and Remote Health and Doug Steele, local MLA for the Cypress Hills Constituency; Cal Vance, Mayor of Shaunavon and other council and staff representatives from both the Town and local Rural Municipalities; Holly Schick, Executive Director of SSM and Linda Pratt, Chair of SSM's provincial Age-Friendly Saskatchewan Committee. Minister Carr presented plaques to the Mayor and to the Chair of the local committee, Debbie committee also includes Ruth Elliott, Kathy Towle and Terri Hetterly and former members Brenda Waldron and Joy Frenette. The late Kim Anderson was recognized throughout the ceremony for her extensive work and dedication in establishing the local committee, having served both as a volunteer and most recently as the part-time Senior Resource Coordinator. Kim's husband Robert, daughters Meghan and Kara, and several grandchildren were in attendance. Holly Schick served as emcee for the event, welcoming everyone and providing details about Age-Friendly Saskatchewan and the Recognition process. Schick then invited remarks from dignitaries and the local committee. Minister Carr brought greetings and a congratulatory message from the Government of Saskatchewan on behalf of Premier Scott Moe. She recognized the local committee's efforts and the support that SSM offers Age-Friendly communities in their work to provide programs and services for older adults and to ensure inclusion of all people in the community. Shaunavon's Mayor, Cal Vance, wished the committee continued success, saying, 'So much has been achieved in a short time frame, but we know there is still much work to do. Council commends your efforts, and we look forward to working with you to ensure that Age-Friendly Shaunavon can continue its important work.' Linda Pratt, Chair of the provincial Age-Friendly Saskatchewan Committee, highlighted the programs and services that the local committee has implemented, noting the intergenerational nature of many of them such as Reading Buddies and Tech Time. She said, 'I like Age-Friendly Shaunavon's vision: Healthy Aging in Shaunavon, and a mission statement that references all ages. This is an important part of our Age-Friendly communication. After all, 'aging' is not something only done by older adults—everyone is aging.' Chair of the local committee, Debbie Olesen, reiterated the importance of Kim Anderson's contributions in establishing Age-Friendly Shaunavon and thanked everyone for attending. Olesen extended appreciation to the Government of Saskatchewan and SSM for recognition. 'It affirms that the work we are doing matters. But most importantly, it shines a light on the heart of Shaunavon, our people. From our volunteers and community partners to local organizations and town leadership, this has truly been a team effort.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
