I hope you discover places in the city that this old guy hasn’t.

I am ashamed to admit that I had never explored the Western Development Museum in its entirety. During the Festival of Trees, one of the city’s must-attend events, my wife, my sister-in-law and I walked down Mainstreet. When we got to the end, I didn’t realize how many cool things there were when we turned to the right.

It was like a museum within the museum. The photos on this page exhibit a couple of the gems that I only recently discovered.

The museum is one of the city’s unique places to visit. Although there are satellite musuems in the province, this is the big one. I once had a tour of the building that houses the treasures that aren’t on display. It was absolutely stunning to see vintage vehicles stacked three-high on shelves.

Donations come pouring through the door, we were told. Once a week, a committee sits down to decide which items can be accepted and which ones have to be declined. I recall someone saying they have enough old typewriters and old sewing machines.

I felt old when I saw items that were part of my youth. For example, there were curling rocks and brooms like the ones I used when I started playing the game 50-some years ago. There was a motor home like the one my father had in the 1970s. There were cars like ones I had driven. Trust me, these weren’t exotic vehicles, but I guess they are part of our history.

Another of our city’s gems is Wanuskewin Park. Its cool factor went up with the addition of a herd of bison late last year. There is no place like Wanuskewin in the world. How many times can you say that about anything? Try to time a visit around the park’s annual powwow. It’s amazing.

A group of us were chatting recently about the number of festivals and annual events in the city. They are listed on these pages, with photos accompanying many.

Let’s take July and August, for example. There is the SaskTel Jazz festival, Taste of Saskatchewan, Food Truck Wars, the Pride Festival, Pets in the Park, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, Pionera, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Fringe, Folkfest, Ribfest, the Saskatoon Exhibition, the Show and Shine of vintage cars, Rock on the River and Beer Wars. I apologize if I missed an event, and for the length of that sentence.

The reason we have so much to do is because of Saskatoon’s outstanding force of volunteers. These people just go and go. More are always welcome and appreciated. Find something that appeals to you, and join in. And the weather in July and August helps too.

I have lived here my whole life. I never had the adventurous spirit to move to another city, even when job opportunities came along. I admire those of you who have taken a leap of faith and joined us in our beautiful city.

I am sure the path to Saskatoon for some of you was rocky. That is probably putting it mildly.

I met a family a couple of years ago that spent five years trying to escape the war in Vietnam before arriving in Saskatoon. This family tried to escape on a boat, were captured at sea and sent to a prison island. The conditions were horrific.

The women and children were sent back to the mainland at one point. One of the women, who was a child at the time, said they went from being a well-to-do family to begging. She said one night while they were sleeping under an awning, they were robbed. To her, that meant there were people worse off than her family.

Eventually, 19 members of the family arrived in Saskatoon. My wife and I attended the 70th anniversary of the man and woman who guided their family to safety.

I met a teenager who moved to Saskatchewan from the Philippines three years ago. He said he loves being in Canada and hopes to become a world-renowned chef. He has embraced Saskatchewan to the point that he was on his school’s curling team.

Welcome to Saskatoon.

We look forward to meeting you.

-Cam Hutchinson