It has been my extreme pleasure to have been acquainted with Laura Wierzba over the past few years. I was so pleased when I heard that this vibrant lady of 90 years young was the recipient of the 2008 Morna Chorney Memorial Volunteer Award as well as being named as the honorary president of the 72nd edition of the Ponoka Stampede.
I always look forward to my visits with this very humble and congenial lady, and each time she displays a great wealth, love and knowledge of the community and districts of Ponoka and has helped me in countless ways to complete many of my stories. The coffee pot is always on, there are scrapbooks and literature on the busy kitchen table and the stories and pictures that Laura so willingly shares are priceless. Her keen and dedicated work with the local Retired Teachers’ Association has resulted in a wonderful legacy of information and permanent memory of over 100 years of our cherished traditional county schools.
Thank you and congratulations Laura for your many years of dedication and accomplishments as a teacher, mother and grandmother, friend, historian, volunteer and as a mentor and inspiration to so many. May I also join the entire town and county in wishing you all the very best in the future.
Open the gates and let’em loose!
It is with great joy that we see all the kids out of school this week for summer holidays, while the rodeo grounds are full of happy campers, as always, and hopefully the weather will cooperate for our Stampede festivities and all the rest of the way to Indian summer in September? For those who have dug their classic hats and boots out of the closet for the occasion, we hope that you will be shaking it loose with great gusto, but please make sure that if we tie it on just a little too tight that we have assigned a ‘designated dude’ to drive our us and our wagons home from the party.
Hopefully everyone will wear Red on Friday at the 10 a.m. parade to salute our Canadian armed forces of past and present, and pink on June 29 for the annual Wrangler Tough Enough to Wear Pink fundraiser for Cancer awareness. For those who venture onto the wild and woolly midway, make sure you take along some tums, and always zip up all your pockets so you that you don’t lose all your change! Here are just a few delightful cowboy quotes, sayings, lingo and wisdom for the great rootin-tootin’ week ahead.
*Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.
*Don’t ever squat with your spurs on.
*Behind every successful rancher is a wife who works in town.
*Don’t interfere with something that isn’t botherin’ you none.
*Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.
*Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
*The easiest way to eat crow is while it’s still warm; because the colder it gets the harder it is to swallow.
*Always drink upstream from the herd.
*If you’re ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a good look back every now and then to make sure that they are still with you.
*Never miss a chance to shut up.
*It’s better to be a has-been than a never-was.
*Try to live a good honourable life; then when we get older and think back, we’ll enjoy it a second time.
*Sometimes you get and sometimes you get got.
*If you get to thinking that you are a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.
*If you find yourself in a hole, probably the best thing to do is to stop digging.
*Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
*Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier that putting it back.
*The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.
*Don’t judge people by their relatives.
*Always take a good look at what you’re about to eat. It’s not so important to know what it is, but it’s sure crucial to know what it was.
*When you’re throwing your weight around always be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.
*You can’t tell how good a man or a watermelon is until they get thumped. Character always shows up best when tested.
Just for fun
*First cowboy: Why are you only wearing one spur? Second cowboy: Well, I figure when one side of the horse starts running, the other side will to!
*A long time ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it is called golf.
*If you learn to laugh at yourself you will have a lifelong source of amusement.
Have a great week, all of you.