This is the Station Art Centre in Rosthern Saskatchewan. It houses a restaurant, art gallery, gift shop and theatre. Staffed by community members its quite a ‘feather in the cap’ of town with a population of only 1,300 people. On our recent visit to Saskatoon our son Joel and his wife Karen took us there for dinner and to see the play/musical Jasper Station by Norm Foster. Joel is a high school teacher at Rosthern Junior College and so once a week or so he goes over to the Station Art Centre for lunch. His first year teaching at the college he sang in the community choir the Station Art Centre sponsors. The theatre at the Station Art Centre has a year round schedule of concerts and dramas and this summer the two musicals in the line-up are Jasper Station and Heroes.
The Station Art Centre is housed in an abandoned Canadian National Railway train station and they’ve left an old caboose on the track at the back of the station for photo taking. It gives the station an authentic feel. Jasper Station is just the perfect musical to present in a train station theatre because the story takes place in a railway station. Five people meet there one night and get to know each other as they wait for a train that is late. Each person is at a crossroads in life and the decision to take the train marks a new beginning for them. Quite an appropriate play to attend for two people who are just beginning a new stage in life- as Dave and I are. Each person in the play was wondering What’s Next? in my life. There was a minor league hockey player on his way to play for a Canadian National Hockey team, a writer trying to break her first big story, a middle-aged woman leaving her husband, a young girl who had just found out she was pregnant and an absolutely hilariously funny accountant who wanted to become a country western song writer. The music was catchy and lines from the songs were stuck in my head for several days after we saw Jasper Station. The main character, the station master, who played many different roles in the musical- filling in as important people in each character’s life- was a man who regretted not making an important decision in his own life- not ‘seizing the day’ and so he is hoping the people waiting in his station will not make the same mistakes he did. 
Before the play we enjoyed a great dinner in the Station Art Centre diningroom- braised barbequed beef with mustard glaze, the Station’s special whole grain bread and a leafy salad and fruit crisp all made with locally grown organic fruits and vegetables. Our waiter was one of Joel’s former students. Our children thought we would enjoy the Station Art Centre experience- a first for us- and they were right!
Joel introduced his Dad and me to another frisbee sport he enjoys- Disc Golf. His good friend Andrew, who also happens to be his second cousin on the Driedger side, took us to the Saskatoon Disc Golf Course. We are standing beside the ‘hole’ or basket at the 18th hole. You need to get the disc inside to finish the ‘hole.’ There is a tee box for every hole. Here is Dave teeing off. He looks pretty professional! 
You get a healthy workout walking from hole to hole. One hole was at the top of a very high hill. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice leisurely time disc golfing and visiting. 
Pros like Andrew and Joel carry a bag with a whole selection of discs for various distances and wind conditions. They told me as a beginner I could just use the same disc for the whole round so I did. Both Joel and Andrew are teachers and have taught their students how to play disc golf and have set up disc golf courses on their school grounds. We played the course at 
Diefenbaker Park is also where we hosted a barbeque and picnic for all the guests who had come to Saskatoon from many different places to celebrate Joel and Karen’s wedding five years ago. 
Disc golfing at Diefenbaker Park brought back lovely memories of Joel and Karen’s wedding the September long weekend in 2006 and disc golfing was a new experience for both Dave and me-something we’d never tried before. A great start to a year of trying new things. What’s next? 
