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Posted by Norma Galambos Lifestyle May 02, 2026

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Saskatchewan Writers' Guild Mentorship Program 2026

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2023 HERITAGE SASKATCHEWAN AWARD - Living Heritage

(click photo to read) Saskatchewan History Short Story Collection

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7 Things I’ve Learned | Retirement Year 1

This article was published in Living the Second Act Magazine. Retirees often say they are busier after they retire than when they were working. They don't know how they managed to work full-time before. I am starting to understand what they mean. The retirement experience is different for everyone. There are many factors that affect what we do in retirement; health issues, age, finances, the geographical location where we live and family commitments. It has been one year since I retired from my full-time job. I want to share a few things I learned that I feel are important when preparing for retirement. #1 Make a Life for Yourself Make a life for yourself outside of your spouse and children ahead of retirement. Some people are fortunate and have defined interests they bring into retirement that they have been honing for years. Others retire and realize things about themselves they never knew. They become painters, writers, artists, builders, and entrepreneurs. We are ea...

Retirement | 10 Important Tips to Live Your Best Life

One of the cool things about blogging or journaling is that you can look back and see what you were thinking about at different stages of your life . This opportunity to reflect helps us to understand where we stepped off our path and what we have learned along the way that we can share with others. My second year of blogging and my second year of retirement are one and the same to me. I started blogging the week I retired, so the two are intertwined. Some of what I learned and a few of my favourite quotes from the past year are listed below. They may seem like a given, but just because something seems obvious does not mean it is going to be easy to do. 10 IMPORTANT TIPS TO LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE 1. CONTINUE TO LEARN Looking back at what I wrote about over the past year, I see that I did a lot of thinking about places that are close to home for me and that have personal significance. I learned the history of areas that have been right in front of me for ye...

70s Teenager | 6 Things That Will Take You Back

When I think back to being a Saskatchewan, small-town teenager in the late seventies and early eighties many thoughts and images come to mind. You may be able to relate to some of them. FASHION AND BEAUTY Hair - long, natural and parted down the middle - not sure what was with my funky, cow-licked bangs Makeup - dark blue eye shadow - heavy black mascara Jewelry - neck chokers in leather, macramé or velvet - mood necklaces and rings - ID bracelets - hoop earrings - birthstone rings, necklaces and scarf pins - ankle bracelets Purses - brown leather sling shoulder bags Clothing - bright, patterned colours - silk blouses - graphic t-shirts - velvet and velour outfits - wide legged jeans rolled up at the bottom - jeans with patterned insets in the bottom outside seam - jean jackets - two-piece bathing suits - jean cut-off shorts - school and team jackets - bunny hugs (and ...

History in the Making | COVID-19

As I write this article, we are living a part of history. Most people never have the time to be alone with their thoughts. They get up and hit the ground running until they flop back into bed at night. At the end of 2019 society was oblivious to what was about to unfold. In January, we started to hear about cases of a new illness that was spreading overseas called coronavirus disease 2019 which was abbreviated to COVID-19. In February, we saw images of thousands of people stranded on cruise ships. The sight of people with protective masks over their faces was common on television. In March, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. A pandemic is a global outbreak of a disease. The number of people with the virus has steadily risen. Thousands of people have recovered from the virus, but tragically there has been significant loss of life as well. Schools and businesses have been require...

Farmer John and Jane

Every community has interesting characters that people remember, and subsequent generations learn about them through stories passed down. Farmer John and Jane were two such individuals who left a lasting impression. When I published this story, it was interesting to see that people in their 30s knew about John and Jane from stories their grandparents had I told them. Their story is reaching into the fourth generation in some cases. John was born on December 26, 1870, in Aldershot, Kent, England, thirty miles southwest of London. Jane was born in England in 1886 and was approximately fifteen when she met John. They ran away together, immigrating to the United States, but it is believed they never married. They stayed in the United States for a while, playing their musical instruments on New York streets to make a few dollars. They made their way to Saskatchewan in a gypsy caravan in 1904. A caravan is a horse-drawn living wagon. Initially, they came to the D...

Jerry of Jerry’s Barber Shop in Leask Retires After 51 Years

Story By Norma Galambos & Diane Harris Jerry Heinbigner grew up on the family farm in the Hague district. When his father passed away, he continued to help his mother on the farm. He attended Kelsey Institute in Saskatoon in 1967, obtaining his barber/hairstylist certificate. In 1968 he operated a barbershop in Hague. That year Jerry married Shirley Friesen, whom he met when she moved to Hague from Saskatoon when she was in grade twelve. Her parents had purchased her grandparents’ farm near Hague. Soon after, the young couple had an opportunity to move to Leask. In 1969 Jerry’s sister, Gladys and brother-in-law, Ray, purchased the bowling alley and hired Jerry and Shirley as managers. Jerry set up a shop within the facility and began his fifty-one-year career as a barber in Leask. Jerry kept his prices affordable. His original price for a haircut was $1.00 for adults, $.75 for students, and $.50 for kids. The cost of a haircut in 2020 was $10.00. In the early years...

1916 - 1963 Beausite | A Saskatchewan Country School | Norma Galambos

This story is featured in the winter 20/21 issue of Saskatchewan Folklore Magazine. The District of D'Amour In the early 1900s, my maternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from Normandy, France. He worked in Montreal, Quebec, and in Henribourg, Leask and Marcelin, Saskatchewan. When he met and married my grandmother in 1914, while living in Leask, there were sixty-five residents. Initially, the government divided the province into many districts. Eventually, those districts were combined into larger municipalities. My grandparents wanted to try farming, so in the early 1920s, they moved their young family to a homestead in the D'Amour District, sixteen miles west of Leask. The district of D'Amour opened to homesteaders in 1903. The community consisted of French-speaking, Catholic families. The landscape consisted of rolling hills, lakes and forests; over time, homesteaders cleared areas for farmland. It was there, on the family farm, that Mom was born in...

Leask Bids Farewell to Cafe Owners

by Norma Galambos and Diane Harris Kai and Janet Wong, owner-operators of the Leask Cafeteria, have sold the business and are retiring to Saskatoon. Kai and Janet purchased the cafeteria in late 1990 and moved from Saskatoon to Leask with their sons. Andy was two at the time, and Jason was only two-months-old. On January 1, 1991, they opened their doors, serving the community of Leask and the surrounding area for almost thirty years. Business people and visitors often stopped at the cafe to enjoy Chinese or Canadian meals. Coffee row at Kai and Janet’s was a place for people to gather to discuss current events and share their stories. They were referred to as “The Wongs” or simply “Kai and Janet,” everyone knew them. Customers always received a smile and a warm greeting. They also supported community events throughout the years. Kai and Janet prepared Sunday smorgs and catered parties. They worked long hours, often seven days a week, while raising their boys. Th...

2020 - What The Hell Was That?

I have to concede the pandemic took centre stage and seeped into every aspect of our lives, but other events also got our attention in 2020, such as: the acquittal of Donald Trump in an impeachment trial the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and other passengers in a helicopter crash massive fires in Australia and California Harry and Meghan stepping down from their royal duties and briefly moving to Canada before settling in the USA Saskatchewan’s provincial election the chaos and fallout of the US election natural disasters: floods, landslides, earthquakes, tropical storms, hailstorms, blizzards, volcanic eruptions and tornadoes left a trail of destruction around the globe plane crashes murder hornets protests against racism, police and pipelines mass shootings the continuing saga of the late Jeffrey Epstein Canada winning gold at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships the drop in global carbon emissions th...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | Small Town Connections By Norma Galambos

Your hometown is a big part of what makes you the person you are. It is where your story begins. In the early years of the 20th-century, rural Saskatchewan folk mainly socialized within their country districts. With the advent of better roads and vehicles, gatherings in towns became popular. People from the districts had the opportunity to meet, and then they stuck within their hometown community. Going to the lake was something we did a lot of as teenagers. Marcelin teens went to Martins Lake, Blaine Lake to Martins or Redberry Lake, Hafford to Redberry and the Leask ones hung out at Emerald Lake. Overtime everybody mingled and went to all the lakes if they wanted. That newfound freedom progressed to travelling to functions in other towns and then to the city's bright lights. Now online dating is another way for people to meet. In high school, girls and guys dated people from surrounding towns, and many weddings soon followed. Couples tended to marry young, as liv...

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