Our Rally started Monday, June 19, with members starting to arrive at 2:00 pm and proceeding to our registration van. They were given a name badge if they did not have one, a Leisure note pad and a “Find The LTV Guest” bingo card, which required them to seek out other people with specific talents, traits, or experiences. Later in the Rally, prizes were awarded based on their success.
At about 5:00 pm, we had 17 vans on site when another LTV pulled into our camping area. They knew nothing about LTV Travelers Clubs or MyLTV and were shocked to be surrounded by many other LTVs. We welcomed them, explained the Travelers Clubs and MyLTV, and encouraged them to become involved using the Leisure Vans website.
At 6:30 pm, we held a potluck supper at the gazebo in our camping area, and right after supper, Norm Lavoy filled everyone in on the future direction of our Western Sunsetters Travelers Club.
Ken Hokazono surprised Norm & Hazel Lavoy with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a lovely plaque recognizing the 18 years they have spent heading up our Western Sunsetters Travelers Club. Our evening ended with a bonfire at our central fire pit.
Now there was an incident at our bonfire. The campground staff had just constructed the fire pit on a concrete slab. After the fire had been going on for a while, there was a large explosion, and all the firewood was blown out of the fire pit, along with many fragments of concrete. It had rained the day before, and water had penetrated the concrete, and when it was heated up, the moisture expanded enough to blow up. Luckily no one was hurt, but we were all very shocked.
On Tuesday, June 20, in the early afternoon, 27 of us loaded up in our vans and traveled 25 km to the Batoche National Historic Site.
Our guide met us, and we enjoyed a two-hour pre-arranged tour of this famous Metis site that played a major role in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 and the lives of Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont. We all arrived back at our campground at about 5:00 pm and enjoyed a pizza supper provided for us through the generosity of Triple E.
After supper, we awarded the prizes based on the success of completing the bingo cards provided the night before. Again we ended the evening with a bonfire, but this time without any explosions.
Wednesday, June 21, was a cool, windy morning, but 11 hearty soles headed to the Valley Regional Park Golf Club within walking distance of our campsite. It is a lovely 18-hole course in very good condition, which made up for the wind.
Other Rally participants headed north to the Duck Lake Interpretive Centre to visit its museum and art gallery. It was National Indigenous Day, so the center was busy serving drinks and bannock. Still, others went bike riding or visited the community of Rosthern, which was just a few kilometers away. At 6:00 pm we had an impromptu gathering at the golf course clubhouse, where we enjoyed beverages, snacks, and some excellent fellowship. Pretty soon, it was 8:00 pm, and the golfers from the Men’s League started arriving after completing their golf round, so we went back to our campground so they could utilize the clubhouse. Again we had a bonfire, and because it was the longest day of the year, we still had some daylight at 10:30 pm.
Thursday, June 22, was the departure day. We made our farewells and headed on to other adventures, happy that we had met with some old friends and made some new LTV friends.
Written by: Norm Lavoy
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