Next week I am headed up to North Battleford, Saskatchewan, to put my grandparent’s ashes in the ground. They passed away about eight years ago, but we haven’t been up there for perhaps 24 years? My whole family is going, and we are meeting some other relatives there as well. Jack Pickel will be buried with his wife, Audrey nee Boor, as well as his sister, Tyne, in the family plot in the North Battleford graveyard.
The Pickels have a rich history in North Battleford, where my great grandfather Allan Pickel was an MP and general businessman… Allan even has a stub of a Wiki page. Not bad for a man who last represented the Liberals in the Assembly in 1929. My great grandfather was famous for keeping his hedges looking immaculate, and he trimmed them everyday. His neighbours and the public thought he was a man dedicated to an appropriate appearance. Rumor has it he trimmed his hedges daily to access the dozen or so Scotch-and-waters hidden throughout the foliage.
I have not been to North Battleford since a family reunion when I was a baby! So, of course, I thoroughly remember every moment I spent there. I am excited to visit what one of my doctors called “the Detroit of Saskatchewan”, even if it’s been billed as, well, “the Detroit of Saskatchewan”.
NorBat AHOY!
It Is What It Is 