Kish Cousins

Yesterday Senor Ping and I went to visit my cousin Andy and his wife Donna at their home in Maricopa. Andy's mom, (Aunt Vi) and his sisters Diane and Linda and Linda's 3 kids were visiting from Saskatchewan. Launa, another sister, was also planning to be there but her husband Bob has been fighting the flu and decided it would be best to stay away. And Cindy and Brian (another cousin) also joined the mini Kish reunion. Our three families spent many hours together when we were growing up. First, we all lived in or near Yorkton as did our grandparents. We celebrated all the holidays together as our mothers took turns hosting the family gatherings. We attended high school together and some of us lived together off and on during our university days. As cousins started getting married we gathered for what became known as "cousins parties" after the weddings. And together with the rest of our cousins we continue to gather to honor our parents and grandparents.

As we were sitting by the pool, enjoying the sunshine (as Diane said, "We came from the cold Canadian winter to enjoy the sun and so let's sit in the sun!"), and catching up on family news, I had a flashback to another such gathering. It was one of those many gatherings we had at Aunt Vi and Uncle Lucas's farm. It could have been a wedding, anniversary, bridal shower or just a sunny Sunday afternoon. And all of us girls were soaking up the sunshine in our terry-cloth rompers.





I just had to capture the moment with another photo.



The afternoon certainly brought back memories of those gatherings years ago. We laughed and shared stories, and reminisced about the curling bonspiels in Willowbrook. Donna served a fabulous dinner that was topped off with fresh lemon pie that Cindy made with lemons from the tree in her yard. What a great way to spend an afternoon!!

Oasis Players has Trouble With Cats

This year's Oasis Players Dinner Theatre was a huge success. We had sell-out crowds all three nights and everyone raved about the meal, the music and the play called the Trouble With Cats. The catering committee outdid themselves with a delicious roast beef dinner. Julie and Richard Nunweiler and Doug Bailey brought the audience to their feet with six musical numbers. The set was the most elaborate we have ever used and hats off to Gary S. for all his work with set construction. The cast was a combination of well experienced actors as well as a few newcomers to our club. Congratulations to all of the cast and crew for a fabulous performance!!

The Housesitters: Phillip and Ivy meet River and Sunshine
(Brett Becker, Deanna Callsen, Steven Kanasevich, Kim Somerville)


The Annoying Neighbors: Joy and Nelson
(Geri Golightly, Bryan Somerville)


The Home Owners and the Local Fishermen: Frank and Joanna, Bill and Ben
(Deanna Callsen, Nathan Longmuir, Saraha Becker, Dave Becker, Dion Swan)


Just One Chocolate: River and Onie
(Steven Kanasevich, Karen Luptak)


The carpenter arrives: Phillip, Ivy and Mitzy
(Brett Becker, Deanna Callsen, Debbie Kroeker)


The women are plotting: Joy, Ivy, Sister No
(Geri Golightly, Deanna Callsen, Mary Skjei)


Did you know? Nelson, River, Phillip
(Bryan Somerville, Steven Kanasevich, Brett Becker)


We sleep natural: Sunshine, River
(Kim Somerville, Steven Kanasevich)


My little pussycat: Amos, Mitzy
(Johnny Golightly, Debbie Kroeker)


PJ and Onie
(Mathew Stimson, Karen Luptak)

Thanks For the Memories

We are celebrating ten years of Community Theatre in Eatonia this weekend. Oasis Players started out as a small group of dedicated people who decided to put on an adult Dinner Theatre to raise funds for community projects. A play was chosen and then nine actors were recruited, some of them with no experience on stage. We borrowed lighting and sound equipment, set pieces, props and costumes. We had 450 people over two nights come out to watch our production at the new Eatonia Community Hall. In the spring Oasis Players hosted the “Marty Party”, a huge fundraiser for the organization. Thanks to the hard work of a small group of people and an enthusiastic community we were able to purchase stage lighting and sound equipment for the hall. After another successful production the following year, we decided that we needed to expand the dinner theatre to three nights. That means that approximately 6000 people have been entertained by Oasis Players productions in the past nine years. Each year the profits from the dinner theatre are donated to community organizations.

Here are just a few of my favorite candid shots from the past nine years!!