Jim Higginson is a former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool grain buyer who lives in Vernon, B.C. He sent the poem below, which gave us a few smiles. Maybe it will do the same for you.
Before you get to it, though, the Producer once again has the opportunity to brag about its talented staff journalists. Ed White, our Winnipeg bureau
markets reporter, has won two awards from the North American Agricultural Journalists Association.
White won second in columns and analysis and third in series. In addition, he was awarded two honourable mentions in other writing contest categories. Saskatoon reporter Adrian Ewins also won honourable mention in the news category. The award-winning tradition of the Producer continues.
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And now, on to Higginson’s poem, entitled Ode to an Elevator.
The prairie sentinels o’er the West they once loomed,
And now, alas, they are all but doomed.
In opening the West they played a great part;
Almost as much as the Red River cart.
The snow covered outhouse stood nearby.
Constipation was almost welcomed thereby.
The one-roomed schoolhouse has disappeared from sight.
Kids now ride school buses into the night.
I’m sure better education has been a boon,
But do you still have time to snare a gopher at noon?
In the early 1900s settlers arrived by the thousand,
Mostly from Europe and farming skills abounded.
They broke up the soil and prepared it for seeding, but soon found out better types they’d be needing.
A man named Saunders soon answered the call,
And his Marquis wheat was a Godsend to all.
They of course needed agents to man the machines.
The term “grain buyer” arrived on the scene.
They were very well versed in dockage and shrinkage,
And some would say they were masters at “tookage.”
Some people might doubt me, but this much I know;
The coldest place on earth is a driveway at 30 below.
The Saskatchewan government to ensure remembrance,
Is designating nine sites for some form of reverence.
I do not know what form this will take,
But I’m glad there is something for posterity’s sake.
They were for many years a part of the prairie past
And will surely be missed when they are gone at last.
