THE RURAL HISTORY & CULTURE ASSOCIATION
OF SASKATCHEWAN

Tommy-John Ehman

A new video has been added to the Saskatchewan Voices section of the RHCA website with  Tommy-John Ehman has been added to the Music section. Hailing from Craik, Saskatchewan, Tommy-John Ehman is one of Saskatchewan’s most talented singer/songwriters. His songs speak poignantly to many aspects of the Saskatchewan experience.  This video features songs from two of his recent CDs.  Like Father Like Son, comes from the album of the same name, and addresses the difficulty of generational transition on the farm.  The other two songs are from the CD, Wheels of Life.  Stand up for Your Country is an  expression of Canadian pride while Song for the Soldier is a tribute to veterans.

The Rural History and Culture Association has just added a new section to its website called “Saskatchewan Voices: Past & Present.”  The new section features pictures, audio and video recordings that speak to the Saskatchewan experience.  This will include everything from historic recordings of speeches to performances by today’s Saskatchewan singer/songwriters and actors.  Currently the section has four sub-sections:

Rhetoric features historic oratory with short speeches from five of Saskatchewan’s early Premiers already posted.  These include Tommy Douglas, William Patterson, James Gardiner, Charles Dunning and William Martin.  The video to the right features one of these speeches. 

Music features Saskatchewan singer/songwriters performing music that reflects our Saskatchewan identity.  These include Ragtime Don and the Ghost Town Gang’s “Threshing Crew,” based on a poem from the early 1900s, and “The Song of Louis Riel,” some verses of which, according to legend, were written by Riel himself.

Images already includes nearly 100 pictures of monuments, museums, murals, churches and other historic buildings from all over Saskatchewan. 

Performances features actors portraying historic individuals and moments.  Portrayals of Nellie McClung, John Diefenbaker and James Gardiner have already been posted.

In the next month or so, look forward to additional section to be added called Conversations, which will feature interviews with historians and people who lived history.

In November, St. Andrew’s College at the University of Saskatchewan celebrated and commemorated International Person’s Day by staging Nellie McClung: A One ‘Person’ Play.  The play was very well-received, playing to packed houses for two performances at Grace United Church in Saskatoon.  The RHCA recorded the play digitally for the show’s producers and has created a video, just under 10 minutes (the Youtube limit) and posted it on the RHCA Youtube site.   The play was written by Kathy Morrell and starred Wendy Sticker as Nellie McClung.