Currently, 56 per cent of the 2024 crop is in the ground. This is up from 32 per cent seeded last week, but behind the five-year average of 76 per cent and the 10-year average of 74 per cent.

Despite many farmers still on the field, our cookouts for the seeding season have wrapped up, as I spent the last month reminiscing of days gone by, as a farm boy myself, touring the province and sharing the experiences of our loyal listeners and their farm tales. Good times.

Some of my greatest memories from my childhood were of those when we gathered around the implements as a cohesive family and shared our meal times with each other. We would anticipate the dinner bell and search out a grassy clearing so we could stretch our legs and look forward to a hearty meal and cold drink. Some of our best conversations were staged during the seeding and harvest seasons.

Yesterday we wrapped up our cookout campaign with Jim Andrew, friends and family from Craven, Lumsden and the Deer Valley area. Despite the misty conditions it turned out to be an exceptional day. I started my day off in Deer Valley.

Now time to check out Lumsden. Like so many other communities there is a lot to offer there in Lumsden.

Checked out the Northside of Lumsden and discovered some unique artwork and proceeded to chat with Aj Thakker who commissioned the Mexican artist Ferek Aggro to paint his trailor. I also went to Lincoln Gardens to check out the artwork there. It’s described as Mexican Psychedelic. Love it.

Love this Art Studio soon to be up and running with John Nugent works of art and more.

John Nugent moved to Lumsden, Saskatchewan in 1948 and began attending Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops in the 1950s and 60s, studying with Jack Shadbolt, Joseph Plaskett, Will Barnet, and Clement Greenberg.

Nugent established a studio and a bronze casting foundry in Lumsden and received numerous commissions in the decades following. Working in bronze and steel, Nugent found that some of his works sparked controversy. In particular, his proposal for a commissioned Louis Riel monument in Regina (1968) although widely praised was deemed too abstract by Premier Ross Thatcher, and Nugent’s second proposal for a nude figure was also rejected until Nugent added clothing. The finished sculpture was later removed, in 1991, at the request of the Metis community, which had not been adequately consulted about the piece. Nugent has received numerous commissions from governments, religious organizations, and universities, and his works are installed at the Banff Centre, the National Capital Commission (Ottawa), and the Grain Commission Building (Winnipeg), among other locations. Nugent’s sculptures have also appeared in solo and group exhibitions in Saskatchewan and elsewhere in Canada. In 1983, Regina’s MacKenzie Art Gallery organized a major touring retrospective.

Of Nugent’s work, Timothy Long writes, “The awkward grace of Nugent’s steel sculpture, for which he is best known, results from a constructivist collage of prefabricated elements. While often incorporating identifiable parts, such as wheels, his sculpture eludes easy metaphorical readings, instead creating meaning through unexpected combinations of forms and materials.”

Nugent taught at the University of Regina beginning in 1969. In the 1990s, Nugent turned from sculpture to photography.

Nugent’s sculpture and photographic works are part of many collections including the Saskatchewan Arts Board, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Regina), Winnipeg Art Gallery, University of Regina, and the Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa).

John Nugent died March 12th 2014, in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, at the age of 93.

Back to Deer Valley for our cookout with the Jim Andrew crew.

Kelten Chyz putting on another great performance as everybody was singing his praises!

Here’s my visit with Jim Andrews. Thanks for the hospitality.

Till Harvest my friends.