The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Between rusting, bending and breaking, time has taken its toll on the Neighbours of the North Park. Now the Chamber of Commerce, which had the display of metal flowers built nearly seven years ago, is looking to repair the border-straddling tourist attraction. At last week's executive meeting, director Randy Daneliuk suggested the chamber get a quote to have the flowers and base mended and repainted. He said two metal leaves were found on the ground near one of the 13 flowers, having either fallen or been ripped off by vandals. The leaves are now stored at the chamber office. Manager Tersia de Jager agreed to obtain a cost estimate, at which time members will consider the merits and affordability of the project. Neighbours of the North Park opened in the summer of 2005 atop the hill at the south end of Main Street, where the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border sign once stood. It includes metal sculptures depicting the official flower of each Canadian province and territory along with the flags of Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The $25,000 project marked the end of the chamber's three-year quest to develop a park. The idea first surfaced in 2002 with talk of establishing a park complete with the flags of all provinces and territories at the south end of Hapnot Lake. Mining equipment and a seating area were also bandied about. Merging The concept evolved over the ensuing months, and eventually came talk of merging the project with the Flinty Submarine Park. That didn't work out, either, and soon the flags were replaced with flower sculptures and the new border location was selected. The flowers are the work of local resident John Evans, a retired diamond driller who spent hours welding together the sculptures. 'It's been challenging, but I enjoyed it. I get the pride of making them,' Evans told The Reminder around the time the park opened. Evans figured he spent four or five days _ sometimes more _ to painstakingly reproduce each flower to a height of some 10 feet. But for the man who is also behind the metal Town of Creighton sign and the Flinty Submarine, metal fabricating is clearly a passion. 'It's just the enjoyment you get of the reaction from people,' Evans said back in 2005. 'People just say it looks really good, and, well, the picture-takers, they're the proof of the pudding. They're there are all hours of the day and night taking pictures. I think it's going over okay.'
