R&R Hot Stove - Oil Country in Whitecourt

Good Morning Everyone.  Excitement is in the air as representatives of the Edmonton Oiler hockey team will be guests in our home community of Whitecourt this week to begin the celebration and appreciation of Oiler fans throughout Northern Alberta. And…we know there are many Oiler fans in Whitecourt…excluding our dear Stacy Crossland whose heart is with the Washington Capitals!  Sorry Stacy but It will be a sea of orange and blue jerseys in Whitecourt this week and will see our Junior A Wolverines playing their hearts out in front of our Oiler guests on Wednesday evening where hopefully every seat will be filled in the Scott Safety Centre Arena.  Sounds like a fun day and evening and of course we extend a warm Whitecourt welcome to our guests and honor them for giving us the privilege of their presence in our Whitecourt community. 

My husband David and I are old timers here having moved to Whitecourt to pursue teaching positions at St. Joseph’s School in 1976 with the plan of locking down a quarter section of land where we hoped to establish an Athletic School before such entities became the norm in our school systems.  We were both U of A Physical Education graduates and that first CHRISTMAS in Whitecourt I bought my husband a SEAL to ‘seal’ our dream of what was going to be THE THOMAS LONGBOAT ACADEMY. Thomas Longboard being Canada’s first indigenous Olympian. We had had the privilege of teaching in communities where the majority of our students were indigenous and as enthusiastic young “jocks” we would spend hours discussing our vision of what such a school would look like as our target was going to be Indigenous kids who needed a hand up to pursue the athleticism, we had had the privilege of being a part of in our first years of teaching. STILL HAVE THE SEAL!  We began our own family and of course our four kids  became our first priority as we did find that quarter section and started life out in the wilds of Alberta.  However, In the early ‘80s I became involved in the Alberta Sport Council which made significant changes in the Alberta sports scene in a lead up to the Calgary Olympics in 1988.  The idea of Sports Academies began to BLOSSOM and be a part of conversations and today such opportunities exist for many of our young athletes in many Alberta centres.


As circumstance and time would have it our goals changed as well and our initial vision morphed into a company called Accendo Incedo Magnus (AIM) International Inc., a human development company (now known AIM Counselling and run under the auspices of our daughter Kristin LeCoure,  Registered Psychologist).  Our initial vision not only included a run at making a difference in the public school system but in teaching adult learners and eventually providing counselling services to our citizens under the AIM umbrella. We both returned to graduate school to upgrade our credentials. We contracted with Alberta Career Development to operate Computer Managed Learning Centres on Northern Alberta Metis Settlements.  We taught the innovative program in Whitecourt bringing adult students up to speed in their academics and life management skills.  Our WCT student population was over 75% indigenous. The Whitecourt Learning Centre (WLC) my husband jokingly entitled it The Whitecourt ‘Laughing and Crying;’ Centre as we did a lot of both inside those walls as we got to know a number of our incredible Whitecourt Indigenous population. Our AIM vision statement: “To kindle the flame of the human spirit to AIM with power and enthusiasm toward the stars of one’s own universe wherever those stars might be was our North Star. Gayle Mackenzie a strong Metis elder and part of our Board of Directors teased us that AIM actually stood for the American Indian Movement which was a radical organization in the USA at that time.

The ‘Blue and Orange’ Oiler delegation roaming the street of our wonderful community this week comes on the heels of an incredible celebration on September 30/22 with a Truth and Reconciliation event organized and attended by many of our Indigenous population – some who had been our students as well as we, the settlers who joined our sisters and brothers.   ORANGE SHIRTS RULED IN ROTARY PARK! The pride I felt in being a part of such a beautifully crafted celebration in honor of the many indigenous children whose lives were lost or altered as evidenced by those survivors who spoke who had endured the terror of their residential school years was truly very touching.  Don Burnstick, a talented Indigenous comedian from Alexander Nation was somehow able to bring laughter into the healing circle and his statement that healing must always contain laughter was so pivotal in my experience sitting on the grass in our stellar Rotary Park.  The tradition of first serving the feast to the elders was honored and the stew and bannock just kept coming and coming! Then at the mic I saw one of our WLC graduates from years hence take the Mic and share a beautiful poem.  My heart swelled in hopes that maybe just maybe we had made a small different in her life for our learning Centres had been filled with laughter and…love and hope as was the celebration at Rotary Park - a true testament of the possibility of Truth and Reconciliation.

That evening, at the R & R Empowering Society Ladies Night so beautifully crafted by Tracy Stark and her team, I again witnessed the power of Reconciliation in the eyes of those present as Jody Tomke, my dear indigenous friend in the majesty of her traditional dress, honored the land and blessed the Ladies Night Event with such beauty and class. Tracy Stark in turn recognized the Whitecourt Indigenous Friends Society which Jody represented as the first recipient of a donation from the newly constructed R & R Empowering Society of Alberta to be used for the betterment of the lives of Indigenous children. 

The lighting of the traditional sweet grass followed and the smoke directed in the smudging of our hostess Tracy Stark who had never had the privilege of such a ceremony- was beyond significant and extremely touching.  I breathed deep, moved by the precious interaction between two powerful women and overcome by the thunderous applause in a room filled with many strong powerful women.  We…. are the answer and may our voices ring loudly as we continue on our quest as women to change the culture of the abuse and violence against women and children in all societies.  

And today……Here’s to THE ORANGE….and THE BLUE!  GO OILERS.   May you too join us in changing the culture of violence in our society!


LOVE Sandra