Glenda Goertzen
EMMA LAKE, SK – Harmony at the Heron returned to Great Blue Heron Provincial Park on August 18, treating campers and visitors from outside the park to a full day of music-themed entertainment.
Harmony at the Heron first launched as an annual special event several years ago with a concert in the Murray Point Campground at Emma Lake. In subsequent years, the park hosted an outdoor cinema using an inflatable screen. This year, organizers switched back to the concert format.
While the movies and concerts have been popular with participants, Saturday’s visitors showed significant interest in the other programs, all of which were free with a park entry permit.
“I think it’s the fact that it appeals to a variety of ages, and there’s a little bit of something for anyone that is staying in the park or in the greater community,” said Great Blue Heron Provincial Park manager Sonnet McGuire, commenting on the excellent turnout for the programming held throughout the day.
The day opened with an “Inner Harmony” yoga session at the main beach of the campground, catered by Bun’s Bagels from Emma Lake.
After lunch, park staff led a Kalimba Craft Time session. Staff estimated over 120 people gathered to create necklaces using the kalimba, a small, wooden plucking instrument that originated in Zimbabwe and its neighbouring countries.
A music lesson followed the craft session. After learning how to pluck out a popular folk song on their new instruments (the necklaces themselves contained the notes) participants set off on a scavenger hunt for additional songs hidden around the beach and campground.
Later in the afternoon, dance instructors Randy and Shelley Krammer led an outdoor country two-step lesson.
Randy Krammer has been teaching dance in Prince Albert for 35 years. He got his start with the University of Saskatchewan Ballroom Dance Club, moving quickly from beginner to instructor to President of the Dance Club.
“I love dancing,” he said while waiting for students to arrive at the campground’s Rock House. “I’m very passionate about it. You know what drives me really is the satisfaction first of sharing that passion with others and then seeing them pick it up. It gives me a real sense of accomplishment.”
He and Shelley Krammer, his wife and assistant dance instructor, explained that they chose the two-step as the focus of the class because they felt it was a dance perfectly suited for Saskatchewan.
“We live in a country music environment here, and if there’s one dance that you’re going to be able to use in Saskatchewan, be it at weddings or Christmas parties or other parties, other celebrations, it’s going to be country two-step,” Randy Krammer said.
Roughly 30 people attended the class. At 7 p.m., some of the dancers carried their newly acquired skills to the outdoor concert at the campground’s Heron Hideaway. As the performers launched into an evening of classic rock and country music, the Krammers’ students two-stepped across the grass.
Taya Lebel of Saskatoon headlined the concert. Lebel started performing at the age of eight, but her love of country music developed more recently. This was her first show with her band in nearly a year. She said she was looking forward to being back together with them, playing a gig in a place she considered home. According to her Facebook page, she was also looking forward to reuniting with her former employer Fern’s Foods, the concert’s concession provider.
“I’m hoping to see lots of familiar faces,” she said as she and the band warmed up before the show. “My parents live in Emma Lake year-round. So I have, I think, a lot of family and friends coming, so I’m excited to see that and I’m excited to meet new people as well.”
Brett Down, who opened for Taya with an acoustic guitar set, also expressed his enthusiasm for the opportunity to perform in the park.
“I’m from Regina, right, so we would always go to Buffalo Pound, and we were out there all summer, and I’d just ride bikes and just be a kid in the campgrounds, and I would always love when there was music in the campgrounds. I’d always remember coming out and listening to whoever was playing and stuff like that and now, I’m just…It’s kind of exciting to be the one playing here now.”
Harmony at the Heron, McGuire explained, was a team effort between the Visitor Experiences Branch of Saskatchewan Parks and the Great Blue Heron Provincial Park staff.
“We’re really happy to offer these kinds of activities and special events throughout the year and over the years, and we just hope (people) continue to come back and enjoy camping and take in some of these activities and really just enjoy the park.”
Park programming will continue throughout August, with Murray Point Campground open for camping until the September long weekend and Anderson Point Campground at Anglin Lake open until the end of September. A calendar of events and camping reservations are available on https://www.tourismsaskatchewan.com/places-to-go/provincial-parks.
