Realizing rural greatness
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- Published on Saturday, June 27, 2015
By Vern May
Minnedosa & Area Community Development Corporation
It felt like it was just beyond my reach. Arm outstretched, straining with all my might, I fumbled to grasp it, nudging it with a fingertip but unable to snatch it and declare a decisive and triumphant victory. No, if I was going to get this I needed a better vantage point and that meant a big move. I was convinced that success required one to be known, and to be known you had to be seen. To be seen you had to go where the action was because nobody would seek you out in a small town, but it was more than that. Not only was it not feasible to be successful in a small town, one’s credibility required that their name was attached to a map dot with a reputation for progress and growth. For most of my 20-year wrestling career, I identified my hometown as Brandon. I felt that no matter where I appeared in Canada, it was a city most could find on a map, and that attachment to a recognized regional urban hub somehow created legitimacy in my field, but still unique. I wasn’t just a naïve farm boy from the sticks.But the longer I worked and lived in that environment of professional sport, I grew to see the flaw in my logic. Everybody was creating an aura based on something they were not. Wrestlers from rural Alberta attached themselves to Calgary, Winnipeggers were billed from Toronto, born and bred Newfoundlanders cast themselves from any city they could that created an image that they were from “away.”
It didn’t come until much later that I realized that success in one’s field, especially as the only person in the history of my hometown to pursue the career path that I had, was actually more significant. To be the only professional wrestler ever produced in Souris is actually a pretty big deal. That in itself, excluding any of the other unique honors and achievements I’d achieved, was suddenly a value-added detail to my professional portfolio.
Today, with the ever-evolving potential of technology, the improvement of regional and national transportation and the connectivity of emerging communication and media, location is less a factor than it has ever been when cementing one’s reputation as an industry leader. It’s now more possible than ever to reach for the stars with one’s feet planted firmly in the dirt where they feel most at home.
From southwestern Manitoba, we can reach the world. What’s greater is that we can share our spotlight with the community and individuals that have truly made us. Who we are and where we’re from is more significant than any other scenario we can dream up. One needs only take a look at the Tourism Westman facebook page to see the growing gallery entitled Their Roots Are in Westman to learn about the men and women this area has produced that have ascended to greatness in their field, but still acknowledge the place where their journey began.
Let’s continue the conversation and explore the possibilities that exist; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone at 204-867-3885. The best things around that I have ever seen, came from small towns and big dreams.
