Yorkton Stories
Dick DeRyk
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About This Podcast
A podcast hosted by Dick DeRyk about people and events, past and present, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan Canada. It is presented by Harvest Meats and Grain Millers Canada, and supported by Miccar Group of Companies, BakerTilly and Drs. Popick and Caines and associates, optometrists, all in Yorkton.
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Recent Episodes
S4E3 Snowarama started as a bumpy ride in a highway ditch
A local fundraiser that started in a snowy highway ditch has grown into an event that refuses to slow down, and now includes wheeled riders in the desert. We follow the history of Yorkton’s Snowarama…
S4E2 Duval Lang: High school football to professional live theatre
Duval Lang, known to many as Duve, has been immersed in Calgary live theatre for 46 years now. He ended up there for university, and has called it home ever since, other than when he travelled the…
S4E1 Ruth Shaw: her story and the stories she wrote
To the many newer residents of Yorkton, the name Ruth Shaw likely isn’t recognizable. But to those who lived here in the latter half of the previous century, the name, and the woman who bore that…
S3E11 Five Yorkton teens: the road from here to elected office
They were typical teenage boys when they lived in Yorkton in the 1970s, 80s, and into the early 90s. They came from different backgrounds, attended school here, took part in a variety of activities,…
S3E10 About Dan the Storyman, Poetree and Friends, and ultra running
Dan Calef was, and sometimes still is, Dan the Storyman, known locally as the story-telling head of the Yorkton public library from 1983 to 1999. He looked after story time for kids, and told stories…
S3E9 Food security and 15 tons of potatoes
In the summer and fall of 2025, several factors came together, one of them out of the blue, to tackle and do more about hunger and food insecurity in Yorkton.The first was in early summer when the…
S3E8 Yorkton Psychiatric Centre was a first (and cutting edge) in 1964
Those working in the field of psychiatry and mental health treatment across Canada and the United States came to Yorkton in 1964 and 1965 in large numbers to see for themselves how a new way of…
S3E7 Kristopher Grunert: the magic of photography
Kristopher Grunert was born and raised on the family farm on Orkney Road, a short drive northwest of Yorkton. His parents, sister and he lived on land first established as the Grunert homestead in…
S3E6 Sigga Houston: the purposeful life of a pioneer doctor
Dr. Sigridur (Sigga) Christianson Houston and her husband Dr. Clarence Joseph (CJ) Houston operated a medical practice in Yorkton for nearly 50 years, after a year in Watfort City, North Dakota. Both…
S3E5 Metro Prystai: his life in his words
The hockey career of Yorkton’s Metro Prystai has been well documented. He had a storied career with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings over a span of 12 years in the 1940s and 50s, scoring…
S3E4 Yorkton, the volleyball factory of the 1980s
When it comes to Yorkton sports dynasties, the dominance of Yorkton volleyball teams and players in the 1980s stands out. Senior hockey had a good run with the Terriers winning three league titles…
S3E3 Alexa tells us about forensic pathology
We haven't asked Siri, the Apple virtual assistant, about forensic pathology. But we did ask Alexa -- no, not Siri's counterpart at Google, but Alexa Haider, who graduates this spring after four…
S3E2 The changing face, and faces, of Yorkton
Almost sixty years ago, when I first came to Yorkton, it was a very "white" community where the names were predominantly Ukrainian, German or British, reflecting the founding and early settlement of…
S3E1 Not your conventional clergyman
Shawn Sanford Beck -- born, raised and educated in Yorkton and area -- is now a pastor with the United Church in Saskatoon with a special mission. He was an Anglican priest, a position he left due to…
S2E14 Hamton SK: only memories and ashes remain
The village of Hamton is like many Saskatchewan communities between Yorkton and Canora… still on the map, but not really there anymore. But to say there is nothing left of Hamton is a mis-statement.…
S2E13 Teaching sustainability and learn-by-doing in remote Africa
Lesotho, a landlocked country in southern Africa, is home to about two million people, including Ivan Yaholnitsky, whose family name is familiar in the Yorkton area. The Yaholnitsky family farmed…
S2E12 Yorkton and computers: back in the early days, and now
It's almost 50 years since the first computers started being used in Yorkton. We talked with Andy Balaberda, the first local computer teacher, and Rick Coleman; he and Warren Gamracy were very early…
S2E11 Perry Ehrlich: the lawyer who has them singing and dancing
Perry Ehrlich left Yorkton in the early 1970s to attend the University of Saskatchewan. He became a successful lawyer in Vancouver, and continued to indulge in his love of music and performing; 30…
S2E10 Yorkton's General, judge and more
This is the story of Alexander Ross – he had a middle name which started with the letter E, but in no sources, including when he was received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of…
S2E9 The challenge: motivating youth
Jason Payne has taught at the Yorkton Regional High School since 2002, but his involvement with youth and sports has expanded greatly beyond the boundaries of the school. His dedication to high…
Frequently Asked Questions
Yorkton Stories has published 42 episodes since May 2023, covering topics in Documentary, History.
Yorkton Stories is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 43m.
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