ESTEVAN — A group of former SaskPower employees made a special trip to Estevan on Sept. 5 to visit their longtime colleague, 93-year-old Ben Anderson.
Anderson, who retired in 1993 as operations manager at the Poplar River Power Station in Coronach, has been the driving force behind annual visits with SaskPower co-workers and then reunions of SaskPower retirees for three decades.
Anderson's tradition of gathering his former co-workers began shortly after his retirement, when his family moved to Estevan, but he visited the power station every year, bringing chocolates for the staff.
"He would drive back to Poplar River every year before Christmas, bringing boxes of chocolates for the operating staff and for everyone in the shop. He would leave a box of chocolates and have a little visit with everybody. He'd come to the canteen at dinnertime, and they would visit around with him," recalled Donna Ross, a former colleague who's been helping to organize the annual gatherings. "Ben came to Poplar River every year for a visit."
As the years passed and more people Anderson used to work with also retired, the annual get-togethers became more organized, with Ross helping to set up lunch gatherings in Coronach for the team.
Last year, at age 92, Anderson was driven by a former employee to attend the lunch that was moved to the plant's canteen due to a power outage in parts of town, which allowed the retirees to tour the facility.
This year, however, his family felt the journey would be too long. In response, the former co-workers decided to bring the reunion to him.
"When I first retired, I'd drive back there myself, and I'd spend half the day over there with them. And that's the way it went. And then, well, I'm getting pretty old, so they decided they'd come this way," Anderson shared.
"That was all the guys from Coronach coming. To me, it was just really, really nice, because a lot of them really remembered when I was down there, too. We had a real good lunch and everything," he said with emotions after the gathering.
Ross noted how significant these gatherings have been for many people involved through the decades.
"He meant a lot to people at Poplar River. He moved away, but he'd come back every year, and that told us that we were important enough to him, because out of all the people that went through Poplar River, Ben was the only one, in my recollection, that ever come back every year. … This time, we wanted to return the favour," she said.
Twenty-four retirees, including former plant managers, engineers and clerical staff, came from different parts of Saskatchewan to see Anderson.
"Two fellows drove all the way from Saskatoon to be there," said Ross, noting that some of the people present worked with Anderson in the 1980s.
"It's quite a phenomenal relationship that he has with all of us," she noted.
The event was filled with fond memories and shared stories.
"The camaraderie we had there was amazing," said Ross. "People look forward to seeing Ben every year."
She noted that Anderson was deeply touched by the love and care of his former colleagues.
"When I took Ben back to his room, he was just so truly grateful," said Ross. "He said to me, 'This is absolutely incredible that this many people would come to see an old [guy] like me.' And I said to him, 'Ben, you have to remember, these people come because you mean a lot to them and that you made us feel important when every year you came back to see us.' He was just so, so grateful and every year he is. He just can't believe it. But the truth of the matter is that he's the man who actually created that, and people love to come back, get together, visit with him and visit with each other. It's really wonderful."
For those in attendance, the gathering was not just a reunion but a testament to the profound impact Anderson had on their lives.
"That's the kind of difference one man can make in the lives of many," Ross reflected.
