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A portion of the poster that can be seen around Tisdale as Joe Taylor looks to get the 'Pandemic Stories' initiative off the ground. (submitted photo/Joe Taylor)
Pandemic Stories

Tisdale resident hoping to engage seniors, high schoolers with Pandemic Stories initiative

Oct 22, 2020 | 5:00 PM

One Tisdale resident hopes to engage the community a bit more with something he’s calling “Pandemic Stories”.

Joe Taylor said the idea began early on during the COVID-19 pandemic after seeing his elder family members adjust to the new normal.

“I see the fears, the anxiety, the unknowns that they’ve had to live through,” he said. “And the unknowns that lie ahead for them.”

Taylor said the seniors in the community are extremely important to the history of Tisdale.

“We’re really focusing on seniors,” he said. “Simply because they are the rocks and pillars and foundation of our community.”

Taylor has already got a number of people and groups involved. He said Tisdale Middle and Secondary School (TMSS) is involved with a Legacy 30 class taking part.

The class is new for the students of TMSS and is taught by Kelly Andris who thought participating in the ‘Pandemic Stories’ initiative would be a great way to get the students involved more in the class, and connect more with the seniors of Tisdale. In general, the course is similar to a social science course and is based on connection, and the imprint students want to leave on the world.

Andris told northeastNOW the students will start with talking to a relative and getting a story, before branching out to other seniors in the community and other individuals. She said some ideas to expand it from the school perspective is to tie it in with the ‘Better Together’ initiative in the town, and to make their stories as part of a series, similar to Humans of New York where stories are shared with a picture from a person who has interviewed strangers throughout New York and the world. Andris said they would hopefully put it out to the public through social media.

There’s almost two goals for the initiative with Taylor and Andris looking to engage different groups in the community. Andris said there’s a generation gap between the high school students and the seniors, something this project could help bridge.

“It gives us the opportunity to not only form those relationships and connections, but also have the kids learn from them, and put it in with the curriculum,” Andris said. “And also be able to share that with others and kind of spread it so that more interest comes from that.”

There’s also no specific stories that are being asked to put out there, it can really be anything related to the community, he said.

“Share some stories that have some meaning in their life,” Taylor told northeastNOW. “It could be from a community, it could be from an individual perspective, it could be happy, sad, humorous, tragic, it doesn’t matter. I have heard so many stories in my lifetime that are stories that need to be shared.”

Taylor added he’s also has help from some local businesses and community groups as well.

It’s not only an initiative surrounding Tisdale either, according to Taylor. As someone who works with First Nations communities on a daily basis, he said he wants to see Elders and other people from those communities tell their stories and hopefully that can help with reconciliation.

The initiative is still in the early stages of getting off the ground, but Taylor said there will be posters going up, and already have gone up around Tisdale, and he’s hoping to get an online presence as well to have a central spot for the stories and maybe eventually have a hard copy.

Stories can be submitted in person at the Tisdale Town Office and the Tisdale Cornerstone Credit Union. You can also contact Joe Taylor at 1-306-873-9085 or via email at joe.sue.taylor@sasktel.net.