Like a migrating butterfly, Linda Kirton has returned to Portage la Prairie more than once. She first moved here in 1959 and attended North Ward School. She also attended LaVerendrye School, Prince Charles and PCI, which she describes as “wonderful schools, at which I later worked as an Educational Assistant.” She first moved away to Alberta at 18 to join a boyfriend and marry young. She returned in 1973. “In between, we lived in Saskatchewan, too, and decided to move back to Manitoba in 2020 just when the pandemic hit as I missed my hometown and my friends. I lost both my siblings and still have a mother who resides at the Lions Manor. Even at my age, I missed my Mom as I am all she has now.”
Although she met some wonderful people on her journeys, Linda says it’s nice to be home again where people still remember who you are. “There is no place like home, I always tell people.”
Dennis McMillan’s story is similar. His memories of growing up in Portage involve sports and community clubs. After graduating from Pharmacy in 1970, he returned to Portage for nine years, then moved his family to Carberry where he ran his own pharmacy for 28 years. In 2015, he and his wife chose to return to Portage because their three children had moved away from Carberry. “We were happy to come back to Portage because my wife, Marilyn, had two sisters and some good friends here, and we had a cottage at Delta Beach.”
Dennis noted that Portage has grown quite a bit since he first moved away. “There is lots of choice for any kind of store you would want. A major employer is Simplot and now the pea processing plant. People might read the weekly paper and see lots of people being picked up for drugs and having weapons. If you check in any town, you will probably see the same thing. Guns and drugs are everywhere. Portage has done a great job with Stride Place, a great golf course, and Crescent Lake.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Kaitlyn Coates (McDermid) who left Portage in 2007 to attend the University of Winnipeg. She returned when she attained a teaching position at Agassiz Youth Center in 2012. “I also wanted to buy a house and quickly realized it would not be an option for me in Winnipeg for many years,” Kaitlyn says. “I was happy to be close to family and excited for my new job, but the people I’d kept in touch with had moved away, so I was a little nervous about coming back and figuring out a social life.”
I love Kaitlyn’s comment about complainers.
“Portage isn’t shiny and new, but it has so much heart. The best way to see the good in this town is to get involved. Kathy Thurston recruited me to get involved in the United Way shortly after I moved back, and it was such a great thing for me. It allowed me to meet people I normally wouldn’t meet. It also showed me how incredibly generous this town can be and how many services we have available. My first response to people who complain about Portage is to ask them, ‘What board do you sit on? What team do you coach? What’s your favorite local business? Where do you volunteer?’ If you’re not trying to better Portage, than you can’t complain.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
More stories next week.
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