SPY HILL, Sask. — Tannis Schermann is known in and around Spy Hill as the go-to lady to get things done. Her list of volunteer work is lengthy and has recently earned her recognition through the Saskatchewan Seniors Mechanism, a group that held its awards gala on Sept. 29 in Regina.
Schermann was nominated and received the Community Leadership - Rural Category award, a title many would agree she’s more than worthy of receiving. However, Schermann was humble about the honour.
“Well, actually, I’m kind of uncomfortable with it,” she admitted when asked how it felt to be recognized for all her community efforts. “I would never have got this if it wasn’t for the crazy ladies that follow me when I say, ‘Let’s do something.’ I’ve got a very good group of volunteers that if I suggest something, they jump at it.”
While employed full-time at the Nutrien Mine at Rocanville, Schermann served on the Village of Spy Hill council for several years. During this time, she was also actively involved in the local Spy Hill Curling Club where she participated in helping to organize curling bonspiels. She also organized workers in the curling rink kitchen and co-ordinated food and prize donations.
Schermann was also a board member for the Carlton Trail Regional Park during this time where she helped to organize July 1st celebrations and was actively involved in employee recruitment and helped with the overall operations.
Her volunteerism kicked into high gear after retiring in 2020, inadvertently setting off a chain of events that would have a large effect on Spy Hill and area. That project was renovating the community hall.
“When I retired at the mine, I kind of had it in my head,” she told the World-Spectator. “I ran the curling rink kitchen for years and years before Covid happened, and had it in my head that I like doing that because it’s a lot more fun when you don’t get paid—it’s not a job.”
The project began small, starting with a weekly lunch at the Spy Hill Curling Club building to fill a gap in the community with a band of like-minded folks called the Lunch Bunch.
“When I retired, there was myself and one other retired lady, and we thought we would have lunches on Mondays because the cafe is closed on Monday,” explained Schermann of how the group was formed. “And then it got to where we couldn’t handle it with getting to have too many people. There was another lady that was retired, so we asked her, and then another retired lady, and now, actually, when they retire, they come to us and offer.”
The idea was for the community to get out and visit while still abiding by the safe gathering protocols in place at that time. Lunches were to be served every Monday during the winter months, and all money raised would be donated back to the Spy Hill Community Club.
After two years of lunches being served, the Monday crowd of regular patrons had grown to over 35 individuals. The Lunch Bunch realized that they had outgrown their current facility, and a decision was made to start prepping and serving the Monday lunches at the Spy Hill Community Hall as there was much more room in this building. The hall had been vacant for about four years, so lots of work was needed to clean it up and prepare it for use.
Schermann and the Lunch Bunch began raising the money needed to purchase paint and to start the refurbishment of the Spy Hill Community Hall. Now two years later, thanks to Schermann and her group of volunteers—along with generous donations and grants—the Spy Hill Community Hall has newly painted walls, a new ceiling, new light fixtures and a fully operational kitchen.
This renovation work has benefited the entire community, allowing space for gatherings to be hosted in the spruced-up venue.
“Now there are weddings in there,” Schermann said of the hall. “We had two weddings in there this year, there’s going to be a funeral on Saturday; we have funerals in there because it’s the right size. We have gatherings, there’s reunions. It needed to be done.”
Due to the countless hours that Schermann spent organizing lunches, food donations, driving to pick up groceries, paint and all other necessary supplies, the Monday lunches continue to be served and have become the place to be on Monday. Due to some forward thinking on her part, Schermann and the Lunch Bunch now deliver homemade lunches to the RM of Spy Hill office for their monthly meetings.
There’s also the small town mainstay of coffee row, which commonly provides entertaining news of the day and wisdom from the bottom of a coffee cup.
“On Sundays and Monday mornings, we have coffee, too,” Schermann said. “We open at eight in the morning, and they come out for coffee, and they’ll sit until 10 and tell tales!”
Putting on these lunches and coffee sessions is also highly entertaining for the Lunch Bunch, as Schermann attests, “We have a riot—I love doing this. This is the best job ever!”
Why is volunteerism so important to her?
It was a question Schermann didn’t hesitate to answer, pointing toward the greater good.
“Because I always felt it’s how you connect to the community,” she replied. “If you don’t volunteer, no one else is going to volunteer either. It’s how you connect.”
When she’s not busy volunteering or spending time watching her granddaughter, Paisley, Schermann can be found at the Spy Hill Museum where she is curator. Along with opening the museum to the public during the summer months, she is also involved with fundraising for the museum. She organizes events at the museum to get more people to get out and see what the museum has to offer.
One can never truly tell the countless impacts volunteerism has on a community. Schermann says something like a community hall renovation project could be the thing that entices former residents back home, or at the very least gives them a new space to enjoy when they come back to visit.
“Exactly, and even if they don’t move back, I can understand, but if they come back for visits, perfect,” Schermann said on the subject.
For now, Schermann and her crew are gearing up for the coming lunch season.
“Come for lunches on Mondays, we start beginning of November,” Schermann said. “People always bond over food.”
