The Welcome Wagon is back in business in Estevan and that makes a lot of people pretty happy.
The service, that is designed to welcome newcomers to the community, will be directed by Marilyn Coates with the assistance of Heather Jumbe who is fairly new to the community herself, having arrived just a couple of years ago.
"The motto for Welcome Wagon is 'the most famous basket in the world,'" said Marie Shipley-Powell of Regina who helped train Coates, a 30-year Estevan resident and Jumbe during the past week. Shipley-Powell added that Welcome Wagon now has a welcoming program for new babies born in the local hospital and with more than 300 births recorded each year at St. Joseph's, Coates and Jumbe should be kept busy. The trio also noted that between April and June of this year, the Welcome Wagon regional office (located in Moose Jaw) gave them the information that at least 165 newcomers had arrived in Estevan as eligible recipients of the Welcome Wagon baskets.
"It's an important job because we are ambassadors for our city," said Shipley-Powell.
"Business sponsors are happy to be aboard and so far in Estevan none have said no to us," she added.
"We are all so happy to see it happening again in Estevan. You've been without a Welcome Wagon for over two-and-a-half years. This city is so busy, it would be easy to get overwhelmed," Shipley-Powell said, noting that she had been asked to take on the special assignment to kick-start the program in Estevan again because of the genuine interest in it.
"I was told I could take until September to get it moving again well, with Marilyn and Heather on board and they're doing so well, I won't need all that time. It's pretty well underway already," Shipley-Powell said.
One of the earliest recipients of a revived Welcome Wagon basket of goods, information and discount coupons, etc., was Lisa Pittman and her partner Ryan Plant and their daughter Izzy.
"I was just thrilled when they called and said they'd like to visit for a few minutes and deliver the basket," said Pittman who arrived in Estevan from Kamloops, B.C.
Plant, an autobody technician, has been employed in Estevan for a few years already, but the couple had trouble finding suitable accommodations in the Energy City. She said they lived north of Lampman for awhile and then in North Portal before finally landing a new rental home in Estevan in April, but first they had to stay in a hotel for a while.
" I was just watching TV, when I got the call," said Pittman.
"They had so much information for us. For instance, I didn't know about the local mine tours. My father was an open pit miner, so that's interesting for me. We'll probably take the tour. Then I learned about the dog wash service. Good to know. We have a black Labrador Suity and she likes to get wet," said Pittman with a laugh.
Izzy, their three-year-old daughter, has embraced her new Estevan lifestyle, participating in the Teddy Bear fitness program and Story Time at the Estevan Public Library and making use of the pool at the leisure centre.
"You know it's so nice to get information on the businesses here. Before, all I had time for was to run into Estevan, pick up what we needed and then head out home again. But now we're living right here, I'll get some time to actually shop around, so I can visit the places that are listed or contributed to the welcome basket," said Pittman.
"I have information now about the region, I know about the Souris Valley Theatre, outdoor activities that are available for Izzy or us. We'll be trying to visit some of the stores. We need to see some electronic items and furniture. I know now when our garbage will be picked up and got some safety information. So this really helps us know where to start to get involved in the community," said Pittman, sounding very much like a spokeswoman for the service and for the city itself due to her enthusiasm at being a freshly arrived resident of Estevan.
"It can be tough to get around and feel comfortable, especially if you might have language or culture challenges," Pittman added.
Coates said that she just recently retired from another job, and wasn't intending to get involved in anything too demanding, but when a luncheon invitation came from Shipley-Powell, she found it hard to say no, thanks to the Regina woman's unbridled enthusiasm.
Jumbe, on the other hand, applied to take on the work shortly after she arrived in Estevan, already understanding how important the service could be. So, she too, got the Shipley-Powell "treatment."
"With all the sponsors and products in the basket, this should be well set up," said Coates who, along with Jumbe, will continue to solicit local businesses for participation.
"When I first arrived in Estevan 30 years ago, I know I would have benefited from a visit. I had to learn where the different areas were in the city, I didn't have any knowledge of Estevan at all," Coates said.
Visiting new mothers and babies is a re-freshened program for Welcome Wagon, said Shipley-Powell. Again, it gives them good contacts with the population and provides an additional welcoming service and goods.
There are all kinds of ways to get a visit from the Welcome Wagon. The usual routines are through a reference from a friend or neighbour. Newcomers can merely e-mail, then there are information card drop-off centres being established and naturally the always reliable word-of-mouth plus the reference information emanating from the Moose Jaw office that might lead to a phone call, out of the blue, just like what happened with Pittman and Plant.
"The visits can be as brief as 15 minutes or as long as a half hour," said Coates. "Some people want more details than others. The baskets contain all kinds of information, business sample products, coupons for goods or discounts on products or maybe gift certificates," Coates added.
With between one and three visits on average per day, Coates and Jumbe expect to see their pace pick up even more as word of the Welcome Wagon spreads.
"If you're just moving from one part of the city to another, that doesn't qualify you as a newcomer," Coates said with a laugh, but Shipley-Powell said that in larger centres such as Regina, it does if the move takes the family more than a few blocks away.
Information about Welcome Wagon will be included on the Estevan Tourism, Trade and Commerce bulletin board and welcome sign.
"I'm very excited, ready to work and looking for more businesses ready to jump aboard the Welcome Wagon," said Coates in conclusion.
Contact information: Coates 634-3897 or (cell) 421-6569. Jumbe 636-2504. Website: www.welcomewagon.ca
