Lorne Johnson loves to see Eston thrive and grow

By Joan Janzen

ESTON - Lorne Johnson’s family has been involved extensively in the Eston community for years. His father came from Ontario when he was five years old and began farming in his teens. This began generations of farming for the Johnson family.

Lorne came into this world on February 1, 1946, and attended school in Eston. His parents operated a large farm with twelve to fifteen employees, something that was unusual for that time period.

Lorne Johnson from Eston stands beside a treasured gift he received upon retiring as president of the Canadian Seed Growers Association. The artist’s drawing depicts a collage of some of the activities Lorne enjoyed. “It was way better than a gold watch,” he said. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN

“The Star Weekly (which accompanied the Star Phoenix) came out one summer to take pictures of the farm and did a story,” Lorne recalled. “But if there was something happening in the community, they (his parents) were always there to help. They were very community-minded.”

That community-minded tradition was passed on to Lorne, who returned to Eston to farm after taking post-secondary education in Calgary. Besides marrying and raising a family, he became involved in the community in various ways, including playing hockey, curling, refereeing, coaching, and eventually being involved in the hockey business.

“I was president of the Western Hockey League and southern coordinator of the Swift Current Broncos before that,” he said. “I don’t really keep track. I just like to do stuff.” And he has done more stuff than can be included in one article.

He was on the town council for nine years and was Reeve of the RM of Snipe Lake for a decade. “We always wanted to do something and were trying to build things. We did a lot of things. Eston has always been a fairly progressive community, and it goes a long way back,” he said.

Although he said he could have continued as Reeve, he preferred to step down and let a younger person take over. He said the goal is to make the area a better place than when you came, and there are lots of opportunities to do that.

“You need to be a forward thinker and ask - what am I going to do in the short term that will be really good in the long term,” he advised. “Like building the arena. It was difficult in the short term, but it had enormous benefits for the long term.”

A committee of five managed to build Eston’s arena, which is a very functional building, and “we didn’t owe any money on it when we moved in,” he added.

Lorne was the president of the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association and later became president of the Canadian Seed Growers Association. “Those organizations funded projects and enabled me to meet a lot of people,” he said.

Eventually, Lorne was inducted into the Sask. Agriculture Hall of Fame in the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon and was the first inductee into the Wall of Fame in Eston.

Nevertheless, all of Lorne’s endeavours weren’t done to gain personal fame; they were done to help the community of Eston grow.

Lorne said four features keep a community alive: an education facility, health facility, churches and recreation. He said people will stay, and your community will remain viable if you have those four things.

“Eston is a strong community, a friendly community,” he said. “And there’s no end of knowledge at the coffee shop,” he chuckled. Lorne enjoys a good laugh with his friends at the coffee shop. “The past is something to laugh about; the future is what you think about. There’s always something that will give you a better future,” he concluded.