It was the summer of 2005. I had just got offered a part time job at the radio station and was super PUMPED about it!! Unfortunately, reality set in and it was time to find another source of income if I was going to work part time in the broadcasting industry.
My resume got handed around to a few places in town for the position of bartender. I have no idea why the bartender position was so important to me. There wasn't really a whole lot of people looking to hire a kid, who was barely of age to drink himself, a job as a drink slinger!
My first interview was with Helga from the Legion ... I think she took a liking to me but in the end ... the hours didn't work out ... and I don't think I was good enough at darts to hold my own in the basement. A few other jobs fell through, but then Derrick scheduled me in for an interview. After talking with him for 5 minutes I was officially a bartender at Doolys! I was elated! My dreams were coming true ... my foot was in the door with radio and I was about to serve booze at a pool hall for money! In my mind, I was a year away from becoming a mixture of Howard Stern and Tom Cruise.
My employment lasted exactly 4 hours ... actually I don't think you can even count those 4 hrs because I didn't actually pour a drink. That day, before I could even work my first night shift, I was offered a full time position at the radio station which promptly put a stop to my bar tending fantasies!
So, instead of serving booze at Doolys, I just frequented the facility on a regular basis. Some of my fondest memories were getting my ass kicked by our then General Manager Deb Gauger at our staff Christmas parties ... she's what you would call a "pool shark."
Doolys has been closed for about a year now. While I miss the friendly atmosphere and the sounds of the pool hall, there are better things coming to that building.
Right away your thinking, "Great!! Another bar opening in Swift Current ... that's just what we need!!" Actually, its the furthest thing from another bar. East Side Church of God has purchased the old pool hall with plans to turn it into a Downtown Ministry Centre for kids!
I strongly believe that our youth are our future. While I don't have any kids, I plan to someday, and would like to think of this town as a safe place to raise them. But from what I've been hearing over the last few years ... it's just as tough being a teenager growing up in Swift Current as it is in any other huge city. Drugs, abusive relationships, and bullying are three things that are obvious problems. This Downtown Ministry Centre is being geared as a safe sanctuary for kids where those three things are not permitted. In fact, there are big plans to have programs to help kids who are in those situations already.
It will be a place where kids can go and just be kids without dealing with adult pressures. While I'm not sure of the plans exactly, you can be sure to see a big stage for bands, a gaming facility, big screens for movies, and all sorts of pool/Foosball/air hockey tables.
I believe the first move will see the Fresh Start Program get into the building and start using the facility to run the Soup Kitchen twice a week instead of once a week. A program that has been very well received and much needed in the community.
Over the next few years when they're in these starting stages of this massive project ... please think about donating your time or money towards this great centre for our youth.
To shut down a school in a small town is like pulling the plug on the community. I come from a very small community that had its school shut down in 1989 and it crippled our village. Sports teams disappeared, young couples vanished with their children, the few well respected teachers left (including my Dad) and it became a summer destination due to Lake Diefenbaker being 1 km away.
I don't agree with shutting down small town schools.
But with that said ... if a school is struggling to keep enrollment up, it's in the kids best interest to be offered the best opportunities which would come from a larger school that offers more class options, sports, and more teachers to help these kids learn.
I'm not saying thats whats going on in Hazlet because I really don't know enough about the schools situation. But I do know when they shut down our school (Riverhurst) .. while it crippled our small community, we as kids, benefited by having enough numbers in a larger school to field large sports teams ... plus we were offered different courses that we couldn't have taken in our small town.
Does it suck to see a small town die ... of course. Is it worth it to benefit our next generation ... I think so.
I hope it doesn't happen to Hazlet Marissa ... it sounds like you guys have a pretty neat little school with a very great staff.