It took a move to Regina to teach me the difference neighbours can make.
Social Sharing
Annabel Townsend · For CBC First Person ·
Posted: May 26, 2021 5:00 AM CT | Last Updated: May 26
A pre-pandemic block party in Annabel Townsend s Cathedral neighbourhood in Regina.(Submitted by Annabel Townsend) comments
This first person piece was written by Annabel Townsend, a writer and coffee geek from the U.K., now settled in Regina.
For more information about CBC s First Person stories, please see
.
In the early 2000s, we lived in a grey, wet and miserable little town in northeast England called Darlington. After years of people screaming at each other across the fences, teenagers causing trouble and police lights flashing every night, we began actively avoiding our neighbours. I felt we had little in common.
Saskatoon / 650 CKOM
Mar 17, 2021 9:44 AM
Annabel Townsend owns The Penny University book store in Regina and had a bumpy start trying to open the shop during the pandemic. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)
March 12 marked one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Saskatchewan.
Over the next week, 980 CJME and 650 CKOM will bring you stories from across the province reflecting on the past year.
Today, we hear about how businesses in Saskatchewan have weathered the storm and, in some cases, gone down in it.
When COVID-19 found Saskatchewan and the province was put on lockdown, people had to stay home, kids had to be taken out of classrooms and businesses all over people’s livelihood and sometimes their dream had to close their doors.
REGINA Regina residents and local businesses are reacting with a show of support for LGBTQ2S+ people after a pastor’s message was called homophobic by some community members. On Sunday, Pastor Terry Murphy gave a sermon at Regina Victory Church that has since been condemned by many in the community. The sermon was livestreamed on Facebook. Murphy’s sermon compared members of the LGBTQ2S+ community to pedophiles and expressed the belief that sex should only occur “between a man and a woman.” Terry Van Mackelberg said he will be submitting a complaint to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.