Thursday here we are.
By the sounds of things, we may be in for a little more self-isolation than we would like. I hope you are hanging in there Cochrane and taking it one day at a time. With that being said, I bring you another Thursday Tack and Tale from Stockmen's Memorial Foundation.
This week, we're celebrating the story of the enthusiastic Donald (Don) Gilbert Hepburn.
In the first half of the last century, on October 28, 1949, to be more specific, Don Hepburn was born in the small town of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. His parents Dorris and William settled in the area with roots tieing back to the Orkney Islands in Scotland.
"I play the bagpipes," laughed Hepburn.
Growing up Hepburn was the middle child of two brothers. His older brother was in the Canadian Armed Forces and died in a plane crash when he was just 20-years-old.
In his younger years, Hepburn kept himself out of trouble by tending to his curly locks, playing the good ol' hockey game on various ponds and working on the field alongside his brothers.
"I had more hair then, then I do now," joked Hepburn.
Hepburn went to grade school in Yorkton before enrolling in the University of Saskatchewan and walking out with a degree in animal science. With his education secured, he landed a job in Swift Current working in the stockyards for the cattle business.
In 1974, Hepburn began working with Agriculture Canada in Regina.
"I worked in the livestock programs," said Hepburn. "I was involved in food inspection like carcass grading, and I did performance testing with mostly cattle, pigs and sheep."
Just down the hall from Hepburn's office was a pretty little lady by the name of Arlene. They got to talking one day and it didn't take long before they eventually became an item and married in 1978. The pair never had any human children, much rather enjoying their horse children, Clancey and Dixie.
In 1992, Hepburn and his wife moved to Cochrane after he put in a transfer with Agriculture Canada. Shortly after his arrival, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency came to fruition. He worked with the Inspection Agency for nearly eight years before hanging up his hat in 2004.
"When I retired I was the director of the animal products program for western Canada," explains Hepburn.
After his retirement, Hepburn began participating in reining— a western-style of riding where riders guide their horses at a gentle lope of precise patterns that include spins, circles and stops. Over the years he competed in British Columbia, Montana and Alberta.
"We did pretty good, we didn't win any big championships, but we had a lot of fun," he chuckled.
Although Hepburn was fairly involved in the cattle industry throughout his life, he never had animals of his own. On the other hand, horses were always existent wherever life took him.
Hepburn has a registered lifetime horse brand, "Anchor over H," and is placed on the left hip where he claims "all good horse brands go."
"I had a brand in Saskatchewan which was H over Bar and when I moved to Alberta, that brand was already taken so I looked at what was available and Anchor over H I thought that was good because some of my ancestors were sailors back in the Orkney Islands."
Hepburn would learn about The Stockmen's Memorial Foundation from his neighbour and dear friend, Mac Elder. He eventually became a volunteer with the foundation and later became the Treasurer. He also runs all the children's school programs.
Hepburn recalled a small feat he accomplished on behalf of Stockmen's,
"I decided that I needed a hobby when I retired so I decided to do some bronze sculpting. I did the range cow, the symbol for the Stockmen's and we called it Frank Jacobs Hereford. Frank Jacobs was the former editor for the Canadian Cattlemen Magazine and he's the one who decided we should use that for a logo," explains Hepburn. "So I did 10 bronzes and we sold them over a period of nine years and raised about $30,000 for the Stockmen's."
If he's not riding his horse Hepburn is certainly reaching out to his creative side and keeping his hands busy to pass time. Whether it's braiding rope to make curtain holders for Stockmen's or sculpting some bronzes, he truly has a knack for arts.
I should also mention he always has plenty of stories and information to share and he continues to keep that Scottish origin close by playing his bagpipes.
"It takes practice," laughs Hepburn. "I have quite a bit of hot air, as they tell me."
