Grainswest - Winter 2026

Winter 2026 Grains West 50 AGAINST GRAIN THE U ntil his 2025 retirement from of- ficial duties after 13 years, Faw- cett area farmer Gordon McCann oversaw shinny games and hockey practices and maintained the ice at the Fawcett Community Hall and Arena. Its schedule now includes men’s and children’s leagues, and its two curling sheets are central to the community’s annual cabaret and bonspiel to be held this year in late January. Nicknamed Iceman McCann by young skaters, he continues to take on occasional vol- unteer arena activities and will field a team in the bonspiel. Prior to his Iceman days, the arena building had sat unused. Kids in the area had nowhere to skate, so McCann launched a community work bee to fix the dressing rooms. New boards, Plex- iglas and heaters were installed and a new-model Zamboni purchased. Pulled behind a Massey Ferguson 65 tractor, an older pull-type Zamboni (pictured above) also remains in active service. A lifelong farmer, McCann has also dialed down these duties but assists his son Michael with grain and hay crops and the family’s 120 cows. Though McCann continues to keep his hand in both ice and agriculture, he also remains very active in additional community duties. He and his family volunteer with the Fawcett Ag Society where his son Nicholas is president. This includes set up for funeral recep- Iceman a big booster of arena activities tions and farmers’ markets. McCann has also helped maintain the local cemetery since 1967, where, as a boy, he helped install cement row markers. His work to establish names and his- tories for 18 unmarked graves from the 1930s and ’40s (he has identified all but two) earned him a reputation as the community’s unofficial historian. While he takes all his rural communi- ty duties seriously, McCann remains an Arena cheerleader. “It’s either go to the Arena or the cemetery; which is more exciting?” he said. He encourages his neighbours to take a break from their TVs and smartphones and socialize. “It’s very cheap entertainment. Come out and have some fun!” Farmer GordonMcCann has been a fixture at the Fawcett Community Hall and Arena since he led a renovation drive more than a decade ago. Photo:AnthonyHoulePhotography