Myron Thompson. How do you sum up a local legend in 450 words? Thompson was more than just a famous politician, adored school teacher and principal.
He deeply cared for his community. He was the guy who would listen to your problems over a coffee at the Sundre A&W every morning and demand something should be done about them.
Although he was well known across the province for his work in politics, he never failed to fight for his own community - a small town of nearly 3,000 people called Sundre.
During his time on Town of Sundre council, whether he was working as a councillor or as mayor, Sundre was always his priority.
I worked for the Sundre Round Up from 2012 to 2015 and during that time Thompson sat on town council as a councillor.
Every single council meeting I reported on with him present was interesting -- to say the least. He kept things entertaining for a young, new journalist like myself (who he enjoyed calling "kid.") I could not believe the words that would come out of his mouth. He gave a journalist the most colourful quotes. Often, he would make people laugh -- not intentionally -- just because of how he would describe provincial officials and how he thought they were (or weren't) doing their jobs. There were times many of us in council chambers would be laughing when he was going on one of his rants, but he was not -- he was serious.
"Forget the fish, save the town," is one that comes to mind. He was referring to $128,065.76 set aside from a provincial grant for the town to spend on fish mitigation, which he thought should be spent on flood prevention instead.
"I'm sorry, the fish will survive, but the town may not if we don't get some flood protection," he said during a council meeting. "Which is more important? The fish or the town? Get your priorities straight and look at the possibility of being able to use that money to help enhance the strength of our town."
The money was committed to providing habitat for fish in the Sundre area, as part of a grant the town received from the province for the Red Deer Riverbank Stabilization project. During another council meeting, town officials presented the possibility of increasing fish habitat in Bearberry Creek.
"Floods aren't good for fish. Why would you create fish habitat before preventing future floods? That's just a poor decision. Common sense tells me that's not the way you take care of your fish," Thompson said. "If anybody has any suggestions on how I can raise hell on this without going to jail I'd like to hear them."
Needless to say, Thompson was a colourful character who wasn't afraid to say what he thought or be who he was and I think we could all learn a little something from him. May his soul live on in the lives of Sundre residents for years to come.
- Patricia Riley is a former Mountain View Publishing editor and reporter.
