Group photo of a band from Umea, Sweden, Saskatoon's twin city. Their matching shirts read “Skarsgards Holmsend Bandet” and are holding a variety of band instruments including flutes, clarinets, trumpets, drums, and saxophones. [Taken during a visit to Saskatoon].

Bio/Historical Note: ParticipACTION Saskatoon was a community based event that operated in parallel with a similar event in Umeå, Sweden, Saskatoon’s twin city. Established in 1972 as ParticipACTION’s first model community program to assess if it would be possible to obtain cooperation at the local level from the public and private sectors (including media), as well as from community organizations and community “thought leaders”. If positive, to assess what strategies worked and what could be the expected results. The target audience was all citizens of Saskatoon. A volunteer Board of Directors, headed by Dr. Sam Landa and comprised of influential leaders representing a variety of community sectors, provided the leadership. Funding, as required (almost all initiatives were volunteer or donated), was completely generated locally. National ParticipACTION did not provide any funding, a key decision that could mean the program could be duplicated in any community.