From Pelican Narrows, with love: Evacuation can't keep resident from finishing bride's beaded bouquet

Kathy Dusterbeck was at work on a hand-beaded bridal bouquet for Bonnie Leask's wedding the next weekend when she was told her community was being evacuated.

The 50,000-hectare Granite fire, as well as two others, were drawing closer to her home community of Pelican Narrows.

The problem wasn't the fire, it was the smoke. Air quality was deteriorating hourly. A mandatory evacuation order was issued.

Dusterbeck packed some clothes, toiletries and other belongings. But before she left, she also grabbed the half-finished bouquet and a bag full of beads from her kitchen table.

She filled her truck with gas and drove down to Prince Albert, joining more than 2,500 other evacuees who found refuge there and in Saskatoon.

Meanwhile, in the town of Leask, 100 kilometres north of Saskatoon, Bonnie Leask and fiancé Chris Pechawis were frantically preparing for their wedding.

They'd been following the news and speaking with friends from Pelican Narrows. Leask said her thoughts were with the evacuees, and she didn't expect to receive the bouquet, given the situation.

Elaborate creations

Dusterbeck is becoming known in Pelican Narrows and beyond for her elaborate creations that follow the Cree beadwork traditions of her grandmother and mother. Schools commission her to make graduation corsages; brides have told her they intend to pass the bouquet down to their daughters.

Leask had seen one of the beaded flowers on Facebook and asked a Pelican Narrows friend, Angie Merasty, to approach Dusterbeck with the request. Dusterbeck was busy with her day job as a day care manager, but agreed.

The bouquet was half-finished when the order to leave came. Once Dusterbeck settled in to Prince Albert, she volunteered to help elders and other evacuees but any spare hours were spent working on the bouquet.

Race to Leask

Saturday, just hours before the ceremony, Dusterbeck finished it. Merasty's sister picked it up, then got it to Merasty. Merasty got it to another woman who was driving south to the wedding.

The woman pulled up to the couple's house and walked in with the bouquet 20 minutes before the ceremony.

"I was blown away. It was so kind and thoughtful," Leask said.

"I couldn't believe that was happening."

Leask clutched the red and white beaded roses as she and Pechawis exchanged their vows surrounded by friends and family under sunny skies in their backyard.

Abandoning project not an option

Merasty was invited to the wedding but chose to stay in Prince Albert managing the logistics for evacuees. But she's happy she played a role in making her friend's day even more special.

"I said, 'You didn't think a little evacuation was going to stop us from getting you that bouquet, did you?'" Merasty joked.

"This is part of our culture."

Dusterbeck said she never thought about abandoning the project, and is glad it was appreciated.

"I'm glad they liked it," she said. "If you make it a priority, you will finish it."