An unexpected visitor carved out a role for himself in Maple Creek over the weekend, and added to the town's Canada Day celebrations on Saturday.

Nova Scotia's Rob Milner, who runs Eternity Chainsaw Carvings (now based in New Brunswick), had his truck break down while heading out west along the Trans-Canada Highway.

"We got a phone call from the garage saying this fellow was in town and it was going to be a few days before his vehicle could be fixed, and he was a chainsaw carver, and they were wondering if there was a place he could potentially set up," said Pettyjohn. 

Milner set up on the lawn of the Sask West Oldtimers' Log Museum, and it was a nice boost for the town's events.

"It's been wonderful, the reaction from the community," Pettyjohn said. "Everyone's stopped by to say hello to him and see how he's been doing. A number of the locals have purchased chainsaw carving from him, and some have commissioned work from him. I'm hoping that over the course of the few days that he's been doing demonstrations, that he'll be able to raise the money that he needs to cover the cost of these vehicle repairs and be on his way again. But we certainly enjoyed hosting him here in Maple Creek and we're happy that he was able to be part of our Canada Day celebrations."

Overall Maple Creek had a solid showing for Canada's 150th.

Plenty of people made it out to the events, which featured a flag-raising ceremony, the 30th-Annual Ranch Rodeo, live music from those at Strum Town music studio, and a fireworks display to cap the night off.

"The attendance this year was great for everything," he said. "There was a number of positive comments that have been floating around on Facebook by local people that attended the various events that were sponsored by the various organizations that came together to make Canada Day work this year. All the feedback so far has been quite positive, so I think everyone enjoyed the day here."

Pettyjohn had nothing but praise for everyone that helped to make Canada's 150th a success in Maple Creek.

"Like any community event, it's no one individual organization. It takes a community effort to pull together a community event, so we really can't say enough for the organizers and volunteers for demonstrating their community pride and coming together to make the event happen," he said.

Next up is the Maple Creek Heritage Festival on July 21-22. More information can be found at cypresshills.ca or oldcowtown.ca.