The Western Canada Summer Games has brought athletes, spectators, coaches, and even pin collectors to the southwest.

Krassi Stanenov has been to Western Canada Summer and Winter Games, Pan American Games, British Commonwealth Games, and the Olympics as well, to take in the sports, but also collect pins.

Stanenov, who is originally from Bulgaria, currently lives in Vancouver and said his passion for collecting pins started at a young age.

"We used to exchange pins and a pennant, a small flag when we were playing soccer games in Europe a long time ago," he said. "I started keeping those from myself and I put them on my wall and it started to grow as a collection and here I am. This happened 51 years ago. I was a 10-year-old boy when I first started this."

use there will be a lot of young athletes," he said. "If you give them just a little of a push, that will mean a lot for them. The games leave a big legacy. I know they cost a lot for every city, but I think it's really wise for any city to take part in."

For Stanenov he is looking forward to collecting as many pins as possible and taking in the games, but also connecting with the athletes, which he believes he will see at other games in the future.

"I know that some of the athletes I see here, I will see at the Canada Summer Games later on, and I'm pretty sure that I will see them at the Olympics," he noted. "They do remember me sometimes, and so I wish the city all the best during the games."

In his short time in Swift Current and the southwest, he added that he has been treated with nothing but hospitality and that these games will put Swift Current on the map.