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Village of Weldon raises funds to build playground as tribute to mass stabbing victim

By Keira Miller Apr 12, 2024 | 12:41 PM

Residents of the village of Weldon, northeast of Saskatoon, are raising money to build a tribute to one of the victims of a mass stabbing.

Weldon, with help from the James Smith Cree Nation, plans to build a playground and name it after 78-year-old Wesley Petterson.

Petterson was one of 11 people killed in a mass-stabbing attack which happened in Weldon and James Smith Cree Nation territory on September 4th, 2022.

“He was such a kind man. He’d give you the shirt off his back because that’s the type of person he was. I knew him my whole life because our families spent a lot of time visiting one another,” said one of the co-directors of the Weldon Playground Project, Chelsey Erickson.

The group hasn’t finalized a site but aims to build the park near the Weldon care home. One-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollars is being sought to build the playground, which residents hope is operational by the end of the summer.