By Lisa Schick

A wanderer from Prince Albert

Mar 27, 2011 | 8:35 AM

Mortlach for the Saskatoonberry Festival, Regina for Mosaic and Prince Albert for the Exhibition – the Saskatchewanderer will be travelling across the province to see anything and everything.

Nathan Thoen, of Prince Albert, wants to be that Saskatchewanderer.

The Ministry of Parks, Tourism, Culture and Sport created the position and are holding a contest to see who will get the job.

“We’re looking for a (post-secondary) student who will travel around the province this summer and blog about all the things that makes Saskatchewan great. So whether it’s a cultural event or a visit to a provincial park… we want the student to discover that and write about it, shoot video and basically just share the Saskatchewan story with the rest of the province and the world,” said Jennifer Johnson, director of communications for the ministry.

Thoen has made the ministry-generated shortlist and is part of the top 10 that are being voted on to go into the next round.

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Thoen said he decided to create the video because it sounded like a great job.

“After reading the description and realizing that this is the first job that I’ve ever actually wanted… I thought I would make a video. So me and my brother kind of sat down and planned up a little bit of a video and it ended up working out great ,” said Thoen.

He is in Saskatoon now for school at the University of Saskatchewan, but Thoen was born and raised in Prince Albert and is the only candidate on the short-list from the city.

Thoen said he’s been trying to drum up support in Prince Albert through word-of-mouth, posters and at his old high school, Carlton Comprehensive High School.

“I have literally been promoting my bum off to try and make sure we’re getting as many votes as we can.”

Thoen said he has the experience as a wanderer because his family took him travelling across the province when he was younger.

Even though he has been all across Saskatchewan, Thoen said his favourite place in the province is Little Red River Park.

“If I was to say favourite place in Saskatchewan I would have to say Little Red… I literally spent, I would say, a good three-quarters of my childhood and life going there,” said Thoen.

Thoen said even though he doesn’t have the job yet he already has a lot of ideas on where he wants to go, and other people have already been giving him suggestions.

He said he invites the ideas because he wants to make sure he hits everything he can.

“Every town has got their one thing that they like or their one time when they showcase their town and I’d love to be at those small things. That’s where a lot of the fun’s going to be,” said Thoen.

He said he also wants to have family and friends to go out on the excursions with him – it will make the videos and blog entries that much better.

Thoen hasn’t won the competition yet, but he said he’s confident.

This year’s Saskatchewanderer is a pilot project, but Johnson said if it goes well they hope to do it every summer.

The first round of voting began Mar. 23 and ends today.

To view the submission videos and to vote for your favourites visit the website at www.saskatchewanderer.ca.

The winner of the position will be announced at the beginning of May.

lschick@panow.com