Glen Brocklebank, his wife, Ana, and two daughters, Kayalaaq Leishman-Brocklebank and Ivalu Leishman-Brocklebank, will wrap up their summer vacation and head back to Chesterfield Inlet shortly. For Glen and Ana, both teachers at Victor Sammurtok School, this will be their 24th year in the community.
Glen said the years have gone past amazingly fast.
He said it was the local people who helped enable him and Ana to fall in love with the community and its surroundings.
“We have some amazing friends in the community,” said Glen. “I've always enjoyed living in small towns, and the people and the land have been the two things that we've loved the most about Chester.
“I've never been bored in Chesterfield Inlet (population about 460) during my 23 years there.
“I like to do stuff out on the land and travel on the land. I like to be involved with the things that are going on with the young people of the community, and I like spending time with my family and their friends.”
Glen said the rich history of the community is another point close to his heart.
He said you can walk not even a minute outside of town and you can see why Chesterfield Inlet was popular even 100s and 1,000s of years ago.
“I've seen some of the best kayak stands here that compare favourably to photos in any publications found anywhere.
“There are Inuit artifacts and remnants that you can find within the town limits, within the hamlet, that are simply phenomenal. So you don't have to go far at all to see why Chester's been so popular, even in the past, for hunting and harvesting animals.
“That's pretty intriguing to me, as well. Even just walking around and seeing fish caches, caribou caches, blinds or kayak stands – all kinds of stuff, all over.”
As for the future, Glen said he doesn't think he and Ana have ever looked at their time in Chester as being one year at a time, especially now that they have two kids who have both grown up there.
He said it's quite simply home!
“I think when it's home, you don't think of it any other way other than home... It's just, when do we get back home?
“So we travel south each winter to see our parents and our immediate family and then we just concentrate on getting back home.
“We've been very, very fortunate to have met people in Chester who have accepted us and allowed us to learn. We've learned far more there than we've ever taught in this community.”
