Colin Holliday-Scott will tell anyone who wants to listen what a great place Saskatoon is. That's why he's the first president of the Tourism and Convention Bureau.
It was not something he envisioned upon arriving here for the first time from his native England. The 1958 holiday was intended only as a short visit with his architect brother John.
"I was sure they had dropped an atomic bomb on the place." Holliday-Scott recalled his initial impression of the barren Saskatoon landscape in November, accentuated by the deserted streets on a Sunday.
With only $30 in his pocket, he wasn't prepared for a length stay.
"I had this idea that was all you would need over here. I wanted to get out of here anyway."
The "short" holiday turned into a 10-month stint.
And finding a job turned into quite an adventure.
Prior to a hitch in the British army, Holliday-Scott has been going to college to earn his bachelor of science in economics. with a year's worth of interior designing thrown in because he had met this girl "and the desire was to be with her more than it was to become involved with interior designing."
But when Holliday-Scott turned up at the employment office seeking a job related to interior designing, he was told there wasn't much demand for that sort of thing.
Instead, he was dispatched to a warehouse job at Robin Hood Mills. A funny thing happened en route. Tired and cold, he forgot the place he was to go, the man he was to see and the job for which he was to apply.
"I was always good at remembering letters though," he chuckling. "So when I came upon Reliance Lumber, I remembered the R and thought that must be the place.
"I went in and asked the girl (she was later to become his wife, Linda) about the job. Except I couldn't remember who I was supposed to see. I remembered the fellow had an M in his name. So she sent me to see a Mr. McGuire."
Holliday-Scott was hired as assistant accountant ironic considering he had failed his high school math and had only gained admittance to university because of a clerical error which had given him a passing grade.
"I was just hopeless at the job, but I spent eight months doing it. I didn't know what I was doing, but I just copied what the others did. It just showed that if you dressed well you could get the job. I must have look like an accountant.
"One day I decided to actually have a look at the books. I found out that they were selling goods for less than they were buying them for. It turn out there was a guy in Regina who was on the fiddle. The boss thought I was bloody brilliant and offered me all kinds of money to stay. But I thought I was the cat's whiskers and figured I should leave on a high note. I would have been found out eventually."
So he went back to England to further his schooling. However, by 1960, he was fed up with academic pursuits and on his way back to Saskatoon his return prompted by his affection for Linda.
By now, the city had grown more sophisticated and there was an interior design opening for him. He worked for Henry Bonli for the next four years before opening his own business.
His career has been a fascinating chain of events.
Holliday-Scott's downtown activities included involvement with his wife in a women's dress shop, and partnership with Rudy Klein in Piccadilly Boutique in Midtown Plaza.
"I loathed the Plaza because they told you what hours you had to keep and all sorts of interference, said Holliday-Scott.
That business was faltering, a plight shared by Sinfonia Travel owner Jean Hardenne, one of his best friends.
Time for a little lunacy, the two thought.
So, following a visit to one of the downtown watering holes, the two free spirits took their wives to Hawaii. For economic reasons they went on K class, which meant passengers had to bring their own sandwiches.
"We didn't know, and we had nothing to eat. But we drank champagne the whole flight over and we had the time of our lives. We stayed at the penthouse in one of the poshest hotels and just forgot all our worries.
"When we came back I had a different feeling about everything. I realized I came here with nothing and if I left the same way, it would just be even. As it turned out though, both our businesses just took off and soon we were doing double and triple the sales."
After a couple of moves and changing fortunes, he also purchased International Travel, much as a result of his friendship with Hardenne.
"We had one first-class person and a lot of people who knew very little about the business. We hired first-class people and since then it's become one of the largest agencies in town.
"Mind you, the first three years we had the agency, it went from making a profit of $70,000 a year to losing $ 40,000.
"Business has definitely been a lot of ups and downs, but it's been a lot of fun and I have always been one who enjoyed getting involved in a number of diverse things."
Sandwiched in the midst was a short fling as one of three owners of the Louis Riel Coffee House. He recalls not hiring one singer "with a terrible voice" whose identity was later revealed as a certain Joni Mitchell.
He is more comfortable in his latest endeavor, heading up the Tourism and Convention Bureau.
"This town has never been sold to its full potential. it has a tremendous amount to offer.
"I think the city and I came together about the same time. There were about 60,000 people when I came here and today it's grown to become without doubt the nicest little city anywhere.
"This town has been very good to me and it annoys me when some of my friends don't put anything back into a place which has been so good to them. I believe a certain amount of community involvement is essential even if it's not to make you any money or anything."
Holliday-Scott downplays his financial success. "Anyone can make money. The most important thing in my life is my family (children Bruce, 12, and Lisa, 10). After that the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy life."
He believes in going first class.
"A great benefit to having this travel business is being able to travel in first class.
"I remember we lived in a $60 a month apartment for the first 10 years we were married. We went right from there to Nob Hill," he said, referring to the family's stately Saskatchewan Crescent home.
Yet even back in the apartment days, Holliday-Scott indulged himself with a Jaguar and MGB.
He denies being an aristocratic Brit, pointing out, "My mother was a Cockney and I'm proud of being a Cockney. I'm no upper crust Brit, I just have upper class connections."
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