Those of you who have been into the woods with Eric Reder probably know that he loves to wear a certain hat. This hat has been referred to by many names—“creepy ranger”, “hillbilly hat”, “what on earth is he wearing?” etc.—but my personal favorite is “Gus Chiggins”.

For those of you not fortunate enough to have seen the Saturday Night Live skit by the same name, I suggest you remedy this immediately. The skit is impossible to explain, but suffice it to say that Gus Chiggins is an old prospector, covered with pots and pans, brimming with old-timey sayings (“aww peaches!”) and wearing a distinctly familiar-looking hat.  

Back in October, Eric wore the infamous hat on a trip up to Grass River Provincial Park while checking out a closed mine site. Over the course of the eight-day expedition, wearing the same dirty clothes on countless hikes and paddles on his quest to explore industrial mining and logging operations, he bore an increasingly sharp resemblance to the Ol' Prospector. The video we shot over the course of several days offers irrefutable proof of both the environmental damage and of Eric’s temporary transformation into an 1890s stock character.

Having personally witnessed the transformation, it came as no surprise that while editing the video Eric decided that the one thing needed to bring it all together was fiddle music. Naturally.

Lucky for us, our Field Manager Murray Jowett happens to be an amazing bluegrass musician and was happy to oblige. All office work ground to a halt while Murray serenaded the building with Tam Lynn’s Reel, and I discovered that I actually LOVE fiddle music. It’s made it much harder to make fun of Ol' Gus.

Below, you will find the fruits of our labour. Don’t let the uplifting reel fool you—park mining is a serious concern, and we need more Manitobans to speak out against it. Visit our letter-writing tool and let decision-makers know how you feel about mining operations in your provincial parks.

Kalyn Murdock
Assistant Campaigner