Goodwill ambassador, waver.
Born on 18 September 1935 to Henry and Idell Starr, he lived at Scanterbury, Brokenhead Ojibwa First Nation, and was known as the community’s goodwill ambassador. Beginning in the 1980s, he spent many of his summer days with his brother James, perched on lawn chairs or standing beside Highway 59, waving to all who passed by. Besides being a normally busy highway, it was a main route for cottagers on their way to the beaches on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The two men spent so much time waving from the side of the highway, they wore a trail into the ground where they situated themselves most days of the season.
The ritual began when he was waiting to cross the highway. He waved to a passerby, got a wave and a honk, and tried it again with the next car, with the same result. He stayed a while and thereafter took it upon himself to make it part of his daily routine. The brothers became so well known for this friendly gesture that many cottage-goers stopped to say hello, and sometimes even dropped off hats, t-shirts, or snacks. The community came to be known as Wavers, rather than Scanterbury, and the brothers were featured in various stories, in places like the Winnipeg Free Press, CTV news, and television programs. Their reputation extended beyond Manitoba’s borders.
He died at Scanterbury on 30 July 2007. A store-gas station built later, across the highway from the brothers’ waving spot, has the name Wavers. In 2012, a giant red and white chair, built by Scanterbury resident John Bear, and a plaque, were placed beside the highway to commemorate this fondly remembered ritual.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 1 August 2007.
“The long wave goodbye: First Nation mourns death of highway greeter,” CBC News, 1 August 2007.
“Big chair honours Brokenhead Wavers,” CBC News, 17 Aug 2012.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 30 October 2024
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