'Ingenious farmers': Trampoline company highlights industry's deep roots in Saskatchewan
Trampolines are produced and used across the globe. However, few people know Saskatchewan's contribution to the global phenomenon and how it all started with a collection of ingenious farmers from a small town west of Regina.
From professional gymnastics to backyard pastimes, most people are familiar with with trampolines and how they’re used.
As trampolines have evolved since their inception in the 1930’s – it’s a little known secret that Saskatchewan has played a key role in their evolution.
“We’ve been trying to scrape up as much history as we can because it goes back to 1977 in Herbert, Saskatchewan,” Luke Shaheen explained. “Farmers keeping busy in the winter making trampolines for their families and neighbours and it snowballed from there.”
Shaheen and Armand Konescsni-Luzny are the co-owners of Crazy Ape, a trampoline manufacturing company that operates out of Regina and builds trampolines to send all across the world.
“We’re happy to continue seeing those trampolines that are still out there from the 1970’s – so we both make parts for them and continue to provide brand new trampolines just like that,” Shaheen said.
“There’s a lot of ingenious farmers out there and it was born from farmers that figured it out back in the day,” Konecsni-Luzny added.
Herbert Industries can be seen in this archival photo. (Courtesy: Luke Shaheen)
Herbert Industries was one such Saskatchewan trailblazer established in the late 1970s.
Farmers would build trampolines in-between growing seasons. The methods they used, which allowed the products to last outside during harsh Saskatchewan winters, quickly became the industry standard.
An early trampoline model at Herbert Industries. (Courtesy: Luke Shaheen)
“No one does it like [they did]. You can’t find a high quality product very easily anymore and that’s how these guys make them,” Shaheen said.
“They’re rock solid and they just last forever.”
Much like the pioneers of trampolines before them, Shaheen and Konecsni-Luzny also started out manufacturing on a farm and then moved into the city to keep up with the demand.
“That’s just the Saskatchewan way,” Konecsni-Luzny said. “We had to get our roots that all the other guys did and we’re kinda just been carrying the torch down from those guys that started in 1977 and it’s been passed around a couple times and we’re the guys running this league of the relay.”
As their business continues to grow, the duo want to ensure that they continue highlighting the history of their industry.
“Most people … don’t realize that this is in Saskatchewan and has been here for 30, 40, 50 years,” Shaheen said. “It’s an eye opening experience.”
Konecsni-Luzny agreed that the history of the industry drives their efforts going forward.
“It feels really special and sentimental knowing that so much of this is started in Saskatchewan,” he said.
“Swimming with the big dogs in the big cities, we can do is just as good here. We can do it better here.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Canadian border workers vote in favour of possible strike: union
Border workers have voted in favour of a strike mandate which could lead to 'significant disruptions' to the flow of goods, services and people through Canadian ports of entry, their union said Friday morning.
BREAKING Toddler dies after being struck by recycling truck in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood
A toddler has died after being struck by a recycling truck in a Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon.
BREAKING Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-nominated director of 'Super Size Me,' dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life's work, famously eating only at McDonald's for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
BREAKING World Court orders Israel to halt assault on Gaza's Rafah
Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling on South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide.
Top Russian military officials are being arrested. Why is it happening?
It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.
Milk sold in Canadian stores tested for avian flu: Results of 303 samples
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.
BREAKING Ontario to start expansion of alcohol sales in convenience and grocery stores this summer
Alcohol sales in Ontario will be enhanced in grocery stores and expanded to convenience stores this summer, a year-and-a-half sooner than expected, Ontario’s PC government announced Friday.
Ontario mother denied boarding flight with her family after ticket mistake
A dream vacation for an Ontario family quickly turned to frustration when a mother’s name on a ticket didn’t match the name on her passport, meaning she was left behind while her husband and two children flew to France.
Ontario patients visiting emergency rooms out of fear of being booted by family doctor
Ontario patients are now visiting emergency departments out of fear of being de-rostered from their doctor’s office – a loophole that results in hospitals dealing with non-urgent cases, and disrupts continuity of care paramount to family medicine, according to health-care experts.