Water truck saves some Craven campers from the heat

While Country Thunder campers were making their way into the last day at Craven, one person was keeping campers cool.

Austin Rock made his way around the campgrounds in his water truck. Every so often, someone would beep their horn to motion him over or run up to the window as he drove along.

“It’s awesome,” said Rock. “You brighten people’s day up. When you drive by in the truck, people run over to you (and) they are happy to see you.”

He was one of four water trucks that cruised the Craven campgrounds. The trucks could barely keep up with how dry and hot it was on the weekend.

The reaction from the campers was always the same when he pulled out the hose.

“You can just see the change in people’s mood when you’ve filled their pool or given them water for their trailer,” said Rock. “My only wish is that I could do more.”

(Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

Pools and tanks on trailers were typically what Rock filled. Every so often, he was asked to hose down some of the sweaty campers after filling up.

Rock, who is originally from Lumsden, filled tanks all weekend. He put in 12- to 14-hour days after getting off shift from his job on Thursday. He said he would much rather be doing that than other jobs on the site.

“I think the worst job out here has to be the Loraas (bin) guys because they go around, suck them out (and) then clean them,” Rock said. “They wash them down.”

Rock said despite the sweltering heat, it was much better that it didn’t rain. The big trucks are too heavy and can get stuck in the mud after storms.

“It’s for sure a gamble. If it rains Friday night, then we are high and dry with six to eight people who can’t service the campgrounds,” Rock said. “We are not getting paid a contract. The only money we make is through servicing people.”

Every so often, he went to refill his water tank. His father, Morgan Rock, was there monitoring the refill site. At one refill, one truck got stuck in the mud.

“At the end of the day, they are just minor inconveniences,” Morgan said. “What matters at the end of the day is people. It’s what the festival is about — people.”

Morgan has been working the festival for many years. He takes pride in his Saskatchewan heritage and loves the entire festival.

“We have to wait another year for the people to come back when we get done,” said Morgan. “The people are a great part of it. You get to see a lot of interesting things, and I think people are really friendly out here. Saskatchewan people are friendly.”

After seeing Country Thunder grow and evolve throughout the years, Morgan said it’s incredible to see how big and how far the festival has gone.

“Man, Saskatchewan people should be proud of themselves,” he said. “We do amazing things.”