Jason Merrington has become a familiar figure downtown; he is usually on Alexander Street playing his guitar and singing.
Growing up in Morinville, Alberta, Jason liked to play hockey, skateboard, collect sports cards, play marbles and take piano lessons. But life was far from normal.
“I have Retinitis Pigmentosa. It’s a genetic disease, it’s passed on to boys. It affected me and my two brothers.”
Jason has been legally blind since he was 10 years old, but that didn’t hamper his entrepreneurial spirit.
“I had my own business. I did landscaping for about 30 elderly customers. I painted fences, shovelled snow, mowed lawns and lugged rocks. I would tell them at the door, ‘Pay whatever you think I’m worth.’ Sometimes it was $4, sometimes $24. It always worked out in the end.”
Despite his blindness, Jason always managed to work. His jobs over the years have been varied: a bacon cook at Harvey’s restaurant, a data entry clerk at an optical office, a stone mason, a roofer’s helper and a bulk foods manager. He also worked many years in a warehouse and as a home-care worker for disabled persons.
“I’ve always paid my bills,” says Jason.
As long as the job fell within the “realms of law, morality and ethics” he was willing to do it to it. It is important for him to pay his own way and not rely on any kind of government assistance. Jason dropped out of school in Grade 11 and finished it later.
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Home life wasn’t easy because his family was involved in a cult. When he wanted out, the only way to do it was to leave. It was during this difficult time he first came to Salmon Arm.
“A friend of mine said, ‘There was a man who had a basement for rent. Go out there and enjoy the Shuswap and see what it’s like.’ And I’m glad I did. I loved the Shuswap.”
Circumstances took him back to Calgary. Over the years as his sight continued to deteriorate, Jason’s music increasingly became a source of income and healing.
“I travelled and played music, mostly busking, but I’ve been asked to play at venues.”
Jason played everywhere from Vancouver to Niagara Falls. He put out a CD and two of his songs hit number one on the Independent Music Charts on MP3.com.
Jason eventually came back to the Shuswap. One day, after a service at the Shuswap Community Church, he met Patti Trekofski.
“She stole my heart. I kept asking her to marry me and she finally said yes,” he says smiling.
Patti is a long-time resident of Salmon Arm but she was born in Edmonton and spent two years in Texas while her parents attended Bible school and four years in Brazil where her parents did missionary work.
She has a lot of connections to Salmon Arm, being related to the Rizzi, Plett, Schalm and Zieber families.
Patti, who works part-time at Factor 3, had been married twice before and wasn’t planning to marry again. And then she met Jason.
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“I don’t know what happened, I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I was attracted by his joy in life. Although he is blind, he was fine with it. He loved life and it drew me like a magnet.”
There was something about Patti that attracted Jason but it was a simple sentence that clinched it.
“I bumped into her accidentally and she said, ‘That’s okay, I don’t mind if you bump into me.’ And I knew….”
“I said, ‘You can bump into me anytime,” says Patti laughing.
“It was very endearing and I fell in love,” says Jason. “She had her own apprehensions and it took some time, convincing and prayer – and we got married. I’ve never been happier. I’ve never been more joyous than I am now.”
Jason is working on his second CD. Patti is learning about digital recording and teaching herself to be a sound engineer.
“It’s a learning curve for me. It’s very challenging,” says Patti.
“Most of the songs are messages of hope, some about life experiences, some Christian songs and some fun ones,” says Jason.
Meanwhile he teaches himself about three new songs a week so he can play a greater variety of songs while he is busking.
He can play anything from Gordon Lightfoot, Bryan Adams and Elvis Presley to Milli Vanilli and Corey Hart – and the people of Salmon Arm seem to appreciate it.
“People say they’re glad I’m here,” says Jason. “They’re wonderful, very nice and kind.”
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