Friends and former students of Lyell Gustin took the opportunity to visit Gustin House on May 31 between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., the first of several scheduled "visiting times" which will take place in 2005.  At times, there were line-ups at the front door as guests signed in and took time to renew acquaintances in the familiar verandah.  Visitors came from numerous out-of-town points, including Vancouver, Victoria, and Powell River, BC; Calgary, Edmonton and Manyberries, AB; Winnipeg; Brantford and Waterloo, Ontario; and numerous centres in Saskatchewan including Regina, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Yorkton, Biggar, Kindersley, Meadow Lake, Bruno, Shellbrook, Riverhurst, Cut Knife, Langham, and Kenaston. 

The very first arrival announced herself as a Gustin student of the 1930s: now 90 years old, she had heard the CBC's Jennifer Robinson interview Gregory Schulte on "Afternoon Edition" on May 30; she was able to attend the opening events thanks to a niece who brought her to Saskatoon from Shellbrook. Though vision-impaired, she took her place at the grand piano and played "Waltz in A-flat" by Johannes Brahms! "I used to come here by train from Kenaston when I was a young girl," she said. "It is a highlight in my life to come back to the studio of my wonderful teacher, Lyell Gustin." The photos below show the restored interior which visitors saw, and the evening's first guest, Esther (Hoffman) Lundy, at the grand in Gustin House.