Eston has autism. He's well known around town, partly through Eston's Crazy Corn (a popcorn business he and his mom started during COVID), and partly just for being himself: a happy guy that everyone knows. When Nathan needed a name for the facility, he chose his nephew’s, with the hope of bringing some awareness to autism and showing people that anything's possible.
Eston's Place has grown each year and has evolved into a go-to summer destination. Families come to spend time together, get some physical activity, and of course, grab some ice cream. In a town where, as Nathan puts it, “there hasn't always been much to do,” Eston's Place is quietly changing that.
Everything else happened relatively organically. A hot food shack went up. A beach volleyball court followed. A league started. Somewhere along the way, a driving range became a place where the whole community belonged.
A lot of that growth traces back to Nathan's knack for marketing. He livestreams from the facility, testing new ice cream flavours, promoting specials, and showing people what's happening on any given day. Nathan's also the entrepreneur behind iopps.ca, a digital media portal and streaming service built to empower Indigenous success, helping people find jobs, events, livestreams, and community opportunities.
That reach and reputation is part of why, this July, Eston's Place became a host site for the 2026 Tony Cote Summer Games. The Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs needed beach volleyball courts and a space that could handle a crowd, and Eston's Place delivered both, hosting the sport competitions and the Games' closing ceremonies. Visitors who'd never been there were blown away, and many told Nathan it was one of the nicest facilities they'd seen host a Games event.
It's a reminder of something communities across Saskatchewan are increasingly discovering, that hosting events takes real infrastructure. The Games brought a wave of visitors through North Battleford for a week, and Eston's Place absorbed a good share of that traffic. Business at the facility has stayed elevated since then, with groups now regularly booking the courts.
That's the piece that is easy to miss in a story about a driving range: a locally owned recreation facility like this is also economic infrastructure. It gives a community the capacity to host something bigger than itself, and it keeps dollars, visitors, and attention in town even after the event ends.
As more Saskatchewan communities come to see recreation infrastructure as a condition of economic readiness, stories like this one are worth paying attention to. How a driving range with a set of beach volleyball courts became part of a community's ability to host a large-scale event, along with all the lasting economic benefits that came with it.
Nathan’s already planning the next chapter. Batting cages are in the works, along with more volleyball tournaments through the summer. The biggest addition will be the first annual Eston's Games this fall, with the opening day set for athletes with disabilities to participate. It's a fitting next step for a facility that started with one person in mind, but has grown into a space that keeps finding ways to bring new people in.
Learn more about Eston's Place at
https://estonsplace.ca/
