Diane Rogers

ST. BENEDICT, Sask. – Last year this small town of 105 people, located an hour and a half drive east of Saskatoon, could have died. The school was closed, the grain elevator shut down and the only coffee shop in town closed its doors along with the post office when the owner left town. But […] Read more

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A teacher and a nurse, both aware of job shedding in their professions, were among women wanting to start their own businesses. “I was a teacher but I won’t get back on. I’m looking for a new direction,” said one woman after attending a provincial entrepreneurship seminar devoted to women. Another […] Read more

SASKATOON – The moving vans have not been sent to the RCMP detachment in Craik, Sask. yet. The town, situated about midway between Regina and Saskatoon, is one of several slated to lose its police presence under a proposal released in August by the RCMP who want to cut costs in the province. Meetings have […] Read more

SASKATOON – The letters are piling up in the farmhouse in Conquest, Sask. where Barb Gibson operates the remnants of the National Rural Child Care Coalition. Funding for the two-year-old group was axed from the federal government’s budget in March after a switch in human resource department ministers. Gibson, who was president of the coalition, […] Read more

SASKATOON – The words may be heresy to his fellow organic farmers but Alvin Scheresky stands behind them. After receiving a lifetime achievement award in June from the Canadian Health Food Association, Scheresky said his colleagues in organic farming can be too pure. “Modern organic farmers have a closed mind to inputs.” The Oxbow, Sask. […] Read more

ELDERSLEY, Sask. – The bright red geraniums won’t wilt or die in the frost on Pat Shemko’s garden shed. And the twining flowered vine in her bathroom never falls off its trellis. The abundant vegetation around her Country Pioneer Style vacation home is partly real and partly the result of her painting. Although Pat says […] Read more

SOUTHEY, Sask. – Others may regard Don Scott as the king of the gnomes, but he considers himself a person who likes to keep busy. He, his wife Millie and son Daniel have been turning out lawn ornaments for four years and selling them from a Regina greenhouse which they also own. The lawn and […] Read more

SASKATOON – No school boards should be forced to merge with others, says the president of the Concerned Rural School Trustees. The Saskatchewan government may be rushing divisions before they’re ready, said Larry Caswell, a farmer and three-term trustee in the Swift Current, Sask. area. Voluntary amalgamations are fine, but public consultations that end in […] Read more

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – As pedigreed seed growers in the gently rolling land in northeastern British Columbia, Garry and Judy Scott are always aware of the rules peering over their shoulders. “Purity is everything,” said Garry, who pointed out the Peace region’s isolation has meant fewer disease problems compared to those faced by pedigreed seed […] Read more

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – One of the effective recruiters for the British Columbia Women’s Institute is the young husband who encourages his new wife to join. As a dozen members of BCWI rose to tell the convention what worked in their district to bring in new members, one noted the contribution of rural husbands who […] Read more