LACOMBE, Alta. — Possibly one of the world’s largest equipment centres, the Pentagon Farm Centre in Lacombe, began in 1982 with five people sitting around a kitchen table trying to figure out what to call their new venture. The five decided to call the new company Pentagon. Today, Brian Williams, owner of Pentagon, said he […] Read more
Author Archives
Sask.’s connection to the road to nowhere
Former Saskatchewan residents learn to live with the challenges that come with moving to remote Nunavut
IQALUIT, Nunavut — Ever try ordering something on Amazon when your address is The Road to nowhere? That’s the sort of challenge people living in Iqaluit, on Frobisher Bay in Nunavut’s Baffin Island, have when they try ordering something from the “outside world,” said Karren McCartney. “There are no roads leading out of towns up […] Read more
Nordegg: the Alta. ghost town that came alive
Tourists can tour the remains of the coal processing plant and loading facilities as well as historical buildings
NORDEGG, Alta. — Deep in the heavily forested hillsides of the foothills of the Canadian Rockies lie the remains of the old coal mining site of Nordegg, an hour’s drive west of Rocky Mountain House, Alta. Martin Nordegg, a German businessperson started to develop a coal mine around 1901. With German, British and Belgian investors, […] Read more
B.C.’s historic K2 Ranch has colourful history
The ranch, which was founded in 1898, still custom grazes 300 cattle on its meadowlands during the summer
INVERMERE, B.C. — In a meadow on a long laneway off the Westbank road south of Invermere sits British Columbia’s historic K2 Ranch. Founded in 1898 by rancher and Paradise Mine prospector Tom “Blanket” Jones, the early ranch consisted of 640 acres of forests and meadow lands. The original name of the ranch was named […] Read more
Old church comes alive with candle light service
MIRROR, Alta. — A congregation breathed life into an abandoned northeastern Alberta church by holding a candlelight Christmas service this month. St. Monica’s Anglican log cabin church was built in Mirror and shut down 32 years ago but this summer area residents finished refurbishing it. In the 1990s, Mirror museum members took on the restoration […] Read more
Little remains of rural community
JACKFISH, Sask. — The road sign on Highway 26, the church with the historic bell and Rev. Father Leon Bondoux’s log cabin are all that remain of the once thriving Saskatchewan community of Jackfish. The first missionaries in the area were Oblates of Mary Immaculate, with Bondoux forming the first mission in 1890-92. Roman Catholic […] Read more
B.C.’s Windermere church has unscrupulous history
WINDEMERE, B.C. — It’s perhaps the most romantic tale of love and crime from the early days of B.C.’s Columbia Valley. St. Peter’s Church in Windermere, B.C., is known locally as the stolen church. In 1900, Rufus Kimpton, as a gesture of love for his wife, Celina, moved it via rail, wagon and riverboat from […] Read more
Saskatchewan’s longest trestle railway bridge
MESKANAW, Sask. — The steel tracks are gone now but the wooden railway trestle bridge remains along with the memories of a thriving community at Meskanaw, Sask. The last train crossed the bridge in 1979, and the trestle alongside Highway 41 has stood unused ever since. Constructed in 1929 to get the Canadian National Railway […] Read more
Habitat builds homes to break cycle of poverty
Vision is a world where everyone — despite a lower income — has a safe and decent place to call home
LACOMBE, Alta. — Habitat Red Deer has 193 low-income families from central Alberta needing a place to call their own. Susan Smith, the chief executive officer of Habitat Canada who recently visited one of the organization’s building sites in Lacombe, said they are part of the 1.6 million Canadians needing affordable housing. “Although I work […] Read moreCity folk learn and enjoy at family farm
Mount Albert, Ont. – The Brooks family is in the business of growing fun. They used to run a typical southern Ontario 100 acre farm growing corn and hay for a small beef operation. “Our farm is now a major fun and educational attraction for kids 85 and younger,” said Alvin Brooks. In 1991, he […] Read more
