SASKATOON – A decade after the school closed in Margo, Sask., a census found that 90 people were left in the village and most were senior citizens.
The school had had two teachers and 12 students from kindergarten to Grade 12 when it closed.
But today the village has re-energized itself.
Dawn Wallin, a member of the University of Manitoba’s education faculty and originally from Margo studied how the loss of the school changed her hometown.
She interviewed residents and organizations and concluded that while the village has challenges, it has not died.
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She told a session of the National Congress on Rural Education in Canada that good things have happened in the past few years.
There are no vacant houses in Margo. Americans bought some of them to use on their annual hunting trips, farmers retired to the village and a cottage resort sprang up at Margo Lake.
The building activity plus renovations on cottages at the nearby flooded Fishing Lake brought work to tradespeople and construction businesses.
Alberta’s oil bust and Saskatchewan’s surging economy brought young people and their families back home. As well, farmland prices have been rising as China becomes interested in the land for growing crops for its population.
However, the biggest boost has come from planning for the village’s centennial.
Margo’s homecoming celebration will be held in July and residents have been painting, planting and sprucing up the place and organizing food, lodging and entertainment.
The town also hosts a choral event, a hockey tournament, Halloween dance and steak supper.
Wallin said one of the results of a shrinking population is more coordination among neighbouring small towns.
Invermay has the school, but other social events take place in nearby towns on a planned schedule to prevent overlap. Several community groups hold a monthly meeting on the same night.
“Everyone comes together on Monday night and you may have to listen to five financial reports, but afterward they co-ordinate their events.”
Not all is positive, however.
Wallin’s interviews found that the local leaders who head the recreation boards and other committees tend to be the same people. Several lamented that they need fresh people with new energy and ideas.
Seniors also talked about the loss of a generation between them and the 30 year olds who are returning to the village. The pace of modern life means everyone is busy working or driving their kids to activities, which leaves little time for old-fashioned socializing with neighbours.
Many people said they still volunteer to ensure the bake sales and sports opportunities are available for their children.
Others referred to an inheritance aspect. Their grandmother or auntie played organ in the church and now they do it too.
Wallin said women are the primary organizers in Margo, as they are in many communities.
She recounted her own experience of this tradition at a potluck supper.
“In my community, the woman who gets to make the gravy has a lot of power. WhenI went back to the town, I got to move tables and cut pies.”
