CREMONA, Alta. – Joanne Pothier was getting ready for bed Jan. 31 when she glanced out the window to see her barn on fire.
She called the local fire department at 11 p.m. but it was too late. The old structure was soon engulfed in flames and there was no chance to save the ewes, goats, geese and barn cats trapped inside. It was a tragedy for Pothier, who raises mostly sheep on her quarter section farm west of Cremona.
“I lost all my tools, lumber, everything,” she said.
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Working alone and with no insurance on the old building, she was in a state of shock as she sifted through the twisted metal remains and tried to measure the full extent of her loss.
Help came from members of her local church, who rallied round and planned a barn raising bee six weeks later.
Materials, time and labour were donated by friends and neighbours, who gathered at the farm during the last weekend of March to raise a canvas covered barn with secure walls and large doors that open on both ends.
Snow squalls throughout the day and cold winds did not deter barn builders from screwing together metal frames, hammering nails and doing the heavy lifting, while Pothier tended to her animals in a temporary shelter.
“Volunteerism is catching,” friend Lynn Reid said as he helped set posts and lift the frames.
The final structure is 36 feet wide by 72 feet long and 22 feet high, providing ample pen space for lambs and ewes ready to give birth. The floor will remain dirt for easier cleaning and drainage.
As Pothier and Reid watched the doors being installed and listened to the chatter of the workers, they had nothing but praise for farmer ingenuity, considering the barn came with no instructions.
“They all have their own way of doing things and it’ll get done. They’ve done a good job,” she said.
