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There is no telling what people can do when they put their heads together, hammer out a plan and call on the pioneer spirit of their ancestors to give them hope no matter how impossible the odds. In Ogema, a flyspeck of a town in southern Saskatchewan whose name means "big chief" in Cree, residents faced an almost insurmountable problem. Simply put, their town – not unlike many small communities in rural Canada – was in danger of disappearing from the landscape.
In spite of its dwindling economy and an exodus of jobs, something else was at work in Ogema: good old-fashioned community spirit. "Volunteerism is part of the culture of Saskatchewan," says Wayne Myren, who was born in Ogema, owns the local Napa Auto Parts store and also happens to be the town's mayor. "All our parents were immigrants. To survive, they had to work well with others."
To say the tiny prairie town's officials and citizens have been successful in working together is an understatement in the extreme. In 2008 – competing shoulder to shoulder with cities the size of Johannesburg – Ogema won a silver medal in the United Nation's International Awards for Liveable Communities. Carol Peterson, who sells insurance, headstones and GICs, as well as running a car wash and serving on 10 community committees, says, "Once you've had one success, the next one is that much easier to get." And lately Ogema is having its share, attracting industry, growing its population and making the most of its greatest asset – its people.
Ogema's bleak past
The outlook wasn't always so rosy. Back in the late 1980s, Ogema's future looked bleak. The provincial power company, the grain elevators and the railroad were all in the process of moving out or closing down, and Ogema's population had dropped from 510 to less than 300.
The families who stayed put – many of them fourth- or fifth-generation grain farmers – had a tough choice to make. They could join the migration north to Regina, east to Weyburn or west to Assiniboia, and say goodbye to the place that had nurtured their forefathers. Or they could take a deep breath, call a meeting and figure out how to save their community. Fortunately, many chose the second option, dug in and got the town back on its feet.
Page 1 of 5 – Read how Ogema was able to succeed on Page 2
