Speaking as if channelling the spirit of the original settlers is actually possible in Ogema, Andrew likes to point out a telling local landmark, the town's heritage fire wall. It was built in 1915, after a devastating fire destroyed the wooden buildings on the east side of Main Street.
"The community applied for a provincial bond to build the wall, and it was refused because authorities said the wall wouldn’t last five years," says Andrew. But in typical Ogema fashion, the community went ahead and built it anyway. Constructed for $1,300 with red brick, Ogema’s unofficial monument to volunteerism is 40 centimetres thick, 21 metres long, nine metres high and another two deep into the ground. And just like this town and its people, it is still standing strong today.
As this story went to print Wayne Myren, the mayor of Ogema, told Canadian Living Magazine: "World issues have adversely affected the hog industry in our province and we are doing everything in our power to support Big Sky Farms in these tough times. At this point, there have been no layoffs in Ogema. It's business as usual. Even though we have concerns that this could negatively impact our development plans, we don't feel that it is insurmountable."
If you go...
Located in southern Saskatchewan, Ogema is about a 75-minute drive from Regina. here are a few attractions worth the trip.
• Ogema's pioneer museum has 29 restored heritage buildings. the town holds its annual Pioneer Days celebration in July.
• The Ogema fair, now in its 95th year, is also held in July.
• The British American station, built in 1925, is the only heritage gas station in western Canada and possibly the only one in Canada. "It's the original 'corner gas,'" says Ogema's mayor, Wayne Myren.
• The sports hall of fame pays tribute to Ogema residents such as Arlene Johnson Noga, who played third base on the All-American girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1948.
• To replace the original Canadian Pacific railway station, the community purchased a sister station from Simpson, Sask., in 2002, moved it to Ogema and restored it. It serves as a centre that displays pictures and artifacts and tells stories of how the rail line affected all the rural communities in the area.
• The Ogema Tour Train Project: tracking time in the new millennium is the town transportation committee’s current initiative to operate a steam or diesel locomotive on their rail line so that tourists can ride the rails through the local history and into the southern badlands. the project will have its official opening in 2012.
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