Small Stories of Success from Rural Communities

Small Stories of Success from Rural Communities

Last week I attended the Saskatchewan Economic Development Association (SEDA) 2019 Intersections for Growth Conference in Regina.

I heard about lot of really neat things happening in rural communities.

Ronnie the Hawk

For example, I heard about how the mascot for the local Junior “A” Hockey team is helping to promote tourism. Ronnie the Hawk was created years ago by the local Lion’s Club. The Nipawin Hawks have come off quite a successful season, but all things must come to an end. When it was time to put Ronnie away for the season, he told the local Economic & Tourism Development Coordinator that he was wishing he was fishing. Well maybe it was the other way around. Regardless, Ronnie accompanied the team to the Parkland Outdoor Show & Expo in Yorkton. People from all over knew Ronnie – apparently he was quite a partier back in the day. He was a great conversation starter. #WishingIwasFishing

And for those of you who aren’t familiar with Nipawin – the fishing there is world class!

Not another “rink burger”

Here’s a great story about how, with some assistance from the Economic Development Director, a group of Filipino ladies came together to do a catering project and how that grew into them winning the food services provider contract at the local arena. Can you imagine how popular the Filipino food was in this rural Saskatchewan arena? No, you don’t have to have another “rink burger!” There were some lessons learned along the way – one being that Canadians eat larger quantities of food than they had anticipated. Additionally, these Filipino ladies did not understand playoffs, but the local Economic Development Director worked with them throughout the playoff season to help them know when they might need to be open and how much food they might need to prepare.

The Bethany

We also heard from Lindsay Alliban, the Hazlet Economic Development Officer, who with a business partner bought a decommissioned church. This took this abandoned asset and began refurbishing it. While they still have work to do, such as bringing in running water, they’ve turned this abandoned church into a music venue! They also display artwork, and have hosted other events such as yoga retreats. The really amazing part of all this is that Hazlet is a community with a population of 100 and it’s at the end of the road.
I can’t wait to check The Bethany out in person. www.thebethany.ca

Keep making your community great! And a shout out to the Economic Development Professionals who are helping make that happen.