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Village of Munson pursues growth

munson hall

Munson is known as a stable consistent community, but the new council wants to start thinking about a bit of growth.
Steve Hayes is the new Mayor of Munson following the 2017 Municipal election, with a council that includes Bob Spencer and Kerry McLellan. While Hayes has served as a councilor for nine years, before taking a term off, this is his first time as mayor.
“It’s a great little village, we are trying to get a little bit of growth hopefully,” said Hayes. “We are hoping to get a bunch of younger families up here.”
He said when he was on council four years ago, he began to see this trend of younger families. The council was proactive and added some amenities including its rink and skateboard park.
“We just tried to make it a little more appealing for people who had kids up here that were young. We needed something to keep them here because they always wanted to go to town,” he said.
Over the last few years, the Village has seen some improvement including the new community hall.
“That has made a big difference. I sat on the Board of Directors on the hall for years, and from then until now, it is probably 300 times more utilized than it was before. It is unreal some of the functions we are getting,” he said. “It gets people coming to town and driving around and seeing the village. There are few rental properties and a few houses for sale.”
The village is also seeing the construction of a new fire hall and water fill station. This is to be located near Highway 9-56, outside the residential area of the village.
“We donated the land to Starland, and they are putting the building up. One of the benefits there is we are getting water transfer station for the farmer and heavy equipment out of town. They were wreaking havoc on our roads, so that was a benefit for us,” he said.
They are looking at resurfacing some of the roads in the village. This is the continuation of a program began a couple years ago, according to Hayes.


Firefighters awarded at Annual Awards Banquet, March 17

Keith Hodgson, right, was presented the Mayor’s Award for best percentage attendance to fire calls and practices. He received the award from Mayor Heather Colberg.

Keith Hodgson, right, was presented the Mayor’s Award for best percentage attendance to fire calls and practices. He received the award from Mayor Heather Colberg.

Rick Schinnour, right, was awarded the Rollie Yavis Award for extra effort around the hall. He was presented the award by Deputy Chief Duane Bolin. The award was named in honour of  long time fire captain, the late Rollie Yavis.

Rick Schinnour, right, was awarded the Rollie Yavis Award for extra effort around the hall. He was presented the award by Deputy Chief Duane Bolin. The award was named in honour of long time fire captain, the late Rollie Yavis.

 Zaynah Chomas, right, is the newest Drumheller Firefighter. She passed her six-month probation and is presented her mug by Chief Bruce Wade.

Zaynah Chomas, right, is the newest Drumheller Firefighter. She passed her six-month probation and is presented her mug by Chief Bruce Wade.

Standard’s Memory Lane celebrates local history

Cutline.  CHS Ag Service donated $25,000 to the Standard Community Facility Enhancement Society for the Memory Lane project. At the donation are (l-r) Society president Don Sundgaard,  Ben Waldner  of CHS,  society secretary Louise Welen, Mike Sauve and Mike Hira of CHS, Alan Larsen, Larry Casey, Moe Zaleschuk, Jackie Jensen and Joanne Petersen of the society. Missing is Ron Corbiell. mailphoto by Patrick Kolafa

The Standard Community Facility Enhancement Society got a boost from a local company for a trip down Memory Lane.
The Society is busy building Memory Lane and is in the second year of development. They are developing a stretch of land donated by the CPR in 1923. This land, approximately 100 feet wide by about a kilometre long will be developed with walking and cycling paths, and along the route artifacts and interpretation, celebrating the history of the village.
On Wednesday, September 27 CHS Ag Services, which has an office in the village, donated $25,000 to the project.
Don Sundgaard, president of the Standard Community Facility Enhancement Society, is grateful for the donation to the community. The project has been in the works for about three years, and this is year two of the development.
“Without asking they generously donated $25,000 to the project,” said Sundgaard. “We are grateful for the donations to help us along with the project because we can only go as far as money and volunteers go.”
Last year the project made headlines when a parcel of land, seed, and chemical was donated. The crop was harvested and they raised $85,000 for Memory Lane.
So far they have planted 40 trees, and have cut the pathway. There will be five bridges over waterways and the original speeder shed from CPR will be on site.
“It (the speeder shed) needs a lot of repairs, but being that it is the only original thing left from the CPR which came here in 1911, we thought we would make it part of the display,” said Sundgaard.
Along with the rail history, Memory Lane will also commemorate the coal mining history, the early local businesses, and pioneers that built the community.
The project has the capacity to grow and they are looking to a build a four-kilometre route that would encircle the community.


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