At first glance, the town doesn’t look different from other southern Saskatchewan communities. Hard hit by the pressures of urbanization and the challenges facing the rural economy, Mortlach seemed destined to slowly erode away.
But something else is happening here. A story of inspiration, revitalization and renewed economic activity is shaping up — where no limits apply and the future is truly wide open.
Look no further than to Kelly Sapergia and his KJS Productions. The young, visually impaired entrepreneur produces jingles, audio logos and presentations for a variety of clients. He reviews technology products and computer games for the blind. He has also tested the latest audio book reader made by a Quebec company, and he looks after the village Web site.
“There is this great attitude in town. Everybody is accessible and always looking for ways to improve the quality of life for everyone. I think the key is the spirit of collaboration between the citizens, the business and the community services organizations.”
Rhonda Haukaas is the events coordinator for the Community Development Association.
“We asked ourselves what we could do to keep growing? We started small. We identified a few buildings that needed a fresh coat of paint. The Community Hall was one of those. We actually put in a ceiling mounted video projector and an audio system which the Village acquired for business presentations — all of a sudden we had conference facilities in Mortlach.”
The village went on to access new computers for the library and hooked them up to hi-speed Internet. New investors opened a western-themed restaurant and added a bed and breakfast component on the second floor of a local heritage building.
Last year, First Nations entrepreneur Kallie Bossence, who was raised in the village, opened a Fine Foods grocery store to which she added a hair salon and a state-of-the-art fitness centre on the second floor with 140 enrolled members. There is a bakery, a coffee shop, a liquor franchise and a beer store as well as a Rogers’ video concession in the premises. Asked if this wasn’t a bit of a gamble, she answers:
“Yes. But that’s what has to be done when we are all trying to revitalize our area. We have a new K-12 school in the village, which my four kids attend. Our population may be 350, but we are probably drawing in around 1,500 people when we include the surrounding communities.
Bossence plans to add a gas station to her business complex in May, to take advantages of a new opportunity she identified.
“Last summer, we were getting between four and 10 people a day stopping by to ask for gas. We will soon have both diesel and regular gas with more convenient hours than other stations in our sector — we’ll be open from 6 AM to 9PM in the winter and perhaps a little later in the summer.”
Tracy Gardner runs the Crocus Ridge Gallery, a beautifully converted 1906 church full of Saskatchewan crafts.
“When the church closed, other villages approached us with a view to acquiring the building. We thought we could still use it and opened the Gallery in 2002. Last year we doubled our 2003 sales. When the gas station opens up downtown, it will have a huge impact for us because of the increased traffic we will get off the highway. Another factor to keep in mind is that with the increased speed limit, we are well within commuting distance of Moose Jaw.”
In fact, finding a house for sale in Mortlach is a bit of a challenge these days, and probably indicative of the town promoter’s success. Rhonda Haukaas not only organizes Christmas carolling events at the village square, she has also been running Haukaas Manufacturing with her husband Greg for the last 25 years out of their family farm. It employs 12 to 15 full-time staff from the village and surrounding communities.
“We export side-arm field markers for farm equipment to China, Russia, Israel, Ukraine and Australia, but we started out commercializing stabilizers for pull-type swathers — one of Greg’s father’s ideas — which we first introduced at the Farm Progress Show in 1982. We have basically identified an opportunity and we are constantly thinking of new markets to explore.”
It is not unlike Rhonda Haukaas to pool her vision for Mortlach’s future with that of her fellow citizens. Village beautification became a priority when Mortlach embarked on a major tree-planting initiative; a wooden-sidewalk laying project; painted the heritage fire hall and put some interlocking bricks into the village square.
Mortlach is all about character — past and present. Restoring it to its original splendour has been the mission of Mayor Ron Locke and a determined group of local folks in and around the village. The closer one looks, the more, it seems, there is to discover in Mortlach.
Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Click here for more information on Saskatchewan
But something else is happening here. A story of inspiration, revitalization and renewed economic activity is shaping up — where no limits apply and the future is truly wide open.
Look no further than to Kelly Sapergia and his KJS Productions. The young, visually impaired entrepreneur produces jingles, audio logos and presentations for a variety of clients. He reviews technology products and computer games for the blind. He has also tested the latest audio book reader made by a Quebec company, and he looks after the village Web site.
“There is this great attitude in town. Everybody is accessible and always looking for ways to improve the quality of life for everyone. I think the key is the spirit of collaboration between the citizens, the business and the community services organizations.”
Rhonda Haukaas is the events coordinator for the Community Development Association.
“We asked ourselves what we could do to keep growing? We started small. We identified a few buildings that needed a fresh coat of paint. The Community Hall was one of those. We actually put in a ceiling mounted video projector and an audio system which the Village acquired for business presentations — all of a sudden we had conference facilities in Mortlach.”
The village went on to access new computers for the library and hooked them up to hi-speed Internet. New investors opened a western-themed restaurant and added a bed and breakfast component on the second floor of a local heritage building.
Last year, First Nations entrepreneur Kallie Bossence, who was raised in the village, opened a Fine Foods grocery store to which she added a hair salon and a state-of-the-art fitness centre on the second floor with 140 enrolled members. There is a bakery, a coffee shop, a liquor franchise and a beer store as well as a Rogers’ video concession in the premises. Asked if this wasn’t a bit of a gamble, she answers:
“Yes. But that’s what has to be done when we are all trying to revitalize our area. We have a new K-12 school in the village, which my four kids attend. Our population may be 350, but we are probably drawing in around 1,500 people when we include the surrounding communities.
Bossence plans to add a gas station to her business complex in May, to take advantages of a new opportunity she identified.
“Last summer, we were getting between four and 10 people a day stopping by to ask for gas. We will soon have both diesel and regular gas with more convenient hours than other stations in our sector — we’ll be open from 6 AM to 9PM in the winter and perhaps a little later in the summer.”
Tracy Gardner runs the Crocus Ridge Gallery, a beautifully converted 1906 church full of Saskatchewan crafts.
“When the church closed, other villages approached us with a view to acquiring the building. We thought we could still use it and opened the Gallery in 2002. Last year we doubled our 2003 sales. When the gas station opens up downtown, it will have a huge impact for us because of the increased traffic we will get off the highway. Another factor to keep in mind is that with the increased speed limit, we are well within commuting distance of Moose Jaw.”
In fact, finding a house for sale in Mortlach is a bit of a challenge these days, and probably indicative of the town promoter’s success. Rhonda Haukaas not only organizes Christmas carolling events at the village square, she has also been running Haukaas Manufacturing with her husband Greg for the last 25 years out of their family farm. It employs 12 to 15 full-time staff from the village and surrounding communities.
“We export side-arm field markers for farm equipment to China, Russia, Israel, Ukraine and Australia, but we started out commercializing stabilizers for pull-type swathers — one of Greg’s father’s ideas — which we first introduced at the Farm Progress Show in 1982. We have basically identified an opportunity and we are constantly thinking of new markets to explore.”
It is not unlike Rhonda Haukaas to pool her vision for Mortlach’s future with that of her fellow citizens. Village beautification became a priority when Mortlach embarked on a major tree-planting initiative; a wooden-sidewalk laying project; painted the heritage fire hall and put some interlocking bricks into the village square.
Mortlach is all about character — past and present. Restoring it to its original splendour has been the mission of Mayor Ron Locke and a determined group of local folks in and around the village. The closer one looks, the more, it seems, there is to discover in Mortlach.
Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Click here for more information on Saskatchewan
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