You can't beat small town living

By Drew Fossum

   If you follow the Highway 2 south from Moose Jaw, over the rise and fall of the Cactus Hills, and around the southern shore of Old Wives Lake, you will see little but cultivated fields, endless pasture, and the occasional farmstead. This same road used to be dominated by small towns, but Mossbank is one of few that remain. The rest have ceased to exist.
    In Mossbank, though, there is a vibrant community jockeying to stay alive. As the province’s economy surges with oil exploration across the south of Saskatchewan and potash companies post record profits, the time to build their community is upon them.
    No one champions this louder than Mossbank’s upbeat mayor, Carl Weiss. He left for Calgary in search of work years ago but migrated back to Saskatchewan in the early 2000’s.
    “When I came back here I had retired and I thought this is a time to take it easy,” Weiss reminisced as he leaned back into a plush leather chair at the Mossbank town office. Upon return he quickly realized that things “looked very grim.” Weiss decided to help the community’s revival, first on town council and then as the mayor.  
    Since then, Mossbank has had a reversal of fortunes. After decades of emigration from the region, the town’s population has recorded multiple years of growth.
    The provincial department of health publishes yearly statistics of people eligible for health insurance across Saskatchewan. In Mossbank the yearly report listed 394 in 2005 and 489 in 2010, an increase of 19 per cent.
    Weiss attributes this growth to the province’s prosperity. “We are a ‘have’ province, With that the smaller areas have grown. We’ve grown here,” Weiss said.
      “Young people, when they get out of high school and they don’t want to go on to university, they are finding jobs at home. They are working on the oil fields. They are staying here in Saskatchewan and they don’t all buy homes here but they are buying homes around in the area,” he said.
    As well as keeping young people in the community, Weiss said several tradesmen have moved into the area and are thriving. He believes that if the town is to keep moving forward it needs to keep local businesses and attract a few new ones.
    Brad Nagle couldn’t agree more. He knows his store's survival rests upon a thriving town. As Mossbank’s youngest business owner, his stake in the community goes far beyond his pocket book.
    When his store, Hat Trick Grocery, burnt down three years ago, he did not consider leaving. “We could have left the hole in the ground and not have paid any taxes, and put our money in our pocket and been done with it,” Nagle said. The loss of a grocery store would have been a huge set back for the small community.
    But looking past his loyalty to Mossbank, Nagel admits it’s not easy running a store in a small town. “You see milk being sold for four bucks in the city knowing that we can’t even get it off the milk truck for that,” he said.  For his business, every day is a battle with the city of Moose Jaw just a half hour drive away.
    To compete with the superstores, Hat Trick Foods offers everything they can to bring the people in, from meat to dry goods. They operate a small bakery and offer a hot lunch every Wednesday, feeding 30 to 50 people.
    As for room for growth in Mossbank, Nagle agrees the town could use a few more small businesses - but he sees the key to Mossbank’s future lies elsewhere.
    “There has to be something to be said for even just living in a small town. Maybe you don’t work here. Maybe you drive to Moose Jaw (for work),” said Nagle. “(In Mossbank) You get more ice time in your rink. You get more personal care at school. Your kid is not in a class of 50, he is in a class of 10.”
    Marketing small town life may be the saving grace for not only those wishing to escape the city, but for those already living in Mossbank. The town might lack a variety of restaurants, theatres, and coffee shops but it makes up for this with a quality of life only found in tight-knit communities.
    Brad Nagle sits back in his chair with a cup of coffee and smiles. He sees the difference in simple terms. If you want to move to the city then do it, he chuckles, but be prepared because “you’re not going to know anybody if you need help with something. It’s not as easy as yelling out the door ‘Hey come give me a hand and lift this!”’