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.
