Growing up in a Forest Community
June 24, 2013 1:17 pm Leave your thoughts
I have decided to take this particular entry in a separate direction from my previous blog posts, which had mostly been examining characteristics and responsibilities that were both encompassed by and related to the forest industry. In this post, I would like to shed light on what it has been like growing up in a community that is heavily influenced by the forestry sector and what I had and had not realized about this industry.
I have actually lived in Whitecourt for the majority of my life (since I was about 8). Now I, as most every child and teenager, took much of my life for granted, or at least had not examined it to an acceptable extent. My curiosity was never piqued in something that remained constant, rather, it was just the opposite. Looking back, I had only viewed the company I am currently employed by, Millar Western, as a large factory that was located off in the corner of town. I vaguely knew it had something to do with wood and pulp. Neither had I given much thought to the surrounding abundance of natural forests and overall environment, or how they affected the functioning of my hometown.
As a teenager, my dad and I would snowmobile regularly. From our house, we would leave and drive our sleds to a forest immediately behind our house and traverse the trails located within it. We would then hook up with the McLeod river and be able to get to wherever we wanted to go via its frozen surface. Conveniently enough (or so I thought), the river was almost always frozen, so travel across it was never an issue. To my surprise, I recently discovered that Millar Western had an agreement with the local snowmobile club to refrain from discharging its clean effluent into the river so as to not melt the ice. This fact is just the tip of the cooperative iceberg that makes a forest related town such a great place to live in.
An overhead view of the McLeod River
Another more recent example relates to the fact that I like to work out. I exercise at the local recreational centre, which has a great gym. I typically go every day after work, so five times a week. Millar Western happened to provide a large donation towards its construction and the center was subsequently named after Allan and Jean Millar. Mr. and Mrs. Millar were members of the Millar family, which started the company in the early 1900s and owns it to this day. I had always just thought to myself, “Oh yeah…. another company has its name on a building…” Now I can fully appreciate the fact that the forest industry, in this case Millar Western, really tries to give back to the community and help it grow. I am sure that this situation is replicated in most other forest based communities around the country.
An outside view of the Allan & Jean Millar Centre
It was only last year during my summer job at the local water treatment plant that I started to grasp the magnitude of the impact of forestry-focused companies and, essentially, industries on communities. As some of you may know, a pulp mill requires quite a large amount of water to operate. About 25 years ago, when the pulp mill was built, Millar Western constructed a new state-of-the-art pump house on the river to satisfy the needs of the new mill. Because it was superior to the municipal pump, Millar Western and the Town of Whitecourt made a deal. In exchange for total access and use of Millar Western’s new pump house, the Town agreed to staff, operate and maintain it. This, in turn, allowed the town more operational flexibility. I had always simply assumed that the water needs of the town and the company were separate, but, as this story illustrates, it is another example of how the local forest industry cooperates in a major way with the local community.
I hope this brief look at a typical forest community has improved your opinion of “little rundown towns in the middle of nowhere.” These communities are actually amazing places to raise a family, to build satisfying careers and just to live in!
Until next time,
Patrick Pickard