KERROBERT — Kerrobert has had a few weeks to clean up after a major windstorm came through. This storm caused some significant damage throughout the town with many large trees uprooted, branches and debris scattered everywhere. A few holiday campers were flipped over, one business lost the roof of one of their buildings and a few kilometres worth of power poles were snapped in half causing Kerrobert to be without power for that day and part of the next day as well.
The cleanup started immediately. Town workers and citizens came out in large numbers with chainsaws, trucks and trailers and whatever equipment they could offer to assist. It was not surprising but obviously great to see our community come together to help and work together to get everything cleaned up. The town offered to leave the landfill open for extra hours and days to allow somewhere for people to take all the cut branches and other debris. The town is looking great, and I want to thank everyone for coming together to make that happen.
I also want to thank our local Kinsmen along with Baker Hughes, which is an oilfield chemical company in the area, who came together to offer up a free barbecue of hamburgers and hotdogs for our community and everyone else who came out to help.
Kerrobert is blessed with the Kinsmen, who always step up for our community when a need arises. The were instrumental in Kerrobert recently getting a new and much-needed Handi-bus. They run the bar at all the events at our community hall, they are always willing to help when the town is in need such as we were after this storm. Oil companies such as Baker Hughes, Enbridge and many other companies in our area step up to assist with different needs and events in our community, as many of our citizens work for these companies. They aren't just important for creating the energy we all need and benefit from, but they also roll up their sleeves to put on barbecues, help clean up or build something and open their wallets for sponsorships, helping support different groups in town. We are truly grateful to have their support.
A return to normal results in activities again in town
I would say Kerrobert has moved on to normal activities since the pandemic began. We had gone a long time without having community events, but this summer has been evident of a community moving forward. Things kicked off with the opening of our courthouse time capsule June 23. The time capsule was found in the corner stone to much surprise, but surely a welcome one. It was opened and found to have a stack of newspapers, a photo captioned Wilson and Wilson, which was the company that built the courthouse, several articles and a variety of coins from 1920. It was fun waiting and listening to residents of all ages trying to figure out what the capsule contained before it had finally been opened after it was placed there 102 years ago.
Kerrobert then saw the return of the Kerrobert Rodeo. The event made a triumphant return in early July with good crowds and provided great family entertainment.
The next big event was the Kerrobert Kinsmen Show and Shine, which this year brought out the 2022 Miles of Mayhem. Miles of Mayhem travels each year with dozens and dozens of cars and trucks which this year made a stop in Kerrobert. Each vehicle stopped up and took a picture in front of the courthouse/Kerrobert Cultural Centre then proceeded to go down beside the arena for residents to enjoy.
Kerrobert and surrounding area residents came out in large numbers to enjoy a full day and evening of seeing all these fantastic vehicles and were also treated to local entertainment and a barbecue. No restrictions and everyone with big smiles out and about enjoying what life has to offer was a major takeaway for the event.
The smiles didn't stop there. The kids in town received a visit from Sprinkles the Clown Aug. 17 with her puppets along with her, providing entertainment for the kids at a poolside party. We then had the circus in town Aug, 18, and the kids came out with their friends and families to enjoy the entertainment. The kids also had a visit from the local fire department earlier the same day, which is always a treat for the kids. Our department is always willing to come out and help with fun events for the kids and our community in general. Thank you to businesses, groups and residents that step up to make our community the best it can be.
To close out, I wanted to say Kerrobert Cultural Center steps are well underway to getting done. The first portion of the cementing was completed Aug. 18 and will be fully completed by the time fall rolls around. The paving crews will be in town after the September long weekend, and we expect the paving will be completed by the end of September or early October. As a reminder, please keep the streets clear of vehicles and trailers so the paving crews can complete the work as efficiently as possible.
