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Manyberries looking to oilpatch
Manyberries
Medicine Hat News
More likely than not, 2009 will be remembered as a rough year for the hamlet of Manyberries.
In June 2009, the Prairie Rose school board voted to close the 99 year-old Manyberries School, due to declining enrolment numbers. Only 13 students were set to attend classes during the fall term, down from 17 the previous year.
Ron Harty, the County of Forty Mile councillor responsible for Manyberries, says the closure was a shock to the close-knit hamlet of less than 100.
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“It's definitely going to be hard on the community,” Harty says. “As far as population goes, younger families aren't going to stay there. If they need a school they're going to move into communities that have schools."
But, he says, the community isn’t ready to give up yet. The hamlet built a new fire hall in 2009, and acquired a new fire truck for its volunteer fire department as well.
"They're doing what they can,” Harty says. “If there's anything they can do, they're the type of community that would do it... They're looking out for each other all the time, and they try to keep everyone going, and they do a very good job of it."
The Manyberries Community Club organizes several events throughout the year, including a Halloween dance and an annual chili cook-off, which draws a number of Medicine Hat participants. The Manyberries Southeast Agricultural Society Country Fair held annually in the summer also attracts visitors from the surrounding area.
A few residents commute to Medicine Hat each morning for work, but the majority of the population is employed in the local oil and gas, farming and ranching sectors. Oil and gas, Harty says, are especially crucial to the hamlet’s growth, which has dropped off in recent years.
“If anything oil and gas happens they'll start growing again,” he says. “I think things would pick up again if this oil patch would pick up."
53771200•03/30/10
20 — REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 2010 ■ Celebrating our Community
ABC 82697 2/2010
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