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White Fox to celebrate 90 years

WHITE FOX — In 1929, a man named Arthur Logan purchased the first lots in White Fox, and built a garage – starting the business district of what would become the village we know today.
White Fox C150
A file photo of White Fox celebrating Canada 150 in 2017. File photo by Devan C. Tasa

WHITE FOX — In 1929, a man named Arthur Logan purchased the first lots in White Fox, and built a garage – starting the business district of what would become the village we know today.

Logan’s choice of land wasn’t by chance, but an organized effort to build a town by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).

The construction of a CPR bridge over the river caused a desire for a new town site. The mapping was done by Harold Guloien. “White Fox” seemed like a fitting name for the new settlement, with the river half a mile west being given that name years prior.

In 1930, a United Church was built and in 1932 that church became the host for the village’s school. In 1947, tragedy hit the village as a fire ripped through a section of the business district, destroying it.

Marilyn Beal, assistant administrator for the village, considers the fire a significant event for White Fox.

“It was a big loss for a small community,” Beal said “It took grocery stores, it took other businesses.”

In 2016, another fire hit the village, destroying the grocery store and the upholstery store.

Despite the challenges in its early years, the village remains strong today.

Beal credits the reason the village stayed strong through all the challenges was family.

“Families kept it going because some of these people that lived here, their families have stayed here since the beginning of time,” Beal said. “There are young people, they want to keep it going for their children because it was a great place to grow up.”

Her favorite part of the community is the volunteers.

“By keeping it alive through volunteering we still have a skating rink, we still have an active curling rink and the volunteers keep her going.”

In 2014, a new water plant was built for village. Beal considers it the biggest achievement in recent years.

“Our tanks were getting old. Our water plant was actually obsolete, so we had no choice to update it. When they did update it, it made a world of difference.”

She said that difference is in the quality of water the village receives through reverse osmosis.

Today, White Fox has a population of about 352.

White Fox is celebrating its 90 years on June 22. The festivities start with at 8 to 10 am pancake breakfast at the White Fox Curling Rink and moving on to the parade at 11.