The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Wanless isn't a very big place. If you drive too fast, you'll miss it. It barely takes up a full page in the phone book. Some residents in neighbouring communities aren't even aware it exists. But one huge celebration is about to befall this tiny community nestled comfortably between Flin Flon and The Pas. Some 300 former residents are expected to make the trek back home for the Wanless 75th Anniversary Homecoming, which goes ahead the July 30 long weekend. "This is a real fun and exciting time," said lifelong resident and Homecoming chairperson Lena Perry. "We're all excited about meeting people that we haven't seen for years." Wanless will come alive during the three-day weekend with dancing, karaoke, a talent show, games for adults and children, and pancake breakfasts. Yet the highlight won't come from an organized form of entertainment. Instead, it will be the memories of life in the close-knit community that will take centre stage. Those memories are pretty exclusive given that Wanless is, and always has been, diminutive. The latest census showed just 183 people called Wanless home (though others spend their summers at cabins on nearby Rocky Lake.) It might sound easy to track down people whose lives began in such a fishbowl, but Perry and other Homecoming volunteers found just the opposite. See 'Finding' P.# Con't from P.# "That's one of the biggest challenges in organizing something like this, trying to find everyone and where they went," said Perry. The last time there was this much excitement on the streets of Wanless was 1989, the year of the 60th Anniversary Homecoming. Residents see the upcoming Homecoming bash as a good opportunity to showcase their community, which Perry noted often goes unnoticed. "A lot of people, when they go by Wanless, they think, 'What's here?'" she said. What is in Wanless is a successful tourism industry that fuels business for two lodges, Comeback Cabin and Rocky Lake Cabin. This tourist sector owes much to Rocky Lake, a popular fishing destination. There are also a sprinkling of businesses where everybody knows your name, such as Coutts Greenhouses, the Forest Grove Motel, and Dan's Restaurant. Most working residents, not to mention students, commute to The Pas each morning, a 45-kilometre drive. It would be easier for them simply to move to The Pas, but the neighbourly atmosphere of Wanless keeps them there. Going back in history, Wanless was once home to a CN rail station. In fact, the village got its name from Jack Wanless, who apparently worked for CN in the early days, according to Perry. As past and present residents are about to be reminded, there's much more rich history in that tiny dot on the map called Wanless.7/20/2004
