A community project that began over three years ago — the restoration of the old sawmill at Jarvie — will come to fruition with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony during Jarvie Logging Days this August long weekend.
The ribbon-cutting will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3, at approximately noon. It will begin shortly after the end of the parade, which starts at 11 a.m.
The old sawmill is located at a wooded area in the hamlet called Cache Park, and can be seen almost immediately upon entering the hamlet from Highway 44.
Although many volunteers contributed to the mill’s restoration, it was Jarvie residents Brian Gray and Jim Turnbull who spearheaded the project.
In a phone interview, Turnbull said the idea of restoring the sawmill came to them in 2010.
The idea was to build a static roadside attraction that paid tribute to the community’s history.
“Beaver Lodge has a beaver … Grande Prairie’s got a swan and we’ve got a sawmill,” he said.
Turnbull said the whole community of Jarvie was founded because of a nearby sawmill owned by a man named Cushings.
“He was using the Pembina River to float the logs down, and the best place to put a (steam) jackleg and get the logs out of the river would be right at Cache Park,” he said.
When the railway went through the area, they placed it in close proximity to the sawmill, Turnbull said, adding, “The whole community developed from there.”
At its height, the Cushings mill employed hundreds of people. However, it closed at some point in the early 1920s and all the equipment was removed.
He and Gray began looking around for sawmills, attending auction sales and the like. Finally, they were donated the Jarvie sawmill by Fred Vandeligt, who got it from his father Joe.
The mill was originally owned and built by a local resident who went by the nickname of “Jap” Thornton.
“It cut lumber for hauls, schools — anybody that needed lumber in the country at that time, Jap did it,” Turnbull said.
“He was a real community man, as is his son Harvey.”
Turnbull said the mill is in such condition that it could saw wood if they put power to it, but the saw has been welded shut.
Turnbull estimated there have been about 450 volunteer hours put into restoring the mill. He noted they’re not completely done; there’s still a bit of work to be done on it.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Turnbull. “Most of it is done.”
Best of all, they’ve done so at low cost, estimating that the whole project was done for less than $5,000.
“We did that without one cent of taxpayers’ dollars,” he noted. “We never asked (Westlock County) for a nickel.”
Turnbull said they’ve already had some people stop and take some pictures of the mill. At some point, there will be a plaque placed on the mill reciting its history, along with possibly a visitor’s book for people to sign.
Although he and Brian spearheaded this project, Turnbull said a committee will be taking over looking after the mill.
“I’m 79 next month, and Brian is over 80 … Someone else will take up the torch,” he said.
Turnbull said he was proud how the whole community got behind this project, noting the last time the whole hamlet did so was when they built the hall.
“I just feel that Jarvie has a story to tell. Brian and I wanted to see that story got told,” he said.
As mentioned earlier, the opening of the sawmill will take place during the annual Jarvie Days celebration, which has been re-dubbed “Logging Days” this year.
Jarvie will host an array of fun events over the course of the long weekend, such as a slow-pitch tournament being held at the local ball diamonds.
Kim Klein is the contact to sign up teams for the tournament at 780-954-2513.
On both Saturday and Sunday, there will be pancake breakfasts held at the Jarvie Hall from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
There will also be pie and coffee at the Jarvie Senior’s Drop-in Centre from noon to four on both days.
On Saturday, there will be a small show n’ shine taking place north of the Jarvie Store at noon, along with some kids’ activities over the ball diamonds.
There will be a steak supper at the hall at 6 p.m. Steak supper is $15 and a hamburger plate is $8.
On Sunday, the Pius Koenig Memorial Bocce Ball tournament will begin in the afternoon over by the horseshoe pits by the Drop-in Centre.
There will also be the third annual music jamboree on Sunday from 3 p.m. in the Jarvie Hall, followed by supper at 5 p.m.
For more information on the event call the Jarvie General Store at 780-954-2493.
