Trudy and Dale Buxton
Publishers, Biggar Independent
We will take a break from our Alberta adventures and focus on a Saturday run in the country.
We were on our way to Moose Jaw, and instead of going the traditional routes, we decided to take a cross-country route. The temperature this day didn’t get above 12 degrees but with little or no wind and bright sunshine, it really didn’t seem that cold.
We started by going to Rosetown on Highway 4 – a stop a Timmies is always welcome before travelling on, then down to Highway 15 as we head towards Outlook.
This stretch of highway is always good, not too many curves in the road and really nice countryside views, especially during the harvest.
Just outside of Milden we come across a nice little herd of buffalo. It’s not very often that you see them close to the highway, normally they tend to stay way back and avoid the noise and pesky onlookers.
Did you know that Outlook is home to the Skytrail, which is Canada’s longest pedestrian bridge? Yup, the historic railway bridge was converted into a walking trail in 2003 and still sees much use.
The population of Outlook is around 2,300 people, and is an agriculture town. The community houses the Canada Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre, which is a research hub, showing different irrigation methods, while testing crop diversification with different methods of irrigation. This project is considered quite unique because it operates through a rare, multilayered partnership of federal and provincial governments.
Outlook’s early beginnings goes back to the early 1900’s when settlers came to the area looking for farmland. It is considered the gateway to Lake Diefenbaker with most of the parks south of the town.
Did you know that the museum in Outlook has over 400 antique salt and pepper shakers?
We continue our way south on Highway 45, coming upon the community of Birsay, population of around 40 people. Unincorporated, it belongs to the RM of Coteau 255.
Like a lot of communities that we travel through there is always a story to each community. Birsay is no different and this story involves a young pilot named Wally Niemi.
Wally grew up in and around the Birsay area, and from a teenager Wally wanted to fly jets. Wally enlisted into the Royal Canadian Air Force in Saskatoon in 1979, receiving his wings at CFB Moose Jaw, adding awards in 1981.
Wally then moved on to CFB Cold Lake where he would enter the fighter pilot training program. While there, he flew twice to Mach 2, two-times the speed of sound.
Wally completed training and was stationed in Germany where he would become part of the CF-104 Starfighter program. He was the last Canadian to fly over 1,000 hours in the famed ‘Widowmaker’ jet. While overseas Wally became an instructor to the Turkish Air Force pilots, and was the last Canadian to fly the Starfighter.
Wally was transferred back to Cold Lake in 1986 and became an instructor for the CF-18 Hornet at the 410 Squadron, which was the Tactical Fighter Jet Training program. He died in 1989 while flying his CF-18 over the skies of Alberta.
A monument in Birsay features a plaque of his service and a restored wingtip of a CF-104 Starfighter.
We always seem to find an interesting story while on our travels and this one is a great story of a veteran.
Stay tuned next week as we continue to Moose Jaw.
