The Long Road

Highway 2 begins, appropriately, in a hamlet called Carway on the Alberta-Montana border. U.S. Route 89 ends and the spine of this province heads north, through towns such as Cardston and Fort Macleod, through the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, on to Athasbasca, where it veers west and, skirting the southern shores of Lesser Slave Lake, fishhooks into Peace Country and enters the final leg between Grande Prairie and British Columbia.

Text by Cait Wills and Noémi LoPinto
Photography by Ewan Nicholson and Tim Van Horn

Highways, with their twists and turns, and the towns they traverse, are an apt metaphor for the lives we lead. They’re also a good source of stories, especially a 1,221-kilometre-long main drag like Highway 2, which plays an important role in the lives of thousands of Albertans. So we asked two photographers and two writers to head down the road for us and document a handful of workaday worlds. Buckle up.

Roy Evans, Rex Theatre, Slave Lake

The Rex is a throwback in this era of DVDs, downloads and the suburban multiplex. Theatre owner Roy Evans, who built the original building in 1952 and its replacement in 1973, is a bit of a throwback, too.

“When I first got sent up here I was working for the forestry department and didn’t know anyone. There was an interim movie operator who would drive from town to town every night with a 16-millimetre projector. When he got married, he asked me if I wanted to keep running movies in Slave Lake.

“Most small-town theatres are gone now. Sometimes you’ll get a decent showing, but I haven’t depended on the theatre for profit for 20 years now. I’m getting old and lazy and I’d say it’s a labour of love. I’m just as obsolete as the single-screen theatre.”

Dave Evasiuk, Mike’s Store, Athabasca

Walking into Mike’s Store in Athabasca is like stepping back in time. Owner Dave Evasiuk explains. My grandfather, Mike Demchuk, built this store in 1936. After the war, my mother and father moved to Athabasca and took over. In 1977, I took over from them. It’s a struggle to remain profitable; it’s not like the old days. This store was built on farmers’ needs, but the farmers have so little money now. We sell our stock to oil boys now. We sell what people need, that’s what I like to say, but Edmonton is so close a lot of people shop there. I don’t know what the future will bring.”

Jack Malin, Southwest Concrete, Cardston

When he bought Southwest Concrete from Remington Construction in 1992, Jack Malin took over a long-standing success story and more than a dozen employees who knew how to mix sand, water, air, gravel and powder to perfection. That experience helped Southwest nab a $6.5-million role in the St. Mary’s Dam spillway replacement project in 1998, and has helped continue the company’s tradition as a cornerstone of Cardston.

“I have a guy here who’s been working for me for 15 years, and he’s probably been here for close to 30. Our secretary worked here nearly 50 years before she retired. We’ve got several employees with 20 to 25 years experience. I think for the most part people are happy to have us here – there’s not a lot of business in the area and we have brought money into the community.

“The way we make concrete has changed a lot. It’s all computerized now, to the point where you can’t make a bad batch of concrete because the computer won’t allow you to.”

Jade Soetaert, Stavely Hotel, Stavely

Midway between Calgary and Lethbridge, the town of Stavely, population 450, presides over Highway 2 with genuine prairie landmarks. Established in 1927, the Stavely Hotel has been owned for the past six years by Jade Soetaert, who has worked there since 1996. Soetaert, seen here with husband Greg and dog Jive, recently sold the business.

“The Stavely Hotel is the biggest original brick building in town. It has 11 rooms to rent out to guests and is the only restaurant, tavern and liquor store in town. The community was without a hotel at one point for four or five years, and

the town was dying. It’s important that a town have a hub, you’re 10 years old or 100. “We’re pretty much involved in everything in the town. We host an indoor mini-golf tournament every year. It’s a nine-hole course: there are five holes in the basement, three in the rooms and one in the bar. We’ve had up to 80 golfers participate. We supply all of the liquor in Stavely for all major events, weddings and fundraisers too. We’re in the pulse of the community – we either hear about something going on, or we’re already a part of it.”

Corcan program, Bowden Institution, Bowden

The Bowden Institution, a medium-security prison with a minimum-security annex on the west side of Highway 2, has about 500 inmates. It’s also home to a 25,000-square-foot plant where inmates weld and build beds, dressers and other furniture as part of the Corcan rehabilitation program. Corcan, says operations manager Dave Beardsworth, has provided training and encouraged self-sufficiency for more than 20 years.

“A lot of our people come in without employment skills or have problems taking direction. At Corcan they try out new coping skills, like talking to coworkers, superiors and working under supervision. A lot of these people never received any direction from family. The fact is 95% of the inmates are going to be back on street sooner or later. We’ve had numerous people go out of our shops and do very well at local businesses and industries in the area.

“We have no problem attracting people to work here. It’s a very positive place – they’re treated more like employees than inmates, as long as they work like employees. They punch in on a time card and punch out to go home, to go to lunch.”

Jong-Deok Yoon, Family Foods, Grouard

Grouard, a hamlet at the northwestern tip of Lesser Slave Lake, was an important fur trade stop in
the late 1800s and early 1900s. When an anticipated railroad bypassed the community, the economy went bust. A handful of businesses, such as this grocery store, owned by Jong-Deok Yoon, remain. “ There are only two stores here. The other place doesn’t sell gas. So we’re pretty busy.”

Frank McTighe, The MacLeod Gazette, Fort Macleod

The Macleod Gazette, Alberta’s longest continuously published community newspaper, was printed for the first time in 1882. Frank McTighe is the paper’s owner and publisher.

“While we do own the business, the newspaper belongs to the citizens of Fort Macleod. The most striking similarities between the Gazette in the 1880s and now is that we report the news in this community, just like the heart of the original paper. It’s left to us to be the paper of record for Fort Macleod and district, and that hasn’t changed.

“My wife Emily and I look at this as a lifestyle more than a job. We’re always working but I don’t find there’s a lot of pressure. I am confident in my philosophy and approach to community newspapering because, even if you may be at odds with someone, you need to be fair and balanced in your reporting. As long as we’re doing that, we’re doing our job.”

Fernando Sanchez, Sanchez Honey, Fahler

Fahler, south of Peace River on Highway 2, bills itself as the honey capital of Canada. The town of 1,100 is in a region that produces about 10 million pounds of honey every year (40% of the Canadian total). Most local beekeepers operate outside town limits. Not Fernando Sanchez, who produces honey with his wife and father.

“I came to Canada in 1991 from Peru, where I had worked with bees my whole life. Once I arrived I looked around to see where the best place to raise bees would be. I learned that the Peace River region is the best place for bee production in Canada, and is one of the best locations in the world. It is a unique area for honey production because of the long hours of sunlight and cooler nights. Our peak season is in July – usually July 18 to August 25. That’s when we have flowers in the area. During the peak season we have about 3,500 hives and about 45,000 bees per hive.

“Each year in Fahler we have the Honey Festival where I wear a beard of bees. It’s nice for the kids to see that bees are friendly.”

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