Stronger together: spaces that connect generations and build community

On a warm summer afternoon, a few senior residents at the Central Parkland Lodge in Lanigan are enjoying a prairie breeze with family and friends in the recently refurbished outdoor seating area.

“It is meaningful place to gather, get some fresh air, and see something different,” says Adele Failler, a member of the Lanigan Hospital Lodge Auxiliary. “It’s nice for family members to take them out there and have a visit.”

The covered outdoor space has a sense of community – a place for young and old, family and friends, and residents and visitors to gather and enjoy time together. That spirit is at the heart of Nutrien’s “Building Stronger Communities Together” grant program, which awarded 65 grants in recognition of the company’s 65-year history in Saskatchewan.

Failler knows the connection between the company and the community well. She was hired into an administrative position at the Lanigan mine in 1977 and retired 42 years later as a member of the human resources team.

In retirement, she joined the Auxiliary and helped with the project to improve the outdoor area by repairing and painting the cement pad, adding patio seating, and installing a screened wall to limit wind and birds in the space.

“I saw a lot of changes over the years,” recalls Adele, reflecting on her time at the site. “The whole time I worked there, the company was very supportive of the community. I'm so glad that Nutrien's carrying on that tradition. I'm doubly proud now that the company I worked for is supporting our group.”

In a similar manner, the LeRoy School used a Nutrien grant to create an integrated learning and community space. Working with limited funds, teachers, students and the community combined their efforts to create an outdoor classroom with multiple uses.

The initiative itself was a literal learning exercise in community building. The school received a used cedar pergola from a member of the community and the students worked to repair it, apply fresh stain, and install it as the hub of learning space. They added outdoor seating and pounded posts into the ground to hang hammocks.

The final step was to identify and tag local trees for study and to create garden beds to grow food and to teach kids about agriculture.

“Instead of always being in the classroom, the kids can go outside and experience the outdoor space,” says Sheila Lissell, who worked at the school for 32 years before her recent retirement. “A lot of the work was done by volunteers and that’s important. The community is part of it and the kids put a lot of work into it. They respect it.”

With an influx of new Canadians in the community, the chance to share knowledge about local plant life and farming has provided a true community-building experience.

“This is a farming community,” says Sheila. “That’s new to a lot of people here so we’re planning to do a few test strips with some grain and teach people what farming is all about.”

That hands-on education, with neighbours working and playing side by side, is a pathway to understanding the community’s past – and its future.

Building for the Future

In many towns across Saskatchewan, the Building Stronger Communities Grants are being used exactly as the program name suggests – to create gathering spaces that can bring people together.

At Asquith, the Lord Asquith School is using a Nutrien grant to create an outdoor space for students and community members to enjoy and study nature. The funds have been used to help turn an undeveloped field adjacent to the school into a teaching and community meeting spot. Trees, shrubs and native grasses have been cultivated along a pathway lined with rocks painted by the school’s students.

“We're really fortunate in that we’re a community school that's more than a community school,” says Jaren Vetter, who was the school’s principal when the project started. “We wanted an area we could use as both a learning center and as something the entire community could access.”

The Nutrien grant made it possible to add seating and benches for the students or community to enjoy.

“It's developed into a really nice area that connects the natural spaces in our community,” says Jaren. “The students use it during the day and at recess and we can teach older students about ecosystems and the environment, and then the community itself utilizes it after school hours in terms of the walking trails and programs. A lot of people walk their dogs through there and bring their kids to play.”