User:Hordichuk9/sandbox

The Drought and Aftermath
Throughout the 1930s, Willow Bunch and the rest of southern Saskatchewan was hit with numerous dust storms. The dust storms resulted in a devastating drought, and the agricultural damage ended up costing the Saskatchewan provincial government more than $20 million. The drought also spawned a swarm of grasshoppers. In 1933, the government created a campaign to teach farmers to combat the grasshopper plague. The campaign taught farmers to create an insect poison using sawdust and sodium arsenate.



Willow Bunch lost one of its schools during the drought. The Sitkala school, which had only two-classrooms, was destroyed by fire. The fire was caused by a dust storm in 1937.

Southern Saskatchewan Coal Operators' Association
Despite the poor agriculture, the production of coal was on the rise. On Sept. 19, 1932, Willow Bunch hosted the first annual meeting of the Southern Saskatchewan Coal Operators’ Association at their municipal hall. At the meeting, the association’s president Robert Campkin discussed how the unity of local mines would help increase the retrieval of lignite coal. The price of lignite was set at $2 per ton in the 1930s.

Wheat Resurgence
Once the weather stabilized, the price of wheat spiked from 6 bushels per acre in 1938 to 16 bushels per acres in 1939. Willow Bunch welcomed the first load of wheat to their south country grain elevator on Aug. 5, 1939. The wheat came from a local farm, which was renowned as the “Million Dollar Farm” because of its exceptional wheat quality.

Establishing the Credit Union Bank
Cooperation was becoming a nationwide principle during the second world war. As a result, Willow Bunch established a Credit Union bank. A variety of citizens signed the request to build it. Alex Beausoleil, Father Gérard Couture, Hida Lauziere, Raymond Boulianne, Georges Martin, S.-J. Payette, Gédéon Boisvert, E. Paulhus, Roméo Rodrigue, Léopold Granger, and Miss Palmyre Lemieux all signed the request. The bank was officially built on Sept 18. 1942. Boulianne was the president and Beausoleil was the secretary-manager.

J.L. Lapointe
When the war was at its peak, Willow Bunch-born lieutenant J.L. Lapointe was promoted to captain of the A-1 Canadian Artillery Training Centre (C.A.T.C.). Lapointe was stationed at Camp Petawawa in Ontario. Prior to joining the C.A.T.C., Lapointe was an experienced farmer. He gave up his land to work at a mental hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. While in Weyburn, he enlisted with the General Hospital of the Royal Canadian Army Medicine Corps (R.C.A.M.C.). Lapointe eventually transferred to the artillery before being positioned at the A-1 C.A.T.C.

The Willow Bunch Beacon
The Willow Bunch Beacon, Willow Bunch’s local newspaper, was published in 1943. It focused majority of its content on postwar conflicts, the decline in wheat prices, the domestic coal situation in Saskatchewan, and Canada’s need for more poultry, meat, and eggs. Occasionally, it included local news. To subscribe to the newspaper annually, it costed $1.50.

There are no archives of the Willow Bunch Beacon after July 20, 1944. The Avonlea Beacon was published in its place from 1944 until 1951.