Growth and sustainability are vital for any small town to exist today. In the case of Gull Lake, as with many other towns, one of the main reasons for the decline is the decline of the rural populations that make up the town's trading area. As the number of people living in rural areas goes down,

"It Might Be Time for Gull Lake to Re-evaluate Its Tourism Potential," I wrote in August of this year. But how large is the potential? It is noteworthy, according to Tourism Saskatchewan's 2018/2019 Regional Profile information for Southwest Saskatchewan. In 2019, 1.44 million Canadians visited S

It is critical to maintain your town's roadways, water system, and other infrastructure assets. However, so is the pursuit of economic growth projects and opportunities. Many small towns have seen downtown businesses disappear with abandoned lots and buildings over time. Populations that were once

Economic Development Committees (EDCs) create economic development initiatives and opportunities aimed at improving a municipality's economy. We have an EDC and an Economic Development Officer (EDO) in Gull Lake, and their primary responsibility is to look for ways to improve the local economy and

During my first term on the council, I had the opportunity to work closely with a marketing expert who assisted in the development of the town's website and other initiatives. In order to learn more about Gull Lake and its neighbouring communities, he came to Gull Lake for a tour of our trading ar

During my term on Council, one of the things I spent a lot of time thinking about was how to improve our town's future. I worked with my last Council to hire an Economic Development Officer and set up an Economic Development Committee. This was a good first step to help put our community on a better

One of the reasons I took over the Gull Lake Events Facebook Page and launched a website was to better promote our community. I'm working on a tourism marketing strategy to help promote our town through Gull Lake Events. While tourism is more prevalent in communities such as Maple Creek, it remai

When it comes to growing a successful community, vision and leadership go hand in hand. Our town has witnessed numerous instances of community leaders transforming visions into reality. The recreation facilities, Little Green on the Prairie Park,  Lyceum Theatre, Kreative Kids Early Learning Centr

Click Photo to review 2017-2021 Strategic Plan Many prosperous communities actively engage with their residents to plan for the future of their communities. A municipal Strategic Plan assists a Town Council in assessing what is happening in their community today, where they want to be tomorrow, and

Keeping Gull Lake sustainable presents a number of challenges, and if we are to tackle those challenges successfully, we must do it as a collective. Some of the difficulties we have been dealing with for a long time are as follows: The amount of unoccupied buildings and vacant lots in the downtown.

During my tenure on Town Council, I learned the value of engaging residents early on. During the first two terms, Council reached out to residents in order to form committees that would allow for resident participation. The Cemetery Committee, Communities in Bloom Committee, Tourism Committee and He

It is not enough to tell people what they want to hear in order to be a leader. Being a great leader is a worthy goal, but every leader should strive to be the best leader they can be. Telling people what they want to hear is often the least difficult path to take, but it is not always the best.

The Town of Gull Lake has some very nice murals on its buildings. For me, the most impressive mural is on the north side of the curling rink, facing the Little Green in Prairie Park. On the rink, there are four murals depicting our community. Between each mural are three words that serve as a unif

Every day, do something you enjoy. Making an effort in the areas that are important to you will help bring out the best in you. What is one thing you look forward to doing every day? Blake Campbell Gull Lake Events

Gull Lake's Local Chamber of Commerce disbanded many years ago, but it may be time to reconsider reviving it. Local business owners all have a vested interest in the town and its economy, and a strong Chamber of Commerce would assist bringing them together to focus on opportunities that could help

Gull Lake was chosen to pilot the Thrive Saskatchewan Program a few years ago. The program was created to assist communities in implementing long-term transformation while also executing short-term, low-cost, place-based activities that promote the local business sector and generate a sense of en

Over the years, I have served on provincial, regional, and local committees/organizations, as well as town council. If there is one thing I learned, it is that if you want to move your community or organisation forward into the future, you must have a goal and a plan. Goals keep an organisation

Many small towns, including ours, have experienced some population loss, which can be seen in our downtowns and schools. Small towns have slowly eroded over many years and decades due to the loss of family farms and migration to cities. Small towns like ours, on the other hand, have a chance to im

I was recently browsing the https://greatsouthwest.ca/ website. This is the second Saskatchewan Tourism website I've found that barely mentions Gull Lake. The only thing you can find on the website for Gull Lake is where to get gas. This is not anyone's fault, but rather an indication that we nee

Having served on the Town Council for more than a decade, I always prioritised promoting our community by whatever means possible. I devoted so much effort to marketing the community via the Town Website. I developed the Gull Lake Events Website and attached it to the Gull Lake Events social media c

It has taken many years for communities to recognize the negative effects of rural depopulation on small towns. Towns can see the effects in their downtown, schools, and recreation facilities. There are no easy solutions or quick fixes that will turn a communities fortunes around overnight. The hi

A declining downtown has been a major problem for a long time in our town. There are no simple answers, but the Town needs a strategy and a plan for rebuilding the downtown. The town took the first move in this direction in 2017 when it recruited an Economic Development Officer and formed an Econo

Today's communities are competitive in their efforts to grow, and one of the tools used for citizen engagement can help a community gain a competitive advantage. Getting the attention of online media sources with positive news about your community can help you get the attention of potential reside

This is a great video with some very simple business advice from well-known American business people. The following are some key takeaways from the video's advice: Delight your customers. Work hard and set an example for your staff. Learn from failures or difficulty and pivot to the idea that wor

This is an excellent quote that we can all relate to from our own personal life experiences. We can't achieve our goals if we don't have a positive frame of mind. Tools, training, and experience are all useless unless we have this. People who have a negative frame of mind are often unable to disti

Mayors Message Town of Gull Lake Strategic Plan 2017-2021 In my first term as a Town Council member, I learned that seven members of a town council can greatly benefit from working together with residents. As a result of the efforts of citizens, many areas traditionally handled by council have bene

Municipal strategic planning is a continuous process and it importance cannot be overstated. We will struggle in the here and now if we do not plan for a better future as a community. Successful communities are the result of strong municipal leadership collaborating with engaged residents. A num