Historical recreation of W.J. Leaf's Store with Metropolitan Hall above, based on 1909 descriptions from Gull Lake Memories. When I was reading Gull Lake Memories: A History of the Town of Gull Lake, I came across some fascinating details about our town’s first official year. It captures a side of our history that’s often forgotten—the grit, the low budgets, and the determination it took to get things started. Stroll down Conrad Avenue or Proton Avenue today, and it’s easy to

After 31 days of record‑shattering heat, a bone‑chilling deep freeze, and wind gusts that could move a grain bin, I decided to take a closer look at which forecast had the edge for January: the high‑tech weather supercomputer or Jeff Woodward’s legendary Pig Spleen tradition. While the Pig Spleen forecast runs from January to June, this showdown focuses on just the first month of 2026. One relies on climate models and data; the other draws from generations of prairie wisdom a

A couple of weeks ago, we explored the tale of the horse thieves of 1909—a story that captured the “Wild West” spirit of early Gull Lake. Just a year later, the community faced a far darker chapter, one that tested the limits of its fledgling law enforcement. The “Drunken Brawl”—As It Was Called at the Time In early 1910, William James McBride and his son Luther spent an evening in Gull Lake. According to contemporary records, both men were “the worse for liquor” as they left

The Gull Lake Seniors Hall occupies the building that served as the community’s telephone office from the late 1920s through the manual‑switchboard era Before smartphones and speed dial, Gull Lake’s telephone system relied on crank phones, switchboards, and the steady hands of local operators who knew every voice in town. What we take for granted today was once a luxury—and a lifeline. The First Telephone Office The earliest remembered telephone office sat at the corner of Ru

Winter in Gull Lake has its own unique rhythm—and much of it pulses from inside the Gull Lake & District Curling Rink. Each November, this four‑sheet facility comes alive, staying busy through March thanks to dedicated volunteers, league curlers, students, and a community that gathers year after year. A Century on the Ice Curling’s roots run deep in Gull Lake. The first four‑sheet rink was built on the northeast corner of Block 51 in the early 1920s. After a brief pause in th

Based on historical accounts from early RCMP detachment activity When Gull Lake opened its first RCMP detachment in 1909, the community was so new that most streets were little more than wagon tracks. Even so, the post soon faced its first major test—a cross-border chase involving two men already known in the region for stirring up trouble. That summer, Nye and Miller—described in early accounts as notorious horse thieves—slipped into the district and made off with two saddle