Two weeks ago, I wrote about the origins of the place names in our area. Our researchers covered the biggies; Wetaskiwin, Leduc, and of course, Alder Flats. Unfortunately for me, I was inundated with an angry letter from a reader that suggested I should have included all places within the Pipestone Flyer's trading area.I'd have ignored the letter, since one always runs the risk of upsetting a certain segment of our highly valued readership with the type of hard-hitting, sharp-edged reporting I try and avoid. However, this particular letter came from my editor, Brian "You WILL Comply" Hahn, a man so mean, he once docked me a weeks pay for dangling a participle. So, without further ado, here are more place name origins from around the region.
Ma-Me-O-Beach: According to Wikipedia, which is almost as accurate as a dollar store watch, Ma-Me-O is a Cree word for "white pigeon". This is entirely erroneous. The researchers at Loco World Headquarters have discovered that this tiny summer village on Pigeon Lake had got it's name to honour the fact that it was the site of the provinces first mameogram in 1897. It occured when an elderly woman accidently got her breast caught between two heavy logs. (This one was Brian's, I hasten to add.)
Warburg: A small but vibrant village west of Thorsby and then over that way a bit, Warburg is...uhhh... did I mention it was small? The name of the village was coined during the bitter and violent "Burger Wars" of the 1970's when Burger King's Whopper went toe-to-toe with its arch rival The Big Mac of Macdonalds fame. (Get it? Arch rival? Never mind.)
Buck Lake/Buck Creek: These two aquatic features were named after Buck Owens and his Buckaroos. We're not sure why. Owens, of course, is most famous for his deep cerebral humour and profound insights into the human condition on the hit TV show "Hee-Haw". Also for "grinnin'".
Rolly View: This small municipality east of Leduc was named for the spectacularly gorgeous view of some guy named Rolly. Mind you, the guy I paid the twenty bucks to, for the information, may have been mistaken as he was rather drunk at the time. He promised me that he knew, though.
Kavanagh: This hamlet that boasts of a population of almost 50 people has little on their Wiki page other than this interesting tidbit of information; "Town council members/presidents are: Tim and Kim Rhodes, and Pat and Sarah Gillis, whom act not only as diplomatic, fair leaders, but also as the hamlets key law upholders that scrutinize all of the going ons that occur within Kavanagh. " My goodness, with that much scrutiny, no wonder there's only 50 people there! I couldn't find out anything about the origin of the village's name but apparently, after "googling" the place, I did discover the important fact that Matchmaker.com claims there are "thousands of women from Kavanagh" who want to date me!
Hoadley: The community of Hoadley, according to it's flashy, expensive tourism guide, lies between Breton and Rimbey on Highway 20 at the scenic junction of Secondary Highway 611. It was named after an early Alberta politician by the name of George Hoadley who championed the Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928. It seems the townfolk were extremely impressed that he would even discuss anything with the word "sexual" in it, in 1928, let alone act on it.
Rimbey: Rimbey is a quaint, typical small Alberta town of 2000 people, three cows and a goat. Its original name was Kansas Ridge but they broke up into two entities; the folk band Jeruselem Ridge and the rock band Kansas. The town now tours around the country doing folk festivals and rock revival weekends in the summer.
Ponoka: According to sources close to the municipality who wish to remain nameless, Ponoka is the Blackfoot word for "elk". This was a good choice as the Blackfoot don't have words for the community's other name candidates which included "rhinoceros", "wombat" and "giant kimodo lizard".
Winfield: This hamlet, in the County of Wetaskiwin is a place I have visited many times. Not on purpose, mind you, but I always end up there when I am looking for The Village at Pigeon Lake. The origin of the name is indicative of the history of the community. Apparently it was named after the first prize of a farmers' lottery in the 1800's. By the same token, the City of Winnipeg was named for a contest for pirates.
Drayton Valley: Drayton Valley is a modern Alberta municipality nestled between the mighty Drayton Mountains from whence it gets its name. The peaks of these majestic promontories are almost as high as the ones that gave Two Hills it's name.
That's all the places we have space for in this edition of our look into place names from around the region. In columns to come we will explore the stranger side of place names with close attention to such places as Boyle, Fallis, Bickerdike, Bonar, Harry Hill, Bredin, and no less than seven places with the word "beaver" in it.
Ma-Me-O-Beach: According to Wikipedia, which is almost as accurate as a dollar store watch, Ma-Me-O is a Cree word for "white pigeon". This is entirely erroneous. The researchers at Loco World Headquarters have discovered that this tiny summer village on Pigeon Lake had got it's name to honour the fact that it was the site of the provinces first mameogram in 1897. It occured when an elderly woman accidently got her breast caught between two heavy logs. (This one was Brian's, I hasten to add.)
Warburg: A small but vibrant village west of Thorsby and then over that way a bit, Warburg is...uhhh... did I mention it was small? The name of the village was coined during the bitter and violent "Burger Wars" of the 1970's when Burger King's Whopper went toe-to-toe with its arch rival The Big Mac of Macdonalds fame. (Get it? Arch rival? Never mind.)
Buck Lake/Buck Creek: These two aquatic features were named after Buck Owens and his Buckaroos. We're not sure why. Owens, of course, is most famous for his deep cerebral humour and profound insights into the human condition on the hit TV show "Hee-Haw". Also for "grinnin'".
Rolly View: This small municipality east of Leduc was named for the spectacularly gorgeous view of some guy named Rolly. Mind you, the guy I paid the twenty bucks to, for the information, may have been mistaken as he was rather drunk at the time. He promised me that he knew, though.
Kavanagh: This hamlet that boasts of a population of almost 50 people has little on their Wiki page other than this interesting tidbit of information; "Town council members/presidents are: Tim and Kim Rhodes, and Pat and Sarah Gillis, whom act not only as diplomatic, fair leaders, but also as the hamlets key law upholders that scrutinize all of the going ons that occur within Kavanagh. " My goodness, with that much scrutiny, no wonder there's only 50 people there! I couldn't find out anything about the origin of the village's name but apparently, after "googling" the place, I did discover the important fact that Matchmaker.com claims there are "thousands of women from Kavanagh" who want to date me!
Hoadley: The community of Hoadley, according to it's flashy, expensive tourism guide, lies between Breton and Rimbey on Highway 20 at the scenic junction of Secondary Highway 611. It was named after an early Alberta politician by the name of George Hoadley who championed the Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928. It seems the townfolk were extremely impressed that he would even discuss anything with the word "sexual" in it, in 1928, let alone act on it.
Rimbey: Rimbey is a quaint, typical small Alberta town of 2000 people, three cows and a goat. Its original name was Kansas Ridge but they broke up into two entities; the folk band Jeruselem Ridge and the rock band Kansas. The town now tours around the country doing folk festivals and rock revival weekends in the summer.
Ponoka: According to sources close to the municipality who wish to remain nameless, Ponoka is the Blackfoot word for "elk". This was a good choice as the Blackfoot don't have words for the community's other name candidates which included "rhinoceros", "wombat" and "giant kimodo lizard".
Winfield: This hamlet, in the County of Wetaskiwin is a place I have visited many times. Not on purpose, mind you, but I always end up there when I am looking for The Village at Pigeon Lake. The origin of the name is indicative of the history of the community. Apparently it was named after the first prize of a farmers' lottery in the 1800's. By the same token, the City of Winnipeg was named for a contest for pirates.
Drayton Valley: Drayton Valley is a modern Alberta municipality nestled between the mighty Drayton Mountains from whence it gets its name. The peaks of these majestic promontories are almost as high as the ones that gave Two Hills it's name.
That's all the places we have space for in this edition of our look into place names from around the region. In columns to come we will explore the stranger side of place names with close attention to such places as Boyle, Fallis, Bickerdike, Bonar, Harry Hill, Bredin, and no less than seven places with the word "beaver" in it.
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