Thousands converge on Swift Current for its centennial homecoming

REGINA – Swift Current is ringing in a major milestone, the city’s 100th birthday, with four days of jam-packed events.

Celebrations kicked off Thursday and will wrap up with a fireworks show Sunday evening.

Co-chair of the Centennial Committee, Pat Friesen, said they are expecting thousands of people to turn out for the homecoming.

“There are people from all over the world. There’s several registered from Australia, many from the U.S., and lots from across Canada,” she explained. “So, it’s going to be a great weekend, and lots of reunions of old acquaintances.”

Swift Current received official city status in January 1914, despite a report that deemed the area uninhabitable for settlers.

Captain John Palliser lead an expedition commissioned by the British Government in the 1840s, which described an area in south-west Saskatchewan, The Palliser Triangle, as a poor area for agriculture.

According to the city’s very own Premier Brad Wall, the report wasn’t the only one to deem Swift Current and the surrounding area unideal for settlers.

“A ranch manager in 1906, after a particularly bad winter, said the same thing: too much space to get lost in or freeze to death. Of coursec it’s nice to prove those people wrong.”

The city was originally established as a railway town, and development over the last 10 years has been substantial.

Mayor Jerrod Schafer said the area has many resources and has proven itself a key player in the province, with a promising future ahead.

“The next 100 years is exciting. Swift Current has changed a lot in the last number of years, our population is growing, and there’s a lot of optimism and excitement in the community.”