OXBOW - The recently-hired community development officer for the Town of Oxbow has enjoyed the job since her arrival.
Sherry Reiger started April 13, and she has found the job to be very rewarding. She has been busy applying for grants that have been offered to help with the economic recovery from COVID-19.
“As an outsider, you always come in with a fresh set of eyes, so the mayor and council and the administrative staff have been excited to possibly explore new ideas, so it’s been good,” said Reiger.
When she was residing in Indian Head, Reiger was the town’s mayor and a councillor. She owned a business name Sherry’s on Grand. She wound up selling the building, as the business was hard to sustain during COVID.
Reiger started looking for other opportunities. One of her sons lives in Estevan, so she was interested in the southeast corner. The position in Oxbow was available, so she sent in an application, and after a couple of interviews, was hired.
As the community development officer, Reiger’s job requires her to facilitate, promote and ensure community and economic development for Oxbow, enhance the community and secure opportunities for economic development.
“My areas that I’m currently in charge of are recreation, tourism, culture and heritage, and also special event planning to engage the community and community building. We’re also working on a community plan and strategic plan to roll out for mayor and council to adapt and adopt, and we’ll keep building that to keep building Oxbow and moving it forward,” she said.
She also had to take classes to obtain her local government certificate to be trained as the assistant administrator.
Reiger believes the time she spent in municipal politics in Indian Head has been a real asset. She sees a lot of potential in Oxbow.
“Oxbow has been blessed with an abundance of great volunteers, who beautify the community, are hanging baskets in our planters, and all those things, the flowers, which are very close and dear to my heart.”
While she was in Indian Head, Reiger and other partners for community development were successful in applying for the Main Street Saskatchewan grant for the town. She hopes the same thing can happen in Oxbow.
One thing that she noticed Oxbow didn’t have when she arrived was a tourist information booth, so she has applied for a grant for that facility.
She hopes the booth could be incorporated into the Ralph Allan Museum, which is still closed due to COVID-19.
The Bow Valley Park south of the town is a gem for the community.
“The community and the surrounding area are definitely for change and for aggressive progression. We have numerous parks. We have the Moose Creek Regional Park and the Souris Valley and the Bow Valley.”
The town held a fireworks show on July 2, which was her first community event.
“I’ve been going around to businesses, and there are so many success stories for long-term industrial and commercial businesses. My goal is that the downtown, the heart of the community, will start pumping again and be revitalized. It’s obviously a great recreational town. I’m looking forward to this winter to see how that operates.”
She also held a garden contest for the first time a few weeks ago, with eight gardens entered.
“You can tell the community is hungry for progression … and enhancement,” said Reiger.
