I recently had to travel to the United States for a family emergency. My sister and I flew down to Arizona and drove back to Canada. It was not an ideal time to travel and when we left to come home I selfishly planted myself in the driver’s seat and would not willingly give it up. I drove and took in the scenery. I knew what I wanted to observe, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was on the lookout for billboards!
In the USA the billboards are serious business and must comply with the United States Highway Beautification Act (HBA). According to the HBA: “The maximum allowable number of billboards under the Highway Beautification Act: 21 structures per mile on Interstate highways, 36 structures per mile on rural primary highways, 106 per mile on urban primary highways — more than 10 million nationwide.” – Source: https://www.scenic.org/sign-control/highway-beautification-act/facts/ That turns out to be a lot of billboards. I never did count how many there were, but I thought seeing five billboards from the same company in the span of a mile was excessive if not expensive. Oh well, it did help pass the time away on the drive and gave me some ideas for future billboard campaigns. I can also guarantee that the wide-open spaces of the Special Areas will not be littered with billboards.
At one time Return to Rural had eight to ten billboards located throughout the Special Areas. Most of them were the smaller, portable type, not like the tall permanent structure located at Richdale. It was always exciting to see the new designs take their place along the roadside and command attention. It was equally devastating when a storm would pass through and decimate it. Recently, the Richdale billboards had new designs put on them. Trying for longevity, the designs are printed on coroplast and meant to survive whatever Mother Nature sends our way. Take that Mother Nature!
The ‘Best Friends’ billboard picture was taken by Karlin Stickel Photography. The picture is of her three-year-old niece, Denver, and her first pony Lily. Is there anything sweeter than a child and their pony? Denver is always on a mission and Lily is usually by her side. It was blustery the day the picture was snapped, and Denver was leading Lily to the horse trailer to be loaded. You can almost feel the wind blowing in your face when you look at this picture. This picture tugged at my heart strings as I thought of my first pony Silver. A little Shetland pony who was stubborn as a mule, but that’s a story for another day. I hope the picture of Denver and Lily conjures fond memories or at least happy thoughts.
The second billboard features the Altario Agricultural Academy. Altario is a hamlet in Special Area No. 4 and is located in the northeastern corner of the Special Areas. It has a K – 12 school in the Prairie Land School Division and it is one of those hamlets where strange, yet wonderful things are happening. The community and school are growing in population and enrolment – which is wonderful, yet strange because this is not something you hear very often. You may wonder how did this all happen?
The plan was put to paper on February 1, 2017, at a community meeting facilitated by Special Area No. 4 Regional Economic Development. Through hard work and the support of a school board and community, Principal Kevin Van Lagen has led them in a HUGE revitalization project – Re-Imagine Altario. To be clear Kevin did not do this by himself, but you need a leader to gather the masses and execute the plan and that is what Kevin has done. So much has taken place since that initial meeting: a community garden has been planted, a residency program formed, barn moved in, animals and chores have become part of the daily education, a new business has started and so much more. It is all very exciting, and if you would like to learn more about this project visit the Altario Agricultural Academy on the Land School Division website. Be sure to like or follow @PrairiePrincipal on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can follow the Academy on Facebook at @altarioslfretail.