Lumsden Happy Hollow |
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Town | |
James Street
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Coordinates: 50°38′47″N 104°52′03″W / 50.6463°N 104.8676°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Saskatchewan |
Region | South Eastern Saskatchewan |
Census division | 6 |
Rural Municipality | Lumsden |
Established | 1881 |
Incorporated (Village) | January 10, 1899 |
Incorporated (Town) | March 15, 1905 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Bryan Matheson |
• Chief Administrative Officer | Darcie Cooper |
• Governing body | Town Council |
Area | |
• Land | 4.06 km2 (1.57 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 1,631 |
• Density | 402.0/km2 (1,041/sq mi) |
Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
Postal code | S0G 3C0 |
Area code(s) | 306 |
Highways | Highway 11 |
Waterways | Wascana Creek |
Website | www |
Lumsden is a town in the Qu'Appelle Valley in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, 31 km northwest of the city of Regina. It is surrounded by the rural municipality of Lumsden. The town functions as both a farming community and an unofficial suburb of Regina. Lumsden has an active artistic community, which consists of many writers, painters and sculptors.
Settlers first arrived in 1881 and the area came to be commonly known as Happy Hollow. When the Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway came through the community in 1889, the name was changed to Lumsden after Hugh Lumsden, a senior engineer with the railroad.
The town has been repeatedly flooded, with major flood events occurring in 1892, 1904, 1916, 1948, and 1969. In 1974, Lumsden experienced the highest water levels in the town’s history; volunteers from Regina came to help with sandbagging. The town subsequently straightened the Qu'Appelle River’s channel and built dikes. The Town was at risk for flooding again in 2011 after a wet fall winter of record snowfall, however it did not flood.
The community was chosen by Harrowsmith Magazine in 2002 as the "prettiest" town in the province.
Official town centennial celebrations were held in March 2005. In May 2005, Lumsden hosted Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh at the Lumsden Sports Centre. Hundreds of guests were entertained by Marny Duncan-Cary, the Lumsden Community Choir, the Riel Reelers, and the Lumsden & District Band and Jazz Ensemble. The event was held in celebration of both the town and the province's centenaries, and was the only engagement of Canada's Queen outside urban centres on that visit to Saskatchewan.
Every summer writers from around Canada gather at Lumsden's retreat centre for creative writing workshops put on by Sage Hill Writing Experience.
Each year the town of Lumsden hosts a fundraiser in which thousands of numbered plastic ducks are raced down the Qu'Appelle River. Participants purchase a numbered duck which is entered in the race, and the first ducks across the finish line win their owners cash and prizes. Proceeds from the derby benefit the sports center in town. The derby also hosts a variety of artists, musicians, traders, etc. who perform and sell their wares in town.