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Highway 40 Courier, August 6, 1959

The Future and Elks Beach

The Municipality of Cut Knife is applying to the Provincial Government for title to some forty-five acres of land adjacent to Atton's Lake for the purpose of extending the resort area there. The new area would also come under the administration of the Elks under an arrangement similar to the one currently in effect.

There is no more likely system. Probably a private operator could be found who would make the deal more lucrative for the municipality as far as the actual leasing is concerned, but in the long run it would really be far more expensive for the public, for no private operator could be found who would operate the beach in the interests of the public with an eye to keeping costs as reasonable as possible.

No one has an unkind word for the work the Elks have done at the beach. Their voluntary work, their long hours, their devotion and unselfish interest have made the resort one of the most delightful to visit.

However, with this new move comes an added responsibility that will require more than just a little more work and a little more care. The Elks will find themselves now on the verge of a rather massive undertaking. As one interested government official told the Courier the other week, tourism in this province is only now beginning to start down the road that leads to the swarming lake-mad throngs that crowd the beaches like Quebec and Ontario.

The Elks then would be well advised before taking on this new assignment, to investigate the errors (and there are many) that have been made in similar resorts. Whole towns, with populations into the thousands rather than hundreds, have grown up around many of these eastern lakes. There are super markets, water and sewer, bowling allies, and all the comforts of home; to the point, in fact, that one wonders why all the trouble to get away from home.

Attending a holiday resort of this nature - and there are so very many of them in the more settled regions of our country - becomes more like hard work and less like a holiday. Nevertheless, each weekend the bumper to bumper traffic moves out of the cities bound for "The Lake". Once there, one can find no quiet, no rest. And there's always the odd old-timer around to sadly shake his head and recall the dear old days when just a few happy cottagers gathered in the summer to share the quiet serenity of his beloved lake. Make no mistake, in the future of Atton's Lake are more and more and more people.

Probably a lake of the size of Atton's Lake will never get to the super market stage, but the same problems, even if on a reduced scale are bound to arise. A well formulated plan of development should be devised before a step is made to start development of the to be acquired land. Definitely the matter of roads in the area will be a major point up for consideration. Whether it looks as pretty as the present rather than haphazard scattering of cottages or not, blocking along the lines of a town will have to be laid out for orderly operation. Parking will obviously become more and more of a problem. These are items on which others have gone wrong. These are items the Elks will have to watch most carefully; and certainly no one envies then their job. The headaches are all theirs and most other people are glad of it.

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Path to Main Beach
Circa 1959
Main Beach, Atton's Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada


Credits:
Cut Knife Royal Purple