"I don't want to paint a fancy picture but it's not doom and gloom either," explained Ogema mayor Wayne Myren about the kind of year the town had.

In spite of drought and a BSE crisis that lowered the price of hogs, both of which hit the rural community fairly hard, the mayor said in a year-end interview that Ogema is "holding its own."

"It's been a struggle," he said "but we're not giving up." The town of 320 people has a strategic economic development plan and the goal is not to sit on its laurels, he said.

The South Central Hog Corporation, which operates Big Sky Farms' hog operation near the town and is one of the area's largest employers, had planned an expansion this year until the BSE crisis forced down the price of pork.

Construction of the new barns is on hold, said the two-term mayor and chair of the town's economic development committee.

But Big Sky is still shipping out hogs and is still operating at full steam, so it will ride out the storm, said Myren.

Finding enough employees and attracting people to live in the town is always another issue, he said. Part of the long-term plan is to work with Immigration Canada to bring more immigrants in, he said.

In the meantime, the community continues to move ahead on other plans.

"The rail line project is forging ahead," he said. The project, organized by the Deep South Pioneer Museum, involves renovation of a 1912 train station house that was returned to the downtown area from Simpson. It is one of the last, intact stations left in the province, he said.

The project includes plans to move the town's original, 40,000-gallon water tower back into town. The cedar structure was torn down and moved in 1941 to a farmer's field two miles out of town, where it was used for grain storage.

The community committee also likes the idea of a Heritage Tour that would tie together Ogema and all the other museums in the region by train as a major tourist draw. A consultant is working on the feasibility of the proposal but it's a huge project, he said.

The station house renovations are expected to be completed by 2005, when the town will celebrate a huge homecoming.

This year, the town will sponsor its biennial trade show on Friday-Saturday, April 16-17. "That's been real successful for us," he said. It will also celebrate the 90th anniversary of the local agricultural society this year.