Myrnam is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in east

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

, Canada. It is located approximately east of the capital city,

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, and about east-south-east of the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Two Hills. Its economic base is mixed farming, cattle farming, and grain farming.

History

Myrnam's

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

opened in August 1908, and a small settlement formed around it. It was largely made up of Ukrainian immigrants, and named itself with the Ukrainian phrase meaning "peace to us." The Canadian Pacific Railway established a siding and townsite in 1927, and named it after the original settlement. It was incorporated as a village on August 22, 1930. The former Myrnam Hospital is featured in a

Heritage Minute ''The Heritage Minutes'' is a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. The ''Minutes'' integrate Canadian history, folklore and myths into dramatic storylines. Like the Canada Vignettes of t ...

, documenting the village's contribution to the construction of a larger hospital to service Myrnam and area.

Geography

Myrnam is located 5 minutes south of the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

, which provides both summer and winter recreational opportunities. It is on a flyway for

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

snow geese The snow goose (''Anser caerulescens'') is a species of goose native to North America. Both white and dark morphs exist, the latter often known as blue goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The species was previously placed ...

, and

sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...

s, providing opportunities for birdwatchers. There are two bird sanctuaries located near Myrnam, and

Fort de L'Isle Fort de l'Isle is a site in Alberta, Canada, containing the remains of three trading posts that existed from 1799 to some time before 1808. The island the North Saskatchewan River on which the posts were located is about 47 miles west of the Saskatc ...

Historical Site is nearby.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Myrnam had a population of 257 living in 122 of its 161 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 339. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Myrnam recorded a population of 339 living in 140 of its 177 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 370. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Education

Located in Myrnam is New Myrnam School, with a K-12 student population of about 120, as of 2019. The school also educates children from the neighbouring communities of Derwent and Beauvallon. The school teams are named the Barons. Sports and activities include

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, cross country, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. The school also has a winter competition called Mukluk, usually held in February.http://newmyrnamschool.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156&Itemid=124 Past Activities

Events and clubs

*The Myrnam and District Ukrainian Dance Club *Myrnam Soccer Club *Annual softball tournament (June) *Myrnam 4-H Club *Fun and Fair Days (July)

Notable people

* Rocky Saganiuk, former professional hockey player

References

External links

* {{Subdivisions of Alberta, villages=yes 1930 establishments in Alberta Villages in Alberta Ukrainian-Canadian culture in Alberta