Foam Lake is a town in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. It had a population of 1,123 in 2006. It is located in a mixed agricultural area approximately 220 km south-east of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

on the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway () is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg west to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western provinces of Britis ...

. Foam Lake, the lake for which the town is named, is located about to the north-west.

History

Foam Lake was founded in 1882 by Joshua Milligan, an English fur trader. It was subsequently settled by Icelanders, Ukrainians, and various

English-speaking The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

nationalities. It was incorporated as a town in 1924. The Foam Lake Museum ( 1926) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the

Canadian Register of Historic Places The Canadian Register of Historic Places (CRHP; , ), also known as Canada's Historic Places, is an online directory of historic places in Canada which have been formally recognized for their heritage value by a federal, provincial, territorial ...

. In the summer of 2006, two major fires destroyed a major part of Main Street in Foam Lake. The first fire destroyed three businesses and one home. These included the water fountain/Sears outlet/Backyard Studios, the doctor's office, and Dennis' Cafe, which was also the owner's home. The second fire started in one of the three

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

s, burning the first elevator to the ground and spreading to the second one. The volunteer fire department was able to put out the blaze with the help of two water bombers and volunteer fire departments from surrounding communities.

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 Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Foam Lake had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Sports and recreation

Quill Lakes The Quill Lakes are a wetland complex in Saskatchewan, Canada that encompasses the endorheic basin of three distinct lake wetlands: Big Quill Lake, Middle Quill Lake, and Little Quill Lake. On May 27, 1987, it was designated a Ramsar list of ...

International Bird Area north-west of Foam Lake attracts bird watchers from all over the world. The Foam Lake Water Park features a 128 ft waterslide, hot tub, vortex and beach entry and is the summer hub of the community. Foam Lake's Annual Veselka Ukrainian Heritage Festival occurs each year and celebrates Ukrainian culture through food, music, art, and entertainment.

Foam Lake Flyers

The Foam Lake Flyers of the amateur senior men's Long Lake Hockey League play at the Foam Lake Recreation Centre. They have been in existence since the 1940s. Many notable players and coaches have been a part of this team. Frank "Buzz" Boll coached the team for a few years in the late 1940s. He was a former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player. Former Flyers also include

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

honoured member

Bernie Federko Bernard Allan Federko (born May 12, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League from 1976 through 1990. Playing career Federko began playing hockey at a young age in his ho ...

, Canadian Olympian Ted Hargreaves, and many former junior stars including the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

draft pick Jeff Lucky.

Education

Foam Lake Elementary School and Foam Lake Composite High School are in the Horizon School Division No. 205. The high school's football team is called the Foam Lake Panthers.

Notable people

, professional ice hockey player. * Pat Elynuik, professional ice hockey player. * Dennis Polonich, professional ice hockey player. *

Tania Miller Tania Miller (born August 28, 1969, in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian conductor. In October 2023, she was appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of Brott Music Festival and its two national Canadian training programs, the National A ...

, youngest and first female conductor of a major Canadian Symphony Orchestra. * Bryan Bjarnason represented Kelvington from 1964 to 1969 in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

as a Liberal. Served in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

during World War II

References

External links

Town of Foam Lake
* * {{Authority control Foam Lake No. 276, Saskatchewan Towns in Saskatchewan Icelandic settlements in Saskatchewan Populated places established in 1882 Division No. 10, Saskatchewan 1882 establishments in the Northwest Territories