For folks in Kenton, there’s no place like home

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This article was published 11/06/2020 (2123 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Call it the little village that could – and still does.

When talking about Kenton, energy, enthusiasm and excitement emanate from every individual, whether it’s the owner of the local lumberyard, an eager let’s-get-it-done community booster, a former-but-not-quite-retired car salesman, or a teacher who not only educates in her home territory, but consults all over the world.

So what’s so special about this tiny town of approximately 100 or so people about an hour’s drive northwest of Brandon?

Well, what began as a settlement in 1881 that was named after its first postmaster, A.W. Kent (some of whose descendants still live there), has been thriving pretty much since Day 1. And it continues to flourish all these years later, thanks to folks who have invested their hearts and souls, their money and their time into creating amenities that communities many times Kenton’s size would likely view with envy.

The aforementioned lumberyard, a car dealership, a farm supply store, a fertilizer company, a Co-op that sells groceries and hardware, an insurance broker, a credit union, a restaurant, and a legion with a memorial hall are just some of the staples Kenton can count on.

But in addition, it also has a beautiful bridge over Bars Creek, which allows access to the nature trail that leads to the beach by the reservoir – the latter is stocked with fish by Natural Resources each year. It also has an open-air bandstand where many local and visiting musicians present concerts. Murals by local artists abound, and there’s a memorial park, a kids’ natural playground – the list of surprising features is goes on and on.

The village also boasts a busy hockey rink, three rec hockey teams, a kids’ skating club, and a curling club with three sheets of natural ice that is installed and maintained by volunteers each year.

Most residents have been in Kenton or the nearby farming community all of their lives. Some have returned after venturing elsewhere because they discovered there truly was no place like home.

Craig Whyte, who owns Whyte’s Lumber – it used to be Whyte’s Lumber and Insurance, but Guild recently bought the insurance portion – is his family’s second generation to run the lumberyard. His father came home after the Second World War and established the business, and Whyte took over in 1972.

“For a small town, we’ve still got a very good business community,” Whyte said. “And the people of this area are very supportive of this community. The only thing we’ve lost, unfortunately, is our school, but we’re 15 minutes away from a very good school in Hamiota.”

Loyalty to what their hometown has to offer is a big part of what keeps Kenton booming, and when you’re taking care of your friends and neighbours, reliability is key.

“If you look after people, they remember where you are,” Whyte said. “They’ll come back. The nice thing is, they’re a group of people such as myself who really, really believe in community.”

He referred to Nicole Wilson (who came up with the concept of the bandstand, the park and playground, and the garden of memories) – as “our cheerleader, who’s a really key person” in the continuing evolution of the village.

Wilson, an early childhood educator who’s now a stay-at-home mom, grew up in Hamiota, but her husband was raised in Kenton. They’ve lived other places, but were happy to return to Kenton in 2013.

“It is a small little centre, but it’s bustling most days,” Wilson said. “We’re very lucky in times like these to live in a town like this. For a global pandemic to happen, Kenton has everything you need without straying too far.”

Wilson got involved in creating new spaces and places for the community because she likes enhancing the options available to those in the village, and because there’s never a dearth of volunteers who are happy to pitch in.

“You just make it happen,” she said with a laugh. “It’s nice to help out in the town. People just do that here. It’s not an exceptional thing that anybody does – everybody just does their part. When you ask, everybody says ‘yes.’ Everyone’s always game to get involved.

“People are very generous with their time. You can throw money at a lot of things, but if people aren’t generous with their time, it goes nowhere.”

Leah Obach, who grew up on a farm just outside of Kenton, left for five years to obtain a teaching degree at Brandon University. Once she had her credentials, she landed a job at the school in Hamiota, where she’s been teaching for the past 11 years. And she was thrilled to be back home.

“Kenton is a wonderful little place,” she said. “I love rural and small-town life, and I felt that it was really important for me to serve rural students. I wanted to give back in my own community.”

Like most Kentonites, Obach, who also owns a consulting company and works internationally training other educators, appreciates what she has and doesn’t take her situation for granted. But at the same time, she seems thrilled by, and somewhat in awe of, the fortunate circumstances the village finds itself in.

“We’re pretty enamoured with our hometown,” Obach said. “It is pretty great. We do have a friendly community, and lots of families have been here for a long time and know each other and have known each other from generation to generation to generation.

“And it’s awesome we have so many local businesses, and certainly I think our agricultural community makes that possible. Farming ties you to the land, and you have lots of generations that stay for a long time. But I think it helps that a lot of our community supports locally. When we do business here, it helps make those businesses sustainable.”

Lifelong Kenton resident Don Carter couldn’t agree more. He bought the car dealership, which was originally a garage started after the Second World War, in 1985.

“I decided that if Chrysler would give me a dealership in Kenton, I would do it,” Carter said. “I thought it would be great if you could maintain a car dealership in a little town like this.”

Carter built a new building in 1998 and recently sold the business. But he still drops in occasionally to sell a car or two.

“For a small town, it has a very large business community due to the people who have made sure it’s always there,” Carter said. “And Kenton and the surrounding community have been very loyal in supporting it.

“I guess people realize that if you don’t support your little town that you have, then you have nothing. Over the last 35 years, people have watched their towns dry up to nothing. We have some services offered in Kenton that no other towns of this size have.”

And Carter has a pretty good idea why that is.

“I guess it’s an incredible place because of the people who live in it.”