New Hutterite colony begins to take shape near Eston
BY JOAN JANZEN
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
If you’ve been in the region approximately six miles south of Eston, Sask., you may have noticed some new structures being erected. From the Fairville Hutterite Colony near Bassano, Alberta, Andrew Wipf informed me that the Fairville Colony is developing a daughter colony at the Eston location.
As is the custom, a colony divides once its population reaches 120, or when it can financially afford to divide. Andrew Wipf is a minister for the new colony named the Eston Farming Co. Developing a new colony takes much effort and time, and Wipf says the Eston project has just begun.
“We’ve just started. It will be at least three years before people move in. We’re in the process of building a structure where we do our slaughtering and canning. Right now, there are about twenty people at the Eston location,” Wipf said. “Depending on how long it takes to develop, there will be approximately seventy-five to eighty people there at the start. That’s everybody, including children.”
A chicken barn capable of housing 17,000 birds was one of the first structures to be built. “We put different quotes out there for the construction of the barn; we wanted to stay local if we could,” Wipf explained, “We hired Elliott Concrete and Construction out of Eston to put up the barn. We also hired the RM of Eston to do some excavating on the place.”
The Eston Farming Co. has a strong farming base, which includes land previously owned by Bill Boyd. Wipf explained that “The chicken barn is going right now, and we’re shipping eggs to Saskatoon. We’ve applied for a permit for 600 hogs, but that depends on how the hog industry proceeds. We’re not sure if we’ll go ahead with it, but we are getting the permit.” He clarified that they wouldn’t be adding any more animals in the next year or more.
“We moved in a 49-man dorm and got it ready for people to move in,” Wipf said, describing it as a temporary dwelling. “There’s about twenty people living there.”
It may be a while before the new Hutterite colony is entirely up and running, with all the families moved in, but they’ll be good neighbours when they do arrive. “We like to keep things local and support local as much as possible,” Andrew Wipf concluded.
PHOTO BY KATE WINQUIST
Work has been progressing on the new Hutterite colony near Eston since this photo was taken back in July.
