There’ll be a bit of a birthday celebration some time this year at Pas-Ka-Poo Park as a Cummings sawmill that has resided at the park for a number of years will be turning 110 years old.
Originally constructed and erected on the western banks of Gull Lake in 1898, the sawmill was the design of the Puffers and was sold shortly after to George Cummings who moved it to an area known as Sucker Creek and Cook’s Point – now known as Birch Bay.
Cummings and his wife and four children operated the mill until 1915 when it was sold to the Northcotes who, in turn, sold it in 1930 to Julius Johnson of Bluffton. In 1932 it was again sold – this time to the Lawton Brothers who operated it until 1965 when they rented it to Bob Black until 1970. At that time, the mill was purchased by Henry Makofka who owned it until December of 1990 when it was purchased by the Rimbey Historical Society, as was totally restored by volunteers Sam Kenny and Ken Smithson with the assistance of many others.
Currently, the sawmill occupies a permanent home at Pas-Ka-Poo Park under a newly built open-faced shed that it shares with an antiquated planer. The shed was constructed by volunteers of the Historical Society in 1992 and the mill made its debut and gave sawing demonstrations during Canada Day ceremonies in 1993, and has been used as an attraction to the park ever since.