The past few summer months have been particularly busy in the Town of Leader.

West Central Online caught up with Mayor Aaron Wenzel to discuss the different topics of Premier Scott Moe making a trip to town, following the announcement of some short-line rail funding coming to the province that included the Great Sandhills Railway out of Leader.

Mayor Wenzel shared that the rail funding wasn't the reason Moe came to town, rather just an additive bonus as he was toured around the West Central community.

"That was not why the Premier came to town. I think that was part of a broader initiative to go and connect with folks across the province, and hear what some of our concerns were, and hear what opportunities are possible for the area. It was just something to get out and talk to the people, two totally separate things."

As seen above, Moe still donned his conductor hat to check out the important industry out of Leader, as the tour was set-up by Cypress Hills MLA Doug Steele. Mayor Wenzel described what the rest of their tour consisted of.

"We got to go around and see the town, and obviously the hospital that was built and the issues we have had there that we wanted to discuss with the Premier. Minister Hindley was in town earlier in the week as well to discuss some of those issues. It was just a great opportunity with our regional partners being down to Fox Valley that we wanted to discuss, and those included the rail line, so we took the opportunity to take him on a tour of the railway."

Staying with the key entity out of Leader, Wenzel described what having the train station in town means.

"It is significant in the community," he said, "It employs quite a few people. Some of the core businesses being the G3 Terminal, GMacs Ag Services, they do rely on our services yes."

Switching back to the topic of the Premier coming to town, Wenzel said it was a great opportunity they haven't had since Brad Wall was in office. The previous Premier was in town about eight years ago when the already mentioned hospital was being built, so it was some what of a special treat to have a sitting Premier come for the circumstances he did. Moe has put on a ton kilometres this summer, as anyone that follows him on social media can notice that Leader wasn't his only stop this summer. 

Wenzel also mentioned the Town hosted their Wild West Days event back during the third weekend of June that featured a great time for all of the people in attendance. A concert capped off a great evening out, and Wenzel says it was one of their best attended community events in recent memory. 

Shortly after that town wide event, a new venture opened up to end off the month of June in the Sandhills Credit Union Marketplace.

"The Chamber of Commerce partnered with some local sponsors and they built a fantastic little farmers market that's been a nice little gathering spot for the community this summer, and it will be there for many years to come so that is definitely a bright spot."

Leader marketplacePhoto via Sandhills Credit Union on Facebook

The final thing Wenzel had to share was an upcoming event in the community, a "Farewell to Summer" concert set for Friday, August 26th at 7:00 pm.

"Down at the Millennium Gardens on Main Street, we are going to have a little street party and concert to cap off the summer," said Wenzel, as JJ Voss and his 'I Want To Sing 4 you 2' solo acoustic concert series comes to town."

Check out the poster for the event below, as facing the end of summer will be a little easier for Leader residents with yet another great night set for the community:

JJ Voss concert Poster via Aaron Wenzel/Town of Leader