Jasmine Budak
Northern News Services

Norman Wells (July 01/02) - As you make your way along Mackenzie Drive, passers-by will almost always wave or say hello. At about 3:00p.m., you can hear Canadian North's daily flight ascend the skyline, en route to Yellowknife and Edmonton.

The town of Norman Wells is valuable both as an oil and gas reserve and as a centre for regional air travel. Today, it's a far cry from its modest beginnings as a settlement, hamlet and village. Now the established town has its own RCMP station, school, health centre and airport.

History

The town made the map back in 1920 because of its considerable oil and gas reserves. However, since pipeline technology hadn't yet developed, the precious oil sat unused, with no way to shuttle it to booming southern markets.

This all changed during the Second World War. The U.S., fearing another Japanese attack on Alaskan islands, proposed the construction of a highway running all the way up to Alaska. A new road suddenly gave purpose to Norman Well's unused oil fields.

In tandem with highway development, the Canadian Oil Project (CANOL) was born -- touted as one of the most rigorous engineering tasks in history. Job postings warned applicants that they would "be required to work and live under the most extreme conditions imaginable," referring to drastic temperature ranges and blood-sucking mosquitoes.

From 1944 to 1945, scores of workers from all over North America laboured on the pipeline that would supply military machinery and vehicles in Alaska and the Yukon. The CANOL pipeline runs about 355 kilometres from the Norman Wells oil field to a refinery in Whitehorse.

The influence of oil

Townspeople acknowledge the substantial influence of oil companies on their home.

"If there was no Esso, there wouldn't be a town," says long time resident Martin Rojek. "There would be no high school without Esso."

While oil is already in a state of depletion, Esso still remains a substantial source of business and employment.

"Few businesses aren't associated with the oil fields," says Liz Danielson, manager and curator of the Historical Centre. "There might be a little bit of resentment towards the oil companies. Over the years, they've been very good to us, but good to us when they want something out of it. They are gradually cutting back staff which messes up our economy," she says.

Life after Esso

Many people predict the current oil pipeline business will last until about 2015, pending no further discoveries.

Mayor Kevin Diebold is confident the town will continue to thrive despite depleted oil reserves.

"Norman Wells is strategically located in the Sahtu region," he says. "It's got an airport, it's got ample property for development and it's got a good infrastructure."

The town has been preparing for a sudden Esso departure with what the mayor calls the "life after Esso fund." The town tries to contribute $100,000 a year in tax revenue to support independent business growth should the oil business decrease or dry out.

Former Norman Wells resident and president of Matco Transportation Ray Anderson says the town will always survive as a service centre for the Sahtu region.

"Stores become very important to provide goods and services to satellite communities," says Anderson.

Anderson also says remote Northern towns can only logically exist with a sound economic base from which to grow on. It couldn't happen any other way.

Mackenzie valley pipeline

Others are hopeful that the famous Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project, still not finalized, will keep the resource business afloat.

"The gas pipeline will help keeps things going as part of the whole system," says former mayor Frank Pope. All in all, Pope's not worried.

"I'm here for life," he says.

Whether a visitor, resident or former resident, most people describe a similar affection for the town.

Carolyn Golightly came to Norman Wells in 1990 and left in 1997. At first she was daunted by weather and remoteness.

"I thought that I was in hell and it had frozen over!" says Golightly about her very first impression. "I came in November when it was cold, dark and desolate and we didn't know a soul, except for my aunt and uncle, but seven years later I cried my eyes out when I left."

Golightly says it's the people that make this town.

"The friendships are really close. People here often don't have any family so your friends become your family," she says. "There's a certain comradery in isolation."

Reunion

The idea to reunite town residents and celebrate Norman Well's maturation stemmed from Marlene Malick's "lifer parties."

Since going-away parties became depressingly frequent among the transient population, Malick decided to celebrate those who've stuck around.

The 10-day reunion was a success and showcased famous musicians like Blue Rodeo, Susan Aglukark and Tom Jackson. Most importantly, it rewove a close knit community, many whom are set to stay for life.