It was a big day for the Town of Oxbow on Friday, as they announced the commencement of construction on their new community swimming pool and the fundraising waypoint of one million dollars, amazingly achieved within five years. They also received three major donation presentations from companies in the southeast.

(L-R) Debbie Reid, Grocery Manager Oxbow Coop; Jen Buchanan, Pool Committee; Cam McNabb, Oxbow Coop Manager; Zane Rogalsky, C-Store Manager with the Coop cheque, a $25,000 donation over 5 years.

"The swimming pool committee has worked long and hard for the last five years, and there's been a number of different people in the community who've served on it, a lot of people who've supported it, and people are seeing the vision as to what the new pool is going to do for the community," stated the Town's Community Development Officer, Tammi Scott.

"We're really pleased with the amount of donations that we've received through corporate donors, through individuals, and through events that've gone on. It's just been awesome."

(L-R) Pool Committee Chairperson Jen Buchanan; Jadean Spencer of Affinity Credit Union with the $1,600 cheque.

The presentations that day included $1,600 from the Affinity Credit Union, specifically from their employees' Community Spirit Fund, and a commitment of $5,000 for 5 years from the Oxbow Coop. Cheers arose a little louder from the crowd at the third donation, as Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd (TEML) partnered with the Richardson Foundation to provide a $100,000 cheque to the Pool Committee.

"We applied for $10,000, and we got one hundred (thousand)," Scott expressed, "So we were over the moon. There might have been a tear or two that day."

"(We) decided to donate to Oxbow for this project because we value the communities in which our employees live and work, and the commitment to those communities. To raise a million dollars in five years, for a small community such as Oxbow with 1300 residents, that's incredible and that speaks volumes. We wanted to commit to this and support the effort of the local community, they've got a lot to be proud of here," added John Williams, the Vice President of Operations at TEML.

The Richardson Foundation donates around 1.5 Million dollars each year to small communities across the country.

The start date for construction of the new pool is set for July 9th, and they hope to have it ready by Canada Day 2019, the 152nd birthday of the nation.