Rural Reckoning: Oxford seeks diversity and pride to stay strong

For aNova Scotia town,Oxford sits in an enviable position, thanks to a solid economic anchor, Oxford Frozen Foods. The Bragg family runs the business, which processes blueberries as well as onions and carrots.

The town's population isn't dropping, but it isn't growing either. That's why people in Oxford are keen to diversify its economy. No one even wants to contemplate a future without Oxford Frozen Foods commonly referred to as OFFbut residents are not willing to rest on their blueberry laurels.

Some people have talked about Oxford being a town that's dying... but I really think that it has changed for the better.- Hailie Tattrie

Trish Stewart is the town's mayor, the first woman to hold that post. She says the town's operating budget is about $2.5 million and OFFcontributes about a third of the tax revenue.

"We are a one-pony town and if we did not have that pony, I don't know that we could sustain ourselves. It provides jobs. It provides a paycheque for the community to buy their groceries, to shop in our local stores, to pay their taxes so we can pave our roads.I mean, it's a great big circle," Stewart told CBC's Mainstreet.

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Oxford's population is 1,150. That's down by about 10 people from a few years ago. The population is also aging, like it is in much of Nova Scotia. That's why people in the town want to find ways to hang on to more of its youth.

One way it's doing that is through the Oxford Youth Town Council. It was started a few years ago by Hailie Tattrie, who was in high school at the time. She heard about the ideaat a leadership conference and thought it would help Oxford youth be heard.

"With a small town like Oxford, as great as it is, there's not as many things to do like there is in, say, Halifax or in the bigger cities.So I wanted to get together a youth town council that could not only hear the needs of youth, but give them something to do."

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Tattrie is in her second year studying sociology at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B. She's pleased to hear Oxford's Youth Town Council is still going. She points to a couple of local projects that have given young people the chance to feel connected to the town:a new skateboard park that's under construction and a new gazebo near the town hall students helped build.

"I think it'll be exciting for the youth to come back and years down the road say, 'Hey, I was a part of that. Hey look, that's still there.'Kids are still using this and, wow, this is what they've added to the community."

Pride calls you home

That adds to town pride, she says, which will keep more people at home or attract them back. She said it also makes life more interesting for young people.

"I think that's a huge issue:there's nothing to do. People get hateful because of that, but if you give the youth something to do,youth are filled with great ideas.They're very intelligent and they're very passionate you just have to give them a bit of a nudge and they will take off and they will do amazing things," she said.

Oxford's CAO, Darrell White, dreams of the town attracting a new restaurant or hotel to increase the economic opportunities.

"Any kind of service-type industry would be ideal for Oxford. It would bring people to the community. It would allow for more tax base to be created within the community," he said.

People in the town also talk about the importance of building a seniors home. Now, elderly Oxford residents must disperse across the province to different facilities.

People in Oxford also think a vibrant arts scene is essential to creating community pride.

Eleanor Crowley is described as a volunteer extraordinaire in Oxford. She organizes the music concerts that take place in the newly painted Capitol Theatre. She also co-ordinates the musical jams that happen every two weeks.

"People usually move here for a job and partly because there's a school here in town. But you expand on that because there's a lot of activities.There's a lot of green space in town," she said.

"It's not [just] about the job. It's not about the money. It's about the bits in between. And that's where your arts and your culture and those parts fit in. They make a person round as opposed to two-sided."

Crowley says Oxford also hopes to see the formation of an amateur theatre group to add plays and musicals to the town's entertainment listings.

Hailie Tattrie says someday, she sees herself moving back to Oxford. She wants to finish her undergraduate degree, do a masters and become a social worker. Then she wants to travel. But after that, she wants to move home.

"I know some people have talked about Oxford being a town that's dying out or being a town that's slowing down.But I really think that's starting to change and I really think that it has changed for the better," she said.