St. Joseph's Colony - Reward

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      Ufford, Better Known As Reward

      The first post office in the district was situated on SE 2-39-24-W3. It was named Ufford and was operated by Mr. and Mrs. Culyer.

      The school was built in 1915 and it was named New Ufford No. 3332. That little school house is where all my family received their education.

      Pioneers in the community were: The Pete Thomas, Joe Herbst, Simon Schell, George Schell Sr., John Walz, Mike Ganzert, John Neigum, Paul Aselbora, Pat Slavin, Adam Schell Sr., George Scheck, Scotty Smith, Bill Hobelsberger, Peter Boser, Valentine Schell, Nick Burn, Frank Ganzert, Mike Neigum, Phil Herner, John Thomas, Gottlieb Klotz, Zack Schell, Roy Kirk and Howard Platford.

      Howard Platford visited our home often and as we were of German origin, it didn't take Howard very long to learn to speak our language as well as we could. My mother was proud of that because she couldn't speak English and this way she was able to communicate with Howard.

      Our first Catholic Church was built in about 1912, but we soon needed a bigger one. The old one was used as a hall for social gatherings. In 1963, a new church was built in the hamlet of Reward. After years of deterioration, the old church, one and a half miles south of Reward, was restored and a shrine built. It is a tourist attraction in this area. Each year in July, there is a pilgrimage to the shrine. Weddings and funerals are still held there on occasion.

      Priests that have served over the parish are: Fathers: Schultz, Bieler, Gaetz, Groetschel (resident for 32 years), Lewans, Huber, Burmel, Schutz, Blatz, Schmidt, Prothman, Fiest and our present parish Priest, Father Fetch.

      The railroad throguh Reward was graded in 1929. They used elevator graders and horses, a caterpillar tractor and dump wagons to haul ground for the fills. I can remeber looking on and feeling sorry for the horses. They were not treated all that well. The steel was laid in 1930. The first elevator, Saskatchewan Pool, was also built in 1930. Vern Lambert was the first agent. Other agents were: Cecil Whitney, Pete Wienkauf, Nick Deck and our present agent; August Wienkauf.


      1. Before the town of Reward started, business was done in Salvador.
      2. William Payne operated our first post office in 1931.
      3. Our first store in 1930 was owned by F. Leier Sr. and operated by George Lambert, a brother of Vern Lambert.
      4. In 1932, M. Goldberg built a large general store.
      5. In 1931, Pete Schraeder had built a dance hall in Reward. There was also a pool room and barber shop which was operated by Spider, another brother of Lambert's. In 1941, the dance hall closed.
      6. In 1934, Mr. Stolb sold his harness and shoe repair equipment to Mr. Lauer and his house to the RM of Grass Lake.
      7. In 1937, Roy Winterhalt opened a blacksmith shop (previously operated by Mr. Eross).
      8. Other people who had operated some sort of business in Reward are:
        1. F. Elliot, who operated a Co-op Hardware stored,
        2. Bob Days, who took over the post office from the Paynes &
        3. Matt and Norma Kratchmer, who operated the Gulf Oil.
      9. Residents in the hamlet not mentioned so far were: M. Ripplenger, John Boser, Anton Boser, Joe Keller and Karl Kammerer.
      Ufford School District No. 3332

      Source: Westside Echoes By G.P. Stabbler

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      Last Updated: Sunday, February 10, 2002

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