Mainprize Regional Park has been getting significant improvements thanks to the Dr. Mainprize Foundation, a non-profit organization, the board for which was formed in the spring of 2024.
"Originally, it was established as a request from the park," explained President Brandon Rosengren. "They didn't have time to put on events, do the fundraising, and delegate that money somewhere specifically. It was kind of just getting put into the general coffers. They had made a request to have someone create a foundation that can do these events within the park, and then put the money towards improvements or beautification."
He said they warmed up last year with the Canada Day celebration at the park and a golf tournament in the fall. This year, however, they have held a Casino Night on the May long weekend, and filled the Canada Day long weekend with events, including a Cabaret with Chris Henderson. They canceled plans for the August long weekend this year, however, so as not to detract from an area favourite, the Midale Bull Bash.
"So now our big event for this year is obviously the annual One Million Dollar Par 3 [Golf] Tournament on September 13th, and that one last year was a huge success. We had about 300 people turn out for that, and we raised, I think, $47,000. So we're hoping to beat that this year, and we want to have around 350 to 400 people attend."
Rosengren said they put that $47,000 to good use, including new picnic tables on the beach and golf course improvements.
Those are permanent structures. They'll be there for 30 years to come," he shared. "We did a water fountain on Holes 6 and 7, and another memorial water fountain on Hole 18. Then we also paid $8,000 towards the new sand rake that the park needed for the golf course bunkers. Their sand rake had broken down about a month ago, and the new one was just outside their budget for the year, so we helped them out. We got that back in, and the bunkers are looking a lot better now."
The beach picnic tables are a commercial product ordered from Global Industrial to stand the test of time.
"Wood out on the beach won't last too terribly long, and we had Dart Services come out and put in some big screw piles right below them, so they're welded on and they're permanent," he noted. "Last year, we helped them put out their sand [on the beach] that they had purchased, and then this year, as part of the picnic table project, we had brought in a bunch of more loads of new sand for the beach, so now it's fully been topped off with new sand and it looks way better than in previous years."
He said their projects all come with the caveat to bring more people to Mainprize.
"We're always trying to add value to visitors and residents. Mainprize is kind of a hidden gem. I run into people all the time, still, that have never heard of it, from Weyburn and Estevan, which is crazy to me. It's one of the only places in the whole southeast corner where you can have great boating, great fishing, great golf course. You've got houses, you've got a store. It just has everything, and it's all within walking distance. There are not many places like that."
Rosengren said compared to other regional parks in the southeast, "there's not any place you can just hop on your golf cart and be at the dock in 30 seconds or be at the golf course in 30 seconds. It's nice, you can just do it all in one place. You don't have to leave."
For those who didn't know, the park as it is now is relatively new, but it has a history intertwined with the development of the Rafferty Dam and the legacy of Dr. William Mainprize, a beloved doctor who served the Midale area for over 50 years. Originally established in 1961 near the Souris River, the park was relocated due to the flooding caused by the Rafferty Reservoir. The new park, relocated 5 kilometers upstream to higher ground, becoming part of the 55-kilometre Rafferty Reservoir, was officially established in 1994, and includes an 18-hole golf course, campgrounds, residential lots, and rental accommodations.
The park's golf course previously held a number of features no longer on-site, the only one remaining is a little chapel.
"That's one thing that's come up even in our meetings, is trying to bring some of that heritage back," Rosengren stated. "So we're working with the creators of the Dr. Mainprize documentary, and next July long weekend, we're going to be featuring the documentary showing at Mainprize. We're going to help them install their monument that weekend, and we're going to have the Johner Brothers playing, all at the same time. So it's going to be a big event for next year."