Portage la Prairie At Noon

FTLComm - Portage la Prairie, Manitoba - Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Over taken by a mild thirst late Tuesday morning we took the exit on the East side of Portage la Prairie and drove down its main drag. The first 7 - 11 had a broken pop machine and I bought what I thought was a bottle Coke but it actually was "pledge" funiture polish. As we rolled along we pulled to a halt at the centre of town and I was struck by the charm of the City Hall, down came the window to get the picture above and as I snapped the light turned green and a bell began chiming off twelve tones. To signal to the citizens the town hall bell rings each noon. I clicked of the second image (right) and on we went discovering a second 7 - 11 where the clerk was determined to charge me more for my refill that is the going rate, a little negotiating and we were once more on our way. Portage is a little more than half an hour our of Winnipeg and since the war has been home to the basic flight training school of Canadian armed forces. Now the base is run by Bombardier providing the private enterprise training centre for Canada's military pilots. But this is not he city's only claim to fame. Just East of the city is a huge factory designed to make building material from straw. The original developer went broke and a large chemical company has taken over production and it is expected to be a profitable business. More than a quarter section of farm land is in used to handle the huge piles of bailed straw. But if you need to know what it is lunch time, down town Portage is the place to be.