The rusty old steel box, the vault at the original County of Stettler building, isn't an exciting sight until one takes a moment to look at the inside door.
The vault was removed when the old office was torn down, with the reeve and council of the day taking a moment to leave inspiring messages written on the inside of the door.
On Thursday, June 18, as hundreds gathered at the county property on the edge of town to celebrate the six-decade milestone, today's council added their comments in indelible marker to add to those of their predecessors'.
Former reeves and councillors filled the chair as current Reeve Wayne Nixon spoke about the county and how it has grown since its inception in 1955. Very few of the county's original employees and council remain alive today, but one of them, 92-year-old William Bauer, made sure to be at the party.
"I started with the Municipal District (MD) 54 (Erskine) in 1952, part-time for a few years," Bauer recalled. "Pest control, first rats, then cougars, to start."
When the County of Stettler formed in 1955, it brought the MD 54 into its folds and Bauer went with it, working as the agricultural fieldman.
The county's first office was located north of where Don's Service is now located, Bauer recalled.
"It was a long narrow building," he remembered. "The front was the office, the middle the meeting room – with the only bathroom – and the agricultural fieldman and assessor were at the back."
Council meetings could make things awkward for the staff at the back, Bauer noted.
"When council meetings were on, we had to crawl out the window and run to the garage next door to use the bathroom," he said with a laugh. While the front office had to use the same bathroom, they at least had a door.
Over the six decades since Bauer first worked for the county, there's been plenty of changes – equipment and employees being the biggest, he said.
"I worked a lot of years alone," he said. "Then I finally got an assistant. Then extra duties were added, but no extra staff."
Bauer went on to become county fire chief -- "I had a lot of jobs," he said.
Fire fighting back then meant filling the weed-spraying truck with water, but through "a few battles" with council, the county got its first fire truck.
"The equipment they have now," Bauer said, shaking his head in awe. "We were lucky to have a tree planter and a few small roadside sprayers."
He and his assistants planted more than a million trees through their work at the county.
"I look around the county and a lot of these plantings are familiar to me," he said.
The process to become the County of Stettler began in 1943 when several districts merged to become the MD of Stettler. It was 12 years later that the county formed.
"We're made up of a diverse group of people," current Reeve Wayne Nixon said. "We have a diverse landscape, a diverse culture. I'm very proud of our county, our administration, and our staff."
Dignitaries from all levels of government were present, or had sent word. MP Kevin Sorenson couldn't be there, but he sent a letter congratulating the county on its six decades, and reeves from several surrounding counties and the Mayor of the Town of Stettler, Dick Richards, brought gifts and well wishes.
The Stettler RCMP, the RCMP traffic unit, Stettler Regional Fire and Rescue and Stettler Regional EMS brought out their vehicles and personnel to talk about their work to anyone curious who stopped by, letting kids take photos in fire trucks and police cruisers.
A pie contest saw six county bakers submit pies – a coconut cream, a bumbleberry, a rhubarb-strawberry custard, a Saskatoon berry tart and two apple pies were entered, with Loree Nixon's apple pie winning first place.
The pies were auctioned off after the speeches were complete, with the money raised going to a charity of Loree Nixon's choosing.
A special sandbox, with hidden prizes, was set up for the youngsters to play in, and wagon rides were offered throughout the day. A free barbecue saw party-goers able to enjoy a free hotdog or hamburger, salad and chips or cheezies, plus birthday cake.