welcome to Beaver Creek

the school 

 the seasonal pool (see the "greenhouse" in the back, that's where the pool is)

 tiny post office and bank

outdoor skating rink

here she is! Beaver Creek!

our little fire station and library, side by side

RCMP detachment

Buckshot Betty's restaurant

Ida's motel and gas station

visitor's center (seasonal)

Health Center

The Community Club and curling rink

4 RCMP houses in a row (the middle one is a duplex)

our house

I've been meaning to write up a post about our little town of Beaver Creek for some time now. This is the town that we will live in for the next 2 years and already, we have come to really like it here.

Beaver Creek is a small town by all accounts. With just about 85 permanent residents, it really is the kind of place that becomes personal and special to those that live here. Beaver Creek is the most Westerly community in Canada and lies right on the boarder of the Yukon and Alaska.

Beaver Creek's community consists of many different people with all kinds of roles. We have a few government agencies that make our town run as an independent town. We have the RCMP detachmengt with 3 police officers (that's why were here). We have a health center with a nurse that can perform many health care tasks. We have a CBSA agency (Canadian Border Service Agency), for when people cross the border into Canada. We have a school, with 3 teachers and an administrative assistant. A post office and bank combined. A restaurant. A motel. A gas station. A tiny library. A volunteer fire station. A band office for the White River First Nation. A wellness center for the First Nation. We have a small Catholic church that has services once a month. We also have a seasonal tourist center. This past year, the Westmark hotel and RV park closed down after at least 20 years of service for Beaver Creek. It had a dinner theater, as well as many other services.

In Beaver Creek we have a large building called the Community Club. It has a large dining hall, a full industral kitchen, a bar, a pool table, a gymnasium, a curling rink and a large screen and projector for movie nights. The Community Club is run by hard working volunteers who work very hard to put on events (movie nights, dances, pancake breakfasts). We are all looking forward to some fun events that will bring the community closer and get us out of the house during those long cold winter days and nights.

One of the most "interesting" things about living here has to be that we do not have a grocery store here. No where to pick up milk, an emergency food item, toothpaste, ect. This has proven to be one of the more difficult things about living here in Beaver Creek, as our closest grocery store is 2.5 hours away in Tok, Alaska. I have yet to go grocery shopping there, but will be doing my first shop in the next few days. 

So how do we get our groceries you might ask? When I go into Whitehorse (about every 4-6 weeks)  we stock up for 4 weeks worth of groceries. This is what's known as a "community shop". You can tell someone who is doing a "community shop" by looking at their grocery cart. It will be full to the brim and if you are just picking up a few items, you do not want to be behind them in line.
Usually when we do a community shop, I do two separate shops. First I buy all my dry goods one day and then just before we hit the road, we do our fresh produce, meats, and dairy. It's all very interesting and let's just say, the first time I did a community shop and saw the bill I nearly choked right there.

In our basement we have a "store room", where we have cans of tomatoes, milk in tetra packs, baking supplies and all kinds of goodies stored away.
Here in Beaver Creek, for the most part, housing is provided for many of the people living here. The RCMP, the teacher, the nurse, the CBSA agents and some other government professionals have their housing provided for them. They, like us, pay a reasonable amount of rent. The White River First Nation provides housing to many of their people, and then there are some private home owners too.
Our house is quite lovely and we definitely lucked out. We have a spacious three bedroom house, with a great big basement, where we have built up a play room. We are a great fenced in back yard which is wonderful for the kids. Our house has lots of windows and our house backs on to greenbelt. It has a lovely view of the forest with mountains way off in the distance.
I hope you enjoy the pictures of our very little town. I thought it might be nice for those wondering what it looks like here to see a few shots. This is going to be our little home for the next two years, and so far we really do like it here.
xox