Foam Lake, Saskatchewan

Foam Lake is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada. It has a population of about 1300.

It exists in a mixed agricultural area. It lies approximately 220km southeast of Saskatoon.

It was founded in 1882 by Joshua Milligan, an English fur trader. It was subsequently settled by Icelanders, Ukrainians and various English-speaking nationalities. It was incorporated as a town in 1924.

It possesses excellent bird and deer hunting, which attracts hunters from all over the world.

One of Foam Lake's famous people is Bernie Federko. He is a professional ice hockey player. Bernie was born and raised in Foam Lake. Other famous Foam Lake hockey players include Pat Elynuik, Dennis Polonich and Ted Hargreaves. Tania Miller is another famous Foam Laker. She is the youngest person and first woman to become conductor of the any major Canadian Symphony Orchestra.

Top 5 Largest Ancestries are Ukrainian (45.2%), English (21.2%), German (12.0%), Scottish (11.6%), Icelandic (8.0%).

In the summer of 2006, Foam Lake was hit with tragedy. Two major fires destroyed a major part of Main street. The first fire destroyed 3 businesses and one home. The Water Fountain/Sears outlet/Backyard Studios, the Doctor's office and Dennis' Cafe, which was also the owner's home. The second fire started in one of the three elevators. The first elevator burned to the ground and also spread to the second one. The volunteer fire department was able to put out the blaze with the help of two water bombers and volunteer fire departments from surrounding communities.

In recent years Foam Lake's High School football team (Foam Lake Panthers) has been very successful. In the past five seasons, the Panthers have made 4 trips to the Provincial Final - winning twice. Foam Lake is currently coached by Bill Ruetz(Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator), Jamie Zaluski(Offensive & Defensive Line Coach), and Garth Anderson(Offensive Coordinator) The team plays 9 Man football against 23 other schools in Saskatchewan. There are 4 conferences, each with 6 teams. Foam Lake is in the North-East Conference with Humboldt, Melfort, Nipawin, Wynyard, and Tisdale.

In 2003, Ruetz took over as head coach in his first season with the Panthers and led them to an undefeated regular season. The Panthers won their first 3 playoff games to make it to the provincial final. Foam Lake played the defending champion Delisle Rebels in Delisle and lost 35-21.

In 2004, Ruetz again led the Panthers to an undefeated regular season and they proceeded to win their first 3 playoff games. With their second berth in the provincial final in as many years, Foam Lake was to play Delisle in a rematch with the Rebels going for a 3-peat. This time the game was played in Foam Lake and the Panthers did not disappoint their home town fans winning by a score of 35-21.

Also in July of 2004 and in July of 2008, the SASKOTA Bowl was hosted by Foam Lake. This is an annual international 9 man football game played between North Dakota and Saskatchewan. Each team consists of the top graduating high school football players from 9 man programs in their respective state/province. 2004 was the first year for the game and North Dakota won. North Dakota also won in 2005 in Rolla, ND, and in 2006 in Melville, Sk. Team Saskatchewan got its first victory in 2007 in Rolla, ND. In 2008 Team North Dakota won once again to make the series now 4 games to 1 for ND.