June 12. On July 5, 1912, lumber yard manager Raymond Kenneth Rounds coordinated a census which concluded that there were 540 citizens living in the village. On October 4, a motion of council proclaimed “Be it resolved that secretary-treasurer post up notices of the intention of village council to apply to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council for the corporation of the village into a town.” In December 1912, having attained a population of 500, Ogema's status was upgraded from village to town. On February 8, 1913, elections for council were held for the newborn town and A.R. Sargent was named mayor. The year 1914 marked the beginning of the First World War and the town's men were quick to enlist in the military. They quickly sold or rented their homesteads and went off to war. Disaster struck the town in January 1915 when a fire broke out on the east side of Main Street and destroyed nine businesses. Below zero temperatures contributed to the freezing of the fire engine, and so it was of minimal use when it came to extinguishing the fire. As the war wound down, the town struggled to adjust as the men returned home from the battlefield. Due to injuries sustained while fighting, some of the men could no longer do farm work and had to find other jobs. Also around this period, a flu epidemic seized the town and wiped out entire families. Eventually, though, the returning soldiers settled into their new jobs and the epidemic passed, giving the people of Ogema renewed hope for the 1920s. 1920-1945 The 1920s in Ogema, Saskatchewan were a time of innovation, as inventions were developed to help the farming world. The 1930s marked the beginning of the Depression that affected Ogema as well. In 1939, with the beginning of the Second World War, young men and women enlisted in the service. 1920s There was a boom in Ogema in the 1920s. The economy was based on "mixed farming and ranching." Weather Farmers were mainly at the mercy of the prairie weather. People would do their best to prepare their animals and weigh down hay; however there was no shelter to break the prairie storms. Inventions Radio: when invented, some claimed that it would cure deafness and headaches. While inaccurate, the people of Ogema could now hear news from far away. Cars: Self-starters were added, accelerators took over gas levers,