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| Actual Statistics: Piapot, SK, population 55, median age 47.3, land area 0.73 km² |
Once upon a time there was a young woman living in the quaint village of Piapot nestled in the vast Province of Saskatchewan. The woman was fondly nicknamed by villagers as the Princess of Piapot for her outlandish ideas.
Over the years Piapot, a formerly bustling village, began losing it's mojo. Many had moved away for lack of opportunity leaving a desolate, sparsely populated town with just those able to survive in farming to keep it alive. Princess Piapot got to thinking 'this isn't working, soon enough our village will be a distant memory.' She thought and thought about what had gone wrong and decided it was all about attitude. You see any time there was a new idea to spur on the economy and move the village forward, residents would holler that everything should stay exactly as is. You see Piapotens really weren't open to change.
Princess Piapot knew that to save the village they must do something big and completely out of character, it was their only hope. So she ran for Reeve and was elected to lead the village council. Once in office she began brainstorming on how they could leverage what they had to bring about big change. She thought back to growing up in Piapot and how the children in surrounding villages would make fun of the name 'Ha, ha, Peeeee-a-pot - you guys are just like a toilet!' In thinking back the Princess felt that old pang of hurt for being teased about her home. And then she got mad! If they all thought Piapot was such a funny name then maybe, just maybe instead of getting angry they should get even by really playing it up. Yes, she thought, only minutes from the Trans Canada Highway what do weary travelers really need on long road trips? Really fabulous bathroom facilities - that's it!
There was a reserve of $500,000 in the village budget and Princess Piapot knew just how to spend it. She called a 'town hall' and pitched the idea to the villagers. "What if we built the most beautiful bathrooms on the Trans Can, updated our sign to look warm and welcoming and built a village mascot to promote our luxurious new latrines?" she said. Her excitement was absolutely brimming, but the room went silent. A gruff voice from the back of the room piped up and asked "What kind of 'mascot' were you thinking of Princess?" Princess Piapot felt the whole room move to the edge of their seat and she responded "an enormous toilet of course!" Well, the entire room erupted. Villagers ranted and raved, one shouted "you can't put a toilet on the Trans Can to put us on the map what are you thinking?!?" another screamed "Princess I think you've been wearing your tiara too tight - that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" Suffice it to say the idea didn't go over that well on first presentation. But, after trying again and again the Princess finally sold the idea to the village and construction began on the most fabulous bathrooms the Trans Can had ever seen or heard of.
Throughout construction, the nation started to hear the buzz about this small village somewhere in Saskatchewan with an absolutely outrageous idea. Media travelled from all over the country to interview Princess Piapot and the villagers. You Tube footage of the build went viral and all of sudden the David Letterman show was calling. The Princess had to begin juggling speaking appearances and interviews with project managing the build.
The Princess knew that what they had created was going to be bigger than she had ever imagined. So she got the villagers together again and explained that they needed to prepare for a deluge of tourism. Roads needed repair, existing buildings needed sprucing up, new stores and hotels needed to open and people needed to be hired to accommodate all the traffic that would be coming. For months, the village worked furiously preparing.
On a beautiful, sunny day in September the grand opening of the Piapot Powder Rooms on the Trans Canada Highway opened to the public for the first time. Thousands of people from all over Canada and the United States showed up, exceeding the village's wildest dreams. Millions of dollars were made and the stage was set for the comeback of the century. A little village named Piapot surprised the continent by rolling with a big idea and they were never looking back.
The moral of the story: sometimes when you keep going right and it isn't working - go left. Now that's a royal flush!!
What do you think of this story? Would love to hear your comments!
Happy 15th Blog Anniversary Songbird! Don't forget to check out Songbird's 15th blog entry on thInQ.
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