BOYLE — After 15 years in the Athabasca and Boyle region, familiar face in law enforcement has accepted a promotion and is leaving the Boyle area for Vegreville.
Staff-Sgt. Colin Folk has spent the lion’s share of his career since graduating from Depot and moving to Alberta in 2007 in the Athabasca and Boyle region with brief sojourns to work in Fort Chipewyan and Smoky Lake.
“I started in Athabasca 2007 and then in 2012 I went up to Fort Chipewyan for two years then I went to Smoky Lake for two years and then back to Boyle after that,” Folk said in an Oct. 25 interview. “So, with the exception of I guess a couple years I've been in the Athabasca area for the better part of 15 years.”
Athabasca is a bit of a drive from Regina where Folk grew up watching RCMP graduations and dreaming of doing the same, but it was in the top three choices he made after graduating.
“When you graduate from Depot, you pick your top three provinces you want to work in and my first pick when I graduated was Alberta because at the time Saskatchewan wasn't taking their own people back," he said. “Then once you know which province you're going to, you pick your top 10 locations you want to be posted. I didn't spend much time in Alberta when I was younger, so I just started Googling RCMP detachments and saw a picture of Athabasca with the river and thought it was a nice place, so I put it on my list and sure enough, that's where I ended up.”
And Athabasca has been good for Folk as it’s where he met his wife and had three daughters — a newborn only a month old; a two-year-old; and a seven-year-old — so he will be back to visit but it’s his oldest daughter who is the most anxious about moving and changing schools.
“My time in Boyle was up but I was eligible for promotion, so I stuck around for a little while longer because I had my eye on Vegreville for a while so, as soon as it became available, I applied for it,” he said.
Folk likes to rope, taking part in ranch roping events in southern Alberta while his wife and oldest daughter barrel race so moving to Vegreville, which has a strong horse community will be a good transition for the family.
“From what I'm told there’s a solid ag society down there and lots of horse stuff going on,” he said. “So, that'll be good (and) we keep my seven-year-old excited about the move.”
Where the Athabasca and Boyle detachments work together to patrol the 6,113 square kilometres of Athabasca County, the Vegreville detachment has the Town of Vegreville with a population of 5,700 people and the County of Minburn which is 2,850 square kilometres and just over 3,000 residents.
“It’s a good community,” Folk said. “I’ve been to the Town of Vegreville before and I really like it. I think it's a good place to work with a good sized detachment.”
Folk’s last day working in Boyle was Oct. 26 and he has some time off to get moved.
“We get possession to our new place on Friday (Oct. 28),” he said. “The moving company comes next week and then moves us down there. I won’t be starting in Vegreville until we're all settled into our new place.”
And even though he will be back to visit family and close friends he will miss the relationships he’s made with the various communities like the town and county of Athabasca, the Village of Boyle, and Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement.
“In my last four years I was seconded over at Athabasca detachment for six months as the commander there to help out and ... you really get a sense of how supportive Athabasca County, the Town of Athabasca, the Village of Boyle, and Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement are,” said Folk. “Working with them, it's just been amazing; such a good relationship that we all have. I can only hope Vegreville has the same thing going on because, as a detachment commander, it's certainly going to be hard to walk away from these communities that just support you so much.”
