Wawanesa gave female staffers time off in 1916 to stook sheaves. The First World War meant a manpower shortage and the rationing of materials that might be used in the war effort. Much of the backbreaking farm work was done by women without the benefit of farm machinery. Recognizing the benefits of fitness, Alonzo Kempton let staff off work early on the condition that they take a brisk walk. This group of employees poses for a photo at the halfway point of their trek.

Home of the wild goose; crooked river; the whippoorwill; no one is certain what the Indian name Wawanesa means, but each description aptly pictures the scenic area perched on the bank of Manitoba's Souris River, where the village of Wawanesa was established in 1889. Wawanesa quickly emerged as a service centre with the new mutual insurance company as the area's largest employer. The pioneer values of the hamlet were transmitted, through the work force, to the company. The values of thrift, fairness, and hard work have been carried on as a corporate ethic to this day. A century later, the company's head office is still in Wawanesa, where the annual meeting is held each May.

By 1900, Wawanesa was protecting more than $1 million worth of property. The largest claim paid that year was $1,000; the smallest was $3. A year later, the firm moved out of its tiny premises above the drugstore to a new building overlooking the beautiful Souris River valley. The Mutual, as locals referred to the company, soon had a staff of five, including a salesman who traveled the Prairies.

Meanwhile, the directors continued to take an active role in running the company. The directors' farm roots were manifested in displays of sympathy to policyholders. For example, in 1900, a local farmer claimed his old barn had been severely damaged in a windstorm. The directors rode out in their buggies to the site and examined the building. It was clear to them that the barn was in the same bad shape that it had been before the storm. Nonetheless, they awarded the farmer an iron rod to bolt through the walls and hold the structure up a little longer.

The company also set up an innovative system of honorary directors. Scattered around the countryside, they kept an eye out for new business, and for suspicious claims. They weren't paid, but as policyholders in a mutual it was in their interest that the company grow, and that it not be defrauded.

Westerners responded enthusiastically to the company's promise of lower costs and fair dealings. By 1907, the value of property insured by Wawanesa had jumped to $20 million. Three years later, Wawanesa boldly claimed to be "the largest Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Canada."

Growth was steady throughout the years of the First World War, and the company was well-positioned by the end of the conflict. Shortly after the war, Wawanesa underwent a change in leadership. Alonzo Kempton had been the venturesome entrepreneur that the new enterprise needed in its early years.

He had turned the Mutual into an industry leader, but it was now time for the reins of Wawanesa to be handed over to a different kind of person, to face a different set of challenges.