Friesen Drillers in Steinbach celebrated their 125th anniversary on Friday.

Manager Kim Friesen says the business was started by C.K. Friesen as a smaller operation out of his blacksmith shop. From there she notes they have grown to four locations (Regina, Brandon, Steinbach, and Emo, ON), 52 employees, and drilling all across Canada.

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From left: Peter, Kim, Jason, and Michael Friesen.Friesen says, in the beginning, they would have used picks and shovels to dig a well 30-50 feet deep, compared to today when they drill a 200-300 foot well and it takes them about five hours.

From day one, in 1892, Friesen notes it has been a family run business with the fourth and fifth generations now involved in the daily operations. He adds the fifth generation family members want to carry out the business and can see another 125 years in operation.

"[We've drilled] millions [of feet] over the years. We've drilled hundred and hundreds of wells. I'd say, from the 70's we've probably averaged about 400 wells a year at an average depth of 200 to 300 feet."

According to Friesen, this means in the last 30 years, Friesen Drillers has drilled three-million feet.

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"Water wells are still our main core business but we've diversified into pipe piling and specialized drilling. Anything that requires drilling, we've adapted and used our equipment to do that."

Friesen adds him and his siblings were very involved in the business prior to their father's passing in July 2014, and though the day-to-day operations didn't falter, they definitely miss him each and every day.

He says going forward each day they succeed in their tasks is accomplishing a goal. Moving into the future, he notes they hope to expand their business into more provinces and continue providing a great service.