Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta, is a summer village

Summer village

Summer villages in Alberta are incorporated communities that have permanent populations generally less than 300 permanent inhabitants, as well as seasonal inhabitants....

 located on a small sandy beach on the southeast shore of Pigeon Lake

Pigeon Lake (Alberta)

Pigeon Lake is a large lake in central Alberta, Canada. It is a popular recreation lake, with some shores having sandy beaches and others having steeper banks that are less suitable to "beach activities". Pigeon Lake is located close to large communities such as Edmonton, Leduc and Wetaskiwin...

, in Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The winter population is about 90 people. During the summer months, there could well be over 2000.

Ma-Me-O derives from the Cree

Cree language

Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...

 words for "place of many shore birds".

During a tour of western Canada, English recording artist Joan Armatrading

Joan Armatrading

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...

, who recorded for A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

, the label owned by Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert

Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...

 and Jerry Moss

Jerry Moss

Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert....

, saw the road sign for Ma-Me-O Beach and liked the name so much that she later used it as a song title. The song was included on her 1980 album Me Myself I

Me Myself I

Me Myself I is an album by Joan Armatrading. Released in 1980, the album was Armatrading's highest ever chart placing both in the UK and in the US . It was certified "Gold" in the UK by the BPI in July 1980....

.

Demographics

In 2006, Ma-Me-O Beach had a population of 155 living in 232 dwellings

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

, a 91.4% increase from 2001. The summer village has a land area of 0.65 km² (0.250966403085148 sq mi) and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

of 237.8 /km2.