Monthly Archives: May 2013

Sports

Body checking in peewee hockey may become a thing of Saskatchewan’s past

The sight of peewee hockey players nailing each other with open-ice hits or rubbing each other out against the boards may be a thing of the past.

Al Hubbs, president of the Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA), said the policy Alberta Hockey decided upon two weeks ago, which would ban checking until bantam as a way to reduce youth injuries and concussions, probably will follow suit in this province. He said this could actually be the wrong way to go as bringing in checking for the atom or novice groups instead would teach adolescents the proper way to hit opposing players earlier on thus reducing the possibility of kids getting hurt.

“Our belief here in Saskatchewan has been that you have to start teaching it and implementing it at a younger age, so that they learn the respect part of it,” said Hubbs. “One of the things that is being bantered about in this go-around on body checking in moving it from peewee to bantam is there is quite a size differential at peewee. Well in 2002 we changed the ages (of peewee). It didn’t really solve any problems and that’s the premise we’re going on. Is this a Band Aid solution or is there other things we should be doing.”

Hubbs said the size differential of bantam players is greater as some of these 13 and 14 year olds could vary between 5’4″ and 110 lb to 6’2″ and 190 lb, so moving the first learning of how to hit and take a hit to the novice and atom levels when there isn’t so much of a difference would be the safest way. He said the SHA has not seen an increase lately with injuries or concussions among peewee players due to body checking, but the data that is collected doesn’t differentiate between if a player got hurt getting checked or by just falling on the ice.

“The medical experts are saying there is a huge increase in concussions and I believe they’re right, but I think they are just recognizing it a lot more than they used to in the past,” he said.

Patrick Neary, a doctor in the faculty of kinesiology and health studies at the University of Regina, said he welcomes a stop to checking among peewee players from both a personal and professional standpoint. He said there should be an emphasis on teaching skating and puck handling skills to 11- and 12-year-old kids rather than focusing on the physical aspect of the game.

“I’m happy to hear that Alberta has gone that route,” said Neary. “Personally, I don’t think it’s going to affect the hockey. It may even make it better hockey. One of the things it will do is it will help to eliminate some of the concussions that we’re seeing at this young age.”

To read more please see the May 20 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Art gallery opens in Elbow

Artisans of the Village of Elbow are attempting to transform the community into another Emma Lake, said the curator of the village’s new art gallery.

Linda Kennedy, owner of Gallery 148, said the new space that features works created in the disciplines of sculpture, painting and photography would be a compliment to the two current galleries in the village. She said Gallery 148 is separate from the Water Colour Society group and Carmen Heinrichs’ space, but taken together the three should bring Elbow to the forefront for art tourism in Saskatchewan.

“We are trying to become a hub where people looking for art can make day trips and come and see us,” said Kennedy. “We’re destination art.”

Gallery 148, which staged its grand opening this past weekend, would feature “multi-medium” works by contemporary artists including photography by artist Anna May Shrimpton, landscape and still life acrylic and oil paintings by Carl Schlademan, acrylic paintings by Elbow’s Anne Falconer Paulsen and industrial sculpture by David MacTavish.

Kennedy said she decided to open up the gallery because a space was needed in Elbow to showcase the many works of artists from “Saskatchewan and beyond” that otherwise would be sitting somewhere not being appreciated. She said the gallery that is located on Saskatchewan Street would be open from the May long weekend to the September long weekend when the tourist season in Elbow is at its peak.

“The art community (in Elbow) is pretty strong and I’m very much into the fine arts,” she said. “I’m anxious to represent some of these artists and offer them up for the tourists.”

Obituary

White, Ethel
The family of Ethel Ellen White, known to her friends and family as “Lenny”, sadly announce the passing of their mother on the morning of May 2, 2013 at the Yorkton & District Nursing Home, Yorkton, Saskatchewan with family present.
Lenny was born on May 17, 1924 at Milner Ridge, Manitoba to Joseph and Mary (nee McKee) Nejedly. She was the middle child in a family of three and was predeceased by her parents as well as her older brother, Melvin and younger sister, Lois.
Her father worked as a surveyor for the Government of Canada, a job which took him all over Western Canada. Lenny’s mother worked at many jobs as the children grew up.
After High School, Lenny went to Washington, DC for a short time and worked as a secretary. She returned to Canada, where she met and married Louis Falardeau, and raised a family of three. After Louis’ sudden death, she took up a full time secretarial position with Saskatchewan Government Insurance in Regina until her retirement.
Shortly after her retirement, Lenny met and married Frank White, a farmer from the Davidson area. Once in Davidson, she worked at the Davidson Nursing Home. She and Frank also enjoyed travelling to many places in North America during their time together. She made many friends there who she continued to keep in touch with after leaving Davidson, following Frank’s death.
Lenny then made Saskatoon her home until February of 2012. While in Saskatoon, she enjoyed pursuing her love of music by attending many concerts with her son, Roger and by singing with the Western Development Museum Singers for about three years. She always enjoyed visiting with friends and family in Saskatoon, Regina, Davidson, Calgary, Vancouver and Yorkton.
In February of 2012, Lenny moved to Aspen Bluffs Villa in Yorkton and with changes in her health, came another move to her final residence at the Yorkton and District Nursing Home.
Over the years, Lenny always enjoyed music, learning new crafts, involvement with church choirs and participating in Rebekah Lodge.
Lenny is lovingly remembered by her two daughters, Jacquelina and Paula (Brian) and her son, Roger; by her five grandchildren, Shawn (Janice) Sanford Beck, Jody (Michelle) Beck, Roberta (Dan) McFarlane, Crystal (Jamie) McKenzie and Darren (partner, Tracy) Falardeau; seven great-grandchildren have also been fortunate enough to be part of her life, Christopher, Rowan and Robin Sanford Beck, Noah and Cleo Beck and Aiden and Ethan McFarlane.
Lenny will also be sadly missed and fondly remembered by many other family members and friends who shared time with her on her life journey.
A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. from St. John’s Anglican Cathedral, 816 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon, SK with lunch to follow. A Private Family Cremation Committal will follow in the Davidson Cemetery at 4:00 p.m. on the same day.
Those wishing to make expressions of sympathy may make donations to the charity of their choice.
Friends so wishing may forward their condolences to the family by visiting www.christiesfuneralhome.com. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Christie’s Funeral Home & Crematorium, Yorkton, Saskatchewan.

featured

Blackstrap Park ski hill not in development plans

Two bids have been submitted to develop Blackstrap Provincial Park, but the “very public” idea by one developer to reopen the ski hill at Mount Blackstrap and build a year-round resort is not one of them, said an official with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport.

Kevin Engel, manager of business development and leasing with the Ministry, said he couldn’t go into detail on the two bids they did receive in response to their public request for proposals (RFP) that closed in April because they are still in negotiations. However, he said British Columbia developer Torey Spink did not “put in a proposal” to rebuild the park into a year-round resort with a reopened ski hill, despite his public attempt to gain support for his plan on social media.

“At the end of the day, it is the (Government of Saskatchewan’s) final approval that’s required and they have the right to fully consider and approve the projects before we go public with them,” said Engel. “That’s what we found a little bit strange with Torey Spink deciding to go very public with his interest in reopening the ski hill, but I guess he had his own thoughts on how he wanted to approach this. Unfortunately, he chose not to go forward.”

Engel said the two proposals they received both have local ties to Saskatoon and the Ministry is currently meeting with both groups to negotiate development and lease agreements. He said both developments could be accepted.

“In our RFP we indicated that it was fairly broad and we knew that we might get proposals that would complement each other,” he said. “In this case both would complement (each other), so we’re working going forward with both of them.”

Once negotiations have finished, Engel said the development proposals go to cabinet for approval through an Order in Council due to park’s legislation that requires any development over $250,000 to gain this approval before it can proceed. He said it is not known when this final approval would be given as that is tied to how busy the government is and when they can get on their agenda.

“Neither project had anticipated doing any construction this summer though and both projects still have a lot of work to do as far as finalizing plans and engineering designs. Both would anticipate at the earliest starting some work this fall, so (we’re) not in a situation where we’re holding them up.”

Davidson

Four injured in two-vehicle collision outside of Davidson

The Craik RCMP are telling motorists to take caution on the roads after a spectacular two-vehicle collision just outside of Davidson earlier this month resulted in four minor injuries.

On the morning of May 3, a westbound white minivan crossed the southbound lanes of Highway 11 colliding with a green minivan at the Hwy. 11 intersection with Hwy. 44 at the north entrance to Davidson.

Members of the Craik RCMP, Davidson EMS and Davidson Fire all responded to the crash.

The driver of the white minivan and the three occupants of the green minivan all sustained minor injuries in the collision and were transported to the Davidson Health Centre by Davidson EMS. All were later released, but the driver of the white minivan was charged with failing to yield the right of way.

Craik RCMP Constable Ian Smith would like to remind all motorists to reduce their speed and drive with caution as the busy vacation season approaches.

Sports

Strongfield twins lead Terriers at Jr. A Western Canada Cup

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s (SJHL) Champion Yorkton Terriers and the identical twins who man their blue-line came a post away from extending their season last weekend, but “it just didn’t work out in the end.”

Chase Norrish, a 20-year-old defencemen for the Terriers and a Strongfield product, said their 1-0 loss to the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s (AJHL) Brooks Bandits in the final game May 5 at the 2013 Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup (WCC) held in Nanaimo, B.C. was really close and despite the loss his team should be proud of themselves because they tried their best.

“Each team had their chances,” said Chase. “It was a great game. Everybody on our team was closely matched with them. We just didn’t put the puck in the net, but we hit a lot of posts.”

With the win, Brooks locks up the second and final spot in the 2013 RBC Cup National Junior A Championship held May 11 to 19 in Summerside, P.E.I. The British Columbia Hockey League’s (BCHL) Surrey Eagles took the other Western spot in the national tournament by finishing first at the five-team WCC. Joining teams from the SJHL, AJHL and BCHL at the first-ever WCC were the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s (MJHL) Steinbach Pistons and the host Nanaimo Clippers.

Chase said the competition at the WCC was great and each team was similar talent wise to each other, so nobody was “blown out of the water” at the tournament.

“Everybody on our team was thrilled to be there,” he said. “It was the first one ever to happen and it would have been nice to win it, but just being there was pretty special too.”

Brady Norrish, Chase’s identical twin and partner on defence, said the games at the tournament were “pretty intense” and it was a great experience to be representing Saskatchewan at the Cup. He said they all had a “little bit of nerves” to start the tournament, which saw the team go 2-3 in round-robin play before defeating the Clippers in playoffs to advance to the final against the Bandits, but all the players stepped up and gave it their best effort.

“We have a great group of guys,” said Brady. “We were one goal away and on every chance we were giving it our all.”

To read more please see the May 13 print edition of The Davidson Leader.