Researchers track moose on the move

For the past nine months a University of Saskatchewan research group has been monitoring 17 adult female moose that live in the area along Highway 11 between Dundurn and Chamberlain to try to gain a better understanding of their tendencies.

Ryan Brook, moose project director and assistant professor in the U of S College of Agriculture and Bioresources, said there has been a “few hiccups” with some of the GPS collars they put around each moose’s neck last February, but they have still been able to keep tracking those few with VHF radio signals. He said the research group also went on the ground in June and September to check on each female to see if she had calves.

“We saw in the spring there was on average 0.85 calves per cow,” said Brook. “It’s a little less than one-to-one on average, but we did see a number of twins as well and a few that had none.

“These animals can live for a long time. If they’re producing almost one calf per female then that certainly suggests a potential for real growth in the population.”

Brook said these moose are up and moving around a lot right now due to harvest activities, hunting season and the rut. He said with the moose breeding season males are paired up with females making these animals mobile and active, which is pretty consistently the time when the most moose-vehicle collisions occur.

“Because we only have adult females we don’t have a representation of the whole population and, of course, we only have a small sample of what’s there,” he said. “Some of the animals that we are monitoring have been crossing the highway quite regularly. We (have) one that is crossing almost every second day for the last little while…and is currently sitting probably about 200 metres from Hwy. 11, so that one is obviously a very risky one.

“That one is just north of Bladworth and hasn’t gone more than 300 metres away from Highway 11 in the last two weeks, so that one is a very heavy concern.”

The majority of the moose crossings happen at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. when visibility is at its lowest. Moose are also especially hard to spot from a vehicle because they have long legs, are a dark brown or chocolate brown colour and don’t always look at a vehicle so a motorist wouldn’t see their eyes.

Brook said one of the things the group is interested in looking at further is why moose are sticking around the highway. He said they think the main things are moose are attracted to road salt, there is lots of wetland, shrubbery and tree cover along the highway and staying close to the road helps them avoid hunters.

“They’re right near Hwy. 11 with all the traffic and you’re not allowed to discharge a firearm across a road or a highway, so being close to a highway may be a partial safety factor from hunters,” he said. “Predators in this general area between Saskatoon and Regina are probably not much if any wolves and very few bears, so we’re not sure if predation really plays a role here. The only predator of significance is coyotes and it’s not clear as to whether coyotes play any kind of real role or impact for moose. Predation risk may not be a real concern for these moose, but certainly hunting pressure is.”

To read more please see the October 28 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Kids learn the bricklayers trade at Craik School

Saskatchewan Bricklayers Union training coordinator Brian Adams headed to Craik School last Monday to teach a group of interested kids a life skill.

“This is our first time (at Craik School) and this is going to be a real good partnership between the school and the educators and the trades and that’s what it’s all about, completing the cycle,” said Adams. “It works out pretty good. Kids that try it like it (and) every once in a while we get some that take it on and, in a few years, hopefully one or two of these kids, will end up in the trade working for a union bricklaying company and they’ll be journeyman bricklayers. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Adams said the kids who came out for the new Craik School Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) course began the day by building up four levels of brickwork before jointing it. He said the first class of six he would teach over the next six months ended with the students “unfortunately” taking down their work and cleaning up.

“Next month (they’ll) start again and get a little bit better and they’ll do a little bit more work,” he said. “It’s a progressive thing. There is very little bookwork in this. These kids don’t want to do that. They just want to get a trowel in their hand and go.”

This is the first year the Saskatchewan Bricklayers Union has been able to offer a masonry class to a rural school as it was only offered to students in Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina before. Students who opt to take part in the class earn a PAA credit that they need in order to graduate and also have the chance to try their hand at the Skills Canada Saskatchewan competition held April 10 and 11 in Prince Albert.

Gord Taylor, principal of Craik School, said they are hoping to send a group of kids to the 16th annual high school skills competition so they can show off what they’ve learned this year. He said the response from students toward the course has been “overwhelming” since they approached kids about the possibility of offering the course last spring.

“Kids want to be a part of it,” he said, noting the course includes about 70 hours of practical design and construction training and 30 classroom hours. “Our hope is to continue offering it.”

To read more please see the October 28 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sabers knock Bulldogs out of playoffs

The Hanley Sabers senior boys football team has secured a home date against the Elrose Eagles in the provincial quarterfinals after knocking the Central Butte Bulldogs out of the playoffs Oct. 19 at the Jungle.

Sabers head coach Mark Anderson said they don’t know much about the Elrose team, which advanced to the Oct. 26 quarterfinal game after beating the Eatonia Spartans 62-45 a week earlier at Elrose. He said the Sabers have never lined up against them, but expects the Eagles to be strong.

“They have five wins and a tie, so they’re a five-win team,” said Anderson. “They came in second in their conference, so that’s why we’re playing them. Then our second place team is playing the first place team in their conference. Gull Lake will be playing Kerrobert.”

Jess Kingwell, head coach of the Eagles, said his team that is made up of players from Elrose, Dinsmore and Kyle doesn’t know much about Hanley as well, except that they have some big bodies. He said they do know the Sabers hit hard and tackle well, so they’ll have to get a few good blocks to get their balanced offence going.

We’re “quite good actually,” said Kingwell. “We do some runs, some throws and try to keep the defence off guard and catch them off guard when we can.”

Kingwell said their 62-45 win over Eatonia was a tale of two very different halves. He said they came out “really strong” in the first half, but forgot they still had to win the game in the final two quarters letting the Spartans right back into it.

“It definitely wasn’t our best second half this season,” he said. “In fact it was probably one of our worst ones. We played Eatonia twice already up to that point. We tied them our first game of the year and we beat them quite easily in our second one, so I think (our players) had that in mind and were maybe looking past them already. They definitely gave us a run for our money.”

Anderson said the coaching staff is unhappy about how the score got away in their match against Central Butte and it doesn’t reflect the strong game the Bulldogs put up. He said Central Butte marched the ball down the field most of the game, but couldn’t put it in the end zone and then his offence got rolling.

“It was 18-8 after the first quarter,” he said. “It was 38-8 (at the half), but definitely it felt different than that. They really moved the ball well. Again our depth came into (play) and they were playing multiple players both ways. We don’t do much of that and if we can stay tight with a team usually we can do well later.”

Sabers safety Mike Lohrey lead the defence against Central Butte with a combined 21 tackles and assists. Lohrey also managed to score three touchdowns when the coaches threw him in for a few running plays. Hanley also was helped on the scoreboard by offensive end Kody Rowlet who made it into the end zone twice while also racking up over 200 yards receiving.

SCC tries to introduce fitness and art project

The School Community Council (SCC) is trying to bring in a fitness and art pilot project to Davidson School that would bridge the gap between the school and the greater community.

Marcia McIvor, chair of the SCC, said Davidson School staff decided last year they want to focus on physical activity and reading as part of their two-year plan, which is done in conjunction with the Board of Education. She said the role of the SCC is to support the school staff while incorporating members of the community with the school, so to accomplish the plan they came up with the idea to introduce martial arts, yoga, archery and artwork into the school.

“We’re hoping to bring it in as a pilot project in the elementary to middle years in the school just to see how it goes,” said McIvor, noting the SCC has already or are planning to approach members of the community, who are involved with these activities, to come into the school to teach the students. “If it goes well that it is something that maybe we can continue. That’s where we’re going with that, (to) try and bring in yoga and martial arts and archery to just expose the kids to something different and give them a little bit of variety.”

McIvor said introducing art would be a way of bringing the students who don’t excel in sports into the community. She said the SCC is thinking about buying some frames and going to local businesses and asking them if they could hang the frames with the student’s artwork in them throughout the community.

That way “any business you go into you might be able to see a couple different students’ artwork,” she said. “Artwork could be a poem, it could be a picture (or) it could be a (creation) of leaves. It doesn’t have to be a drawing. It’s any form of art that the student feels they can do.”

Laura Willner, a Grade 2 teacher at Davidson School and secretary of the SCC, said these activities were decided upon through conversations around the SCC table between parents, community members and teachers. She said the consensus is that this pilot project is a good opportunity for the kids to experience non-traditional activities while building connections with the community.

“There is no question that kids are open to try so many new things,” said Willner. “It is really key (that) often in the early years (when) exposed to something the more open you are to trying it and it may well turn out to be something you love for a lifetime. The more experiences for kids the better for them and we’ve got great community resources here to access and hopefully cultivate interest in these different things for the kids.”

To read more please see the October 28 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Craik library launches Page Turners

Reading is fun.
Helping kids discover the pleasure in books is the aim of a new program launched this month at the Craik branch of Palliser Regional library.
The Page Turners, a reading club for children in grades kindergarten to five, met Oct. 1 at the Craik library, where they became immersed in the funny, far-fetched stories of Robert Munsch.
Munsch’s illustrated picture books are popular with many children because of the crazy predicaments that children and more often, their parents and teachers, find themselves in.
The Craik library created the Page Turners Club to remind kids that it’s fun to read, said librarian Jo McAlpine.
The club is also a way to encourage children to regularly visit the library.
“It’s a change from holiday themes, so everything isn’t centred around holidays and to show kids they can come to the library when it isn’t Halloween.”
Jody Kearns leads the group, reading a few stories to the children and then gets them involved in a hands-on activity.
Last week’s task involved making a giant cookie to coincide with Munsch’s book Mmm, Cookies!
The Page Turners also made diaries so they may keep track of all the books they’ve read.
To motivate children to keep reading, McAlpine said, they have developed a reward program so that every week, when children return a book they receive a project. Once they return three to four completed projects, they receive a prize.
These projects are fun and simple.
The first project was to match characters to Munsch’s books. Another project shows kids how to draw a pig.
The inaugural meeting of the Page Turners Club had 14 children participating. Next month’s club meeting will feature Dr. Seuss.
“We’re feeling a little guilty about older children (not having a reading club of their own), but we don’t have enough leaders,” McAlpine said.
Craik library’s Page Turners Club meets the first Tuesday of the month.

obit SchneiderLucy

Schneider
Lucille Veronica

Beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away peacefully on October 15, 2013 at the Davidson Health Centre.
Lucy married Ray Schneider in 1949 and bought their own farm in Young where she worked hard milking cows and raising chickens. In the late 50s they moved to Bladworth and Lucy took over the chores and raised her children while Ray worked away from home. She loved being in her garden, playing cards, visiting and cooking for her family and friends. There were always cinnamon buns in the oven, pies cooling on the counter and a pot of soup on the stove. A few years later Lucy went out to work and was the custodian at the Davidson Schools for many years. Lucy retired when Ray’s health failed and she was devoted to taking care of him until he moved to the Davidson Health Centre. She looked forward to cooking his favourite meals when he came home on weekends. The coffee pot was always on and the house was always full of company, either playing cards or Yahtzee. She loved to play Bingo and go to the casino but her greatest joy was her children and grand kids. She kept up with their lives through many visits and phone calls. She was right by their side through the good and the bad. She was an angel on earth.
She will be lovingly remembered by children Michael (Carol), Stanley, Debbie, and Dean (Heidi); grandchildren Jason (Tamara), Scott (Melissa), Janelle (Jason), Roxanne (Nick), Heather (Dan), Brittany (Greg), Joshua (Stephanie), and Jordan (Katelyn); great-grandchildren Eric, Paige, Logan, Teagin, Tessa, Lachlan, Brooke, Hailey, Kassidy, Shaye, Bruin, Carter, Jayla, Cohen, Chloe, and plus one; sister Esther Irvine; brothers Clifford (Elaine) Irvine, Roger (Lorraine) Irvine, Richard Irvine and Stewart (Roxanne) Irvine; sisters-in-law Marcella Mitzel, Emelia (Lawrence) Pavelich, Theresa (Edward) Haberman and Grace Schneider; brothers-in-law Pius Schneider and Lawrence (Kay) Schneider; uncle Vincent (Pat) Pavelich and aunt Shirley (Dale) Weisner; also numerous nieces, nephews and other family members.
Lucille was predeceased by her husband Raymond; mother Frances Irvine; son-in-law Jose Vicente; parents-in-law Michael and Kathryn Schneider; sister and brother-in-law Cecilia and Vern Pinceman; brothers- and sisters-in-law Andrew (Shirley) Schneider, Elizabeth (Ken) Christopher, Jerome Schneider and Peter Mitzel.
Funeral services were held on Friday, October 18, 2013 at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Davidson, Sask. Lucille was laid to rest at the Bladworth Community Cemetery. Arrangements in care of Hanson’s Funeral Home.