Monthly Archives: October 2013

Obituary

obitArend, Joe

Arend, Joseph
Joe was born March 3, 1924 to Mary and Frank Arend in Handel, Sask. Dad was raised in the Davidson area. He attended Star and Kohl schools.
He worked as a hired man stooking and threshing for local farmers. Dad bought land and started farming. In the winter he went to Ontario and worked in the bush.
Joe married Erna Manz, Nov. 24, 1948. Dad and mom did mixed farming west of Girvin. They raised five children, Pat (Don) Old, Randy (Val) Arend, Joanne (Dennis) Lowes, Brian Arend and Bonnie (Barry) Kerpan.
In 1974 dad started custom combining in the States and Canada.
Because of mom’s failing health they moved to Davidson in 1994. Dad retired in 2010 at the age of 86, after he had health problems.
Dad was very proud of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He always loved to visit with them and have a game of crib.
Dad loved combining, crib tournaments, auctions and collecting old cars. He belonged to a car club and travelled around Saskatchewan.
Dad passed away Oct. 2, 2013 at the Davidson Health Centre.
Rest in peace. We love you dad.

featured

Massive fire razes Elbow condo complex

Gary Cheeseman, the in-resident caretaker of the Harbour Inn Condo complex in Elbow, was fast asleep in Unit Five when heavy banging on his apartment door awoke him.

A massive fire had engulfed the front units of the complex including his. If it wasn’t for a group of golfers staying in the unit next to his, Cheeseman wouldn’t have made it out alive.

“The guys in (Unit) Four woke me up,” said Cheeseman, who barely made it out before the blaze tore through his apartment. “I stayed around for a little while (afterwards). It was shooting up pretty good.”

Cheeseman only had time to grab his cellphone before escaping into the early morning air wearing just his pyjamas. He lost everything else in the fire including his truck parked outside his apartment.

Elbow fire chief Glen Amor confirmed the fire department first got the call at 2:30 a.m. that the 34-unit complex had caught on fire. He said they could see the flames from their fire hall located about a kilometre away.

“The flames were 40-feet high on the first six units when firefighters got there five minutes after the call,” said Amor. “We’re pretty proud we saved any of it.”

Twelve people were staying at the complex when the fire started last Wednesday morning. Amor confirmed the group consisted of out-of-town hunters and golfers. Cheeseman was the only permanent resident of the complex. All got out alive.

Amor said 25 firefighters from Elbow, Loreburn and Davidson descended on the scene and it took them about four hours to get the fire under control. He said there were also “lots of volunteers” that came to the scene to help the firefighters battle the blaze.

“Some local farmers had semis and water tankers,” he said. “They always come just in case we run out of water and help us out because we can go through water in the fire hydrants very quickly. They’re there to help us out and stand by just in case we need them.”

A few hours after the blaze was controlled smoke still billowed and small fires burned from the 21 units that were razed during the fire. Eleven units remain standing in the 21-year-old box-like complex at 1250 Aaro Avenue that has an outdoor swimming pool and grassy area situated in the middle of the connected-condo building.

Kevin Luchia, a volunteer firefighter with the Elbow detachment, said it is suspected that the fire started in Unit Four before it got up into the rafters. He said the complex “went up like a matchbox” once that happened.

“We never lost anybody and that’s the main thing,” said Luchia. “Once we got them out, we weren’t sending anyone else back in.”

Luchia said the only reason the 11 remaining units are still standing was due to Amor’s decision to get Elbow resident Troy Bramble to cut through the complex with a “big pay-loader” splitting the complex in two. He said the whole building is “filled up with smoke” and wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining units were bulldozed.

“That was my first phone call,” said Amor about bringing in Bramble. “It was part of our pre-plan to know what to do in case this building went up. We knew we wouldn’t have the resources to put this fire out if it was fully engulfed. In row houses, the way that it is particularly built, that’s about the only way you can stop the fuel from the fire and stop it that way.”

Amor said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined and SGI would conduct an investigation to determine the facts around the blaze and whether they are going to insure the building. He said if SGI needs any assistance he would call the provincial Fire Commissioner’s Office to send in an investigator to help.

The long-time firefighter said this blaze is terrible for the community of Elbow as the complex houses about 4,000 visitors to the town each year and is the main hub for people looking for accommodation while they participate in golf, hunting or camping activities in the area.

“Our daughter had a wedding here and we rented the whole complex. Everybody stayed here, so it’s huge for this community,” he said. “When you don’t have that many rooms it’s going to be devastating. To rebuild this, the fire loss is $3 to $4 million to replace this, so it’s going to take a while.”

Cheeseman said everyone in town is helping him to get back on his feet. He said “moving on” is the only thing he can do now and that is what he plans on doing.

Davidson

High yields ensure farmers have good year

A cooler summer, more precise fertility measures, better overall farm management, improved equipment, wise fungicide use and timely rains have combined to create a very successful farming year for most people in this area.

Davidson farmer Rob Stone said this has been a good year and most people are pleased with their yields, but it needs to be remembered that farmers have worked very hard for these higher yields. He said this is probably the most money any individual farm has spent per acre on their crops this year and with the weather cooperating the result has been an above average crop.

“There are some crops that are approaching a top yield and some are definitely breaking the long-term average, so there is a trend for higher yields this year then there has been for the last five to 10 years,” said Stone. “Some crops (are) more so than others. It seems the cereals are more topping their average trend yields and crops like canola; overall more people are experiencing some success with their yields.

“I wouldn’t say they’re astronomically record high as far as the canola is concerned, (but) cereals probably. The cereals, overall there is a lot more people having yield success and if you look at the pulses and lentils and stuff like that there is some people that report extremely high yields.”

Stone said protein levels are lower than average with the bigger yield, but the increased investment in producer’s fertility management strategy has helped keep up protein levels along with the increased yield in hybrid spring wheat and durum.

There is “actually a situation where some people were experiencing too low of a protein in barley, which is very unusual because high protein barley is a problem,” he said.

Gord Willner, who farms west of Davidson, said this isn’t the biggest crop he’s ever had, but it is one of the better ones in a while. He said it’s hard to say the reason behind the good crop other than all the variables which “don’t always make sense” that go into farming seemed to come together this year.

“We’re putting grain in our barn,” said Willner, noting the increased volume has created problems with storage space on the farm. “We’ve got a shop (and) we’re going to put grain in there. Then we’ll probably put the last of our feed barley on the ground.”

Willner said all his canola is already priced and contracted due to the possibility of the price going down. He said none of the wheat has been priced, but now that he knows the grade of it that work is beginning.

“Actually I started doing it up the other day for our spring wheat,” he said. “Then the only other thing we have is flax and I’m going to contract it pretty quick as well for a winter delivery.”

To read more please see the October 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Raiders junior boys and girls volleyball teams square off against the Kodiaks

The Davidson Raiders junior boys and girls volleyball teams squared off with their counterparts from Kenaston last Tuesday at the Davidson school gym with each of the four teams looking forward to a successful season.

The action started off with the Raider boys defeating the Kenaston Kodiaks three sets to two in what proved to be an evenly matched game between the clubs. The sets, which featured many strong back and forth rallies, saw the Raiders win the middle three and the Kodiaks the first and fifth.

Raiders junior boys coach Kristin Dolman said her guys played “really well” considering they haven’t had many games to practise on their techniques. She said the team improved in their “three separate three hits” and their communication on the court through the game, which should help them as they get ready for sectionals at the end of the month.

“We have a lot of Grade 7s,” said Dolman. “We don’t have a lot of (Grade) 8 and 9 players, so we’re a growing team.”

Dolman said there are only teams from Loreburn and Kenaston in their league, which means they won’t have many regular season games before sectionals at the end of October. She said the Davidson squad is a “strong enough team” to triumph once that tournament begins, but whether they move on to districts would depend on what they do on the court.

“Loreburn and Kenaston, we’re all fairly evenly matched,” she said. “It’ll just be what happens (on) that day. Hopefully we can get a little more practice and be a more competitive team that day.”

Maigan Hominick, coach of the Kodiaks junior boys, said the game was a “huge improvement” for her club and she is really proud about how they did. She said Kodiaks’ player Nolan Haugan stood out with his work during the game, but overall it was a great team effort as they continue to move forward.

“We are basically working on skill building right now,” said Hominick. “It’s a very young team, so it’s just basic skills (like) calling the ball, getting to the ball and if you call the ball you need to hit the ball type of thing. We’re just working as playing as a team and communicating.”

After the boys left the court the girls entered and a lively match-up that featured many strong kills by Kenaston’s Ann Ulmer ensued. The Kodiaks defeated the Raiders 4-0 in the game, but the majority of the sets were really close with many of the girls on both sides of the net getting touches during the game.

To read more please see the October 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Physical Bulldog offence bites Raiders

The Davidson Raiders senior boys football team (0-3) suffered a devastating 78-25 loss Sept. 27 to the Central Butte Bulldogs (1-2) at The Dog House, but their coach said he is the one to blame for the defeat and not the players on the field.

“On offence we made a couple changes and they were probably mistakes on the coaches part by changing a couple players out thinking that we could help our defence,” said Raiders coach Blair Frederickson. “We took players off offence and put them on defence. We didn’t help that and our offence did nothing in the first half. We flipped players back to where they were the week before in Hanley where our offence had been successful and the second half was better for us.”

By the start of the second half, it was too late. The Bulldogs had a commanding 48-7 lead heading into the third quarter and led 64-13 after those 12 minutes were up.

Frederickson said his team was “out-physical-ed” by Central Butte at the start of the game resulting in the lopsided first half score. He said the coaching staff is working with the players to try and develop a more physical game, but it takes time to learn to be at that level of physicality.

“Our defence played a lot better,” he said. “Our young guys on defence managed to if not stop them at least make them put seven or eight plays together to drive the field. We didn’t give up any more of those lightning fast one play touchdowns, but being so young on defence they were more physical and they were able to push us out of the way.”

Troy Wist, coach of the Bulldogs, said his players came out ready to play. He said their defensive game plan was successful in shutting the Raiders offence down frequently in the early going, which gave their offence the ball back in good situations.

“Offensively we’re still running a very good mix to keep (our opponents) honest of pass and run, inside and outside and deep and short,” said Wist. “They executed well and put up a bit of a point spread (in the first half).”

Frederickson said one great thing about the game in Central Butte is seeing all the parents and fans of his team make the journey out to support his players during the game. He said it amazes him to see people make the hour-and-a-half journey to Central Butte or the three-hour drive to Gull Lake earlier in the season and would like to show his appreciation for their enthusiasm.

“Something that boosts the kids confidence and boosts the program is the support we’re getting in the community and the amount of support we’re getting from our parents,” he said. “It’s gratifying to have not just parent’s support but community support and I think it gets the kids excited.”

To read more please see the October 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Bladworth

Conference helps students lead the way

Nine kids from Davidson School recently spread out across the country to try and become better leaders for their school and community.

Matthias McCreary and Sarah Nykiforuk headed to Montague, Prince Edward Island, Sept. 15 to 23 as part of a Sun West School Division team for the annual Canadian Student Leadership Conference. The objective of the conference is to help young people develop leadership skills, build confidence and discover new ideas to make a difference in their school and community.

Davidson SCC (School Community Council) representatives Liana Farrell, Bradley Brazeau, Kim Baldwin and Paige Hodgins joined Matthias and Sarah later on at the conference.

“It was to promote leadership,” said Matthias. “All the people that were there were either leaders or striving to be leaders. While there you attend different workshops and some of them would be about leadership or some of them would be promoting different things you could lead kids to do (like) causes, charities and that kind of thing. It’s just a way of promoting leadership.”

Liana said there were around 800 students from across Canada gathered in PEI to learn leadership skills. She said the students also got to participate in fun activities such as a laser tag and working through a corn maze during the week along with listening to keynote speakers and participating in the leadership workshops.

“This was a way to get ideas from all across Canada to see how different provinces and different schools try and get people involved,” she said.

At the Saskatchewan Student Leadership Conference held Sept. 18 to 20 in Lloydminster, Davidson School students Quin Johnson, Elise McJannet and Kaitlyn Baldwin led the charge for a more inclusive school community.

Elise said the provincial leadership conference had the same agenda as the national, but with 800 kids just from Saskatchewan. She said listening to the keynote speakers was one of the best moments at the conference for her.

“It was really cool,” said Elise. “An Olympian spoke and really funny people spoke. It was all how they showed leadership and how they overcame adversity to get where they are.”

To read more please see the October 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.