Monthly Archives: April 2014

Davidson

Skating Club looks for increased membership

A Dundurn recreational institution is in danger of fading into history if its participant numbers are not increased in the near future.

Shannette Classen, coach of the Dundurn Skating Club, said they need more parents in the community to enrol their kids in the Club’s learn to skate classes this fall if they hope to survive. She said there are many helpful skating programs available for kids in Dundurn and people need to take advantage of them.

“There are so many new people in the area that don’t know we’re here,” said Classen, noting the long-time Club’s membership has dwindled from 37 kids in 2012-2013 to 12 kids in 2013-2014. She said the Club provides a learn to skate tot class as well as Can Skate levels one to nine classes and a pre-power early hockey skills program, but the low enrollment puts offering these lessons in the future in danger.

Classen said they plan on getting the word out about what the Dundurn Skating Club has to offer this spring and summer in an effort to improve next season’s enrolment. The coach, who has been teaching classes at the Club since 2008, said these efforts would include placing advertisements in the Dundurn community newsletter, distributing brochures at the town office and passing out handouts at the elementary school.

She said the Club is also saluting long-time helpers to show their appreciation for all those who have kept the program going strong in Dundurn since it began back in 1967.

“We made a presentation to Vera Falk (March 22) for a lifetime achievement award,” said Classen. She said they also raised almost $2,000 later that day at a steak supper fund-raiser at Big Mur’s Tavern in Dundurn, which would be used to keep future enrolment costs down.

Falk said it would be “sad” to see the club she helped start with four or five other community members over 46 years ago, come to an end. She said the Club has been great for kids in the community looking for a chance to learn how to skate over the years and it has to keep going.

“The kids have got to learn skating when they’re five and six years old, three and four years old, (and) as soon as they can stand on skates,” said Falk, whose three daughters Abby, Jessie and Natalie skated with the Club in previous years. “We had a lot of kids involved (earlier). It was a big club and we had professional skaters, teachers, come from the city. It was a good club.”

To read more please see the April 14 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Spring minor football program comes to town

The sounds of the gridiron will be heard in Davidson this spring.

A junior athletic association Davidson-based minor football team is going to take the field during the months of May and June as part of the Saskatoon Six-a-Side Tackle Football League. The official kickoff for the Davidson club will occur April 26 with a football camp at the Kinsmen Field featuring on-field instruction from some members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and Saskatoon Hilltops as well as a couple of former Saskatchewan Roughriders before a community fund-raising supper is held.

Blair Frederickson, coach of the Davidson team, said the program involves 13- and 14-year-old players in grades 7 and 8 practising in town every Monday and Wednesday beginning in early May and playing one game every Thursday night at the U of S. He said the seven-week spring season would end with a jamboree at the U of S on June 21.

“We’ve got about 10 players (signed up) from Davidson, four players from Kenaston, four players from Loreburn and we’re open to Craik,” said Frederickson, noting there is room on the roster for more kids to join and they could do so by contacting him at the school. “With minor baseball being inactive here and soccer just for young kids there wasn’t really a program for teenagers, so we’re hoping this is going to give them an outlet. The ulterior motive is I’m going to, as one of the high school coaches, use this program to build a base for future development of my high school program.”

Frederickson said the games would run with a “shoot out” format where each team gets a set number of plays to drive to the end zone from the 35-yard-line. He said if a team scores they go back to the 35-yard-line and keeps playing offence until their set number of plays is over and they switch to defence.

“Coaches are on the field,” he said. “It’s almost like a controlled scrimmage/game situation. The kids are getting game experience, but at the same time every huddle I can run out and stick my head in and pat the kids on the back and try to correct any problems that need to be straightened out.”

This is not the first time Frederickson has participated in a league like this, as the coach was also involved with a Kindersley team that played spring minor football. He said the program is great for the kids as it gives them time on the field with experienced football coaches such as Jason Low, Trevor Ouellette, Ryan Johnson and John Jamieson.

Frederickson said the April 26 football camp kickoff is going to be open to any players of all ages that want to attend. He said they’re looking at bringing some Huskies and Hilltops players to Davidson to talk to the kids and work with them before having a couple ex-Riders take part in the afternoon session.

“They would stay around and we would have a community supper to help as a fund-raiser for the football season that evening,” said Frederickson, noting it would be open to the public. “The Riders, they would each give a motivational speech at the supper and any funds that we raise would be used to provide for equipment for future seasons, uniforms and other things you would need to run a program.”

featured

Moving grain focus of U of S summit

Solutions on how to improve grain transportation efficiency to get Canadian crops to market and the problems farmers, grain handlers, railways, port terminals and government face during increased grain production was the focus of a recent University of Saskatchewan grain summit.

The Grain Handling and Transportation Summit 2014 held March 26 at the Saskatoon Inn and hosted by the Department of Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics (BPBE) in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the U of S brought together a wide range of stakeholders and experts to share information and discuss the current state of grain movement, price and income prognosis and any possible short- and long-term solutions to the current crisis.

“The idea of the conference was to provide a broad overview of the situation and to start to talk about solutions to the issues in a very broad conversation and not get preoccupied with trying to fix this quickly,” said Richard Gray, a U of S agriculture professor who helped organize the grain summit. Gray spoke on “Policy Options to Reduce the Basis” as part of session three of the conference titled “Markets and Policy Solutions.”

The day-long summit also featured sessions on “The Status of the Grain Transportation System,” “Shipper Agreements and Other Logistical Solutions” and lastly “Next Steps for Engagement and Finding Solutions.”

Gray said one of the factors that contributed to this year’s crisis that he highlighted in his talk is the need for a much better public forecasting of crops. He said farmers are now asked what they think is in the field either after harvest or before and in the past couple years those estimates were off by a long shot.

He said this has contributed to this year’s problem because railways weren’t anticipating the 2013 crop and didn’t become aware of it until September. Gray said that isn’t good enough notice for the railways to have sufficient crews hired, among other things, to handle it.

Another “issue that I brought up was the need for greater West Coast capacity,” he said, noting capacity at West Coast terminals is just over 20 million tonnes, while this year’s crop that needs to be exported to the most important market of Asia comes in at over 50 million tonnes. “Even if we did fix the rail situation tomorrow we wouldn’t be able to move it through the West Coast. There would be a lot of grain that would have to move east or all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico in order to hit salt water and then you’re hitting salt water in a market that is saturated with grain.”

Ian McCreary, a graduate of the Dept. of BPBE at the U of S and a former Canadian Wheat Board director, said his talk during session four of the conference presented an overview of this “central problem” of limited West Coast capacity and the lack of coordination that is causing everyone to try to ship through that coast. He said a discussion then followed about what could be learned from how the CWB would have handled it and finally some ideas were presented that could be considered as part of a solution.

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

Sports

Cougars, Kodiaks and Raiders gear up for playoffs

The Davidson Raiders, Craik Cougars and Kenaston Kodiaks junior badminton teams are gearing up for sectionals and inter-sectionals this week after a whirlwind season of fun and determined play.

Allison de Hoop, coach of the Kodiaks junior badminton team, said her goal is for the team to play hard and improve their skills at inter-sectionals April 10 in Loreburn while continuing to display good sportsmanship. She said the games the 13-member team has played so far this year, including a mini-tournament last Monday in Davidson between the three schools, were just for practice and no score was taken, but that is going to change this Thursday.

de Hoop said the games the Kodiaks boys and girls singles, doubles and mixed doubles teams would be playing at inter-sectionals will be marked, with the winner moving on to sectionals April 15 at Kenaston. The winners from those games move on to districts held early next month, but de Hoop said just getting better at the game right now is more important than the final score.

“I like badminton because you have to think about it when you’re playing and you’ve got to think about how your opponent is playing, so it gets the mind and body working together,” said de Hoop. “If they’re playing doubles they are also playing with a teammate, so they are learning how to cooperate with that other person and (figure out) when it is their turn to hit and when it is the other person’s turn. They are learning some good cooperation skills and how to be a good sport.”

Jody Kearns, coach of the Cougars bantam badminton team, said Craik’s playoff schedule is different from Kenaston and Davidson because they are in the Prairie South School Division, so her team will actually be competing in sectionals this Thursday at Caronport. She said the team of 14 kids has had a busy year up to this date practising against “some good competition” in an effort to build up their skills.

“We’re a young team,” said Kearns, noting most of the kids heading to Caronport are in either Grade 7 or 8. “It’s not necessarily about winning and losing. It’ll be the first time for some Grade 7s going to a big tournament. This is just to gain experience.”

Raiders coach Kristin Dolman said the 18 kids on the Davidson team have gotten together with a few different schools in their short season as a way to get kids practising the sport in a game situation.

“It’s a really good sport for someone who likes to play (individually, as) it allows them to excel and not rely on anyone else,” said Dolman. “It involves a lot of coordination and it actually can turn out to be a really fast-paced intense game.”

Davidson

Guild pieces together 10 years

The Prairie Patches Quilt Guild is celebrating its 10th anniversary and to mark the occasion they are inviting everyone to come to Davidson Town Hall this weekend for a colourful and interesting quilt show.

“We have just under 150 items this year that are going to be on display,” said Cathy Palmer, a member of the Prairie Patches Quilt Guild. “We are just really excited about that because this will be the biggest show we’ve had. There will be a variety of things on display from a very large king-sized quilt all the way down to lap and baby quilts as well as many smaller items that are done like little table runners and place mats and thread-painted pictures.

“Our members have really gotten to be quite diverse now in their skills and interests and so I think our community will be quite amazed at what they’ll see this year.”

In addition to the Quilt Guild member’s work, the show will also feature vendor’s booths on Saturday from Quilters Haven of Moose Jaw and 4-40 Quilt Shop out of Saskatoon. The two booths are going to be offering fabrics and patterns for sale among other things and will also be holding various demonstrations throughout the day on different quilting topics.

Palmer said Saskatoon artist Elizabeth Muirhead is also appearing at the Town Hall on Saturday to showcase her “unique” and “absolutely stunning” wool felting projects. She said the show is for everyone who enjoys art and looking at beautiful things, so people don’t have to be quilters to attend.

“Whether you’re a painter, wood-worker or stained-glass hobbyist, there is many similarities in the work we do,” she said. “We are just working with a different medium.”

The Prairie Patches Quilt Guild formed in December 2003 when 14 ladies joined together for fellowship, fun and a desire to quilt. Over the years the Guild has been very active in the town by donating many pieces to be used as prizes for the benefit of various community charities.

“We have kept a photo album as sort of an archives of what we’ve done over the years and that photo album is really kind of interesting to look back at on our work in 2003 and how it’s evolved to 2014,” said Palmer, noting the Guild now has 19 members from Davidson and area who meet twice a month at the Pentecostal Church. “Our skills and our confidence and our expertise have certainly come a long way.”

Palmer said these skills are going to be on display beginning this Friday evening when they hold a “sneak-a-peek” for interested people who cannot make it to the Saturday show. She said those people who do make it to the Town Hall on Saturday will have an added benefit of attending as the Guild is holding an all-day lunch including “to die for” homemade pies at the show.

“We’ve got a group of men that come out and help us in the morning set up our big stands for the displays,” said Palmer. “We couldn’t set up without them because it’s really heavy, but I’ve heard some of them say they also come for the pie.”

The Quilt Show sneak-a-peek runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday and the main show goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. A silver collection donation is appreciated.

Davidson

Corn planting clinics aim to yield success

A new crop of corn growers learned the ABCs of planting corn at a recent corn planter clinic in Regina.
Among the more than 100 farmers at the clinic was Davidson’s Rob Stone, a farmer and sales rep. for DuPont Pioneer, the company that put on the clinic.
A mainstay in crop rotations in Eastern Canada and the American Midwest, corn is becoming an option for farmers around here thanks to the development of hybrids that have earlier maturing dates and can handle the Prairie climate.
Because it’s such a new crop in Saskatchewan, Stone said Pioneer conducts the clinics to teach new growers the basics of planting corn and how to properly use their planting equipment.
“They say the best time for big yields is right before you open the bag of seed,” Stone said. “It all starts with the seed and how you put it in the ground.”
Corn is a row crop and requires specific seed spacing, precise seed depth and farmers need to know how to properly set, use and maintain planting equipment, he said.
“I tried some (corn) last year and I probably did everything wrong,” he admits.
He intends to try again this year and plans on doing a corn trial on his farm.
Corn is a different type of crop to plant than cereal, canola and pulse crops.
Stone said the clinics were an “eye-opener”.
“Our focus is large acres and going fast. Corn, it’s a different focus. You have to take time and make it work.”
Besides DuPont Pioneer reps and agronomists, clinic participants heard from Bill Lemkuhl, an independent crop consultant and farmer from Ohio. He led participants through a planter overview from “hitch pin to closing wheels” making sure a poorly adjusted planter can be identified and understanding the impact of poorly set planters.
Implement reps were also at the clinic, advising farmers on developments in planting equipment.
Stone said farmers are well advised to do their research before buying a corn planter so they buy the right implement for their situation. He said if it’s used, it may be worn out or it could have components not suited to Saskatchewan soil conditions.
Stone said he encourages people to consider corn as a crop, particularly farmers who raise cattle and can grow corn for silage.
To read more please see the April 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.