Monthly Archives: July 2014

Davidson

STARS ball diamond landing spot approved

The Town of Davidson has approved a request from Emergency Medical Services and STARS to pay for and install a gate in the left field fence of the senior baseball diamond, so air ambulances can land closer to the hospital.

The gate would be a forerunner to a future landing pad for STARS helicopters in the left field of the ball diamond. EMS and STARS initially approached the town with the plan to have a landing pad in the field because according to their own policy they are not allowed to land at the Davidson Communiplex.

“They’ll be right behind the hospital (at) that senior ball diamond,” said Gary Edom, administrator for the Town of Davidson. “They hope to just be able to wheel somebody out from the back door of the hospital to the senior ball diamond. You wouldn’t even need an ambulance to transfer.”

Edom said the Heartland Health Region would be in charge of clearing a pathway in the winter from the health centre to the gate. He said Davidson is requesting the health region also keep the area from the gate to the landing spot free of snow, as initially it was supposed to be the town in charge of clearing this area.

“If they’re going to clear up to the gate, it only makes sense to go a little further while they’re there,” he said. Edom confirmed the pathway from the back door of the hospital to the new landing spot must be cleared 24 hours a day, seven days a week in case of an emergency.

“From my understanding all we’re really committed to right now is putting the gate in,” said Edom, noting there is no timeline as of yet on when this will happen. “There will be lots of details to work out I’m sure as we go.”

Davidson

Old-Fashioned Saturday Night in need of volunteers

Old Fashioned Saturday Night is scheduled for July 19 in Davidson, but the people who are trying to put on the festivities still need some volunteer help to ensure a good show.

Jess Palmer, president of the Old Fashioned Saturday Night committee, said the day is a community event and they need more members of the community to lend a hand. She said the more people who take an interest in the festivities the better the day will be.

“We’re definitely calling for volunteers this year,” said Palmer. “The day before (Old Fashioned Saturday Night) come down to the town hall around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. to get a rundown on how things or the children’s carnival games work. We need those people even if (they’re) 12 years old.”

The lineup for Old Fashioned Saturday Night this year begins with the annual parade at 11 a.m. following by a children’s festival at Arnold Park. During the afternoon a cribbage tournament is planned for the Town Hall along with a 10- to 14-year-old scavenger hunt through town and a “Funtazim Science Show” for the kids at 4 p.m.

A potluck supper at the hall will start at 5 p.m. before a beer garden would be set up near by in the early evening. The final events include a family street dance beginning at 7 p.m. and a pie and ice cream dessert available at the Davidson Seniors’ Centre taking place at the same time.

Palmer said the committee, which also includes Chantal Wightman and Brenda Townsend, decided to “scale back” the festivities this year due to the arrival of the newest member of the Palmer household, Henry, two-and-a-half months ago. She said they are focusing on what worked for them at Old Fashioned Saturday Night last year to get the 2014 version going, while also looking ahead to a more elaborate summer celebration in 2015.

“We’re looking at next year to do a Christmas in July idea and change things a smidge,” said Palmer, noting they are hoping to attract more committee members to help plan this event. We’ll “maybe have an evening parade or a twinkle parade…and see if we can haul Santa from his northern workshop.”

She said one thing they did change for this year was to schedule Old Fashioned Saturday Night one week earlier than when it usually occurs. She said this summer’s July 19 date ensures it doesn’t fall on the same weekend as the Elbow rodeo, so any revellers looking to enjoy the festivities in Davidson have a better opportunity to do so.

Sports

Red Sox bats go hot and cold at provincial championships

The 2014 season may have come to an end for the Davidson Red Sox peewee girls softball team with a 2-2 split in round-robin action at Provincials late last month in Regina, but their coach believes it could be the start of some good ball in town for future years.

Jason Shaw, who coaches the Red Sox with Kendall Wightman, said the 15 girls who played baseball this year have all improved skill-wise since camp first broke in April. He said finishing the season in a round-robin loss at Provincials isn’t what they hoped for, but the important thing is the players were able to come together and showcase the skills they’ve learned over the course of the year.

“We went into provincials, into that tournament, with the same kind of philosophy (that) all the girls got to play and nobody sat on the bench,” said Shaw. “Some girls during the year played infield and outfield and got a chance to play different positions. In this (tournament) we focused a bit more on one or two positions, but everybody batted and everybody got to play the field. We wanted to win, but as a team. We were going to win as a team.”

The Red Sox began the June 27 to 29 Provincials tournament in Regina with a 6-4 loss to Weyburn in a hard-fought game that could have gone either way considering the amount of stranded runners left on base by Davidson. The Sox quickly put the loss behind them when they came back onto the field later that first day to hit a 12-4 win over Southey.

The second day started the way the first day ended with the Red Sox running 12-3 over Regina, which put them one win away from securing a berth in playoff competition. The girls took the field against Carlyle that afternoon, but their bats went cold and a four-run inning for the opposition resulting in an eventual 7-0 defeat ended any hopes of advancing.

“We were a little bit rusty, but I thought our pitching was really good on the weekend,” said Shaw, noting league playoffs were canceled the weekend before due to rain. “Our defence was pretty good. We made a couple mistakes along the way, but nothing too big. We just didn’t hit like we normally would. Especially in that Carlyle game we needed a couple hits to get us going, (but) their pitching was strong (and) we just didn’t hit like we could have.”

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

Sports

Saskatoon league a “good experience” for Raiders football

The Raiders minor football team wanted their season to end on the field and weren’t about to let Zeus tell them any different.

The Raiders brushed off the torrential rain that poured down from the heavens June 21 resulting in a flooded field at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon and bided their time for seven more days. On June 28 the Raiders marched back onto the gridiron and fought tooth and nail first with a strong Outlaws team and then an Outlook squad shortly after that.

“It was good for us,” said Raiders coach Blair Frederickson, noting they lost 28-21 to the Outlaws before falling 21-14 to Outlook. “We gave up touchdowns in the last two minutes, so they were both competitive and back-and-forth games. The ref on Saturday…said those were the hardest, most intense (and) well-played games I’ve seen this year.”

Frederickson said the eight-game season and 4-4 record the team compiled in the lead-up to the June 28 jamboree was a “good experience” for him and his coaching staff as well as the kids who took the field each game. He said the Saskatoon Minor Football League helps the players gain exposure to a wider range of coaches as well as show Football Saskatchewan personnel the skill and talent that is present in rural parts of the province.

“A couple times Football Saskatchewan guys came by and said ‘man, you guys are doing a nice job out there. These kids are really polite and well mannered. They go hard to the whistle and then they help the other team up and pat them on the back,'” he said. “I think that was a nice compliment for the kids and maybe a nice compliment for the other coaches.”

Coaches Trevor Ouellette and John Jamieson along with student coaches Andrew Read, Addison Ouellette and Jon Taylor joined Frederickson on the sidelines and on the field directing the players in the controlled games this season. He said the kids really benefited from the help of Andrew, Addison and Jon because they were able to reemphasize to the grades seven and eight kids the necessity to play hard to the whistle and always exhibit sportsmanship on the field.

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