Monthly Archives: August 2014

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West Nile Virus approaching Heartland Health Region

The risk of contracting West Nile Virus is at its peak over these last few weeks of summer and health officials want to remind people that proper prevention along with remaining vigilant are the best weapons to avoid becoming sick.

Dr. David Torr, consulting medical health officer for the Heartland Health Region, said a human case of West Nile Virus has been confirmed in southeastern Saskatchewan this year and the history of the virus indicates it flows from east westward. He said there are already positive pools of West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes in Regina and in the Five Hills Health Region, so it is only a matter of time before it comes to Heartland and people need to protect themselves from getting bit.

“This is sort of a tricky time when some of the nuisance mosquitoes are diminishing in numbers and people tend to focus on the nuisance mosquitoes whereas the Culex tarsalis (West Nile Virus carrying mosquito) is more of a quiet biter,” said Torr. “It’s not like the nuisance mosquitoes that are sort of very distinct and very noticeable. It tends to bite in the dusk and in the dawn time periods and especially in the evening when people are sitting outside.”

Torr said the Culex tarsalis also thrives in the hot weather conditions that this area has experienced over the past month, so the expectation is the number of these mosquitoes flying around is high. He said the likelihood of more mosquitoes out there means more are feeding on West Nile Virus infected birds and then more humans are going to be bitten by the subsequently infected mosquitoes.

Davidson resident Gloria Morrison found a dead crow under a fir tree on her Garfield Street property last Monday and said she immediately thought of West Nile Virus. She said they haven’t decided what to do about the bird yet, but may send the crow to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) to get it tested.

Dr. Trent Bollinger, a veterinarian with CWHC at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, said they have confirmed one dead crow found near Allan in early August died from West Nile Virus. He said they have also determined a dead Red-Tailed Hawk found in Saskatoon this summer also had the disease.

To read more please see the September 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Rising ice rental fees force Davidson JAA to explore financing options

Members of the Junior Athletic Association (JAA) are exploring their financing options after the Town of Davidson recreation office raised the ice rental fees they charge the JAA for this upcoming season.

Leah Herback, treasurer of the JAA, said the association pays a flat rate per team to the town for ice rental and that is going up by $2,500 this year to bring the total amount charged to the association to around $14,500 for the year. She said members of the JAA now have to decide what plan of action they need to take this season to offset that added cost.

Herback said the JAA raises money to pay this ice rental charge through player registration fees, putting on tournaments and charging fans at the door who come to watch the games. All money that is raised through kitchen sales at the rink goes directly to the town.

She said this added $2,500 charge to the JAA doesn’t necessarily mean player fees are going up this season, as they will try to find ways with their other two money-raising options to make up the difference. Herback added the addition of a midget hockey team in Davidson this winter should also help bring in more funds to the association.

“Because we’re having a midget team that will be more hockey in Davidson, so hopefully the door and another tournament will make up for the increase,” said Herback. “Because there will be a lot more midget games going on there will be more revenue from the door.”

Trevor Ouellette, recreation director for the Town of Davidson, said increased ice usage and increased costs to run the ice plant as well as keeping the lights on longer as a result of having a new midget team is the reason for the increase in the JAA ice rental fees. He said the increase is not an attempt to reduce the town’s subsidy to the JAA and they are still paying “probably half” of what other associations in nearby towns such as Watrous are being charged.

Ouellette said ice rental rates charged to the Monday night recreational hockey league is also going up this season, while the Cyclones, Babes on Blades and Tractor Bellies fees are staying the same as last year. The amount charged to out-of-town teams for holding tournaments in Davidson is also going up due to the high demand the town has for their ice and the little time available during the season to rent it out.

To read more please see the September 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

RCMP investigate Wee-Too Beach death

An investigation is underway into the recent death of a Wee-Too Beach man found submerged in Last Mountain Lake.

Kam Hay, acting sergeant for the Craik detachment of the RCMP, said members of the local force assisted the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team (URT) and members of the Southey RCMP detachment in locating the remains of the 78-year-old male Aug. 22. The identity of the man is not being released at this time.

The Wee-Too Beach resident was found submerged in water on the west side of Last Mountain Lake near a dock where his belongings were found two days earlier. The Southey RCMP first received a complaint of a boat found adrift on Last Mountain Lake between Fox’s Point and Wee-Too Beach Aug 20 and it was subsequently towed to Rowan’s Ravine Marina.

The boat was identified as belonging to the man. He was not located at his residence and his truck and trailer were found at the boat launch at Wee-Too Beach. An initial search of the shoreline in the area yielded negative results and the URT was called in to continue the search.

“They came out the day before with sonar and attempted that because they have to have three people there…before they can actually go into the water searching,” said Hay. “They tried the sonar the first Thursday and were unsuccessful with the sonar, so then they brought in another diver and were able to go into the water the next day.”

Hay said the divers found the body close to the dock. He said the man was not wearing a life jacket and there is no suspicion of alcohol being involved in the death.

“We’re still trying to investigate what the cause of death was, whether it was accidental or a medical issue (being) probably the two leading suspects, but right now we don’t know exactly what happened,” he said. “There were no witnesses to the event.”

Sports

Loreburn prepares for RAVE tournament

Over 200 girls are coming to the Village of Loreburn this weekend with the intent to put on a show for the many community members who make this annual trip to one of the largest volleyball tournaments in rural Saskatchewan possible.

The girls make up the rosters of 16 different senior girls volleyball teams that will be competing in the sixth annual Really Awesome Volleyball Experience (RAVE) tournament held at the Loreburn Rink and Loreburn Central School Sept. 5 and 6. Eight junior boys volleyball and an equal number of junior girls volleyball teams will follow the senior girls into Loreburn on Sept. 13 for the second leg of RAVE.

“It’s just a lot of volleyball,” said Vanessa Tastad, president of the Loreburn Recreation Board and an organizer of the event. “The kids don’t have a lot of breaks. They’re getting a lot of games in and it’s at the start of the year, so that seems to be good.”

Tastad said the Loreburn Recreation Board puts on the tournament in partnership with Loreburn Central School and both split the profits made through RAVE to help fund different initiatives over the following year. She said the board would be using the money from the annual fund-raiser to help cover operating expenses at the Loreburn Rink during the winter season.

Community help from manning the booth to working the gate along with just the initial set-up of the three courts at the rink is key, said Tastad, noting it would not be possible to put on a tournament of this size if it wasn’t for the way residents of Loreburn, Elbow and Strongfield embrace it every year.

“We ask our community people to help fill in shifts for the booth, which is huge because the booth is the big money maker at the event,” she said. “The community does that and we add extra items throughout the tournament, like we try to have more healthy items. We ask the community members then to donate the food to it, so we have fruit cups and veggie bags and perogies.”

Arlene Norrish, an assistant at Loreburn Central School and co-organizer of RAVE, said their portion of the money raised at the tournament helps fund some of the school’s programs and activities they do for the kids during the year. She said they have managed to bring in around $2,000 for each organization in past years at RAVE, but really the main purpose of the tournament is to get the girls together for a volleyball season kick-off.

It’s “mostly teams from within our Sun West School Division, but there are a few from outside our division,” said Norrish. “Loreburn is actually combined with Davidson this year because we (have) a low number of girls. We’ve only got three Loreburn girls for the senior tournament and they are actually playing with Davidson, but they wanted to keep RAVE going and are enthusiastic about coming out and helping to try to keep this tournament alive.”

Sandra Baldwin, coach of the Davidson/Loreburn RaiTecs, said the Loreburn girls and 10 Davidson kids that make up the senior girls volleyball team this season are “very excited” to hit one of the three courts at the rink or the fourth one set up at Loreburn Central School this weekend for their first tournament action of the year.

To read more please see the September 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Obituary

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Mills
Ralph Melville Mills, August 5, 1929 – August 7, 2014. It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Ralph Mills from Kenaston. He will be sadly and forever missed by his wife of 60 years, Evelyn (Bessey) and their children, son Greg and Shannon, son Glenn and Sue, and son Kevin and Heather and his beloved grandchildren Sheena, Cayden, Landin (Skylar), Ashton (Jarret), Bryce and Candice; sisters, Noreen (Keith) Storrey and Linda (Norm) Pillipow; sisters-in-law Sylvia Mills and Amy Bessey, along with numerous nieces and nephews, cousins and friends. Ralph was predeceased by his parents Ivan and Edith (Mawson); son Doug, daughter-in-law Dawn; brother Les and nephew Lyle.
Ralph lived his entire life in Kenaston, born to farm. He and Evelyn married on July 5, 1954. They were fortunate to enjoy a big celebration last month to honour their 60th anniversary, surrounded by family and friends.
He and Evelyn were blessed to have four sons and they raised their boys on the family farm where he was the third generation Mills’ to live. He continued to live there until his passing.
Ralph was a charter member of the Kenaston Lions and the famous Kenaston Superdraft. Sports were always a big part of his life, as a player, a father cheering on his boys and later as a grandpa, never missing his grandchildren’s sporting events. He had his own special seat at the Kenaston rink, rarely missing a Blizzard game. Coffee Row was the place for him to meet friends and catch up on the daily gossip.
A Celebration of Ralph’s life took place at Kenaston Place on Monday, August 11 at 2 p.m. Interment and lunch followed.
For friends so wishing memorials in memory of Ralph may be made to Kenaston Parks and Rec., or a charity of one’s choice.
Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson in care of arrangements.

Obituary

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Stone
The family of Fran Stone wish to announce her passing on Thursday, August 21, 2014 after a very brief but courageous battle with cancer at the age of 70. She leaves to mourn her two daughters Rebecca and Todd Farrell and Nada Stone and Ray Melendez-Duke; and her prides and joys otherwise known as her grandchildren Liana, Miranda and Logan Farrell, Paige and Kendra DeMong, Eric and Kynan Melendez-Duke and Shelby Anton; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Jim and Brenda Stone, sister-in-law Gladys Scully, brother-in-law Walter Myers and sisters-in-law Shirley Zielinski and Anne Gervais as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Ross in 1976; her parents and her parents-in-law as well as her brother Paul Cechvala, her sister Joyce Myers and her sister-in-law Myrna Stone. Fran was born April 9, 1944 in Winnipeg Manitoba. She married the love of her life, Ross, in 1967 and they moved from Manitoba to live in Davidson in 1969 after a brief stay in Regina when Ross realized his heart belonged on the family farm. Fran worked at the Bank of Montreal until Ross’ tragic passing. She picked up the pieces of her shattered life to raise her two girls building a house on the Stone family farm and residing there until her passing. Fran worked for thirty plus years for the local John Deere dealership as a bookkeeper retiring in 2009. While her girls were young, after they left home and right up until her passing Fran volunteered for numerous organizations in town like the skating club, Donor’s Choice, Minor Ball, United Church, Library Board, Music Festival, Legion and the list goes on. She worked countless hours on the Rink committee to build a new rink in town catering, working bingos, and selling raffle tickets. Fran bowled and curled in town for years. Fran was an avid reader and Blue Jays fan; she spent countless hours in her garden and flowerbeds, sewed all her girls’ clothes when they were young, and in the age of digital cameras Fran scrapbooked those pictures into beautiful stories. She was dedicated to the lives of her children and grandchildren and spent hours upon hours at rinks, ball diamonds and school gymnasiums as their number one fan and photographer. After fighting a battle with breast cancer five years ago and winning, the cancer came back with a vengeance in June of this year. Fran bravely fought her battle, never complaining and was able to remain at home until six days before her passing. The family would like to thank friends and family for their cards, thoughts, prayers, food and endless support.
The funeral service was held at the Davidson United Church at 2:00 on Tuesday, August 26. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Davidson Swimming Pool Fund, The United Church Memorial Fund or The Cancer Society. Arrangements in care of Hanson`s Funeral Service Ltd. (306-567-2020).