John will be remembered by his wife of nearly 65 years, Jean; daughter Betty (Judson) Willms of Dundurn, Sask.; sons Harold (Janice) Reeves of London, England, and Dale (Karen) Reeves of Hanley, Sask.; grandchildren Tom Willms (Tina Armada), Jennifer (Lyle) Dombrowsky, Caitlin (Marc) Colletti, Tracy (Dustin) Shaw; siblings: Ken Reeves of Moose Jaw, Helen Geall and Marguerite Gibbens of Saskatoon, Gladys Macfarland of Calgary, Albert (Lorraine) Reeves of Sherwood Park; in-laws Bill (Bernice) Presnell, Laverne (Ken) Libke, Pat (Gordon) Libke, and Elaine Presnell.
John was predeceased by his parents Harold and Ruth (Sjolvold) Reeves; sister Mary (Paul) Mayes; sister-in-law Kay Reeves; brothers-in-law Clifford Geall and Bill Gibbens; father-in-law and mother-in-law Jesse and Bertha Presnell; and brother-in-law Ron Presnell.
Crews continued their efforts to control and put out fires in northern Saskatchewan last week, as seen in this cellphone photo provided by Flo Shaw.
By Joel van der Veen
LA RONGE — Like many people in Saskatchewan right now, Flo Shaw is keeping a close eye on the news.
Countless lives have been turned upside down in the past couple of weeks, with more than 100 active wildfires burning and thousands being evacuated from the northern part of the province.
But Shaw’s mind is on two people up north who aren’t able to leave: her son Nathan and his wife Marsha, both officers with the RCMP detachment in La Ronge.
An evacuation order for the town was issued on July 4. Residents seeking shelter down south were advised to take only one bag, necessary medication and no pets.
The Shaws’ four children — Brooklyn, Connor, Colton and Kellan — are out of harm’s way, staying with their grandparents at Etter’s Beach and taking swimming lessons on the lake.
But Const. Nathan Shaw and Corp. Marsha Shaw remain on the line of duty, as efforts continue around them to contain and extinguish the wildfires.
“We can’t talk too much because they have to keep the phone lines open,” Flo said last week from her home in Davidson, adding that she finds the situation “pretty scary.”
Besides the constant news reports, she also gets updates through through text messages and photos sent via cellphone. One picture sent by Marsha showed street lights glowing at 3 p.m.
“The street lights looked like little pin dots, it was so smoky,” she said. “I really don’t know how they’re managing.”
Nathan grew up in Davidson, while his wife, the former Marsha Knoblauch, is from Imperial.
Flo said the two of them will remain in the area unless a total evacuation becomes necessary, adding, “I’m hoping for rain, but it’ll take a lot.”
Other families in the district are also thinking about loved ones further north.
Elizabeth Parks of Craik said Thursday that her daughter, Margaret Floch, is staying in La Ronge where she serves as manager of the Co-op grocery store.
Parks said her daughter was prepared to evacuate when she was asked personally by Mayor Thomas Sierzycki to stay behind to keep the store open so that emergency workers, volunteers and others could continue to purchase necessary items.
Food supplies are being trucked in daily from the cities, and last week 350 people were fed at a supper provided for the volunteers.
Floch’s husband, David, is a mechanic servicing the water bombers being used to fight the fires, but thick smoke can hamper the pilots’ efforts by obscuring visibility.
Their two sons — Keagan, 16, and Kieran, 12 — are staying with close friends in Prince Albert.
The Flochs have left their house, packing their needs in a truck and fifth-wheel, and will be able to leave quickly if the situation escalates.
“They’re in touch all the time,” said Parks, adding that her daughter “calls me every day from the store.”
She said they haven’t suffered from any health issues yet, despite the smoke. Parks also described the evacuation process, explaining that police tracked people as they left town.
For the full story, please see the July 13 edition of The Davidson Leader.
This sign along Railway Avenue displays the total raised so far for Davidson’s new swimming pool over three years of fundraising.
By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — A major donation announced late last month has brought the fundraising total for Davidson’s new swimming pool to six figures.
The pool committee announced on June 29 that Saskatoon-based PIC Investments had agreed to donate $250,000 towards the project on behalf of Panther Industries, Inc. of Davidson, bringing the total raised so far to the million-dollar mark.
In three years of fundraising, the committee has raised a total of $1,065,000 to replace the current swimming pool, completed in 1967 as a centennial project.
In a statement issued Thursday, president Jack Schneider said Panther Industries was proud to make the donation, adding that the company has always supported activities for young people in the area.
“It is important that our town has the best facilities in order to give people who live here the highest quality of life,” stated Schneider. “It gives the people who live here a reason to stay, and also gives new people a reason to come and make this their home.”
In its announcement, the pool committee expressed its appreciation to PIC Investments and Panther Industries.
Committee member Jessica Foster said more information would be available after its meeting this week.
She also said fundraisers are looking forward to hearing the results from Cargill’s Together We Thrive contest, which began on April 15 and ended on June 30.
The swimming pool was one of dozens of community projects from across Canada entered in the contest, which offered six grants valued at $25,000.
Residents were encouraged to log in and vote every day; the Davidson pool project received a total of 21,234 votes, finishing in first place for Saskatchewan and third place across Canada.
A panel of judges will select the six projects that will receive grants, including one each from northern and southern Saskatchewan. The winners will be announced at the beginning of August.
Other contenders from the area include the Craik and District Regional Park (11,815 votes), the Arm River branch of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (141 votes) and the Kenaston branch of Wheatland Regional Library (72 votes).
Meanwhile, Davidson’s recreation director, Trevor Ouellette, said he could not offer an update on construction plans for the new pool.
Ouellette said he is waiting for information from engineers and that the new build was on the agenda for a recreation meeting last Wednesday.
He said he hopes to be able to present a concrete plan for the pool’s construction in the near future, but added, “It’s still up to council’s discretion.”
Funeral director Todd Lockwood, pictured here, is taking on a second line of work, opening a central warehouse for Northern Casket in Davidson.
By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — For generations, the Hansons have served families in Davidson and area, helping them to say goodbye and honour the memory of their loved ones.
Now, funeral director Todd Lockwood is taking on a second responsibility along similar lines — providing caskets to funeral homes throughout Saskatchewan.
He and his uncle, Brian Hanson, will serve as provincial agents for Northern Casket, a manufacturing and sales firm based in Lindsay, Ont.
Lockwood and his fiancee, Erin Rohs, have purchased the former Reflections building on Washington Avenue in Davidson and are turning it into a warehouse operation with enough room to stock upwards of 150 caskets.
“We’re going to start distribution here probably by the end of the month, hopefully,” said Lockwood.
The company was looking for a central location in Saskatchewan after not having had a presence in the province for several years, he said, adding that Northern Casket wanted to work with a funeral home and reached out to Hanson.
“It was pretty lucky for us that they just pointed out Davidson on the map,” said Lockwood.
Gord Ferguson, president and CEO of Northern Casket, said Thursday that the company had previously distributed its products in the province through Colonial Caskets, based in Winnipeg, but has not been in the market here for six or seven years.
As a family-owned business, he said Northern is a good fit for Saskatchewan and particularly its rural funeral homes, many of which are also family-owned.
“There’s a certain amount of appeal there,” said Ferguson, adding that the company was also aware of the Hansons’ decades in the business, and particularly Brian’s “long and storied career” in the funeral services industry.
“We’re quite excited to be there,” he said. “We look forward to a long association with Todd, Brian and the rest of the family.”
Ferguson explained that funeral homes can save money by purchasing caskets directly from the manufacturer, rather than through a third-party distributor.
Northern Casket, established in 1926, produces its caskets individually and sells them across the country; its distribution chain extends from Fort Langley, B.C., to Moncton, N.B.
Lockwood said the warehouse will be run separately from the funeral home, and with a minimal staff for now. The operation is still in its initial stages, but about 80 caskets have already arrived from Ontario.
“Once we develop a customer base or a client base, we’ll realize what the need for employees is going to be,” said Lockwood, adding that the warehouse will not have a storefront and the front windows will be blocked off.
Lockwood and Rohs purchased the building from Don Birch in May. The store itself required little work, but the shed at the rear needed a new roof and siding.
Hanson’s Funeral Services has operated in Davidson since 1951, when Brian Hanson’s father Hank purchased the business from Burton Lytle. Lockwood took over the business in September 2014 as Brian went into semi-retirement.
Hanley native Taryn Suttie, seen in this file photo, took first place in the women’s shot put event at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Edmonton this month. (Photo by Dave Eagles/Courtesy of Kamloops This Week)
By Joel van der Veen
KAMLOOPS — Taking a national title at the Canadian Track and Field Championships earlier this month marked new territory for shot-putter Taryn Suttie.
But the Hanley native said it’s the natural result of the conditioning she’s been doing, and the target she’s worked toward for years.
“I’ve been training hard,” she told the Leader last week. “It was time for that to happen.”
Suttie, the daughter of Don and Deb Suttie, took first place with a throw of 16.88 metres at the national competition, held July 2 through 5 in Edmonton.
Her next competitive stop is the Pan Am Games, currently underway in Toronto. And if Suttie can qualify, this time next year she’ll be getting ready for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It has taken Suttie several attempts to reach this threshold. She has competed at the senior Canadian championships every year since 2009, placing in second or third each time.
She said a change in coaching was a major factor, as last August she began working with former Olympic shot-putter Justin Rodhe.
“It was a change that was needed, and that’s really paid off,” she said. “And my results definitely showed that. . . I’ve seen lots of improvement since switching coaches.”
Suttie graduated from Hanley Composite School in 2008, the same year she set the Saskatchewan senior girls shot put record (13.58 metres), which still stands today.
For three years she studied kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, but then decided to put her academic life on hold to pursue her athletic dreams. Since 2011 she has lived, worked and trained in Kamloops, B.C.
In April she achieved a personal best, winning the shot-put event at the Sun Angel Track Classic in Tempe, Ariz., with a 17.61-metre throw.
Suttie, now 24, is currently in Cleveland, Ohio, spending a week training at the SPIRE Sports Academy before she flies to Toronto on July 20 for the Pan An Games, which will be her first international competition as a senior.
After the season ends, she’ll continue working and training, though her conditioning will stay largely the same.
“It doesn’t change too much in or out of season,” she said, adding that she reduces the number of repetitions for throwing and lifting in season so she can compete without being tired out.
Once the season is over, she explained, she can ramp it up again and enjoy the results later on.
To qualify for the Olympics, she’ll need to meet the minimum requirement of 17.80 metres, in addition to reaching the top three next year at the national championships.
Even two provinces away in Kamloops, Suttie said she still feels the encouragement from her friends and family in Hanley, explaining, “I’ve received lots of support from everyone back home.”
Brenna Siroski and Jill Long are pictured standing on the site where Loreburn Central School’s outdoor classroom is slated to be built.
By Joel van der Veen
LOREBURN — The site was graded, the plans were made and the volunteers were ready to go.
And then they struck oil.
Plans for an outdoor classroom at Loreburn Central School remain on hold following the discovery of contaminated soil on the school grounds.
The school is awaiting approval for a grant from the Ministry of Education’s Emergent Funding Program to clean up the contamination, at an estimated cost of $250,000.
An underground oil tank, used by the school prior to the introduction of natural gas, is believed to have been the source of the contamination.
A group of volunteers was drilling the pilings for the outdoor classroom in mid-May when the contaminated soil was discovered.
Until the site is cleaned up, principal Jill Long said, the project will remain on hold, to the dismay of teachers, students and other community members.
“There were lots of us that were heartbroken,” said Long. “We were really hoping to have it operating by the end of this school year.”
“I was pretty sad,” said teacher Brenna Siroski, who has spearheaded the project. “We’ve had this idea for quite a few years now.”
The project has been divided into multiple phases, beginning with the installation of a gazebo and landscaping the surrounding area, including the addition of trees and flower beds.
Later, the school plans to add outdoor furniture to the gazebo, such as a chalkboard and chairs, making it suitable for use as an actual classroom when weather allows.
The idea originated during Judy Brown’s tenure as principal. This year, the school budgeted $7,000 for the first phase of the project and planned to begin construction this spring.
A north-facing site, tucked inside the L-shaped building, was chosen. It is separated from the school’s running track by a row of trees. Long, who has been on the school staff since 1998, said the space has just been a “grassy field” throughout her time at Loreburn.
Topsoil, seedlings and other landscaping supplies were donated, and crews of volunteers were ready to go when the issue was discovered.
“I knew right away that there was going to have to be some soil rectification,” said Siroski.
Work on the project was immediately halted, and Clifton Associates, Ltd., a Regina-based engineering firm, completed an assessment of the site.
The firm estimated that the contaminated plume measures approximately 40 metres by 30 metres by 1.5 metres, or around 2,000 cubic metres.
The soil has been identified as “petroleum hydrocarbon impacted,” with benzene, ethylbenzene and petroleum hydrocarbon fractions one and two being named as the specific contaminants.
The application notes that these materials are usually indicative of the presence of gas, diesel or oil.
A 1,000-gallon tank, previously located underground near the school, was identified as the likely cause of the contamination.
The report by Clifton Associates indicates that contaminant levels exceed the guidelines set in the Ministry of Environment’s Risk-Based Corrective Actions policy, and “may pose significant health risk if not removed from the site.”
“The contamination at the site is a human health risk, as well as environmentally detrimental to both soil condition and the regional groundwater,” reads the report.
If not remediated, the contamination has the potential to further affect soil and groundwater in the area, as well as risks to human health, the report continues.
Evaluators said the problem would best be addressed by excavating the contaminated soil completely, hauling it to a certified disposal company and then backfilling the excavated area.
The application was approved by the board of Sun West School Division at its regular meeting on June 23 and forwarded to the Ministry of Education.
For the full story, please see the July 6 edition of The Davidson Leader.
