BLADWORTH—Optimism for the cattle industry generated by record high cattle prices were reflected in the turnout and response to Palmer Charolais with Nielson Land & Cattle Co. annual bull sale March 2.
“It was a good crowd for the blustery day we had…standing room only during the sale,” Larry Nielson, of Nielson Land & Cattle Co., said.
There were from 150 to 200 people crowded into the shop at Palmer Charolais west of Bladworth. Gale-force winds that whipped up the snow didn’t deter people from turning out. Others phoned in their bids.
The sale average of last Monday’s sale was considerably higher than last year’s average, Nielson said.
He said the prices for his family’s purebred black Angus and red Angus bulls and heifers at this year’s sale were much higher than last year.
Palmer Charolais experienced similar results for their purebred Charolais bulls, the overall average on the their bulls was $7,276, which is up from last year.
“Everybody I talked to at the sale or on the phone about the sale was very optimistic about cattle,” said Velon Herback of Palmer Charolais.
People are optimistic, so they are spending more money on bulls than they had in the past.
“Everything relates to prices in cattle,” Herback said.
All posts by Tara de Ryk
Junior Raiders win West Central Districts
DAVIDSON—Davidson School’s junior boy Raiders defeated Biggar’s St. Gabriel Saints 43-26 last Wednesday to win the West Central District Championship.
“The kids played really well,” coach Kim Rettger said of the team’s effort.
Rettger, who coaches the senior boy Raiders, subbed as coach while the team’s head coach Garret Bailey was away at a conference.
Going into districts, the Raiders had anticipated meeting the Saints in the final.
Rettger said the team had a plan to deal with St. Gabe’s 6’2” big man.
“The key was to stop him so we put Blake Allan on him the whole game. Blake kept their big guy in check,” Rettger said.
The Raiders began the game playing a box-and-one zone defence, which Rettger said worked fairly well and then changed to a man-to-man defence that gave the Raiders even better results.
“Parker (Smith) was fabulous rebounding so was Clay (Murfitt) and Mark (Rettger) shot the lights out,” Rettger said.
Mark led the Raiders in scoring with 22 points. Parker had 16 points in the win.
The Raiders were able to get all their players on the court throughout the game, whereas St. Gabriel stayed with its starting five.
“We never ran away with the score, but we had control the whole game,” Rettger said.
The Raiders’ first game against Eston, whom the Raiders expected to beat handily started tougher than the team expected, despite the 62-37 score.
“They played well enough to win but it didn’t pan out as easy as they thought.”
Rettger said at the half, it was anybody’s game.
He switched up the defences, going away from a zone to man-to-man, which worked better for the team, plus in the second half, Rettger said the boys played much better.
Parker Smith had 26 points for the win, Mark Rettger had 17, Clay Murfitt put up 8 points and Blake Allan chipped in with 7 points.
Seniors at Conferences
Basketball season is over for the junior Raiders, but the action is just heating up for Davidson School’s senior teams that begin playoffs this weekend. The senior boys are hosting 1A conference finals this weekend. Teams from Kenaston, Allan, Central Butte, LCBI and Davidson will be vying for first and second place and a chance to advance to regional playoffs next weekend.
The senior girl Raiders will be in Regina competing for the 2A conference championship. They’ll come up against Regina Harvest City, Langenberg and Moose Jaw Cornerstone.
Craik citizens rally to save local health care
By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK – Community members and leaders of the Town of Craik and the RM of Craik rallied last Friday in front of the Craik Health Centre to proclaim their distrust and concern about how the Five Hills Health Region is treating their physician and health centre.
Over 70 people braved the cold weather holding signs and cheering the speakers.
RM Reeve Hilton Spencer, brought the crowd up to speed with a meeting he and Dr. Karam had with Greg Ottenbreit, Minister of Rural and Remote Health, the night before the rally to discuss their concerns. They were also accompanied by Gerald Muirhead who was credited with building the health centre while a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
Furious at the outcome, Spencer told the crowd, “in two months, we’ve gone from the reason being why EMS can’t stop in Craik is because it’s too confusing, to EMS can’t stop in Craik because the health region or government could get sued!”
Upset over the lack of communication, Spencer insisted that the Five Hills and Heartland Health Regions, along Greg Ottenbreit meet with the towns of Craik and Davidson.
To read more, please see the March 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Sun West puts out call for proposals for Kenaston Distance Learning Centre
KENASTON—Sun West School Division is proceeding with plans to build its new $5.2 million Distance Learning Centre.
Proposals to build the stand-alone building adjacent to Kenaston School are due next Wednesday.
Sun West’s board of education received an update on the project at its meeting last Tuesday.
In February, Sun West put out a call for proposals to design and build a 15,000 square foot office building to house teaching staff and programming for the distance learning program.
The new building is required due to the rapid growth of the distance learning program that began in 2012 using vacant classrooms in Kenaston School.
The program took off and now, with 440 students, the Distance Learning Centre has the largest enrolment in the division. Within five years, Sun West is projecting that 716 students will be enrolled in its DLC.
The new office building will accommodate approximately 90 teachers who teach a wide variety of subjects and courses delivered online to students throughout the province.
This school year, Sun West had to find additional space in Kenaston for more DLC teachers so office space in the village’s curling rink was leased.
To read more, please see the March 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Wildlife federation floats trout pond idea
DAVIDSON—Arm River Wildlife Federation hopes to build a fishin’ hole in town.
Members of the local sporting group were at Davidson town council’s Feb. 17 meeting seeking council’s support of the idea as well as a parcel of land.
The group proposed building a trout pond for recreational use within town limits.
The pond would be about one acre in size and a minimum depth of 20 feet with its sides sloped for safety purposes. The deeper the better to help fish survive the winter, said Jeff Doyle, a member of the Arm River Wildlife Federation (ARWF).
The wildlife federation would dig and organize the creation of the pond. It indicates that grants are available and it would obtain volunteers with heavy equipment to dig the pond.
John McJannet, president of the ARWF, said the federation would bring in wildlife and water experts to examine the topography of various parcels of land.
The club was looking for a project, tossed around some ideas and came up with a trout pond, said Doyle.
“It’s something for the kids and the old guys out there who fished all their lives and can’t make the drive to the lake anymore, like Gerald (Coun. Gerald Kenny),” he joked.
Doyle said a trout pond in Tisdale was a success. Located near Tisdale’s campground and walking trails, Doyle said the popularity proved greater than the community anticipated.
Finding a parcel of land within Davidson town limits may prove difficult.
Town administrator Gary Edom said the town doesn’t have large chunks of land available. The only one that may be close in size is Davidson’s rodeo ground.
Water quality will be another issue. The pond’s water supply must be able to support fish, so locating it near Highway 11 may be a problem due to salt runoff.
Putting it near the cemetery is out of the question. Edom said the tests of the water at Davidson cemetery revealed the water there “isn’t fit to water grass”.
McJannet said the wildlife federation wants the trout pond located in town, so town kids “can get on a bike, grab a fishing pole. We don’t want them to have to cross #11 highway.”
ARWF would set the fish limits of the pond and keep it stocked with trout.
To read more, please see the March 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Bildfell, John
Bildfell, John
It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of John on February 13, 2015. He was born at Foam Lake on September 21, 1922. John is lovingly remembered by his three daughters, Sharon (David), Shelly (Sue) and Heather (Gordon); seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; five brothers Kris, Oli, Lawrence, Clarence and Marvin. He was predeceased by his wife, Anne; sister, Vala and three brothers, Gisli, Torfi and Albert. He joined the Royal Bank in 1940 at Invermay. In 1942, John became a flying officer with the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained pilot navigators. After the war, he returned to the Royal Bank. He was the Bank manager in Hanley from 1968-1977. A Celebration of John’s Life was held on Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Luther Special Care Home, 3rd floor, 1212 Osler Street. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in John’s name may be directed to Luthercare Communities (1223 Temperance Street, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0P2) or a charity of your choice.