All posts by Tara de Ryk

Elbow, featured

Elbow draws together for Culture Days

Strongfield’s Sarah Leikam performs a traditional Ukrainian dance at the Elbow arena during the village’s Culture Days weekend on Sept. 30.

By Joel van der Veen

ELBOW — Since last weekend’s Culture Days events in Elbow, two people have agreed to join the Line 19 choir and three more have signed up to learn pickleball.

Not only that, but local musicians, inspired by the camaraderie of the Friday-night singalong, are planning to host monthly jam sessions.

By that measure, Culture Days was a great success, and one that continues to grow.

“This started as a dream,” said organizer Anne Wilson. “It’s just been wonderful. I can hardly talk about it, it chokes me up.”

Elbow was the site of three days of Culture Days events, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, drawing upwards of 700 people.

The family-friendly weekend is hosted by the Elbow and District Museum and organized by a local committee, with support from various people, organizations and businesses.

Culture Days events are held the same weekend across Saskatchewan and the rest of the country.

“It’s just an opportunity for people all across Canada to get together and celebrate culture,” Wilson said.

Wilson explained that the museum board applied for funding from SaskCulture and Saskatchewan Lotteries the preceding fall to host this year’s events, which are presented free of charge.

As organizer, Wilson said her vision this year was a celebration of Canada on its 150th birthday, with a focus on music.

“Culture isn’t just your roots, it’s a feeling created by like-minded individuals,” explained Wilson. “We’ve got a wonderful community . . . We’re situated in an amazing place with lots to do.”

As such, the events were planned with participation in mind, allowing attendees to play an active role.

Wilson worked with an organizing committee, who in turn enlisted volunteers from throughout the area, including Loreburn, Strongfield, Mistusinne, Central Butte, Hanley and Davidson. Continue reading Elbow draws together for Culture Days →

Davidson, featured, Sports

Second gymkhana buckle for Oliver

Tylar Oliver and her horse Josey receive the high-point buckle in junior B girls gymkhana from Saskatchewan Riding Clubs Association president Kirsten Roy.

By Joel van der Veen

MOOSE JAW — Tylar Oliver has some more hardware to add to the collection after competing in provincial riding club finals last month.

Oliver, a Grade 10 student in Davidson, won the high-point Gymkhana buckle in the junior B girls division at the Saskatchewan Riding Clubs Association (SRCA) provincial finals in Moose Jaw.

She and her horse Josey, a chestnut mare, competed in three events — barrel racing, pole bending and the quadrangle race.

Oliver said she’s been riding as long as she can remember, adding, “My dad started me when we moved here, when I was 2.”

She has been riding Josey for the last three years.

Though the mare was new to some competitive events like barrel racing, Oliver said, “She already had that speed mindset in her.”

This was Oliver’s second gymkhana buckle. In 2014, she was the high-point champion in the junior C girls division. She was also voted the SRCA’s provincial queen that year, taking home a trophy saddle.

Nine riders and horses from the Davidson Riding Club competed in this year’s SRCA provincial finals, held Sept. 22 to 24 in Moose Jaw.

Besides Tylar, two other club members picked up high-point buckles over the weekend.

Valerie Brown, riding Penny, received the high-point buckle for her results in the Pioneer Western Performance events.

Meanwhile, Brenda Clarke and Drifter earned the high-point buckle in the senior ladies Gymkhana division, after placing first in three separate events.

Continue reading Second gymkhana buckle for Oliver →

Elbow, Obituary

Obituary: O’Brien, Patrick

O’Brien, Patrick
March 19, 1930 — Sept. 27, 2017

Pat passed away peacefully in Moose Jaw with his family by his side.

Pat was born at Elbow on the family farm in the Harley District. He lived there his entire life, farming and raising cattle. He loved his animals, family and friends. He enjoyed playing cards with everyone.

Pat was predeceased by his parents, Lanora and Charles O’Brien; one brother Thomas; and one sister Ivy; two brothers-in-law Fred and Les Stevens; and one sister-in-law Florence.

He is survived by his sister Kay (Eric) of Maple Creek and his brother Donald (Sandra) of Elbow. Also, many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.

A private family interment will take place at a later date.

He will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved him.

Donald, Sandra and all family members.

Hawarden, Obituary

Obituary: Pederson, Elaine

Elaine Pederson (Hansen)
1944 — 2017

She was a 60-yard dash runner, figure skater, nurse, curler, gardener, reader and traveller. She was a small-town girl — helpful and involved, always trying to make things better for everyone and finding every opportunity to learn something new. She grew up in Rouleau, Sask., and knew she wanted to be a nurse from the time she was a little girl. She moved to Saskatoon in 1962 to attend the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan where she earned her degree and RN designation, met lifelong friends, and in spite of a girlhood pledge to never marry a farmer, caught the eye of an Agro who was in her English, Chemistry and Biology classes.

After convocation and getting married, Elaine worked as a public health nurse for the Victorian Order of Nurses, driving to her patients’ homes to administer medications, making sure they were safe and well, and being a friendly and professional face at the door, providing a human connection that was at the heart of the kind of nursing she always wanted to do. They moved to the farm northeast of Hawarden in 1969, built a home and were part of the community for over 40 years.

Elaine was stylish, practical and no-nonsense. She had a strong sense of fairness and justice, which she practised in her 18 years as a member and then Chair of the Saskatchewan Social Services Appeal Board, and as a mother — her daughters were always to be kind, treat everyone equally, speak out against wrongs, and step up in defense of others.

Elaine was predeceased by her parents Marvin and Olive Hansen, and will live on through her family: David, her husband of 50 years, cared for her every day with love, tenderness, good humour, and grace. She was deeply loved and will be remembered by her daughters Susan, Sandy, and Jen, her sons-in-law James and Doug, her grandchildren, John and Lucy, and Owyn, Milo and Dawson, and her younger brothers Gordon and Alan, sisters-in-law Fran and Kathy, and their families.

Our family is deeply grateful to those who cared for her after a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia. From the home care nurses who drove to the farm every day, to the Saskatchewan Abilities Council for providing essential equipment, to Jamie Pfeifer, who moved mountains to keep Mom and Dad together at Parkville Manor and helped navigate the long-term care system, to the Direct Client Funding program, and to Parkridge Centre East 2, who provided close and compassionate care for all of us in her last days. Most of all, we thank Dale Natowcappo, who came twice daily to care for Elaine seven days a week for nearly four years. She has been a strong, sweet, and steady force in our lives and it is because of her that Elaine and David were able to live together at home for as long as they did.

A service to celebrate Elaine’s life was held at Park Funeral Home on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. Donations in her memory can be made to Alzheimer Society Saskatchewan (alzheimer.ca/Saskatchewan), Saskatchewan Abilities Council (abilitiescouncil.sk.ca), and The Lighthouse Supported Living (lighthousesaskatoon.org).

To share memories and condolences, visit www.parkfuneral.ca “Obituaries-Guestbook.” Arrangements are entrusted to Derryl Hildebrandt, Park Funeral Home (306-244-2103).

Elbow, featured

Sun sets on a tragic summer on Lake Diefenbaker

By Joel van der Veen

ELBOW — Peace pervades Lake Diefenbaker on a late September evening.

Few are out on the water, though a sharp eye can spot the odd boat far in the distance.

A lone paddleboarder makes his way across the horizon. From this vantage point, he is just a silhouette on the brilliant light painting that fills the sky — wispy, orange-tinted clouds against a pale blue backdrop.

The lake is calm and serene, almost deceptively so.

A sudden storm can catch boaters by surprise, and sometimes with fatal consequences.

The sun has set on another summer on Lake Diefenbaker — the deadliest one in recent memory.

Between late July and early September, four people drowned on the lake in three separate incidents.

Of those people, two lived in Loreburn and one was a Saskatoon resident. The fourth was an adult male whose place of residence was not made public.

Only one of the deceased — Ken Houben, 61, of Loreburn — was identified publicly.

After years without a drowning on the lake, local officials say this year’s death toll took them and other residents by surprise.

“We’ve never experienced a summer like this,” said Elbow mayor Rob Hundeby, a lifelong resident of the village. “Obviously, the (village) grieves with them . . . It’s a devastating loss.”

Cpl. Doug Gardiner, commanding officer for the Elbow RCMP detachment, acknowledged that the year had been “extremely unusual.”

Gardiner said he has worked in the region for five-and-a-half years. During that time, he said, there had been no drownings reported on the lake until this summer.

The corporal said he could not comment on the individual incidents as they remained under investigation.

Continue reading Sun sets on a tragic summer on Lake Diefenbaker →

Davidson

Staffing increase at health centre made permanent

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — Increased staffing levels at the Davidson Health Centre are here to stay.

Three new positions added last year on a temporary basis have been made permanent, management confirmed to the Leader recently.

Gayle Riendeau, acting president and CEO of Heartland Health Region, said that the trial period for those positions was extended in the summer.

Ultimately, she added, “we came to the conclusion that the enhancements we had made were meeting the needs at the site.”

The “staffing enhancements” were among the measures introduced by the health region last year with the goal of improving the centre’s efficiency, safety and quality of care.

The three additions included a licensed practical nurse (LPN) working on the night shift — 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

The region also created an assistant head nurse position, working three eight-hour shifts per week, or a total of 24 hours each week.

Finally, a combined lab/X-ray technician joined the staff for eight hours per week.

The three positions were announced in October of 2016, when they were filled on a temporary basis.

In the months that followed, the region continued to hold regular meetings between staff and management to discuss and address concerns.

“We’ve found it to be beneficial . . . in helping to resolve issues,” Riendeau said, adding that the meetings would continue, as would the strive to keep improving service and outcomes at the facility. “You’re never done making quality improvements.”

This past August, management again met with staff and the union local representative to inform them that the positions would be made permanent.

Riendeau said the positions were reposted with the new terms and it was her understanding as of mid-September that “they’ve all been filled.”

Local nurses went public with their concerns over staffing levels at the centre in August 2016, after the region chose not to fill a vacant relief nursing position there.

In a visit to Davidson town council, several nurses reported that the situation at the centre had become unsafe, posing a risk to the safety and health of both patients and staff.

In the weeks that followed, several patients also spoke out, describing how service interruptions at the centre resulted in them being sent home or transferred to other facilities.

In September, local staff met with rural and remote health minister Greg Ottenbreit in Davidson. The three temporary positions were announced the following month. Continue reading Staffing increase at health centre made permanent →