With paint roller at the ready, Don Bessey of Roughcut Enterprises was busy working in the hall painting. Roughcut Enterprises also installed the ceiling grid for acoustic tiles.
BLADWORTH—Works is progressing on renovations to the Bladworth Hall.
Community volunteers and local contractors have been hard at work fixing up the interior and exterior of the community hall.
Most recently, Groute Construction installed new soffit and fascia and Edwards Cabinet Works put in a new door and new windows.
On the inside, Roughcut Enterprises was busy painting the interior walls and installing a ceiling grid for acoustic ceiling tiles.
Diakow Plumbing and Heating will be replacing the furnace, as well.
The Bladworth hall committee reports that donations received to date have covered all expenses associated with the interior work. If work proceeds as well as it has, they hope the inside will be done by April 14 for the Bladworth Elks Steak Fry.
Hunter Wall goes for two points, beating two Rocanville players.
DAVIDSON—The Davidson Raiders capped off a successful season with an appearance at the 2018 Provincial High School Basketball Championships in Prince Albert March 23 and 24.
The Raiders played the Middle Lake Three Lakes School Avengers in the semi-final game on Friday, March 23. The score was close at the half, with the Avengers leading 40-31. The Middle Lake team pulled away in the second half of the game as the Raiders struggled with making their baskets. The Avengers won the game 81-69 to advance to the gold medal game against Lake Lenore. Mark Rettger led the Raiders in the semi-final with 37 points.
Davidson played Rocanville for bronze Saturday morning. The score was close after the first quarter, but was 53-19 at the half in favour of Rocanville. The Raiders rallied to try and close the gap. The final score was 88-59 for Rocanville. Middle Lake defeated Lake Lenore 75-53 to win the gold.
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The Kenaston Kodiaks won silver in the 1A girls division at the 2018 Provincial High School Basketball Championships (Hoopla) in Prince Albert on March 24.
The Kodiaks beat the St. Brieux Crusaders in the Friday, March 23 semi-final game.
Rachael Matovich led the Kodiaks with 19 points in the come-from-behind win. Kenaston was trailing by a score of 14-20 at the half, but came back in the second half, outscoring the Crusaders by 10 points in the half to clinch a spot in the gold medal game, winning by a score of 44-40.
The Kodiaks met Middle Lake’s Three Lakes School Avengers in the Saturday, March 25 final game.
For much of the game, the score was close with Kenaston leading for most of it.
Kenaston had an 11-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 28-23 at the half.
The score was tied 35-35 at the start of the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth, Kenaston’s Eve Matovich was injured by a Middle Lake player and had to spend the remainder of the game on the Kodiaks’ bench.
This seemed to be a momentum changer in the game as Middle Lake took advantage of Eve’s absence on the court to make a push and win the game by a score of 60-43.
Again, Rachael Matovich was the leading scorer for the Kodiaks with 15 points.
The two schools have a rivalry at Hoopla these past five years Kenaston won gold in 2017 and Middle Lake won silver. Middle Lake won the championship in 2016, 2015 and 2014 with Kenaston winning silver in 2015 and 2014. Kenaston won gold in 2013 with Middle Lake winning silver.
In the bronze medal game, St. Brieux defeated the Gladmar Falcons 55-42
It’s farrowing time at Cobblestone Farm. Joanna Shepherd offers Pickle, a purebred Berkshire pig, offers Pickle something to eat as her four, three-week-old piglets follow her around.
By Tara de Ryk
DAVIDSON—Of all the pigs roaming the land at Cobblestone Farm, Joanna Shepherd admits to having a favourite.
A purebred Berkshire sow named Pickle is closest to her heart.
“She’s just a really good mom,” Joanna says as the object of her affection tends to her three-week-old piglets. They are asleep on a bed of straw, soaking up the sun on the first day spring.
The pigs have free-range at Cobblestone Farm, although during farrowing season, as it is now, the sows and their piglets’ room to roam is somewhat curtailed to fenced-in corrals in the farmyard so Joanna can keep an eye on things.
Most of the sows and the registered Berkshire pigs have names. Joanna points to one sow. “She’s Bonnie—on a good day.” Joanna says, adding, “She’s not super duper smart.”
They have Gertie, a registered Berkshire who had that name when the Shepherds acquired her. Another one is called Punky because it came with three rings in her nose. Somewhere on the farm a sow named Pitter Patter is wandering around. Joanna says she named her that because when she was born, it was very cold outside and her mother laid on her so Joanna took the piglet off her and bottle fed her in the house. She called her Pitter Patter for the sound the tiny piglet’s hooves made while wondering around the house.
And then there’s Pancake, thus named a couple of years ago after she was found laying under a hay bale that had fallen on her.
Joanna figures she was under the bale for two days until they realized what had happened.
“Pigs have a will to live. They’re a lot better than sheep. Sheep have a will to die,” she says.
She was raised on a family sheep and cattle farm in England, so she has a lifetime of experience on which to base this opinion.
Pancake is due to farrow soon. Joanna checks to see if her milk has come in. It’s not there yet, so Joanna won’t be straying too far from Cobblestone Farm.
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A train of loaded railcars stretches out along the siding at Cargill’s grain terminal at Davidson. One hundred grain cars arrived the evening of Saturday, March 17. They were loaded Sunday and shipped out Tuesday.
By Tara de Ryk
DAVIDSON—It’s a hurry up and wait situation when it comes to moving grain this winter.
As soon as grain railcars arrive at local grain handing terminals, they’re quickly filled, freeing up space in the terminal so farmers can haul in more grain.
One hundred railcars arrived at the Cargill grain terminal in Davidson the evening of Saturday, March 17.
Facility manager Mike Hoehn said when the cars arrived, they brought in a crew Sunday to load them. The five workers started at 6 a.m. and were finished loading 17 cars of durum and 83 cars of canola by 4:30 p.m., in time to return home for Sunday dinner.
Hoehn said this freed up more space in the terminal, with the 100 cars holding about one-third of the elevator’s capacity. A Canadian National Railways (CN) train moved the cars out of Davidson around mid-day Tuesday. Hoehn said they expected to receive another 100 cars on the weekend.
He expected a line of grain trucks at the terminal Tuesday morning.
“As soon as we make space, everybody wants to haul,” he said.
At Gardiner Dam Terminal (GDT) at Strongfield, which is on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) line, grain movement has been challenging, however, grain has been moving. The terminal hasn’t been sitting with empty bins this winter.
Last Week the terminal loaded a train with a string of 112 railcars that was about three weeks late, said Randy Haugen, marketing and logistics manager at GDT.
“We think it’s challenging, but knock on wood, it’s not doom and gloom,” he said of the situation in this area compared to other parts of Western Canada that haven’t been receiving trains.
He expected another train to arrive Monday or early this week and is hoping to have a train every week for the next month.
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The ringman keeps an eye out for bids a the Palmer Charolais bull sale.
By Tara de Ryk
BLADWORTH—Over 100 bulls were sold in a few hours at the Palmer Charolais with Nielson Land & Cattle Co. Bull Sale on March 12, culminating weeks of work and effort.
Buyers from near and far filled the bleachers set up in the shop at Palmer Charolais’ farm west of Bladworth. Others submitted their bids online or phoned them in.
It was a good turnout that created an exciting atmosphere as auctioneer Brent Carey talked up the bulls with colourful descriptions such as “Here’s a bull made for travel. He’s got a wheelbase. Wow!” and then rattled off the prices as the ring men kept track of the bids.
Carey even broke his gavel, when emphasizing the “sold” status of a two-year-old Charolais bull that goes by the name HVA Vermont.
This has become a yearly event and is the seventh time Palmer Charolais of Bladworth and Nielson Land & Cattle Co. of Craik have teamed up to sell their purebred bulls.
Helge and Candace By of By Livestock managed the sale for them.
Before the auction Leah Herback of Palmer Charolais thanked everyone for coming out and for supporting the sale.
“The guys have been working seven days a week to make this happen,” Leah said, acknowledging the efforts of family and friends who worked long hours to get ready for the sale.
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