featured, Sports

Kodiaks crowned provincial champs

The Kenaston Kodiaks senior girls basketball team are 1A provincial champions.

The girls won both their games at HOOPLA March 22 and 23, beating the Lake Lenore Lancers 61-60 in the first match held at St. Joseph High School in Saskatoon before taking home the gold with a decisive 51-38 win over the Middle Lake Three Lakes School Avengers at Evan Hardy Collegiate a day later. This is the first provincial title for the Kodiaks since 1999.

Gene Zdunich, head coach of the Kodiaks, said the girls played great in the final game against the Avengers and deserved the win, but they have to credit a few outstanding individual performances in the dying seconds of their game against the Lancers to get them to that gold medal game.

“It was a tense game right from start to finish,” said Zdunich about their 61-60 win over the Lancers. “It was real close. There were quite a few lead changes and we were four points down with about a minute left and (point guard) Eve Ulmer hit a three. Then somebody travelled on Lake Lenore and Eve took the ball to the basket and hit both of her foul shots with about 17 seconds left. They called a timeout and advanced the ball and (centre) Maria Matovich blocked a shot just on the edge of the key with time running out and we won by one.”

Kenaston’s only Grade 12 player, forward Shae-Lynn Evans, lead all Kodiaks’ scorers with 17 points against the Lancers. Against the Avengers, Maria stepped up with 20 points to lead all Kenaston scorers.

“We played pretty well against Middle Lake,” he said. “We controlled their players that we knew we needed to control and scored when we had to. We had the lead throughout. They took a run at us a couple of times, but they never got the lead.”

Zdunich said the team never had any expectations of being so successful this year, but their goal was to make it to HOOPLA and win at least one game. He said the season as a whole was “pretty successful” for the girls and even more especially so given the age and number of players on the senior club.

“It was an exciting season,” he said. “We didn’t play very much because we only have eight players, three of which are in Grade 8. We only played 23 games before playoffs just to try and keep our players fresh and avoid injuries and sickness from getting run down too much.”

The coach said he’s not predicting a dynasty starting up for the Kodiaks considering seven of those players will be back on the court next year, but he is hopeful for continued success.

Craik

Craik School drama students showcase “Night of the Prowler” at dessert theatre

Three months of hard work by Craik School drama students ended in a murder by the infamous prowler being thwarted in the school gym last Monday night.

Well, at least a fictional murder in the funny and entertaining 2013 Craik School Dessert Theatre play “Night of the Prowler.”

Janet Warkentin, co-director of the play, said the students involved in the school’s annual Dessert Theatre drama production put on a great performance in front of the over 100 people that crammed into the school gym to watch the play. She said it was especially hard to stage the play this year considering the winter weather conditions, but the students all pulled through and should be commended for their dedication to putting on a good show.

“They all worked really hard coming to practices and learning their lines,” said Warkentin. “With this year there was a lot of snow days, so we had less practices than usual, but we always seem to pull it off in the end.”

Whitney Ryan Garrity’s “Night of the Prowler” is a comedy-thriller that shines a spotlight on a group of scared family members and servants locked up in a mansion during a frightening thunderstorm while trying to decipher if someone amongst them is the murderous prowler that is stalking the people of Los Angeles.

The play opens with the extremely excitable maid Gertie (Megan Korchinski) reading a mystery novel before catching a glimpse of the prowler lurking outside. She lets out a scream and sets the play in motion. In rushes the stoic butler Fitch (Drayden Selinger) who finds a note that says the owner of the house, Burton Wingate (SkyAnn Stinson), will be murdered at midnight.

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

Obituary

obitPeddle, Murraycrop

Peddle
Murray Winston Peddle
May 20, 1943 – March 18, 2013
It is with great sadness and some relief that we announce the passing of Murray Winston Peddle on March 18, 2013.
Murray was the best friend and husband of Shirley and together they have three children Michelle, Kevin and Wanda. Murray was born on the family farm outside Cupar on May 20, 1943. He was the youngest child born to George and Ethel. He was a precious blessing to his parents and his brother John, who was 22 years old when his baby brother was born. As a child Murray was an excellent trumpet player and often played O’ Canada for the radio broadcasted hockey games in the area.
Murray and Shirley met in grade one at the Cupar School and they were together for 64 years at the time of his passing. They were married on July 28, 1962 and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last summer. They began their married life in Regina, where their daughter Michelle was born in April of 1963. Then in the next 16 months came a move to Radville and then Shaunavon where son Kevin was born in September of 1964. They followed this with a move to Melville, and finally in December of 1968 they moved to Craik where their daughter Wanda was born in January of 1972.
In making the move to Craik to become the General Manager of the Co-op, Murray, at age 26, became the youngest General Manager in Saskatchewan Federated Co-op history. During his time with the Co-op, he was a part of many building projects and expansions. The new grocery store and offices, the key lock at Girvin and storage additions to the lumberyard are just a few of these projects.
In 1980, Murray and Shirley built and started Peddles Place at the Craik Regional Park. It was here that Murray earned the nickname “the Candy man”. After eight years they gave the building to the park and it continues to provide candy, ice cream and food to the campers and swimmers.
Murray and Shirley opened the Prairie View Restaurant in 1988. People came in for Shirley’s good homemade cooking and in winter months a good game of crib with coffee. After the closing of the restaurant, Murray went to work at the Husky in Davidson. He also worked as caretaker of the Manor and as a bookkeeper for various community clients. He continued to work until illness forced his retirement in 2008.
Murray was a member of the Craik Curling Club for many years, the Golf Club, Town Council as well as a great announcer for many, many fastball games.
Murray was predeceased by his father George on April 23, 1978; his brother John on July 29, 1978; his mother Ethel on April 24, 1979 and five infant siblings.
Shirley will greatly miss her “Mur”, as will his children Michelle and husband Henry, and their children Sarah and husband Devan, Kane, Joseph and wife Sarah, and David; Kevin and wife Joy, and their children Kandis and husband Grant, Jordan, and Jesse and fiancée Jessica; Wanda and husband Shawn, and their children Shaelyn, Brittney and Sydney; his great-grandchildren; brother and sisters-in-law; nieces and nephews and friends.
It is a great comfort to us to look around and see the footprint of Dad’s life in the people and places we see every day.

Obituary

pederson marjory

Pederson
Marjory Mae Pederson passed away on March 26, 2013 at the Central Butte Regency Manor. Marjory was born June 26, 1922, oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Ector of Elbow. She received an education at Wild Lily School and Elbow High School. Marjory had to forfeit further education to help her father on the family farm. On November 6, 1948 she married Sverre Pederson, second oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Peder Pederson. Sverre and Marjory farmed 18 miles east of Elbow. In 1978, they moved to Elbow and their son Melvin took over the family farm. Marjory was a member of Bonnie View United Church and later she joined the Elbow United Church and served on the Session. She was also a member of the Woodmere Sunshine Club, the Friendship Club and the Elbow UCW.
Marjory is survived by a daughter Mary Anne (Dennis) Depper and their family: Jeanette (Brent) and children Jayden, Kohl, Trey, and Ryder; Darrell (Sherri) and children Avery and Sam; Blaine (Wendy) and new arrival, Alyvia; son Melvin (Kilmeny) and their family: Ryan and his daughter Emily, and Allescia. She is predeceased by her husband Sverre, brother Archie, and sisters Robena Chernick, Wilma Peil, and Myrtle Laybourne.
The funeral service took place at the Elbow Civic Centre on Monday, April 1, 2013 at 2:00 pm. Ursula Wiig will officiate. Interment will take place at the Elbow Cemetery at a later date. Memorial donations to the Elbow United Church, Iver Main Place or Regency Manor in Central Butte would be appreciated. In living memory of Marjory, a memorial planting will be made by W. J. Jones & Son Funeral Home. Please sign the memorial register book at website: www.wjjonesandson.com (Obituaries).
Funeral director Gerry Mitchell, W.J. Jones & Son. Phone 693-4644.

Obituary

Sulz
Darrell Robert Sulz passed away March 21, 2013 at the age of 69 in Davidson, Saskatchewan. He is survived by his loving companion Lana Cavalcanti and his five children Bev Evans (Daryl), Colton and Kyle; Brenda Scott (Adam), Tyson and Justin; Barb Klenk (Darren), Walker; Brandy Sulz; and Bob Sulz. He is also survived by his sister Irene Jorgenson (Harvey) and his brother Allan Sulz. He was predeceased by his parents Bob and Gladys Sulz.
He will be dearly missed by all. A private memorial service was held March 27 in Davidson.

featured

Winter gives region another good wallop

A winter storm tore through Saskatchewan last Wednesday and Thursday making roads impossible to pass and stranding motorists either in their cars or, if they were smart enough not to venture out, where they last were before the snow started falling.

The RCMP media relations bureau released numerous no travel advisories starting last Wednesday evening and continuing all day and night Thursday cautioning people to stay where they are to keep themselves and their families safe.

The advisories stated roads were blocked by the winter storm in an area ranging from north of Saskatoon through Regina to the United States border and west to the Alberta border. They said the RCMP received 150 calls of vehicle incidents on the roads for crashes, vehicles stuck in the ditch or on the road and semi-trailers jackknifed.

The wind was blowing steadily at about 40 to 60-kilometres per hour with gusts at one point reaching 80 km/h.

The police said the storm reduced visibility to zero at points and long snowdrifts made roads impassable. They said nightfall on March 21 made travel extreme and the severity of the storm made it difficult for even emergency personnel to be on the roads.

Locally, Highway 44 was closed around noon Thursday and reopened mid-afternoon Friday.

Fred Wilson, Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Dundurn, said residents off sub-division roads in the RM were trapped in their homes for two or three days during the storm due to closed roads. He said the graders hit the roads in their attempt to clear the 300 kilometres of roads they are responsible for at dawn last Friday, but it was expected it would take a few days to get everything back in good shape.

“Some of our ratepayers have taken it upon themselves to open up a few spots on their own, which is gratefully accepted,” said Wilson. “We found it very hard, so our loader tractors had to go out with one of the graders because we don’t have a plow on the front of it, so just to break it open. The stuff is hard as a rock, but we’re getting by.”

Wilson said he’d like to thank their ratepayers for being so understanding with the time it is taking to get the roads back up and running, as the graders couldn’t go out during the storm and had to wait a few days to clear the roads.

“There was no point because every time you open (the road) up, it blew right behind the grader,” he said. “It just made it harder for people to get where they’re going so we didn’t even bother going out.”

To read more please see the March 25 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan