The Kenaston Super Draft can be listed as one causality of the NHL owner’s lockout of its players this year.
Don George, chairman of the Super Draft, said they will not be operating a regular season draft this year and a playoff draft is currently up in the air as to whether one will be conducted. He said this is due to the length of time it would take to get a gaming license from the province and to get the forms made up of the players available to be picked as well as the poor response he expects to get from hockey fans turned off by the latest labour disagreement.
“It definitely affects our community,” said George of not having a draft, noting last year’s regular season draft raised $20,000 for community projects and employed a number of local people to implement it. “We have had a full-time employee who is out of a job plus all the part-time people who work during the draft and stuff. There is no employment for them either.”
George said it takes around six weeks to get the draft up and running putting them into the beginning of March before players could be selected, which would be about 20 games into the shortened 48-game 2013 season scheduled to begin this weekend. He said the season will also probably be extended into late April making the start of the playoffs occurring in early May when people have things on their mind other than hockey, if that is on their mind at all this year.
To read more please see the Jan. 14 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Distracted drivers prove deadly
Distracted driving has taken over from impaired driving as the leading cause of fatalities on Saskatchewan highways with 57 reported deaths in RCMP jurisdictions up till Dec. 17, 2012, but drinking and driving is still regarded as the main problem.
“We would still consider impaired driving as the number one single contributing factor to fatal collisions only because it is one single factor,” said Rebecca Schulz, media relations manager at SGI. “When we talk about distracted driving we are talking about a number of different things and that includes cell phone use, texting while driving, eating, grooming, music and also just driver inattention.”
RCMP across the province recorded 162 deaths on Saskatchewan highways in 2012, up from the previous record of 151 fatalities in 2001. Distracted driving led the way as the biggest cause of fatal collisions, with alcohol-related deaths coming in second at 54 cases and speeding rounding out the top three with 37 instances.
“We are seeing an increase in the distracted driving count and that’s a concern for us,” said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Dawson. “There has been stepped up enforcement and we’ve been out and we’re trying to bring attention to the issue as well.”
Dawson said cellphone use while driving is against the law in this province and there will be a fine of $280 handed out if caught by police while operating one, but with other factors related to distracted driving it is up to the discretion of the officer whether to issue a fine or not.
“It is any behaviour that takes away from the task at hand of driving such as reading, watching movies and putting on makeup,” he said.
To read more please see the Jan. 14 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Blackstrap attracts developers’ proposals
The Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Dundurn is welcoming a move by three developers to make capital improvements to the recreation sites at Blackstrap Provincial Park.
“From our municipality’s perspective, our population is increasing with residential subdivisions and when people move into an area they like to have some leisure time and recreation is fairly important,” said Fred Wilson, Reeve of the RM of Dundurn. “With that facility right next door to our municipality we feel that the improvements there would greatly enhance the residential living in our municipality plus our neighbouring municipalities also.”
Wilson confirmed the three proposals that were submitted to the Saskatchewan Parks Service in December included one to rebuild the ski hill on Mount Blackstrap as well as add a year-round resort. The other two proposals involve leasing land in the park from the province in order to build cabins and concession stands.
“The process is a long way from the construction stage,” he said, noting the province must still look at these proposals first and then will tender out for more proposals later on in the year. “I don’t think there will be anything concrete done in the summer. From what I understand the tendering of proposals will take half the summer to get put in place. The way things are right now is we don’t expect anything will be happening in the near future other than just regular operations and upgrading of the maintenance.”
To read more please see the Jan. 14 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
McCreary curls at junior provincials
Davidson’s Luke McCreary may have been on the losing side in five straight matches at the Saskatchewan Junior Men’s Provincial Curling Championship held at the Weyburn Curling Club earlier this month, but he still had a “lot of fun” taking part.
“It was a really well-organized and well-run event,” said McCreary. “There were a lot of good quality teams there. We were real happy (with the way) that we played. We were within a couple key shots on four different games where it could have gone either way, so the 0-5 record didn’t really represent how we curled.”
McCreary, 18, played third for Team Allan Walter at the Championship held Jan. 3 to 7 in Weyburn. The team, which included skip Walter, second Brayden Miskolzie, lead Sheldon McIntyre and was coached by Brian Champion, finished last in the “A” pool in round robin play failing to make it to the playoffs.
He said there were two pools of six teams participating at the event with the top two teams from each pool moving on to playoff action after the five-game round robin.
“It was really good,” said McCreary, who threw the fifth and sixth rocks out of eight and held the broom when the skip was throwing. “It was the top 12 teams in the province, so it was really strong competition.”
They lost their first game at the event 7-5 to Team Cole Tenetuik Jan. 3. A day later, they would lose 9-2 to eventual champion Team Brady Scharback and 5-4 to Team Kris Keating. The next day would see them first lose a close one 9-8 to Team Travis Tokarz before dropping their final game 8-5 to Team Zachary Turner.
McCreary said their team, which plays out of the Sutherland Curling Club in Saskatoon, formed this past September and includes three members of their University of Saskatchewan team. He said this was his first junior provincials, but he did suit up as a substitute for the juvenile provincials last year.
The current engineering student at the U of S said he has been curling competitively since he was a Grade 7 student at Davidson School and curled for the school team throughout his studies there.
As for the rest of this season, McCreary said his university team is currently trying to make it to the University Westerns held in Edmonton in February while they look forward to another shot at provincials next January.
“It was a great experience. Three of us are still of age to do it again next year, so we’re hoping to stick with it.”
Miller, Thomas
Thomas Peter was born on May 7, 1929 in Aylesbury, Sask. and passed to a better place at the age of 83 on December 25, 2012 at the Regency Manor in Central Butte, Sask. Tom is survived by daughter Valda (Francis); son Don; daughter Carol (Roger); daughter Trudy (Troy); several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was predeceased by son Gordon.
A Funeral Mass was held on Monday, December 31, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Craik, Sask. followed by a gathering at Craik Community Legion Hall. All donations in memory of Tom may be made to Iver Main Place Care Home, Box 550 Central Butte, Sask., S0H 0T0.
Arrangements were in care of Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson.
EMIL WILLIAM BAHT
Emil passed away peacefully early on Tuesday, January 1, 2013 after having spent the previous day visiting with each of his children and other members of his family.
Emil was born February 8, 1925, at Imperial, Sask. As a young man, he worked at Clarkson’s Garage where he met his future bride Anne Clarkson, whom he married in 1949. While helping Anne to raise their family of seven, Emil farmed his parents’ land, worked at the rink, and owned the Etter’s Beach store. The work nearest his heart, though, was farming, from which he retired only last year.
Emil was proud of his family and looked forward to the family gatherings.
He really enjoyed the game of cribbage and, right up to a few hours before his passing, played each game with enthusiasm.
Emil was predeceased by his parents George-Emil and Louise; his wife Anne (1984); four brothers and two sisters. He is survived by his children Robert (Faye), David (Merlane), Jeannette Anderson (Garry), Murray (Louise), Garnet (Francine), Joanne Romich (Darwin), Micheal (Myrna); his brother William (Lucy); his brother-in-law Lynn Clarkson (Margaret-Anne); his sisters-in law, Joy Baht and Ethel Clarkson; fifteen grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Emil’s memory, may be made to Chip and Dale Homes Inc., (granddaughter Amanda Baht’s special needs home) 75 Kress Street, Regina, SK, S4N 5X8.