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Sports

Six-man football teams vie for top four spot as season starts

Action on the gridiron is set to hit a fevered pitch this Friday as all six senior boys high school football teams in 1A Conference Three begin their regular seasons with a goal of establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with this fall.

Neil Boutin, head coach of the Gull Lake Lions, said they are starting off the season with “moderate to high expectations” and hope to begin their quest for a top four position and subsequent playoff spot with a victory this Friday at the Lion’s Den over the Davidson Raiders. He said everyone on the Lions knows this is a tough league with three or four teams able to challenge for the top spot.

“It’s going to be entertaining and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Boutin, noting this is their first year back in Conference Three after competing in Conference Two last season.

Boutin said they have lost a few starters on defence from last year’s squad, so they’ll be building it by committee. He said the main thing that should keep them competitive this year is their offence.

“My offence isn’t much changed from last year and we could put points on the board,” he said. “We’re in the process of revamping our offence to form a balanced attack. We have a lot of guys who can bring different things to the table.”

Davidson Raiders head coach Jason Low said their starting core of Grade 12 students should give them their “best chance” of having a successful season in 2013 since the Raiders first took the field two years ago. He said the team has had some “really good” practices leading up to their game against the Lions this week thanks to the expertise of new Raiders coach Blair Frederickson.

“He has been a great addition out there helping us run practices and giving us some tips and pointers from what he’s seen and done (with) other teams,” said Low. “We’ve had a real renewed energy to some of our practices and to the mental portion of the team.”

Low said they could run into some trouble if they have a few injuries during the season because of the low number of players on the team, but their dual air/ground offence is going to fit in well with the players they have.

“We’ve got big (and) strong bodies that can run and catch the ball,” he said. “We have really high hopes for our offence this year.”

To read more please see the Sept. 9 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Council looks into sewer repair

Members of town council expressed a desire to develop a long-term infrastructure plan dealing with sewer pipe restoration at their monthly meeting Aug. 20.

As discussed at the meeting, council is considering entering into a long-term contract with Acme Sewer Service out of Regina to install fiberglass liners in problem sewer pipes in town. Acme Sewer Service has done similar work in Saskatoon, Yorkton, North Battleford and many other cities and towns throughout Saskatchewan.

It would cost taxpayers $49,400 to put in a liner along a whole block. This amount covers everything involved in the job including inspecting the pipe with a camera, installing the liner and pre- and post-video of the job.

The first block that would be worked on in town is a section of Hamilton Street. A sewer pipe along Hamilton Street is in need of repair due to breaks in the pipe and tree roots digging into it.

Council stated at the meeting the advantage of going with this type of work is there would be no need to rip up the street when putting in these liners. The liners are shot into the pipe by an air compressor and harden and contour to the shape of the pipe once they are in.

Installing a liner takes around 10 to 12 hours and comes with a two-year warranty. The expected life expectancy of a liner is 50 years.

There is nothing in the budget to begin the work on Hamilton Street this year, but council stated it could be done in the next budget year. Council intends to hold a planning meeting in November to come up with a long-term infrastructure plan to restore the remaining problem sewer pipes in town.

To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Craik

Craik to hold Old Town Hall centennial

The old town hall bell in Craik is going to ring again Sept. 7 when the community joins together to celebrate the 100th birthday of the historic building.

Helen Lee, volunteer with Craik’s Old Town Hall 100th Birthday Celebration, said residents of town over 90 years old have been invited to ring the now little-used bell as a way to begin the centennial celebration. She said this opening ceremony for the festival would usher in a day of revellery for the community as they gather together to commemorate the town’s past while having a bit of old-fashioned fun.

“This gives everybody a chance to have a look at the history of what was going on around here and having the youth involved with the elders, so we have a chance to learn about it and create our own history,” said Lee.

After the opening ceremony, festival goers will be invited to an old-fashioned tea at the Community Legion Hall before the Craik Lions Club put on a bingo. During the afternoon there are also plans for tours of the old town hall, kid’s activities, a car show along Main Street and entertainment on the upper floors of the building.

“We’ve got some people lined up to do about 20-minute sets upstairs,” she said. “I’ve got about 80 minutes worth of people right now, but I’m still looking for some daytime performers that could do 20-minute sets.”

Lee said the entertainment the group has organized for the day is musical, but they are open to anything if someone has other ideas in mind. She said in addition to the concert people would be invited to visit the Craik Oral History room at the town hall during the day and the Craik Museum would be open for tours.

The day is going to be capped off with a community barbecue supper followed by a talent show at the Legion Hall. Revellers have also been invited to dress up in outfits covering the period of time from when the town hall first opened to the present day.

“We’re asking people to dress up in their favourite decade,” said Lee. “It’s anywhere from 1913 to 2013, so if you just come in your regular clothes then you’re dressing in the 2010s. We want to make it easy.”

Lee said it has taken the group a few months to organize the festivities and she is very excited for the day to begin. She said the help by various volunteers in the community to get everything ready is really appreciated and hopes the day brings back fond memories to everyone who joins in the fun.

To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Tree removal part of long-term sidewalk plan

As part of a wider infrastructure plan, council has started looking into which trees in town are causing problems with a goal of replacing them with other varieties that wouldn’t wreck Davidson’s sidewalks.

Tyler Alexander, a Town of Davidson councillor, said he hates to see any of their trees in town go down, but the ones that are causing safety issues for town residents or causing damage to town property need to be addressed.

“We’re working on getting a long-term sidewalk plan…we’re having a hard time (getting) people to do sidewalks for us, but we’re looking at a long-term sidewalk plan,” said Alexander. “The two things can definitely co-exist, working on (tree replacement) and repairing the sidewalks.”

Alexander said town foreman Rod German went around town this past spring with a map in hand to pinpoint problem sidewalks. He said one of the major problems for town council in getting sidewalks repaired is the expense involved.

“We didn’t have a whole lot of money for it this year,” he said. “The money we are able to budget as of right now would do us maybe a block a year, so we’ve had a couple things like the roof in the town hall needs fixing and there is some stuff at the rink that needed repair too. Money was a little tight this year, (but) we do have some set aside for sidewalks.”

Bob Gust said the sidewalk outside his home on Grant Street has become a problem because a large poplar planted on town property in front of his home has raised a section of the concrete about four inches. He said some large branches from the tree that hung over his roof were recently removed, but thinks the whole tree should go.

“It’s broke,” Gust said about the sidewalk. People “could trip quite easily. The sidewalk needs improving.”

To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Lukiwski to seek Conservative candidacy in Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan riding

The two Members of Parliament who serve this area have decided to run again in the 2015 federal election, but the constituencies they seek to represent have changed dramatically.

Late last month Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre MP Tom Lukiwski announced his intention to seek the Conservative candidacy in the new federal Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency, while Blackstrap MP Lynne Yelich said she plans to run in the new riding of Saskatoon-Grasswood.

“I think it’s important for MPs to actually live in the riding that they wish to represent (and) because of the boundary changes I am now a resident of Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan,” said Lukiwski, a long-time resident of Regina Beach. “To me it was a fairly simple decision that if I wanted to continue in public life that would be the riding in which I would need to represent.”

The new Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency combines rural areas of the existing ridings of Blackstrap, Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre and Palliser and includes the City of Moose Jaw.

Lukiwski said the boundaries for all rural ridings across Saskatchewan are now far larger than previously drawn due to the Saskatchewan federal electoral boundaries commission’s decision to create five urban only ridings including three in Saskatoon and two in Regina. He said it would be a challenge for him to represent such a large area in Parliament, but plans on working hard to introduce himself to all his future constituents and make sure they know he is available when they need him.

“In Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan, it’s a very large riding now,” he said. “It stems all the way from almost the city limits of Saskatoon to the city limits of Regina on a north-south basis and just west of Moose Jaw to just east of Lanigan in a east-west situation, so it is very very large.

“I think the requirement would be to have at least two constituency offices to try and accommodate the needs of the constituents on a timely basis (and) on a regular basis, but it is something that I am prepared for and certainly something that I would be willing to do in terms of travel.”

Yelich said she has decided to seek the Conservative candidacy in the new Saskatoon-Grasswood constituency because it includes her current home in the Stonebridge area of Saskatoon, but noted it is going to be difficult for her to stop serving some of the residents of her current Blackstrap riding including those from her hometown of Kenaston.

To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

featured

Elbow mayor resigns, voters head to polls in fall

Voters in Elbow will be heading to the polls in October to elect a new mayor following the resignation of William Nike late last month.

According to the minutes at the July 25 special meeting of Elbow Village council the last act Nike undertook as mayor before resigning was outlining the abusive and aggressive behaviour towards village staff members that took place during the week of July 15 to 19. After handing in his resignation and leaving council chambers shortly afterwards, the first decision Elbow council passed was a policy that aggressive and abusive behaviour would not be tolerated towards village staff and a notice of this policy would be placed in the village office, shop and on the village website.

Colleen Hoppenreys, acting mayor of Elbow, said it is with great regret that council had to accept Nike’s resignation. She said Nike’s time on village council first as a councillor and then as mayor was never connected with individual gain.

“He was there for the village and wanted the best for the village,” said Hoppenreys. “He was always trying to improve things here.”

Hoppenreys could not comment on what policy changes made by council that prompted the threats, but said no other members of council were subject to the abusive behaviour exhibited by some ratepayers.

“I think if you try to make changes, they’re just not happy about some of the changes,” she said. “I think that is what really brought this on. I think it’s more just verbal abuse and changing our policies that is not acceptable here.”

Yvonne Jess, chief administrative officer of Elbow, said the threatening behaviour by ratepayers towards Nike, his wife and village staff members occurred in the office, the village shop and in the evening when the mayor was out in public. She said the RCMP is currently collecting statements from people in the village about the matter and could not comment further on what happened.

To read more please see the Aug. 26 print edition of The Davidson Leader.