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Davidson

Playschool kids newest prairie artists

Prairie dogs and burrowing owls have become the muse of young artists at the Davidson Playschool.

Through a recently awarded $4,180 Creative Partnerships Exploration grant, the playschool has brought in Derek Pho, a Saskatoon visual artist, to help the two-, three- and four-year-old students create their own prairie dogs and burrowing owls through papier maché artworks.

Pho made his first visit to the school last Thursday for a session with the kids. During the morning art class with the pre-three students, Pho directed them into filling brown paper bags with other paper to make it into a full rectangular object. The students were then helped to wrap the piece in masking tape.

Pho said he and playschool volunteer Terra Fazakas along with teachers Angela Fahlman and Trudi Smith would then work with the kids to create a prairie dog by covering it with papier maché on his next visit to the pre-three class April 30.

“Being younger students, we hope to help them with the tasks to accomplish the project,” said Pho.

The toddler group will enjoy two visits from Pho for their artwork, while the three-year-olds will have three visits from the artist in making the prairie dogs and the four-year-olds will have five visits in making burrowing owls.

“This will be group art and not just individual,” he said, noting the completed pieces will be displayed as a whole and permanent structure to the public by June. “We’ll just see how it forms together. All the pieces will be involved in some way.”

The Creative Partnership Exploration grant is given out to explore how visual arts can enhance environmental awareness within the classroom, which makes the choice of the prairie dog and the burrowing owl perfect for the project, said Pho.

“The prairie dog is a local animal to Saskatchewan and the burrowing owl is an endangered animal,” he said. “Also we’ll be using as many recycled resources as possible with the project because we’re interested in a sustainable environment.”

In addition to the art classes, the playschool will welcome the burrowing owl centre to the classroom May 9 who will give the students a lesson in the life of the species as well as bring a few live birds into the classroom for the students to see.

Davidson

Over 900 people take in Saskatchewan business and talent at trade show

Over 900 people attended the Davidson Trade and Hobby Show April 12 and 13 at the Davidson Communiplex to take in the 37 exhibits showcasing Saskatchewan business and talent.

Jim McCubbing, who manned the Davidson Golf Course booth with Tim Bruch, said they set up shop at the show to sell memberships and promote the nine-hole course with all grass greens. He said the golf course executive sets up a booth at every Davidson Trade and Hobby Show because it is easier to sign up members here in town than back at the clubhouse.

“There are lots of members who know we’re at the Trade and Hobby Show, so they come and sign up (for this year’s membership) here,” said McCubbing. “It’s easier than tracking people down if they know they can do it here.”

It wasn’t just the lure of summer golf that got people to head down to the show. There were a variety of exhibits set up in the hockey rink including one promoting the Davidson Library, another booth detailing the benefits of heading to the town’s New You Weight Loss Clinic on Washington Avenue and a third showcasing the advantages of bringing vehicles in for service at the NAPA Auto Parts garage on Railway Street.

The InSight Vision Care optician team of Laura Kjersem and Cristy Szymesko gave away free glasses cleaner bottles at their booth along with holding a draw for an InSight Vision Care gift basket.

Kjersem said this was their first time at the Trade and Hobby Show considering they only set up shop at the Davidson Family Practice last September, but she believes their exhibit at the show was a great success because it enabled them to promote their business as they get set to move into their new digs at the former CTRC building.

“This is a good event to come out to because there is a lot of foot traffic,” said Kjersem. “This lets everyone know that we are offering this service in Davidson and that we sell glasses and have an optometrist come out.”

To read more please see the April 22 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Large crowds entertained by dance showcase and recital

Dancers from Davidson, Craik and Loreburn hit the stage in front of a huge audience of siblings, parents and grandparents April 12 and 13 at Davidson School for the dance showcase and spring recital.

Eighty-one of the 83 dancers who train with the Davidson Optimist Dance Club (DODC) took to the stage over the two days. The dance showcase brought out solo, duet and trio dances on the Saturday night for the audience, while group dances occurred the next afternoon during the spring recital.

Vonné Johnson, president of DODC, said the club decided to split up the performances this year as a way to trim the time of the year-end dance presentation. She said by all accounts that she heard, the split was well received and the plan is to continue with the Saturday night and Sunday afternoon productions in future years.

“We have 30 group numbers and 19 private lesson numbers and in the past we did all of them together, but that gets kind of long for some people,” said Johnson. “For those of us who enjoy dance and are involved with a lot of it, it’s not that long, but if its your daughter and it’s her first year and she’s got only one number, then it gets a little long”

The showcase and recital brought the dance season to a close for the club, with the next event planned for late August. The club will be hosting their fourth annual Back to School Dance Camp Aug. 24 and 25.

Johnson said the camp would feature instruction from prominent dancers including Saskatoon’s Braiden Stevenson, who previously starred on So You Think You Can Dance Canada.

“The Back to School Dance Camp is usually the week before school starts and it’s used to get the kids back into it,” she said. ” We have guest instructors, so it’ll be a weekend of something special.”

featured

RMs prepared for spring runoff

The expected above normal spring runoff has raised flooding concerns for reeves of rural municipalities in this area, but they believe their preparations in anticipation of the potential for high runoff will mitigate any disastrous consequences.

“We’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen, but I think we’ve got most of our culverts cleaned out that we can clean out,” said Fred Wilson, Reeve of the RM of Dundurn. “There is not much else we can do. That storm we had two weeks ago really moved the snow pattern around, so we’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen. It put some pretty extreme snowdrifts in some places, but it’s going to take a while for that to melt down. That actually did reduce our flood problems a little bit.”

Wilson said the provincial Water Security Agency (WSA) informed them that they were looking at a “fairly extensive flood” a few weeks ago, but the slow melt that has occurred through April has reduced that concern. He said the bad flood of 2006 also provided the RM with increased measures of reducing flood waters from washing out roads in the municipality.

“We have a fairly extensive watershed that starts northwest of Bladworth and all that water runs up through Dundurn in the springtime,” he said. “It crosses Highway 15 and west of Hanley.”

The flood of 2006 went over Hwy 15 and took out some roads in the Rosedale municipality and backed up an area northwest of Dundurn that normally fills up and drains out towards the river, said Wilson. He said they had some roads that were under water for about six weeks in 2006.

“We have lifted the roads that were flooded out that time another foot and a half, so if (this year’s) the same flood as 2006, we figure we can still handle it.”

The WSA released their April forecast this past week predicting an above normal runoff for the majority of the province with some areas expected to have the potential for a very high runoff and flooding. The rural municipalities of Craik and Big River, which is near the villages of Imperial and Etters Beach, are predicted to have above normal potential runoff this spring.

To read more please see the April 15 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Stamnes strikes them out in winter league ball

The lure of playing winter ball in front of professional scouts proved too much for one Loreburn native, so he packed up his bat and glove and headed to Palm Springs this past January and February for a reliever’s role with the British Columbia Bombers baseball team.

Brent Stamnes, 22, took to the mound seven times for the Bombers during their Jan. 19 to Feb. 9 season in the California Winter League (CWL) going 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA. In seven innings pitched, the 6’2″ 205 lb right-hander struck out six batters while allowing 10 walks and seven earned runs for the 6-12 Bombers.

“They called me one day at work and asked me to play baseball in Palm Springs in January,” said Stamnes, who earned the honour through his time playing with the Western Major Baseball League’s Saskatoon Yellow Jackets, a top collegiate team. “I couldn’t pass that up.”

Stamnes said the eight-team CWL is a minor league for free-agent players looking to gain attention from scouts for future contracts with independent teams or even minor league teams affiliated with big league clubs. He said this winter was his first time playing in the league and he was really pleased with the strong ability of the players who took to the field each day.

“There were a lot of guys in the league that have played independent or top-notch college ball or with a minor league affiliated team,” he said. “It was the top free agents looking for a job.”

Stamnes, who grew up playing ball in Loreburn and Davidson before moving on to play AAA baseball with the Moose Jaw Canucks as a midget player, said he originally played shortstop, but was moved to a pitcher’s role while suiting up with the Vancouver Island University Mariners.

“I figured out I had a good arm and I could throw, so I stuck with pitching after that,” he said, noting he utilizes four pitches including a curve, slider, a fastball that averages 88 m.p.h. and a changeup that sails over the plate 10 to 11 m.p.h. slower. “I try to set batters up to get them out with my high fastball, but my strongest pitch would be my curve.”

A tendon tear in his elbow forced Stamnes out with six days left in the regular season, but he said if given the chance he’d be back next year for another go at winter ball.

“Right now I’m doing (physiotherapy) to heal up my elbow, but I’m hoping to go for an open independent league tryout somewhere in May and to try and keep strong for next winter.”

Davidson

Davidson School students prepare to host Willow Awards

Davidson School students are busy setting up the lights, studying their lines, decorating the stage and rolling out the red carpet in anticipation for the 2013 SaskEnergy Willow Awards Gala that will be held at the school next Wednesday.

“The students have been busy for the last few months getting the activities completed,” said Debbie Jestin, Davidson School librarian and co-chair of the 2013 SaskEnergy Willow Awards Gala. “All the decorations are student work and the students are in charge of the program and they’re the ones who are going to be presenting it. The emcees are going to be students. The entertainers will be students and it all revolves around the 30 books (up for awards).”

The school is welcoming Saskatchewan Lieutenant-Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield, authors, dignitaries and guests from across the province to the Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice–Willow Awards (SYRCA) Gala held in the Davidson School gym April 24. The day will begin with writing workshops presented by Canadian authors for Kindergarten to Grade 9 students before moving on to the Gala that will feature student writing, art displays, singing, public speaking and acting during the awards program and finally end with a reception in the school library.

The SYRCA is a volunteer-run, non-profit charity that promotes reading among

Kindergarten to Grade 9 students by granting Willow Awards to the best Canadian and/or Saskatchewan book voted on by Saskatchewan school students in three designated categories. Ten 2012 books are nominated in each category with a Shining Willow Award presented to the top young readers’ book (Kindergarten to Grade 3), the Diamond Willow Award given out to the best upper elementary readers’ choice (grades 4 to 6) and a Snow Willow Award handed to the favourite young people’s book (grades 7 to 9).

“It’s a celebration of Canadian authors that write for children,” said Jestin. “Students all across Saskatchewan read these 10 books in each category and then vote on which one is their favourite, so it is actually the kids that are choosing the book that is going to win the award.”

To read more please see the April 15 print edition of The Davidson Leader.