Local athletes will be among the thousands of Canadians competing at the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, B.C. later this week.
Saskatchewan is represented by 300 athletes, coaches, managers, technicians and participant assistants to the games, which showcases some of the best young athletes Canada has to offer.
Loreburn is sending two athletes to the games that go from Feb. 13 to March 1. Ian Abbot, 20, is on Team Sask’s 10-member badminton team and Jasey Book, 16, will be a goalie for Team Sask’s female hockey team. Book currently plays for the Swift Current Wildcats in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.
Chamberlain’s Carson Ackerman, 17, will be skipping Team Sask’s male curling team in the games. The team is coached by Carson’s dad Patrick and has been together for just over a year.
Carson is joined by Mitchell Dales of Melville, who is third; second is Kacey Rodland of Moose Jaw and Brett Behm, also of Moose Jaw, as lead. The rink won the Saskatchewan Winter Games last February, which qualified them for the Saskatchewan trials for the Canada Winter Games.
Patrick said the team started training in March 2014 and curled in about eight bonspiels in October and November to prepare for the trials, which were held in December in Regina. They also curl in Superleague in Moose Jaw. The Ackerman rink won the trials and the privilege to represent Saskatchewan at the Winter Games.
“They’re a good group of boys and they want to be there,” he says.
Their desire is important. Ackerman says it requires a big commitment from the teenage boys, whose weekends and some weeknights are spent at the curling rink.
He said CurlSask has developed a program geared to developing the province’s young curlers so that the province remains a force on the national and international curling scene.
CurlSask has assigned the Ackerman rink with a mentor coach to help them with skills or mental training. Travis Brown of Loreburn gives the team advice as needed.
“Travis is on my speed dial,” Patrick says.
Team Sask leaves for Prince George Thursday, has practice scheduled for Saturday and plays its first game against Quebec Sunday, Feb. 15.
Events will be streamed live on the Internet, so people should check the Canada Games website. Ackerman said the final, which is set for Friday, Feb. 20 will be televised on TSN.
All posts by Tara de Ryk
Margaret Elva Wright
January 10, 1926 – December 31, 2014
Margaret Elva Wright passed away peacefully in the presence of family at Bethany Care Centre in Calgary on December 31, 2014 at the age of 88 years.
Margaret is lovingly remembered by her devoted husband of 63 years, Al and their children Lloyd (Betty), Ann (Bill) and Linda (Paul). She was predeceased by her beautiful daughter Laura in 2004 and her parents Charles and Christine Kennedy and her brother Ted Kennedy. She was the proud grandmother of five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, who will all miss her dearly. Margaret will be forever loved by her sisters Mary and Jane, sister-in-law Celia, and many other wonderful relatives and close friends.
Margaret adored her family and friends who contributed to her living a full and happy life. Margaret was born in Craik, SK and attended nursing school in Regina where she graduated as a registered nurse in 1948. She married Al in June 1951 and they lived happily on a farm in Aylesbury, SK where they raised their four children. She continued to nurse for 27 years, becoming the Matron and then C.E.O. of Craik Community Hospital. “You are an amazing person Mom; such an inspiration to all who met you. We are so lucky to have had you in our lives and you will be truly missed.”
Relatives and friends were invited to a Celebration of Margaret’s Life held in the Chapel at Aspen Community, 1171 Bow Valley Lane NE, Calgary on Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 3:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to Craik and District Health Centre, 620 Mary Street, Craik, SK, S0G 0V0 or Chronic Pain Services, Alberta Health Services, 1820 Richmond Rd. SW, Calgary, AB, T2T 5C7.
Minister of Rural Health visits local health centres
By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK—Minister of Rural and Remote Health Greg Ottenbreit made an impromptu stop at the health centres in Davidson and Craik, Tuesday, Jan. 27.
“On our way through, we stopped in, and had an impromptu tour of the Craik facility, and ended up speaking with the doctor there, we got a little bit of a tour from his perspective,” Ottenbreit said. “I’ve had a few different invitations, many via email, to come out and look at the [Craik] facility.”
RM of Craik Reeve Hilton Spencer happened to be in the health centre at the time and was “very happy to see him there.”
After his stop in Craik, Ottenbreit then stopped in Davidson and touched base with Dr. Lang. He toured their facilities “so we can have a first hand perspective on what the facilities are like.”
Ottenbreit said, “They are both great little facilities serving the areas for a long time in a really good fashion. I was glad I looked at both so you can really see what their residents were telling us.”
During his visits with the physicians, he to listened to some of their concerns about the proposed three-physician group practice as well as possible concerns over contractual matters.
Subsequent to the visits, the doctors accepted an invitation to speak further about their concerns in the Health Ministry offices in Regina the following day. Ottenbreit said the dialogue was productive and believes that “it’s progressing fairly positively at this point.”
One of the issues Ottenbreit wanted to impress upon the doctors was the benefits of working in a group practice. In particular, he said based on experiences from other group environments, physicians find it beneficial to have someone contractually being able to support them for holidays, sick leaves, training, or any other need that may arise.
Ottenbreit said that Dr. Karam may have felt that the work on establishing a contract was being held up but he assured him that any delay was due to it being “such a moving target.” Furthermore, a draft contract was written on Jan. 23 and forwarded to Dr. Karam for his consideration.
According to Ottenbreit, the draft is a three party contract between the physician, the Five Hills Health Region (FHHR), and the Heartland Health Region (HHR). Under the contract, Dr. Karam would be providing his regular office hours in Craik Health Centre four days a week as well as providing some on-call coverage for emergency and acute care in the Davidson Health Centre.
Previously, FHHR was proposing Dr. Karam sign a contract with the HHR whereupon his services would be ‘hired’ back to the community of Craik. “Because of the division between regions,” Ottenbreit said, “Legally, it was hard to contract it like Five Hills initially wanted.”
To read more, please see the Feb. 2, 2015 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Cattle prices expected to remain strong
CRAIK—The barn at Riskan Hope Farm is looking better these days.
A fresh coat of paint now covers the weather worn wood siding and new asphalt shingles have replaced the original cedar shakes.
“It was getting in pretty rough shape,” says its owner Dave Luther. “With cattle prices up a bit, I decided I had to do something. It’s a landmark.”
Cattle prices are at record highs. Luther said he sold a bunch of cows in the spring to local producers and put some of the profits back into the old barn.
He wants it looking good for its 100th birthday in 2019.
Years of hard work are finally paying off for Canadian cattle producers like the Luthers.
A shortage of cattle in the U.S. due to drought and harsh winters and declining herd sizes in Canada have pushed up beef prices.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian beef and veal exports to the U.S. were up by 11 per cent in 2014 compared to 2013.
The published price of 700-800 pound feeder steers in Saskatchewan, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture, was $250.50 (per cwt) as of Jan. 23, compared to $163.10 a year ago.
Alberta Beef Producers predict beef supplies to tighten further this year due to strong North American and global demand.
It’s a welcome trend for an industry that has spent more than a decade recovering from the BSE crisis that began in May 2003.
Luther said back in 2003 a breeding cow was worth about $300 and “slaughter cows then were worth nothing. Farmers almost had to pay them to take them.”
As a result many farmers got out of raising livestock.
“I can count 10 guys without any problem around here who got out of them because of BSE and they’ll never get back into them,” Luther said.
With the demand high, butcher John Sperling said by summer he may have trouble sourcing beef to stock his local butcher shop JMR Meats in Davidson.
Much of the meat he sells is the product of local farms. He said the price of beef is up by a third over last year. In 2014 a side of beef cut and wrapped was selling for between $2.79 and $2,89 a pound. Now it’s retailing at $4/lb.
Dezotell wins Farmers bonspiel
DAVIDSON—Husband and wife team Marvin and Marla Dezotell found themselves on opposite sides of the house in the A Event final of last weekend’s 2015 Farmers Bonspiel.
Marvin’s rink of Dave Palmer, Greta Wedrick and Mike Schneider took on Marla’s rink of daughter Raylene Dezotell, sister Marcia Palmer and Laura Church.
Marvin’s rink got the better of Marla’s to finish first in the A Event and Marla taking second.
Ten rinks competed in the Farmers Bonspiel, which has been a winter tradition at Davidson’s Curling Club.
Local agricultural suppliers and businesses support the bonspiel by donating numerous prizes.
Results of the bonspiel are:
A Event: first, Marvin Dezotell rink; second, Marla Dezotell rink;
B Event: first, Graham Shearwood rink; second, Beth Booker rink;
C Event: first, Ken Schneider rink; second Dalton Woodman rink;
D Event: first, Rob Stone rink; second Ryan Shaw.
Public buildings targeted in Craik break-ins
By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK—The RCMP were kept busy in the middle of January dealing with a rash of break-ins in the town of Craik.
On, or about, the evening of Jan. 15, the Town Office, Palliser Library, and Oral History room were all broken into. The Craik Legion Hall was also illegally entered at a later date.
Town administrator Sarah Wells says that the break-in at the town office resulted in two office doors needing to be replaced but nothing was reported missing. She suspects that the office was likely the first target, and when that didn’t prove fruitful, other targets were sought.
Jo McAlpine, Palliser librarian, reported that the thief, or thieves, attempted to enter the library via the front glass door. Despite damaging the door frame, the thieves ended up gaining entry by forcing a window near the rear of the building open.
McAlpine said, “The Craik Library lost less than $20 in photocopy money but it will cost the town a lot more to fix the door and window that were damaged in the break-in. With a bank just down the block there is never more a few quarters in the library cash.”
According to McAlpine, the thieves also entered the Oral History room where approximately $5 in loose change was taken. No other items were reported missing.
Then, between Jan. 16 and 19, the Craik Legion Hall was broken into. Lions President Kati Exelby said, “We know this time-line because when the walking club was there Friday everything was in its place. The cleaner of the hall discovered that someone had broke in when she went to clean on Sunday.”
“There may have been a couple dollars in one of the drawers of the cabinet that they wrecked beyond repair. Luckily for us nothing else was damaged” Kati adds. “We cannot figure out how they got in, but unfortunately they did.”
The Craik RCMP initiated an investigation into the break-ins. It is unknown if the same individual or individuals are responsible for the break-ins.