DAVIDSON—Donors from Davidson and district did their part Oct. 1 at a Blood Donor Clinic to boost Canada’s blood supply.
Describing Canada’s blood inventory as critically low, on September 30 Canadian Blood Services appealed to all eligible donors to make a blood donation immediately. All blood donors were needed, in particular those with type O and A blood.
Canadian Blood Services Clinic in Davidson saw 106 people attend to donate blood with 87 units being collected. The turnout was better than organizers had expected, given the fact that many people in the area were still busy harvesting their crops.
This was up from the February clinic when 75 units were collected. There is room for improvement. The quota for the Davidson Clinic is 100 units of blood.
All posts by Tara de Ryk
Public gets first peek at Davidson’s new swimming pool
DAVIDSON—Last Tuesday the public got its first look at Davidson’s new swimming pool.
Drawings and plans for the $1.5 million pool project were unveiled at the first in a series of three open houses being held to inform people about the pool and collect people’s input.
Attendance at the Oct. 7 open house was poor with four people turning out.
By not attending the community missed a chance to see its new pool. In coming up with a design, the committee attempted to meet the needs of every potential user of the pool from toddlers to teens, adults, older people and people with disabilities.
“I think it’s exciting and hopefully we’ll get people to future meetings. We want people to voice concerns and suggestions,” Davidson swimming pool steering committee member Brenna Siroski said.
The pool plan is for an El-shaped pool that has a surface area of 3,821 square feet. Depth ranges from a zero depth beach entry to 12 feet in the deep end. Included in the beach entry area are $10,000 worth of water features that are sure to appeal to toddlers and young children. The beach entry area, which starts at zero and gradually reaches a depth of 3 feet, narrows where it meets with a rectangular shaped junior Olympic 5-lane pool.
The plans include two diving boards. One will be 1 metre above the water surface and the other diving board will be 3m above the water.
That 3m diving board adds to the cost of the project because the depth of the deep end must be 12 feet to make it safe, whereas the 1-m diving board is safe at 9 feet.
“That extra 3 feet adds about $25,000 to the cost of the pool,” Trevor Ouellette, Davidson recreation director, said.
It is a worthwhile expense if it attracts more users to the pool, particularly high school age swimmers.
Pool committee member Jessica Foster said diving boards topped the wish lists in surveys completed by teenaged respondents.
A beach entry was another desired feature, according to responses to surveys the committee sent out to the community at large.
For the complete story, please see the print edition of The Davidson Leader. A digital edition is available for $29 per year. Email davidsonleader@sasktel.net or phone 306-567-2047
Plan in works to fix Craik water
By Kevin Gilby
CRAIK – Town officials approved a fix-fee charge to determine the necessary actions required to resolve limitations in its water treatment plant. The plant has under-performed since its installation and the town has been under a boil water advisory since 2010.
The town had been in contact with Randy Schatz of Element Water Systems, a Regina-based company that specializes in water treatment systems.
During the last town council meeting, Oct. 7, members reviewed the results from interviewing his references from other communities. Results were very supportive of his experience and convinced the town to approve the $3,500 fee be awarded to produce a work plan to resolve the issues of the treatment system.
“We asked the three references and they were all very happy with his work, “ Mayor Rick Rogers said, adding, “One town in particular has the same plant as us, and the same problems as us, and he fixed it. So hopefully he can fix ours.”
Randy is expected to initiate his work within a week. His solution will be provided in about a month’s time.
New residential development coming to Dundurn
DUNDURN—Work is expected to start this month on the first-phase of a new 300-lot residential development in Dundurn.
Developers Ed Weening and Carman Dodman unveiled the plans for Sunshine Meadows at a meet-and-greet in Dundurn Sept. 30. Weening purchased 90 acres on the southeast edge of Dundurn a few years ago with the intent of creating a new development consisting of residential and mixed commercial.
Weening said the first phase of the development, which will see 102 residential lots varying in size from 50 feet and up, is scheduled to begin soon. The “solar friendly” subdivision will be serviced by City of Saskatoon water and the layout includes green spaces, walking paths and a water feature that will handle runoff water. Within the development 4.17 hectares has been designated for commercial use and another 6 acres has been deeded to the Town of Dundurn for future recreation facilities and new municipal offices.
Dodman, owner of DDD+ Construction, said the first part of construction is to build a berm around the area alongside Highway 11.
When complete, Sunshine Meadows has the potential to double the size of Dundurn and will be the town’s first residential development in more than 10 years.
Ruether
Gordon Henry Ruether
December 20, 1930 – August 26, 2014
Gordon Ruether, son of Margaret McIntosh and John Henry Ruether, passed away peacefully on Aug. 26 at the age of 83. Born in Penzance, SK, Gordon spent most of his life in Regina. He met the love of his life, Bev, in 1991 and from that day they were never apart. He worked for Sask Power for 35 years.
Gordon and Bev spent 12 years of his life going to Arizona and other places. He was an avid hunter, loved to fish and be outdoors.
Gordon will be truly missed by all who knew him. He was a kind, caring, and very loving person even through various health challenges.
He is predeceased by his brothers Harvey, Don and Harvey’s wife Vera. He is survived by his wife Bev, sister-in-law Eileen Ruether and family, many relatives and true friends.
A memorial service will be held at Delisle Community Chapel on October 18 at 12 p.m.
Combining efforts for communities
STRONGFIELD—A long, cold winter like last year’s, as unpleasant as it was, has its benefits.
It gave the folks at Gardiner Dam Terminal (GDT) in Strongfield time to envisage a new project that could help its customers and the communities it serves.
Last Monday marked the first harvest of GDT’s Crops for Communities, a concept GDT talked about over the winter and enacted in the spring, GDT Ag Services CEO Shawn Graham said, as combines donated to the cause made the rounds of a canola field just outside of Strongfield.
The purpose of Crops for Communities, Graham said, is to collect agronomic information on seed varieties to help customers make informed decisions about their seed purchases and to help communities within the area GDT serves.
GDT has rented an 160-acre field on the east side of Highway 19 at Strongfield. Graham said the location is ideal because its highly visible so that a sign recognizing all the individuals and companies supporting the project gets to be seen and the field is close to GDT’s facility.
Due to sloughs and standing water, 145 acres were seeded. The field was divided into 2-acre test plots on which 13 canola seed varieties were planted. Graham said GDT held a seed tour in July to look at crop emergence, flowering time and maturity. As the growing season progressed into harvest, Graham said GDT Ag Services has also collected information on swathing, yields and crop quality for the various plots. He said GDT will publish this information and make it available to its customers so it can help them on their farms.
The total net income from the canola crop will be divided equally among nine communities: Loreburn, Central Butte, Kenaston, Davidson, Outlook, Lucky Lake, Beechy, Dinsmore and Conquest to be used to support recreational facilities.