DAVIDSON—Ideas continue to brew on how to best preserve Davidson’s iconic coffee pot, but action has yet to be taken.
The coffee pot is showing its age.
The two painted murals that display images of community hospitality and local history on the coffee pot are faded. The mural on the east side depicting a community in motion is particularly faded with the red paint that once coloured the transport truck and Canada flag worn away.
Given the fact it has stood by the highway for 18 years, exposed to the hot summer sun and all manner of storms from wind, hail, rain to winter blizzards, “It’s actually fared very well,” said Austin Eade who engineered the coffee pot.
The 5,000 pound, 24 feet high steel pot was built in 1996 at Harvest Services in Craik.
Eade said the rusting of the metal is due to the paint having worn off and if the paint had lasted longer, the pot wouldn’t have rusted.
“It’s like any metal product,” he said. “It will deteriorate if it isn’t weatherproofed soon.”
Restoring the coffee pot continues to be a topic of discussion around Davidson town council’s table.
At its meeting in September, town council discussed some options.
Ideally, any restoration would preserve the painted murals that are symbols of Davidson’s history, rural hospitality and its motto of a “community in motion”.
Artist Kelly Thorson, who painted the murals 18 years ago, had previously suggested having vinyl panels of the murals made and installing them on the pot.
Mayor Clayton Schneider said he looked into the costs of having vinyl wraps made of the murals. These would be similar to vehicle wraps like the ones used on STC buses, he explained.
Cost of the wraps is about $4,500 plus installation costs of about $5,000. Schneider said the wraps are not a permanent solution because they last four or five years.
At $9,500 the wrap option was deemed too expensive for something that was good for only a few years.
“As far as that goes, we’ll try and figure something else out,” he said.

Health officials in Saskatchewan, Thursday, have confirmed 11 new cases of Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in the province, bringing the total number of cases in Saskatchewan this year to 13.
The first two were confirmed in August with another 11 in September. The cases are isolated and not clustered in one particular area.
Last Wednesday Heartland Health Region issued a release making people aware that Enterovirus D68 is beginning to circulate in Canada. Enterovirus D68 is a respiratory illness that is uncommon in North America. In Saskatchewan occasional infections were reported in previous years, mostly in the summer and early fall.
Symptoms of Enterovirus are usually similar to symptoms of the common cold.
The virus has caused some concern in some American states where cases have been severe enough to warrant hospital admission and more intensive care.
Heartland Health states that as of September 2014, many children have become ill and 84 people in six states have been confirmed to have respiratory illness caused by EV-D68.
According the Heartland Health news release, “children and teenagers appear to be at increased risk of infection from EV-D68. It is thought they may lack protection from previous exposures to the virus. The virus can infect adults. Children with asthma seem to have a higher risk for severe respiratory illness.”
Many people will not have any symptoms while others will have common cold symptoms such as sniffles, nasal congestion and cough with or without general malaise.
Heartland Health suggest that people may prevent respiratory illness by:
• avoiding close contact with sick people and people should stay home if they or their child is sick;
• washing hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds;
• covering coughs and sneezes with tissues;
• avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands;
• avoiding kissing, hugging and sharing cups or eating utensils with people who are sick;
• disinfecting frequently touched surfaces such as toys and doorknobs, especially if someone is sick; and
• seeking medical attention is symptoms are severe.
Because people with asthma are at higher risk for respiratory illness, it is advised they take medicine regularly and maintain control of their illness during this time.