For five partygoers at the First Annual Winter Gala held Nov. 23 at the Davidson community centre, the night took on a bit of a strange air.

Edmonton hypnotist Sebastian Steel hypnotized Jacob Zdunich, Trudy Smith, Karen Reich, Kristin Sampson and Lois Dueck as part of an after-dinner performance at the new Davidson Swimming Pool fund-raising Gala. Steel brought 12 people up on stage and of the 12, five were hypnotized.

“The people who were hypnotized were great,” said new Davidson Swimming Pool fund committee member Jessie Foster. “They were funny. At one point he had them think their hands were stuck together. He had them believe they were on a hot beach, then he switched them and they were in the Arctic for a little while. During intermission the hypnotized people gave back massages to people for money. He had Jacob become pregnant and have a baby.

“There was lots of stuff, but it was all tasteful, really good and nothing over the line.”

Dueck, who like the other four was hypnotized for the whole three-hour show, said she remembers the whole time she was under.

“I would have to say I was conscious of what I was doing, but it was weird,” said Dueck. “I was aware, but I was still doing it. It’s tough to explain. It wasn’t like I was unconscious or anything like that, not at all. It was just a feeling like ‘OK this is what I’m supposed to do, so I’ll do it.’ It was fun.”

Dueck said she had been to see a hypnotist “a few years back,” but could not be put under at that time. She said being hypnotized this time around was quite a surprise to her and the length of time she was “asleep” came as an even bigger shock.

“When we came down off the stage and I came back and sat down at my table I could not believe that three hours had gone by,” she said. “I was like ‘what do you mean we were the whole show.’ I had no idea we were up there for three hours. It went super fast, so that was cool.”

Foster said about 190 people attended the Gala, which raised $18,000 for the construction of a new pool in Davidson. She said the committee was only hoping to raise $10,000 at the $50 a ticket Gala, so the party that extended into the wee hours of the morning proved to be a big success.

To read more please see the Dec. 3 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Winter has come to Davidson, which means shorter days, colder temperatures and a lot of the white stuff covering the streets, sidewalks and driveways.

The Town of Davidson is prepared for any snow that may fall to the ground this winter, as the budget that ends Dec. 31 has lots of funds left for snow removal and the town will do whatever it takes to keep the roads safe from January to spring, said a town official.

Gary Edom, administrator for Davidson, said the town budgets $10,000 a calendar year for snow removal by Davidson personnel and another $5,000 a year to hire outside contractors in case of a major snowfall. He said the town currently has $7,000 left to cover their own snow removal expenses and the full $5,000 to cover out-of-town contractor expenses until the New Year.

“We will do whatever it takes to get rid of (the snow) to make the streets passable,” said Edom. “We’ll do whatever we can do ourselves and if we have to hire more help we will.

“Our own crew does most of it unless we get really buried. We have our own snow blowers and our own trucks and loaders. We do it ourselves unless we can’t handle it then we bring in either Wright’s Construction here with their big loaders or (a construction company) in Craik to help us with their loaders and trucks to haul it away.”

Edom said the snow from Davidson’s streets is hauled to an area by the Communiplex right next to Highway 11 where in spring it melts and flows into a highway ditch then under the highway and into the reservoir by the water treatment plant.

“It’s just a natural run for it in the spring when it melts to get rid of it,” he said.

The town “normally” clears four blocks of the downtown area to the snow dump, but also blows snow from residential streets into nearby “boulevards” to keep it from packing up. Davidson also sands and salts the streets, but usually only around stop signs and corners to keep the melting agent from building up.

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

The RCMP and Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association is reminding people to stay off frozen waters until the province receives at least two straight weeks of freezing temperatures.

Craig Cleary, a sergeant with the Lumsden RCMP detachment, said they received a complaint that a vehicle had gone through the ice on Last Mountain Lake near Regina Beach on Nov. 14. After investigating, it was found that a collapsible ice-fishing shack that two fishermen were packing up was mistaken for a vehicle and no one actually went through the ice.

Cleary said it is the reality that people like to get out to experience ice fishing whenever they get the chance, but he encourages everybody to “use common sense” when venturing out on the ice and to make sure they are well informed about “where the safer parts” of the ice are.

He said the RCMP receives calls every winter of people or vehicles going through the ice and at this time of year it is “definitely not thick enough” to take the risk.

“We certainly don’t recommend (people) to go on the ice this early in the season because of the fluctuating temperatures,” said Cleary. “Two winters ago we actually had people go through the ice in the middle of December.”

Chris Brewer, CEO of the Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association, said good blue ice that is 10 to 12 inches thick is needed before heading out onto freezing waters with a snowmobile. He said the problem right now is there is snow covering the little amount of ice on bodies of water, which actually helps insulate the water and keep the heat in.

A snowmobile driver died last week outside the community of Deschambault Lake, 460 km northeast of Saskatoon. His snowmobile was found partially submerged through the ice in the lake.

Brewer said snowmobiles are “heavy machines that could go through ice easily” if people take them onto ice that is not thick enough.

He said people that head out on the trails, even if not onto ice, should always carry a cell phone with them and winter safety equipment such as a blanket and warm clothes just in case of an emergency. A “buddy system” for all snowmobile riders is also recommended.

“That means using two snowmobiles and not just two people on a snowmobile,” said Brewer, noting people can stray pretty far on the machine where a walk back could pose a big problem. “Remember a snowmobile can travel a lot faster than a person can walk.”