All posts by Tara de Ryk

Davidson

Federal funds roll in for community centre upgrades

The Town of Davidson has been earmarked for $29,875 in federal funding, which will go towards upgrades to the electrical system at the community centre as well as the installation of a rooftop heating and cooling unit for the centre.

Gary Edom, administrator for the Town of Davidson, said the federal funding would cover half the costs of improving the wiring system and installing an air-conditioning unit for the centre. He said the total bill has been costed at $59,749 for the improvements with half of this amount coming back to the Town once the upgrades are completed and the progress report and invoices are sent in.

“For the first phase what we are going to do is put a bit of wiring in here,” said Edom. “It’s all kind of outdated and we’re still on breakers. This first phase has to be done by next March…but they are going to pay the full $17,000. Then the second phase, which is going to be (worked on) after April 1 is the air-conditioner for the auditorium and they are going to pay $12,000 towards it, but they’re paying half of the whole thing altogether, which is nice to get.”

The cost of the wiring improvements will amount to $17,050 and must be completed between July 30, 2012, and March 31, 2013. The government, through the Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund, which is delivered through Western Economic Diversification Canada, will cover the whole amount of this work.

The second phase of the project of installing an air-conditioner for the community centre comes at a cost of $42,399, and another $300 for signs. This work must be done between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014. The government will cover $12,674 for the air-conditioning improvements and $150 for the signs, totaling $29,874 or half of the total amount of $59,749.

Edom said the Town applied for this funding after Lynne Yelich, minister of state for Western Economic Diversification, announced in Kenaston in early July that $46.2 million has been allocated towards repairs and improvements to existing community facilities in Western Canada over the next two years. He said the funding they are receiving is everything that they applied for.

“The big thing is for the auditorium as it’ll be nice to have air-conditioning in there especially for the summer with weddings,” said Edom. “It gets so terribly hot in there for big functions in the summertime.”

He said the rewiring is a major project that needed to be completed because they are currently having trouble in the kitchen with “throwing breakers” when the coffee machines are turned on.

“We’re going to try adjusting some of that,” he said. “Get some new electrical panels put in, some new breakers and some wiring changed around. It would certainly work better.  We even had meetings in the council chambers where they plug in a bunch of laptops and they throw breakers. We hope to upgrade things, so that’s not a problem anymore.”

Sports

Hanley Sabers line up against Ituna/Kelliher in 6-man football championship

For the second time in four years the Hanley Sabers and Ituna/Kelliher Trojans are lining up against each other Nov. 10 at the Jungle in Hanley for the Saskatchewan high school senior boys 6-man football championship, but with one little difference.

In 2009, it was just Kelliher and the program has since become a co-op team, but Hanley is still hoping for the same results. A win against Ituna/Kelliher would give Hanley their first championship since ’09 when they defeated the Trojans in the last game they played against each other.

Mark Anderson, head coach of the Sabers, said he has been scouting the Trojans throughout the year, obtaining game film on them during the season and playoffs in case this match-up did come about. He also went to a game of theirs earlier this year and knows they are a “very solid team,” so it should be a tough final.

“They were in the provincial final last year against Raymore, so they’re another veteran team,” said Anderson. “We have to watch their run. They are a very strong running team and just a well-balanced athletic team. For us, it’s going to be a matter of playing mistake free football and taking advantage of our chances on offence when we get them. They play a good defence, so when we get a chance we have to make sure we secure the ball and put it in the end zone.”

To read more please see the November 12 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

 

Davidson

Communities in Bloom get spicy at chili cook-off fund-raiser

The Davidson Communities in Bloom first annual chili cook-off raised close to $3,200 for its operating expenses as a good crowd of around 50 people came out to the Davidson community centre Nov. 3 to taste the nine different chilis and judge the best minced beef and beans stew in the area.

Teams of nine competitors measured their own chili recipes against each other and by popular vote based on colour, aroma, consistency, taste and aftertaste the prize of a round of golf with cart and “a really nice hat” went to Rance Anderson and Tony Billett, who can now pronounce themselves the top chili chefs in Davidson.

This was the last event of the year for the not-for-profit Communities in Bloom, but they will be back in the spring to help beautify the town with public flowerbeds and gardens.

Craik, featured

Craik secures new doctor

A physician has been secured for the Town of Craik. The doctor will begin to provide a four-day-a-week family practice out of the Craik Health Centre starting Nov. 26, said a representative with Five Hills Health region.

Bert Linklater, senior executive director of operations for Five Hills, said the new physician, Dr. Eli Karam, would provide the same services that were offered by the town’s previous doctor, Narinda Maree, who moved to start a practice in Moose Jaw at the beginning of August. He said the new physician would provide “normal physician services” in Craik as part of a primary health care team.

“He will work in conjunction with a nurse practitioner and with a primary health care team out of that health centre so there will be visiting health professionals as well,” said Linklater. “Dr. Karam will provide support to the whole team; particularly the nurse practitioner and he will provide those services that you would normally expect to find in a physician’s office.”

Linklater said whether Karam will be sharing on-call or emergency services with Dr. Lang in Davidson depends on the “details” the two doctors work out on their own, but Karam will be providing emergency services in Craik during his business hours.

“He won’t be required to do on-call,” he said. “When he is on-call after hours that will be in cooperation with Dr. Lang, so they have an understanding of how one will cover for another, but under normal circumstances the emergency services will be just that he’ll respond to them when he’s there during his office hours.”

The days when Karam will be working at his office in Craik are “still up for discussion” as it is not yet known whether he will be working four fixed days a week or if he may want more flexibility in his schedule, said Linklater. He added Karam has given no indication that he will be moving to Craik in the foreseeable future, but will instead commute from his home at Saskatoon in the meantime.

To read more please see the Nov. 5 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Influenza vaccine clinics back up and running

The influenza vaccine clinics are back up and running after a short shutdown due to concerns raised about the flu vaccine by Health Canada.

The Heartland Health region resumed its vaccination clinics last Wednesday after being shuttered for six days following a request by Health Canada after the flu vaccine made by pharmaceutical firm Novartis, which is the only vaccine used in Saskatchewan, was discovered to have clumping of particles in the vaccine in Europe.

Dr. David Torr, consulting medical health officer for the Heartland Health region, said the temporary ban on distribution of the vaccine was only a precautionary measure by Health Canada after one batch was found to have some particles in it. He said the batch used in Canada is safe and anyone who has received the vaccine already need not feel worried and do not need to get another shot.

“The batch that was in question is a different batch than the one we have here, it’s just the same manufacturer,” said Torr. “With the Canadian stock, nothing was seen here that was seen in Italy.”

Torr said following testing of the Canadian batch, Health Canada and Novartis have reiterated the optimal safety of the Canadian stock and he encourages anyone who has not yet been immunized to head to an influenza immunization clinic and get a shot.

He said that any clinics that were suspended will be rescheduled in the near future and all upcoming clinics will go on as planned.

“We should be able to catch up,” said Torr. “It was only a week that we went out.”

featured

Davidson’s casualties remembered by French villagers

Carved in stone on Davidson’s cenotaph are names of nearly century-old French battlefields: Ypres, Vimy,  Somme, and Cambrai.

Also carved into the monument are the names of Davidson’s soldiers who died in these battles.

Each year, on Nov. 11, the names of Davidson’s casualties of the First and Second World Wars are read aloud during Remembrance Day services.

“We will remember them,” the community proclaims.

The people of France also remember these casualties of the Western Front.

“Be assured that the sons your village left in our soil are well loved and their graves well cared for. Their families are dear to our hearts. They did not sacrifice in vain,” Etienne Robin, Mayor of Mézériat, wrote in a letter to the Town of Davidson.

“This letter is a modest homage from us to the long lost soldiers of Davidson who fought for the freedom of so many French people they did not even know and would never know,” Robin states.

Robin was compelled to write the letter to the Town of Davidson after a conversation with his childhood friend Claude Weil.

Weil, who grew up in France, now lives in Saskatoon and works at the Saskatchewan Research Council. During a drive to Regina, Weil stopped in Davidson intending to do some shopping at Home Hardware.

He noticed the cenotaph on main street.

Weil was appalled by the number of casualties Davidson suffered on the Western Front.

He wanted Davidson to know that the people of France appreciate the sacrifice.

“I think it left an imprint on the psyche of French people that free-spirited Canadians, country building people, would leave a country that was theirs to go fight for another land,” Weil said during an interview Wednesday. “It’s extremely remembered.”

Weil, who served three years in Israel in the Middle Eastern conflict, said conflict is something all of us have knowledge of. He lost three great uncles in the First World War and he was an eight-year-old boy when France was still at war in Algeria. He recalls as a schoolboy, the entire school would march with First and Second World War veterans to the cenotaph of his French village. He said World War II veterans were still relatively young and people were still so sad.

France, which had military conscription until a few years ago, understands.

“The generations are still very much aware of what war does,” Weil said.

“I respect and I have an appreciation for Canadians who came from so far away, who didn’t know what they were getting into. I started to look at the numbers and the casualty numbers were very high in Davidson and I was somewhat disturbed,” Weil said.

To read more please see the Nov. 5 print edition of The Davidson Leader.