All posts by Tara de Ryk

Davidson, featured

CTRC to close Davidson campus

The Carleton Trail Regional College (CTRC) is closing its Davidson campus “around” July 20, but any services that are required by residents of Davidson can still be accessed through a different location, according to the CTRC interim CEO.

“The activity in Davidson was not as active as the other campuses were,” said Bill Cooke, referring to the small number of students who use the school compared to the campuses at Southey, Watrous, Wynyard and Humboldt and the limited number of instructors willing to teach at Davidson.

“We have fixed resources. Frankly, we don’t have any more money to do anything differently (than close the campus), so we have to work within what we have.

“With the building closing, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to the provision of services,” he said. “Any services needed in Davidson can be provided through Southey, it can be provided through Watrous or it can be provided in some sort of unique way. This is really making do with what are becoming quite limited resources.”

The CTRC is involved with upgrading basic adult education as well as credited trades programs such as emergency medical services (EMS), carpentry, plumbing and electrical as well as non-credit programs like photography and gardening.

Mary Jane Morrison, the mayor of Davidson, said she was not consulted prior to hearing from Cooke on June 21 that the campus would be closing. She said the town would fight to keep services in Davidson and will keep all lines of communication open to remain a voice in discussions to keep some programs here.

“I think it’s a real loss for our community,” said Morrison adding some jobs would be lost because of this decision, not to mention the harm done to mature students who don’t have the time to get to other campuses after their day jobs. “It’s always nice to provide that post-secondary education here, so people wouldn’t have to travel.

“When he told me they were closing, he said the numbers were down in Davidson. I understood that from some of the research that was done; however, I said that I didn’t agree. First of all, I don’t know how hard they tried to deliver a variety of programming here. At earlier times, there was a better job done at that.  I tried to point out a few things like Davidson is a growing community and there are a few classes here that they had taken away (that were well used).

“When he delivered the news to me, I said I wouldn’t keep Davidson out of the loop in the future,” she said.  “We mean that.”

To read more please see the July 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

featured

Wicked winds wallop region

Shortly after 10 o’clock last Wednesday morning, Al Hiebert was in Hanley running some errands.

The trip may have saved his life, or at least saved him from serious injury because otherwise, he’d have been building partitions inside his new Hot Shop currently under construction.

Instead, he returned to the shop at the edge of Shields around 11 a.m. to find the 50 x 150-foot building flattened by the near Hurricane-force winds that wreaked havoc over much of central Saskatchewan.

Hiebert said the wind most likely “lifted the roof up like an umbrella. The roof came up and the walls fell down.” Then the wind set the roof back down exactly where it should be, except the walls were no longer there to support it.

Hiebert said that none of the windows, all 18 of them, were broken. Most of the metal siding came through without a scratch, power tools remained where he left them, unharmed and the insulation remained secure in the walls.

The shop, which was being built by a contractor, was nearly finished. Hiebert said all that was left to do was to close in the ceiling.

“We were just starting the electrical,” he said. Once that and utilities were connected, he planned to bring in a furnace and other specialized glass-blowing tools so that he and wife Joan could get back to creating their art.

The Hieberts have been making original and beautiful objects out of blown glass from their Shields location for years.

But they’ve been unable to do so since October after a fire destroyed the Hot Shop.

The structure destroyed by wind was to replace the building they’d lost in the fire.

They’ve had a run of bad luck, but Hiebert said this latest setback won’t deter him and Joan from rebuilding the Hot Shop.

“It’s just stuff. Nobody was in it (when it blew over)…It’s just kind of a kick in the butt,” he said. “There will be another building here in a couple months.”

Davidson

Kenny Memorial Golf Tourney to raise funds for new pool

The Lyndon Kenny Memorial Golf Tournament is taking place this weekend at the Davidson Golf Course with all proceeds raised going to the new Davidson Swimming Pool fund.

Kelsi Kenny, Lyndon’s sister, said the tourney was put together because the family just wanted to do something to help benefit the town and with all the new families moving into Davidson, the swimming pool seemed like the ideal target. She said that a golf tournament was also the perfect way to remember her brother who passed away late last fall.

“We’re doing it as a chance to celebrate his life and do something that we all enjoy doing together,” Kelsi said. “He liked to golf and we all like to golf together as a family and we thought that would be a fun way to do that.”

Kelsi said they hope to raise around $4,000 at the golf course July 7, matching the amount raised for the Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division) this past winter through a charity poker tournament held in Lyndon’s name.

She said in addition to the tourney there will also be a silent auction featuring signed NHL jerseys, Carrie Underwood tickets and a harvest meal for up to 20 people. A hole-in-one challenge will also award two $20,000 prizes sponsored by Norman Sagen Insurance in Davidson and Al Hoffman Insurance in Kenaston.

“A lot of people have registered so far and we’ve got a lot of people that are talking about coming and wanting to donate prizes, so we’ve had a really great response,” she said. “I think that maybe we would like to keep this golf tournament going on as a yearly thing, either to raise money for the swimming pool or whatever is in need at that time in that year.”

Roy Kenny, Lyndon’s father, said the community was so sympathetic to the family at the passing that they decided they needed to do something to give back. He said the idea for a golf tournament came about because of Lyndon’s love of the game and of working at the course.

The memorial tourney will be limited to 72 golfers, putting eight people to a hole on the nine-hole course. Roy said the spots are filling up fast, but no one will be turned away if they do get more than 72 asking to participate.

“We’re just hoping that people come out and have some fun,” Roy said. “It’s going to have three different categories. We’re going to have two person scrambles, men’s teams, mixed teams and ladies’ teams. It’s going to be slow, but we just want people to come out and have fun. It helps the golf course and the clubhouse too and maybe we can raise a little money out of it hopefully.”

Sports

Squirts win City League Championships

The Davidson Red Sox Squirt Girls’ softball team are league champions after a convincing two-game playoff sweep against the rival Saskatoon Hustlers Extreme June 24 at Glen Reeve Park in Saskatoon.

The win has earned them a berth in the provincial championships held in Regina later this summer.

Jason Shaw, head coach of the Red Sox, said the ages nine to 12 team had a fantastic showing at the season ending tournament, winning six of their seven games at the championship including two back-to-back 14-2 and 11-7 victories against the Hustlers on the final day. He said what makes this more admirable is the team had to play two more ballgames on that sunny day before the two-game final, creating quite a workload for the young team.

“For those girls to win four games in the heat when we haven’t played a lot of ball this season was pretty impressive,” Shaw said. “It wasn’t one or two girls carrying the team.  It was all 14 girls working together as a team. If one struck out, the next one up got a hit.  If one made an error, the next one made a play. That was pretty good.”

The Sox, who placed second in league standings after the regular season with an 8-1 record, started the final day with a victory over the Saskatoon Falcons at 8 a.m., before moving on to the powerhouse Warman Panthers at 10 a.m., who finished first in the regular season standings with an undefeated 10-0 record. Then came the hometown favourite Hustlers with the first game starting at 2 p.m. and the girls really started to show their mettle.

Shaw said the young team, which had seven rookies on the roster out of a squad of 14, had nine rainouts in its 18-game spring season causing problems with teaching aspects of the game to the girls. He said the club did manage to get in a few good practices though and with the help of assistant coaches Charmaine Bristow and Lindsay Cross, they did teach them a little about the great game of baseball.

“It was kind of tough for us, because in the city they group the kids or try them out,” Shaw said. “We had some girls that played some ball before and then we had some younger ones who weren’t quite as experienced, so basically it was just get them on the field and see what they’ve got.

“It was a steep learning curve for some of them,” he said. “A lot of the newer girls have improved quite a bit and we still had to keep some of the older girls interested, but we worked on things to keep them going too. We really didn’t have any expectations at the beginning of the year. We’re not in this for wins and losses. It’s to teach the girls how to play ball.”

The Sox now head to Regina July 6-8 for the provincial championships, where the Panthers and Hustlers as well as a few select clubs from the Regina league will join them. Shaw said the tourney will prove to be a difficult one for the team, but the girls will give it all they have, which is really all he can ask for.

“We’re not going there with any expectations, just like we weren’t going into this season with any,” he said. “We’re just hoping to play some good games, go there with a good attitude and try and play our best. If it doesn’t work out, we’ve still had a good season.”

Obituary

Didur

Ivan Walter

Ivan Walter Didur of Kenaston passed away peacefully at the Davidson Health Centre on June 11, 2012 after a short illness with cancer.

Ivan was born in Davidson on Feb. 26, 1946 and later married Donna Butler of Bladworth on October 28, 1967 in Bladworth.

He is survived by his loving wife Donna; children Randy (Shawna) of Saskatoon and Bryon of Kenaston, as well as extra special friends Ben and Raylene Collins of Hanley; grandchildren Cassandra, Christina and Patrick of Saskatoon and Dawson of Elk Point Alberta; great-grandchildren Reece, Jersey, Paelyn and Aurora; brothers Paul (Joan) and Allan (Doris); mother-in-law Gene Butler; brother-in-law Ross Butler (Michelle); as well as numerous nieces, nephews and other family members.

Ivan was predeceased by his parents Mike and Lillian Didur; brother Steven; sister Irene Bruynooghe-Brown; father-in-law Carmen Butler; brother-in-law Daniel Bruynooghe and sister-in-law Laurel Butler.

Ivan received his education at Meuse and Kenaston schools.

In his earlier life he worked for farmers and was a bookkeeper in Toronto for six months. When he returned home Ivan and Donna were married and he worked for a farmer at Imperial. Ivan and Donna then moved to Saskatoon where he worked on construction of the Midtown Plaza for a year. Ivan and Donna then moved to the farm, as Ivan loved farming. Ivan then began repairing elevators for a year or so, in addition to farming, until his health started failing him. He then went to work for his neighbor.

Ivan and Bryon joined the Bladworth Elks about six years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Another joy of his life was camping at Manitou Beach at campsite #99 every year for many years. He also loved spending time with his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and special dog Halley. Ivan was always there to help anyone that asked or needed it.

The funeral service for Ivan was held on June 15, 2012 at the Bladworth Community Hall at 2:00 p.m. with Pastor Gene Whitehead presiding. Ivan was laid to rest in the family plot in Bladworth Cemetery. The pallbearer was Ivan’s nephew Phillip Bruynooghe.

Ivan will be deeply loved and sadly missed by his wife, family and many friends and neighbors.

Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson in care of arrangements.

Davidson, featured

Thieves steal vehicles from Davidson

The Craik detachment of the RCMP is recommending people lock their homes and cars after a number of break-ins and vehicle thefts in Davidson sometime between Saturday, June 16 and the early morning hours of Monday, June 18.

Const. Kevin Morrissette said the RCMP is investigating after a few unlocked cars and one business on Railway Street was broken into and cash and possessions stolen.  He added two cars were also stolen from the town of Davidson including a red Pontiac G5 from the 200 block of Hamilton Street, which was later found abandoned on Highway 11 just south of Girvin, and a green Dodge Spirit from the 900 block of Government Road later found at the Davidson Sports Grounds.

“It is very much a good idea to keep your house and vehicle locked and also keep your vehicle parked in a well-lit area,” said Morrissette.  “Well-lit places do deter thieves from doing anything like that because they don’t want to be identified.  They don’t want to be detected and they tend to shy away from that.

“People sometimes think that if someone wants to break into their car, that they’ll break in,” he said.  “They’ll smash a window or something anyway.  The determined criminal will just smash a window, but then again if your vehicle is parked close to your home, smashing a window would create noise and that is going to deter them.  For example, in this case, they didn’t go into vehicles that were locked.  If it’s easy and convenient for them to just open the door and root through your car, it’s more tempting.”

The warmer weather does tend to bring about more people passing through town, especially with the major highway nearby, but the problem of convenience crimes occurs year-round.  If a transient or even a group of neighbourhood kids see an unlocked car or easy object to grab and run, they could be more tempted to go for it, said Morrissette.

“We recommend that people lock the doors of vehicles and not leave any keys inside the vehicles,” he said.  “If you have a motion light at your home that also helps as far as people breaking into garages or sheds and things like that.”

As for the Davidson crimes, the Craik RCMP are asking for the public’s assistance in finding these crooks and the Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers will also pay up to $2,000 for any information which leads to an arrest.

“I can’t speculate if it was kids around town,” said Morrissette.  “At this point, we don’t have any information as far as who it was.”