Category Archives: Craik

Craik, featured

Floating cheques prompts questions in Craik

The mayor of the Town of Craik said they are “trying to get on track” after a concerned resident presented a number of questions to council May 14 about the living situation among members of the community along with a claim her grandson and a few of his friends found cheques made out to the town by residents floating in a ditch.

“I’m not too sure how it’s going to go, but we’re working on stuff in town to get the town going too,” said Craik Mayor Rick Rogers when asked if the situation involving the found cheques could eventually end up in court. “Yeah, I remember Marlene (Stubbington) coming to the meeting on Wednesday night. She had lots of topics. Too many to answer at one meeting, so we photocopied and we said we’d answer all of her topics and questions for her.”

Rogers confirmed Stubbington brought up the found cheques at council, but said he personally didn’t see them or the boys who found them. He said he didn’t know when asked how cheques made out to the Town of Craik by residents could end up in a ditch.

“Well we’re having a little bit of trouble here in town and I’m not allowed to talk about some things that are going on in town,” said Rogers. “So this is getting right on borderline, so I’m not allowed to talk about this topic I think you’re getting at there.”

The mayor confirmed cheques should be sent straight to a bank once received by town officials, but he doesn’t “know really what happened” in this incident. He said his lawyer has told him not to talk about the situation when asked whether the town has taken any measures to look into the found cheques and investigate further.

Rogers confirmed Craik administrator Jeff Murray has also been put on leave and the two situations are related. When asked when and why the administrator was put on leave, he replied “well that’s what my lawyer told me not to talk about.”

Stubbington said her grandson and a few of his friends found the cheques that were written to the Town of Craik “floating in a ditch” in mid-April after water flooded over some streets in the town. She said some of the cheques were then returned to the town administrator and some were also brought to the bank.

She added her approach to council May 14 stemmed from wanting Mayor Rogers to open up an account at the bank for her to pay her bills because the town office was not “looking after them right” when handed in. Stubbington said the response she received was ‘nothing could be done’ because the matter was under investigation.

“I don’t know,” Stubbington said when asked what she hoped going before council would accomplish. “I want my money to be safe, that’s for sure.”

Craik RCMP Constable Kam Hay said they do not have an investigation going on right now into the found cheques or anything that may be related to them. He said nothing has been reported to the police about this situation as of yet.

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

Craik, featured

Thieves target farm residences during B&Es

Craik RCMP is asking for the public’s assistance in solving three separate break and enters that occurred in the Craik, Girvin and Holdfast areas earlier this month.

An officer with the Craik detachment of the RCMP said it is unknown right now if the thefts are linked, but at the moment it is not believed they are.

The first break and enter occurred sometime between May 5 and May 8 at a residence and two outbuildings at a farm just south of Girvin. It is unknown if anything was stolen from the farm property.

A break and enter also happened May 8 sometime between 1 and 7 p.m. at a farm residence just west of Craik. Several items were stolen including two Stealth Game cameras, two Moultrie Game cameras and a Range Finder.

Numerous pieces of jewelry were also taken from the residence including a black and white precious stone necklace, a gold ring with a small princess cut diamond and a sterling silver necklace with a black pearl pendant. An IPad and laptop were reported stolen during the break and enter as well.

The third break and enter occurred on May 13 at around 2:30 p.m. when two males travelling on ATVs were found rummaging through an old farm house they had broken into. The house is located just off Highway 2 between Holdfast and the Highway 11 junction.

The two males are described as between 30 and 40 years old, dirty with an unkempt appearance and burly in stature. When confronted the males claimed they were looking for historic items before quickly boarding their ATVs and fleeing east to Hwy. 2 and then south towards Hwy. 11.

The males had pulled some old copper wiring out of one of the out-buildings on the property, but it is unknown if they succeeded in stealing anything else.

One of the males was riding an early 1980s Honda Big Red style three-wheeler, while the other rode a red Honda four-wheeler. Both ATVs had boxes mounted on the back and neither male wore a helmet while riding the machines.

The Craik officer said people need to remember to lock up their property when they leave. He said this is a rule most people know, but not enough homeowners follow.

If anyone has any information that would assist the RCMP in the investigation they are asked to contact the Craik RCMP detachment or Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers.

Craik, Sports

Warriors down Comets in first game of Wheatland Hockey League playoffs

The Craik Warriors senior hockey team are expecting a long playoff run this winter, but to do so they first have to get their game going against the Young Comets and Bethune Bulldogs.

Derik Hassett, a defenceman and assistant captain of the Warriors (13-4-4), said their 9-5 first game win over the Comets (8-12-1) in the opening best-of-five Wheatland Hockey League (WHL) series was alright, but it wasn’t their best hockey of the year. He said they have to get stronger in their own zone heading into games two and three Feb. 14 and 16 while keeping their offence clicking at the rapid pace it has been all season long.

“We gave up five goals, so we’ve got to lock down defensively a little better,” said Hassett. “Other than that if we score nine we’ll win every night.”

Hassett said their top line this season of Josh Richardson (16 goals and 32 points in 20 games) and Ryan Usher (20 goals and 38 points in 21 games) along with anyone else that gets an opportunity to play with the two scorers have been leading the charge for them and that continued into their first league playoff game with Usher picking up a hat trick. He said the team has also been helped by goaltender Nathan Heinen (2.75 GAA in 17 games) this season and it is hoped that his strong play keeps going as they move further into the playoffs.

“We had a real good run (this season),” he said. “We’re happy being in second place (in the WHL standings) and we put ourselves in a pretty good spot heading into playoffs. We’ve got home ice for a couple rounds and we’ll see how it plays out.”

Heinen said the team is playing “good hockey” right now and as long as they keep things simple on the ice they should be fine. He said their strength during the regular season was special teams play, which is actually the thing that cost them in game one of their 8-2 loss Feb. 9 to the Bethune Bulldogs (12-6-1) in provincial ‘D’ playoff action, so that needs to come back if they want to make a provincial playoff run.

“Bethune’s got a pretty good team and we were short a few guys, but (we need) to stay out of the box,” said Heinen, noting their second game in the two-game points total series is Feb. 15 at Bethune. “We got into some penalty trouble and they got a lot of power play goals and it showed. They have a good power play. If we stay out of the box and play five-on-five against them, we’ll make it a close game. I don’t know if we’ll be able to win, but we’ll hopefully make it a better game.”

To read more please see the Feb. 17 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Craik

Regina tillage parts company in final talks to buy Harvest Services

After more than 35 years in the combine parts business, Carol Vibert has announced that Regina’s Ralph McKay Industries is in final negations to purchase the assets of her company, Harvest Services of Craik, with the deal expected to close March 1.

Vibert said her son Scott Vibert will stay on with the company as general manager and all operations of Harvest Services will continue in Craik, but as a division of Ralph McKay. She said all employees at the plant have been asked to stay on and the hope is Ralph McKay would attract new employees as well.

“Their intention is to keep that plant going,” said Vibert, noting Harvest Services manufactures and distributes combine parts across Canada, the United States and France. “This was excellent for them to have a manufacturing facility (plus) allowing them to diversify.”

Ralph McKay Industries is a member of the McKay-Empire-Wiese (MEW) group of companies. MEW has focused primarily on the manufacture of tillage tools and currently distributes tillage parts through various channels in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia.

MEW president J. David Pitt stated in a Jan. 27 press release that adding harvesting parts provides a natural synergy that would strengthen the Group’s offering to its distribution. He further added MEW plans to roll out the Harvest Services products sequentially throughout their network utilizing the distribution and management strengths of all three companies in the Group.

Vibert first joined Harvest Services in 1975 and bought the operation in 1995 with two other partners. She has owned the company outright since 2006.

“Certainly I’m going to miss it, but the connection is still there with Scott being involved,” said Vibert, adding before the sale she had lengthy discussions with her son about the direction of the company and both felt this was the best move. “I’ve got another avenue that I’m devoting my energies to. I have three (vacation) houses down here in Florida that I rent out and look after. There wasn’t room for two businesses in my life.”

Craik, featured

Breakdowns force temporary closure of Eco-Centre

A series of breakdowns and the loss of a tenant has temporarily closed the Craik Eco-Centre.

Craik Mayor Rick Rogers said the Eco-Centre closed Dec. 1 and would remain dark till the spring due to a water line to the building breaking in September, a heat pump in the geothermal heating system quitting a couple months after that and their main tenant walking away from the centre once they finished their lease at the end of November.

“The field slid there behind the building and we have to move the water line,” said Rogers. “It was getting late in the fall and we said ‘well, we’ll do it in the spring.’ We’ll re-pipe that line there in a different way. (We’ve) actually fixed it twice already and it broke again.”

Rogers said a repairperson from Saskatoon was scheduled to arrive last week to replace the pump for the geothermal heating system. He said the pump was the main priority because without it the temperature had fallen to “about 6ºC or 7ºC” in the centre, which is home to the Solar Garden Restaurant, conference rooms and the Craik and District Golf Club House and Pro Shop.

“We could move into there (this) week,” said Rogers, noting a working water line is not a necessity to having the centre open for business as they could haul water into the building instead. “But we’re going to do some painting and a major cleanup and we’re going to change around the kitchen a wee bit. We’re going to put another stove in there because one of the burners is burnt out, so we’re going to replace (that). We’ve got a bunch of things we’re going to do. We’re going to have a big day cleaning and stuff. A couple blinds aren’t working properly. We’re going to have to get them changed. (There’s) lots of little things we have to do to fix it up.”

The town has not advertised for a new tenant to run the Solar Garden Restaurant and rent out the meeting rooms as of yet, said Rogers, because they are currently in the process of re-writing the lease agreement. He said the last lease agreement was a “little too strict” on the tenant, so they are trying to make this one more lenient.

“It’ll be going for the golf season for sure,” he said. “We’ve had people wanting to run a restaurant there (already), so we don’t think we’ll have too much trouble once we put a tender up.”

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

Craik

Tommy John Ehman brings band to Craik for New Year’s Eve bash

Country rock recording artist Tommy John Ehman is set to bring in 2014 with a toe tapping show Dec. 31 at Craik Legion Hall for the Craik Lions Club 2013 New Year’s Eve Cabaret.

“It’s going to be pretty fun playing New Years,” said Ehman, who is bringing his band with him to his hometown show. “I haven’t played a New Years in Craik since probably my very first band when I was growing up here. We probably played a New Years or two back then, but not since then. I’m pumped about it.”

Ehman said the band would be treating the crowd to original music mainly from his fourth studio album, 2008’s “Wheels of Life”, and his most recent recording, 2010’s “Turn On The Radio”, during their set. He said they’ll also be mixing in some classic and country rock standards during the evening.

“Generally we start off a little mellower and a little more country,” he said. “As we move into the night we’ve got some Tom Petty, some John Mellencamp, some Steve Earle, some Trooper and who knows. It’s that kind of thing. It’s songs people like to tap their toes to and sing along with and hopefully get them up on the dance floor.”

Since releasing his first album, “Wasted Nights”, back in 1996 Ehman has kept busy writing songs and touring both solo and with his band at house concerts, clubs, cabarets and festivals throughout Western Canada and beyond. Ehman said his focus at the start of his music career was songwriting and that continues to be his focus, but his writing style has changed since those early days.

“It’s matured and I assume it’s got a little bit better and more focused,” he said. “When I pick a topic I want to write a song on I think I can drill down on it a little better. I’ve been writing songs for over 25 years, so you better get a little bit better. I think more than anything I’m just maturing as an artist, as a songwriter, as a singer (and) as a guitar player. You just get better with time.”

The band, which includes bass player Rob Ehman, drummer Rod Mochoruk and new guitarist Billy Ray Houston, has matured as well, which puts a damper on the heavy touring schedule they enjoyed back when they were first starting out. Ehman said 20 years ago they could go on the road and play shows whenever they wanted and that is not the case now with family responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean they have stopped completely or toned down their high energy shows.

To read more please see the December 16 print edition of The Davidson Leader.