By Joel van der Veen

REGINA — When Murad Al-Katib came home Wednesday night, his teenage son Tariq greeted him with a hug and told his father he was proud of him.

In the last two years, Al-Katib has been celebrated and honoured on the global stage multiple times.

But as he told the Leader last week, there’s something special about being recognized by those closest to you.

On Wednesday, Al-Katib was one of 10 inductees into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, the province’s highest honour, presented at a ceremony in Regina by Lt-Gov. Vaughn Solomon Schofield.

As a first-generation Canadian, Al-Katib said the honour meant a great deal to him.

“This is home, this is Saskatchewan,” he said in an interview with the Leader. “We were raised with that pride, that this was our (home) and our province.”

Al-Katib, a native of Davidson who now lives in Regina, is president and CEO of AGT Food and Ingredients, one of the world’s largest suppliers of pulses, staple foods and food ingredients.

The citation from the province called him one of Saskatchewan’s “greatest homegrown success stories,” crediting him with creating jobs here and linking the province’s producers to new and emerging markets across the world.

He was also recognized for his philanthropic work, based on a philosophy he has called “compassionate entrepreneurialism.”

Last year AGT worked with the United Nations, Red Cross and other organizations to distribute more than 4.5 million food parcels to refugee families.

Al-Katib said receiving the award was an emotional experience, as he stood alongside nine other people, noted for their accomplishments in the arts, education, business, government and military.

For the full story, please see the Dec. 4 edition of The Davidson Leader, or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — Ashton Schneider recently had the chance to see his favourite TV show come to life.

The 15-year-old from Davidson, along with four family members, witnessed a taping of the CBC show Heartland in Calgary in late November.

They were part of a “Fans as Extras Day,” during which they were on the set for five hours as the cast and crew shot scenes for the upcoming season finale.

The scenes take place in an arena, and roughly 1,200 fans were invited to the set to fill the stands as extras.

Ashton made the 1,500-km trip with his cousin Maggie Boehm, his grandmother Cathy Sperling and grandparents Jack and Marie Schneider.

While all of them are fans of Heartland, Ashton says it’s his favourite show, and he’s seen most of the episodes, some of them multiple times.

“He was just so excited,” said Cathy. “I think it was really a highlight for him . . . To think that you could ever get that close.”

For the full story, please see the Dec. 4 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — Quick action by firefighters helped to minimize the damage after a fire broke out in an auto body shop in Davidson on Friday morning.

Barry Millham, who owns and operates Legend Autobody and Paint, said the fire originated from the boiler in the north end of the building on Railway Street.

Employee Trevor Reich discovered the fire shortly before 8 a.m. and called Millham, who was still at home.

Millham said he drove straight to the shop and called 9-1-1 soon afterward.

They tried to fight the fire using a fire extinguisher, but before long the flames had spread to the north wall.

He said the fire department arrived within a few minutes, giving them “two thumbs up” for a prompt response.

While the fire hall is located only one block away, Millham said he was still impressed given the fact that firefighters still needed to travel there and suit up before attending to the fire.

“They were here in record time,” said Millham. “That was pretty awesome.”

Fire chief Clayton Schilling said they received the call at 8:08 a.m., with 10 members responding.

Firefighters removed siding from the north wall, allowing them to combat the hot spots and quickly extinguish the fire.

They remained on scene till roughly 9 a.m. There were no injuries.

The building suffered little in the way of structural damage, while most of the interior damage was smoke-related.

Power, heat and water were shut off on Friday morning, and Millham said he wasn’t sure how soon the shop would be able to open again.

“We haven’t had time to process anything,” he said. “We just have to deal with things as they come up.”

He said he was dealing with “a lot of unknowns — what we’re going to do while we get this fixed up, how quickly we can get rolling again.”

Millham has operated his business in town since 2004 and moved to the current location in 2007. The shop employs himself, his wife Janice and two other people.