By Helen Lee
Weather Folklore – Fact or Fiction?
“When a heavy fog sets in, you can expect moisture 90 days from then, unless there is moisture within 3 days of the fog.”
If weatherlore proves true, forecasts suggests not planning your outdoor activities during the week of June 10. Mark your calendars – Heavy fog March 12 and 13.
Summer fog for fair,
A winter fog for rain.
A fact most everywhere,
In valley or on plain.
BLADWORTH—Optimism for the cattle industry generated by record high cattle prices were reflected in the turnout and response to Palmer Charolais with Nielson Land & Cattle Co. annual bull sale March 2.
“It was a good crowd for the blustery day we had…standing room only during the sale,” Larry Nielson, of Nielson Land & Cattle Co., said.
There were from 150 to 200 people crowded into the shop at Palmer Charolais west of Bladworth. Gale-force winds that whipped up the snow didn’t deter people from turning out. Others phoned in their bids.
The sale average of last Monday’s sale was considerably higher than last year’s average, Nielson said.
He said the prices for his family’s purebred black Angus and red Angus bulls and heifers at this year’s sale were much higher than last year.
Palmer Charolais experienced similar results for their purebred Charolais bulls, the overall average on the their bulls was $7,276, which is up from last year.
“Everybody I talked to at the sale or on the phone about the sale was very optimistic about cattle,” said Velon Herback of Palmer Charolais.
People are optimistic, so they are spending more money on bulls than they had in the past.
“Everything relates to prices in cattle,” Herback said.
DAVIDSON—Davidson School’s junior boy Raiders defeated Biggar’s St. Gabriel Saints 43-26 last Wednesday to win the West Central District Championship.
“The kids played really well,” coach Kim Rettger said of the team’s effort.
Rettger, who coaches the senior boy Raiders, subbed as coach while the team’s head coach Garret Bailey was away at a conference.
Going into districts, the Raiders had anticipated meeting the Saints in the final.
Rettger said the team had a plan to deal with St. Gabe’s 6’2” big man.
“The key was to stop him so we put Blake Allan on him the whole game. Blake kept their big guy in check,” Rettger said.
The Raiders began the game playing a box-and-one zone defence, which Rettger said worked fairly well and then changed to a man-to-man defence that gave the Raiders even better results.
“Parker (Smith) was fabulous rebounding so was Clay (Murfitt) and Mark (Rettger) shot the lights out,” Rettger said.
Mark led the Raiders in scoring with 22 points. Parker had 16 points in the win.
The Raiders were able to get all their players on the court throughout the game, whereas St. Gabriel stayed with its starting five.
“We never ran away with the score, but we had control the whole game,” Rettger said.
The Raiders’ first game against Eston, whom the Raiders expected to beat handily started tougher than the team expected, despite the 62-37 score.
“They played well enough to win but it didn’t pan out as easy as they thought.”
Rettger said at the half, it was anybody’s game.
He switched up the defences, going away from a zone to man-to-man, which worked better for the team, plus in the second half, Rettger said the boys played much better.
Parker Smith had 26 points for the win, Mark Rettger had 17, Clay Murfitt put up 8 points and Blake Allan chipped in with 7 points.
Seniors at Conferences
Basketball season is over for the junior Raiders, but the action is just heating up for Davidson School’s senior teams that begin playoffs this weekend. The senior boys are hosting 1A conference finals this weekend. Teams from Kenaston, Allan, Central Butte, LCBI and Davidson will be vying for first and second place and a chance to advance to regional playoffs next weekend.
The senior girl Raiders will be in Regina competing for the 2A conference championship. They’ll come up against Regina Harvest City, Langenberg and Moose Jaw Cornerstone.
DAVIDSON—Arm River Wildlife Federation hopes to build a fishin’ hole in town.
Members of the local sporting group were at Davidson town council’s Feb. 17 meeting seeking council’s support of the idea as well as a parcel of land.
The group proposed building a trout pond for recreational use within town limits.
The pond would be about one acre in size and a minimum depth of 20 feet with its sides sloped for safety purposes. The deeper the better to help fish survive the winter, said Jeff Doyle, a member of the Arm River Wildlife Federation (ARWF).
The wildlife federation would dig and organize the creation of the pond. It indicates that grants are available and it would obtain volunteers with heavy equipment to dig the pond.
John McJannet, president of the ARWF, said the federation would bring in wildlife and water experts to examine the topography of various parcels of land.
The club was looking for a project, tossed around some ideas and came up with a trout pond, said Doyle.
“It’s something for the kids and the old guys out there who fished all their lives and can’t make the drive to the lake anymore, like Gerald (Coun. Gerald Kenny),” he joked.
Doyle said a trout pond in Tisdale was a success. Located near Tisdale’s campground and walking trails, Doyle said the popularity proved greater than the community anticipated.
Finding a parcel of land within Davidson town limits may prove difficult.
Town administrator Gary Edom said the town doesn’t have large chunks of land available. The only one that may be close in size is Davidson’s rodeo ground.
Water quality will be another issue. The pond’s water supply must be able to support fish, so locating it near Highway 11 may be a problem due to salt runoff.
Putting it near the cemetery is out of the question. Edom said the tests of the water at Davidson cemetery revealed the water there “isn’t fit to water grass”.
McJannet said the wildlife federation wants the trout pond located in town, so town kids “can get on a bike, grab a fishing pole. We don’t want them to have to cross #11 highway.”
ARWF would set the fish limits of the pond and keep it stocked with trout.
To read more, please see the March 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
DAVIDSON—How safe is the Internet?
It’s a question on the mind’s of most parents whose kids use of and knowledge of social media far exceeds their own.
To help adults guide and monitor children as they navigate the World Wide Web, Davidson’s School Community Council (SCC) has engaged staff sergeant Ron Weir, provincial co-ordinator for Regina Police Service’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit to provide a 90-minute Internet Child Exploitation Awareness presentation to the community tomorrow.
This community presentation, which is geared to adults, follows a Feb. 13 presentation Craik RCMP gave to Davidson School students in grades 6 to 12.
The SCC arranged for the RCMP to talk to students to help educate them on the incredible risks associated with using the Internet incorrectly, says SCC member Marcia McIvor.
Some risks include meeting strangers in chat rooms, bullying, sending personal pictures assuming that the recipient won’t forward them or post them elsewhere, identity theft, and learning to accept the fact that once something is posted online, it is there forever.
“Some of these examples have occurred in Davidson and have resulted in kids being embarrassed and hurt,” she said.
The SCC arranged for tomorrow’s community presentation to help make adults aware of the dangers of the Internet.
“By attending this session, adults will be in a better position to understand how their kids and grandkids are exposed to potential risks because of the internet and how to safeguard against those risks,” McIvor said.
DAVIDSON—Someone took a crack at breaking into the vault inside the RM office building on Lincoln Street in Davidson.
Craik RCMP report that sometime between the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 13 and Monday, Feb. 16 culprit(s) broke the side door into the office building shared by the rural municipalities of Willner and of Arm River.
RCMP Const. Kam Hay said much effort and time was spent trying to break through the brick wall that is behind the walk-in safe. He said the culprit(s) were likely in the building for a long time, so if anyone noticed suspicious vehicles or activity, to report it to police.
He said substantial damage was done to the building in the attempt to get into a safe that contains neither cash nor valuables.
Craik RCMP report this was the second break and enter into the RM office building in recent weeks. This time, as was in the first case, nothing was taken.
People who have information about this or other crimes should contact Craik RCMP.