DAVIDSON—At its meeting last Wednesday, Davidson town council decided to tap into the New Building Canada Fund to repair some of the town’s ageing sewer lines.
Council learned that $436.7 million in federal funding over 10 years is available to Saskatchewan communities.
Administrator Gary Edom suggested the town apply for money to install liners inside sewer mains.
He said this is a high priority project for the town.
“I think it’s a long shot, everybody wants it,” Edom said of the town’s odds to receive funding.
Costs to line the sewer mains cost about $49,400 per block. Council decided to apply for $150,000 to cover the costs of repairing three blocks.
“I think it’s great the federal government came out with this,” Mayor Clayton Schneider said.
“We’re getting close to an election year,” Donna Bessey, community development officer, pointed out.
Applications to the provincial-territorial infrastructure component of the New Building Canada Fund are due Jan. 12.

DAVIDSON—Two British Royal Air Force First World War medals have a new home in the Davidson branch of the Royal Canadian Legion’s museum.
A British War Medal and a Victory Medal, intended for the widow of Eric Morrison, will soon be on display.
Last week former Davidson lawyer Jim Ulmer gave the medals to Gordon McRae, president of the Davidson branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. The medals will be included in the Legion’s museum that features artifacts significant to the area’s military history.
“I’m very pleased Jim has decided to give us these medals to put up in our museum at the library and hopefully I can capture some of the history they represent,” McRae said.
He said he plans to make a shadow box in which he’ll display the medals as well as including a picture of Eric Morrison and a history of Morrison and the medals.
Flight Lieut. Eric Morrison was killed Sunday, July 7, 1918 shortly after starting on a bombing raid with other members of his squadron in France, with the German lines as their objective. Lieut. Morrison was born in Scotland. Before enlisting he was employed by the T. Eaton Co. in Toronto. He left a young widow and baby boy, James, of eighteen months in Girvin, Sask. His widow was Marjorie (Murdoch) Morrison and she lived in Girvin where she likely met Eric while he was in Girvin working for the bank. She remarried in 1924 and moved away.
Ulmer has had the medals since the 1980s. He received them from his former law partner Morley Coxworth who practised law in Davidson for about 60 years. Coxworth acquired the medals in the early 1920s when the Royal Air Force sent them to the law firm Scott, McKinnon and Rutherford, for whom Coxworth began his legal career. The law firm handled Eric Morrison’s estate and the medals were sent to Davidson in 1923 to be given to Morrison’s widow, however, for some reason the task was never completed, so the medals sat in a box for more than 90 years.
“They were never opened. I always had it in mind to find the family,” Ulmer said, he now lives and practices law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He rediscovered them while in Davidson this summer and contacted McRae about giving the medals a proper home.
McRae said his first concern was that the medals be sent to a relative of Eric Morrison’s, however, none could be found, and so they will go to the museum.
“I feel really good about this, about where they are going,” Ulmer said.

DAVIDSON—Someone broke into the Fields Store in Davidson in late November
Sometime during the evening of Thursday, Nov. 27 and the early morning of Friday, Nov. 28 the Fields store on Garfield Street was broken into.
The culprits entered the building through the front doors by breaking the lock.
Once inside, the thieves went to the back storage area of the store and stole numerous items.
They left the building through the rear loading doors.
Anyone with information about this or any other crimes, should contact Craik RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

By Kevin Gilby
DAVIDSON—The Heartland Health Region (HHR) and the Five Hills Health Region (FHHR) are to begin their expansion of the physician services in the Davidson/Craik corridor in early 2015.
The Ministry of Health encouraged the two regions to work together to provide a three-physician practice in the corridor. The need for a sustainable and reliable acute care/emergency service was identified in the region.
Margaret Baker, acting executive director for Primary Health Services Branch of the Ministry of Health, said, “the two regions have been talking for a couple years to provide a sustainable service in the two communities, both from emergency and every day perspectives.
“The plan involves three physicians working together, providing stabilized emergency services in Davidson. Craik would [have to] go to Davidson to get those services.”
According to Bert Linklater, senior VP of operations of FHHR, “we’ve for a long time not had a third position that could join the practice.” Previously, the physicians in Davidson and Craik have been attempting to co-ordinate their on-call schedules so that a physician is available 24/7.
Despite best efforts, Linklater says that there were “too many opportunities for there to be problems,” citing difficulty for EMS members to know which doctor was on-call and possible physician burn-out from working a two-in-three week on-call rotation. The College of Physicians recommends at most a one-in-three rotation.
Linklater indicated that it is a ministry directive to “reduce the number of times when hospitals go on bypass.” He explains that a hospital is in bypass when it is without an on-call physician and when in bypass, the hospital should discharge all acute care patients and ambulances services are not permitted to stop at the hospital. Patients in need of continued acute care would need to be transferred to a hospital with an on-call physician.
Referring to the Craik Health Centre, the Ministry of Health understands “that the Heartland Health Region will contract the physicians, and then Five Hills Health Region would hire the services to meet the needs for that community.”
“[The ministry] is supportive and recognizes that it provides continuity of care,” Baker said.
To read more, please see the Dec. 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

By Kevin Gilby
DAVIDSON — Parents with daughters involved in youth hockey teams have requested improvements be made to the Communiplex change rooms. Davidson’s Recreation Board heard that community members have asked that a larger change area and separate shower and toilet facilities be provided for the mixed hockey teams.
At present, there is a small area set aside for the girls to change that can accommodate about three children at a time. While most teams only have two or three girls, a need for a larger space will only increase with the growing community.
Two proposals were focused on by the recreation board to address the issue.
To read more, please see the Dec. 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

DAVIDSON—Davidson School’s junior drama club is bringing the misbegotten adventures of the puppet Pinocchio to life Friday.
The production has proved popular among students, with a large cast and crew of 35 students from grades 3 to 6 involved in the performance.
With so much interest in drama, it’s meant that director Arlene Low had to be creative when it came to putting on the short 45-minute play so that all kids could play a part.
The solution was to have different children share the roles of the main characters. There are three Pinocchios and three talking crickets. There are also two choruses, as well as different narrators, puppets and puppeteers. Three students are crewmembers.
Low said this is the first time she’s rotated main characters in a play.
The transition of different characters will be seamless. As one Pinocchio goes off stage, the other one goes on.
Due to the size of the cast—having three Pinocchios and three crickets—it required more preparation usual because more costumes had to be made. Low said the production has had help from the community with Nina Gust, Lorraine Gust, Eileen McRae, Paulette Killoh, Debbie Jestin and Sandy Zoerb sewing costumes. Dee Ulmer loaned her talents by painting the set. High school students also assisted with the set.
Pinocchio is a timeless, classic story about a wooden puppet that longs to become a real boy. Its themes transcend generations.
“Pinocchio has a great lesson about honour, making good decisions and friendships,” Low said.
For the full story, please see the Dec. 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.