Category Archives: Davidson

Davidson, featured

Scheidts peppered with fishing license calls

Ever since April 1, a lot of people have been calling George and Dorothy Scheidt’s 306-567-4424 telephone number.
It’s a number the Davidson octogenarians have been using for about two years, since they moved to their new home on 2nd Street, and as Dorothy puts it, they “phoned in and got that silly number.”
She said they never received too many calls prior to April of 2013.
“That’s when the environmental calls” started to.”
Coincidentally, the increase in phone calls to the Scheidts occurred at the same time Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment launched the automation of fishing and hunting licences.
Under the new program, people are encouraged to buy their fishing licences online at a Saskatchewan Environment website.
“This site will allow you to quickly and easily purchase a hunting, angling or trapping licence,” cheerfully claims the introductory paragraph in the process.
Not everyone has found the process easy and quick.
The problem is the phone number for Saskatchewan Environment’s help line is 1-800-567-4424. So, when people mistakenly dial 1-306 instead of 1-800 they don’t get to talk to a helpful person from Saskatchewan Environment, they get Dorothy Scheidt.
She neither fishes, nor owns a computer.
She is a wonderful cook and baker, spent decades working as a geriatric aide, so she knows much about caring for the elderly; however, she is not the person with whom you want to speak about getting a fishing licence.
She said some days they received two to three calls per day. Most were from people asking about fishing and hunting licences, although one man from Manitoba called to discuss environmental issues.
Dorothy said she talked to the fellow for a bit and listened to his concerns.
As for the other callers, “I just told them, ‘I’m afraid you have the wrong number, try again.’” she said. “It was very tiresome.”
Saskatchewan Environment has been using the 1-800-567-4424 number since 2004, said Sara Keith of Saskatchewan Environment’s Client Service Office.
“We regret any inconvenience they (the Scheidts) may have received,” she said.

To read more please see the July 1 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Gregoire closes chapter on teaching career

Another school year is coming to an end for students and teachers at Davidson School this Wednesday, but this time the usual jubilation is tempered with heavy hearts.

Longtime Grade 1 teacher Norma Gregoire is retiring after spending the past 32 years at Davidson School. Gregoire said she had to retire sometime and this will give her more time to spend with her family.

“Although teaching has been my calling and I feel I could teach many more children to read, it’s the right time for me to retire,” said Gregoire. “I have a new grandson, Elliot, in Yorkton and my husband (Mark) is happy that I am going to spend more time with him.”

At the school’s annual awards presentation last Wednesday afternoon, current students at the school showed their appreciation for her help in teaching them how to read by lining up to give her one last hug.

“That was so amazing,” she said. “That wasn’t even planned and I fell apart. It is just amazing to get all those hugs.”

In addition to the hugs at the awards presentation, Gregoire was given a “memory box” that included notes from past and present students which detail the many wonderful moments they have spent in her care. A few hours later at the School Community Council’s annual end-of-year potluck supper, she was also presented with a honourary bookshelf filled with her favourite children’s books that would be placed in the Davidson School library.

“I love books,” said Gregoire. “One of the memories I got in that little memory box from one of my kids is a thank you for teaching (her) how to read books. I love children’s books and I love reading to kids. It couldn’t have been a better gift.”

In a funny way, the bookshelf actually serves as a bookend to Gregoire’s career. After graduating from Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, in the mid-1970s she was presented with the Grolier of Canada Award, which was given to one graduate at each education department in a Canadian university for being the most promising teacher to be. The award was three sets of encyclopedias in a bookcase, so it seems her career has come full circle.

To read more please see the June 24 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Johner brings Boys to Elbow

Brad Johner and the Johner Boys are set to rock Elbow this Canada Day.

Johner said fans heading to the Elbow Rink for the before-fireworks concert can expect a “fun” country and pop show that could feature as many as five of his boys and one of their friends up on stage with him at the same time. He said the Johner Boys first joined him on stage last year for 25 concert dates and this year would see them perform together close to 60 times.

“We’ll do some of my stuff and the boys do their own music as well,” said Johner. “It’s a nice variety and it’s a nice family show. I do some classic country songs. I do some of my songs that have been on the radio for the past 20 years and then the boys do some covers like Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz and Michael Jackson. It’s just a lot of fun stuff.”

The Johner Boys are Brad’s sons Aidan, 8, Matthew, 11, Quinn, 15, Jesse, 17, and Lucas, 19, and their friend Simon, 19. Aidan and Matthew play piano, Quinn dabbles in electric guitar, piano and lead and harmony vocals, Jesse hits the drums, and Lucas plays piano and sings lead and harmony, while Simon is a bass and electric guitar player.

Johner, a fixture on the country music scene in Canada and Saskatchewan since 1991, said he loves taking the stage with his boys and the boys appreciate the opportunity to get out and play some music as well. The four-time Juno nominee and 2007 Canadian Country Music Association male artist of the year said there are not a lot of venues out there right now for kids to take the stage, so using his job as an entertainer to help them get a start is very rewarding.

“It is kind of unheard-of for young people to go out and start playing music and doing concerts on a full-time basis, so they really appreciate that idea that they can go out and play with me,” he said. “I’ve been doing this all my life, so I sort of know what I’m doing and they just like coming along and learning how to do it. They have a great time meeting people and travelling and we all have a good time.”

Johner said after their touring schedule slows down at the beginning of the school year in September, he and his boys are going to be heading into the recording studio “when we have time” to record their first album together. He said until then they’re just going to be continually hitting stages across the province and the country while trying to enjoy their time together.

“It’s real fun playing with the boys. We’ve worked hard the last year getting our sound down and the boys are learning how to play on stage. They’ve come along really well and the response from the public has been great.”

Davidson, featured

Winds wreck hangar

Strong winds Thursday morning destroyed a hangar at Davidson’s Airport.
While the wind was still raging, between 9 and 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Charles Deaver said he received a phone call informing him that a piece of metal siding had blown off the hangar that houses two of his planes.
Deaver set out for the local airport, but in the minutes it took him to get there, the building was down.
Both planes were damaged. Deaver said the wind pushed one plane into a skid steer he stored in the hangar, bending the plane’s stabilizer in the process. Another plane received some damage when the wind lifted it up and onto the other plane.
Deaver said he is able to repair the planes, however, the hangar didn’t fair so well.
“I put the building up last November, so it didn’t last long,” he said. “It’s just one of those things that happens.”

Davidson

Locals find high ground in Calgary

Many people in Davidson and district were making phone calls Thursday evening, checking on the safety of family and friends in the wake of severe flooding in southwestern Alberta.
As many as 100,000 people were expected to be evacuated from Calgary neighbourhoods as the Bow and Elbow rivers surged, spilling their banks.
A large rainfall, as much as 150 millimetres in certain areas caused widespread flooding in the foothills and southern Alberta.
Betty Low said she spoke to her son Shane, who lives in the Discovery Ridge neighbourhood in southwestern Calgary, Thursday night.
Betty said when Shane returned home from work at about 4 p.m. Thursday, they were in the midst of evacuating his neighbourhood. He was allowed to go into his condominium unit to pack a suitcase and was advised to get enough belongings to last about 72 hours.
A video on YouTube shows water pouring into the underground parkade of a building in his development as people attempted to drive their vehicles through the 1- to 2-metre deep water.
Betty said Shane’s building is two over from the one shown in the video. As of Friday morning, the extent of the damage in the area was not known, however, Shane was advised to expect the underground parking lot to be flooded.
Betty said she was relived to hear that Shane was safe and sound. He is currently staying at a friend’s place until he is able to return home.

Davidson, featured

Council OKs 6% tax hike

Davidson taxpayers are in for another property tax increase this year.

For the second year in a row property taxes are going up about 6 per cent for Davidson residents. Town council passed the 6.5 per cent tax increase compared to actual taxes collected by the town last year as a means to balance the 2013 general operating budget May 10.

“When we work with the budget, we just try to balance (it) the best we can,” said Davidson Mayor Clayton Schneider. “Unfortunately nothing seems to ever get cheaper to run stuff and you’ve got to adjust accordingly.”

Council also decided to tap into reserves to balance the budget with $344,500 coming out of their rainy day fund to cover the increased spending. Redoing the roof at town hall and upgrading and patching paved roads are among the big-ticket items in the Town of Davidson’s 2013 budget.

“It just costs more and more (to run the town) all the time,” said Gary Edom, administrator for the Town of Davidson.

Edom said redoing the roof at Davidson Town Hall would cost “about $220,000” and that doesn’t include the auditorium. He said the roof at town hall is leaking.

“The auditorium roof is probably going to be put on hold until we get quotes,” he said, noting the auditorium roof has not been leaking. “We don’t know exactly, but the inspector’s estimate they gave us is quite a bit higher than the original, from what I thought I understood from them, estimate.”

The yearly expenditure of $200,000 for pavement upgrades and patching is once again part of the transportation services budget. This funding covers “patching wherever there are bad holes” and upgrades to the town’s roads.

“There are some bad streets by the car wash,” said Edom. “Something is going to have to be done by the carwash. They had a (water main) break over here on the corner of Garfield and Second that they had to dig up, so that had to be patched. Then (there are) the rest of the streets, the worst of them.”

Spending is up dramatically in the 2013 general operating budget with total expenditures hitting $2,592,500, up $465,985 from actual costs in 2012. Including the tax increase, total revenue for the town in 2013 is budgeted at $2,249,234, thus resulting in the need to transfer funds from reserves to balance the budget.

Edom said other major projects that have been budgeted for in 2013 include $44,000 for a new garbage pit, $47,000 to upgrade piping and valves in the water plant and $33,000 to inspect and repair the water tower.

“We’re going to drain it and get it inspected to see if any work needs to be done,” he said. “It keeps springing (leaks), well not very often, but occasionally a little pinhole on a welding or a joint. We just want to get it inspected and see what it’s like (and) get some idea how much life is left in it.”

After the town has an idea of what has to be done with the water tower, Edom said they would go from there. He said if they can afford to fix it this year they would, but if it is too expensive then the work would be “spread out” with some work coming next year.

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