Members of the Hanley Elks last Tuesday celebrated their second successful harvest.
Five combines made the rounds on a half section of land northeast of Hanley as part of the local service club’s fundraiser.
“Our slogan is: Hanley Elks Farming for Our Community,” said Garry Dubyk, exalted ruler of the Hanley Elks Lodge No. 153.
Proceeds from the sale of the soft white wheat crop, whose yields Dubyk expected to average 55 bushels to the acre, will go towards community projects.
Some of the proceeds from last year’s harvest were donated to the Hanley skating and curling rinks, as well as helping with medical expenses in the community. Other revenues from the first harvest were invested into community farming project.
“A lot of last year’s revenue we put back into it,” said Henry Peters, Elk member and one of the project organizers.
He said the Elks borrowed the idea of farming land to raise money from other communities. He said the idea behind it is instead of having a lot of suppers and other small functions to raise money, they could pool their manpower and resources by farming land.
This year’s harvest is bittersweet for the Hanley Elks. The land belongs to the late Erwin Beaumont, who passed away in the spring.
Dubyk said Beaumont, who was 80 rented his land to the Elks in 2012 when he heard the group was looking for land to use in its fundraiser.
“He was so proud and happy because his dad had been an Elk,” Dubyk said. “Erwin even rode around with us for the harvest.”
To show their appreciation to Beaumont for allowing them to rent the land, the Elks invited him to their events that year, something the long-time bachelor seemed to enjoy.
“It’s sad he got sick,” Dubyk said.
Beaumont got cancer and died before he could watch the Elks farm the land a second time.
Dubyk said the Elks appreciate Beaumont’s family, who are honouring the three-year lease agreement they had with Erwin.
They also appreciate the support from machinery dealers and input suppliers for helping them with the initiative.
Hanley Elks has 48 members ranging in age from their early 20s to 80s.

Hilda Manz has generously left $7,000 to the Town of Davidson as a gift in her memory.

In her Last Will and Testament Manz identified her desire to bequeath $1,000 to the library, $1,000 to the campground, $1,500 to the swimming pool, $1,500 to the Cemetery Trust Fund and $2,000 to the Fire Department as a thank you to the community for being a part of her life.

Clayton Schneider, mayor of Davidson, said town council is “very appreciative” of the bequest and wants Manz and her family to get recognition for their generosity. He said council is now looking for a way to show their appreciation to Manz and other members of the community who have helped the town.

“We (have been) talking about coming up with a memorial, like a memorial wall of some sort,” said Schneider. “That is definitely something we are going to discuss.”

The Davidson Community Bible Church and New Life Pentecostal Assembly have established youth groups this fall in an effort to help kids in the area feel loved, accepted and welcomed while also having some fun at the same time.

Dave Hildebrandt, pastor of the Davidson Community Bible Church, said their bi-weekly Friday night youth group that is aimed towards grades 7 to 12 students is focused on providing “hi-energy” activities for the kids. He said their first three events this fall, including a bowling excursion to Allan, Capture the Flag game at a local farm and movie night, have been well attended and the kids seem like they’re having a lot of fun.

“We’ve had a really positive response,” said Hildebrant. “The only thing I keep hearing from parents is that kids are having a blast and they can’t wait to come back. We’ve had three completely different events and we’ve had a good turnout to all of them.”

Hildebrant said kids from all faiths could attend the events, which are run by a few adult volunteers. He said these nights are important because it brings a variety of kids together to show them they are all loved and accepted equally.

“We just want to provide for them somewhere they can make friends outside of the school where they can get good productive healthy relationships and support for whatever is going on in life,” he said. “We want to be a fun group, (but) we also want to be a support group that everyone who is going through hard times (that) we’re there for them as well.”

Russell Sparks, pastor of the New Life Pentecostal Assembly, said their weekly junior youth group, which is aimed towards grades 5 to 8 students and meets on Tuesday nights, was started so younger kids can remain engaged with their faith when they head into their high school years. He said a junior youth group is something entirely new as most youth groups in Canada start with Grade 8 students.

“We’re just looking to connect with that (grades 5 to 8) age as it’s also a very challenging age,” said Sparks. “You’re trying to figure out the basics of life, trying to figure out if you’re cool (and) if you’re accepted, so (it’s) giving them a place to explore stuff about themselves, stuff about God (and) stuff about relating with other people in a safe environment.”

To read more please see the October 14 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

A cooler summer, more precise fertility measures, better overall farm management, improved equipment, wise fungicide use and timely rains have combined to create a very successful farming year for most people in this area.

Davidson farmer Rob Stone said this has been a good year and most people are pleased with their yields, but it needs to be remembered that farmers have worked very hard for these higher yields. He said this is probably the most money any individual farm has spent per acre on their crops this year and with the weather cooperating the result has been an above average crop.

“There are some crops that are approaching a top yield and some are definitely breaking the long-term average, so there is a trend for higher yields this year then there has been for the last five to 10 years,” said Stone. “Some crops (are) more so than others. It seems the cereals are more topping their average trend yields and crops like canola; overall more people are experiencing some success with their yields.

“I wouldn’t say they’re astronomically record high as far as the canola is concerned, (but) cereals probably. The cereals, overall there is a lot more people having yield success and if you look at the pulses and lentils and stuff like that there is some people that report extremely high yields.”

Stone said protein levels are lower than average with the bigger yield, but the increased investment in producer’s fertility management strategy has helped keep up protein levels along with the increased yield in hybrid spring wheat and durum.

There is “actually a situation where some people were experiencing too low of a protein in barley, which is very unusual because high protein barley is a problem,” he said.

Gord Willner, who farms west of Davidson, said this isn’t the biggest crop he’s ever had, but it is one of the better ones in a while. He said it’s hard to say the reason behind the good crop other than all the variables which “don’t always make sense” that go into farming seemed to come together this year.

“We’re putting grain in our barn,” said Willner, noting the increased volume has created problems with storage space on the farm. “We’ve got a shop (and) we’re going to put grain in there. Then we’ll probably put the last of our feed barley on the ground.”

Willner said all his canola is already priced and contracted due to the possibility of the price going down. He said none of the wheat has been priced, but now that he knows the grade of it that work is beginning.

“Actually I started doing it up the other day for our spring wheat,” he said. “Then the only other thing we have is flax and I’m going to contract it pretty quick as well for a winter delivery.”

To read more please see the October 7 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The teacher population at Davidson School is up by half this fall after an unusually high number of interns took postings in classrooms throughout the school.

Interns Caitlin McCarthy, Alicia Hicks, Jennifer Gelleta, Randi Bender, Erin Toner, Kelsey Pragnell and Erin Palmier are presently immersing themselves in school life as they learn the ins and outs of teaching their various classes. The University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan education students are posted in one of the classes of Kindergarten, grades 2, 3 and 5 and the senior subjects of science and history, math and English.

“It’s been great so far,” said Pragnell, 22, who is working with teacher Laura Willner in the Grade 2 class. “I’ve been doing music for a while now with the Grade 2s. We’ve been doing rhythm and pitch. (Last Wednesday we started) to do rhythm sticks and then we’re doing some drums coming up right away. Then I have a little mini health unit and I’m going to be doing a few more health and science units coming up really quick.”

Like the other six interns, Pragnell is taking the first few weeks of her posting to watch, learn, ask questions and get to know the kids. The education students would then start to take over some classes before eventually moving into teaching the kids full-time for three weeks starting Nov. 10.

During this full-time teaching duty the interns’ cooperating teachers will complete an evaluation on them to help them improve their methods. The internship ends in December when the university students head back to their respective schools to complete their final year of their education degrees.

Toner, a 20-year-old University of Regina Faculty of Education student, said she is picking up a subject a week from Grade 3 teacher Chantal Walker Morey, but has been mainly teaching science so far. She said it’s been really easy to get to know the staff and students at Davidson School due to the small school atmosphere and welcoming spirit.

“Especially in the elementary school you know almost all of the kids already,” said Toner. “You’re seeing them when you’re out on supervision, you’re seeing them when you’re doing buses (and) you’re seeing them in the hallways. Then the staff, we had a week where we were just doing staff stuff where we had meetings, so you really got to know the staff then.”

Davidson School vice principal Cathy Rettger said the school usually gets a maximum of three interns each fall, so having seven new faces come into the school this year has been a bit different. She said the school is centrally located between Regina and Saskatoon and has a good reputation among previous interns, so that is why the school seems to be a popular destination for education students.

To read more please see the Sept. 30 print edition of The Davidson Leader.