Category Archives: Davidson

Davidson, featured

CTRC to close Davidson campus

The Carleton Trail Regional College (CTRC) is closing its Davidson campus “around” July 20, but any services that are required by residents of Davidson can still be accessed through a different location, according to the CTRC interim CEO.

“The activity in Davidson was not as active as the other campuses were,” said Bill Cooke, referring to the small number of students who use the school compared to the campuses at Southey, Watrous, Wynyard and Humboldt and the limited number of instructors willing to teach at Davidson.

“We have fixed resources. Frankly, we don’t have any more money to do anything differently (than close the campus), so we have to work within what we have.

“With the building closing, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to the provision of services,” he said. “Any services needed in Davidson can be provided through Southey, it can be provided through Watrous or it can be provided in some sort of unique way. This is really making do with what are becoming quite limited resources.”

The CTRC is involved with upgrading basic adult education as well as credited trades programs such as emergency medical services (EMS), carpentry, plumbing and electrical as well as non-credit programs like photography and gardening.

Mary Jane Morrison, the mayor of Davidson, said she was not consulted prior to hearing from Cooke on June 21 that the campus would be closing. She said the town would fight to keep services in Davidson and will keep all lines of communication open to remain a voice in discussions to keep some programs here.

“I think it’s a real loss for our community,” said Morrison adding some jobs would be lost because of this decision, not to mention the harm done to mature students who don’t have the time to get to other campuses after their day jobs. “It’s always nice to provide that post-secondary education here, so people wouldn’t have to travel.

“When he told me they were closing, he said the numbers were down in Davidson. I understood that from some of the research that was done; however, I said that I didn’t agree. First of all, I don’t know how hard they tried to deliver a variety of programming here. At earlier times, there was a better job done at that.  I tried to point out a few things like Davidson is a growing community and there are a few classes here that they had taken away (that were well used).

“When he delivered the news to me, I said I wouldn’t keep Davidson out of the loop in the future,” she said.  “We mean that.”

To read more please see the July 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Kenny Memorial Golf Tourney to raise funds for new pool

The Lyndon Kenny Memorial Golf Tournament is taking place this weekend at the Davidson Golf Course with all proceeds raised going to the new Davidson Swimming Pool fund.

Kelsi Kenny, Lyndon’s sister, said the tourney was put together because the family just wanted to do something to help benefit the town and with all the new families moving into Davidson, the swimming pool seemed like the ideal target. She said that a golf tournament was also the perfect way to remember her brother who passed away late last fall.

“We’re doing it as a chance to celebrate his life and do something that we all enjoy doing together,” Kelsi said. “He liked to golf and we all like to golf together as a family and we thought that would be a fun way to do that.”

Kelsi said they hope to raise around $4,000 at the golf course July 7, matching the amount raised for the Canadian Mental Health Association (Saskatchewan Division) this past winter through a charity poker tournament held in Lyndon’s name.

She said in addition to the tourney there will also be a silent auction featuring signed NHL jerseys, Carrie Underwood tickets and a harvest meal for up to 20 people. A hole-in-one challenge will also award two $20,000 prizes sponsored by Norman Sagen Insurance in Davidson and Al Hoffman Insurance in Kenaston.

“A lot of people have registered so far and we’ve got a lot of people that are talking about coming and wanting to donate prizes, so we’ve had a really great response,” she said. “I think that maybe we would like to keep this golf tournament going on as a yearly thing, either to raise money for the swimming pool or whatever is in need at that time in that year.”

Roy Kenny, Lyndon’s father, said the community was so sympathetic to the family at the passing that they decided they needed to do something to give back. He said the idea for a golf tournament came about because of Lyndon’s love of the game and of working at the course.

The memorial tourney will be limited to 72 golfers, putting eight people to a hole on the nine-hole course. Roy said the spots are filling up fast, but no one will be turned away if they do get more than 72 asking to participate.

“We’re just hoping that people come out and have some fun,” Roy said. “It’s going to have three different categories. We’re going to have two person scrambles, men’s teams, mixed teams and ladies’ teams. It’s going to be slow, but we just want people to come out and have fun. It helps the golf course and the clubhouse too and maybe we can raise a little money out of it hopefully.”

Davidson, featured

Thieves steal vehicles from Davidson

The Craik detachment of the RCMP is recommending people lock their homes and cars after a number of break-ins and vehicle thefts in Davidson sometime between Saturday, June 16 and the early morning hours of Monday, June 18.

Const. Kevin Morrissette said the RCMP is investigating after a few unlocked cars and one business on Railway Street was broken into and cash and possessions stolen.  He added two cars were also stolen from the town of Davidson including a red Pontiac G5 from the 200 block of Hamilton Street, which was later found abandoned on Highway 11 just south of Girvin, and a green Dodge Spirit from the 900 block of Government Road later found at the Davidson Sports Grounds.

“It is very much a good idea to keep your house and vehicle locked and also keep your vehicle parked in a well-lit area,” said Morrissette.  “Well-lit places do deter thieves from doing anything like that because they don’t want to be identified.  They don’t want to be detected and they tend to shy away from that.

“People sometimes think that if someone wants to break into their car, that they’ll break in,” he said.  “They’ll smash a window or something anyway.  The determined criminal will just smash a window, but then again if your vehicle is parked close to your home, smashing a window would create noise and that is going to deter them.  For example, in this case, they didn’t go into vehicles that were locked.  If it’s easy and convenient for them to just open the door and root through your car, it’s more tempting.”

The warmer weather does tend to bring about more people passing through town, especially with the major highway nearby, but the problem of convenience crimes occurs year-round.  If a transient or even a group of neighbourhood kids see an unlocked car or easy object to grab and run, they could be more tempted to go for it, said Morrissette.

“We recommend that people lock the doors of vehicles and not leave any keys inside the vehicles,” he said.  “If you have a motion light at your home that also helps as far as people breaking into garages or sheds and things like that.”

As for the Davidson crimes, the Craik RCMP are asking for the public’s assistance in finding these crooks and the Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers will also pay up to $2,000 for any information which leads to an arrest.

“I can’t speculate if it was kids around town,” said Morrissette.  “At this point, we don’t have any information as far as who it was.”

Davidson, featured

Craik still looks for physician

The search for a new physician for Craik and the Five Hills Health Region has the mayor of Davidson concerned, but also hopeful that the parties concerned are starting to “look at the bigger picture” in their hopes to alleviate the added pressure that is being put on Davidson’s physician.

“It has a large impact for us because the doctor in Craik shares on call services with the doctor in Davidson,” said Mayor Mary Jane Morrison. “What they’ve been doing up until recently is every other weekend (one of) the doctors serves calls and they share those calls through the week as well.

“That hasn’t been consistent through the last little while because Dr. Maree has sort of been in the process of moving or working away from Craik,” she said. “As a result our doctor here has done his complete share of calls, but then there has been a disruption of service because she hasn’t been able to fulfill her obligation.”

Morrison said if you consider the populations of the towns of Davidson and Craik and the surrounding area that is also being served by those two doctors, Narinda Maree in Craik and F. Lang Bayona in Davidson, you would come up with more than 5,000 people in need of help.

“If you think of our whole region as a large town that has two doctors and all of a sudden you have one, then there is a real concern there,” she said.

Maree is moving to Moose Jaw in August to accept a physician’s job there after serving the community of Craik for the past 16 years. The Five Hills Health Region is in negotiations with another doctor to replace her, but a contract has yet to be finalized, to the frustration of Craik residents and Hilton Spencer, the Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Craik.

To read more please see the June 25 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Davidson’s taxes to increase by 6%

Property taxes are going up in Davidson, by about 6 per cent, to cover increasing costs.

“The cost of everything is going up,” town administrator Gary Edom said.

Council approved the Town of Davidson’s $2.1 million operating budget earlier this spring.

The budget is balanced by transferring $72,500 from reserves to bring down total expenditures from $2,170,354 to $2,098,161.

The 2012 budget covers costs of projects currently underway such as approximately $85,000 worth of upgrades to the town hall that included new windows, doors, wiring and the installation of a backup generator. The town had planned installing air conditioning as well, however, the project is on hold. Edom said they will apply to the Community Initiatives Fund for a grant in the fall to help with the $40,000 price tag.

The budget included costs of upgrading the town water well north of Davidson, work that has been going on this spring and included cleaning the well and installing a bigger pump and motor to match those on the other well.

Other expenses in the 2012 budget included costs of digging a new garbage pit in January.

The town has transferred $35,000 from its surplus funds account into reserves to be used towards the future purchase of a fire truck.

The mild winter last year allowed the town to save some money in snow removal costs, which were about $10,000 less than the $18,000 budgeted for the expense. The lack of snow helped the town save the expense of hiring contractors to assist with snow removal.

Besides the 6 per cent increase in property taxes, residents can expect a 10 per cent increase in water rates once the proposed increase is approved by the local government committee of the Saskatchewan Municipal Board.

This year the town plans to earn $905,500 from property taxes, compared to $833,821 it raised by the municipal levy last year. The town makes up the rest of its revenue from federal and provincial operating grants amounting to $377,278, fees and charges of about $418,000 and utility charges of $299,000.

Davidson

Lt.-Col. Eyre takes charge of 437 Squadron

Lieutenant-Colonel Ryan Eyre, a former member of 553 Sherlock Squadron Royal Canadian Air Cadets in Davidson, took over command of the 437 Huskies Squadron at CFB 8 Wing Trenton June 15 to the delight of family and friends in Craik as well as military personnel across Canada.

“We’re certainly proud of him,” said Gwen Eyre, Ryan’s mother and longtime Craik resident.  “He has dedicated his life to his career and worked hard.  This will be a challenge, but he’s always looked forward to challenges.”

Lt.-Col. Eyre will be entrusted with transporting military personnel along with VIP members of the government and various heads of state including the Prime Minister, Governor General and the Queen of England on the Airbus.  He will also be tasked with in-flight refueling of jets such as the CF-18, which enables them to remain in the air for longer periods of time.

“Ryan was a dedicated top cadet,” said Gordon McRae, the liaison between the parents, officers and cadets with the Department of National Defence and the Sherlock Squadron when Ryan was a member.  “He had his mind made up.  He wanted to be involved with the air force and he wanted to be involved with the cadet program.

“It’s kind of not a surprise that he’s the commanding officer of the Huskies now, but I’m very glad for him and sure he’ll do really well.”

Lt.-Col. Eyre starts as Commanding Officer of the Huskies for the second time this summer.  He began his career with the Canadian Forces in 1992 and originally served with the 437 flying the Airbus from 2006 to 2010.   He has racked up over 5,800 hours of flying time through his career.