The Davidson Health Trust Fund continued its support of the Davidson Health Centre last month by giving over $18,000 to the Heartland Health Region for the purchase of needed capital equipment for the centre that will help both patients and health practitioners in their daily lives.

Glenys Smith, chairperson of the Davidson Health Trust Fund, said the not-for-profit fund is made up of local donations given to the committee over the years and is used for the comfort of the 40 residents at the long-term care facility.

“The fund buys the extra things that the health region does not (fully) fund,” said Smith, who has been on the committee since its formation in 2007. “We’ve bought things like curtains, just to make (the facility) more homey. We’ve bought some tables and chairs, a new TV and extra things that would make it more comfortable for them.”

The extra things the trust fund helped pay for in September were an Arjo Hydro-sonic Bathtub at a cost of $14,024, with Heartland Health Region covering the other 50 per cent of the $28,000 price tag for the tub, and a $4,488 WelchAllyn Vital Signs Monitor. This comes on the heels of the trust fund contributing $12,400 in July to pay for two Arjo Sara 3000 Sit Stand Lifts.

Cathy Hinther, care team manager for the Davidson Health Centre, said the help given by the Trust Fund is needed due to limited provincial funding provided to the centre for capital expenditures. She said the new machines are “state of the art” and much more advanced than what they were previously using giving the 70 professional and non-professional staff at the centre a better way.

“It updates the equipment, which enhances care and allows the staff to give safe care,” said Hinther. “With the policies around lifting as well, (sit-stand lifts) will allow staff not to lift patients.”

To read more please see the Oct. 8 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Clayton Schneider is proud to call Davidson home.

The new mayor of Davidson, who will take over the honour from Mary Jane Morrison after the Oct. 24 municipal election, said he chose to run for the position because he wants to maintain “what Davidson has offered me” through his 35 years of walking down the town’s streets and enjoying all its comforts.

“The community is moving forward right now, so keeping that momentum that has already been in place for the last few years is my goal,” said Schneider, who was elected by acclamation. “I’ve been here my whole entire life and when I first ran for council, the reasons I had were to make sure that services were maintained. It is great to be part of those decisions.”

Schneider, who has been a councillor for Davidson the past two terms, said he feels he can offer some experience to the rest of town council over the next four years through pushing ahead with a proven agenda instead of re-fighting past battles. He said there are “pros and cons” to working with new faces around the council table, which may include three to five new councillors out of six seats depending on the vote outcome, but feels the policies and procedures are already in place to move the town forward.

“When I started we were all new except one person, (councillor) Jeff Alexander,” said Schneider, adding new councillors are good because they bring new ideas which help inform the discussion, but he is not endorsing anyone. “With a new council, they ask lots of questions. When you’re dealing with a new council there are no blinders on, so a lot of good can come out of that.”

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

“Proudly serving our community” is the motto of Dundurn’s Emergency Response Team.

While they may serve proudly, they are less impressed with the state of their fire hall. The roof leaks, despite many attempts at fixing the problem and a windstorm a few years ago pulled the building apart, separating the north wall from the west wall.

The damage was repaired as best it could, but when winds are gusting, emergency responders worry that if they have to open a door to take out a truck, the building will blow away, says Terry Benson who has over 37 years with the department.

They say their insurance company has refused to insure the current building.

The fire hall, located adjacent to the CN Rail tracks in downtown Dundurn, was built in the 1960s and began its life as a fertilizer shed for Esso.

“Do we spend a whole bunch of money to re-do an old fertilizer shed?” asks Glenn Cline.

The Dundurn-area rancher and former RM of Dundurn councillor doesn’t think so, which is why he’s heading up a fund-raising drive to raise money to build a new fire hall. Called

The Christmas Memory Tree 2012 campaign, for $20 people may buy a bulb in memory of a loved one. The bulbs will be hung on a large evergreen tree outside Dundurn’s Community Hall. All the bulbs will be lit in mid-November until January in honour of those for whom the bulbs were purchased.

The Dundurn Emergency Response Team will hold a tree lighting night in November with a presentation of all the names of the people honoured on the tree.

Proceeds from the sale of bulbs will go to a reserve fund to be used towards building a new fire hall.

Ideally, the new building will have seven bays and measure about 60 by 120 feet to house the department’s fire trucks and rescue vehicles.

The emergency response team fights fires and responds to medical emergencies.

“What we’re trying to do with Glenn’s program is to raise money, but also to make the community aware of volunteers and the service they are providing,” Benson said.

Cline said he hopes that the Christmas Memory Tree campaign shows the municipalities that emergency responders are committed to seeing a new fire hall and are willing to contribute to the fund-raising effort.

They have approached municipalities for funding and hope that all four will agree to help.

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

The Davidson Communiplex is applying for two $2,500 community rink affordability grants for their skating and curling ice surfaces, but that’s still a couple goals short of a win in trying to keep their utility costs down.

Trevor Ouellette, town recreation director, said the money would help because “$2,500 is $2,500,” but when you factor in the actual power costs for running the Communiplex during the busy winter months it doesn’t come out to much.

“SaskPower, for 2011, we spent $32,000 on just power alone on the skating side and on the rink side it’s another $10,000,” said Oullette. “Just power for the Communiplex is $42,000. So $2,500 sure goes to help it, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a pebble in a lake type of effect.”

Ouellette said they should qualify for two ice surface grants for the skating rink and the curling rink, but he’s “not banking on it until we see it.” He said they should be eligible because both ice plants are running on separate meters.

The Government of Saskatchewan is doling out $1.9 million to ice surfaces across the province fulfilling a promise by the Sask Party in the 2011 provincial election. The grants will be administered and delivered by the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association.

Ouellette said since they started a program of sending in reports on utility usage and capital projects to the government in 2009, SaskPower has “actually been a leader” in helping the Communiplex reduce power costs, even though the program is run by the provincial government.

“The provincial government is committing $1.9 million, which does seem like a lot of money in the big budget, but when you have 700 eligible participants in that program to divide it up evenly, that’s where you get the $2,500 from,” he said. “If (utility bills) go down, every little bit helps I guess.”