By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — It took less than two minutes to destroy more than a century’s worth of work.

That was Sydney Willner’s observation as she surveyed the damage to her parents’ farmyard northwest of Davidson on Wednesday morning.

The Willners’ yard was flattened by a twister that struck sometime after 8 p.m. on Tuesday, cutting a diagonal path through their yard.

The storm uprooted trees, tossed around granaries and knocked down most of their buildings. Even so, their house was spared, suffering comparatively minor damage, and neither the family nor their animals were injured.

Laura Willner was counting her blessings Wednesday morning as she, her family and their friends continued the task of clearing the damage.

“We’re just very, very grateful for everybody’s help,” she said, adding that the first volunteers showed up within an hour of the tornado passing through.

Gord and Laura Willner and their daughter Sydney were home on Tuesday night when the storm hit.

Gord and Sydney were on the porch watching the hail storm in progress when they spotted a funnel cloud taking shape.

“It made a funnel right over the yard,” said Gord, and at that point the three of them headed for the basement.

Sydney said Wednesday that being hit by a tornado was her greatest fear, but added that she wasn’t aware of any loud noise as it passed over: “I had the adrenalin going.”

Gord said the family was only downstairs for a couple of minutes, after which they emerged to find their yard in ruins.

“Every building in the yard was gone, except the house,” said Laura.

For the full story and more photos, please see the July 25 edition of The Davidson Leader, or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — If you’re gonna catch ‘em all, you’ve got to start somewhere.

The Pokémon Go craze that swept across North America in recent weeks has made its way to the Midway Town.

It has attracted a loyal following here, primarily among players in their teens and 20s — though some of them may be in denial about it.

The game officially became available on Apple (iOS) and Android mobile devices in Canada on July 17.

It is the latest entry in the longrunning Pokémon franchise — the name being an abbreviation of the words “Pocket Monsters.”

Gamers are tasked with catching the creatures in the wild, training them and battling them against others, with the ultimate goal of becoming the greatest Pokémon trainer.

Rather than navigating through a virtual world as in past games, the new game uses “augmented reality,” incorporating the real world through the use of the camera on the player’s phone.

Players are required to walk around looking for Pokémon characters, which are shown superimposed onto the environment on the screen.

When they encounter the critters, they can “catch” them using Poke Balls, working their way towards collecting all 151 of the original Pokémon.

Players can also look for PokéStops, where they can obtain the supplies needed to progress in the game, and Pokémon gyms, where they can battle other players.

Both PokéStops and gyms are associated with real-world landmarks, and can be found in cities and towns across North America, including Davidson.

The game made its debut in early July and has already been downloaded by 30 million users.

For the full story and more photos, please see the July 25 edition of The Davidson Leader, or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — There were hot rods, classic cruisers and custom jobs of every make, model and size.

And because the show was happening in Saskatchewan, there was one tractor, as required by custom.

Outskirts, a car show co-organized by two city clubs, drew upwards of 100 vehicles, along with hundreds of enthusiasts and spectators, to Davidson’s Washington Avenue on July 10.

Though the threat of stormy weather loomed overhead, the rain held off until late in the afternoon, providing a pleasant afternoon for the show.

Along with the vehicles on display, Riverbend Co-op set up a barbecue with proceeds going to the Davidson Playschool Association. A bouncy castle and free snowcones were also provided.

The show was a combined effort between Dodologic, a Regina-based club, and the Saskatoon-based Redline Society.

All involved said they were pleased with the turnout and response, and that ideally, the event would carry on next year.

“We have everything from classics to imports to muscle cars, old hot rods,” said co-organizer Josh Duchin. “It’s anyone and anything.”

Co-organizer Tyler Lakeman said the two clubs often hold meets in their respective cities, but decided to try meeting up in the Midway Town.

For the full story, please see the July 18 edition of The Davidson Leader, or phone 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.

By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — A severe summer storm hit Davidson and area Sunday night, cutting power to thousands of customers, knocking down trees and damaging a number of homes and businesses.

The storm’s stay was brief — rolling through around midnight and clearing before long — but residents were coping with its effects for days afterward.

Public works foreman Doug Torrie said Thursday that he and his staff had been busy since Monday morning, clearing fallen trees and branches, cutting them up and carting them off in the garbage truck.

“We wanted to get the main streets open up first,” he said, explaining that a fallen tree blocking Grant Street near Second Street was their top priority.

The crew of six also had to clean up trees blocking roads at the Davidson campground, and by Thursday they were working at the cemetery.

Despite working continuously, Torrie said he and his staff were having a hard time keeping up with demand and still had plenty of work ahead of them.

“We’re working on it as fast as we can,” he said.

Heather Johnson, a spokesperson for SaskPower, said roughly 2,800 customers in Davidson and area were left without power when the storm struck just after midnight on Monday morning.

A fallen tree branch that severed a power line on Olds Place was to blame for the outage, said Johnson.

It was a busy night for SaskPower employees, dealing with similar situations across multiple regions.

“They got things back as quickly and safely as they could,” said Johnson.

She said power was restored around 2:45 a.m., although some customers reported having experienced continued outages for several hours afterward.

Much of the surrounding area saw similar outages due to the storm. Downed poles caused an extended outage for customers in Watrous and district, including Imperial, Simpson, Liberty, Penzance and Holdfast.

Customers in the Lake Diefenbaker district were also without power early Monday morning, including Loreburn, Elbow and the surrounding rural area.

For the full story and more photos, please see the July 11 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.