Residents’ homes, farmers’ crops and various town, organizational and rural infrastructure are paying the price of an incredibly high water table this summer.

Gary Edom, administrator for the Town of Davidson, said to try and help people recover these costs they have sent an application in to the Saskatchewan Department of Government Relations to have the town declared a disaster area due to the numerous property owners who have suffered damage to their basements from excessive groundwater seeping in. He said if the town qualifies as a disaster area then residents, businesses and community building owners who have experienced flooding problems can apply for help through the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) to get back some of the costs associated with replacing items that are lost.

According to a Saskatchewan Government news release, the PDAP covers uninsurable and essential property and is designed to help residents, small businesses and community organizations among other groups recover from the effects of natural disasters. Eligible claims can include clean-up costs, the replacement of essential household items, structural repair and restoration and preventative measures taken during a disaster.

“The program is meant to help people,” said Davidson Mayor Clayton Schneider. “A lot of problems in town were due to water seepage and a lot of that is not covered under insurance. It’s a program that will help our town or the residents of our town when they need it. They’re going to be buying sump pumps…and this is just a program where they can get some money back and help with such a disaster.”

An employee with the Town of Davidson confirmed the problem of groundwater seepage is widespread among its residents. This flooding ranges from gallons of water flowing into some property basements to small dribbles coming into others.

The government release states a resident who applies for assistance through PDAP and is accepted would have up to 95 per cent of all eligible expenses, minus taxes, incurred because of a natural disaster covered. Homeowners may be eligible for up to $240,000 in compensation and small businesses and nonprofit organizations may be eligible for up to $500,000.

Edom said the town has been dealing with groundwater seepage at their library building on Washington Street, but wouldn’t use the program to get back any costs associated with fixing it due to the small amount of damage received. He said they are currently using a “little gear pump” to suck out the water and have put in a sump pump in the furnace room to try and get water out of the ground.

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

Despite starting out from the unlikeliest of places a few past Hanley School graduates have found success in the field of drama thanks to a little bit of determination, some luck and a great learning opportunity through the Hanley Drama Club.

Former Drama Club members Addison Pauli and Aren Buchholz of Dundurn and Hanley’s Kyle Burgess have all realized accomplishment in the drama scene after high school. Pauli and Buchholz are currently living and working towards a film and television career in Vancouver, while Burgess has built a life for himself behind the camera at his own production company in Saskatoon.

“I got to work on my first movie a year ago now,” said Burgess, who previously worked as a member of the stage crew with the Hanley Drama Club from 1996 to his graduation in 2001. “It was called Big Muddy. It was filmed in Saskatoon and Assiniboia and I had to work with the grip department at one point, which is responsible for setting up all the stands and lighting and running electric. That made me have to reflect back on my days from high school drama on how lighting worked and what names for things were and (through) having that experience working with soundboards and lighting boards I was able to quickly help out the team.”

Burgess said his role now as owner of Saskatoon’s Coal Media gives him the opportunity to support local productions in both film and television including currently serving as an assistant editor for City TV’s documentary series NightClub Confidential. He said getting involved in the entertainment industry may seem like an impossible dream to a kid growing up in Hanley or Dundurn, but with a little luck anything can happen.

“It’s kind of a fluke almost I even got into it,” he said. “I had gone on to get a degree in marketing never really thinking that I would end up being here and then when I was living in Vancouver I randomly got a job offer from NBC to work in their studios during the Olympics. Using that experience of doing transport logistics, I quickly bridged into doing other management related things in the film industry.”

Pauli said he gained a confidence to try new things through working with the Hanley Drama Club from 2006 to 2011, which was turned into a pursuit for a career in the film industry in Vancouver. He said taking a risk at moving West soon after graduation helped him gain and excel at his current job as a facility production assistant at Sony Pictures Imageworks.

“I may be from a small town in Saskatchewan, but everything I learned from back home has really helped me become the person I am today,” said Pauli, noting he is going to continue learning about and pursuing work in the visual effects industry.

Buchholz, who recently finished filming a guest-starring role on Showcase’s Lost Girl in Toronto before heading back to his base in Vancouver, said the time he spent with the Hanley Drama Club from 2004 to 2009 helped him gain a passion for the arts and for the craft of acting. He said the provincial government eliminating the film tax credit a couple years ago destroyed any chance of actors finding work in Saskatchewan and people looking to pursue it as a career have to move, but having things like the Drama Club at least gives kids an opportunity to learn the basics.

“The developmental part there is high class (and) high quality,” said Buchholz. Hanley Drama Club director “Leanne Griffin is an amazing coach and amazing teacher. She has her (Master’s Degree) in Drama and she was amazing to us. We weren’t cut short on the actual developmental side.”

He said the Hanley Drama Club being an extracurricular activity and not a regular school program makes the experience extra important for the kids who take part because they have to give up their own time to pursue the arts. Buchholz said this helps them realize a passion and desire to go to whatever lengths needed to make drama a part of their everyday life.

“Coming from Saskatchewan it seems like it’s a far off dream, but tons of people can make a living doing it,” he said. “Not everyone is going to be a famous movie star, but you can definitely make a living doing the work of acting. You just have to go for it. I think the drama program in Hanley is integral to that (by) instilling a passion into young folks.”

Griffin said there are a couple kids in the Hanley Drama Club this past year that seem to be leaning towards pursuing a career in the arts and the goal is to make that possible for them in a place where work experience is not very easy to come by. She said when kids like Burgess, Pauli and Buchholz do make it in the field of drama despite these challenges, it makes the work she does with the Drama Club very pleasing.

“That is something that I feel very proud of,” said Griffin. “Hopefully (kids today) see that as a positive influence.”

An ambitious new project is underway in Hanley with a design to furnish the community skating rink with artificial ice.

Cindy Prosofsky, a member of the Hanley Artificial Ice Project, said the group of community volunteers have been busy organizing a business plan to get artificial ice installed in the rink and are now going to start raising money so they can reach that goal. She said the group needs a total of $1.5 million to make the idea of putting artificial ice in the current skating rink a reality.

“Last year we only had two months of skating in the rink,” said Prosofsky. “It’s always been in the back of (our) minds to try and get artificial ice into that arena and now we’re going to try to fulfill that dream and put artificial ice in to utilize that arena better than it’s been.”

The current skating rink in Hanley opened in 1981 after the community raised over $300,000 from personal donations, government grants and business sponsorships among other initiatives to pay for its completion. For the past 33 years the rink has operated with natural ice making for a shortened skating season dependent on proper weather conditions.

“Our community is growing,” said Prosofsky about why the group decided to move ahead with the project now. “I feel that with the young people coming into this community if we don’t do something now it won’t happen and we just want to better our community.”

She said the $1.5 million price tag for putting artificial ice in the rink takes into account the estimate they received from an installation company along with the projected cost increases that would occur before the proposed start of construction in the spring of 2016. Prosofsky said the group will try and raise the money through applying for government grants, attracting corporate sponsorship and organizing fund-raising initiatives such as a lottery planned for this summer.

Darice Carlson, administrator for the Town of Hanley, said town officials are behind the artificial ice initiative and will be supporting the group through acting as a treasury for the project. She said when installed the new ice would extend the life of the facility and the usage of it by drawing more skaters into the community.

To read more please see the June 16 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Changes could be coming to Saskatchewan in how future liquor sales are handled.

Arm River-Watrous MLA Greg Brkich said converting small Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) stores from public to private hands is not the most pressing issue among his constituents, but he would be listening this summer to the people he represents about what they think the government’s role in the business of selling liquor should be. He said the four rural SLGA liquor stores in Langenburg, Ituna, Ponteix and Kerrobert that have recently been marked for closure due to their high operating costs are examples of stores in small towns that could be better served by private vendors.

Brkich said many of his constituents such as in Kenaston, Hanley and Dundurn are already served by private vendors and only a few of the towns in Arm River-Watrous such as Davidson have a SLGA store. He said it needs to be known if people want the government to stay in the business of owning and maintaining these buildings after the next election or whether they should just be involved in the “rules and regulations” side and let the private vendors do the rest.

“A small town (private) franchise, we’re still getting the tax off the liquor and we don’t have the expenses,” said Brkich. “It costs money to operate that store. It costs money for the employees, it costs money for heat, it costs money for maintenance (and) all of (this has) to be factored in when you’re looking at whether a store actually shows profit.”

Cam Broten, leader of the Opposition in the Saskatchewan Legislature, also began by stating the privatization of SLGA stores is not top of mind among the Saskatchewan people, but what they have been hearing about is the things concerning SLGA that irritate the public. He said these issues could be addressed through “common sense modernization” initiatives such as public stores providing better hours and a better selection of product.

“Those steps government could take right away to make the SLGA stores better,” said Broten. “In doing that, what it would guarantee is that the hundreds of millions of dollars that the province receives through SLGA would stay there. That is really important because those hundreds of millions of dollars support health care, support education (and) support roads and that’s a really important aspect that the Sask. Party is not talking about.”

The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) recently distributed a petition among Davidson businesses entitled “Keep small town Saskatchewan strong: Stop the closure of public liquor stores in rural communities.” The petition states the closure of SLGA stores results in a loss of jobs and quality public service along with the other advantages these stores provide to a community.

To read more please see the June 9 print edition of The Davidson Leader.