On January 29, 2017 Gerald White of Edmonton, formerly of Girvin, Sask., passed away peacefully at the age of 92. He is lovingly remembered by his daughter Sharon (Ron), two grandsons Carey (Sue) and Greg, great-granddaughter Amy, one brother Bill, as well as many relatives and friends.
Gerald was predeceased by his wife Kelly, his parents Levi and Beatrice, and four sisters and two brothers.
A graveside service was held on Friday, February 3, 2017 at 12:00 noon at Evergreen Funeral Chapel, 16304 Fort Road, Edmonton. Gerald was laid to rest with his beloved wife Kelly.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Youville Nursing Home, St. Albert.
EVERGREEN FUNERAL CHAPEL & RECEPTION CENTRE, CEMETERY AND CREMATION CENTRE
Jeff Murray, former administrator for the Town of Craik, leaves Moose Jaw provincial court on Wednesday morning with his lawyer, Gail Wartman.
By Joel van der Veen
CRAIK — Craik’s former town administrator has pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud.
Jeffrey Todd Murray has admitted to defrauding the Town of Craik in the amount of $14,181.30, both by overpaying his own salary and by making unauthorized purchases with the town’s Visa card.
Crown prosecutor Rob Parker told the Leader that Murray faces either a suspended sentence or incarceration, with his sentencing hearing scheduled in March.
Murray previously stood accused of 33 counts of fraud, laid in March and May of last year, totalling more than $41,000.
Those charges have since been withdrawn, and the single charge represents a significantly smaller amount — roughly one-third of the former total.
Even so, Parker noted the significance of the plea entered Wednesday, as a public acknowledgement of guilt.
“Clearly, there was an admission on Mr. Murray’s part that he had defrauded the town,” he said.
Murray, 42, appeared in Moose Jaw provincial court on Wednesday morning, accompanied by his legal counsel and an unidentified grey-haired woman.
He remained seated as his lawyer, Gail Wartman, addressed Justice Margaret Gordon, updating the court on recent developments.
Murray, who served as Craik’s administrator from 2010 to 2014, was previously accused of defrauding the town “by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means” in the amount of $41,079.81.
In March 2016, he was charged on 31 separate counts of fraud, followed by two additional charges in May.
Craik RCMP laid the charges, alleging that Murray had defrauded the town by using its Royal Bank credit card to make personal purchases at restaurants, retail stores and motels, as well as online.
For the full story, please see the Jan. 30 edition of The Davidson Leader, or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.
Tom Waterhouse displays a model Cockshutt hay loader and a John Deere combine, both built by himself.
By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — Green is the colour when it comes to Tom Waterhouse’s collection, with yellow finishing in a close second.
Shelves filled with tractors, combines and other miniature equipment — most of it bearing the familiar colours of the John Deere company — line the walls of a downstairs room at his home in Davidson.
He has lost count of the total number of items — “I don’t know, period” — but acknowledges that it “takes up a fair bit of space.”
The collection includes vintage toys as well as models made by Waterhouse himself, crafted in his home workshop.
“It’s something to do, eh,” he said. “On top of that, we’ve made friends from here to Winnipeg.”
Waterhouse was among the exhibitors at the Farm Toy and Collectable Show in Saskatoon, held the weekend of Jan. 13 to 15 at the German Cultural Centre.
The show featured 50 tables with thousands of items. Organizers said it draws around 900 visitors annually.
Tom brought home a couple of awards from this year’s show, both for his own handiwork.
A Cockshutt hay loader, decorated in red and yellow, won the “Scratch Built” trophy, awarded to an entry built from raw materials, rather than a kit or pre-assembled parts.
“The only thing bought on there is the two big wheels,” Tom said, looking at the homemade model.
He also won the “Custom Built” trophy for a pull-type combine he built — a John Deere 6601, to be precise.
For the full story, please see the Jan. 30 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.
Brodie Ringdal of the Davidson Peewee Cyclones heads for the goal while Dinsmore’s Claudia Lammers tries to block during the Jan. 23 provincial playoff game.
By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — The Peewee Cyclones were playing at full blast last week as they hosted the Dinsmore Dynamos in the first round of provincial playoffs.
Davidson defeated the Dynamos 13-3, giving the team an enormous lead in the two-game total-point series.
“The kids played hard, all of them,” said Chad Allan, who coaches the Davidson peewee team with Chad Manz and Jacob Schilling. “The whole bench was involved in the game.”
Allan said Dinsmore also played a hard game and didn’t let up, so the competition was more balanced than the score indicated.
The Cyclones led 4-1 at the end of the first period and were up 9-2 by the end of the second.
Brodie Ringdal led the scoring for Davidson with three goals and three assists.
Zack Prpick, Hayden O’Brien, Jackson Allan and McKenna Doell each scored two goals, while Derek Griffin and Carter Mooney had one goal each.
Jackson Allan had a pair of assists, while Noah Schneider, McKenna Doell, Zack Prpick, Carson Palmer, Donta Desjarlais and Aiden Pasher were each credited with one assist.
Kenaston’s Connor George stood in net for the Cyclones and also had a successful game.
Davidson is currently tied with the Wynyard 1 team for fifth place out of 12 peewee teams in the East Central Minor Hockey League, with eight wins, four losses and one tie.
“It’s a competitive league,” Allan remarked.
The second game of the playoff series was scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27 in Dinsmore.
The winner of the series will face Southey in the next round. Details will follow in an upcoming edition of the Leader.
Davidson’s Andrew Read gets some air in a Jan. 21 tournament game against Rocanville.
By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — The ingredients are all there for another successful season for Davidson’s senior boys basketball team.
What’s needed is a sustained effort and a determination to win, instead of just working to avoid losing, coach Kim Rettger said.
Last year’s senior boys team made history, winning Davidson its first provincial basketball title at Hoopla. Seven of those players graduated in June.
While the path to victory hasn’t been so direct this year, Rettger said Davidson is still among the top four 1A teams in the province, along with Rocanville and Middle Lake.
“All three of us are right in the lead,” said Rettger, adding that the victory would go to the team that makes the fewest mistakes and executes complete games.
The senior Raiders hosted eight teams in a home tournament the weekend of Jan. 20 and 21. Middle Lake won the weekend, defeating Rocanville by more than 20 points.
Rettger said it was a weekend of solid play for all participating teams, adding, “The calibre of basketball is just amazing.”
Davidson played a total of three games, easily defeating Langham in the opener on Friday night.
However, the two games on Saturday — against Rocanville and Norquay — proved more challenging, resulting in two close losses for the Raiders.
Coach Kim Rettger said he believes the team was up to the challenge in both games, but failed to keep its efforts up all the way through.
“There’s some work to do,” he said. “We’re in the games, we’re just not quite ready to play a complete game, it seems.”
For the full story, see the Jan. 30 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.
It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Dwight Puckett on Jan. 12, 2017. Dwight was a devoted husband and family man, extremely proud of his wife, his three children, and equally proud of his four grandchildren.
He spent many hours fishing and hunting with his family, two of his great passions of his life. He was an avid spectator at his childrens’ and grandchildrens’ sporting events, and was also involved with Boy Scouts and Air Cadets. Dwight spent many years teaching hunter safety courses as well. He had a wide variety of interests, most of which involved the great outdoors — hunting, fishing, flying small planes, and tractor pulling. Who can forget the sound of the Oliver Super 99 pulling the sled down the track?
For the last 15 years Dwight spent most summer weekends at black powder shoots with the Bethune and Saskatoon gun clubs where he made many treasured friends. During the week, he spent his time tinkering at his small engine repair business in Davidson. If you couldn’t find him in there, he was having coffee at the Shell, playing pool at the Seniors’ Centre, or having his “daily Pil” at a local watering hole.
Dwight was predeceased by his parents Neil and Margaret, grandson Allen Nelson, and brother-in-law Ron Balanoff. He will be deeply missed by wife Lynn, sons Bob and Michael (Kim), and daughter Michele (Gilbert) Nelson; grandchildren Trevor and Travis Nelson, Haylie and Hayden Puckett; brothers Jim (Fay) and Merritt; parents-in-law Bob and Phyllis Balanoff; sisters-in-law Penny Anderson, Pat (Kevin) Mackrell, Susan (Dave) Rodzen, Robin (Toby) Balanoff-Hok; step-grandchildren Jeff (Sandy) Nelson, Jeremy (Nicole) Nelson; step-great-grandchildren Shayla, Makayla and Jaxon Nelson.
A Celebration Of Life Funeral Service was held for Dwight at the United Church in Davidson, Sask., on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017, 11:00 a.m.
For friends so wishing, memorial donations in memory of Dwight may be directed to the Arm River Wildlife Federation.
Arrangements in care of Hanson’s Funeral Home of Davidson.
WHITE, Gerald
