Davidson

Study suggests ways to boost spirit

The Davidson United Church is trying something new in order to build the spiritual well being of the community and the individuals within it.

Mary Smillie, a leader with the multi-faith Rural Spirit Study project initiated by the Davidson United Church, said they are going to be installing “around $10,000” worth of audio-visual equipment in the church, so they can use the resources of the Internet to start content-driven conversations among community members. She said this would be phase two of the three-phase $30,000 research project that is funded by the United Church of Canada and is being conducted by the church and the Centre for Rural Community Leadership and Ministry (CiRCLe M) in Saskatoon.

“We saw, ourselves as a congregation, the need to understand better what it is that makes people’s spirit tick,” said Smillie about the purpose of the Rural Spirit Study. As “a church we’re supposed to exist for that, but as everybody can see in Canada and North America church populations are generally dwindling. That doesn’t mean people don’t still have a spirit that they want to nurture and we as a church need to change how we approach people from a spiritual point of view. We can’t do that unless we understand what it is that makes people’s spirit tick.”

Smillie said the word spirit is representative of things such as wonder, awe, and a person’s purpose, meaning, and connectivity in the world. She said religion is “not essential” in the steps they are taking to nurture the spirit of the community and individuals in the community.

“The end goal would be to take what generations before us built in terms of this church and this structure and this space…and continue to have it evolve and expand in what it does to be more relevant to more people in this community,” she said, noting they are not trying to get more people to attend United Church services with this project.

Cam Harder, executive director of CiRCLe M, said phase one of the study identified a number of factors through focus group research that resulted in a sense of spiritual well being in a person. He said one of these factors is the importance of having a place where people can have a content rich conversation about things that are important to them and that is something the church can provide using some of the funds from the scholarship.

“People felt that having these conversations was a really rich experience, so we thought what if we set up a space where we can for example Skype somebody in on a large screen TV from anywhere in the world really who could share something really interesting with us and we could have a back-and-forth with them,” said Harder, noting they could also show the self-development video TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks or YouTube videos and then have conversations about them. “We could (also) have the young people come in and they could share their favourite content piece from the Web…and it would allow for some intergenerational sharing of resources. It would allow for some content rich conversations.”

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

Sports

Penalty shot helps Canucks secure win

An errant trip by Cyclones defenceman Orrin Gryba with 7:54 left in the second period against the Drake Canucks proved the turning point in Davidson’s second-straight loss last Wednesday.

Gryba wasn’t sent to the penalty box on the play that saw the defenceman swipe his opponent’s feet with his stick on a diving attempt to stop a breakaway chance. The referee on the call instead decided to award the Canucks, who were losing 2-1 at the time despite playing the majority of the game in close quarters with Cyclones goalie Mark Zoerb, a penalty shot.

During the free attempt Canucks forward Doug McLeod raced down the centre of the ice shifting the puck from backhand to forward and again to backhand before slipping it low through the pad and glove of Zoerb who had went down to try and slide sideways to stop an expected shot to his blocker side.

“You just try and make him do the first move and then react to it,” said Zoerb, noting a goalie doesn’t usually face many penalty shots during the season, but they do happen.

“A call like that is a referee’s discretion,” said Cyclones coach Jason Shaw. “I could see why he’d call it, but maybe I didn’t think it could be a penalty shot. There is no changing his mind once he’s made that call.”

Canucks forward Derek Eberle struck 4:56 later at the tail end of a power play when he stuffed in a rebound off a Nick Kalnicki shot through Zoerb’s legs from in close giving Drake a lead they would not relinquish. A seeing-eye wrist shot from the point that somehow found the high glove side on Zoerb courtesy of Canucks defenceman Matt Rintoul 14:59 into a defence-first third period for Drake held up as the insurance marker.

Davidson would make it close 3:01 later when assistant captain Brett Siroski tapped in a behind-the-goal-line pass from Chad Manz bringing the score to 4-3 with their goalie pulled, but that would be the closest the Cyclones would come to a second home ice win this season.

“It was a really good game,” said Shaw. “We’re kind of short staffed a little bit right now, but the guys that were there played well. Drake is a good hockey team. We would have liked to win, but we were right there to the end. A couple breaks either way, a bounce here or a bounce there, and it might have been different.”

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

Sports

Aztecs best Cougars in provincial volleyball playoffs

The Loreburn Aztecs and Imperial Cougars senior girls volleyball teams didn’t take home any medals from the 2013 SHSAA Provincial 1A Girls Volleyball Championships played at Mankota and Glentworth Nov. 15 and 16, but they can still take pride in their strong play at the tournament.

Aztecs coach Coralee Vollmer said the Loreburn girls’ bronze medal game at provincials against the Elrose Eagles was a close affair with both teams having a chance to walk away with a win. She said the two teams have similar strengths and both played well, but the Eagles were a little more “on” than they were.

“We’ve played them before and we’ve beaten Elrose before and they’ve beaten us,” said Vollmer, noting the Aztecs defeated Elrose 2-1 on their way to a gold medal finish at the North Regional Championship held a week earlier at Loreburn. “It’s a back-and-forth deal between the teams. Our girls can go out and compete and every other team at provincials can go out and compete. Whoever (plays) the strongest (that day) is going to come out on top.”

Loreburn won the first set 25-18 against Elrose, but lost the final two by scores of 25-17 and 25-16 despite determined play by middle Gillian Wankel and power Ashley Norrish. Gillian and Ashley both had a number of brilliant hits leading to scores for the Aztecs during the game.

Vollmer said the two players are Grade 12 students, so the Elrose game would be their last as Aztecs. She said both were invaluable for the leadership and good attitude they brought to the team all season and the experience they brought to provincials considering they’ve been there a few times before.

“They try to make (their teammates) laugh and calm them down and yet play serious,” she said adding this was the seventh year in a row Loreburn has competed at provincials. “They are both very strong players. They kept the team up.”

The Aztecs made it to the bronze medal game after a semifinal 2-0 loss to the Fox Valley Legends, which came on the heels of a thrilling three-set victory over the Imperial Cougars.

The first set saw Imperial battle back from an early deficit only to eventually fall 25-18 to Loreburn in the quarterfinal match. The second set proved much closer with both teams trading points throughout the game. After going down early Imperial tied up the score at sevens during the second set and both teams then fought point-by-point throughout the rest of the action eventually coming to a 28-28 deadlock in extra time. Imperial would pull through scoring two big points to take the second set with a 30-28 score. The Aztecs offence proved the difference in the third set winning 25-13.

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

Davidson

Bulbs rekindle fond memories

The community will gather Dec. 11 to celebrate the inaugural lighting of Davidson’s Memory Bulb Tree.
Davidson’s public works department, with the aid of the town’s bucket truck, was perched high in the sky last Wednesday, stringing lights atop the tall evergreen tree beside Davidson’s town hall.
At 7 p.m. next Wednesday, the memory bulbs will be lit and the names of the people for whom the bulbs were purchased will be read aloud. After this, everyone is invited into the town hall to enjoy fellowship, Christmas music and refreshments of coffee, hot chocolate and cookies.
The aim is to have a simple festive gathering where people may gather and share the community spirit, says Erin Gust, of Davidson’s Communities in Bloom committee.
People may purchase a bulb on the string of lights as a tribute to someone. Some bulbs are being bought in memory of a loved one or friend who has passed away. Others are being bought to signify an individual who is special or important in someone’s life.
The memory bulb tree is a joint fund-raiser for Communities in Bloom and the new swimming pool fund.
Davidson’s Communities in Bloom committee borrowed the idea from Dundurn where last year more than 900 light bulbs were purchased, setting the town’s spruce tree aglow and helping raise $20,000 towards building a new fire hall.
Davidson hopes its tree will similarly light up the night sky as people consider buying a bulb for a loved one this Christmas
There is still time to buy a memory bulb. They are available for purchase at the town office, local businesses and from members of Communities in Bloom and the swimming pool facility committee.

Obituary

Pavelich, Emelia cropped

Pavelich
The peaceful death of Mrs. Emelia “Amy” Caroline Pavelich (nee Schneider), 82 years of St. Mary’s Villa, Humboldt and formerly of Davidson and Bladworth, occurred on Monday, November 18, 2013. Amy was born on May 14, 1931 at Allan to Michael and Catherine (nee Feist) Schneider. She grew up in a family of nine and attended Limestone Hill School. Following her education, she worked at domestic jobs for various families in the area. Amy met Lawrence Pavelich at a dance in Allan and they were married on October 16, 1950 in Seltz, Sask. Their only son, Peter was born in the same house in which Amy had been born. They operated a mixed farm in the Bladworth area. Amy loved gardening and tending to her many beautiful flowers, especially her red poppies, which were not only decorative but used in her baking as well. She was gifted at cooking and baking, with her specialties being buns, apple pies, kooka, cinnamon buns and perogies. Peter remembers coming home from school almost daily to a freshly baked apple pie. Amy enjoyed crocheting, making afghans and doilies. She was very meticulous with her cleaning and she kept their home spotless. Amy was a statistician, keeping accurate records of the weather for many years. She was vocal about her political views, writing many letters to the government officials, feeling that you couldn’t be heard, if you didn’t write. She also filled many little books with the many poems she wrote over the years. Amy and Lawrence loved to dance, belonging to several dance clubs and attending dances throughout the province. In 1995, they retired to Davidson, where they lived for 12 years before moving to Humboldt. In January 2013, due to Alzheimer’s, she made the move to St. Mary’s Villa. Amy’s family meant everything to her, they may have been few in number but they shared a very special bond. Amy will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by her husband of 63 years, Lawrence Pavelich; son Peter (Debra) Pavelich; granddaughter Carla (Michael) Barlage and children Logan, Noah and Paige; and grandson Cory (Janelle) Pavelich and children Carter and Kenzie, all of Humboldt; two brothers and two sisters: Pius Schneider of Aberdeen, SD, Marcella Mitzel of Sunnyside, WA, Terri (Ed) Haberman of Victoria, B.C., and Lawrence (Kaye) Schneider of Stony Plain, Alta.; sister-in-law Grace Schneider; in-laws of the Pavelich family, Vincent (Pat) Pavelich and Shirley (Dale) Weisner, all of Kenaston; and numerous nieces and nephews. Amy was predeceased by her parents, Michael and Catherine Schneider; brothers and sisters: Andrew (Shirley) Schneider, Elizabeth (Ken) Christopher, Ray (Lucy) Schneider and Jerome Schneider; brothers and sisters-in-law: Pete Mitzel, Francis (Jim) Irvin, Mary (John) Howard, Ann Pavelich, John Pavelich, Helen (Bill) Kardish, Joe (Mary) Pavelich, Steve Pavelich and Andrew Pavelich. The Funeral Mass was held on Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, Humboldt celebrated by Fr. Gregory Roth. Interment followed at the St. Augustine Parish Cemetery. Memorial donations in Amy’s memory may be directed to the St. Mary’s Villa Foundation. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Malinoski & Danyluik Funeral Home, Humboldt (306-682-1622).

Davidson, featured

Turning wood into wings

Some local folks carved up the competition at the recent Reflections of Nature 2013 wildlife art competition, show and sale in Saskatoon.
Davidson wood carvers Eileen McRae and Jenny Scott and Austin Eade of Craik won awards at the annual show that showcases some of the best wildlife artists in western Canada.
The show is the largest in western Canada, so the quality of the carving is high and the competition stiff.
McRae won ribbons in the novice level for her elf owls carving which won first place for birds of prey class. Her morning dove won first place for the mid-sized birds class and the morning dove also won third place in the division.
She is particularly pleased that her Happy Bull won first place in the wildlife caricature category and then went on to win best in show.
McRae said when a show organizer first wrote down the name of the piece, he called it “Happy Cow”. She quickly corrected him. “Turn him over,” McRae told the man. “It’s not a cow.”
Scott brought home a first-place ribbon in the decorative miniature bird carvings division for her downy woodpecker, which took first place in the class and third in the division. Her kestrels won second in the birds of prey class for life-size bird carvings.
“Saskatoon has the toughest show going,” says Austin Eade, who has entered his carvings in shows across Canada.
He credits Saskatchewan’s long, cold winters for the prowess of the province’s wood carvers.
Eade enters his carvings in the open level, the toughest at the shows. Every minute detail is judged from the quills, feathers to barbettes. Every feature must be carved, including the branch or driftwood on which the bird is posed. Eade says the only allowance to this is the carvers may use glass eyes.
Eade’s pine grosbeak won second in the decorative life-size bird division in the songbirds class and third in the division. His Bairds sandpiper was first in its class and won second in the division.
He started carving birds almost seven years ago. He took classes to learn the craft. Eade says he only carves birds because that is what he started carving and has learned about bird anatomy.
He begins by sketching and creating his own patterns to get an attitude and habitat he likes. Then he gets ready to whittle.
He spends many, many hours on his carvings, which he enters in competitions throughout Canada.
“When you take all winter to carve something, you want to dig it out and show it,” Eade says.
He also judges competitions.
Carvings are judged on how closely the carving resembles the live bird. They also look at the presentation.
McRae said it can get pretty detailed.
“At the show they really will critique them. It can get down to them counting feathers on them,” she said.
To read more please see the November 18 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan