Sports

Sabers one win away from provincial final

The Hanley Sabers senior boys football team is one win away from advancing to its second straight 6-man provincial championship final.

Standing in their way is the relatively unknown North Valley High Eagles who are seeing their first provincials’ competition in their short five-year history.

Mark Anderson, coach of the Sabers, said their Nov. 2 semifinal game at Lemberg against the Eagles may be the first time they have seen the club, but opposition coaches have given the Hanley staff a few pointers to help them prepare. He said North Valley High has a strong quarterback and plays a good all-round game, so his club will have to play their best to advance.

“They sound like a very strong team,” said Anderson. “From here on in there are no easy games. We’re in tough here. We lost a lot of kids from last year, so it’ll be a tough game for us. They are a very athletic team, so it’ll be interesting to see what they have for us.”

Eagles coach Bob Mayo said his team (6-1 in conference play this year) is “pretty quick” and uses that speed to their advantage. He said they’re not overly big, but play to their strengths which they must keep on doing if they hope to beat Hanley.

“The main thing is we’ve got to stay relaxed and not get too up,” said Mayo, whose team advanced to the semifinal game with a 52-28 quarterfinals win Oct. 26 over the Carrot River Wildcats. “We’ve never hosted a provincial game here and there has been a lot of buzz in our town, so keep our kids focused and as long as they do their jobs we’ll be in the game. If we get running around or trying to cover for people or do things that we’re not supposed to then we’re going to get in trouble.”

The Sabers advanced to the semifinal after trouncing the Elrose Eagles 74-16 at home in their Oct. 26 quarterfinal match. The team was led on defence once again by the strong play of safety Mike Lohrey who pulled in four interceptions and led the team in tackles.

Offensive ends Jesse Presnell and Kody Rowlet scored three touchdowns apiece for the Sabers to lead the team, while quarterback Joel Peters had an outstanding game throwing for over 200 yards.

Anderson said the team’s playoff experience really came into play against Elrose and the fact their conference is a bit better in competition level helped as well. He said the Eagles have good athletes and some big kids, but the Sabers were able to take advantage of some uncertainty on the Elrose defence propelling Hanley to an quick 22-0 lead after the first quarter and a 66-8 lead after three.

To read more please see the November 4 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Speaker to discuss armed conflict

“What is the right fight?”
This is a question Claude Weil will discuss at Davidson’s Remembrance Day Service next Monday.
Weil, who served three years in an Israeli combat unit in the 1970s, knows about conflict.
He was born in the French colony of Algeria (North Africa) in 1954 and grew up in the village of Mézériat near Lyon in France.
He remembers, as a schoolboy, how the entire school would march with First and Second Word War veterans to the cenotaph in Mézériat for Remembrance Day services.
While driving to Regina a couple years ago, he stopped in Davidson and visited the cenotaph on main street and was appalled by the number of casualties Davidson suffered on the Western Front. He told his childhood friend, Etienne Robin, who is now Mézériat’s mayor. Robin wrote the Town of Davidson a letter to let them know that these sacrifices are remembered. In the letter Robin wrote: “This letter is a modest homage from us to the long lost soldiers of Davidson who fought for the freedom of so many French people they did not even know and would never know. Be assured that the sons your village left in our soil are well loved and their graves well cared for. Their families are dear to our hearts. They did not sacrifice in vain.”
The letter was featured in The Davidson Leader last November and the story interested Gord McRae, president of Davidson’s branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, so he asked Weil to speak at this year’s Nov. 11 service.
“I thought the letter the mayor (from Mézériat, France) sent was intriguing and it encouraged me a lot to try something different,” McRae said of why he invited Weil to speak at Davidson’s Remembrance Day service.
For years McRae has worked organizing Davidson’s Remembrance Day Service. He wants to keep it relevant so as to ensure new generations participate in the act of remembering Canada’s war casualties. Partnerships with DICA and Davidson School have helped to keep the Remembrance Day Service going in light of the fact Davidson’s Legion branch isn’t very active due to declining membership.
“I thought (having Claude Weil speak) would be something different to try and get the public coming back to the service,” McRae said.
He hopes people attend the Remembrance Day service, but worries people may treat the statutory day off like a holiday because it falls on a Monday, giving people a long weekend.
To read more please see the November 4 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Obituary

GoodsmanGeorgeobitphoto2

Goodsman, George Edward
October 18, 1917 – October 26, 2013

George Edward Goodsman was born at home on his father’s homestead on October 18, 1917. He took his schooling at Bermuda School and completed grade eight before leaving school to assist his father on the farm. He remained a farmer all of his life. He grew up in the age of horses and always loved them. He owned and enjoyed horses throughout his lifetime. He chose to serve his Lord and Master in 1933 at the age of 16 and was faithful to this choice to the end of his days. He married Jean when he was 35 years old and was married for almost 61 years. He died peacefully in the Davidson Health Centre on October 26, 2013 at the age of 96. In his younger days, George loved to have fun and was known to be a tease. He had a wonderful memory for numbers, names and events until his final illness. We have lost a link with the history of this community as well as the history related to friends and family. In the last stage of his life his caregivers remarked on how thankful he was.

He is dearly loved and fondly remembered by his wife Jean of Stalwart; three sons; Gordon of Thailand (Brenda); Gary (Bonny) and Glenn of Stalwart ; and his daughter Gayla of Lethbridge, Alta., as well as grandchildren Devin, Tanna and Jeric and step-grandchildren Sheena, Chelsea (Tyler, Kale) and Sean. He is survived by one brother, Frank (Helen) of Lumsden and brother-in-law Albert (Olive) of Viking, Alta.; sisters-in-law Edna of Saskatoon, Marie of Stalwart, Ellen of Regina, Marg of Maple Ridge, B.C., Ella of Calgary, Alta., Audrey of Kelowna, B.C. and Phyllis of Viking, Alta. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews and friends.
 

The funeral service was held in Imperial Community Centre, Imperial, Sask. on Friday, November 1 at 2 p.m. conducted by Jim Atcheson. A private family interment preceded in Imperial Cemetery. For those so wishing donations to Long Lake Valley Foundation or Davidson Health Centre would be appreciated. For online condolences, tributes or to make a donation please visit http://www.fotheringham-mcdougall.com

featured

Researchers track moose on the move

For the past nine months a University of Saskatchewan research group has been monitoring 17 adult female moose that live in the area along Highway 11 between Dundurn and Chamberlain to try to gain a better understanding of their tendencies.

Ryan Brook, moose project director and assistant professor in the U of S College of Agriculture and Bioresources, said there has been a “few hiccups” with some of the GPS collars they put around each moose’s neck last February, but they have still been able to keep tracking those few with VHF radio signals. He said the research group also went on the ground in June and September to check on each female to see if she had calves.

“We saw in the spring there was on average 0.85 calves per cow,” said Brook. “It’s a little less than one-to-one on average, but we did see a number of twins as well and a few that had none.

“These animals can live for a long time. If they’re producing almost one calf per female then that certainly suggests a potential for real growth in the population.”

Brook said these moose are up and moving around a lot right now due to harvest activities, hunting season and the rut. He said with the moose breeding season males are paired up with females making these animals mobile and active, which is pretty consistently the time when the most moose-vehicle collisions occur.

“Because we only have adult females we don’t have a representation of the whole population and, of course, we only have a small sample of what’s there,” he said. “Some of the animals that we are monitoring have been crossing the highway quite regularly. We (have) one that is crossing almost every second day for the last little while…and is currently sitting probably about 200 metres from Hwy. 11, so that one is obviously a very risky one.

“That one is just north of Bladworth and hasn’t gone more than 300 metres away from Highway 11 in the last two weeks, so that one is a very heavy concern.”

The majority of the moose crossings happen at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. when visibility is at its lowest. Moose are also especially hard to spot from a vehicle because they have long legs, are a dark brown or chocolate brown colour and don’t always look at a vehicle so a motorist wouldn’t see their eyes.

Brook said one of the things the group is interested in looking at further is why moose are sticking around the highway. He said they think the main things are moose are attracted to road salt, there is lots of wetland, shrubbery and tree cover along the highway and staying close to the road helps them avoid hunters.

“They’re right near Hwy. 11 with all the traffic and you’re not allowed to discharge a firearm across a road or a highway, so being close to a highway may be a partial safety factor from hunters,” he said. “Predators in this general area between Saskatoon and Regina are probably not much if any wolves and very few bears, so we’re not sure if predation really plays a role here. The only predator of significance is coyotes and it’s not clear as to whether coyotes play any kind of real role or impact for moose. Predation risk may not be a real concern for these moose, but certainly hunting pressure is.”

To read more please see the October 28 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Craik

Kids learn the bricklayers trade at Craik School

Saskatchewan Bricklayers Union training coordinator Brian Adams headed to Craik School last Monday to teach a group of interested kids a life skill.

“This is our first time (at Craik School) and this is going to be a real good partnership between the school and the educators and the trades and that’s what it’s all about, completing the cycle,” said Adams. “It works out pretty good. Kids that try it like it (and) every once in a while we get some that take it on and, in a few years, hopefully one or two of these kids, will end up in the trade working for a union bricklaying company and they’ll be journeyman bricklayers. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Adams said the kids who came out for the new Craik School Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) course began the day by building up four levels of brickwork before jointing it. He said the first class of six he would teach over the next six months ended with the students “unfortunately” taking down their work and cleaning up.

“Next month (they’ll) start again and get a little bit better and they’ll do a little bit more work,” he said. “It’s a progressive thing. There is very little bookwork in this. These kids don’t want to do that. They just want to get a trowel in their hand and go.”

This is the first year the Saskatchewan Bricklayers Union has been able to offer a masonry class to a rural school as it was only offered to students in Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina before. Students who opt to take part in the class earn a PAA credit that they need in order to graduate and also have the chance to try their hand at the Skills Canada Saskatchewan competition held April 10 and 11 in Prince Albert.

Gord Taylor, principal of Craik School, said they are hoping to send a group of kids to the 16th annual high school skills competition so they can show off what they’ve learned this year. He said the response from students toward the course has been “overwhelming” since they approached kids about the possibility of offering the course last spring.

“Kids want to be a part of it,” he said, noting the course includes about 70 hours of practical design and construction training and 30 classroom hours. “Our hope is to continue offering it.”

To read more please see the October 28 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Sabers knock Bulldogs out of playoffs

The Hanley Sabers senior boys football team has secured a home date against the Elrose Eagles in the provincial quarterfinals after knocking the Central Butte Bulldogs out of the playoffs Oct. 19 at the Jungle.

Sabers head coach Mark Anderson said they don’t know much about the Elrose team, which advanced to the Oct. 26 quarterfinal game after beating the Eatonia Spartans 62-45 a week earlier at Elrose. He said the Sabers have never lined up against them, but expects the Eagles to be strong.

“They have five wins and a tie, so they’re a five-win team,” said Anderson. “They came in second in their conference, so that’s why we’re playing them. Then our second place team is playing the first place team in their conference. Gull Lake will be playing Kerrobert.”

Jess Kingwell, head coach of the Eagles, said his team that is made up of players from Elrose, Dinsmore and Kyle doesn’t know much about Hanley as well, except that they have some big bodies. He said they do know the Sabers hit hard and tackle well, so they’ll have to get a few good blocks to get their balanced offence going.

We’re “quite good actually,” said Kingwell. “We do some runs, some throws and try to keep the defence off guard and catch them off guard when we can.”

Kingwell said their 62-45 win over Eatonia was a tale of two very different halves. He said they came out “really strong” in the first half, but forgot they still had to win the game in the final two quarters letting the Spartans right back into it.

“It definitely wasn’t our best second half this season,” he said. “In fact it was probably one of our worst ones. We played Eatonia twice already up to that point. We tied them our first game of the year and we beat them quite easily in our second one, so I think (our players) had that in mind and were maybe looking past them already. They definitely gave us a run for our money.”

Anderson said the coaching staff is unhappy about how the score got away in their match against Central Butte and it doesn’t reflect the strong game the Bulldogs put up. He said Central Butte marched the ball down the field most of the game, but couldn’t put it in the end zone and then his offence got rolling.

“It was 18-8 after the first quarter,” he said. “It was 38-8 (at the half), but definitely it felt different than that. They really moved the ball well. Again our depth came into (play) and they were playing multiple players both ways. We don’t do much of that and if we can stay tight with a team usually we can do well later.”

Sabers safety Mike Lohrey lead the defence against Central Butte with a combined 21 tackles and assists. Lohrey also managed to score three touchdowns when the coaches threw him in for a few running plays. Hanley also was helped on the scoreboard by offensive end Kody Rowlet who made it into the end zone twice while also racking up over 200 yards receiving.

The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan