A 28-year-old Watrous man, on Friday, Aug. 23, had police on a wild, three-hour chase down highways, prairie trails and across farm fields.
It all ended in Last Mountain Lake, at Etters Beach, where the Mounties finally caught their man by fishing him out of the lake.
The Friday night chase began at about 5:30 when Const. Brendan Fonteyne of the Watrous RCMP detachment responded to a complaint of a suspicious vehicle parked in an alley in Watrous.
That suspicious vehicle turned out to be the truck that was reported stolen from Fast Toys for Boys trailer dealership in Davidson.
Terry Dieno, owner of Fast Toys for Boys, said they noticed the truck, which is a dualee pick up truck they use to tow RVs from Indiana to Davidson, missing the morning of Thursday, Aug. 22.
The thief drove through the fence surrounding the dealership, demolishing about 100 feet of it, to make his escape.
Dieno reported the stolen truck to Craik RCMP.
The next day, Dieno was notified that police had spotted his truck in Watrous.
However, Dieno’s truck didn’t stay in Watrous long.
Fonteyne said when he went to check out the truck, the driver took off, driving south out of Watrous on Highway 668. Fonteyne tried to pull over the vehicle but the driver fled across a grain field south of Watrous where a farmer was swathing. Fonteyne said the suspect then traded trucks, taking the farmer’s truck, a 2013 GMC Sierra, and took off again.
By now, four RCMP cruisers were involved in the chase, with Watrous and Craik RCMP detachments each supplying two vehicles.
Fonteyne said the officers lost sight of the suspect vehicle while he was fleeing across a field, heading back to Davidson.
The thief didn’t stay lost for long.
Dieno said when police notified him that they’d spotted his truck he was about to go flying in his plane, so he offered to look for his truck.
Dieno said he usually flies eastward out of town, but police advised him to go south towards Craik.
While he was still heading east, Dieno said he saw headlights coming down a prairie trail.
He took a look at the truck, but it wasn’t his, so he was about to head south, when he got an update that the suspect had abandoned Dieno’s truck and stole a different one.
Dieno said he asked police for a description of the vehicle and realized he had flown right over top of the thief.
To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Council looks into sewer repair
Members of town council expressed a desire to develop a long-term infrastructure plan dealing with sewer pipe restoration at their monthly meeting Aug. 20.
As discussed at the meeting, council is considering entering into a long-term contract with Acme Sewer Service out of Regina to install fiberglass liners in problem sewer pipes in town. Acme Sewer Service has done similar work in Saskatoon, Yorkton, North Battleford and many other cities and towns throughout Saskatchewan.
It would cost taxpayers $49,400 to put in a liner along a whole block. This amount covers everything involved in the job including inspecting the pipe with a camera, installing the liner and pre- and post-video of the job.
The first block that would be worked on in town is a section of Hamilton Street. A sewer pipe along Hamilton Street is in need of repair due to breaks in the pipe and tree roots digging into it.
Council stated at the meeting the advantage of going with this type of work is there would be no need to rip up the street when putting in these liners. The liners are shot into the pipe by an air compressor and harden and contour to the shape of the pipe once they are in.
Installing a liner takes around 10 to 12 hours and comes with a two-year warranty. The expected life expectancy of a liner is 50 years.
There is nothing in the budget to begin the work on Hamilton Street this year, but council stated it could be done in the next budget year. Council intends to hold a planning meeting in November to come up with a long-term infrastructure plan to restore the remaining problem sewer pipes in town.
To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Craik to hold Old Town Hall centennial
The old town hall bell in Craik is going to ring again Sept. 7 when the community joins together to celebrate the 100th birthday of the historic building.
Helen Lee, volunteer with Craik’s Old Town Hall 100th Birthday Celebration, said residents of town over 90 years old have been invited to ring the now little-used bell as a way to begin the centennial celebration. She said this opening ceremony for the festival would usher in a day of revellery for the community as they gather together to commemorate the town’s past while having a bit of old-fashioned fun.
“This gives everybody a chance to have a look at the history of what was going on around here and having the youth involved with the elders, so we have a chance to learn about it and create our own history,” said Lee.
After the opening ceremony, festival goers will be invited to an old-fashioned tea at the Community Legion Hall before the Craik Lions Club put on a bingo. During the afternoon there are also plans for tours of the old town hall, kid’s activities, a car show along Main Street and entertainment on the upper floors of the building.
“We’ve got some people lined up to do about 20-minute sets upstairs,” she said. “I’ve got about 80 minutes worth of people right now, but I’m still looking for some daytime performers that could do 20-minute sets.”
Lee said the entertainment the group has organized for the day is musical, but they are open to anything if someone has other ideas in mind. She said in addition to the concert people would be invited to visit the Craik Oral History room at the town hall during the day and the Craik Museum would be open for tours.
The day is going to be capped off with a community barbecue supper followed by a talent show at the Legion Hall. Revellers have also been invited to dress up in outfits covering the period of time from when the town hall first opened to the present day.
“We’re asking people to dress up in their favourite decade,” said Lee. “It’s anywhere from 1913 to 2013, so if you just come in your regular clothes then you’re dressing in the 2010s. We want to make it easy.”
Lee said it has taken the group a few months to organize the festivities and she is very excited for the day to begin. She said the help by various volunteers in the community to get everything ready is really appreciated and hopes the day brings back fond memories to everyone who joins in the fun.
To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Tree removal part of long-term sidewalk plan
As part of a wider infrastructure plan, council has started looking into which trees in town are causing problems with a goal of replacing them with other varieties that wouldn’t wreck Davidson’s sidewalks.
Tyler Alexander, a Town of Davidson councillor, said he hates to see any of their trees in town go down, but the ones that are causing safety issues for town residents or causing damage to town property need to be addressed.
“We’re working on getting a long-term sidewalk plan…we’re having a hard time (getting) people to do sidewalks for us, but we’re looking at a long-term sidewalk plan,” said Alexander. “The two things can definitely co-exist, working on (tree replacement) and repairing the sidewalks.”
Alexander said town foreman Rod German went around town this past spring with a map in hand to pinpoint problem sidewalks. He said one of the major problems for town council in getting sidewalks repaired is the expense involved.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of money for it this year,” he said. “The money we are able to budget as of right now would do us maybe a block a year, so we’ve had a couple things like the roof in the town hall needs fixing and there is some stuff at the rink that needed repair too. Money was a little tight this year, (but) we do have some set aside for sidewalks.”
Bob Gust said the sidewalk outside his home on Grant Street has become a problem because a large poplar planted on town property in front of his home has raised a section of the concrete about four inches. He said some large branches from the tree that hung over his roof were recently removed, but thinks the whole tree should go.
“It’s broke,” Gust said about the sidewalk. People “could trip quite easily. The sidewalk needs improving.”
To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Lukiwski to seek Conservative candidacy in Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan riding
The two Members of Parliament who serve this area have decided to run again in the 2015 federal election, but the constituencies they seek to represent have changed dramatically.
Late last month Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre MP Tom Lukiwski announced his intention to seek the Conservative candidacy in the new federal Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency, while Blackstrap MP Lynne Yelich said she plans to run in the new riding of Saskatoon-Grasswood.
“I think it’s important for MPs to actually live in the riding that they wish to represent (and) because of the boundary changes I am now a resident of Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan,” said Lukiwski, a long-time resident of Regina Beach. “To me it was a fairly simple decision that if I wanted to continue in public life that would be the riding in which I would need to represent.”
The new Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan constituency combines rural areas of the existing ridings of Blackstrap, Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre and Palliser and includes the City of Moose Jaw.
Lukiwski said the boundaries for all rural ridings across Saskatchewan are now far larger than previously drawn due to the Saskatchewan federal electoral boundaries commission’s decision to create five urban only ridings including three in Saskatoon and two in Regina. He said it would be a challenge for him to represent such a large area in Parliament, but plans on working hard to introduce himself to all his future constituents and make sure they know he is available when they need him.
“In Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan, it’s a very large riding now,” he said. “It stems all the way from almost the city limits of Saskatoon to the city limits of Regina on a north-south basis and just west of Moose Jaw to just east of Lanigan in a east-west situation, so it is very very large.
“I think the requirement would be to have at least two constituency offices to try and accommodate the needs of the constituents on a timely basis (and) on a regular basis, but it is something that I am prepared for and certainly something that I would be willing to do in terms of travel.”
Yelich said she has decided to seek the Conservative candidacy in the new Saskatoon-Grasswood constituency because it includes her current home in the Stonebridge area of Saskatoon, but noted it is going to be difficult for her to stop serving some of the residents of her current Blackstrap riding including those from her hometown of Kenaston.
To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
A daughter home
Margery Effie Norwood (Wopschall)
January 21, 1916 – September 22, 2012
Margery was born in Millbrook, South Dakota to Walter and Effie Wopschall. She was the second of four children, older brother Max and two younger brothers Arlyn and Wesley who all preceded her in death. When she was two her dad purchased 650 acres of farm land in Kenaston, Sask., Canada. Thus began her life on the prairie. When she was 18 she left her Perrier life and moved to Pasadena, California to live with her aunt and go to college. She met and married Eugene F. Norwood in 1942. He also preceded her in death. Margery drew up the house plans and her father and uncle built their first home in Los Angeles, California where Margery worked at Palomar College until she retired. She was also very active in the community church of Vista, where she was on several boards and served as a deaconess. At the time of her death she was living with her daughter in San Diego. She is survived by her daughter Ann Daniels, granddaughter Amanda Daniels of Vista and many nieces and nephews, along with her childhood friends in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Graveside services will be held Sept. 7, 2013, 11:30 a.m. at the Kenaston public cemetery followed with a light luncheon at the Evangelical Missionary Church. In keeping with her love of reading in lieu of flowers please make a book donation in her name to the public library.