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COMICS ◆ C4 BUSINESS ◆ C5,C6 Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013
Carolyn Martindale, City Editor, 403-314-4326 Fax 403-341-6560 E-mail editorial@reddeeradvocate.com
DESTINATIONS DINNER Pack your suitcase — Destinations Dinner and Auction, in support of Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter, happens March 7 at Black Knight Inn. Live and silent auctions feature vacations around the globe and a few North American favourites. Destinations include New York City, London, Las Vegas, Phoenix and West Edmonton Mall and a Caribbean cruise. Admission tickets automatically enter people to win a vacation to a surprise destination. Tickets are $150 each and $1,200 for a table of eight. Tickets are available at www.cawes.com or by contacting Tina Trowsse at 403318-2321 or at Tina. trowsse@cawes. com. All proceeds go to support victims of serious criminal domestic violence.
Ag centre issues attacked PONOKA AG EVENT CENTRE SOCIETY, COUNTY HASHING OUT DIFFERENCES BY RANDY FIEDLER ADVOCATE STAFF Ponoka Ag Event Centre Society board members hope their upcoming meeting Monday will return Ponoka County’s support. The county recently pulled its support services after the board declined to change its membership to give the county and Town of Ponoka equal representation with the Ponoka Stampede Association and Ponoka Agricultural Society. The latter each have three board directors while the county and town have one apiece. There’s also one director at large from the community. “There’s been some meetings and negotiations and stuff so it’s getting worked out,” said Ag Event Centre Society president Terry Jones, one of the stampede association’s three representatives.
‘WE’RE AN OPEN BOOK AND THEY NOT SO MUCH. OUR SOLUTION WAS TO HAVE EQUAL REPRESENTATION.’ — PONOKA COUNTY CAO CHARLIE CUTFORTH
The $8.5-million centre is a partnership of the four organizations. It was built with contributions of $3.5 million from Ponoka County, the Ponoka Stampede Association’s donation of 15 acres of land worth $500,000, $275,000 from the Ponoka Agricultural Society and $150,000 from the town. The province contributed $3.7 million in grants and EnCana $500,000. Calnash Trucking has since paid $500,000 for naming rights. Ponoka County sent the Ag Event Centre Society board letters early this year asking for equal representation, one of them saying if the board contin-
ued operations in a “quasi-private way,” the county’s support would end. The board declined and the county pulled its snowplowing, manure disposal and gravelling services as well as a skid steer, service truck and office equipment. At issue is whether the board should govern by setting policies for its manager or be involved in day-to-day operations. Ponoka County CAO Charlie Cutforth, the board’s founding president, said “from the outset, we agreed it was a governance board. “When the manager arrived, it became very clear that there are those on the board who nev-
BLACKFALDS TRADE SHOW The Blackfalds Community Hall will be the scene of a trade show and marketplace on March 9. A variety of hand-crafted and commercial goods will be on display, with more than 25 vendors in attendance. In addition, there will be a raffle, with proceeds going to support a an Innisfail girl’s cost of treatment for Batten Disease. The event runs from noon to 4 p.m. and includes a hot lunch. For more information and vendor registration, contact Tristina at 403-3027935 or pelle95@shaw. ca.
GIVE US A CALL The Advocate invites its readers to help cover news in Central Alberta. We would like to hear from you if you see something worthy of coverage. And we would appreciate hearing from you if you see something inaccurate in our pages. We strive for complete, accurate coverage of Central Alberta and are happy to correct any errors we may commit. Call 403-314-4333.
Please see PROBLEMS on Page C2
Couple donates art to college
FAIR VOTE CAMPAIGN The Red Deer Action Team are making use of a Python to advance their cause for electoral reform. Titled John Cleese and Beyond: Understanding Proportional Representation, the local chapter of Fair Vote Canada’s meeting on Monday will feature a video that Cleese, a former member of the comedy troupe Monty Python, made in 1987 advocating for proportional representation in British politics. Don Tronsgard, a longtime member of the Edmonton chapter of Fair Vote Canada, will follow addressing the question of whether proportional representation would work in Alberta and Canada. The meeting will get going at 7 p.m. in the Snell Auditorium of the Red Deer Public Library. All are welcome to the free event.
er intended it.” The county and town are accountable to taxpayers while the stampede association and ag society are “more closed,” he explained. “We’re an open book and they not so much. Our solution was to have equal representation.” Board past-president and town councillor Doug Gill agreed the town “would like to see it move towards that model. “Once policies are in place, you stand back and let the manager do his job.” Ponoka county councillor George Verheire said a closeddoor meeting two weeks ago with the Ponoka Stampede Association proved positive. “I’m hoping calmer minds will prevail. It’s a bump in the road.”
$286,000 VALUE
Photo by PAUL COWLEY/Advocate staff
Brad Barnes has just released his first book, ‘The Reluctant Canadian: Inspired by the True Story of a Canadian Home Child’, which tells the story of the Home Children, youngsters from Great Britain who were sent to Canada to work as farm help.
Author tells story of Britain’s ‘Home Children’ in Canada PRACTICE INVOLVE TAKING YOUNGSTERS FROM FAMILIES OFTEN LIVING IN POVERTY AND SHIPPED TO CANADA TO SERVE AS FARM HELP BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF A Red Deer author has spun a family revelation into a heart-breaking tale of Britain’s “Home Children” in Canada. That was the name given to the youngsters, taken from families often living in poverty and shipped to Canada to serve as farm help. It is estimated more than 100,000 children crossed the Atlantic to Canada from the 1860s to the 1920s. Many others ended up in South Africa and Australia. The practice only ended in Canada when a series of suicides prompted authorities to ban charities bringing in children under the age of 14. Brad Barnes’s The Reluctant Canadian: Inspired
by the True Story of a Canadian Home Child is a fictionalized imagining of the life of his grandfather, Sid Barnes, who was sent to Canada in 1914 as an eight-year-old as part of the Child Immigration Scheme. The novel started out as a family history, inspired by the discovery in 1992 of Sid’s background. Brad’s father George knew little of his father who had left the family when George was still a baby. George would meet his father, and Brad his grandfather, briefly in 1993. They spent a few wordless minutes in a Princeton, B.C. hospital room, where Sid died a few hours later. Intrigued by his grandfather’s hidden past, Brad began researching.
Please see CHARITY on Page C2
Red Deer College visual art students won’t have to look far for inspiration. Globally renowned artists Les Graff and Jacqueline Stehelin recently donated two bodies of artistic work valued at $286,000 to the college. The work comprises 169 pieces of art that will become a part of the Red Deer College permanent collection – bringing the total amount of pieces in the collection to 800. The art pieces were carefully chosen by Graff and the college’s visual arts faculty specifically for their teaching potential. “Much of the work donated provides examples of process — how ideas in art develop, change and become resolved. This we thought would assist art students in training,” said Graff in a press release. The college celebrated the generous donation from the Central Alberta couple at RDC’s Margaret Parson’s Theatre on Tuesday night. Graff has been a full-time artist for over 50 years. His genre of landscape art with abstract tones has been featured around the world in solo and group exhibitions, museums and galleries. Graff’s wife Stehelin, a figurative artist, finds inspiration from subjects within her surroundings. Her work has been featured at Scott Gallery in Edmonton and Virginia Christopher Fine Art in Calgary, with various exhibitions throughout Western Canada.
Please see ART on Page C2
First leadership conference planned After two years of planning , the Leadership Centre of Central Alberta will host its first leadership conference. Presenters from near and far will be on hand for the May 9-10 event to offer wisdom, insight and inspiration to the attendees, who will gather at the Sheraton Red Deer Hotel. The conference’s first day will feature two American authors and leadership developers, James Kouzes and James Robbins, along with a number of breakout session presenters. On May 10, Sylvan Lake Olympian bobsledder Lyndon Rush will present live, before a satellite broadcast featuring Jack Welch, Condoleezza Rice and others. “(Lyndon) is going to be talking about what he’s learned in a leadership role as a (bobsleigh) driver and learning from the ups and downs of his career. As he says, the greatest learning opportunities come on the downs, learning what to do to get back on those highs,” said Linda Wilson, executive director of the Leader-
LEADERSHIP CENTRE OF CENTRAL ALBERTA ship Centre. The program for the evening of May 9 is open to the public and promises to be “action packed.” Beginning at 6 p.m., nonprofit groups of Central Alberta will be in the spotlight, with the opportunity to showcase what they do to attendees and let people know what skills they are seeking from volunteers. A silent auction will be held concurrently, with unique experiences to be bid on. However, it will not be money being bid, but rather bidders will be bidding hours that they will commit to volunteering for a local non-profit. “It’s just the chance to cue people on the needs of the non-profit sector here in Central Alberta,” explained Wilson. The evening will continue with the awarding of the Pillar of the Community Award to a local unsung hero. Application forms for the award, avail-
able at www.theleadershipcentre.ca, must be submitted by March 15. After dinner, the Alberta Sings competition will take place, which will pit three local businesses against each other in a song and dance contest raising funds for nonprofits of the groups’ choice. One spot remains open for the competition. The cost to attend the Thursday night festivities is $75. Early bird registration for the conference runs until Friday. Fees vary, with the basic fee being $399/$449 (early bird/regular) for individuals and $199/$179 (early bird/regular) for registrants from non-profits. Discounts are available for alumni of past Leadership Centre programs. To register or for more information, visit www.theleadershipcentre.ca/conference or call 403-340-0324.