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Monday, June 3, 2013
Sylvan Lake preparing big centennial party
LONE WOLF’S LAST WISH
BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by CAROLYN MARTINDALE/Advocate city editor
Hundreds of motorcyclists converged in Red Deer on Saturday to fulfill the dying wish of a Lone Wolf rider. Motorcyclists from Central Alberta, as well as Calgary and Edmonton gathered in the parking lot of the Red Deer Visitors Centre, off Hwy 2, to start the Mackenzie Ride, in honor of a biker called Big Larry, a.k.a. Loopy Da Loop. Larry, a member of the Alberta Lone Wolves (an independent rider group that links bikers so no one has to ride alone), was diagnosed with incurable cancer. One of his last wishes was to have 1,000 bikers go with him on a final ride. With an expected 300 bikers from Edmonton, 450 from Calgary and a combined 200 from Central Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan, organizers anticipated roughly reaching Larry’s goal.
Alberta sets up mussel inspections BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF Vacationing Central Albertans who take their boats out of province this summer could unwittingly bring back some dangerous aquatic hitchhikers. The Alberta government is setting up preventative boat inspection stations along the U.S. border, as well as Alberta’s borders with British Contributed photo Columbia and Saskatche- The Alberta government is setting up preventative wan, to keep invasive zebra and quagga mussels boat inspection stations to keep invasive zebra and quagga mussels out of our waterways. out of our waterways. The mussels, originally from the Black and Resource Development. Caspian Seas, have already contami“They breed and take over . . . and nated the Great Lakes region, and have once they get into a waterbody they are made their way west to Nevada and impossible to eradicate.” California. According to information Regular lake inspections are alfrom Alberta Environment and Sus- ready being done around Alberta evtainable Resource Development, no ze- ery summer. bra mussels have been found in AlberSancartier said Sylvan Lake was ta’s lakes, but several “mussel-fouled” checked out in 2012 and declared boats were already intercepted. clean, and other Central Alberta lakes With no native predators, the mus- are up for future inspections. sels proliferate and lake floors become She noted the mussels can live up to covered with their shells. Bathers have 30 days attached to a bottom of a boat to wear water shoes and deal with the or trailer, so boaters need to clean rotting smell. As well, boat docks and their watercraft of plants mud and dehoists, and even irrigation equipment bris. and potable water intake pipes beGear such as oars should be soaked come so shell covered they are ren- in a two per cent bleach solution dered useless. for one minute, and boats should be The mussels feed on microscopic drained before leaving a lake and then organisms they filter out of water. This washed with warm, soapy water and filter-feeding can deplete the lake air dried. of an important food source for naSince the Alberta government maintive fish larvae. It also leads to higher tains $8 billion worth of water infraplant growth, more algae outbreaks structure, including hydro electric and and large-scale bird and fish die-offs irrigation systems, all Albertans have due to botulism poisoning up the food a huge stake in keeping the invasive chain. mussels out of the province, said SanIn other words, the mussels tip the cartier. delicate balance of the ecosystem, said For more information, please visit Carrie Sancartier, a spokesperson for www.protectyourwaters.net. Alberta Environment and Sustainable lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
The Town for All Seasons is rolling out the welcome carpet as it gets ready to celebrate its centennial. Sylvan Lake’s big birthday will kick off with a civic ceremony on Saturday at the town’s Multiplex followed by a barbecue and old-fashioned social. “It’s a wonderful event, with lots of locals involved in the production of it,” said Brenda Dale, chair of the centennial celebrations task force. Wooden Nickel will provide live music for a street barbecue and drama students from H.J. Cody School will perform, dedicating a piece of music to each decade. “There’s little historical vignettes between the songs, and the performers are local people from the community,” said Dale. “If you’ve lived here a long time, and take in that event, I’m sure you’re going to recognize the characters on the stage.” Among the historical moments to be recreated, is the town’s first council meeting in 1913, played suitably enough by their present-day counterparts. Tickets are $5, or $2 for seniors and children age three to 12, and are available at the town office and Sylvan Lake Aquatic Centre. Getting locals involved has been a cornerstone of the centennial celebrations, she said. “When you gets lots of people involved doing things and in the process, then you have lots of interest in a cross-section of the community. “That’s the success of it all.” The official rededication party for Centennial Park, which has been the object of a major redevelopment and beautification project in recent years, takes place on June 12. Memories will be jogged, no doubt, on June 14 when the focus will be on Sylvan Lake of yesteryear. A half dozen former Miss Mermaids from the ’50s and ’60s will share their stories at the Multiplex, and a 1913 vehicle and old-time fashions will be on display in an event organized by the Sylvan Lake Chamber of Commerce. A variety show put on by local musicians will also be part of the meet and greet that will include a wine and beer garden. It starts about 5:30 p.m. June 15 will mark the Parade of the
Century celebrating 100 years of town history with some of the area’s century families contributing floats. It will be followed at 3 p.m. by the Dance of the Century with participants encouraged to dress in the style of their favourite decade. For a few hours the Multiplex will be the modern-day stand-in for Sylvan Lake’s fondly remembered dance halls. “Sylvan Lake has such a wonderful history and people from the area remember coming to see the big bands in the dance halls at Sylvan Lake during the warm times of the year.” The first three hours of the evening will be dedicated to big band, courtesy of Red Deer’s Jazz Explosion. The music then moves into the rock ’n roll area with bands West of the Fifth, Saturn V, The Vulcans and The Boom Chucka Boys. A night of music seems to have struck a chord. Largely through word-of-mouth advertising, 400 of 500 dinner tickets have already been sold. Adults tickets with supper cost $25, children four to 12 are $15. For just the dance, adults pay $10 and children $5. Tickets are available through the Chamber of Commerce at 403-887-3048 or Community Partners at 403-887-9989. The following day, June 16, a drum circle will beat out its rhythms beginning at 11:30 a.m. and wrapping around 12:45 p.m. Audience members can sit down and try their hand. Youngsters from the House of Music will then perform 100 Minutes of Music at Lions Park. RCMP dog teams will put their pooches through their paces from 1 to 4 p.m. and a petting zoo will be set up at Lakeshore and Centennial Drive (50th Street). Centennial summer will begin to wrap up on Sept. 8 with a community picnic on the lakeshore hosted by local churches, beginning at 1 p.m. The last event will be student art show to be part of Sylvan Lake’s Alberta Culture Days from Sept. 27-29. Those visiting Sylvan Lake may also have seen another local effort. About 60 historical display boards have been created and set up in a dozen businesses and community buildings around town since the beginning of the year. All the boards will be on display at the June 8 and June 14 events at the Multiplex. pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
Bedbugs present challenge BY THE CANADIAN PRESS CALGARY — Two seniors homes in southern Alberta are being treated for bedbugs, but health officials say there’s no reason for concern beyond the “ick” factor. Alberta Health Services confirms staff at the Pemmican Lodge and Black Rock Terrace in Lethbridge have been dealing with the itchy insects for the last few months. Exterminators have been brought in and, last week, education sessions were held for residents and staff. While bedbugs are for the most part harmless, the stealthy insects are hard to detect and even more difficult to kill, said Lynne Navratil, supervisor of safe-built environments for Alberta Health Services.
Small, flat, oval-shaped and about the size of an apple seed, the bugs feed on the blood of people and animals. And they have been popping up in some unusual places lately. Four buses in Edmonton have been fumigated this year after someone reported seeing bugs, although the city says that ultimately no insects were found. There have been reports of bugs at courthouses in both Vancouver and St. John’s, N.L. Alberta Health Services stressed that the length of time the Lethbridge facilities have been dealing with the bugs is not a sign of a severe infestation, but an indication of how thorough staff are being. Navratil said there’s no doubt that bedbug infestations have become more prevalent. Public health officials deal with complaints regularly.
Officials confirm charges laid in Alberta courthouse hostage taking new policy on dealing with the most dangerous women in custody, according to a 2004 Corrections Service report. Earlier in 2000, she held a nurse hostage at knifepoint for three hours at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon. The corrections report, which looked into a standoff at the Edmonton Institution for Women in 2004 that it said began when Nicotine smashed a TV set and took another inmate hostage, said the corrections strategy for coping with dangerous women prisoners
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EDMONTON — A spokeswoman with Alberta Justice has confirmed a female prisoner with a lengthy history of violent crimes has been charged after another prisoner was taken hostage at an Edmonton courthouse last month. Michelle Davio confirms Serena Nicotine, 31, is charged with hostage taking and possession of a weapon. The charges stemmed from an incident May 22 where police allege a woman used a lens from a pair of eyeglasses to take a fellow prisoner hostage. The incident at the courthouse occurred in the holding cells. It ended peacefully after about two hours when police said a negotiator managed to talk the suspect into giving herself up. Davio said Nicotine was at court that day to face another hostagetaking charge, but she couldn’t provide further details. Davio refused to say whether extra secu-
rity precautions were taken when Nicotine appeared in court last month. “We don’t comment on security procedures,” Davio said in an email on Saturday. Nicotine received a life sentence for the 1997 slaying of a group home operator in North Battleford, Sask., and has had a history of violence behind bars. In 2000, Nicotine held a prison guard captive, burning her blindfolded face with a cigarette and setting her hair on fire. It prompted correction officials to draft a
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