Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 107 years
VOLUME ONE-HUNDRED EIGHT
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STETTLER, ALBERTA
April 2, 2014
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Music Festival underway ROBIN TARNOWETZKI Independent reporter
STACEY LAVALLIE/Independent reporter
Flying high! Kids from the Heartland Youth Center duck under a parachute in the Legion Youth Centre, forming a mushroom effect. The youth centre just finished a rowdy week of March break activities and is gearing up for community clean-up projects for when the snow clears. Pictured from left are Natasha Keddy, Jaqi Taylor, Kaydence Nafziger, Evan Bogner and Joie Valentino.
Elder abuse prevention program nets local group $25K funding STACEY LAVALLIE Independent reporter When Cheryl Smith, program supervisor with the Home Support Stettler and District Association (HSSDA), filed an application to the popular federal grants program New Horizons for Seniors, both she and the HSSDA board were under no illusions about how difficult it would be to make the cut and receive funding. Not only did the group make the cut, they received the highest amount of funding – $25,000 – possible through the program, announced by Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson during his open house in Stettler on Friday, March 28.
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The challenges of our aging demographics, which will see the number of seniors double in the next 20 years, includes elder abuse.” – Kevin Sorenson Crowfoot MP
The number of applicants for the 2014 grant program numbered in excess of 25,000, according to Sorenson, so when Smith and the HSSDA board were notified they had made it to the list of final contenders, Smith said she was “so excited.” “When we were called and told we got the full amount, I was just astounded,” she added. “I couldn’t believe it, because it’s such a worthwhile cause.”
While many applications to the New Horizons program are aimed at making sure organizations can tackle physical projects, like new buildings or major building repairs, HSSDA drew attention for being one of the few applications to focus on training instead. The money will be used to educate caretakers in the communities served by the HSSDA as well as its own staff in elder abuse, a type of abuse becoming more and more prevalent and visible as Canada’s baby boomer generation ages. “The challenges of our aging demographics, which will see the number of seniors double in the next 20 years, includes elder abuse,” Sorenson said. “This funding will help us ‘tool up’ to confront a program that we know exists and will in the future.” For Smith, who attended seminars on elder abuse in the past several years in both Edmonton and Red Deer, the funding hasn’t arrived a moment too soon. “It’s something I’m really passionate about,” she said. Elder abuse isn’t just the physical abuse, but includes sexual, emotional, verbal and financial as well. Neglect is another form of elder abuse. Diane Ecklund, one of HSSDA’s board members, praised Smith for her work on the application, which took about two weeks of careful form completion and community networking. “We really want to bring the notion that elder abuse is present in all communities,” she said. There’s a whole division of telephone and Internet scams dedicated to tricking Canada’s elderly into parting with their money,
an insidious and almost unprosecutable type of elder abuse, Sorenson noted.
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We really want to bring the notion that elder abuse is present in all communities.” – Diane Ecklund, HSSDA Board member
“Canadian seniors have played a central part in building this country,” Sorenson said. “They have earned our respect and admiration. They deserve our support to help them enjoy the best quality of life possible.” Sorenson praised the HSSDA, noting that “they are the ones who make sure we can improve and enhance local services and facilities.” “Some of the most heartbreaking...parts of being a member of parliament is hearing the stories of abuse,” Sorenson stated. “It literally breaks your heart.”
Stettler-area performers are ready to show off their talent at this year’s Stettler and District Music Festival. “We hope it will go really well,” said festival committee president Sherry Rempel. “I guess it just depends on how prepared the students are.” The festival runs from April 1 to 12, and participants will compete against each other and be marked by an adjudicator. Performances will occur at the Performing Arts Centre and St. George’s Anglican Church. The festival gets performers from Castor, Coronation, Gadsby, Erskine, Bashaw, and more. The performance categories are as follows: Piano- April 1 to 3 Dance- April 4 and 5 Vocal- April 6 to 8 Speech- April 7 and 8 School chorus- April 9 Band- April 10 Musical theatre- April 11 and 12 “Speaking as a teacher, it’s good for the students to have something to work towards,” Rempel said. “They have to work a little harder at a song in order to perform it.” The festival in its current form began in 1969, and has expanded from three days to ten days. This year’s festival has close to 500 entries, and is helped run by about 100 volunteers who fulfill the roles of announcers, secretaries, ticket sellers, and door co-ordinators. “It’s a lot of people who enjoy going and listening,” she said. “It’s a good way to go listen to an afternoon of music.” The adjudicators are accomplished performers from western Canada. Piano adjudicator Teresa Allred grew up in Cardston, Alta., and has adjudicated music festivals throughout western Canada for the last two decades. Dance adjudicator Carmen Peacock has been dancing since age 7 and owns her own dance studio. Vocal and speech adjudicator Gaye-Lynn Kern has performed professionally in Canada, the U.S., and England, and lives in Saskatoon. School chorus adjudicator Bill Hamm has been the music director at Rosebud Centre of the Arts near Calgary for 25 years, and is the musical director for the Canadian Badlands Passion Play. Band adjudicator Steve Sherman has been teaching music for over 35 years, and has been a full-time instructor at Red Deer College for ten years. Musical theatre adjudicator Tara Laberge teaches and performs in opera, theatre, musical theatre, and oratorio. She is an adjunct professor of music and theatre at Rocky Mountain College in Calgary. Anyone who wants to watch the performances must pay $2 to drop in, $5 for a daily pass, or $15 for a festival pass. Passes are available at the door. The grand concert to wrap up the festival is April 15 at 7 p.m. Students with high marks are recommended by the adjudicator to play in the festival. Awards are also given out at the grand concert. Competitors who get a high mark and the recommendation of the adjudicator can continue on to the provincial music festival. “It builds confidence for the kids,” Rempel said. “It’s very good education for the community.”
Contributed photo
Farming Smarts – Stettler’s Candace Reinbold was recently honoured with two prestigious awards in the Crop Technology field at Lakeland College. Reinbold, pictured here receiving the Gary Moses Family award from the Moses family, also received the Mark Toner Memorial award. Reinbold’s awards help make up the $1,207,109 given out in the form of scholarships, bursaries and awards by Lakeland College in 2014.
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