Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 105 years
VOLUME ONE-HUNDRED EIGHT
PM40011853 R08546
NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR
STETTLER, ALBERTA
June 11, 2014
PRICE — $1.09 Plus GST
STACEY LAVALLIEI/Independent reporter
Volunteer auctioneer Claude Dupont has been with the Heartland Youth Center’s Awesome Auction since he graduated from its radio auction roots. Here, he auctions off one of many donated items to benefit the youth group.
Awesome Auction brings in the bucks Annual fundraiser in 23rd year STACEY LAVALLIE Independent reporter It was the best evening at the beach to be found indoors at the Stettler Community Centre as the community gathered for the Heartland Youth Center’s annual Awesome Auction on June 7. The beach-themed fundraiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs in Stettler drew in hungry members of the community for a lobster dinner, followed by a live auction and music. During the entire evening, silent auctions were ongoing as
bidders tried to outdo each other on items donated by generous business members of the community. The annual event started 22 years ago as a “humble radio auction,” but after a few years, faced with overwhelming generosity from the community’s businesses, expanded to a dinner and live auction and has been going strong ever since. Claude Dupont has volunteered his time as an auctioneer since the liveauction began. “People come out every year,” he said. “The faces change but it’s always sold out before the tickets
are even printed.” He said one of the reasons why the auction is such a successful event for the youth centre is because of the amount of work the centre does for the kids it serves. “HYC goes above and beyond what they have to do,” Dupont said. “The community sees that, and that’s what they respond to.” More than 75 volunteers – former employees at the youth centre, “graduates” of the centre’s programs, current members and employees and others all pitch in to make the event happen, according to Winnie Bissett, the
executive director of Heartland Youth Center. “One of the things I really take pride in is the community volunteering,” she said, explaining that the kids at the youth centre help clean up every spring and work with people in the community in various volunteer roles. “It comes back to us full circle.” Some of the items up for auction included a Team Canada jersey from the final game of men’s hockey at the 2014 Winter Olympics, a train trip incursion from Via Rail, a cooler that can “keep ice from melting for days,” a mini-quad for kids, and much more.
Local members of the communities, community businesses or international businesses with local branches donate all of the items at the auction, meaning the profit goes purely to the youth centre. According to Bissett, the auction is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the youth centre, and it never disappoints. “People are so generous,” she said. The kids at the youth centre get into the night as well, helping prepare and serve dinner, gathering dishes, creating the decor, and creating the sand castle masterpiece seen
at the front of the hall as people entered. Kevin Sorenson, MP for the riding of Crowfoot, of which Stettler is a part, stopped in to act as a guest auctioneer at the event, reaching back to his pre-politics days as an auctioneer. He gave Dupont a genuine run for his money, bringing in more than $6,000 for the Via Rail train incursion. “I come every year,” Sorenson said. “It’s a privilege to help groups like Heartland Youth Centre with events like this.” The amount raised at the auction was not available at press time.
William E. Hay grad dies in collision south of Erskine Victim a ‘great young man,’ says principal STACEY LAVALLIE Independent reporter An Erskine family is in mourning after an early-morning accident on Saturday, June 7, claimed the life of 18-year-old Andrew Nibourg. Nibourg, who only the weekend before graduated from William E. Hay Composite High School, was ejected from the driver-side window of his truck during a collision with a flat-bed transport truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS due to injuries sustained in
the collision. Drugs and alcohol were not involved in the collision, but Stettler RCMP cited speed and a lack of seat belt as causative factors in Nibourg’s death. “We have truly lost a very great young man,” James Nibourg, Andrew’s father and a councillor for the County of Stettler, said in a released statement. “Our Andrew has touched so many hearts in his short time on earth. We would like to thank everybody for the overwhelming support and please keep us in your prayers.” A number of Nibourg’s graduating classmates weren’t in school on Monday
Photo contributed by RCMP
Andrew Nibourg, the 18-year-old William E. Hay graduate driving this blue Dodge pickup truck, was killed in an early-morning collision after he was ejected from the driver-side window. The collision happened at the intersection of Township Road 38-4 and Highway 835.
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as they gathered elsewhere to grieve and remember their friend together, William E. Hay Composite High School principal Norbert Baharally said, though, he noted, he would rather have them in school as there is a crisis intervention team at the school which can offer students emotional support. Baharally said the school day on Monday was “going as well as could be expected,” but admitted that both students and staff were grieving and that the atmosphere in the school was grim. “Andrew was a great young man,” Baharally said. “He was involved in band, and very heavily in our vocational programs.” He said Nibourg enjoyed cooking, and a great deal of his vocational training was in the kitchen. That passion for food also worked its way into Nibourg’s volunteer work, which involved helping with a catering program. Nibourg’s death is really impacting the students at William E. Hay who came to the high school from Erskine, Baharally said, noting that the large class of about 15 students from the school are a “tightknit group of kids.” Baharally praised Nibourg as the sort of student who would give the shirt off his back and put others before himself, which is one of the reasons staff – even those who never taught Nibourg – are suffering
such sadness at his passing. Clearview Schools’ crisis intervention team has set up at the school and counsellors are available to help students and staff for this week and longer, if necessary, Baharally said. “We expect that some (students) will seek out this help, while others may not,” Baharally said in a written statement, made available on the school’s website. “Students will have varied reactions to the death and loss of a peer. A wide range of reactions is normal...and can vary from withdrawal, to crying and anger.” The school encourages parents to speak openly with their children about the tragedy and has prepared information for parents who need help in helping their son or daughter cope with Nibourg’s passing. Parents can phone the school for the information. The driver of the other vehicle, a 51-year-old Delburne man, received no injuries.
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