THE GREAT REBELS GROCERY ROUGHED GIVEAWAY UP AT IS BACK!
SAVOURY FALL DELIGHTS Baking bread is a sublime experience when you add pumpkin to the mix.
HOME ON WEEKEND
PAGE B1
PAGE C7
DETAILS INSIDE
Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, OCT. 14, 2014
www.reddeeradvocate.com
Your trusted local news authority
Hog abuse claims prompt probe BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Lloyd Wongstedt, or Tilly Tilly as he likes to be called and Nancy Verdin also known as Wrinkles share a laugh at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre this week. The two clowns enjoy bringing laughs and smiles to the patients at the hospital on a regular basis.
Hospital clowns keep patients in stitches BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Tilly Tilly and Wrinkles have come down with a serious case of clown fever. Luckily they are volunteers at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. With a big red nose, miniature green hat, shredded overalls and a flower bouquet for a boutonniere on his patched-up blazer, Tilly Tilly spends two to five hours putting smiles on the faces of patients each Sunday. “I just cheer them up. I don’t do balloons or juggle or anything like that,” said Lloyd Wongstedt, better known to patients and staff as Tilly Tilly. “That’s my whole purpose, to make their day a little better. I really believe laughter is the best medicine.” He’s been regularly joking with patients of all ages for more than six years. He saw the need for some lighthearted hospital fun years ago when his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was a patient in Saskatchewan.
“I noticed there was no entertainment or anything for the children. I vowed to myself if I ever had the time and opportunity to fill that gap, I would. So here I am,” said Wongstedt, of Red Deer. The retired farmer said cheering up patients makes him happy, too. He’s also responsible for a few grins on the road when he gets into his clown costume at home and drives to the hospital. “Cops tend to look at you sideways.” When Wongstedt returns home, he’s also learned to take care when changing back into his “civvies.” “I always do a double take in the mirror before I leave the house,” Wongstedt said with his huge, painted smile. Nancy Verdin, aka Wrinkles, has been clowning around at the Red Deer hospital on and off since 2003. Verdin said her colourful costume sometimes allows her to reach patients in a way that others can’t. She recalled a distressed patient waiting for dialysis.
“He was angry. He was feeling really low. The fun totally changed him. It was the clown that got me in the door,” said Verdin, with bright green hair, cheeks dusted with sparkles, a red nose and her finger puppet Bubbles the fish. Verdin, 54, of Red Deer, likes to focus on adult patients to give them a break from the stress of illness or injury. “Kids don’t automatically accept you. Just because you’re a clown we assume that they do. Lots of them don’t.” Another memorable hospital visit was with a family spending time with their dying father. “We never said a word. We offered smiley-face stickers. And we got a hug from everybody in the room and a quiet thank you.” For some people, it’s just enough to remind them that there’s life and laughter outside those four walls, she said.
Please see CLOWNS on Page A2
OTTAWA — An animal rights group is urging the federal government to finally move forward with updated transportation regulations after allegations of abuse at a hog facility in Red Deer. Mercy for Animals Canada has released a video taken at the Western Hog Exchange facility earlier this year that shows hogs being kicked and struck with what appears to be a club. The organization says the video was taken undercover and it also shows some of the animals limping and others crammed into a corral. Alberta’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is looking into the allegations and the facility has also launched an independent investigation with third-party experts in animal care and transportation. But Mercy for Animals says only the federal government can ensure such treatment doesn’t happen again. “Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has the power and the responsibility to protect pigs and other farmed animals from flagrant cruelty, neglect and agonizing deaths during transport,” said Krista Osborne, executive director of Mercy for Animals at a news conference Monday. The group wants the federal regulations that govern animal transport updated to include measurable standards of care and clearer definitions on what constitutes acceptable transportation conditions. For example, the group says, some animals can be transported for up to 52 hours without access to food, water or rest, while in the rest of the western world that standard is eight hours. Another example is weather. Despite the extremes of the Canadian climate, there are no specific guidelines on what transportation conditions need to be in place to prevent animals being harmed by exposure to the elements. The group also wants financial penalties for breaking the rules to be raised and more strictly enforced.
Please see ABUSE on Page A2
Plaque to honour people killed in training at Penhold Base BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF Seeing numerous monuments to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in combat during war, a local group decided what was missing was a plaque honouring those who died before they ever saw a battle. Jim Thoreson, president of the Central Alberta Search and Rescue Association, is spearheading a campaign to get a plaque together to honour people who were killed while training out of the Penhold Base at Springbrook, later CFB Penhold. “The pilots and their crew who were shot down overseas get lots of recognition, but nobody says anything about the people who were killed over here training,” said Thoreson. The idea had its roots in 2008 when Thoreson and a group were search and rescue training when one person was
WEATHER Mainly sunny. High 17. Low 3.
FORECAST ON A2
killed. Out of that, Thoreson got the ball rolling to construct some sort of tribute. He hopes to get as many names together as possible and put them on a plaque to go at the base of the Harvard aircraft that is on display in front of the Red Deer Regional Airport. Thoreson sat down with the Red Deer flying club, the Royal Canadian Airforce association, Harvard Historical aviation society and the Central Alberta Search and Rescue Association and started collaborating on the project. “We’re researching all the names we can find of people who died while training here,” said Thoreson. The plaque is intended to honour more than just those training during wars as the group is looking into people who also died during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization years.
Please see PLAQUE on Page A2
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . C2-C3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5-A8 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . C8 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B8
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff
The North American Harvard 370 aircraft sits atop a pedestal near the Red Deer Regional Airport’s terminal entrance. It was mounted on June 16, 2007, after sitting at the main gate of CFB Penhold until 1994.
Fire knocks out power to downtown Calgary A fire in an underground vault knocked out power for thousands of customers in downtown Calgary on the weekend. Story on PAGE A3
PLEASE
RECYCLE