BEING A HOCKEY WIFE IS NOT ALL GLAM
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FLAMES BLANKED BY BLUES PAGE B4
Red Deer Advocate WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015
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The stress of not knowing FEW CLUES EXIST IN DISAPPEARANCE OF 68-YEAR-OLD MISSING WOMAN It is most unusual for Roze Burk to go out in the evening on her own. The 68-year-old woman — last seen on Thursday evening at the Deer Park Co-op in Red Deer — is a homebody. She loves her cats and dogs, especially her beloved West Highland terrier named Jewel, given to her by family a few years ago. Roze, who still lives on the family farm about eight km east of Red Deer, is described by daughter-in-law Tamara Burk as “very outgoing” and “chatty.” Tamara said on Tuesday morning that with the help of family, friends and people who don’t even know Ruth, they have been crisscrossing MARY-ANN Central Alberta, visiting comBARR munities like Sylvan Lake, Innisfail, Sundre and Spruce View, putting up posters, looking for Roze’s vehicle. Her bank account hasn’t been used since she went missing. Tamara, married to Roze’s son Wayd, and their infant daughter live in their own home in the same farm yard as Roze. As of Tuesday morning, there have been few clues. At 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, they received a call that Roze might have been seen at a certain street address in Sylvan Lake.
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Please see MISSING on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Family members of missing Red Deer County woman Roze Burk, from the left are, Sheena Burk, Tina Seelen and her daughter Scarlett, Darren Burk, Breanna Burk and Tamara Burk with her daughter Sofie. The family is hoping for the best during the search for Roze Burk who has been missing since Thursday March 12.
NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL
Holocaust survivor shares message of forgiveness Photo contributed
Darcy Ramstead, of Blackfalds, was among 58 lucky hopefuls who tried out for a backup practice goalie stint with the Florida Panthers on Monday. Darcy didn’t make the final cut but got plenty of media attention and travelled the furthest of all of the puck stoppers to get to the competition.
Blackfalds man travels almost 4,700 km for shot at the Goal of a Lifetime BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF A Blackfalds beer league goaltender can cross trying out for an NHL team off his bucket list. Darcy Ramstead was one of 58 netminders to take the Florida Panthers up on their offer to try out for a job as backup practice goaltender as part of the Sun Belt team’s Goal of a Lifetime contest. Ramstead, a 41-year-old Baron Oilfield Supplies salesman, saw it as a “chance of a lifetime.” Just getting his name drawn was a near miracle. About 1,600 puck stoppers put their names in for the contest. Ramstead was only one of five Canadians trying out. Reached on his cellphone as he sat in the stands watching the Montreal Canadiens practice ahead of their Tuesday evening game at the Panthers BB&T Center, Ramstead was still buzzing from the experience a day earlier. “Fast and hard, man” was how he described his baptism of fire through the big league shots from a handful of Panthers regulars and a few alumni. “It’s just quick.” The team’s coaches didn’t spare the newbies. “They pushed you through a drill — a crazy drill. “You get bag-skated for sure,” said Ramstead, who plays for the Baron Knights in the Central Alberta Men’s Hockey League out of Penhold. The competition included two 90-minute sessions, run by Panthers’ goaltending coach Robb Tallas.
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FORECAST ON A2
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Ramstead took the honour of having travelled the furthest to chase his dream. From Blackfalds to the Florida rink was almost 4,700 km, a feat that got him plenty of media attention in the Sunshine State. Former Florida Panther and Red Deer native Randy Moller introduced him to the media. He got to enjoy some time in the limelight, with interviews with him appearing on the Florida Panthers website (www. panthers.nhl.com) and on Fox Sports (www.foxsports. com). Ramstead said on Tuesday his legs were still aching from the competition. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the final cut. Bill Ruggiero, a former pro/semi-pro goaltender from Melbourne, Fla., and Nashville Tennessee’s Dustin Smith, who has experience as a practice goaltender with the NHL’s Nashville Predators, were to compete for the backup job during an intermission in the game between Florida and Montreal. Ramstead, who lived in Red Deer for many years before moving to Blackfalds last summer, said a couple of friends came with him to Florida to lend support for his quest for NHL glory. His employer was behind him, too. His experience is already making quite the stir in Central Alberta. “This is becoming a big deal back home.” Close to his thoughts is his mother, Irene, who has been battling cancer and is cheering him from afar, as well as his wife Tennille and two-year-old daughter Aliyah. Ramstead plans to return home and to reality on Thursday. pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF Drawing on her survival from a Nazi concentration camp, Eva Olsson shared her message of forgiveness and showed the power of hate to hundreds of Notre Dame High School students on Tuesday. Olsson, who now lives in Ontario, was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944. The day before she was to receive her tattoo, a group of businessmen took her and other young Jewish girls to work as slave labour. In the 1950s, she emigrated to Canada, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that she started to talk about her experiences. Haunted by nightmares for 50 years of the memory of life in the camps and in Nazi Germany, she decided to carry her message across the country. She uses her experiences to talk about bullying, hate and the importance of not being a bystander to injustice. “Eliminate hate,” said Olsson. “When you eliminate hate, you automatically eliminate bullies because they go hand-in-hand. Most wars are caused by hate.” Born in Hungary in 1924, the now 90-year-old spoke to hundreds of Notre Dame students throughout the day on Tuesday, filling the school’s auditorium and answering all their questions. In 2007, she returned to Auschwitz to film a documentary. It is the only time she has been back to the concentration camp. She also described her meeting with former Hitler Youth members after the war and how she managed to reconcile with one at a Tim Hortons in Ontario. She said she feels sharing her experience with students is important because there aren’t many Holocaust survivors left. “When I was in a prison doing this kind of talk, one of the inmates asked me ‘Who is going to tell us when your generation is gone?’” said Olsson. “It’s important for this generation to hear because they will be the last. Their children will never see or hear a survivor.”
Please see SURVIVOR on Page A2
Devil’s Brigade veteran honoured by Edmonton Former member of an elite Canada-U.S. army unit honoured by city of Edmonton for his service in the Second World War. Story on PAGE A3
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