YOU AIN’T SEEN CHAMBERS BAY NOTHING YET
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Randy Bachman is still writing ahead of receiving a lifetime achievement award
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Red Deer Advocate THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015
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CONCUSSION AWARENESS
WEDDING RESCUE
CENTREFEST
Tough times prompt contest
Festival comes up with funds
BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF
BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF
Sometimes the best laid plans are stopped unexpectedly by life itself. That can happen even when it comes to getting hitched — as it did for at least three Central Alberta couples. The weddings have been called off mainly because the to-be-weds have felt, directly and indirectly like thousands of other Albertans, the economic slowdown blamed on low oil prices. But one lucky couple will see their wedding plans revived or enhanced through a Central Alberta event now underway — the Wedding Rescue Contest — designed to cover much of the cost involved in a wedding with as many as 120 guests. The contest was open to couples who “had to cancel or postpone your wedding this summer because of hard times (be they health related, due to the struggling economy, or some other circumstance beyond your control).” Online voting on the Facebook page Photos by Fawna is now underway. Innisfail professional photographer Fawna Sidoryk said on Wednesday that the current difficult economic times in Alberta have resulted in three of her wedding shoots being cancelled, along with the weddings that were to go with them. Normally she might see one cancellation in a season, usually because the couple has decided to split. But this year the cancellations have been related to the economy, with either one or both of the people to be wed not working, she said.
They have the money, now all they need is the weather. After having to consider the possibility of cancelling this year’s Centrefest, festival director Janice Shimek said on Wednesday that enough funds have come through to enable them to hold the popular annual event on July 25 and 26 in downtown Red Deer. The cash needed to hold the familyfriendly festival is about $125,000. This includes things like paying for the artistic director, the street performers, their meals and hotels, and setting up portable toilets. The festival was about $15,000 short of being able to happen this year. This year’s entertainment has been secured and they will have enough money to cover the costs, Shimek said. But they will continue to fundraise right through to Centrefest weekend and beyond for next year’s event. They are having to use all their funding received through the casino funding. “That doesn’t leave us in a very good position for next year unless we have some success fundraising,” she said. They have received other grants and funds, and there is a raffle underway. Several businesses and sponsors have stepped up to help, and there has been some assistance from the city. “This year we’re going to pull it off. Next year’s our 15th anniversary and we’re hoping to do a little bit extra. It all depends on how successful we are with fundraising.
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Sherry Albrecht guides Chantal Payne as she reaches for a ball while wearing a pair of concussion goggles that simulate the effects of a concussion. The members of Central Alberta’s Bike Walk and Roll committee were at the Glendale Skate park Wednesday to encourage bikers and skaters to be visible, follow the rules and wear the gear especially a helmet when doing sports that can result in head trauma.
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Vacancy rates fail to tell whole story: officials BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF
SENIORS HOUSING
A seniors housing report shows vacancy rates are falling in Alberta and nationwide. The vacancy rate in the province’s 7,600 standard spaces — where residents require less than 1.5 hours of care per day — has fallen to 8.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report released on Wednesday. When non-standard units offering a higher level of care are included, the numbers are 6.8 per cent and 6.6 per cent. The report does not have a breakdown for Central Alberta or Red Deer.
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It is when those units are factored in that vacancy rates hit the six- and eight-per-cent ranges. The Alberta government announced this spring it was going to rebuild 65 units at Piper Creek Lodge, but that won’t add more units to the city’s 200-unit inventory, said Olson. Mountain View Seniors’ Housing chief administrative officer Sam Smalldon said he has wait lists as well and vacancy rates of two per cent for his 403 units are typical, although that has been shifting upwards slightly recently.
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Cyberattack targets federal websites No personal information was compromised during a cyberattack that temporarily crippled some government websites.
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Canadian Garden Days Promotes
Fathers’ Day! at Parkland Garden Centre
PLANT A BACKYARD ORCHARD
SATURDAY, JUNE 20 11-3:00 Red Deer Garden Club
11-3:00 Martin Scholz-Edible Apple, Plum, Pear, Cherry, and Apricot Trees, Landscape Expert Saskatoon, Blueberry, Raspberry, 12:30-4:00 Olds College Instructor and Haskap Shrubs and more
Annelise-Ask the Expert
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SUNDAY, JUNE 21
Fathers’ Day Dad’s receive FREE pair of gloves. *while quantities last
1:30-4:30 Medicine River Wildlife Centre with Otis & Sophia the Owls
“back to the roots”
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The Specialists
3 minutes East of 30 Avenue on Hwy. 11
Regular Hours: Mon.- Fri. 9-8 Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-6 *All items while quantities last
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WEATHER
However, those numbers don’t reflect the overall demand for spaces for publicly funded seniors accommodations in Central Alberta, say seniors housing representatives. “We’re sure not experiencing the vacancy rates that they are reporting here,” said Piper Creek Foundation CEO Geoff Olson. He notes the report only covers the foundation’s lodge spaces, as well as private seniors housing, such as those run by Club Sierra or Symphony. CMHC does not include nursing homes or long-term care homes, or life-lease
or owner-occupied units in the survey. Olson said residents often come to Piper Creek because they cannot afford the rents in private buildings, which can hit around $30,000 a year. For the market the foundation serves, vacancy rates are non-existent. “We’re over-subscribed, as we usually are,” he said, adding 42 singles and five couples are on a waiting list for lodge spaces in Red Deer. The foundation also offers another 354 apartment units in its senior self-contained program and the affordable program offers 89 units. “The real trick is affordability,” he said. “On the private sector side they are really geared to a certain income range.”