Calgary Stampede wraps up
WALKING DEAD SPINOFF RISES AT COMIC-CON PAGE C4
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, JULY 13, 2015
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Popular props
SUMMER SENSATION
COSPLAY PROP MAKER FROM RED DEER MAKES SWORDS, ARMOUR AND MORE BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF When Felicia McComb gets her hands on a lump of moldable Thermoplastic — watch out. In the last two years, the Red Deer cosplay prop maker has made a mask, staffs, swords, shoulder armour, and shipped a 1.6 metre bow to California. “(My client) had to be able to pack it in a suitcase. So I had to make it so she could break it down into four pieces so she could pack it up. It’s definitely challenging,” said McComb, 25, who started her own business Stealthy Cosplay. One of her recent commissions was a ‘first blade’ based on the television show Supernatural. McComb started making props soon after attending Calgary’s 2013 Comic and Entertainment Expo with a friend. She wore a Doctor Who costume she put together by visiting Value Village. “We knew that people dressed up, but we didn’t know to what extent. We just put together some basic costumes and we got there and I saw these huge armour pieces and sewn dresses and all these amazing costumes it was like, ‘Yup, I need to do this. I need to get into it.’” In just two years, the caliber of costumes in contests have skyrocketed, she said. McComb, a member services employee with Red Deer Public Library, led a prop design and costume creation workshop at downtown branch last week that attracted about 30 teens. “They are so creative at that age. Some of the stuff they were coming up with, I was blown away by it.”
Contributed photo by McComb Photography
Felicia McComb enjoys cosplay as Lady Sif, a warrior from Thor comics. Cosplay workshops will continue throughout the summer as part of the Teen Summer Reading Club and will finish with a Library-Con photoshoot. McComb has created about six cosplay costumes for herself and has a dozen more she wants to make. “I have Warrior Princess Peach on the go. And I’m looking at doing Thranduil from Lord of the Rings with all of his armour.”
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff
Danielle McTaggart, lead singer of Dear Rouge and Red Deer native, performs during the band’s set during the Summer Sensation Beach Music Festival in Sylvan Lake Saturday night. The band preceded performances by Dragonette and Hedley. For more photos on the event see page C1.
Please see PROP on Page A2
FireSmart 125 years later and still going strong trail being extended ANTLER VALLEY FARM BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF A 14-km bike trail designed to allow users to watch a forest grow and shield a community from fire is extending. Barry Shellian, wildlife ranger and information officer for the Rocky Mountain House Management Area, said this summer the FireSmart Ecology trail west of Nordegg will extend another seven km to connect to the Goldeye Centre. Shellian said the ground work has been completed, including the FireSmart techniques and putting down the boardwalks. “It is all flagged out,” he said.“Most of us are going out to wildfires lately. When we have opportunity, we will be pursuing that. Once we work out the final details, we will have maps and interpretive signs will be all throughout the area.” The trail, which is part of the national FireSmart program, and the only of its kind in Central Alberta, was completed last summer. Clearcutting, or block cutting, has been developed into a useful tool for forest management. It is particularly critical in areas where a prescribed burn cannot be carried out due to proximity to a community and lack of a natural fire break, as is the case with the area that the trail will run through. “We’re seeing a very aging forest on the land base,” said Shellian.
Please see TRAIL on Page A2
WEATHER 60% showers with risk of thunderstom. High 23, Low 9.
FORECAST ON A2
The McAllister family has deep roots in Central Alberta where five generations have farmed for 125 years. In 1890, Ephriam McAllister filed for a homestead in what is now the Antler Hill district along Hwy 2, south of Penhold. Born in Ireland to Scottish parents, he moved to Canada in 1883. His son Edward eventually took over the farm, followed by Edward’s son Art. Art’s son Wayne is now running the farm with his two sons Wade and Scott. “Our passion for this business, it’s carried us 125 years,” said Wayne McAllister, 53, about Antler Valley farm, his family’s 3,000-acre grain farm. Antler Valley Farm celebrated its 125th anniversary on Saturday afternoon with a huge party with tractor rides, farm tours, a Scottish pipe band, local dignitaries, old-fashioned games for children and face painting. Tool Shed Brewing Company, of Calgary, was bringing beer samples from their microbrewery made from malt barley grown at Antler Valley Farm. Wayne and his wife Sherri share the big farm yard with Wade and his wife Sabrina and their one-year-old daughter Mia, along with Scott and his girlfriend Ashleigh Ure. As a McAllister farm from 1890 to now, Wayne said few farms in the area have carried the same surname through out its history. Prior to taking the reins, Wayne always helped out on the farm and returned full time when he was 30. His son Wade, 27, spent four years as a helicopter pilot, but missed the farm and returned in 2010. His brother Scott, 25, a journeyman millwright, al-
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . C2,C3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . .D1,D2 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . C4,C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B6
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
Members of the McAllister family and Red Deer Legion Pipe Band pose for a picture during the celebration of Antler Valley Farm operating 125 years as a family farm. The farm is currently run by Wayne McAllister, who is preparing to pass the farm to his sons, who are fifth generation McAllisters. so decided the family farm was where he belonged. Their grandfather Art McAllister, who is 83 and lives in Innisfail, still visits the farm on a regular basis. The family’s enthusiasm for farming helps get them through 16-hour work days when required. “It’s a huge gamble. Huge costs. You put everything you’ve got into this crop and hope mother nature works with you to get this crop off in the fall,” Wayne said. This year seeding started at the end of April. “Seeding and spraying were really good because it was drier. Now it’s getting to the point where it’s too dry.” Antler Valley Farm has been a zerotill operation since 2002 which helps keeps moisture in the soil.
He said last year it was a battle to seed because of too much rain, but there was a good crop in the end. Grain prices are also hard to predict. “Prices were down a bit last year, but now the prices are coming up because it’s dry out there across Alberta and Saskatchewan and places.” He said his family always aim to grow human consumption quality product and harvest is a great time because you see what you’ve grown. But he said farming isn’t just about seeding, tending crops and harvesting. Marketing and hauling grain are their focus during the winter and that’s when they also do 90 per cent of their own machinery maintenance.
Please see FARM on Page A2
Mexican drug lord escapes jail All-out manhunt in Mexico after ‘El Chapo’ Guzman escapes prison using elaborate tunnel. Story on PAGE D3
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