12 minute read
Easter Egg Hunt exciting for kids
BY JOHN MATHER
Fort Saskatchewan Vegreville MLA Jackie Armstrong Homeniuk joined Minister of Culture and Status of Women Ron Orr Apr. 22 to present a $690,550 cheque to assist the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank purchase a new, much larger facility to fulfill the community’s needs.
The Food Bank had for years operated out of a building located near the downtown with a very small square footage.
The Food Gatherers Society moved to a new 16,000 square foot facility in the Fort’s light industrial area last June.
After moving into the new facility the food bank unveiled a new brand complete with a new website.
Armstrong Homeniuk presented the cheque to food bank executive director Kassandra Gartner.
“There have been so many challenges in the past two years,” she told the assembled crowd. “Having a new food bank building that can better service the needs of those who use the food bank was definitely something that was needed.”
She said she had toured the new facility and was impressed by its potential.
“It’s great news for the thousands of people the food bank serves and further adds to the health and cohesiveness of the community as well.”
“The work that will be done here is of the utmost importance.”
The grant came through the province’s Community Facility Enhancement Program.
In addition to the grant, the food bank raised more than $1.4 million and was able to purchase the building on Mar. 1 of this year.
The board still has to meet a further fundraising goal of $1.6 million.
“A modern, larger facility was crucial to the Food Bank continuing to support the growing need within our community,” said Gartner.
“Developing the plan to acquire a new building, navigating the major process to acquire a commercial property, and now seeing the building being purchased is very rewarding.”
She pointed out the need for the food bank has continually increased stating the year to date hamper collection has increased 24 per cent compared to 2021.
Provincial grant helps Fort Food Bank purchase larger facility
Fort Saskatchewan Vegreville MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk and Alberta Minister of Culture, Ron Orr, present a Community Facility Enhancement Grant cheque to Kassandra Gardner, executive director of the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank, while Fort Saskatchewan mayor Gale Katchur looks on. The cheque for $690,550 helped the food bank purchase a new, much larger facility than they previously had.
Easter Egg Hunt brings people out of their shells
BY JANA SEMENIUK
An Easter Egg Hunt, held in Bruderheim on Apr. 16, had children of all ages scrambling to find easter eggs hidden around the town’s core using a list of clues stating the town building or landmark they were hidden at.
Chilly temperatures hovering at 0c did not dampen spirits of the more than 60 children who participated with their families surprising Bruderheim AG Society Treasurer Sherry Cote.
“It was cold and a bit snowy, so I wasn’t sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised (at the turnout),” she said.
While the thrill of finding each egg was evident from the sight of children and parents running from point to point, Cote said the game accomplished another goal; teaching everyone about their town.
“It’s amazing how many kids don’t know where the town office is, or where Queen’s Park is,” said Cote.
While Cote came up with the idea for the list of clues, she got the initial idea for an Easter Egg Hunt from a local event a few years ago.
“A few years ago, I helped the Bruderheim Lioness Club with their Easter Egg Hunt. There were children lined up and I thought we were on to something. The next year it was cold, so it was cancelled and then the next year covid happened. So, this year we thought why not try it?” she said.
In addition to local families, Cote said people came from Lamont and Fort Saskatchewan prompting her to revise the plan for the future.
“Our intent was for people to get to know the town and the things that are in it. I didn’t realize people would be coming from out of town so I think we may include a map in the future,” she said.
The event also encompassed a rabbit-holding opportunity at Walker School with rabbits from two local breeders as well as a draw for a gift basket containing toys and Easter treats valued at $80 won by the McDonald family of Lamont.
Sherry Cote, Bruderheim AG Society Treasurer, hands a list of clues and pencils to the Radcliffe family Apr. 16 for the town's Easter Egg Hunt event.
Anniversary entertainment
Above: Regular Chipman Hotel performers Greg Hryniw and Parry Olesen, right, join Randy Holler to entertain the crowd during owner Dave Magee’s 7th year of ownership celebrations Apr. 16. A buffet raised $500 for the Mundare Easter Basket Ukrainian Effort. Magee said he was happy with the response he has received to being in the Chipman community for the past seven years. Right: Reg Oleksiuk of Smoky Lake performs a couple of ballads during the celebration. Using the stage name Reg Williams, he and his wife lived in Lamont County several years ago and stated they had always enjoyed performing at the Chipman Hotel.
EIPS changes course on board meetings online
BY JANA SEMENIUK Elk Island Public Schools has reversed a decision on their in-person only board meetings to now include a livestream viewing option on YouTube as they did during the lockdowns over the past two years. The decision announcing a return to online, in conjunction with an inperson option, was made on their website after announcing last month that their meetings would be in-person only once the province moved into phase two of lifting public health measures.
“The Board discussed the matter further last week and decided that because having the meetings online resulted in increased community uptake in the meetings, they would again be broadcast,” said EIPS Communications Director Laura McNabb by email. McNabb further stated she was not aware of any requests from the community to reinstate their online version.
An email to parents Apr. 18 gave an outline of the upcoming meeting agenda which will include reviewing administrative fees for the coming school year in addition to trustee and board chair reports. A complete comprehensive board package, detailing the agenda, is available on their website under the Trustee tab.
The next meeting, Apr. 21 at 10 a.m., will be broadcast on the EIPS YouTube channel as well as accommodate those wishing to join in-person at the EIPS Central Administration Building in Sherwood Park.
Two dozen bison transferred from EINP to Indigenous lands
KERRY ANDERSON
Parks Canada has transferred more bison from Elk Island National Park (EINP) to their original homelands, two different First Nations groups in Alberta.
Twenty wood bison went to Metis Crossing and four went to augmenting an existing herd at Beaver Lake Cree Nation, said EINP Superintendent Dale Kirkland.
The bison are part of an education and experience program on the Metis Nation in conjunction with EINP.
“This is a historic moment for Metis citizens in Alberta,” said President of Metis Nation of Alberta Audrey Poitras.
“Although native to the Metis Crossing area, wild bison or ‘bufloo’ in Michif, were driven to near extinction by settlers in the 19th Century, forcing Metis bison hunts to halt.”
He added that this is an important part of reconciliation, and that EINP has transferred 212 bison to their traditional homelands on nine Indigenous communities in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.
EINP is Canada’s cornerstone of bison conservation, added Supervisor Kirkland. “We’re working with a number of other Indigenous communities and planning ahead for transfers to occur in 2023.”
According to Kirkland, EINP has 275 wood bison and 616 plains bison at EINP which is considered to be a healthy population. An aerial survey is conducted every year to count the animals.
Plains bison are kept in the north portion of EINP, while the wood bison are separated in the south as they are two distinct sub species.
Poilievre
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“Our party will axe the carbon tax.”
He said he would repeal Bills 69 and 48, allow energy projects “to come forward and actually get approved in this country.”
He said he would like to see additional pipelines, development in the Arctic and an energy corridor from Alberta to the Port of Churchill.
“We’ll remove the regulatory gatekeepers and remove the export bans on the northern BC coast,” he said. “We’ll speed up our project approvals and by that we’ll make Alberta a much better place to invest.”
He added they would pressure the U.S to approve the Keystone Pipeline and fight to get approval for the mothballed Tech Frontier Mine in the Fort McMurray area.
He added he’d support a national energy corridor to get western energy to eastern markets.
Poilievre said he would also support the construction of gas liquidation plants to ship Canadian natural gas to markets in both Asia and Europe.
“Why don’t we harvest those green minerals in Canada? We have lithium, cobalt and graphite but we can’t mine it if we can’t get approvals,” he stated. “Let’s get the gatekeepers out of the way so we can mine those materials for electric cars and solar panels right here in this country.”
“Let’s take control of our energy future at the same time.”
Concluding his comments he added his government would leave freedom of speech alone and eliminate the woke groups.
“They divide people on race, financial situation, sexuality and most recently vaccination status ,” he said.
“It’s a deliberate strategy by the woke people. It’s divide and conquer to force people to turn to the state to protect them against the perceived faults.”
“I will stand up for the basic principle that every single Canadian is equal regardless of race, gender or anything else,” he said.
He said many of the new rules being suggested on internet regulation were nothing more than censorship and his government wouldn’t allow them to proceed.
“We’ll open up free speech on the internet,” he said. “We want to give people back control of their lives.” LAMONT COUNTY • 15,000 sq ftIndustrial Shopbuilt on 42.8 acresin Lamont County adjacent to town of Lamont. There is an approximately 15 acres of gravelled yard with partial chain link fencing located at 195043 HWY 29 Lamont County. Price: $3,175,000 • East ½ NW-34-53-18 W4 80 acres of pasture located 182043-TWP RD 540 Lamont County. Price: $125,000 • W4-18-53-11-NE 160 acres pasture on RR 181 between TWP RD 530 and 532 Lamont County. Price:SOLD SOLD
$230,000
• W4-18-53-11-SE 159.88 acres pasture on RR 181 between TWP RD 530 and 532 Price: $230,000SOLD SOLD • W4-18-54-18-NW 2 parcel farm 158.48 acres 130 ± acres of grain cultivation 3 bedroom house. Property has gas, power, well, septic with aerial discharge, Dug out and a shop Price: $850,000 FARM LAND IN CHIPMAN • SW ¼ 30-54-18-W4 (North ½) 78.83 acres fenced pasture land. Price: $140,000 SOLD SOLD • SW ¼, 30-54-18-W4 (South ½)- 72.12 acres Fenced pasture land. Price: $130,000 • NW ¼ 30-54-18-W4 144.67 acres fenced pasture with 50± acres was cultivated.
Price: $360,000
TWO HILLS COUNTY RECREATION LAND • W4-12-55-27 NW 146 acres with 1/2-mile frontage on the North Saskatchewan River. HWY 29 and RR 123 50± acres of cultivation power at property Nicely treed lot for a building site. Price: $350,000
BEAVER COUNTY (BRUCE AREA) • NE 1/4 13-49-14 W4 160 acres of hay land. RR 140 and TWP RD 494. Price: $300,000SOLD SOLD • NE 1/4 24-49-14 W4 160 acres of pasture land. RR 140 between TWP RD 492 and 494. Price: $250,000SOLD SOLD STRATHCONA COUNTY • SW Part of NW –23 –53 –23 –W4 40.55 acres North of Highway 16 on Range Road 232 in proposed medium industrial zoning with CP rail line at the border of the property. Price: $7,200,000 • Parts of SW and SE-7-53-22 W4 located at HWY 21 and Lakeland Drive 63.62 acres of development land with HWY 21 exposure. The property is within the Bremner and local Employment Area ACP with expected future use of industrial. Price: $6,000,000
Norman Hill Steven Hill
Lauren Hill
Kalyna Family Resource Network ork Lamont County Region (FCSS) S) Regular Council and Committee of the Whole Meetings The next Regular Council Meeting and Committee of the Whole Meeting is on Tuesday, April 26, starting at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to attend at the Lamont County Administration Building or virtually through Microsoft Teams. COVID protocols and requirements are in place; currently, mask wearing at personal discretion. Please note: for health and safety precautions, it is recommended to attend the April 26 meeting virtually using the Teams invitation (accessible via the Lamont County website—you can also sign up for meeting notifications and to receive the meeting agenda). If you would like to present or speak at a meeting, please contact Legislative Services. The meeting agenda, previous meeting minutes, and a link to Microsoft Teams so you can attend virtually is found at: www.lamontcounty.ca/governance/agendas-minutes. Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten? n?
Kindergarten information nights in Elk Island Public Schools take place throughout April and May. Complete your child’s 2022-23 kindergarten registration, then plan to attend the kindergarteninformation night at your child’s school. Kindergarten registration: https://www.eips.ca/registration/kindergarten. See the full list of information nights at https://bit.ly/3NIeh1z. Road Bans, Seasonal Closures and Weight Restrictions (Effective April 4, 2022) April ) Road Bans: View the current weight restrictions effective April 4, 2022, at 8:00 a.m. at: www.lamontcounty.ca/departments/public-works/roads. From time-to-time, Lamont County roads are restricted because of the road condition, maintenance, or seasonal conditions such as spring thaw. Road Closures: are posted on www.Lamontcounty.ca/publicworks and social media (Facebook and Twitter). A map is also available and updated online (when roads are closed and re-opened). If you have inquiries or a road concern, please complete a Service Request on Lamont County’s website.
Please Note – inFocus is also available for viewing online at: www.lamontcounty.ca/communications (for those wanting to view the weekly submission as full-sized PDF and to access hyperlinks).
