Estevan Mercury 20201118

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Legion found a way to salute veterans

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By David Willberg

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dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

It wasn’t a Remembrance Day service like people are accustomed to seeing, but the Estevan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion still found a way to host a ceremony this year. The event was held outdoors at the city’s cenotaph on Nov. 11, with a small number of people gathered to honour those who have served their country in various combat missions, peacekeeping efforts and at other times in Canada’s history. The ceremony was filmed and livestreamed so that people could watch it from home, and so that the legion could meet COVID-19 restrictions. This year marked the first time in more than 50 years that the service was held outdoors. The Estevan Comprehensive School, the traditional site of the ceremony since the early 1970s, was not available. “I think it went over very

Cort Barker salutes during the wreath ceremony that was part of Estevan’s Remembrance Day service last week. well,” said Troy LeBlanc, the chairperson for Estevan’s Remembrance Day service. “As always, I’m very proud of the city of Estevan for their ongoing support for our veterans. As I always say, we will remember them.” People were understanding that the legion couldn’t have their tradition Remembrance Day service at the

Angela Durr was the piper for this year’s Remembrance Day service

Comp that would attract hundreds of people. “It was apparent with our small turnout today that everybody did enjoy it here, but hopes is that we’ll be able to do our normal program again next year,” said LeBlanc. LeBlanc reiterated his previous statements that the legion was going to find a way to have a service. Other communities also found ways to have something, with a few people in attendance and a digital broadcast. “There was no way we would not have a service today, one way or another, even if there was only five of us. We would make sure that some form of remembrance would be done today.” This year’s service did have many of the features of past years, with prayers and music. There was the Last Post, two minutes of silence and Reville. John McCrae’s

famous poem In Flanders Field was read out. But traditional features such as a guest speaker did not happen this year. And the wreaths were placed at the cenotaph before the service began, rather than during the wreath-laying ceremony. Representatives of a few organizations in the community were able to attend to silently acknowledge those who served during the cenotaph ceremony. People who attended braved sub-zero temperatures. A moderate breeze blew during the ceremony. LeBlanc said they would like to move back to an indoor service because it’s climate controlled, and they can accommodate more people. “We don’t have the capacity here on Fourth Street, unless we were to block off the main drag, and I don’t think we would want to do that,” said LeBlanc.

LeBlanc noted there was a technical problem with the live stream on the Facebook page at the last minute, as their computers shut down due to the cold. They were able to upload it later so that the public could enjoy it. Later in the day, the bells at St. Giles Anglican Church rang 75 times to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which was earlier this year. A few members of the legion gathered at the cenotaph to listen to the bells. A digital poppy drop was shown on the cenotaph. And the multimedia presentation that has aired at the Remembrance Day service in previous years was shown at the Power Dodge Curling Centre building. The presentation has photos of people from the Estevan area who have served their country, with old-time music playing in the background.

ID-19. The move took effect Monday. Level 3 involves a combination of in-person learning and virtual sessions. D ue to Friday ’s new restrictions, the Estevan Comprehensive School also moved to Level 3. The school was closed Monday to help it prepare for the change, and then Level 3 took effect on Tuesday.

Lynn Little, the director of education for South East Cornerstone, said the division has been preparing for this change during the school year. “They know what will happen when we go to a Level 3, if it’s required, so when we learned on Friday that all schools over 600 (would go to Level 3), it was recommended, we were in a

space where we were ready to move forward,” said Little. W ith the change at ECS, Little is confident that the students will be able to get their learning, even though 50 per cent of the course will need to be accomplished at home. Students with last names A-L were in the building on Tuesday, and students with A2 »COMP.

School divisions bring in new masking measures; ECS moves to Level 3 in pandemic response plan By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

The new guidelines brought for ward by the provincial government on Friday, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will have an impact on local schools, and the two school divisions in the southeast had already taken some proactive measures.

High schools with an enrolment of more than 600 students will have to move to Level 3 in the pandemic response, which means a combination of in-person and virtual learning. Cornerstone had announced Thursday that the Weyburn Comprehensive School would move to Level 3 after a student at WCS tested positive for COV-

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Estevan business community reacts to new restrictions While the new provincial restrictions announced on Friday may not be the best news, according to Estevan Chamber of Commerce president Jackie Wall, the local business community is pretty happy that the government has heard them and didn't bring in stricter changes. Wall said that even though Saskatchewan chambers of commerce expressed their concern about the aftereffects of a lockdown on multiple occasions and she personally talked to Estevan MLA Lori Carr last summer about the topic, up until the last moment they weren't sure if their arguments were taken into account. "The chamber network here and throughout the province was looking for the government to, of course, move forward for the sake of everyone's health, but also consider the business community and that the businesses are complying with the COVID restrictions and with cleaning requirements," Wall said.

"We were very much encouraging during summer and since then that businesses are able to stay open and we specifically look at isolated restrictions on business activities." The announcement made last Friday suggests that the interests and well-being of Saskatchewan business communities were a part of the decision on further restrictions, alongside public health. A collection of chambers of commerce and economic development groups have expressed what they called "strong support" for the targeted approach the Government of Saskatchewan has taken to address rising case counts in localized hotspots, including new mandatory mask requirements for communities with at least 5,000 people. "While we acknowledge some businesses will be significantly affected by today's announcement, returning to a widespread, large-scale lockdown would be catastrophic to Saskatchewan jobs, Sas-

katchewan families, and on the immediate survivability of Saskatchewan businesses — even with new and extensive government intervention. The health, societal, and economic harm would have lasting, irreversible impacts,” the letter states. The organizations are calling on all Saskatchewan residents to follow the restrictions and guidelines set out by public health experts. "Do your part and be a good neighbour. We also support the proactive enforcement of these critical measures." As the Christmas season approaches, chambers ask Saskatchewan residents to support local businesses wherever possible. Many of these businesses are barely hanging on, and every little bit counts. The new restrictions including mandatory masks in all indoor facilities in Estevan took effect Monday, and Wall said that so far the feedback she's heard from Estevan businesses was moderately positive.

She said that mandatory masks shouldn't be difficult to implement for anybody. "We've already seen a lot of local businesses that were requiring people to wear masks, and I know that the majority of residents in Estevan are just putting on their masks when they need to do their shopping in those locations. And this is just a wider spread, it's just something that we all are going to have to take note of moving forward and respect." Starting Monday, Estevan restaurants and bars are also required to stop selling liquor at 10 p.m. and consumption needed to end at 11 p.m. While it may cause some issues for some places, so far it was announced as a temporary measure. Wall pointed out that the main concern is the potential decrease in the regular demand for restaurants, especially during the traditional time of Christmas parties, a lot of which are now restricted. Wall suggested that if companies have an oppor-

tunity, they should still try to find ways to support local establishments by either having their Christmas meals in the office or providing support differently. "If you are not doing a Christmas party this year, let's take a pivot, go to a local establishment, buy gift cards and encourage your staff to stay home in the evening and order in a meal on the business," Wall suggested. She also said local sports organizations were pretty relieved to hear that they didn’t have to shut their doors and are trying to do their best to try to continue operating by following safety measures. Wall added that to keep the situation at a manageable level and keep enjoying the functioning businesses, they encourage the public and all businesses to adhere to the standards to make sure the community can have a safe Christmas. "Put your masks on, do what you need to do, but we are

coming into the season where people are going to be looking for Christmas gifts, and they are going to be trying to support local businesses, and we did not want to see a shutdown in that," Wall said. "We want to see that Saskatchewan businesses survive. We want them to be able to continue operating, especially since so many have invested so much time, and money and effort in getting the COVID standards in place," Wall said. "And ultimately we are really trying to protect the population and our frontline healthcare workers. We don't want to have a situation where we have healthcare workers overrun in hospitals. "And I just want to encourage businesses to keep moving forward. I know this is a really difficult time … Just keep in mind that kindness is what we all really need to take a look at and how we can protect one another, and yet still move our community ahead and support local."

Comp. students will alternate between classroom and home « A1 last names starting with M-Z were working independently at home. They will alternate each day from there. In the interest of balancing some class sizes, a small number of students will be asked to attend with the other group. Homeroom teachers were to notify students and parents if this is the case. Assigned independent work and practice will be provided for days that students are at home, and those assignments expected to be completed prior

to the next class. To ensure success and achievement for all students, it is important for children to be engaged in and completing the work assigned for out-of-class days. School division technology will not be loaned out during Level 3. ECS will remain at Level 3 at least until Christmas break on Dec. 18. South East Cornerstone had announced on Thursday that masks would be mandatory for Grade 4-8 students when in

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classrooms. “Grade 4-8 students have been wearing masks in highdensity areas – that would be places like boot rooms and hallways, as well as on buses, and they have been doing that since the beginning of the year,” said Little. Grade 9-12 students were already wearing them in classes. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 still won’t have to wear masks, although mask wearing will be encouraged for Grade 3s in split grade classrooms with Grade 4s. “It will depend a little bit on the situation in that classroom and in that school as well, with how they work that out in terms of the number children in the classroom,” said Little. Some school divisions have implemented a pre-kindergarten to Grade 3 mask mandate, but Cornerstone hasn’t mandated it yet. The Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division announced Friday that masks would be required for students in Grades 4-9 in its classrooms and elsewhere in the school buildings, starting Monday.

The Estevan Comprehensive School now has a mixture of in-person and online learning. File photo Gwen Keith, the director of education for the school division, said they would have proceeded with the mask mandate regardless of what the province announced Friday. Keith said they decided to take the step because of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan. Holy Family has been in consultation with South East Cornerstone, and the two divisions want to be as consistent as possible. “Obviously we’re autono-

mous boards, but we want to just move through this pandemic as cautiously and carefully with our parents and our staff to create some clear directions, as much as we can, and still maintain our autonomy,” said Keith. Holy Family does not have a high school, but it does have Grade 9 students at its school in Weyburn, which is why Grade 9 students were included in their mask policy. The separate school divi-

sion has yet to have a case in any of its schools, she said, but the division has been practising and preparing for COVID cases since last March. “We don’t see the pandemic as something’s that going to be gone in the near future,” said Keith. The provincial government was scheduled to announce additional COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday. You can visit www.estevanmercury.ca for more information.

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Estevan's Larry Preddy recognized as regional parks volunteer of the year on the provincial level By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

Larry Preddy, the coowner of Henders Drugs, a strong community-minded volunteer and great Estevan supporter, was recently recognized by the Saskatchewan Regional Parks Association (SRPA). For his endless hours and countless contributions to the park that he's done throughout the years, he was named volunteer of the year. The announcement was supposed to be made during the Saskatchewan Regional Parks Association’s (SRPA) Convention, which is a provincial networking event originally slated to take place last spring. But like many other events this year, the in-person convention was cancelled, and the SRPA's annual general meeting was held online at the end of October. That's when the great news for the Estevan community was first announced. "You can nominate people for a volunteer for the year, and so our executive members got together and secretly nominated Larry, who is our current Woodlawn Regional Park Authority chairperson, for the Sask. Regional Parks volunteer of the year award. And he was one of the recipients of that award," shared Maureen Daoust, who is the Woodlawn Regional Park's business manager. The executives kept the good news a secret for some time, still hoping to find a way to celebrate the great volunteer they have. But since the current situation doesn't al-

Larry Preddy was recently recognized for his dedication to Woodlawn Regional Park. Photo submitted low for any bigger gatherings, they decided to go ahead and share the news with Preddy and the community. "Not one to seek the limelight, there could not be a more deserving recipient of this award. As the heart and soul of our organization, our park would not be the treasure it has become today without his committed efforts," Daoust said. Preddy said he was very surprised and also really humbled to learn that he became the award recipient. "You don't do this stuff for recognition. I do it because I enjoy it," Preddy said. "I work with such terrific people, both on the board and the employees that we have, they are just fabulous to work with." Preddy always had a lot of knowledge and passion for greenspaces. He explained that this interest draws from

his childhood. "Until Grade 9 we lived in the small town of Tribune. And my grandparents lived here, so we went visiting. We used to go to Woodlawn Park. And I guess my attachment to the park started before we even lived in Estevan," recalled Preddy. "But what really inspired this, is in 2000 I got a couple of miniature schnauzers that I really enjoyed walking. So I found the park to be a fabulous place to walk them. So I walked them there basically every day, and really got more familiar with the park and so forth." Preddy went on to suggests some improvements to the park's current authoritu, which they found really valuable, and invited him to come on board. "They started lobbying me to become a member of the board. It took a lot of

lobbying because I was on several other boards. But finally, I entered and the rest is history," Preddy said. Ever since then, Preddy was heavily involved with the park. He was a big part of rebuilding Woodlawn Regional Park after the 2011 flood. "He offered a lot of leadership and encouragement, and over the years he has also donated a lot financially to the park," said Daoust. Preddy explained that as a local businessman he sees donating to the park as a good cause. "Estevan has been really good to me over the years, and sometimes you'd like to give it back. And this is part of my way of giving back to the community." He added that over the years he always found joy being outdoors after spending long hours at work. "Believe it or not, but

being a pharmacist is fairly high-pressure work. And (engagement with the park) gave me the opportunity to actually be outside enjoying nature," Preddy explained. With Preddy's leadership, encouragement and financial support the park has added new services including an off-leash dog park and an award-winning outdoor fitness area, along with a hiking trail system that is enjoyed by thousands each year. His contributions have also enabled beautiful signature log fences surrounding the entire boundaries of Woodlawn Park. Besides, with Preddy's support, the park has added many new trees over the years. He has donated memorial benches throughout the park for people to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet of nature or to visit at the play park while watching their children.

Daoust added that on top of the mentioned above significant contributions, efforts and improvements, every summer Preddy also donates hundreds of hours of his time that he spends on a lawnmower at Woodlawn and Boundary Dam parks. "I don't work in the store as much and I got to be doing something, so it keeps me occupied, plus it helps the park and it helps somebody else," Preddy said. He also offers on-call oversight of the park on evenings and weekends if needed. He has orientated and assisted four new managers over the course of the past 12 years. "Larry is a wonderful model and mentor for our summer students. He is always very positive with the youth and an authentic participant of ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ He facilitated the creation of our annual winter community event, Woodlawn Regional Park Festival of Lights held each year ... Any activity that we have, Larry is always behind the scenes," said Daoust, but Preddy corrected this statement saying that he was one of the many people involved with setting up this great community event and all other big achievements that the board credited him for. Daoust said they weren't surprised that the SRPA heard them and decided to award Preddy. They hope that maybe next year they will be able to have some kind of celebration, but for now, they just invite the community to share the great news.

Preparations for the Festival of Lights at Woodlawn are underway Wood lawn Regional Park will once again be filled with magic this holiday season. The annual Festival of Lights will kick off on Dec. 18 and will keep going until Jan. 8 next year. The park will light up at dusk each evening for the community to enjoy. "We are continuing to host the Festival of Lights. It will be our fourth annual celebration ... For us at the park, it's about spreading peace and joy and getting into the Christmas spirit," said park business manager Maureen Daoust. "Unfortunately, due to COVID we can't have our kick-off party, Christmas in the Park, but we are still inviting people to come down on December 18th, which is the opening day, to come down later in the day before dusk when the lights turn on. We are hoping that people can come, safely social distance and still be part of the initial night of lights turning on and just be a part of excitement with us." Every year Woodlawn

Regional Park invites community members to share in the festivities and spread joy in the Christmas season while promoting their organization or business within the community. It's hard to put a number on how many guests visit the site, but it was estimated that approximately 3,000 vehicles came through the Festival of Lights in each of the 2017-2019 seasons. This year, the park opened the festival up to families, so any business, nonprofit or interested family can set up their displays for others to enjoy. Last year they had 31 entities participating, and they hope to see even more displays this time. Information has been sent out to those who joined the festival last year as well as to other Estevan businesses, organizations and groups. The cost of participation is $100 for businesses and $50 for non-profit organizations or families. Daoust said they hope to keep the festival growing with the help of the Este-

van Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Estevan and Estevan Mercury. If anyone is interested in participating in this community event, they would need to complete the registration form. For more information, email manager@ woodlawnregionalpark.com or call 306-637-3588. Daoust said, there is enough room in the park to accommodate as many companies and groups as possible. Usually, each participant gets two campsites areas to decorate. "We are encouraging people to fully utilize the space that they have, to decorate and use their imagination, come down and be a part of it, have fun and fellowship, decorating and just getting in the spirit of Christmas with, whether it be your coworkers or staff or fellow volunteers from an organization," said Daoust. Displays are planned to be installed by Dec. 15, so that park staff and volunteers can go in and put on the timers. "We put timers on every

Woodlawn Regional Park looked very festive last year. File photo site so that they all come on at the same time," Daoust explained. While many traditional Christmas activities are now being cancelled due to the pandemic, fortunately, this event held outdoors can still bring people the Christmas light. During the festival, guests can either walk, keep-

ing a safe distance from other visitors, or drive through the displays. There is no charge for the event, but if people are willing to support the initiative, at the suggestion of the public the park staff installed a donation box at the end of the drive. The donations help the non-profit cover the bills associated with the event and

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keep it going. "We are super excited for our fourth annual Festival of Lights," said Daoust. The Festival of Lights wouldn't be possible without the continuous support of Henders Drugs, Energy Electric Ltd., Southern Plains Co-op and Estevan Chamber of Commerce.


Editorial

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

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EDITORIAL

Will new restrictions go far enough? In the past couple of weeks, as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to grow in Saskatchewan, there’s been a lot of speculation about when the provincial government would add to the restrictions that have been in place, in an effort to level out the case load. The other obvious question focused on the extent of these restrictions. We received our answer Friday. And while these will get people’s attention, they’re nowhere near as stringent as some wanted, or as harsh as they could have been. If you’re in Estevan, you’ll have to wear a mask in a public place, but you won’t have to do the same in Carlyle or Oxbow or other small towns, at least for now. Bars and licensed establishments will have to stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m., but at least they can remain open. Gyms will have to limit the number of people allowed in classes, but again, at least they can remain open. Sports seasons will continue, although the 150-spectator limit remains. High schools with at least 600 students will shift to a blend between in-person classes and digital learning until the Christmas break. You can question why the government didn’t make masks mandatory across the province, although that might have been a hard sell in some largely rural areas that still have a very low case count. And you can question why the government

took the direction they did with high schools, recommending half the students shift to study online each day. We’ve seen a surge in the number of cases the past few weeks. Not that long ago, our daily record was 60 cases. Now we’d be very happy to be as low as 60 cases. Until there’s a COVID vaccine, it’s unlikely we’re going to see the return of the days in which we have zero cases, or a stretch in which we get about 50 cases in three weeks (which we saw late in the summer). It’s unlikely we’ll see a repeat of some of the numbers we witnessed in the southeast: 13 cases in the first six months of the pandemic, and a seven-week stretch without a case in Southeast Zone 4 – the zone that includes Estevan and numerous other communities. But we can certainly get our caseloads down to a more manageable level, and in turn, the number of hospitalizations to a lower level. It would have been nice if the provincial government would have come out on Thursday and directly announced these new restrictions. Instead, they said Thursday they would make an announcement the following day, creating a lot of uncertainty across the province. Given the restrictions put in place in other provinces, including our neighbours to the east and the west, you can’t fault people for thinking the government was going to do more. Many were

expecting we might return to a full lockdown, like in Manitoba. It would also be beneficial for the government to have COVID update news conferences on a more regular basis. They don’t necessarily need to happen every day, but a nine-day hiatus, with the surge in the caseload, is stunning. It’s another example of the lack of transparency that so many of us have complained about in the past. Hopefully the government won’t have to pile on additional restrictions. We don’t want to see the closure of gyms and movie theatres, a suspension of sporting events and live music performances, or the end of in-person learning in classrooms until for an indefinite period of time. We saw it last spring: the vast majority of kids are better off learning in person. We want to see bars and restaurants remain open. We don’t want to see further reductions in the number of people allowed to gather, regardless of whether it’s in private dwellings, public indoor settings or outdoor locations. And we certainly don’t want to see retail businesses closed, or a return of a full lockdown, especially with Christmas just five weeks away. It’s up to us to determine what’s next. Be smart and do our best to reduce our caseload numbers, or live in a fantasy land in which we think we know better than the experts.

The other side of the problem Published weekly by Prairie Newspaper Group Limited Partnership, 68 Souris Avenue N., Estevan, SK S4A 2M3.The Estevan Mercury is owned and operated by Prairie Newspaper Group Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of Glacier Media Inc. Advertising rates are available upon request and are subject to change without notice. Conditions of editorial and advertising content: The Estevan Mercury attempts to be accurate in Editorial and Advertising content; however, no guarantee is given or implied. The Estevan Mercury reserves the right to revise or reject any or all editorial and advertising content as the newspaper’s principals see fit. The Estevan Mercury will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion of an advertisement, and is not responsible for errors in advertisements except for the space occupied by such errors. The Estevan Mercury will not be responsible for manuscripts, photographs, negatives and other related material that may be submitted for possible publication. All of the Estevan Mercury’s content is protected by Canadian Copyright laws. Reviews and similar mention of material in this newspaper is granted on the provision that The Estevan Mercury receives credit. Otherwise, any reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Advertisers purchase space and circulation only. Rights to any advertisement produced by The Estevan Mercury, including artwork, typography, photos, etc., remain the property of this newspaper. Advertisements or parts thereof may not be reproduced or assigned without the consent of the publisher. We acknowledge financial support of the Government of Canada. Nous reconnaissons l'appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.

Last week I wrote about one side of the pandemic, which is personally affecting my family and me at the moment. This time I want to touch the other side – I want to say of the coin, but I’m afraid this coin has more than two sides. My very good friend’s brother committed suicide a couple of weeks ago. He was a very young man, an entrepreneur, a bit of a blogger. Even though not all family members were living close to each other, the notion of a family, in general, was always valuable. While there could have been some hiccups due to the generally shaky economy, the family and he personally were financially stable. Yes, he had an unsuccessful relationship a while ago, but we tend to ascribe the broken heart suicides to teenagers. He was way past that age. Besides, it sounded like even though his heart was in pain, it wasn’t broken after all. That happened in Russia as well, where the situation with COVID and related restrictions is pretty different. On the one hand, the number of cases and death is much higher, and hospitals are steadily overwhelmed (pretty much alike with the U.S.). On the other hand, there are fewer restrictions in place and even though a lot of things are going differently, by all means, they are not on a lockdown (for example, a birthday party of 25-30 people in a restaurant is a completely normal thing there). I guess the main sources of stress for most families, no matter what their level of income is, would be health, the economy and unemployment. Now, if I say that it was the pandemic, or the virus, or the uncertainty that’s been in the air since last winter, that affected that young man and forced him to commit suicide, it will be a total stipulation. I don’t think even his family has a firm answer as to why he did it.

Ana Bykhovskaia Twenty Lines About… But unfortunately, this is not the only suicide in my bigger circle lately. And it made me think if this would have happened, if the world around wasn’t as crazy as it’s been for the past nine months? Alberta Premier Jason Kenny last week, responding to a question about why the province pretty overwhelmed with new cases and deaths, isn’t implementing a new lockdown, touched on the bigger picture, including liberties, people’s ability to put food on the table as well as drug abuse statistics. He pointed out that so far this year the number of deaths of people over 65 is below the five-year average, but it’s way above the average for those younger than 65, and there is a rise in opioid-related deaths, which they believe is indirectly related to the pandemic. On the other side, Manitoba implemented an almost full lockdown last week, shutting down most non-essential businesses, religious facilities, restricting gatherings and travel, but keeping the schools going. Both reactions have their supporters and those who were upset with decisions made. But I feel that in both situations as well as in other provinces and countries where different measures are taken, the situation with mental health, in general, is alarming. A lot of negativity in the talks related to mental health usually is against governments applying restrictions to different communities or businesses changing their rules. I don’t think it’s fair to blame anyone trying to navigate

through this crazy, chaotic situation and trying to protect our well-being. But I also can’t deny the fact that even my positive-focused mind has been trembling on regular basis since last February. I'm speaking for myself here. I never had problems breathing or claustrophobia or general problems adjusting to some new behaviours (otherwise I probably wouldn’t take on the challenge of settling in the new country). In my case, I know for sure that it’s not about masks or restrictions (I always remember it too shall pass and what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger). But because there is hardly any clarity in anything, sometimes it feels like an ocean with no cost to be seen and no tools to navigate, and even a strong mind may start burning out eventually. I think it’s the general instability that makes me feel miserable every so often. Be it lockdown or new restrictions, a new wave of cases or some complications of the disease, bad news from loved ones or a general spike in world numbers. There is nobody to blame for it, as we all are facing something new and we all are in an experimenting phase. But to keep myself above the ground, no matter what the situation is, I need something or someone to lean on to find the balance. That was my main task throughout the last months, and so far I’ve been successful. P.S. For those of you who were asking about my family, there are some good and not-so-good news. Dad, brother and his girlfriend are still in quarantine, but after the first symptoms including fever, weakness and loss of smell faded off, they have been feeling relatively fine. Mom has pneumonia. At the time of writing this piece, it was not too bad, but she was feeling really sick. They all are monitored by the doctor and are staying positive. Thank you for your support!


Op-Ed A5

David Willberg Willberg’s World

The joys of modern technology I can’t imagine trying to navigate the past eight months without the benefits of modern technology. I’ve railed about the over-reliance on technology on many occasions in the past, for everything from an over-reliance on online shopping, to those who spend way too much time on social media, to those who insist on using text messages and social media to express frustration to someone. (I feel the same way about those who apologize over text messages). And make no mistake about it: technology has been a source of frustration on many occasions since the first case of COVID-19 diagnosed in Saskatchewan more than eight months ago. It has created a platform for those with some dangerous opinions, and those platforms become even more frightening when you consider there are those who will believe anything when it fits their agenda. But technology has allowed things to proceed that would have been cancelled otherwise. Last Wednesday was a perfect example. Remembrance Day services were able to happen in Estevan and other communities through the use of technology. Legion branches live-streamed their services through Facebook and other platforms. The legion in Estevan still had many of the aspects traditionally associated with a service. I’m sure it was the same story with other communities. But at least those who couldn’t be there could still sit down in front of their computer (or in front of their TV in Estevan if they have Access Now) and enjoy the ceremony. A few months ago, many expected the Remembrance Day service would have to be cancelled. I’ve been to the Remembrance Day service in Estevan every year since I’ve been here. Yes, part of it is due to work, but both my grandparents served Canada in the Second World War, and I’ve had other family members and friends who have served their country, so I would have been at the service each year. Even if I couldn’t have been at this year’s service, I would have watched it online. Yes, it was very different from what we’ve had in the past, but it was still a special day. (As an aside, for those who want to have an outdoor Remembrance Day service at the cenotaph in downtown Estevan, this year’s service was an example as to why it should stay indoors. Granted, it’s not going to be around -10 C with a breeze on Nov. 11 each year, but we don’t have to worry about the weather when it’s indoors). The Remembrance Day service isn’t the only event that could happen through modern technology. The United Way Estevan’s telethon last month featured plenty of entertainment courtesy of talented singers, dancers and instrumentalists who submitted videos. Former Estevan residents submitted videos, enabling them to be part of the broadcast. Given the amount of money that the United Way raises through the telethon for its member agencies, it’s such an essential part of our community. And given the needs those member agencies are facing during a pandemic, the telethon importance might have been greater than ever. Without the modern technology and the capability to blend live performances and pre-recorded entertainment, it would have been difficult for the show to happen, and those member agencies and community partners – and all of the people they support – would have suffered. Modern technology has allowed for council meetings and non-profit board sessions and business gatherings to proceed during the pandemic. It has allowed people to work from home and still get the job done. Most people have jobs that can now easily translate from the office to the home. Working from home isn’t possible for all, but it can happen for many. Modern technology allowed for retail outlets and restaurants, classified by the government as non-essential, to switch to online shopping and online ordering, so they can stay somewhat open and keep some of their employees. And it’s allowed for the rise for such entertaining concepts as the Cheap Seats podcast, with four local sports fans discussing what’s happening (or not happening) in the sports world. Over the last eight months, we’ve needed as many sources of entertainment as possible. It allows organizations to get actual news out to the public quickly, to let them know that something important has occurred. Yes, technology isn’t without its downside or its reason for frustration. It can aggravate. It empowers and provides a platform to the conspiracy theory crowd. But over the past eight months, it’s been beneficial far more often than it’s been a liability.

Delivering the Gold Standard in real estate & property management services

LYNN CHIPLEY, Broker/Owner Cell 306.421.0100

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Wednesday, November 18, 2020

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Lori Carr looks forward to challenge of a new cabinet position Estevan MLA Lori Carr is looking forward to the challenges associated with a new cabinet post. Carr was shifted over to the minister of Social Services role on Nov. 9 as part of a post-election cabinet shuffle. Previously she had several roles, including the minister of Government Relations. She admitted she was a little disappointed to move away from Government Relations, as she enjoyed the work associated with the portfolio. And it was a role she had a background in, as she spent more than nine years on Estevan city council before shifting to provincial politics in 2016. “Having said that, I look forward to embracing social services and learning as I go along,” said Carr. Her experience in dealing with Social Services has

come through interactions with agencies associated with the portfolio, such as the Estevan Housing Authority and Estevan Diversified Services. “Obviously, this is going to be on a much larger basis, because there’s child and family care and other things that go with it,” said Carr, who takes it as a compliment from Premier Scott Moe that she has been tasked with more responsibility. Her background, though, was in financial work along with city council before she became an MLA. “ We have vulnerable people in the province that do need the assistance of our resources, and that is what we are here for. I think I am more than capable of doing that,” she said. Her first briefing as minister was Thursday afternoon, when she was able to start

digging into the information on the different communitybased organizations. And she has spoken with Paul Merriman, the previous Social Services minister, about what to expect in the role. “He said there’s no doubt that I’ll have questions that probably won’t get answered, or we’ll look at where he was at on the portfolio, and see what path we take forward, just to make sure there’s consistency,” said Carr. Carr has been presented with a budget prepared by Merriman. She’s confident that within a week, she’ll have the basics of the department. “This is a huge portfolio with lots of moving pieces, very important communitybased organizations that I’m going to have to reach out to, to introduce myself and touch base with,” said Carr.

Some of the stakeholders were those she met with in Government Relations, so there is a crossover. But she admits it does take time to learn a portfolio after a cabinet shuffle. It’s also a portfolio that is receiving a lot of attention as the province continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Carr noted that early on, through the social services portfolio, food banks were under a lot of stress, so the province reached out to them, worked with them and provided them with additional funding. “There will be those odd one-offs, but we have a lot of existing staff. They just might be doing things a little differently than they did before,” said Carr. The size of the provincial cabinet will remain at 18, including premier Scott Moe.

Estevan rural trustee excited to join Holy Family board The new representative for the Estevan rural area on the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division’s board is looking forward to the experience. Virgilito Sotto was acclaimed to the subdivision, known as Spruce Ridge, back in October. He replaces Bob Cossette, who decided not to seek another term. “I think it was a year or two years ago that Bob was encouraging me to be part of it, because he was going to be retiring soon, but I was kind of hesitant,” said Sotto. Cossette approached Soto once again, and after Sotto talked with his wife about what he could bring to the board, Sotto decided to run. He was told a fresh face and some new ideas would be welcome on the board, especially with the changing demographics of the students in the division. He has spoken with a few friends in the Estevan area to find out what they

Virgilito Sotto think of the Holy Family division and the direction the board has taken during the past term. He’s a big supporter of Catholic education, and he and his family were raised in a Catholic setting in his

native Philippines. Sotto believes his experiences in education will help him with Holy Family. He has been an education assistant and a substitute teacher at Holy Family, although not as much in the past year or two, because he has been busy with his job. In the Philippines, he was a teacher. “I know in the school division right now, it is diverse with different cultures. There are many Filipinos in the schools. There are other nationalities as well. So I think that what I can bring and what we have done in the Philippines that might also help with the education, I don’t know if it will work or not … but there will still be a learning curve for me on this board,” he said. Since he is new to the board, he will spend the first few months learning the ins and outs of the system. “Then if I have ideas to put in, they might come, but there are no specific plans for now,” he said.

Students pay tribute to service

Grade 7 students from Pleasantdale School were among those who participated in a No Stone Left Alone ceremony at the Estevan City Cemetery on Friday. Grade 7 and 8 students from Pleasantdale and Sacred Heart School/Ecole Sacre Coeur were involved. Following a brief ceremony, they placed poppies at the tombs of those who served their country in military missions. No Stone Left Alone is a new initiative brought to Estevan by Elyse Mantei, whose father spent 40 years in the Canadian Army. Photo by Elyse Mantei

kids speak Why have you been happy to see snow on the ground?

Logan Folbar

Age: 10 “So we can build snowballs and snowmen, and I can throw snowballs at my brother.”

Nathan Burlasa

Age: 10 “So we can have fun all over the snow.”

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Teddy Bears Anonymous make sure that every sick kid has something to cheer them up Anonymous have three-coloured bears on board. Lawrence added that now they are trying to come up with a new bear every year. While the main hospitals are located outside of Estevan, when needed local children end up going to bigger centres and also get support from fluffy friends provided by Teddy Bears Anonymous. Since the very beginning, the organization has been run strictly by volunteers, and support coming from the community is what keeps them going. To donate to Teddy Bears Anonymous people can go to teddybearsanonymous.ca. They are a registered charity and can issue tax receipts for donations. "Hundred per cent of donations go towards purchasing of teddy bears for sick children," said Lawrence. He added that running a volunteer organization is "a lot of hard work and you need to find the right people, but they actually tend to find you." "The team of volunteers that we have they come to us because maybe they have a child that's been affected, that's been gifted, maybe they've lost a child. Everybody has personal reasons, but we have people in the different areas in the province and that's what they do for us. They are very reliable. We have a saying, "You can pay people to do anything, but volunteers are priceless," concluded Lawrence.

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

Getting through health issues is stressful and scary even for strong and brave adults, let alone little kids. Teddy Bears Anonymous, a 100 per cent volunteer-run Saskatchewan organization, is doing its best to make sure that no kid in the province has to face a sometimes scary hospital experience without a friend next by. Luke Lawrence, who also volunteers 100 per cent of his time, founded the organization in 2008 after he lost his daughter Erin to a rare form of cancer. He wanted to do something to raise awareness about the disease that brought tragedy into his family, but at the same time, he was thinking of something that would speak to Erin's compassion for children at the hospital where she spent a lot of time. "When she was taking her treatments, she said, 'Dad, it's terrible.' I said, 'What's terrible, Erin?' She said, 'Children, dad, children have to take chemo.' It was just something I remembered after she passed away," Lawrence recalled. Erin was almost 21 when she died, and since then for over 11 years Lawrence and like-minded volunteers have been working hard trying to ensure that kids in Saskatchewan hospitals and EMS feel supported through the trying times. Erin was in the hospital for quite a while, and many people came by to

Luke Lawrence founded a 100 per cent volunteerrun Teddy Bears Anonymous organization in 2008. Photo submitted

Saskatchewan kids receive a teddy bear of their choice to stay with them throughout their health journey. Photo submitted The organization is steadily evolv- dren that are coming in. And then we cheer her up and support her, usually bringing either flowers or teddy bears. ing. Lawrence started with the bears also give them to pediatric wards in the When she was gone, Lawrence was that were given to Erin and then main hospitals ‌ And they give them left with a large variety of brand new continued the mission with the help to surgical wards there as well." of donations from people. He added that now both hospitals stuffed toys. "(In the beginning) we were ask- and kids really like what they do. "I couldn't get rid of them," Lawing (people) to go out and purchase a At first, teddy bears were all black, rence recalled. He contacted hospitals, but no- teddy bear and leave them in a bag that but then they realized that there was body would take those teddy bears it came in. And we slowly migrated a demand for variety. Now they offer because they were considered used, to our own custom bear that we have kids to choose from so-called "threeeven though nobody has ever played today. And with COVID, we never coloured bears," which are black, saw this one coming, you can't have a white or brown and are made for kids with them. "I had some luck through some better application than a factory sealed going for surgeries. Children that are contacts with the Regina EMS at the sterile bear, because nobody touched in emergency in Regina are gifted with panda bears, and in Saskatoon time, and they said they probably could it," Lawrence said. "With hospitals, we give (teddy kids in emergency get koala bears. All take those off (my) hands. "And then he got back to me bears) to the emergency sites for chil- EMSs that partner with Teddy Bears and he says, 'Hey, Luke there is a huge demand for what you are doing here.'" Time has proved that there was indeed a significant demand. Since Teddy Bears Anonymous came to being, they have gifted sick children in Saskatchewan hospitals 160,000 teddy bears. Since 2008, they also partnered with over 30 EMSs, including Estevan and other communities around. They started manufacturing their own teddy bears, some of which are sealed and sterile so they could comfort children even in surgery rooms, where parents can't accompany them. This allowed the volunteer organization to partner with Saskatoon's Jim Pattison Children's Hospital, as well as with many Teddy Bear Anonymous offers a variety of stuffed bears for kids to choose from. Photo submitted other hospitals in Saskatchewan.

City Hall: 1102 4th Street 8 am to 4:30 pm | (306) 634-1800 Leisure Office: 701 Souris Avenue 8 am to 4:30 pm | (306) 634-1880

Message From

The Mayor

To the citizens of Estevan, thank you for exercising your democratic right to vote. To those that put their name forward on the ballot, thank you for having the courage to do so, and wanting to help our City. I look forward to continuing to lead Estevan along with our new conuncillors.

FITNESS SCHEDULE MONDAY SPIN 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM GRIT 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM EASY STRETCH 10:10 AM - 10:50 AM SPIN 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM POWER BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SPIN/CORE 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM AQUA STEP 5:15 PM - 6:00 PM OPEN 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

ESTEVAN LEISURE CENTRE -2020 EFFECTIVE -SEPTEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 24, 2020

TUESDAY SPIN 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM SPIN 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM CARDIO BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SPIN 5:30 PM - 6:10 PM OPEN 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

WEDNESDAY GRIT 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM CORE BARRE ABOVE 9:10 AM - 10:15 AM FOAM ROLLER 10:30 AM - 11:10 AM BARRE ABOVE 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM POWER BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM AQUA STEP 5:15 PM - 6:00 PM OPEN 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

THURSDAY SPIN 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM SPIN 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM CARDIO BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM HEAD TO TOE MOBILITY 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM SPIN 5:30 PM - 6:10 PM OPEN 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

FRIDAY GRIT 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM GRIT 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM EASY STRETCH 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM OPEN 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

SATURDAY OPEN 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM SUNDAY SPIN 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM DEEP WATER POWER 8:00 PM - 8:45 PM OPEN 9:00 AM - 9:50 PM

PLEASE NOTE - Due to the pandemic-related protocols registration has moved to a PRE-Registration process. Users must pre-register online or by calling the Information Desk. Patrons will be screened upon arrival and asked a few questions as per the Operational Health and Safety Guidelines. Space between workout stations have either ncreased or a machine has been put into 'not in use.' Drinking fountains and change rooms will be closed. Memberships that were bought previously were put on hold; the days remaining on memberships have been applied to your accounts starting June 8th, 2020. If you need a new membership, please either book online at www.estevan.ca or call the Information Desk for contactless payment.

AQUATIC SCHEDULE MONDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM -1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM LANE SWIM 9:00 PM - 9:45 PM

!

EFFECTIVE - OCTOBER 1 - DECEMBER 19, 2020

TUESDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM -1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM

WEDNESDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM LANE SWIM 9:00 PM - 9:45 PM

THURSDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM AQUA AWE 1:15 PM -2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM

FRIDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM -2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM FREE SWIM 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM ** LANE SWIM 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM *** **NO NOV 6 OR 27 *** ONLY OCT 9,16,30 & DEC 4,11,18

SATURDAY LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM PUBLIC SWIM 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM LANE SWIM 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

FAMILY SWIM 6:15PM - 7:15 PM PUBLIC SWIM 7:15PM - 9:00 PM

SUNDAY LANE SWIM 1200 PM - 12:45 PM FAMILY SWIM 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

LANE SWIM 3:45 PM - 4:45 PM DEEP WATER POWER 8:00 PM - 8:45 PM

PLEASE NOTE - Due to the pandemic-related protocols, Lane Swim, Aqua Step, A.I.S., Deep Water Power Awe programming has moved to a PRE-Registration process. Users must pre-register online or by calling the Information Desk. For all other activities space is limited. Patrons will be screened upon arrival and asked a few questions as per the Operational Health and Safety Guidelines. Water fountains are not available.


Business

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IT TAKES MORE THAN A SIGN!

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A9

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Lampman business Carnivores serving up great meat Duane and Shaula Garton opened Carnivores meat shop in Lampman, seeing a need for a business that can provide high-quality sausage and other fine meat cuts. But the support they have received in the past few weeks since their opening day Oct. 23 has surpassed their lofty expectations. “Everybody has been coming in and we’ve been busy, so it ’s been great,” Shaula said. Carnivores serves various types of sausages, as well as fresh steaks, smoked chicken legs, burgers and other types of meats. Summer sausage and smoked sausage have proven

to be the most popular items on their menu thus far. “We can’t seem to keep them stocked,” said Shaula. “We’re always making more. Obviously people are enjoying it, so that’s a good thing.” Cuts of sausage aren’t the only items that they have had trouble keeping in stock. The demand has been so great that they had to close early on Nov. 7 because they ran out of products. “It was much busier than we ever anticipated. We never thought we would go through that much in our first week,” said Shaula. And while it was tough to tell their customers they had run out of food, they

take it as a vote of confidence from the people in the Lampman area that the business is serving quality products. “We didn’t know if this would work here. It’s a small town, and we didn’t know how much people would come in, but everybody in town has been wonderful. Everybody has been shopping here and we’re selling way more meat than we ever thought we would,” said Shaula. The business also has a lunch special a couple of times a week, and now they have started serving cheesecakes for those who might be looking for something to go

Save the Stress is Cleaning for a Cause Save the Stress Cleaning Services has created Cleaning for a Cause, an initiative in which it helps people fighting cancer and other illnesses with cleaning their homes. “We would love to give the gift of clean to someone that is undergoing treatment to help them out and take something off of their plate so they can focus on what matters most,” the company said. The business has been selecting people to receive a free basic house clean. Christina Bohn, who owns Save the Stress, said they have expanded the program so it’s not just those fighting cancer. In addition to Estevan and Weyburn, which is where Save the Stress is located, they have received requests from rural communities. To nominate someone, please send Save the Stress a message, telling them who they would like to nominate and why. All messages will be kept private. “So far we’ve chosen everybody that’s been nominated,” Bohn said. “It’s hard to decide whose story is the most deserving, so we just give a card to everybody.” One month they gave out five cards,

and already in November, they handed out three. Bohn said they want to help out as many people as possible in the community. “People have been really happy. They thought it was really nice,” Bohn said. In some cases, when the recipient has approached their family about using the gift certificate, the family member said they would pay for the cleaning, so the card could be used at a later date. “Then they get to use it again later, and then they have actually booked other cleans from it, because they really liked having it,” said Bohn. “It’s something that’s so important right now, too, because people are not feeling well and not able to get to those appointments.” Save the Stress can go in and get the house cleaned while the person is out of their home. The concept was introduced before COVID-19 hit, and was put on hold for a while due to the pandemic. It recently started up again, and Bohn hopes it can continue for some time. There is no deadline for when the cards need to be redeemed.

with their sausage. Cabbage rolls and home-cooked soups are also on the menu. Shaula said she and Duane have always loved cutting and serving quality meats. They did it at home for friends and family, and with Duane no longer working in the oilfield, this provided the chance to do something different. “ That way we could work together, which we love doing,” said Shaula. They’re also avid hunters who have processed their own sausage meat. Shaula said they could see the need for a business such as Carnivores, especially in Lampman, because they’re going to ser ve the highquality, home-cooked meats made in store. People from out of town have taken notice, too. “They’re travelling in to check us out, which surprises us, but it’s good. Word is spreading fast.” It’s been a rewarding experience to be entrepreneurs. It’s been exciting to see the response from the public, and they get to do something that they love. “ This wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t our friends and family who helped us so much to get started,” said Shaula.

Duane and Shaula Garton are the owners of the Carnivores meat shop in Lampman. The business has been popular since it opened last month. Photo submitted

DOING BUSINESS IN ESTEVAN

Making Estevan an Intelligent Community In the age of technology that we areliving in, there is a desire for cities like Estevan to adapt and become smart cities. With the help of Sask I.N.C., a non-profit start-up that helps Saskatchewan entities with innovation, knowledge and resources, theCity of Estevan is going a step further to become a recognizedIntelligent Community, through the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF)

20113bs0

Now you may be asking yourself: what is an Intelligent Community and how is it different from a smart city? To start, a smart city is a city that simply uses technology to provide services and solve city problems. An Intelligent Community howevergoes beyond that and cultivates a culture that uses smart technologies in creative and innovative ways for problem solving and future planning. The result is a competitive advantage over other communities, that will attract investment and help promote economic growth.

and cultural growth is around sustaining, including and engaging the public and the economic growth is about innovating, working, and connecting.” The Intelligent Community Forum is a global network of cities and regions with a think tank at its center. Its mission is to help communities in the digital age find a new path to economic development and community growth.The ICF Method was developed based onstudies of how communities respond to the disruptions of digital technology and use it to grow their economies, societies and cultures.

With the announcement of Estevan as an Intelligent Community, Estevan will become the first community in Saskatchewan to be recognized by ICF. As a member of ICF, Estevan will also be eligible to submit an application to be considered as the Intelligent Community of the year. The Awards Program, which is run by the New York-based think“Moving from a smart community to tank, will name its 22nd Intelligent an intelligent one,is about engaging Community of the Year at the 2021 ICF Global Summit in October local people, entrepreneurs and 2021. Prior to the summit, ICF established businesses as partners will be announcing the Smart21 in planning and carrying out Communities of 2021, which will innovation projects.” Explained Susan Letsche, CEO and Founder of become part of ICF’s network of over Sask I.N.C., who has helped Estevan 180 Intelligent Communities around the world, and will receive media become recognized with ICF. coverage, investment inquiries and “The method ICF uses is centered independent validation of their around social & cultural growth community’s progress. and economic growth. The social www.estevaneconomicdevelopment.ca | 306.634.1843


A10 November 18, 2020

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Santa Claus visits Midale at annual parade Midale area residents kicked off Christmas festivities on Saturday during the annual Santa Claus Parade, organized by the Midale Plus One Club. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were, of course, the featured attractions, as they made their way through the community atop a tractor. One of Santa’s elves walked alongside, and tossed candy to those who lined the town’s roads to witness the parade. Edna Anderson, a member of the Plus One Club and an organizer of the event, said they had 21 floats for the parade. Most of the spectators were on Main Street, but the parade made use of side streets as well, and ended up at Mainprize Manor, where residents enjoyed seeing the parade. Parade participants dispersed after passing by the manor. While Anderson said Midale was “really full” Saturday morning, the audience respected social distancing requirements and many wore masks. Anderson would have liked to have had a band for the parade, like when she was a

kid, but everything else was great, including the floats. “Everybody did a wonderful job. Even though there wasn’t a lot of lights showing because it was light out, the floats were really good.” Anderson believes it’s important to have an event like this prior to Christmas, especially with COVID-19 happening, and people looking to do something. “Everybody is stuck in so much right now, so people, when they get the opportunity to get out and enjoy the open air, they will.” There was a 50-50 draw during the day, and proceeds from the parade will be directed towards various charities and efforts to help people when they can’t get help from other places. For example, if a family’s home is damaged by fire, the Plus One Club is there with funds generated through the parade. Anderson said people can look forward to the Plus One Club’s Christmas Light-Up around Dec. 20-22, in which they will go out into the community and award prizes for the three best decorated homes.

Santa and Mrs. Claus made their way through Midale on Saturday during the annual Santa Claus Parade in the town. Photo by Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review

Voters went to the polls in many urban municipalities Residents of urban municipalities went to the polls on Nov. 9 to determine who would be on their councils for the next four years, and many southeast municipalities had elections. One of the biggest election fields was in the town of Bienfait. Ken Bonokoski was elected the new mayor with 136 votes, finishing ahead of David MacKenzie, who had 79. Elected as councillors were Gerald Resler (143), Shirley Wheeler (135), David Johnson (108), Ivan

Boyer (106), L es Christensen (104) and Steven Matthewson (101). Also on the ballot were Rob Forster (98), Keith Smith (95), Randy Marchand (85), Deidra Maurer (80), Brad Friars (67) and Dion Thieven (48). In the town of Carnduff, Ross Apperley was elected as mayor with 305 votes, finishing ahead of Kris Carley, who had 113. Elected as councillors were Joel Purves (335 votes), Greg Wall (290), Linda Powell (267), Kelly Exner (255), Mike Fowler (247)

and Mike Pirie (235). Other candidates were Roy Annetts (227), Jamie Didrick (146), Kevin Dar yl Lesy (144) and Shane Marsh (74). For the town of Lampman, John Jones received 203 votes for mayor, defeating Janice Bernier, who received 89. As for councillor, elected were Ryan Saxon (218), Daryle Runge (200), Dustin Ferguson (199), Randy Fleck (197), Duane Freeden (166) and Glen Fichter (163). Other candidates were Garrett Woodley (123), Damon

Sutherland (118), Twyla Q uantrill (112), Richard Kochie (83), Mark Morissette (49) and Paul Zabel (35). In the town of Stoughton, Clarence Hoffort was elected as mayor with 186 votes, finishing ahead of Zachary Calibaba (43). Elected as council lor were Shirley Coderre (166), Stefan Clark (163), Scott Ogilvie (151), Bradley Gervais (146), Danielle Hoffman (144) and Derek Hoffman (130). Other candidates were Karen Coderre (120), Colleen Andris (74), Alysson Slater (61), Robert Andris (52) and Edgar Matthes (36). For the second straight election, residents in the village of Macoun had a large field to select from. Three candidates were running for mayor. Suzanne Kuchinka received 48 votes to finish ahead of Glenys Baerg and Kelly Foord, who each received 41. Frank Schaefer led the councillor race with 82 votes. Also elected were V ince Martin (77), Dave Schindel (73) and Judy Sovdi (44). Chris DeBruyne (39), Todd Dougall (36), Juergen Hauck (34), Vi Neb (32), Jack Hancock (30), Grant

Dube (29), Dalle Hillier (19) and Jim Kolenz (12) were defeated. Other communities had elections for mayor or councillor, but not both. In the town of Alameda, Jeff Carmeron (113 votes), D wayne Henderson 106), Dean Copeland (105), Jennifer Cobham (90), Donna Griffin (89) and Janelle Dorrance (78) were elected. Other candidates were Skylar Antoniuk (70), Elizabeth Lischynski (64) and Christine Tanghe (17). A councillor election was needed for town councillor in Carlyle, with seven candidates on the ballot. Hugh Hislop finished first with 204 votes, followed by Jared Riddell (195), Nicole Currie (194), John Brownlee (191), Gordon Paulley (178) and Kelly Lutz (163). Scott Kirness finished with 98 votes and was defeated. Ky l a M ac C u i s h re ceived 37 votes for mayor in the village of Frobisher, finishing ahead of Mark Brock, who had 25. Jay Riedel is the new mayor in the village of Roche Percee, finishing ahead of Dwain Dzuba by a 32-24 margin. Seven candidates were vying for four village coun-

cillor spots in Gainsborough. Randy Reynolds (90), Cathy Murray (76), Michael Riddell (71) and Roger Galon (57) were elected, while Terri Thoring (46), Kevin Stanley (25) and Adrienne Gardiner (16) were defeated. In Glen Ewen, Bob Chuba (40 votes) and Blair Hanna (24) were elected as village councillors, while Trina Hitchens (21) was defeated. Kisbey had eight candidates running for four village councillor spots. James Johnston (51 votes), Elisa Jackson (49), Brody Singleton (41) and Melville Foy (33) were elected, while Sheldon Wyatt (29), Wytt Hall (25), John Voutour (21) and Grant Bueckert (10) were the other candidates. Elected as village councillors in Manor were Gerald King, Darcy McCrimmon, Craig Savill and Alana Wilson. In Torquay, Dan Daae (69 votes), Mark Mason (66), Terry Malaryk (60) and Ashlee Friess (56) were elected to the village council. Tyler Boiteau (39) was defeated. Communities that had election by acclamation were covered in the Nov. 2 edition of the Mercury.

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Royal Helium plans drilling in southeast next year By Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Saskatoon-based Royal Helium Ltd. is in the final stages of putting together a winter drilling program, according to president and CEO Andrew Davidson. The company is in the process of shortlisting its services providers and drilling rigs to go to work in the Climax area of southwest Saskatchewan in early December, or, if that doesn’t work out, early in the new year. The company is targeting a five-well program, and no less than three, he said. Helium development is a growing industry in southern Saskatchewan. The element is used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), quantum computer cooling and rocketry, in addition to other uses. Helium is formed by the natural decay of uranium and thorium in the PreCambrian basement rock which underlies the sedimentary column in southern Saskatchewan. It is trapped by very tight cap rock right above that basement. That means drilling deep wells. Davidson said they are looking at 14-day wells, and depths in the range of 2,500 metres. “They’re in the Climax area, where we’re starting,” Davidson said. Southwest Saskatchewan has been a hotbed of helium development in recent years, with North American Helium

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drilling extensively in the Consul area. Davidson said, “Target area Number 2 for us is back in the Bengough area, and that would be later in 2021. We have some more exploration to do there. We have some aeromag to do there, over the Bengough region, which doesn’t take too long to do.” Davidson said they are thinking summer 2021 is probably the right time for drilling in the Bengough area, depending on the success of the first program. “If we have good results at Climax and prove that our system works, as we think it will, we'll be over there as soon as possible. I think there's a lot of upside there on, the southeast side of the province. It's virtually untested from a helium production scenario,” Davidson said. Royal has acquired lands throughout southeast Saskatchewan, from Ocean Man First Nation to Coronach. At Bengough, they’ve identified five prospects through seismic survey which they intend on analyzing with aeromagnetic survey before finalizing their drilling targets. In September, Royal announced it has permitted an additional 32,166 hectare (321.7 square kilometres), including 173 square kilometres in the Bengough area and 148 square kilometres near Pangman, creating a contiguous land package near Ogema. Their permitted land now

totals 4,320 square kilometres. Several years ago, Weil Group developed several helium wells in the Mankota area, between Royal’s Climax and Bengough development areas. Royal is studying a polygeneration project, meaning a plant that produces many products. Davidson said, “The polygeneration we’re studying now, in partnership with the SRC (Saskatchewan Research Council) is processing multiple gas streams. Multiple gases out of the same wellbore in our helium wells, purposing the helium, the nitrogen, CO2, and any other valuable gases that come out, and processing them into one centralized location and monetizing them at that same location.” In some ways, producing helium is similar to producing old, watered-out oil wells, where just a few percentage points of the volume is the product you want. For old oil wells, the rest is salt water. For these helium wells, the other product is nitrogen, carbon dioxide and possibly other gases. “In Saskatchewan, we have the ability to produce helium as a primary product, which is something that’s relatively unique to our province. Globally, average helium grades are significantly lower, principally because they’re produced with hydrocarbons or natural gas byproducts. "In Saskatchewan, it’s co-produced with nitrogen, so you get levels ranging from trace all the way up to north of

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three per cent. Three per cent is a world-class helium well. Two per cent is a phenomenal helium well. Anything from 0.3 per cent and up is an economic unit. So, we’re expecting in the range of one to three per cent in our wells. “What we’ve been doing is planning on what we do with the rest of that gas stream. That’s where we get into the polygeneration,” Davidson said. “We’re looking at capturing it instead of venting.” Nitrogen, for instance, is one of the most significant industrial gases. He said it is the largest segment of the industrial gas industry in North America. “We’re looking at capturing that, and using it as feedstock for fertilizer. Ideally, that would be in concert with a potash company, likely, to combine products from both for a high-value end-use product.” Notably, Royal Helium’s vice-president of exploration, professional geologist Steve Halabura, is also president of Buffalo Potash. “We don’t have a final location yet. This is a down-theroad plan. For now, we need to get production online. But as we build to scale, we’re going to decide where we want our large scale facility, whether it’s in the Estevan area, or the Climax/Swift Current area, is going to depend on the results of drilling. What we’re going to have, potentially, is two parts of the province compet-

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ing against each other for the most appealing location for a large-scale plant.” He said southeast Saskatchewan is looking attractive right now because North American Helium is building a big facility in the Battle Creek area of southwest Saskatchewan. “Having two large facilities next door to each other doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Davidson said. While polygeneration is the road they’re going down, Davidson said, “It’s not taking away from the helium project. It’s helium that drives the bus with Royal. We are a helium-focused company, but we are pursuing this other track, because we think it’s a right and sensible thing to do. If it doesn’t work out, if the economics don’t stand up, that’s fine. At one to three per cent helium, the project stands up on its own two feet, quite well.” The Battle Creek area is more CO2-rich, he noted. “We’re expecting a largely 90 per cent nitrogen drive, with the potential of some CO2. In

a lot of helium wells, you see some argon, some neon as well coming out, but those would likely be trace amounts.” If a polygeneration plant were to be incorporated, it would likely be in the range of $50 to $100 million, but that depends on the results of the scoping study the SRC is doing. “The size of the apparent helium fields in Saskatchewan is quite significant. We easily see there being 100-plus wells online, here in Saskatchewan, and we’d like to own the majority of those, build the process, and control the marketing as well,” Davidson said. The raw gas would likely be trucked from wellhead to the central plant, which would support the entire area. Royal would initially bring in mobile separation units designed to separate out the helium at the wellsite. But if they develop a polygen plant, then raw gas would be trucked to the plant for processing. The choice of a location would be in the spot where it makes the most sense, including access to employees.

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A12 November 18, 2020

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Farmers Market Christmas sales slated to start Saturday The Estevan Farmers’ Market is looking forward to the start of another season of Christmas sales. The first sale will be held Nov. 21 and will be held Saturdays until Dec. 19, and will be from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vendors will be in an area of the Estevan Market Mall between Sport Chek and Nutters, so that the markets can adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and maintain six feet of social distancing. Marilyn Simons, the incoming manager of the farmers’ market, said the mall’s hallway would not provide them with enough space for social distancing if they had tables on both sides of the hallway and people

walking. “This was the solution to be able to keep the market going, and to keep safety at the first and foremost,” said Simons. There will be one entrance and one exit for the farmers’ market area, and there will be hand sanitizer at the entrance and at every table. Guiding arrows will be on the floor for customers to follow. Approximately 20 vendors can be accommodated each week. “Those vendors will be wonderful vendors. They range from baking and honey and decorated sugar cookies, to crafts, macramé, dream catchers, jewelry, Tupperware, jams

and pickles, coins and lots of stuff that we will be having,” said Simons. If a vendor can’t make it, then the farmers’ market won’t be able to find a replacement, so there might be some weeks with under 20 vendors. “It looks like we have most people coming every week. There’s the odd one that has a scheduling conflict,” said Simons. The sales are a great opportunity for people to tackle their Christmas shopping and to purchase some of their other Christmas-related items. “We find that the diversity of all the different tables that we have we think will be appealing

to the Estevan community. We are very fortunate that Estevan supports local and shops local, and they have been for so many years,” said Simons. During the sales that ran from mid-May to early October at the mall’s parking lot, they were well supported by the public. Simons takes over as market manager on Jan. 1, 2021. She has organized markets in Lampman and Oxbow in the past, and has been part of the farmers’ market in Estevan as a vendor as well, so she understands the value of supporting and shopping from local businesses, and the importance of the markets for local businesses.

With freezing rain and snow covering the ground the fire crews had a bit of a quieter stretch with just a few calls lately. Last Tuesday the crews were called out to a tree branch and power line fire. The call came in at about 8 a.m. and fire crews headed out to the east side of the city. It didn't take them long to get the situation under control. "Once on scene, the crews stood by and closed the area off until SaskPower arrived. Once SaskPower arrived, they cut power to the area. The fire self-extinguished at that point so we turned the scene over to SaskPower, so they could do their repairs. And we left the scene," said Estevan Deputy Fire Chief Rick Davies. The next call for service came in last Wednesday just before 8 a.m., when firefighters were dispatched to the central part of the city where a fire alarm went off in a living complex.

"Once we arrived it was determined that it was just an issue with the fire alarm system and there was no emergency happening. So the building was turned over to the maintenance people to have that all checked out and we returned to the station," Davies said. Another call came in on Thursday afternoon. Fire crews were alerted to the east side of Estevan. A commercial

fire alarm went off in one of the buildings and firefighters rushed to the scene. However, while the command unit was en route, they were notified that it was false. The fire department was stood down. "Command carried on non-emergent. We inspected the building and made sure it was indeed false. And we left, we were there for a matter of a couple of minutes," said Davies.

The Estevan Fire Rescue Service was also a part of the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the cenotaph last week. They traditionally have a few members representing the agency and participating in the wreath-laying, but the situation was different this year and due to COVID-19 related restrictions, they only could have one member partake in the activities.

Estevan firefighters responded to tree branch/power line fire and alarms

20113np0

Teen raises thousands to fight cancer Kaleb Bechtold might be young, but he found a successful way to support those who are fighting cancer. Bechtold, a Grade 12 student at the Estevan Comprehensive School, works as a server at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse Casual in Estevan. He decided to donate the tips from his Friday shifts in October to the Canadian Cancer Society, and wound up raising $2,125. It means he received more than $500 in tips each Friday night, which is a lot more than he would normally receive. “My section was really busy,” said Bechtold. “Lots of people asked to have me as their server.” When he embarked on the benefit, he hoped to raise $2,000. “Estevan is just such a giving community and honestly, I wasn’t really surprised (that I raised so much), because I’ve been part of the Mr. Mikes fundraisers before, and they always have a pretty awesome turnout,” said Bechtold. Everyone at the restaurant was supportive of the idea as well, and applauded him for taking the initiative. Bechtold decided to try

Kaleb Bechtold donated his tips from his Friday shifts in October to the Canadian Cancer Society. Photo submitted the fundraiser after seeing how a bartender in Moose Jaw and another in Saskatoon did something similar to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. “My grandma is fighting cancer right now, so I figured the Canadian Cancer Society would be an awesome way to help the cause,” said Bechtold. He said he would consider doing a similar fundraiser in the future. It was a great experience for him, and he was delighted to see the kindness and generosity of the people, especially during these tough times.


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Flashback – Nov. 13, 1991

Cheers Cheers to the Estevan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, and other legion branches, for finding a way to host a Remembrance Day ceremony this year. Regardless of whether it’s in person or through a digital ceremony, we will remember them. Cheers to the Estevan Bears U18 AAA hockey team for a couple of milestones. They have their first wins in franchise history, and they had their first-ever home game. Cheers to the Santa Claus Parade in Midale. It helped a lot of people get in the Christmas spirit. Cheers to the teachers in our schools for the resilience they have shown to instruct our kids this school year. During a time with so many changes and uncertainty, you know you can count on them to care and to do their best.

Cheers to the Community Hamper Association for continuing to help others every year at Christmas time through hampers and the Angel Tree program. It looks like they will have a busy year this year, so please help them out. And help out the Kinettes PJ Project, too.

Jeers Jeers to Walmart for bringing back selfcheckouts. In a city that has already been decimated by the economic crash and the loss of energy sector jobs, they’ve opted to tell us they’re more interested in making money for themselves than helping people feed their families. Also who’s cleaning those stations? Jeers to the city’s landfill. Many adjectives could be used to describe it, but sanitary is not one of them. Maybe outdated would be a better fit. Jeers to those complaining about having to wear masks when in businesses and other locations. Evidently keeping other people safe is not their priority.

To submit a cheer or a jeer, please email it to dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca, or visit www.estevanmercury.ca.

Estevan marked Canada Career Week early November 1991. Students in the area schools were invited to participate by writing essays. Four students from Weldon School in Bienfait were the top four winners and were presented with T-shirts from Career Week co-ordinator Wendy Walliser, right, of the Canada Employment Centre in Estevan. The winners were, from left, Vicki Pukas (fourth), Rhonda Foote (third), Kimberly Burham (second) and Mandy Moroz (first). All four were Grade 9 students.

Transmission line problem caused large power outage A transmission line fault was the source of the widespread power outage that struck Estevan and other southeast S askatchewan communities on Friday. The power failure struck just after 11:30 a.m. Friday, and knocked out electricity to about 8,000 customers. Most of the affected customers were within Estevan city limits, but those in Alameda, Lampman, Bienfait, Steelman, North Portal and Roche Percee were also without power, and areas north and south of Estevan were also affected. Many of the residences within city limits had power restored about two hours after the outage occurred, but there were some within Estevan and others in the surrounding areas that didn’t have electricity back until almost 2:30 p.m. “A transmission line had a fault on it, and that affected

Happy 90th

the Estevan east substation,” said Scott McGregor, a media relations consultant with SaskPower. The Estevan east substation supplies power to most of the city. McGregor said there is an Estevan west substation that would service a small portion of south Estevan. “After the outage was detected, we did send crews out to patrol the lines, just to try to find out where the fault occurred,” McGregor said. Since it was a transmission line that had the fault, and it feeds the substations, the only way to get power back on was through switching, by diverting power to other sub-stations, such as the Estevan west substation. “There’s a lot of switching that goes on to get the power flowing back into the customers that were affected, so that we can continue working on the fault with-

out the fault having been repaired.” The further away you move from the substation that was affected, the longer it will take to reroute power, he said. It was the third power outage in Estevan in a one-

Wilder Olivia Driedger

Dan & Stormi Driedger (nee Schlamp) would like to announce their new baby girl, Wilder Olivia Driedger Proud grandparents are Monica and Jim Wickenheiser, Bert and Jackie Driedger and Nick and Cindy Spyromilios. Proud sibling is Kyra.

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week span, but McGregor said the three aren’t connected. McGregor also paid tribute to the SaskPower employees who worked to get the power back on, and he thanked everyone for their patience during the outage.

 NEW ARRIVAL 

Nov.

Cheers to Larry Preddy for his many years of dedicated service to Woodlawn Regional Park. He definitely earned the award he received from the Saskatchewan Regional Parks.

John

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Estevan U18 Bears win first-ever home game The first-ever home game for the Estevan Eclipse Downhole Solutions U18 AAA Bears was a triumphant one. The Bears scored four times in the opening nine minutes of the first period, and then hung on to defeat the Yorkton Maulers 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Affinity Place. It was the second win for the Bears (2-1-1) over the Maulers in 48 hours; Estevan defeated Yorkton 5-3 Friday night in Yorkton for the Bears first victory in franchise history. Ty Mason scored the Bears first-ever goal at Affinity Place 49 seconds into the first period. Less than four minutes later, he scored again to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage. “It feels amazing (to get the first home goal),” said Mason, whose father, Willy, is an assistant coach with the Bears and was a star for the Estevan Bruins junior hockey club in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Not very often that you hear about people scoring the first home goal in a franchise’s history.” Blaze Gutzke tallied two minutes after Mason’s second to give the Bears a 3-0 lead, and force the Maulers to pull their goalie. It didn’t change much at first, as Hunter Kan-

nok-Leipert scored 49 seconds after Gutzke for a 4-0 Bears advantage. “All of the boys were moving their feet and getting shots and banging bodies out there,” said Mason. Head coach and general manager Jeff Smith said the players were nervous, but excited, and they came out flying to start the home opener. “They were riding high on the wave of being the first game at home, and playing in front of the parents and the billets and people like that, so they got to showcase to Estevan what they have to offer,” said Smith. Yorkton chipped away at the lead, scoring with eight minutes left in the first to get on the board, and getting another goal midway through the second to pull within two. It remained a 4-2 game until late in the third, when the Maulers scored for the final time. The Bears claimed the goal should have been disallowed due to goalie interference, but the referees stood by their call. Jackson Miller stopped 32 shots for the victory. “It’s good to get the first two wins, and especially the first win at home under our belt,” said Smith.

The Estevan Bears celebrate after winning their first-ever home game against the Yorkton Terriers Sunday afternoon. Estevan was supposed to have its first home game on Nov. 8 against the Swift Current Legionnaires, but that game was postponed due to a snowstorm that struck Saskatchewan that day. “It’s nice to finally get a home game, and especially one that came down to the wire,” said Smith. Mason said it was a great feeling to have the first two

wins in franchise history. “I think we played pretty good both games, and we played pretty hard both games to get those two wins,” said Mason. Two nights earlier, Cooper Chisholm and Turner McMillen each scored twice and had an assist for Estevan, and Gutzke also scored in the road win over Yorkton. Carson Birnie scored Estevan’s

other goal. Yorkton led 2-1 after the first period, with Chisholm scoring for Estevan. Then McMillen scored twice and Chisholm also tallied in the second to give the Bears a 4-2 lead through two periods. Yorkton would get one midway through the third, but Birnie scored into an empty net to put the game away. Kelton Pyne made 25

saves for the victory. Smith believes the Bears have been improving at the little things with each passing game, and they’re gaining confidence, too. The Bears next home and home will be against the Notre Dame Hounds. They will visit the Hounds on Nov. 21 in Wilcox, and then host Notre Dame the following day at 2 p.m.

Bruins split home and home with Humboldt Broncos For the second time this season, the Estevan Bruins split a weekend home-andhome, with a come from behind victory on the road followed by a defeat on home ice. The Bruins defeated the Humboldt Broncos 3-2 Friday night in Humboldt, but then lost 7-6 in overtime Saturday at Affinity Place. Friday night’s game saw the Bruins down 1-0 after the first period and 2-1 early in the second. Cole Fonstad scored twice, including the game-winner with 5:14 to play in the third period. Eric

Pearce notched Estevan’s other goal. Tristan Shewchuk and Max Gudnason had Humboldt’s goals. Emerik Demers stopped 30 shots in the victory. The following night, the Bruins lead 2-0 in the first period on short-handed goals by Eddie Gallagher and Austin King-Cunningham, but penalty troubles dogged the Bruins for most of the first half of the game. Humboldt scored three power play goals in 5 1/2 minutes late in the first period and early in the

Correction

In last week’s section to promote the Estevan Eclipse Downhole Solutions U18 AAA Bears season, the profile of defenceman Boston Harkness was inadvertently omitted. The Mercury apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.

second to lead 4-3. Kade McMillen tallied for the Bruins during a rare 5-on-5 shift early in the second period. “I understand some of the calls were deserved, some I had a question,” said head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic. One of the final penalties for the Bruins was a five-minute cross-checking major assessed to King-Cunningham. Tatarnic noted it was another Bruin who cross-checked the Humboldt player, who fell into King-Cunningham. “It’s pretty tough to accept getting called when a guy falls into you,” said Tatarnic. The Bruins had the final four power plays of the game. Once the game settled down in the second half, the two teams played some entertaining hockey. Cole Fonstad had a highlight reel goal for the Bruins with 6 1/2 minutes to play in the middle frame, and Gallagher and Pearce also scored on the night. Pearce’s goal 95 seconds into the third forced overtime. “At five on five, I thought we carried the play, and that’s when the shot clock got even. We have to learn to stop taking some unnecessary penalties, but at the same time, when you’re getting called non stop, and the players get frustrated, they’re only human,” said Tatarnic. Tr i s t a n S h e w c h u k notched the winner for Humboldt 38 seconds into overtime. It was his second goal

Brandon Ambrozik tries to hold off some Humboldt Bronco defenders during Saturday’s game at Affinity Place. of the game. Logan Kurki had a goal and three assists for the Broncos. Max Gudnason, Stephane Huard Jr., Cody Hough and Doug Scott also scored. Eric Clark allowed 27 of 33 shots in his regular season debut for the Bruins. He was replaced by Emerik Demers, who stopped four of the five shots he faced in regulation and overtime. Clark made some nice saves during the game, but Tatarnic said it was a game the starting goalie likely wanted back. “He’s a young goalie, finding his way, and I think once he learns to use that frame of his, that big frame, he’ll be fine,” said Tatarnic.

Tatarnic is no stranger to Humboldt. He was an assistant coach for the Broncos in the 2004-05 season, and he was the head coach of the Woodstock Slammers team that reached the national Junior A final in 2012 when the tournament was held in Humboldt. * * * The Bruins have also announced their captain for the 2020-21 season. Defenceman Austin King-Cunningham, a 20-year-old in his fourth and final season with the Black and Gold, was named the captain Thursday. “He’s well-respected in that dressing room. He’s proven he’s our leader since

day 1 this season. To be honest, it was a pretty easy decision. He’s a vocal guy and he’s a presence, and the players listen to him and they respect him,” said Tatarnic. The coaching staff selected the captains. * * * The Bruins have also dealt second-year forward Troy Hamilton to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines for future considerations. Hamilton was pointless in two games this season, but had 11 goals and 29 points in 41 games played last season. Tatarnic said the futures will be decided on next year, as the Bruins have an option for what they would like to acquire for 2021-22.

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Andrist sisters thrive in Regina water polo Twin sisters Alex and Josie Andrist of Estevan have starred in water polo for years, and now they have taken their talents to another level in Regina. Alex is in her second year of competing with Premier Academy at Martin Collegiate, while Josie is in her first year with the program. The academy is for top student-athletes who are looking to advance in their sports. This year has been different, Alex said, because she spent more time in school last year and the training was more rigid. And she didn’t have her sister with her, either. Now that Josie is there, they can share responsibilities. Being in Regina makes it much easier to do their training, and they get more practices and training to help them improve. “If we were in Estevan, the training would be a lot more distant and separated,”

said Alex. “We’d have days where we wouldn’t do anything. In Regina, we practise almost every single day, and we have weights on Thursdays and Fridays. Coaches in Regina are very knowledgeable and they love the game. They understand how to help the athletes develop. One of those coaches, Rachel Krieger, played Division 1 water polo in California. “She’s very good and she has a lot of advice to give us,” said Alex. Competitions at the start of this year are in a mini-league with the other 14-19-year-old swimmers in Regina. They were placed on different rosters for games, giving the athletes incentive for the season. “We play the sport to play the games, and it’s good that we actually have some games to look forward to, rather than just practices,” said Alex. Josie said playing in Re-

gina has been very different because there are set times for practices, and there’s more time in the water. “School is a lot different, too, because for starters, Martin’s a lot smaller than the Comp. (Estevan Comprehensive School) and it doesn’t have as many trades. It’s officially a sports school, so you get to do less of your hobbies and more of your sport.” And while it’s great to have her twin sister there, Josie admits there is a sibling rivalry between the two, which pushes her. Josie is looking forward to the games, because that’s why they’re in the sport. Both sisters praised the Estevan Sharks water polo club for helping with their development and allowing them to find their love for the sport. “The Sharks really were a good starting point,” said Alex. “Starting in Estevan was a lot easier than starting in Regina. There was a lot

more flexible training times.” Without the Sharks, Josie said they wouldn’t be in Regina now. “Last year, it was their training that helped me keep up with everyone else, so the Sharks were really good. I love the Sharks,” said Josie. Now when Josie goes to the pool for a lane swim, and she sees the Sharks, she reflects on her time with the club, and how far the program has advanced. And Josie points out they’re not the first from Estevan to go to Regina for water polo. Ethan Elliott, Cameron Gillingham and Mikayla and Taeghan Hack also played the sport in the Queen City. But their families moved to Regina, while the Andrists are billeting. The sisters hope to secure scholarships to go to university, and to compete at higher levels, and they hope that water polo could also help them with their careers once they’re finished school.

Alex and Josie Andrist have been navigating elite water polo in Regina this fall. Photo submitted

Co-op Kids Curling teaches kids the sport Local children have been learning to curl through an annual program at the Power Dodge Curling Centre. Co-op Kids Curling is held every Sunday. Seven children from kindergarten to Grade 2 are on the ice at 1 p.m., and 19 youths from Grades 2-5 are on the ice at 2 p.m. The first week was Nov. 1, and it will continue until Dec. 13. Tyler McMillen, who is the instructor for Co-op Kids Curling, said it’s a program that has increased in popularity over the past couple of years. “We range from beginners – the ones who are coming out to try it for the first time – right to some who have done it for four years,” said McMillen.

The Grade 5s will move up to the youth program and curl on Tuesdays once the season for Coop Kids Curling is finished, and McMillen hopes they will continue to progress in the game from there. The older kids are starting to come around, too. “ Their deliver y and their mechanics are all there. They do a remarkable job. They’re a good bunch of kids,” said McMillen. McMillen believes the kids pick up on the fundamentals of the sport and they seem to learn much quicker than adults. They get to play using a lighter rock than regulation size, which helps them learn the mechanics, the turns and the grips. “They learn a new sport. They

learn sportsmanship and teamwork and it’s just a different game. Some of them want to come out and be part of a little group, and we’re seeing it now where we’ve had ones move to the youth league on Tuesdays, and they’ve played together for a long time. “And we like that as older coaches and all that kind of stuff when we have our high school playdowns. The longer they can play together and learn each other’s habits, the better.” McMillen’s daughter started playing when she was six, and has been in the sport for the past five years now. He didn’t take up curling until he was 12 years old, so he’s pleased to see kids in the sport as early as possible

Tyler McMillen watches as Wesley Holden and Jorrie Thompson work on their curling skills at the Power Dodge Curling Centre on Sunday.

Bienfait Coalers pick up two more victories The Bienfait Coalers continued their early season dominance of the west bubble in the Big Six Hockey League. Fresh off of an opening weekend sweep of the Yellow Grass Wheat Kings, the Coalers routed the Arcola-Kisbey Combines twice on the week-

end: 9-4 Friday night in Arcola and 17-2 Saturday in Bienfait. Thanks in large part to the two dominant victories, the Coalers have the top four scorers in the league: Keegan Malaryk and Dylan Herzberg, who each have 11 points, and Daniel Wanner and Kaelan

Holt, who have seven each. Also on Friday, the Wheat Kings defeated the Midale Mustangs 5-2 in Yellow Grass. The other games on Saturday saw the Wawota Flyers defeat the Carlyle Cougars 5-3 in the Flyers first game of

the season, and the Carnduff Red Devils knocked off the Redvers Rockets 8-3 in a battle of two of the top teams in the league the past couple of seasons. That game was also Carnduff ’s first contest of the season.

20113ge0

Activity in the league will pick up this weekend, with three games Friday and four games Saturday. Friday’s games will be the Kipling-Windthorst Oil Kings at Carlyle, Carnduff at Wawota and Yellow Grass at Midale. The Oil Kings game

will be their first game this season. Saturday’s games will be Wawota at Carnduff, Carlyle at Kipling-Windthorst, Arcola-Kisbey at Bienfait and Midale at Yellow Grass. All games will start at 8 p.m.


www.estevanmercury.ca

November 18, 2020 B3

Curator camp led to new museum exhibition

personalized christmas cards

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Liam Knowles with his artifact - Northern Electric Company limited telephone. Sawyer Bomberak and his artifact - Underwood electric typewriter. Souris Valley Museum recently hosted a successful Curator Camp. Participants visited the museum twice during the past two weeks to learn about what it takes to be a museum curator. "The camp went really well. This was our first time running the program," said Mark Veneziano, the museum's executive director. The camp was developed for kids ages nine to 15, and two potential future museum curators, Liam Knowles and Sawyer Bomberak, were the first ones to try out the newly developed program. During the camp, they had a chance to learn about the history of the museum and its collection, a starting portion of which was donated by Stanley and Georgina Durr. Participants had a look at what curators actually do.

They also could explore the part of the collection that is usually not on the display. During the second day of camp, they were able to create their own exhibit called Spotlight. "Par ticipants had a chance to learn about the items that they chose and make their own descriptions, answering why they chose the artifact, what they think it did, what year it was from. They had a chance to really write that out. And then the museum staff printed it off and it's now on display. We are working with the families of kids who participated to have a real exhibit opening … in the next couple of weeks," said Veneziano, adding that Spotlight will be on display for the public to look at for a few months. The museum hopes to

have another Curator Camp in the future, and in the meantime, they are looking forward to hosting their popular No School day programs on Nov. 27 (Who Did It? a program dedicated to detectives and crimes) and Nov. 30 (Video Games), as well as an I Am a Christmas Tree program in December. "We also hope to have cookie decor ation with grandparents again this year, but we are still working on dates and other details as to how it will work with the current restrictions," Veneziano said. They only can have six participants at a time for their day programs, so parents are encouraged to register ahead, which can be done either on their website at sourisvalleymuseum.com or over the phone at 306-634-5543.

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mailing envelopes

Tourism Estevan introduces Backroads of Estevan Audio Tour Tourism Estevan is set to launch a tour that draws on a longtime Sunday tradition in Saskatchewan – a drive through the backroads. The Backroads of Estevan Tour is an initiative designed to inspire Estevan residents and visitors to have another option to safely explore the community and its surroundings. “The Backroads Tour is a free, self-guided audio tour, an adventure on gravel,” said Rebecca Westling, destination marketing and communication consultant for the City of Estevan. “It has 25 stops filled with historical sites, fantastic

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lookouts and local folklore.” There are a few ways users can join the tour. To get the full guided experience, users can download an app that is set up with geofences. The audio will tell participants where to turn and is filled with little tidbits of information. If users don’t want to download the app, they can follow along on the web-based

8

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version, but please note the web-based version doesn’t have geofencing, so users will have to hit play at each stop automatically. The Backroads Tour starts at the Estevan Leisure Centre. It takes about an hour and a half to complete but may take longer if users decided to get out of their vehicles and explore the stops.

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NO LATE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THIS YEAR!! Deadline is December 5, 2020. PLEASE CALL: ST. GILES CHURCH SALVATION ARMY CHAR 306-634-4113 306-634-2074 306-421-9182 If you would like to volunteer at the Angel Tree, call Char.

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B4 November 18, 2020

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Jeffery Straker is looking forward to coming to the Orpheum for a Very Prairie Christmas Canadian folk-pop singer, songwriter and pianist Jeffery Straker is looking forward to bringing the Christmas spirit to Estevan this December. His concert is slated for Dec. 14 at the Orpheum Theatre and is hosted by the Estevan Arts Council. The Mercury talked to the Saskatchewan musician about what he's been up to lately, his new EP This Christmas that was released last Friday and his new video. It turned out that he had a lot of great news and positive updates to share. "In spite of the pandemic, it's been a really busy time, I can't complain at all," Straker said. "I was able to do several shows throughout the year, record some new music and release it. I feel that I've been really lucky." Straker was able to find some creative ways to keep doing what he loves. And while there was a lot of stagnation in different spheres since March, for Straker last summer turned out to be really busy. "From July to September I was doing these small pandemic piano backyard shows. I did one in Saskatoon in July, then I put a picture on my Facebook page and then I started getting

all these ... requests to do them. I ended up doing 36 of these backyard shows across Saskatchewan and Alberta." At all concerts they followed the safety recommendations. People were wearing masks and everything went great. October turned out to be pretty busy for Straker as well, as he did a series of shows with the Regina Symphony at a cathedral in Regina, which all sold out. "All these shows they have so much organizing and administrative work in the background, it's a bit of a monster," Straker said. But on top of the performances, in September when Saskatchewan was still experiencing beautiful warm weather, Straker wrote a new EP called This Christmas. "The funny thing about writing a song is that you start having an idea, and coming up with the idea you are kind of in control of if you will, but then there is a point when you are writing a song, it's not that far in, when the song takes over," Straker said, adding that once the new songs took over him it didn't matter that it was 30 C outside. The three-song collection includes two new yuletide originals and one classic

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cover. With a folk-roots feel to the EP This Christmas, there's a nod to the nostalgia of the holidays through both the song selection and the production. One of the songs is a cover of the hit Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The other one is dedicated to Straker's mother who passed away a year and a half ago. "Last Christmas was my first Christmas without her, and it was really hard, it was a really difficult time, and I wasn't emotionally capable of writing this song last year. But since time has passed, I had the ability to really distill out the great memories, as difficult as it is, and the song instead of being super sad … it's more of a tribute," Straker said. The third song Come Walking in the Snow with Me is an up-tempo, fun piece about new love during the holiday time and how it makes everything feel a little bit more festive and bright. "It's got a really fun instrumentation, it's got a great little solo and a mandolin, and it's really folkroot in its feel." He said that he already had some feedback on Come Walking in the Snow with Me. People were liking it and radio stations reached out willing to play it this Christmas season. In the music video released on Monday, there are two people walking in the snow. All viewers can see is their feet, dressed in fashionable light shoes. Straker admitted that one set of legs is his, and the shoes were filling up with snow, which was making him curse all the time. But he didn't reveal anything about the person that is walking by his side in the video. "The other one will remain a mystery," he said laughing. "I'll probably feel

Folk-pop country singer Jeffery Striker will perform in Estevan on Dec. 14. Photo submitted safe to talk about who the other one is in about … mmm… it needs some time because I'm not sure what it is yet." He added that he may reveal that secret when he will be in Estevan. Straker plans to share his new pieces with the Estevan fans on Dec. 14. He will also play a lot of his popular hits and other pieces along with some Christmas music. "The rest of the show will be a great mixture of traditional holiday songs … including a couple of sacred holiday songs … and a bit of storytelling between each song." He did some Christmas shows before, and people reall y enjoyed those, so

he hopes for the same results this time. Straker said that the main differences in concerts these days are that audience members are distanced and are wearing masks. "Overall it's a really safe experience," Straker said. He added that safety measures don't stand in the way of having a great time. At his recent concerts, he asked the auditorium if people have been to concerts since March, and for the

vast majority, it was the first concert in a really long time. "So many of these people are so excited to be experiencing live music, that I think that the oddness of the distance and the mask, it disappears in about two minutes. And then all of a sudden you are just at a concert." Tickets are $35 and are available at Henders Drugs and at the Estevan Arts Council office during their work hours.

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November 18, 2020 B5

Estevan Kinettes are looking to cheer kids up with pyjamas for Christmas New pyjamas are one of the traditional Christmas gifts in many homes, but unfortunately, not all families can always afford it. Once again this year, the Estevan Kinettes decided to put their efforts together to make sure that all local kids have everything it takes to have a real holiday. The Kinettes’ annual PJ Project fired up on Nov. 16 and will run until Dec. 12. During this time, people willing to support the initiative can drop off new pyjamas or monetary donations for Estevan kids at one of three locations: Jenny Joans, Encompass Fitness Studio (a contactless drop-off bin is set up outside) or Sun Country Hearing. This year the Kinettes also set up an e-transfer option. If people choose to, they can transfer money to estevankinettes@gmail.com. "I know some people (may not) want to go to locations, so if they prefer not to go shopping and they still would like to support is, we will absolutely accept money, cash donations. But if people would like to go shopping and drop

bigger sizes of pyjamas were something that they were short on during the previous campaigns. "A lot of people, when they hear 13-year-old or 14-year-old, they tend to still get size 14-16, which some of these kids are wearing adult's

sizes medium, larges and extralarges. So that is the kind of sizes that get forgotten a lot, that is the adult sizes for the kids," said Istace. The Community Hamper Association and the Angel Tree are currently accepting applications from families willing to

receive a Christmas hamper and toys for the kids for the holidays. Pyjamas for the kids will be added to the packages. While Istace didn't know how many people they will end up supporting this year, she said last time they ended up with the list of about 450 kids. The Estevan Kinettes' PJ Project started about five years ago. "We had a Kinette from another club coming to our club, and she's actually done this at another club, and she thought it was something that we would like to do here. A lot of our members, we got new pyjamas for Christmas, so it was the tradition that we wanted to start passing on to other people in our community," explained Istace. She added that since the beginning of the project, every year around the deadline they were starting to get "a little nervous," worrying that they won't be able to meet the goal. But every year the community pulled through to make sure that every kid has new pyjamas on the holiday. And the Kinettes are always grateful for the support.

those are just a couple of examples. For all my working life, I used words to create income. As a researcher, writer of feasibility studies, author of two history books, writer of background material for a U.S. company, motivational speaker and more, choosing the right word was not just important, it was vital. Decisions were made, life challenges affected, readership created or discarded,

or investing influenced, all shaped in part by my words. What a huge responsibility and I felt it! But what about every day words used in routine telephone conversations, neighbourhood greetings, electronic messaging et al? Here’s how Robin Sharma summed it up: “Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well.” During these months of COVID-induced isolation

and daily doses of COVID status, we fluctuate from hanging on to every word to shutting off the news. We’ve even become rightfully leery of what we believe is true and what isn’t. Thankfully He is utterly trustworthy! “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

From left, Estevan Kinettes Club members Chelsey Istace, Susan Colbow and Kristol Nagy were a part of the Kinettes' PJ Project last year. File photo Project's spokesperson Chelsey Istace. Kinettes are collecting pyjamas for kids of all ages from newborns to teenagers. Istace pointed out that teens often wear adults' sizes, which sometimes go as big as adults extra-large (XL). And the

off (pyjamas), they can drop off at any of three locations or they can message us on the Estevan Kinettes (Facebook) page or the PJ Project (Facebook) page, and we can have a member of the Estevan Kinettes come and pick it up from them if they prefer that," explained PJ

What is it? If these past months of COVID-enforced semiisolation have done anything, they’ve created in me an addiction to crossword puzzles. And, if doing crossword puzzles has reminded me of anything, it’s that words have various functions. (I’ve also gained a new understanding of why the English language is considered one of the most challenging in the world.) Noun? Verb? Adjective?

Linda Wegner Words of Worth answer that fit in the puzzle I was doing means ogee, “an S-shaped curve formed by the union of a concave line and a convex line.” See what I mean? But

All potential uses for one word. Then, there are those not-so-common definitions for words I’d never heard of before. Oxeye, it’s a daisylike blossom and cyma, the

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St Joseph's Hospital Foundation Win up to $50,000 Draw Date: December 9, 2020 Tickets: 1 for $10, 5 for $20, 25 for $50 - Get Tickets at www.sjhf5050.ca

$18.00 - 9 up with 2 warm-up games - $21.00 - 12 up with 2 warm-up games - $24.00 For more knforrnation Cal Bernice (306) 421-7927

Benson Recreation Facility Club

Discount Cards

ECS Save at local business & restaurants - $20 per card - Get tickets @ www.momentumfundraising.ca/ product/estevan/

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Estevan Kinsmen Club

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Estevan Kinsmen Club Every Thursday night @ 6:00pm at the Black Grasshopper

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Cash 4 Christmas 50/50 Draw - Win up to $10,000 (2000 tickets available) Draw date: December 1, 2020 Tickets available by mail & etransfer. For more information call 306-421-9367 Tickets $10 Each

“Where community happens”

Winter Fundraiser Plant Sale November 1 - 17, 2020 items delivered for pickup December 2nd Credit Card & E-transfer Order at: www.estevanfamily centre.growingsmiiesfundraising.corn

The Estevan Shoppers Mall is now the • Ardene • Dollarama • Eclipse • Marks • Money Mart

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400 King Street


Agri News B6

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Always a great organization for youths, 4-H encourages members to learn to do by doing a lot of things are done online for our meetings, which makes it a little more complicated for projects and for hands-on things to do, but we’re making do and getting it to work so far.” The kids understand they can’t do much about the current situation, and people have been in good spirits. They also hope to have the regional 4-H Show and Sale in 2021. Traditionally held in July, it was called off due to the pandemic. Kids in the different clubs have already started to work towards the sale by picking out their calves and getting them halter-broken. Petterson became involved with 4-H through her family. Her husband was involved with 4-H when he was a kid, while she was part of her local 4-H club for about a year. After she married her husband and they had kids, he understandably wanted their children to be in 4-H. “When they became members, I also fielded duties that I need to step up and help out and support the 4-H. If it’s something that my children believe in, it’s something I need to believe in as well.” She has been a District 1 council member for a decade, so clearly it’s something she does believe in and she enjoys the work. As for 4-H, it teaches kids responsibility, gets them out into

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From left, Jane Anne Ireland from the Estevan Salvation Army, with Crossroads 4-H Club member Aiden Tanner and Janine Petterson of the Saskatchewan 4-H District 1 Council. Petterson views 4-H as a great organization for youths, and cites support for the Salvation Army as an example. File photo the community and teaches them interpersonal communication skills through their public speaking program. “A lot of kids out there nowadays don’t have that ability,” said Petterson. “They’re stuck behind their electronics, so 4-H to me is a good

thing. It gets them out there … gets them communicating and involved, and it teaches them to be good, wellrounded adults.” In terms of community involvement, Petterson cited a steer that 4-H gave to the Salvation Army. As a district, each club donated $500

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While 4-H has gone through a lot of changes over the years, one thing that hasn’t changed is that it remains a great organization for young people. Janine Petterson is the secretary for the Saskatchewan 4-H District 1 Council. District 1 includes the Outram-Madigan club, which her kids have been a part of, as well as Benson, Browning, Steelman, Cymri and Crossroads 4-H clubs. Nearly 100 kids are part of the clubs in the region, which Petterson said is a normal number. “We haven’t seen a whole bunch of a decrease,” Petterson said. “Our club is down a little bit, just because there are people who have graduated, and other people who went to different clubs or are in different situations. Other than that, our numbers are pretty steady.” The clubs have had to play a waiting game due to COVID-19, but they have enjoyed some activities already, with meetings to get things started and to get their executives in place. But they have been able to enjoy some curling, and the district is slated to host the provincial 4-H curling championship in February. “I’m glad we do have some things that the kids are able to do,” said Petterson. “It’s a little limited, because of the 10-person limit, so

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towards donating a steer to the Salvation Army, and drew Tanner Aiden of the Crossroads Club as the kid to have meat from his steer donated to the food bank. The steer weighed 1,255 pounds, and generated more than 800 pounds of meat.

Supporting NATIONAL 4-H MONTH

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www.estevanmercury.ca

November 18, 2020 B7

Gress continues to be at the helm of 4-H Saskatchewan Glenn Gress’s first term as the president of 4-H Saskatchewan was so enjoyable and productive, it was decided that a second two-year term was in order. Gress, who farms near Lampman, is nearing the end of his second term as the president of the organization that plays such an important role in the development of young people in the province. He became president for the first time in March 2017, and when that twoyear term expired, he was re-elected. “I just wanted to make sure that we finish up what we started a few years ago, and my peers asked me to stay on as president,” said Gress. During his first term, some policies were introduced that he wanted to see to completion. He’s also

working with 4-H Canada on some upcoming events that will affect all of Canada. “ We’re adding some more scholarships for Saskatchewan,” said Gress. “Hopefully we can get back to some national events with our members and leaders once COVID has straightened out.” And he believes it’s been good to have that stability associated with someone who has been in the role for four years. When he started his second term as president 20 months ago, Gress could have never imagined what this term would bring. The provincial organization is doing well, as they added virtual events and virtual camps that were held in the summer. A virtual communication session was held in November and virtual judg-

ing will happen, too. “The clubs have moved ahead faster than we have, just because they took the virtual thing in hand, and they started as soon as we could not having in-person meetings. They started meeting virtually and they started asking us for help, and we started making some policies and procedures of how we can handle this, and a lot of the clubs just took it on themselves and moved forward.” The motto of 4-H is “Learn to do by Doing,” and so the young people and adult volunteers involved with 4-H have moved forward. “It affects everybody, but our 4-H numbers are still at pretty good numbers here,” said Gress. Sponsors have continued to be part of 4-H as well,

which has helped sustain the clubs. Gress tells people that if they can dream up a concept for a club, 4-H can make it happen. He noted there are more than 100 different club types in the province. Beef and horse clubs are wellknown across the province, but there are clubs for activities such as archery, photography and home crafts, or animals such as chickens. Saskatchewan is home to thousands of 4-H members and volunteers who belong to hundreds of clubs across the province. Gress believes 4-H allows kids to be part of a great organization while working on their public speaking and learning from their peers. “Just moving forward with agriculture the way it is and the new technology that is coming out, 4-Hers are

Glenn Gress taking it in stride and I think they are the leading edge in a lot of the cattle operations

and the grain operations with the 4-H background,” said Gress.

Numerous rural municipalities held elections A number of rural municipalities in the southeast corner of the province needed to have elections on Nov. 9. In the RM of Souris Valley No. 7, Garry Kuntz defeated David Pattyson 3124 in the race to be the new councillor for Division 5. In the RM of Reciprocity No. 32, Alan Arthur was

re-elected as reeve, defeating Douglas McWhirter 116-18. Two e l e c t i on s we re needed in the RM of Moose Creek No. 33. In the race for reeve, Kelvin Luedtke received 91 votes to defeat incumbent reeve Howard Sloan by one vote. Kimberley Dietze was re-elected as the councillor for Division 3, defeating Tim Freitag 37-29.

DR. ROBERT KITCHEN Member of Parliament | Souris-Moose Mountain

In the Rural Municipality of Browning No. 34, Richard Brokop defeated Katia Bigney 25-9, and was re-elected as the councillor for Division 1. One of the busiest elections was in the RM of Cymri No. 36, with three races. Joe Vilcu, who was the incumbent reeve, was elected to another term, defeating

Keith Eldstrom. Greg Wallin was elected as the new councillor for Division 1, defeating incumbent Harvey Schindel, while Darrel Druck is the new councillor for Division 5 after defeating Cody Martin. (Vote totals for the RM of Cymri were not available). In the RM of Antler No. 61, Bernard Bauche was

Supporting NATIONAL 4-H MONTH

re-elected as the reeve, defeating Jocelyn Hainsworth 163-114, while David Hutton was re-elected as the councillor for Division 5 after beating Darren Sandgaard 34-24. Two elections were also needed in the RM of Moose Creek No. 63. In Division 3, Rick Degeer received 26 votes, defeating incumbent Paul Delalleau, who received 17. In Division 5, Jack Wilson received 22 votes to be re-elected, defeating Jessica

Recognizing the importance of 4-H in our youth

Shirley, who had seven. Perhaps the most interesting election was in the RM of Tecumseh No. 65. Incumbent Zandra Slater and challenger Dwight Shiels finished tied with 85 votes each. Slater won a tiebreaker when her name was drawn from a hat. Elections decided by acclamation were released in the Nov. 4 edition of the Mercury, while results for the RM of Estevan election were in the Nov. 11 paper.

UPCOMING TIMED

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Lori Carr, MLA Recognizing the importance of 4H for our youth.

William Brown (Brown Acres) Carlyle, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: November 15, 2020 Sale Closes: November 19, 2020

Land Auction:

David Schell (101185392 SASKATCHEWAN LTD.) & The Estate of Anne Schwab Benson, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: November 30, 2020 Sale Closes: December 4, 2020

Land Auction: Kathy Bugera

Arran, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: December 7, 2020 Sale Closes: December 11, 2020

Large Farm Equipment Auction: Blaine & Michelle Messer

Estevan Constituency Office

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Estevan, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: April 5, 2021

Premium Farm Equipment Auction: Firth Farms Ltd. (Wayne & June Firth) Carievale, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: April 10, 2021

I pledge my HEAD to clearer thinking, My HEART to greater loyalty, My HANDS to larger service, My HEALTH to better living, for my club, my community, and my country.

Farm Equipment Auction Fred & Shirley Simpson

Storthoaks, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: April 12, 2021

Farm Equipment Auction: Randy & Kathy Luhning

Lumsden, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: April 17, 2021

Farm Equipment Auction: Vic & Dave Huish (Huish Bros.)

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Recognizing local 4-H clubs and their importance to our youth.

Gainsborough, Saskatchewan Sale Opens: April 19, 2021

Farm Equipment Auction:

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Classifieds

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

B8

Obituaries

Obituaries Barry Rosenbaum 1934 - 2020

Barry Rosenbaum passed away on October 24, 2020 at the age of 85. He was predeceased by his wife Lil; parents: Isadore and Pauline, and sister Florence. Barry will be lovingly remembered by his two sons: Wilf (Martine) Duby and Dave (Diane Rosenbaum); four grandchildren: Levi Rosenbaum, Carli Rosenbaum, Kia Rosenbaum and Andrea Duby, and sister Mindy Gold. Barry was born in Calgary, Alberta. His family moved around western Canada for several years before settling in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Here Barry and his father built and owned several rental houses, a lumberyard and the King’s Hotel. During this time, Barry also attended the University of Saskatchewan where he obtained a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. In the early 1960’s Barry and his family moved to Estevan, where he accepted a position as pharmacist and manager of the Pharmacy Department at the Estevan Co-op. In 1970 Barry invested in and soon became sole proprietor of Estevan Bowl. Although Barry believed running a bowling center would be a fun family sideline business, Estevan Bowl is now in its fifty first year of consecutive operation and third generation of family ownership. Barry still went in to work six mornings a week right up until the time of his passing. Barry will be greatly missed by his family, friends and staff. Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for the Rosenbaum family - Dustin Hall, Funeral Director. ZONIA HUMENIUK (HUMENICK) OBITUARY Zonia Humenick passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 10, 2020 at the age of 96 years. She will be lovingly remembered by her son Paul Elash (Sharon), her daughter-in-law Alice Elash, her grandchildren Stephen Elash (Nola), David Elash, Sheila Hvid (Eric), Jennifer Elash (Dylan Griffith), Dylan Elash (Jenn Kirk), Derek Elash, step-granddaughter Amanda (Dreu Volk), great-grandchildren Jaclyn and Kate Elash, Landon and Mattias Hvid, and step greatgrandchildren Kohen and Deklan Volk. Zonia was predeceased by her son Peter Elash, her parents Peter and Mary Humeniuk and her sister Iris Demakeas. Zonia was born in 1924 in Gimli, Manitoba. She grew up in Jedburgh, Saskatchewan with her beloved sister Iris and two cherished German Shepherds, both named Mountie, who were her constant companions throughout her childhood. Her father was a shopkeeper, and she sampled the store’s candy supply as much as she could, from which she developed a permanent sweet tooth. She married Mike Elash in 1944 and they had two sons, Peter and Paul. Zonia spent most of her working life in Edmonton and Winnipeg, mostly as a Comptometer Operator (a sophisticated mechanical calculator that pre-dated the computer era). She spent the last 30 years of her life in her retirement between Victoria, B.C. where Peter resided, and Estevan where Paul resided. Peter passed away in 2009 and Zonia was blessed to have daughter-in-law Alice look after her devotedly, caring for her just as she would her own mother. Growing up Zonia loved the outdoors and throughout her life adored nature and wildlife. She had a talent for drawing and enjoyed sketching flowers, trees, horses, deer and any type of countryside scenes. She was blessed with good health and almost up to the day of her passing was able to enjoy her favorite things in life, namely, her family, her drawing, Walmart, the Conservative Party of Canada, lemon meringue pie and chocolate.

Fichter, Robert John 1928 – 2020 With great sorrow the family wishes to announce that Robert Fichter, late of Estevan, SK passed away at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Estevan, SK on Monday, November 2, 2020 at the age of 92 years. Robert will be lovingly remembered by his children: Celeste (Jim) VanDeWoestyne - Justin VanDeWoestyne (Nicole McKim), Cali (Justin) Bernard and Vivienne; Darcy (Pat) Fichter - Byron Fichter and Becky (Ethan) Hunter, Hannah and Owen; Blane (Kendra) Fichter - Cole, Jordan, and Devin; Myles (Glenda) Fichter - Lorin, Morgan and Shayna and Theresa Fichter. Robert will be missed by his sister Rose Seale; brothers, Jake Fichter and Ray (Ute) Fichter and sister-in-law Genevieve Fichter; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Robert was predeceased by Sharon, his loving wife of 53 years; his parents, Rochus and Thressa Fichter; sister Kay Scraper; brother Joe Fichter; brothers-in-law John Scraper and John Seale and sister-in-law Loretta Fichter. A Private Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. John the Baptist R.C. Church, Estevan, SK with Rev. Sathiadas Antony presiding. Interment followed the Mass at Souris Valley Memorial Gardens. Those so wishing may make donations to the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation, 1176 Nicholson Rd., Estevan, SK S4A 0H3 or a charity of your own choosing in memory of Robert. Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for the Fichter family – Deb Heidinger, Funeral Director.

In MeMorIaM

LAND FOR SALE

NO FEES OR COMMISISONS Allan Brown January 27, 1935 November 20, 2013 Always in our thoughts Forever in our hearts! Love Simmie and Family

Doug Rue, for further information 306-716-2671 saskfarms@shaw.ca www.sellyourfarm land.com

Marilyn Dupuis 1951 - 2020

Send resume and work references to: Bryden Construction Box 100, Arborfield, Sk. S0E 0A0; Fax: 306-769-8844 Email: brydenconstruct@ xplornet.ca www. brydenconstruction andtransport.ca

Saskatchewan born and raised, I know land, farming and farmland and can help you every step of the way.

For Sale - MiSc

Lawrence was born in Torquay, Saskatchewan and went to be with his Lord and Savior on November 11, 2020 at the age of 91 years in Calgary, Alberta, after a brief battle with congestive heart failure. Lawrence resided in Torquay for 78 years and then 5 years in Estevan, Sask. He moved to Calgary in December 2012 after his wife passed away and made his home at the Chateau Renoir which is an independent senior’s residence. Lawrence married Lilah, the love of his life, on Nov 25, 1954. They had 58 wonderful years together. God blessed them with 4 children. Lawrence loved the Lord with all his heart and was always concerned about the salvation of others. He was not afraid to share the gospel. His family has been blessed with a wonderful Godly heritage. He was kind and compassionate, an encourager, a friend to many, a hard worker, very passionate about farming, and a fine jokester. He loved to visit with anyone, anywhere! In his final years he enjoyed Sudoku, reading, playing endless Tile Rummy, watching Tribal Trails and many sports, while also enjoying his mints, marshmallows, jujubes and ice cream. He will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by his four children, Cheryl (Wayne) Smele of Calgary, Gloria (Dale) Schmidt of Calgary, Oran Daae of Calgary, and Kevin (Lori) Daae of Estevan; grandchildren, Melissa (Tim) Busse, Brendon Schmidt, Dallas Daae, Hayley Daae, Austin Daae, Bailey Pierson and Ryder Pierson; great-grandchildren, Selah Busse, Corban Busse, Annaya Busse and Karlee Golinowski; siblings, Beatrice Ashem and Donald (Evelyn) Daae; in-laws Violet Stojke, Verna Daae, Eileen Solie, Lois Solie, Sharon Solie and Arlin (Linda) Ryan; and many nieces and nephews who held a very special place in his heart. He was predeceased by his loving wife, Lilah (Solie) Daae; parents, Ingvald and Thea (Ashem) Daae; brothers Irvin (Margaret) Daae and Raymond Daae; sister Evelyn Ryan; parents-in-law, Olaf and Agnes (Brothen) Solie; sister and brothers-in-law: Evelyn (Joe) Dusevic, Palmer Solie, Marvin Solie, Vernon Solie and Otto Stojke. A private family celebration of Lawrence’s life will be live-streamed at https://vimeo. com/479173262/94bd585874 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 11:00 am (Saskatchewan time). A live-stream of the interment service will begin approximately 40 minutes following the conclusion of the celebration at https://vimeo.com/479687296/9686f75c3e A public visitation will be held on Friday, November 20, 2020 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. in the chapel of Hall Funeral Services, Estevan. Due to current restrictions, funeral home staff will be limiting the number of people allowed in the chapel at one time. Your patience is greatly appreciated. Those wishing to make contributions in memory of Lawrence may do so directly to the Gideons International in Canada, via https://gideons. ca Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for the Daae family - Dustin Hall, Funeral Director.

Late model, clean CAT, JD equip: winch, dump, gravel trucks and trailers. Both camp and shop locations; R & B provided. Wage negotiable. Clean drivers abstract a must.

I am currenlty PURCHASING single to large blocks of land.

Our eternal gratitude goes out to the staff at St. Joseph’s Long Term Care, who provided Zonia with outstanding comfort and care in her final years, and were truly a second family for her. If friends desire, memorial donations can be directed to the Estevan Humane Society, Box 1095, Estevan, SK S4A 2H7.

LAWRENCE HARVEY DAAE 1929 - 2020

Heavy Duty Mechanics, Heavy Equipment Operators and 1A Drivers required:

FARMLAND WANTED

Thank You

Surrounded by the love of her family, Marilyn Dupuis passed away peacefully in her home in Bienfait, Sask. on Thursday, November 12, 2020 at the age of 69. Marilyn’s memory will be forever cherished by her husband of 48 years, Ernest Dupuis; children: Lori Dupuis (Barry), Chris Dupuis (Christina) and Becky Curtis (Jay). She will also be forever loved and missed by her grandchildren: Lacey Sykes (Scott), Larissa Nichols (Ryan), Lawson Gill, Brittany Vanin, Spencer Dupuis, Riley Curtis, Zach Curtis and Kale Dupuis; precious great grandchildren: Dylan Sykes, Laken Nichols, Landon Sykes and Aubrey Nichols; sister Carolyn Madro; sisters-in-law: Donna Jardine and Debbie Paiement; brother-in-law Tom Wiggett. She was preceded in death by her parents: Lorne Sr. and Anne Jardine; Lorne (Carrie) Jardine, Darlene Jardine, Deanna Wiggett, Larry Jardine, Lavern Jardine and Raymond Jardine; brother-in-law Ted Madro. In keeping with Marilyn’s wishes, there will not be a memorial service at this time. Her family will celebrate her life privately at a later time. Those wishing to make a donations in Marilyn's memory may do so directly to the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan (designate to the Allan Blair Cancer Centre), online at cancerfoundationsask.ca or by mail, to: 200 - 4545 Parliament Avenue, Regina, Sask., S4W 0G3. Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for the Dupuis family - Dustin Hall, Funeral Director.

Career OppOrtunities

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Notices / NomiNatioNs

For Sale: 2015 Volvo and 2017 grain bulker B-train. For more info phone 306.338.7006.

Moe Snider 1954-2013 Your memory we will treasure. Loving you always. Forgetting you never. You’re my Life. Love your wife Lynda, Lennie, LeAnne and Kyle, Grandchildren Karson and Kylie, and brother Reg

Auctions

PROVINCE-WIDE CLASSIFIEDS. Reach over 550,000 readers weekly. Call this newspaper NOW or 306-649.1405 for details.

Ward’s & Bud Haynes Firearms Auction, Saturday, December 12th, Edmonton, Alberta. Hundreds of Lots in all Classes. www.WardsAuctions.com. Call Brad 780-940-8378; Linda 403597-1095 to consign.

Card of Thanks

Notices / NomiNatioNs

The family of the late Ken Ivarson are deeply grateful to our family and friends for the many acts of kindness shown during our recent bereavement. The food, flowers, cards, messages and phone calls are greatly appreciated and will be remembered always. Also thank you to Hall Funeral Home for everything you did to make it all easier on us. With heartfelt thanks, Earl, Marjorie, Colette and families

Advertisements and statements contained herein are the sole responsibility of the persons or entities that post the advertisement, and the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association and membership do not make any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness or reliability of such advertisements. For greater information on advertising conditions, please consult the Association’s Blanket Advertising Conditions on our website at www.swna.com.

Farm ServiceS

In MeMorIaM

Geoff Alexander

February 26, 1982 - November 12, 2015

Missing You always You never said “I'm leaving” You never said Goodbye. You were gone before we knew it And only God knows why. In life we loved you dearly In death we love you still, In our hearts we hold a place That only you can fill. It broke our hearts to lose you But you didn't go alone. A part of us went with you The day GOD took you home.

Geoff you're Greatly missed

Love Mom, Dad, Kiryana, Angela (Brandon, Nathaniel, Janayah, Zoe), Amber (Jayden, Mya, Cale), family, friends, and special friends, Byron Bryron, Dawn & family


www.estevanmercury.ca

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Feed & Seed

Carnduff RCMP members investigating hit and run, suspicious vehicle complaints The Carnduff RCMP detachment sent out two advisories Thursday afternoon through the Saskatchewan Crime Watch Advisory Network following incidents in the area. In the first case, sometime on Nov. 9 or 10, an unknown individual collided with a lamppost and stop sign at the northeast corner of the junction of Highways 8 and 361. The lamppost and sign were a complete loss. A concerned citizen contacted the Carnduff RCMP, having recognized the potential hazard, and in turn the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure installed temporary signage with consideration to rapidly declining weather conditions. In the interim, nobody has come forward to report having been involved in this collision. The Carnduff RCMP is asking the responsible individual(s) to come forward. Otherwise, anyone with information concerning this collision can contact their nearest RCMP detachment (310-RCMP) or Crime Stoppers. HealtH ServiceS HIP/KNEE Replacement? Other medical conditions causing TROUBLE WALKING or DRESSING?

The Carnduff RCMP was also alerted about a suspicious vehicle and behaviour on Nov. 10. They received a proactive complaint of suspicious activity and movement of a vehicle near the village of Glen Ewen and within the RM of Mount Pleasant. It was the forward thinking of a concerned citizen that allowed members of the detachment to positively identify the vehicle and its owner. Officers have proceeded with an investigation. “It is important to highlight that it is often these small gestures, undertaken by concerned citizens being on the lookout to maintain the integrity of their community, that aid police the most in carrying out our duties to serve our community. Any and all information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, can be helpful to our investigations. We thank you for your assistance,” the advisory says. • • • Members of the Estevan Police Service dealt with a 17-year-old Estevan youth on Nov. 10 who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Officers contacted the youth and advised him of the warrant and he turned himself in. He was

released with a new court date. Police did a wellbeing check on a 27-year-old man who was located in north Estevan. Members were able to assist him and help him find a warm place for the night. Officers performed a traffic stop on a local man who provided a roadside breath sample, in which he blew a warning level on a roadside screening device, resulting in the man receiving a three-day driver’s licence suspension and his vehicle being seized. Police were called to a northeast establishment to a report of a disturbance. Officers arrested one of the men for being intoxicated in a licensed premise and he was lodged until he could sober up. As a result of a traffic stop in the 1300-block of Ninth Street on Nov. 11, a 24-yearold man from Yellow Grass was arrested and is facing charges of refusing to provide a breath sample. His driver’s licence was suspended and his vehicle was impounded. He will appear in court in January to answer to the charge. A 38-year-old man from Moose Jaw was issued a 72hour driving suspension after he blew a warning level on an approved screening device. His vehicle was also impounded for

three days. Police responded to a complaint of a possible impaired driver around King Street East. The vehicle was located and the male driver provided a sample into an approved screening device, with the result of zero. He was warned about his driving actions. Officers were called to a residential break and enter in progress in north Estevan on Nov. 12. The suspect was arrested in the residence and was held in custody overnight. Charges are pending further investigation. Members conducted

Estevan Farmer’s Market

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1-844-453-5372

NORTH EAST PRAIRIE GRAIN INC. BUYING: FEED BARLEY, SOYBEANS, DAMAGED CANOLA. On Farm Pickup, Prompt Payment! PH: 306-873-3551 WEBSITE: neprairiegrain.com “In Business to Serve Western Producers”

GET UP TO $50,000 from the Government of Canada. Do you or someone you know Have any of these Conditions? ADHD, Anxiety, Arthritis, Asthma, Cancer, COPD, Depression, Diabetes, Difficulty Walking, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowels, Overweight, Trouble Dressing...and Hundreds more. ALL Ages & Medical Conditions Qualify. Have a child under 18 instantly receive more money. CALL SASKATCHEWAN BENEFITS 1-(800)-211-3550 or Send a Text Message with Your Name and Mailing Address to 306-992-5527 for your FREE benefits package.

Will be holding their

Christmas Sales in the Estevan Market Mall

Saturdays

MLS®#: SK830849

Every person filing a written objection with SLGA shall state their name, address, and telephone number in printed form, as well as the grounds for the objection(s). Petitions must name a contact person, state grounds, and be legible. Each signatory to the petition and the contact person must provide an address and telephone number. Frivolous, vexatious or competitionbased objections within the beverage alcohol industry may not be considered and may be rejected by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Licensing Commission, who may refuse to hold a hearing. Write to: Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, Box 5054 REGINA SK S4P 3M3

November 21 & 28, December 5, 12 and 19 9:30am - 2:00pm

This is your next home. Indulge in your morning coffee or tea from your deck overlooking the valley, enjoy a nice warm car with an inside parking spot included and love your new home!

#305 - 12 Cundall Drive 1 bed, 2 bath, 946 sq. ft.

$159,900

Follow us on Facebook Stay up to date with

BREAKING NEWS at:

Lorna Pylychaty REALTOR

WWW.ESTEVANMERCURY.CA

306.421.6847

Liquor Permit Advertising Form Under the provisions of The Alcohol and Gaming Regulations Act, 1997, Notice is hereby given that Chopper K Steakhouse Inc. has applied to the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) for a Restaurant permit to sell alcohol in the premises known as Chopper K Steakhouse at Hwy 9 Alameda SK, S0C 0A0. Written objections to the granting of the permit may be filed with SLGA not more than two weeks from the date of publication of this notice.

high-visibility check stops Nov. 14 at multiple locations in the city. Several traffic tickets were issued for various offences, along with a 72-hour driving suspension as a result of a drug impaired driving investigation. Police received a report of fraudulent transactions on a personal bank account. The individual provided information to the police. The matter is still under investigation. Officers received a number of criminal harassment reports related to multiple victims being harassed by one individual. The matter is still under investigation.

CROSSWORD ANSWER

Announcements

November 18, 2020 B9

CAREERS Delivery

SRI HOMES’ Estevan Facility SHELTER HOME SYSTEMS

Drivers

is currently accepting applications for

PRODUCTION WORKERS

Wanted

On-call position

• Required Immediately

4-9PM daily

Contact

Robert at

634-4747

Duties include:

• Assembling and installing modular components Send, fax, e-mail or drop off resume to:

H

O

M

E

S

SHELTER

Box 845 #200 Hwy. 18 West, Estevan, SK S4A 2A7 Fax: 306-634-7597 jobs.shelter@gmail.com www.shelterhomes.ca

BUSINESS SERVICES LEGAL Barristers & Solicitors

Paul Elash Q.C. Aaron Ludwig, B.Sc., LL.B. Genevieve Schrader, B. Mgt., J.D. Gainsborough: Thursday a.m. Carnduff: Thursday p.m. 1312- 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0X2

P. 306-634-3631 • F. (306) 634-6901 • www.kohalyelash.com

AUDIOLOGIST

C

“Your ears deserve an audiologist” #5 - 418 Kensington Ave. (Across from Walmart)

306-636-EARS (3277)

JACQUIE MVULA M.S., R. Aud. Audiologist/Owner

www.suncountryhearing.com

• • • • •

I


B10 November 18, 2020

www.estevanmercury.ca

Proudly Canadian Since 1971

BLACK FRIDAY SNEAK PEEK ONE DAY ONLY - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20

AS OUR BRICK VIP GUEST, YOU WILL RECEIVE THESE SPECIAL VIP OFFERS…

70

%

OFF

30

+

Sofas

when you buy the matching loveseat or chair at our ticket price

OFF

Excludes discounted, clearance, Sofi, Hot Buy deals, and Buyer’s Best items.

25

%

UP TO

+

OFF

+

Mattress Sets

Bedroom & Dining Furniture

Excludes discounted, clearance, iComfort, Tempur-Pedic, and adjustable sets.

Excludes discounted, clearance, Hot Buy deals, and Buyer’s Best items.

$999 or more

10

%

OFF

includes 3 games

Accent Chairs

Excludes discounted, clearance, Sofi, Hot Buy deals, and Buyer’s Best items.

30

OFF

+

Sectionals, Recliners & Futons UP TO 15% OFF+

our ticket price on

%

%

UP TO

10

%

UP TO

+

OFF

SAVE $100

Street Fighter Classic Arcade Cabinet

+

Home Decor

Occasional Tables & Lamps Excludes discounted, clearance, Buyer’s Best items, and 2 & 3 pack tables.

NOW ONLY

298

$

++

After Discount

Excludes discounted, clearance, Buyer’s Best items, and Special Buys.

YOUR CHOICE FLEXIBLE FINANCING AVAILABLE WITH NO INTEREST ON ALL PURCHASE IN STORE AND ONLINE NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS FOR UP TO

24 MONTHS OR UP TO 48 EQUAL MONTHLY PAYMENTS

TAXES, ONE-TIME ADMINISTRATION FEE, DELIVERY FEES, OR OTHER CHARGES ARE DUE AT TIME OF PURCHASE.

ONE DAY ONLY! Friday, November 20 storage

43”

power headrest

pull-out sleeper

NOW ONLY

1599

$

94” Beau Genuine Leather Power Reclining Sofa

NOW ONLY

859

$

Power Reclining Loveseat with Console $1579 Power Reclining Chair $1179

Hayes Genuine Leather Power Recliner

NOW ONLY

SAVE $30

298++

$

60” Ollie TV Stand with log fireplace

539

$

After Discount

Includes table and 4 chairs 11551PPK5

QUEEN SET

$799 After Discount

SAVE $570

Pulse Pillowtop Queen Mattress Set

King Set $1179 After Discount

SAVE $720

NOW ONLY

3-Pc. Izzy Fabric Sleeper Sectional

when you buy this 3-pc. Amana kitchen package See in store for complete details. AMANAST3

Full Size Top Freezer Fridge

639

$

AR1318FW

Ceran Top Range YAER630W

NOW ONLY

199

$

Dishwasher

30” WIDE

5’ x 7’3” Cannes Area Rug

SAVE $100 5Pc. Dalton Counter Height Dining Package

FREE

DAY ’N NIGHT STYLE YOU CAN SIT AND SLEEP ON

+ STAINLESS STEEL UPGRADE

Tacoma Queen $439 1ACOOOBD

5-PC. HOT BUY

2239

$

43” 4K UHD Smart TV

After Discount

NOW ONLY

NOW ONLY

699

$

ADB1400W

NOW ONLY

649

$

NOW ONLY

399

$

ASK ABOUT OUR PRICE MATCH GUARANTEE - ON UNTIL DEC. 24!

400 King Street | in the Estevan Shoppers Mall

306-634-7211


Festival of Trees ST. JOSEPH’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION

ESTEVAN, SASKATCHEWAN

There’s No Place Like Home Edi�on

ULTIMATE

50/50 LOTTERY LICENSE: RR20-0163

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY AT WWW.SJHF5050.CA!

Online

BID NOW AT WWW.FESTIVALOFTREESESTEVAN.COM/AUCTION

Holiday Coffee Break Presented by:

TREAT YOUR OFFICE TO A TRAY OF DECADENT TREATS AND A HOT CHOCOLATE CHARCUTERIE BOARD DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOU! BOOK YOURS TODAY BY EMAILING INFO@SJHF.ORG OR CALLING (306)637-2474



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