CURLING CLUB
FIRE TRAINING CONVENTION A3
Firefighters learn new skills
A11
Supporters make a difference
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Issue 27
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
United Way telethon was one to remember By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Even during times of economic uncertainty, Estevan area residents still seemingly want to support the United Way Estevan’s telethon. The 42nd annual fundraising broadcast was held at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch on Friday and Saturday. Once the 33-hour broadcast was finished, a total of $372,290 had been donated, which exceeded the goal of $335,000. The money raised will be directed towards the United Way’s 15 member agencies and two community partners. The final off-air total was just shy of the previous record of $372,394, set two years ago. President Travis Frank said he couldn’t be happier with this year’s fundraiser. “Raising over $372,000 is an incredible feat, especially given our economy in the city right now,” said Frank. “We know times aren’t great for everybody.” But people in Estevan recognize the member agen-
cies have experienced challenges in the last few years. “They know that these causes and these agencies are important, particularly in years where times are tough, and we want to make sure that we can give as much to them as possible, and we’re going to be able to do that this year,” said Frank. Frank pointed out that the United Way’s best years have come during times of adversity. The first time they eclipsed the $370,000 mark was in 2011, when much of the southeast was hit by a flood. The next time that happened was in 2016, when Estevan was swamped by a record-breaking storm in mid-July. And this year’s telethon came a few months after SaskPower announced it would retire Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station. “Keeping track of those numbers, it’s really quite interesting to see that when times are tough, people give more to United Way, which is fantastic, because those agencies affect
us that much more when times are tough,” said Frank. The telethon went on air at 8 a.m. on Friday morning. Many donations came in on Friday, and by the end of the day Friday, the total stood at more than $136,000, the highest total ever for a Friday. “It’s nice to see those numbers climb quite high on the Friday, so that we know we’re going into Saturday pretty successful already,” said Frank. Students from the Estevan Comprehensive School took over the telethon during the overnight hours, handling tasks that ranged from hosting to behind-the-scenes work. “We know we don’t want to give up the middle of the night. We want to keep the momentum of our telethon going. If we stop in the middle and start again, that really loses the impact of what we’re doing. So we want to make sure we go through the middle of the night. The high school does that for us, and they not only do it, they do it in some pretty crazy and entertaining ways.” The total hovered around $150,000 until early Saturday afternoon, when SaskPower
Students from Pleasantdale School performed on Friday morning during the United Way Estevan’s telethon. came through with a donation of $123,547.40. The figure was raised by local SaskPower employees and management, and matched by the corporation. The telethon surpassed its goal just before 2 p.m. A donation worth $80,886.29 from the United Mine Workers of America Local 7606 and the Westmoreland Coal Company lifted the United Way above its goal.
Moments after the United Way eclipsed its goal, Frank called Dan Clement, the interim president and CEO of United Way Canada. Clement said he had been watching the telethon online, and said the local United Way is leading the way for others in Canada. The generosity of the community didn’t stop when the United Way reached its
goal, and about $20,000 in donations came in during the final three hours. The broadcast ended just before 5 p.m. Local residents offered their talents to the telethon through entertainment, preparing food, creating handcrafted bid items and volunteering by answering phones, operating cameras, working in the kitchen and fulfilling A2 » ENTERTAINMENT
Delays Estevan enjoys John Mellencamp occurring at concert at Affinity Place North Portal border crossing By Corey Atkinson sports@estevanmercury.ca
Motorists looking to enter Canada from the U.S. at the North Portal border crossing have been experiencing delays this week. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) advised travellers on Monday that construction-related delays were expected at the North Portal border crossing for approximately 72 hours, starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. “As part of the construction project at North Portal, crews will be replacing a sewer line that runs underneath Highway 39 northbound this week, just past the CBSA primary inspection compound,” said Luke Reimer, a spokesperson with CBSA’s Prairie region. They will also be working on a road water drain line. “The work to be completed would block Canada-bound traffic from proceeding north after clearing CBSA processing,” said Reimer. “Therefore, from the CBSA building past the North Portal Duty Free – it’s a stretch of about 230 metres – both northbound and southbound traffic will be sharing the two highway lanes normally reserved for southbound traffic.” A flag person will be present to direct traffic at all times. An expansion and renovation project is underway at the North Portal border crossing that is expected to take 18-30 months. “It’s an important project that’s going to increase the … capacity of the port of entry by adding a third processing lane, constructing a new and taller canopy, staggering three bi-level primary inspection booths on the highway to better streamline traffic flow, and of course, improving our commercial facility. We’re renovating and expanding the commercial warehouse.” Travellers entering Canada by car or other light vehicle were asked to consider the Northgate border crossing to the east of North Portal, and the Estevan border crossing to the west. Both ports of entry are open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
These may be Lawless Times, as John Mellencamp’s first song said at his concert Friday night at Affinity Place, but that doesn’t mean people can’t have fun at a concert. Few seats were empty when the show began as Mellencamp went through new and old songs for over an hour and a half. Mellencamp and his seven-piece band worked through old and new songs from his over 40-year recording career. Before the show, the concert backdrop showed a brief history of Mellencamp’s career, including him walking off the set of a television interview in 1982. As that faded out, the crowd on the floor jumped to their feet as members of the band came to the stage until Mellencamp showed up, predominantly dressed in black, to the crowd’s adulation. His new songs helped open the set, including Lawless Times (from 2014’s Plain Spoken), John Cockers (from 2008’s Life, Death, Love and Freedom) before 1985’s Min-
John Mellencamp and his band performed at Affinity Place Friday night. utes to Memories, a hidden gem on Scarecrow, and then he and the band then ripped into the classic Mellencamp song like Small Town. He and the band performed in a cover of Robert Johnson’s Stones in My Passway, recorded for Mellencamp’s 2003 album Trouble No More, he dug into a bluesy rendition of The Full Catastrophe (Ain’t looking for a
fight/but you know I won’t run away) from 1996’s Mr. Happy Go Lucky. His newer songs, like Easy Target from 2017’s Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, included some of the bite Mellencamp still has for the time he lives in (“Well let the poor be damned/ and the easy targets too/ All are created equal/ Equally beneath me and you”). While the front rows of the
ENDS NOVEMBER 30TH 2018 F-150 FOR DETAILS, VISIT FORD.CA.
MORE SMART REASONS TO OWN AN F-150: · Best-in-class fuel efficiency^^ · Class-exclusive, available Pro Trailer Back-Up Assist** · 360o-camera with split-view display*
show seemed into the show, you wonder how many were waiting for the next radio hit. It wouldn’t have been a Mellencamp show without some of the classic rock radio staples like and Paper in Fire, Rain on the Scarecrow, Crumblin’ Down, Lonely Ol’ Night and Mellencamp a solo acoustic version of Jack And Diane. A2 » CHERRY
118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 306-634-3696 www.senchuk.com