RIVERS
BANNER April 14, 2017
ersary v i n Celebrating our 108th An
Gazette-Reporter
Serving the Rivers, Rapid City and Oak River areas for 107 years
Volume 109, Issue 41
89¢ + tax
Elementary essay elevated to entry’s end By Sheila Runions Banner Staff
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eaders should recall the success of Sera Gilbert in the annual Remembrance Day poster and prose competition. Her wins ha e een reported first at the local level when Branch No. 75 of Royal Canadian Legion a e her a first-p ace finish and $20. That standing advanced her entry to zone, where she won another and first-p ace her essay then advanced to district. The Grade 6 student at Rivers Elementary School won another first-p ace pri e and her submission was sent to command where it was announced she won first once a ain With permission of the school, i ers e ion co-ordinated a special afternoon assembly in the gymnasium on Friday, April 7. Present were some local executive, Riverdale Mayor Todd Gill, Zone Commander Dale Champigny and District Commander Joan Wright. The guests a e rief statements first ein Mayor Gill: “Congratulations to Sera for her success in this contest, but I also want to acknowledge the students and faculty for supporting this effort.” Champigny also expressed “thanks to the school and staff for their support. Look at where you guys are! You are on the map now this is a reat da Finally, Wright admitted, “I picked Sera’s essay as the winner and I sent it on to Winnipeg which will then send it to Dominion for competition in all of Canada. It was a great essay, worth of first p ace in the nior literary essay competition. And this is a i dea o s and ir s Sera competed against approximately 100 kids for this.” To the best recollection of legion members, no Rivers submission has e er won first in district et a one first at command It is quite possible Sera has set a record, which Branch 75 hopes
will encourage more entries for next year’s annual contest. Although it was printed in February, we reprint Sera’s award-winnin essa a ain her composition should be considered by all at all times.
Taking Life For Granted
By Sera Gilbert
We think of life as simple and easy to achieve – a thing that can’t be wasted. We normally think of ourselves, but it’s time to change that. We have Remembrance Day for a reason. Let’s remember the fallen soldiers who risked their lives for ours. They prevailed in many wars, but sometimes they did not. They spent many days and weeks in the trenches, the ocean and in the air, so we didn’t have to live a life of servitude to other countries. Many died and we don’t think twice about it. We think if war doesn’t affect us we don’t have to care. Most people think everything is going to be handed to them on a silver platter. Back
then, during World War One and Two, lots of people lived on a farm and if you didn’t work you didn’t eat. Half of the time now, we don’t work but we still eat. Once the war started, food was even more scarce than it already was. Today we see our families all the time. Back then, family members went to war and sometimes they would never see their families again. Most of us only care or remember on Remembrance Day. It’s time to care every second of every day. Think of all those wars and all those soldiers. Maybe you knew them, maybe you didn’t, but every survivor and every fallen soldier was somebody’s significant other. Whether it was your grandfather, uncle, mother, father, grandmother, aunt or someone you don’t know, they cared about the future of our country. War is not a laughing matter. It’s a serious thing. We have poppies and a special day to remember for a reason. In the past and present, some of us have taken life for granted.
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Photo by Sheila Runions
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Movie star to perform in Rivers
By Sheila Runions Banner Staff ason Scott lives in the southeastern Kootenay Mountains of e was orn in oronto and at a e fi e he he entered The Conservatory of Music. At age 15 he graduated, with first de ree hono rs which means he had the same e e of trainin as did his teachers! The teen then completed high school and for 20 years after that, he extensively toured across Canada as a lead singer for night club, cover and original concert bands. In the 1980s and s Jason was a record a e -si ned writer and performer rin those ears he attended adio or s and rad ated first in his class, with honours as a CRTC licensed broadcaster. Since 1997, after findin and rea i in the oice of acc aimed sin er and son writer Neil Diamond, Jason has been performing Diamond Forever: A Celebration Of Neil Diamond across Canada, United States and Mexico. On Saturday, April 28, he will bring his performance to Rivers Legion Hall. But this biography sounds like a musician, not a movie star. So how does he hold that title as well? “ was chosen to e part of the cast for a wor d re ease feat re-
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length motion picture documentary called Diamond Mountain, current in post-prod ction preparin for doc mentar channe s and ideo re ease his was fi med in ritish o m ia nited States England, Ireland, Australia and Santiago, Chili. I am the only Canadian “ ei performance artist chosen to e part of this fi m’s artist m ti-nationa cast n pri a cast wa ed the red carpet screened iamond o ntain and performed a m ti-cast concert oined fi e act a mem ers of ei iamond’s and on the Showroom stage at the Suncoast Hotel in Las Vegas!” Besides this outstanding credit, Jason has received many awards for his impersonation of the American musician, who happens to be one of the wor d’s est-se in artists of a time se in more than mi ion records wor dwide since his career e an in the s Neil is the second most successful artist in the history of Billboard op charts ad t contemporar n the s mmer of Jason ecame the first internationa tri te artist to win the e e end competition as ei iamond at as e as’ mperia a ace ote and Casino. continued on page 8