RM Review
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Serving the Communities of Asquith, Delisle, Grandora, Harris, Pike Lake, Vanscoy
Volume 15 Number 5
Your COMMUNITY... Your NEWSPAPER
May 2014
R.M. of Vanscoy Rate Payers Dinner
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he R.M. of Vanscoy council held it’s annual Ratepayers Dinner and Meeting on April 9th. About 100 people enjoyed a catered roast beef meal, from Robin’s Nest Cafe in Vanscoy, to start the evening. The meeting began with Councillor Ron Stevens announcing that Administrator Shawn Antosh will be retiring after 25 years of service. After that the inaugural Citizen of the Year Award being presented to Linda Wright for her years of contribution to the community. Nominations for 2014 can be made until December 31. That was followed be a report from Councillor George Kool regarding the roads in the RM. The RM spends over $1 million on gravel alone, and the wet weather in the last two years has added to the up-keep challenges. They are beginning a 5
year plan to build new roads and currently have 4 graders that they will be replacing every 4 years. Reeve Floyd Chapel reported on the province’s intention to twin highway 7 from the Cory potash mine to Delisle. He said the province expects to do the project in three phases; Phase 1 will bring the divided blacktop from Cory to one mile east of Vanscoy, Phase 2 will take the new highway north of the Village of Vanscoy to one mile west of the Village, Phase 3 will see the highway finished from west of Vanscoy through to Delisle. There has been much concern expressed by the community, to the province, regarding the bypassing of Vanscoy. It will effectively limit future growth for the Village between the new highway to the north and the rail line on the south side of the existing highway, plus cause local traffic, like school buses
to cross the divided highway to get to Vanscoy. There were presentations from three guest speakers. Ray Orth, V.P. of SARM, which the RM is a member of, spoke on their recent activities. Gord Sparks, from the U of S, made a presentation showing how organizations like Municipal Governments, use Asset Management accounting to budget to maintain roads, bridges and buildings. Jeff Dickson, Community Relations for STARS Air Ambulance, gave an insightful presentation on the role STARS plays in our lives right here. They have been called to our area 32 times in 2013. He encouraged rural residents to register their locations directly with STARS for fastest response time. You can go to their website at www.stars.ca or call 888-888-4567.
2013 Citizen of the Year
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he RM of Vanscoy awarded their first annual Citizen of the Year Award to Linda Wright. Linda was nominated for here tireless efforts with the Vanscoy & District Agricultural Society. Linda moved from Saskatoon to Vanscoy in August of 2001. She recalls, “One day in Feb 2001 my husband came home from doing business at the Agrium Potash mine and he said to me ‘I found us an acreage’ and I still remember saying, I didn’t know we were looking for one”. She was excited when she learnt there was a community fair, as she had grown up as a child participating in fair activities. Within a couple of years of living in the community, there was a notice that membership was low and that there was a need for community involvement. She attended a meeting and has been involved ever since serving as a director and for several years and currently as the president. The Society is a non-profit organization of volunteers with the goal of ‘Promoting Agriculture & Rural Living through Education, Entertainment and Community Development’. Some of the workshops and classes offered over the years were Quilting workshops, Knitting workshops, Perennial Exchange,
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Boat Safe course, Food Safety course, a Pulse food workshop and a Farm Safety Day held last Sept, which was offered to grade 4 and 5 students. They also offer a $500 Bursary to Grade 12 Students who live within the RM. They celebrated the 30th Annual Summer Fair in 2013, with a light horse show, gymkhana, exhibits and Kidsland. “One of our major accomplishments for 2013 was the Rejuvenation of the Riding Arena located in the Village of Vanscoy” says Linda, “Hopefully, many riders will make use of this facility for years to come. “I would like the residents of the RM to understand is that the Society includes all of the RM” says Linda “which means Asquith, Delisle, Vanscoy, Grandora, and Pike Lake. I encourage you to get involved or let us know other classes, courses or events that we could sponsor”. “I thank the RM of Vanscoy for this wonderful award as well as the nominator who felt that I was worthy. This is very humbling, as those who volunteer do not expect recognition”. She also thanks the directors of the Society for “ believing in my leadership and the things that we accomplished as an organization”.
Linda Wright receives 2013 Citizen of the Year Award from Councillor Ron Stevens
New Restaurant Set to Open in Delisle
erit Bartles will soon be opening the Homestead Restaurant in Delisle. Berit is a cook with over 35 years of experience in the industry. She and her husband immigrated from Germany in 2009. For the last couple of years she worked as a line cook at “Calories” in Saskatoon, but has always wanted to have her own restaurant again. Berit would like to run it the way she used to with home style cooking of typical German (and European) meals. The menu will include some of the "common dishes" but Berit hopes,
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that her guests will try out the "little different food". (ask for a sample, if you are unsure if you will like it.) The Homestead will not be a fast food restaurant, everything is made from scratch, with fresh ingredients sourced from local suppliers, and ‘a lot of love’. In addition to the menu, she will have daily specials posted in the restaurant each day. Berit expects to open the doors sometime in the first week of May. Check out her website for the menu and watch for an announcement on her opening.
Red Williams............. p. 3 Council Reports......... p. 4 RCMP Report............. p. 5
Opening Soon Check out our Website at the-homestead-restaurant.blogspot.ca
100 - 2nd Street West, Delisle
School Reports............ p. 6 Agriculture Reports.... p. 10 MP Report................... p. 12
306 - 493 - 3313 MLA Report.................... p. 13 Community Reports....... p. 14 Community Calendar..... p. 15
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Yard & Garden Feature Page 8-9