EXPRESS SOUTHEAST TRADER
June 20, 2014
Member Canadian Community Newspapers Assoc. Member Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Assoc. Audited by Audit Bureau of Circulations.
EXPRESS SOUTHEAST TRADER
Publisher: Brant Kersey Editorial Staff: Norm Park Chad Saxon Jordan Baker Josh Lewis Alex Coop Advertising Sales Manager: Cindy Beaulieu Advertising Sales Representatives: Deanna Tarnes Kristen O'Handley Teresa Hrywkiw Candace Wheeler Production Department: Melanie Tribiger Trinda Jocelyn Riley Dyck Peggy Volmer Kaitlyn Pilloud Accounting: Kim Schoff Reception: Gayle Worsnop Contributors: Calvin Daniels
Published weekly by Prairie Newspaper Group Limited Partnership, 68 Souris Avenue N., Estevan, Saskatchewan. Postal address: Box 730 Estevan, Saskatchewan, S4A 2A6 Advertising rates are available upon request and are subject to change without notice. Conditions of editorial and advertising content: The Southeast Trader Express attempts to be accurate in Editorial and Advertising content; however, no guarantee is given or implied. The Southeast Trader Express reserves the right to revise or reject any or all editorial and advertising content as the newspaper's principals see fit. The Southeast Trader Express 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 Southeast Trader Express will not be responsible for manuscripts, photographs, negatives and other related material that may be submitted for possible publication. All of the The Southeast Trader Express' content is protected by Canadian Copyright laws. Reviews and similar mention of material in this newspaper is granted on the provision that The Southeast Trader Express 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 Southeast Trader Express, 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. Published weekly in Southeast Saskatchewan by the Prairie Newspaper Group, a subsidiary of Glacier Media Inc. The Glacier group of companies collects personal information from our customers in the normal course of business transactions. We use that information to provide you with our products and services you request. On occasion we may contact you for purposes of research, surveys and other such matters. To provide you with better service we may share your personal information with our sister companies and also outside, selected third parties who perform work for us as suppliers, agents, service providers and information gatherers. Our subscription list may be provided to other organizations who have products and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to participate in such matters, please contact us at the following address: The Southeast Trader Express, Box 730, Estevan, Saskatchewan, S4A 2A6; or phone (306) 634-2654. For a complete statement of our privacy policy, please go to our Website at: www.estevanmercury.ca The Southeast Trader Express is owned and operated by Prairie Newspaper Group, a subsidiary of Glacier Media Inc.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program toward our mailing costs.
Contact us:
Phone: 306-634-2654 Fax: 306-634-3934 www.estevanmercury.ca Street Address: 68 Souris Ave. N., Estevan By mail: Box 730, Estevan, Sask. S4A 2A6
erspective
Page 4
Spurs excellence in playoffs something anyone can look up to Heading into Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 15, I knew the door was closing quickly on the Miami Heat’s chances of winning. The deficit they faced was substantial, and by the time the third quarter started, I knew I was no longer watching for the purpose of cheering on the Heat. I was simply watching the perfection on display. This perfection took the form of the San Antonio Spurs, and their excellence not only spanned the length of the entire basketball court but trickled down to the players’ bench and was even showcased in the words that were coming out of their mouths. I felt this was worth mentioning because it’s rare to see a professional sports organization dominate — I mean absolutely, without a doubt, truly, legitimately dominate — the entire league on a consistent basis, while maintaining a soaring level of respect for themselves, and those around them. The San Antonio Spurs did something this year that I appreciate wholeheartedly, and it legitimately inspired me to excel in everything I do. This organization suffered a soul-crushing defeat last year to the Miami Heat in the NBA finals, which I’ll admit, I was okay with at the time because I was cheering for the south beach superstars. The Spurs, on the verge of winning the championship, had it all snatched away during the final seconds of the game, when minutes ago, victory appeared to be
Alex Coop
Writing Prevents That Sinking Feeling theirs. Heading into the season, they said from Day 1, their mission was to reach the top again and win. This, of course, seemed like an impossible task. Can a team regroup that quickly, physically and mentally, and claw their way back to the top while enduring the grueling 82-game season? They sure showed me. The Spurs not only walked away with the best winning record during the regular season – again – they outscored their 2014 playoff opponents by a combined 214 points, the largest plus/minus in a postseason ever. And, perhaps the most impressive statistic of all, the Spurs shot 52.8 per cent from the field during the Finals, a best in Finals history, breaking the record of the 1991 Chicago Bulls. Um, wow. Now, all these silly stats probably mean very little to those who don’t follow basketball much. Well, I haven’t forgotten about you, and as I mentioned earlier, their excellence spread beyond their physical skills on the court. The
players on that team are truly good people, and this statement shined through no brighter than when they played on the biggest basketball stage on the planet. Mastermind head coach of the Spurs, Gregg Popovich, is a hothead. He expects greatness and pushes his players to be the best they can be. This often results in yelling at his players in frustration when mistakes are made. I remember at one point during Game 3, a player named Danny Green was on the receiving end of a serious tongue lashing from his coach. Rather than roll his eyes and pout on the bench like so many other players would in this situation, he simply joined the huddle and continued to cheer his team on. Players on this team are never penalized for speaking rudely to referees or other players, and they deflect all praise towards each other. Role models in this day and age, especially in the sporting world, can have an enormous influence on younger people, and these guys are as good as it gets. The San Antonio Spurs’ basketball supremacy, shining personality and dedication to being the best on a consistent basis – did I mention this team has won five rings in the past 14 years, and have made the playoffs EVERY single year since then? – is something anyone can appreciate, and learn from. Even though they beat the Miami Heat, I … I … well, let’s just leave it at that.
Pizza farm connects kids So I recently headed out to a field near Yorkton to snap some pictures of young students taking part in the second annual ‘Pizza Farm’ initiative. The idea is the brainchild of local agrologist’s Naomi Paley and Rachel Kraynick, who got the wonderfully simple, and ultimately very successful, concept off the ground last spring. It is an idea I wrote of then, but this is such a great concept it warrants some added ink this year too. The idea is one, which helps connect young students more directly to the importance of agriculture in terms of food production. I think everyone in agriculture today is keenly aware of the growing disconnect between the realities of farming, and how the agriculture sector is viewed by the growing urban population. As generations pass, fewer and fewer urban dwellers have contact with a farm. That is a trend, which will only continue. But it is important, if not critical, that people continue to have an idea about where their food comes from. This is not a new theme for my column, but it remains one the industry must work hard to ensure. It is not a good thing if people believe milk comes from a carton, not recognizing a
Calvin Daniels Trader Agriculture Columnist cow someplace is ultimately responsible for its production. That is where the idea Paley and Kraynick had is such a good one. For younger students, pizza is usually a preferred food. And within a pizza, much of what farming supplies can be seen in miniature. Milk and the dairy industry are integral to the cheese, grains to the flour, beef to the sausage, pigs to the bacon and so on. The simple pizza in many ways encapsulates the variety of agricultural and food production into something even young students can relate to. So taking the students to a field in spring to learn about crop planting, and then to return in fall to see the results, really is an experience, which is likely to stick with many. That’s ultimately the idea. Hopefully, the students will talk about the field trip at home, and that will in turn interest
their parents and siblings. With access to the Internet so widespread it is easy for interested parents to expand on the field trip experience too. Such an experience is a small one, but at least it helps young students start to think about their food in a different way. And, of course, the Pizza Farm is not an isolated learning tool either. Student education is an important aspect of events such as Grain Millers Harvest Showdown and Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. Events like that give students, who may never have set foot on a farm, a chance to actually touch a cow and sheep and a pig. Such an experience truly does change a perspective of food. And then there is the effort of Agriculture in the Classroom, a group dedicated to connecting what youth learn in school back to our agrarian base. Each effort helps re-establish connections, which once existed becoming farming was in everyone’s close family. Today that is not the case, making the need to teach about where our food really comes from an increasingly important part of education. The Pizza Farm and other efforts are certainly on the right track in that effort.