Pumpkin Makeover ... Braxen Ellis gets ready to carve his pumpkin last week at Biggar Central School. Kids were designing their best and scariest pumpkin, all in preparation for the big day this Thursday. See Page 2 for more! (Independent Photo by Kevin Brautigam)
Biggar Central School students were taking their artistic skills to the pumpkin medium carving up the iconic Halloween fruit, October 26. With the big day approaching, kids got their scary pumpkins ready with a little help from parents and siblings as well as some BCS senior students. The pumpkins were purchased by the BCS SRC, and Main Street Market donated chocolate bars to the kids - everything ready for the big day on Halloween!
(Independent Photos by
Kevin Brautigam)
Biggar RCMP Report
by
Sgt. Dereck Crozier, Biggar Detachment
This past week 30 occurrences were handled by the detachment members.
Traffic Related incidents had eight drivers spoken to on traffic safety and one vehicle met with a deer on Highway 14 near Kinley. A Pontiac Vibe that was left roadside on Highway 14 near Perdue had its window smashed out and the vehicle was rummaged through by the time the owner returned after work. Mischief and damage done to a school
bus parked on Fourth Avenue West in town. Multiple complaints of an ATV running around on Fourth Avenue West. A 16- and 17-year-old youth were spoken to about their in appropriate use of the ATV in town.
A delivery driver in town almost had to make a stork delivery after finding a 2-yearold wandering barefoot and in a diaper on the corner of Eighth Avenue West and Quebec Street. The child was returned home two blocks away.
An investigation into ongoing threats being made to an Animal Protection Officer on their personal time from an unhappy dog owner. The long-arm of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada enforcement from Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, tracked down their catch to Kinley and required
assistance in serving a court summons.
A report of fraud based on their name being used and being on the hook for a cellphone bill
according to a collection agency.
Take care out there.
WESK Connect is coming to Biggar
Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan (WESK) will be hosting a networking event here in Biggar, November 5, 6-8 p.m., at The Main Event centre (old Jehovah Hall) at 422 Main Street.
Lisa Haynes a local entrepreneur and Rural Ambassador for WESK is hosting the event alongside the organization and explained a bit more about what the event will be about and what networking really is and why it is beneficial for business owners to make the time to do it. Like a lot of words being tossed around in the business world these days, networking can be a bit intimidating and honestly confusing. What is it actually and what exactly am I supposed to do?
The thing is business owners have been doing it for years without thinking about it, maybe not
giving it a label or putting it in a formal atmosphere, but it has been happening. The best example Haynes can think of to describe networking is the iconic farmer coffee row. When current farmers and retired farmers meet at, say NAPA, Western Sales, Kelly’s Kitchen, Biggar Bites, et cetera, for their morning or afternoon coffee. There is more than just the town’s current events being talked about there is informal networking happening too. Someone shares about the issues they are having with the fuel line on their tractor and someone else says how they fixed it. Someone shares doesn’t know where to get that new Cover Crop everyone is talking about and someone shares they get theirs from a really knowledgeable company rep that helped them with issues they had, and contact
info is passed on. That is really what networking is - building relationships and connections that will help you succeed to a greater degree.
That’s what this event will be. A place to get together with other business owners and chat. Maybe about what’s working for you and maybe to get some tips and tricks others have tried for the things that aren’t working so good. Or maybe it will just be a place to meet or learn more about other people in the same industry as you so that you feel comfortable doing that in the future.
When asked if it is such a good idea for small town business owners to meet up with and share things with their competition, Haynes replies with a smile and one of her favourite quotes, “Competition happens at
the bottom, the people at the top are collaborating” adding that’s what community is about - helping everyone succeed and reach their goals, adding there is always lots of room at the top. There will not be a formal program - with a casual atmosphere - on Tuesday, November 5, with prompts available to help get or keep the conversations flowing. For more information about the event or WESK in general, feel free to contact Lisa at 306-9517350.
The Saskatchewan Party (SP) has taken its fifth straight win with a majority for the 30th general election, Monday, and KindersleyBiggar mirrored those results with newcomer, Kim Gartner taking the win for the Sask Party. Gartner took 5,544 votes to the New Democrat’s Cindy Hoppe with 1,148. Independent Wade Sira came away with 282 while the Green Party’s (GP) Darcy Robilliard received 114, and the Buffalo Party’s (BP) Jeff Wortman brought up the rear with 102.
The Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party (PC), Sask. United Party (SUP), and the Saskatchewan Progress Party (SPP) did not run candidates in Kindersley-Biggar.
In surrounding constituencies, RosetownDelisle, the Sask Party’s Jim Reiter with 5,753 to the NDP’s Brenda Edel with 2,062, and the Green Party’s Sean Muirhead with 228.
As of October 29, the Sask Party provincially received 232,760 votes to the NDP’s 173,285, the Sask United (SUP) with 17,658, the Sask. Green (GP) with 7,726, the Sask. Progressive Conservative (PC) with 4,300, the Buffalo Party (BP) with 3,201, the Sask. Progress Party (SPP) with 510, and Independent with 331 votes achieved.
It is in the Saskatoon and Regina that the NDP made their gains, taking the majority of the constituencies except for SaskatoonWillowgrove with the Sask Party’s Ken Chevedayoff squeaking out a victory with 3,908 to the NDP’s Alana Wakula with 3,638. Athabasca and Cumberland, two northern constituencies, went NDP (1,788 to the Sask Party’s 1,005 and 2,230 to the Sask Party’s 1,575, respectively).
A second vote count will be October 30, and a final count, November 9.
Rosthern-Shellbrook was another Sask Party win with Premier Scott Moe taking 5,083 to the NDP’s Mark Thunderchild’s 1,741 and the SUP’s Cody Lockhart with 1,006, and the GP’s Janice Dongworth with 88. Martensville-Blairmore, Sask Party (Jamie Martens - 4,424), NDP (Tammy Pike - 2,717), GP (Brittney Ricottone - 156). Warman, the Sask Party (Terry Jenson - 5,709), NDP (Erica Baerwald - 2,145), SUP (Andrea Early - 632), BP (Mark Friesen - 124), and GP (Adriana Hackl Pinno - 49). Cypress Hills, another Sask Party (Doug Steele - 5,934), NDP (Clare NcNab1,427), and the BP (Doug Wilson - 504).
Kim Gartner (second from right) has reason to smile. He, joined here by family and friends, will represent the Kindersley-Biggar constituency after the provincial election this past Monday. (Submitted Photo)
What a show! ... Castwell and Co. actors and crew pose for a picture prior to their opening night success this past Friday for their offering, “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors’. The play was a perfect opening to the group who were simply hilarious in the reimagining of the classic Bram Stoker tale. Well done, and congratulations to the group for a fantastic play. (Independent Photo by Kevin Brautigam)
Trudeau is willing to sacrifice Canada on the altar of his ideology
by Bruce Dowbiggin, Editor of Not The Public Broadcaster
Trudeau believes his divine task is to unburden Canada from its evil past and impose a radical new future
The prime minister arrived home from liberating Southeast Asia from itself recently to be confronted with a raft of problems, from disloyal caucus members to India’s wrath over Khalistan. His opponents relished the consequences as he testified under oath before the Foreign Interference Commission.
But Justin Trudeau has entered his Sir Lancelot phase, where he rides about the countryside with a pure heart, his lance pointed at enemies of the PMO Round Table, hoping to make suburban damsels swoon again.
In the face of blistering criticism from within and 25 per cent approval ratings, he blithely offers a confident yes/oui when asked if he plans to contest another federal election. Even his harshest detractors wonder at his serene confidence as the ship sinks around him. Like his father - who tried to create world peace in his last days as PM - Justin has gone to another plane.
Some suggest he can’t quit for reasons personal or for future employment in the globalist job market. But those expecting Trudeau to be burdened by the here-and-now miss his self-appointed mission. His divine task can be summed up as “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”
If that sounds familiar it’s because this chrysalis image has been Kamala Harris’ dreamcatcher in her run ... er, her imposition upon the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Like Harris, who had 3.5 years as vice president to do something about her pet causes, Trudeau wants Canadians to ignore his scandal-plagued nine years as PM and envision a new tomorrow of his possibilities. He wants to lead them into the nirvana of a mankind unburdened by fact-checking or Commons committees. In his breathy incantation of change is a message of purity. It’s also the definition of Marxism. As author James Lindsay writes, “Marx’s ontology of man ... is that man is naturally socialist. Indeed, being socialist, Marx says ... is what makes him human in the first place. Man is not Homo economicus. Man is Homo socialismus, socialist man, but he’s lost his way...”
Enter gallant Trudeau as the hero to complete that conversion of Canada to a stateless, classless society with high economic standards and controlled speech. To do so, however, he must unburden Canadians from their icky past of imperial conquest and Constitutions. Like the climate hysterics, he wants you to return to an idyllic past by launching yourself like Elon Musk into the future. (Okay, Musk may be a bad comparison.)
To ascend with him into the heavens of socialism will require being Green and bisexual and vegan and DEI conscious. And denouncing those of your neighbours who stray from the narrative. While losing your notions of classic statehood and religion.
For Marxists that last bit has always been the rub. When sane people point to the hundreds of millions killed in the failed socialist experiments of the USSR, the Soviet Bloc, China, Cambodia and Cuba, Marxists contend it was because people failed the state religion, not the other way around. Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution tried mightily to eliminate the Four Olds: ‘old ideas’, ‘old culture’, ‘old customs’, and ‘old habits’. No
matter how many of his citizens Mao killed, they still were not worthy of the task. So Mao starved them to death.
For Trudeau, who came of age in a Quebec looking to replace the Roman Catholic religion as the moral force in their lives, his quest has a religious quality. It’s why, teddy bear in hand, he knelt before fake graves of fake murdered indigenous children. And told the UN that Canada must struggle against its genocidal past.
Nothing speaks more to this quest for purity than his promotion of a carbon tax to reduce emissions. While not even its most fervent supporters can say that it has curtailed any significant pollution in the atmosphere, the escalating charges serve a vital point. The suffering they inflict on Canadians is a test of their worthiness in the “what can be”. It’s why the government so strenuously contends that the tax actually benefits average Canadians. Canada must be made clean by suffering, even as China and India belch tonnes of pollutants into their air.
“What can be” is also behind DEI and ESG. The burdens they place on Canadians are meant to be painful, to unhinge them from
their “olds”. Trudeau and his Glee Cabinet embrace the strugglesession motif of peasant versus pit boss (even as they live like pit bosses). He sees a day when, led by his selfless example of sending the Mounties against truckers, Canada can proudly take its place among her great postmodern states whose citizens surrender to an all-knowing state.
Where he can hang with Kamala’s Marxist Daddy, Barack Obama. Obama ran the master class in 2008 on the Woke notion of “You didn’t build that road. You didn’t build that bridge.” It was an admonishment to the
creative class to know your place in a modern state where all must be shared. In his telling, slavery, feudalism, and capitalism are history moving inexorably toward social organization without consciousness.
Obama later borrowed (stole?) from Martin Luther King Jr. when he said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice”. Trudeau realizes that he’s been in charge for a long time but dreams that, if he hangs on long enough, justice will one day declare him the new man, unburdened. Good luck with that.
Leaked files reveal doctors’ doubts about youth gender transition procedures
by Lee Harding, Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Do teens going through cross-gender hormones and surgeries know what they’re doing? A leak of internal conversations by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) shows even some doctors administering the procedures have serious doubts.
The U.S. advocacy organization Environmental Progress, led by president and founder Michael Shellenberger, made the leaks public.
“The WPATH Files show that what is called ‘gender medicine’ is neither science nor medicine,” Shellenberger said in a press release.
A short list of excerpts highlighted many telling comments.
Child psychologist Dianne Berg, who coauthored the child chapter of the eighth edition of WPATH Standards of Care, said young girls don’t understand what it means to get male hormones.
“[It is] out of their
developmental range to understand the extent to which some of these medical interventions are impacting them. They’ll say they understand, but then they’ll say something else that makes you think, oh, they didn’t really understand that they are going to have facial hair.”
Canadian endocrinologist Dr. Daniel Metzger acknowledged, “We’re often explaining these sorts of things to people who haven’t even had biology in high school yet.”
Metzger said neither he nor his colleagues were surprised at a Dutch study that found some young post-transition adults regretted losing their fertility.
“It’s always a good theory that you talk about fertility preservation with a 14-year-old, but I know I’m talking to a blank wall. They’d be like, ew, kids, babies, gross,” Metzger said.
“I think now that I follow a lot of kids into their mid-20s, I’m like, ‘Oh, the dog isn’t doing it for you, is it?’ They’re
like, ‘No, I just found this wonderful partner and now want kids.’ ... It doesn’t surprise me.
“Most of the kids are nowhere in any kind of a brain space to really talk about [fertility preservation] in a serious way.”
While youth keeps some from grasping the lifelong consequences of their actions, mental illness does the same for others. But that doesn’t always mean the doctors refuse to transition them.
One gender therapist administered cross-sex hormones to a patient with dissociative identity disorder. The therapist said asking the split personalities if they approved the treatment was ethical. Otherwise, a lawsuit could follow.
In one case, a nurse practitioner struggled with how to handle a patient with PTSD, major depressive disorder, observed dissociations, and schizoid typical traits who wanted to go on hormone therapy. Somehow, the clear moral dilemma was lost on Dr. Dan Kara-
sic, lead author of the mental health chapter of WPATH Standards of Care 8.
Karasic replied, “I’m missing why you are perplexed... The mere presence of psychiatric illness should not block a person’s ability to start hormones if they have persistent gender dysphoria, capacity to consent, and the benefits of starting hormones outweigh the risks... So why the internal struggle as to ‘the right thing to do?’”
Testosterone injections carry cancer risks for those born female. In one case, a doctor acknowledged a 16-yearold had two liver masses, one 11 centimetres by 11 centimetres and another seven centimetres by seven centimetres, and “the oncologist and surgeon both have indicated that the likely offending agent(s) are the hormones.”
The friend and colleague of one doctor received close to 10 years of male hormones, leading to hepatocarcinoma - a type of liver
cancer that originates in the liver cells.
“To the best of my knowledge, it was linked to his hormone treatment ... it was so advanced that he opted for palliative care and died a couple of months later,” the doctor said.
Some female-born transitioning patients had terrible pain during orgasms, while males on estrogen complained of erections “feeling like broken glass.”
The future may be even stranger, according to one doctor.
“I think we are going to see a wave of non-binary affirming requests for surgery that will include non-standard procedures. I have worked with clients who identify as non-binary, agender, and Eunuchs who have wanted atypical surgical procedures, many of which either don’t exist in nature or represent the first of their kind and therefore probably have few examples of best practices,” the doctor said.
Unsurprisingly, some people regret their med-
ical transitions and want to change back. Some WPATH members want to discount this altogether. WPATH President Marci Bowers admitted “that de-transition exists even to a minor extent is considered off limits for many in our community.”
An unnamed researcher thought it was just a matter of perspective, saying, “What is problematic is the idea of detransitioning, as it frames being cisgender as the default and reinforces transness as a pathology. It makes more sense to frame gender as something that can shift over time, and to figure out ways to support people making the choices they want to make in the moment, with the understanding that feelings around decisions [may] change over time.”
Should our physical being be substantially altered and re-altered according to our feelings? Is transitioning a matter of mental health or self-expression?
Bob Mason
Notable Notes
I wish that there had never been an opportunity to write this, but there is! As a matter of fact, there is, was, and always will be!
There is no doubt that the tragedies of September 11, 2001, made a lot of these observations possible [Editor’s Note: This article was published, September 9, 2002]. There can also be no doubt that the many who died there should be remembered some way. Except...
In many places all over the world, memorials to the devastation’s that society has inflicted on itself. And as much as our conscience reminds us, we don’t remember them!
As a peasant in more or less peasant-oriented country, Y.T. (Yours Truly) can’t, of course, claim to have very much of a grasp on world situations, but he does know, along with a lot of other people, that the much publicized “Attack on Democracy” that took place in New York City wasn’t the first time that man had shown his “cruelty to man”.
Without a doubt, there will be folks reading this small column (both of us!) who will say, “Yeah, but that was a different situation!” And in the case of persecuting the perpetrator of a criminal act, it was! But there are others standing by!
Y.T. was in the Rhineland city of Veen during the Second World War, the year that they knocked it down. Even from our point of view concerning revenge, it was terrible! Enemy soldiers marched out in long lines from the ancient, smashed up city. But like I said above, there were others!
I read a book the other day, and included in it was a civilian account of the way they saw it. The article was dated 10 years after the war - and the war ended in 1945and it doesn’t mention a memorial.
Quote (from the Veen paper): “Fine Theussen,
Johann Gruen, Martin Rosendahl and a woman from Kerrnheim, as well as six soldiers. Herr Holland’s house received a direct hit - almost the whole family is severely wounded. The school is the main first-aid post, they head there. The field kitchen, set up in a calf pen, receives a direct hit and all the men are killed. One is pinned beneath the collapsed wall, and calls desperately for help. Feverishly, people work to free him. More bombs fall and his voice ceases. He is dead. Incendiaries are falling. Lamer and Tellmann’s houses are burning. Herr Bur and some strong-hearted men douse the fires. They may have saved all of Veen from a giant fire - but for how long?
“The people of Veen move into the basements and bunkers. The great suffering begins. The six hundred year old church receives damage. Pastor Lesar reads the last Mass in the scarcity with tears in his eyes. Does he sense that he will not read a Mass in his favourite church again?
“On March 3rd, a new heavy attack of the enemy. In the basement of Johann Terlinden, the people sit tightly together. They pray. A direct hit tears open the house. Thank God the bomb explodes in the next basement room, but there are several wounded. The houses of Theo Van Rennings, Fritz Ehren and Alois Werner sink in rubble and ashes. The streets are no longer passable.
“The animals screamthey can smell and sense death.
“Pastor Lesar, dodging heavy artillery fire, manages to visit some of the basements and bunkers in the village. How often he must duck from the falling debris and shrapnel In the bunkers and basements of the Rennings’ and Ingererfs’ and in the villa, he speaks some comforting words and gives general absolution. He goes to bunker ‘Esser’. Here are fifty-six people including the nuns. The tightest quarters yet.
“Under an artillery barrage, Paul Esser and the Sisters have gathered most of the valuable and transportable things from the church - Veen bleeds!
The Esser bunker is turned into a house of God. Every morning Mass is read. How the people pray and cry -
‘Will we get out of here alive?’
“On March 7th, the church tower is blown up. That is too much for the pastor, but Hauptman Hupner only shrugs his shoulders. The people of Veen crawl out of their holes and hold their breath. The church steeple is completely missing and the tower stands ghostly. The meadow is strewn with fallen Canadians. Veen looks like a moonscape. Never had so much blood run on Veen’s soil.
“Carefully, the Canadians enter the bunkers yelling, ‘Hands up!’ One fellow doesn’t hear them and is shot. Finally, everything is over.
“Our beautiful Veen is no more!”
Like mentioned before, many will say, “But that was in war!” And maybe they are right, but is an innocent civilian who died from the bombs that flattened Veen any deader than the one who got killed in New York?
Arguments about the necessities of war are endless, and to the pacifists of the world who profess the folly of it all, pointless.
Rex Murphy has his always well thought out opinion, and this being a democracy, so do we all! Mine is that in the light of world-wide devastation, we would all do well to apply our minds and memories to somehow correcting the reason for it all!
DEADLINE
MONDAY 5 P.M.
The Majestic Theatre Biggar NOVEMBER
NOTICE OF ABANDONMENT OF POLL
The Rural Municipality of Glenside No. 377
2024
Whereas a poll is not required pursuant to The Local Government Election Act for the office (s) of:
REEVE: Rural Municipality of Glenside No. 377
I hereby give public notice that no voting for the said office(s) will take place on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, and that the following person(s) are elected by acclamation:
OJ Singer, REEVE
Dated at Biggar, this 24th day of October, 2024
Christine Ibbotson
Ask The Money Lady
Dear Money Lady, I was planning on starting a new business venture just before the Coronavirus startedI am glad I didn’t, but should I consider doing it now. I know it’s risky, but I am tired of my reg-
ular routine and need a change. I am now 57 - is that too old to start a new career?
Julie
Starting a business at 57 is totally fine - you are not too old. Most new start-ups of small to medium businesses these days are done by those Canadians over 55. When you are older you typically have more life experience, fewer expenses and often more financial capital to get started than those that are younger. Not to mention your drive and determination to not want to go back to your old 9 to 5 job. There are so many
abundant choices and personal opportunities out there for all of us and we need to build out our existing plans of our future and become engaged and purposeful. For some, this could include starting a business in your later years - a mid-life shift into something more life affirming.
Consider going deeper with your thoughts and ideas and drop any negative beliefs that have always held you back. When looking at starting a business, I think the best advice is to do something that is within your current sphere of influence. It should be a
venture that is in keeping with your current knowledge base, something that you know well, are good at, and most of all passionate about.
Try to create a niche market opportunity for others, that only you can provide. This will help build out your business and will ensure early successes. Always remember that you must be constantly flexible to new trends as they come. Being able to pivot your business is one of the driving factors for new entrepreneurs being successful today.
Good for you Julie - I am glad to see you challenging yourself
THURSDAY,
for more. Many people never do this and never think about what their defining moment is in their life. Everyone will have at least one “a-ha” moment, where they finally say, okay, I am going to make a change.
Older people, in general are more successful at entrepreneurship than younger ones. We have found that the major motivating factors for most 50-plus new business owners is to now have the flexibility in their work, to gain autonomy and of course to “be your own boss.”
Always remember that entrepreneurship can be quite challenging at
times, and you will need to tuck-in and persist at times until you succeed. Just make a difference.
The secret to success is often just a mind shift to believing that you can. Good luck and best wishes!
Written by Christine Ibbotson, author, finance writer, national radio host, and now on CTV Morning Live, and BNN, syndicated across Canada. Send your money questions (answered free) through her website at askthemoneylady.ca
Weird words for the word “Ghost” that are probably new to you
What words do you use around Halloween for the word ghost? Here are some new ones, just in time for the season.
Bugaboo
This South and South Midland expression refers to a ghost but could also mean an imaginary monster or the devil. The word has been used since at least 1710 and could come from an obscure meaning of bug or an imaginary spirit. It could also be influenced from boo and can be written also as boogerboo and bugabo.
Rawhead and Bloodybones
Rawhead and bloodybones comes from the South or South Midland area meaning spectre or hobgoblin. It’s an
by
old term dating back to 1637 and as far back as 1566 in British English. Rawhead means something that is “typically imagined as having a head in the form of a skill or one whose flesh has been stripped of its skin.” Bloodybones is described as a bogeyman “lurking in ponds and waiting to drown people.”
Booger
If someone from South or South Midland says you have a booger, they may mean a bit more than snot. The word has been around since the 1750s and means a despicable man. It also came to mean a supernatural creature as of the 1820s and then eventually, meant dry mucus in your nose.
Haunt
According to South and South Midlanders, a haunt or hant is a ghost or spirit, though the earliest definitions of haunt weren’t at all ghostly. Originally, the word haunt meant to “practice habitually,” or to “frequent a place.” In 1576, it figuratively meant memories, care, feelings, thoughts, the ones that distract a person frequently. It was about 1597 when the term wandered to the supernatural.
Duppy
Duppy is a word for ghost if you live in Alabama or Louisiana. The word comes from Bube from the bantu language of West Africa. The word was first seen back in 1774 in a Jamaican pub-
lication and then again in 1919 in an American publication. The word comes from the tale based on the belief of haunts, bugies, or duppies.
Tommyknocker
This word has been used in the West all the way since the early 20th century. A Tommyknocker is a ghost that lives in a mine. It also refers to the knocking noises supposedly made by ghosts. Tommyknocker, a English dialect word, means a “hammer used to break ore.”
Hag/Hag Spirit
The idea of a hag or hag spirit comes from the Southeast meaning an evil spirit of a dead person. These spirits are known to cause
Time to Celebrate Biggar!
Delta Fay Cruickshank for the Biggar Museum and Gallery
Yep ... let’s celebrate!
One hundred years ago on Thursday (Halloween) our world-famous slogan was painted on the back of the sign approaching town.
And one years ago, a surveying crew was in town mapping out our beautiful wide street. After the day’s work, they cleaned up and went off to the Biggar Halloween party.
It was a fun night for everyone, a real treat for the townsfolk and the surveyors. In the spirit of Halloween ... a plan for a trick was hatched.
The men from the crew stopped at their digs and equipped themselves with the tools for their plan. Can you imagine the giggling and tomfoolery going on as they strode through the dark to the edge of town?!
It was on this night, October 31, 1914, that the
words appeared on the sign going into the town of Biggar, “New York is Big but this is Biggar”. A Halloween prank that became famous! How does a town celebrate this event? Give it some thought, maybe
write down your ideas and send them in to the museum. We’ll keep the good ones on hand for the next century’s celebrations.
After repeated efforts by the town to remove the words, they kept
reappearing! By 1954 the town embraced the situation and made the official slogan for our town on the Prairie!
Happy Halloween everyone!
nightmares by “riding” the luckless dreamer. If you’re afflicted by nightmares or have an oppressed mind, you could be called hag-ridden.
Akua
According to Hawaiian’s, akua is a work for a god, spirit, or supernatural being. OED has the word atua, a Polynesian word with the same meaning.
People in horror and what they’re afraid of: Part One
You wouldn’t think that people in horror are afraid of things. They are though, and some of the things that scare them are pretty nonscary things.
Stephen King It turns out the master of horror is scared of, none other than, cars. Cars? Yes.
He talked about his fears in a 1986 interview where he revealed a fear of trucks and cars, traced back to childhood.
“They seemed so large, and I seemed so small. I had the same imagination then that I do now, except that, for a kid, everything is harder to control.”
King also had some weird and somewhat darker thoughts about bulldozers from when he was a kid adding, “I would imagine what would happen to my little fingers if [the treads] started to move [over them].”
Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele started in sketch comedy before jumping into horror with his directorial debut for the move Get Out. He then released Us in 2019, a film that reflected his fear of doppelgängers.
Peele told the news, “You always have to start with something that scares you... The idea of encountering myself with no warning always just dropped my stomach out from under
me, so that was the first thing I thought of.”
Did you know this about people in horror?
Alfred Hitchcock
Probably the weirdest things to be scared of for the great Alfred Hitchcock and the thing that scares him, terrifies him even, is eggs.
Hitchcock revealed his fear of eggs in 1963 with “I‘m frightened of eggs,” he said. “That white round thing without any holes, and when you break it, inside there’s that yellow thing, round, without any holes ... Brr!”
However, when cooked into a dish, apparently he could look past his fear. It turns out that one of Hitchcock’s favourite breakfast foods is quiche Lorraine.
Does this surprise you about people in horror?
Shirley Jackson
As one of the most famous horror writers of the 20th century, her best known works were dubbed “great novels of the supernatural in the last hundred years,” by Stephen King himself.
After her book Hill House hit the shelves, Jackson developed severe agoraphobia or the fear and avoidance of places that can cause panic or uncertainty. Her fear is shown in her work, especially in her 1962 novel, We Have Always Lived in a Castle.
Is one of these gentleman responsible for the iconic phrase, “New York is Big, But this is Biggar”? (Photo for The Independent courtesy of Biggar Museum and Gallery)
Do you know where your food comes from?
of farming can be scant for many.
That was noted in a recent interview with Jennifer Lindgren.
Calvin Daniels Agriculture
by Calvin Daniels
Increasingly farmers themselves, and the agriculture sector in general must invest some effort to educate consumers about where food actually comes from, and how it is safely produced. That effort might seem expected in a large city like Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto, but it will surprise many how important that effort even in a largely agrarian province such as Saskatchewan.
We might assume most here know about where their food comes from, mere miles from fields of wheat and canola, or pasture where cattle graze, but that is not the case. Even in a small community area such as Norquay, the knowledge
Lindgren Farms near Norquay was recently involved in an ongoing opportunity for children of their community via a Food Farm event. As a local family farm, the Lindgren’s have been sharing the story of agriculture and teaching children where their food comes from for several years. Their “aim is to provide accurate information early on, building a solid foundation of knowledge and fostering a genuine appreciation for the agricultural industry,” noted a release on the event.
In collaboration with Ag in the Classroom, Lindgren Farms has partnered with local schools to create an immersive educational experience at the Food Farm.
“The focus is to introduce children to planting and seeding, equipping them with knowledge about the tools and equipment farmers use, and enlightening them about the crucial ele-
ments required for successful crop growth,” noted the release. “They’ll learn about soil health and fertility, seed identification, crop management, and pest control, ensuring that children gain a comprehensive understanding of the farming process.”
Jennifer Lindgren, said every year she is surprised how many youngsters are unsure of things a farmer takes for granted, like butter coming from a cow.
The Lindgren’s effort is mirrored in the annual Yorkton-based ‘Pizza Farm’ program that provides youth some handson insight into farming too.
That educational effort was seen in August locally too, when the Prybylski family who farm northwest of Willowbrook opened their farm to public tours as part of the inaugural Saskatchewan Open Farm Days.
The initiative was held through Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan in partnership with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and Tourism Saskatchewan as a way to “foster a deeper
Quinn MinuteMy average face
by Rix Quinn
Have you ever been told you look like somebody famous?
A couple years ago, several friends and I sat around a lunch table, and tried to judge who our companions resembled. My friend Jim said, “Quinn, you just have a generic face.
“That’s not an insult,” he added. “You look like somebody everybody knows, but whose name they can’t remember.”
Jim was right. As I surveyed our group, I quickly identified people who looked sort of like presidents, or movie stars, or astronauts, or comedians.
But I look like the guy you see at the mall, but you can’t remember which store I work for. Or I resemble a teacher you liked in high school, or somebody you see downtown in the coffee shop. Sometimes I’m grateful for my average face. When I was in my 20s, it was a real money-saver. How?
In my town are two seminaries, where folks train to be ministers. I’ve had many jobs in my life, but preacher is definitely not one.
However, for a few years, one restaurant recognized me as a young, bright seminarian. Whenever I went there, they greeted me warmly, and ask how I was doing in my studies.
I told the cashiers they had me mixed up with an actual preacher, but they didn’t believe me. They frequently gave me free soft drinks, or a complimentary meal.
I have wondered whatever happened to that young preacher who looked like me. Did he eat free as often as I did?
I often took my first dates to that generous restaurant. If that date didn’t like me, I hadn’t spent much money on her.
Sadly, my face aged out of the eager young student look, and I began to resemble somebody’s cousin.
I became the guy you think you saw at a family reunion, but you are not sure what branch of the family.
My face is slowly sagging into that of a kindly uncle, one who tells funny stories and is welcome everywhere.
Which means that
connection between Saskatchewan’s residents, its vibrant agricultural sector and agritourism,” said an event release at the time.
“Our primary goal was to give people not familiar with a farm to come out and see what we do,” offered Bill Prybylski in a Yorkton This Week interview at the time.
Prybylski explained that they had a few
displays showing actual examples of grain alongside some grocery products made from the grain, and were doing field and pasture tours so those attending could see production up close.
“It’s to give them a bit of an idea where their food comes from,” he said.
The same reasoning will go into school tours scheduled for the
upcoming Grain Millers Harvest Showdown in the city, where hundreds of students visit a series of ‘knowledge’ stations learning about various aspects of farming.
All four efforts have a simple goal, to create a more knowledgeable consumer regarding just what goes into the food on their tables and that is an extremely important effort.
pretty soon, people may think they actually know me ... and I can maybe get offered some free meals again! e-mail Rix at rix@rixquinn.com
ON NOVEMBER 13TH,
EKMAN
to Biggar Town Council
Continuing to advocate for: Fiscal Responsibility
Necessary infrastucture projects
Developing Relationships with Municial, Provincial, & Federal Counter Parts
A common-sense approach to decisions that a ect our community
I hope I can count on your support!
The Saskatchewan Traveller ... Nova Scotia Edition by
Trudy and Dale Buxton
After a short visit in Liverpool, it’s time to head across the province towards the Bay of Fundy.
The Bay of Fundy is a body of water that lies between the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The Bay of Fundy is famous for its tides that on average rises and falls around 55 feet.
Did you know that in a one-day cycle about 100 billion tons of water flow in and out of the bay which is more water moving than all the rivers in the world on the same cycle.
We leave Liverpool on Highway 8 and head west. One of the communities that we come is the community of South Brookfield.
The first settlers of South Brookfield came around about 1799 and built a cabin along the Medway River, eventually more people built their houses in and around the area. Wildlife was plentiful which
would provide food to the settlers.
At one time South Brookfield was considered the industrial centre of North Queens County with a growing population, but in 1864 a major fire took over the community and practically wiped out the town of its industries and houses. The community never recovered, and most people moved to the nearby community of Caledonia.
There was a resurgence in the community in the early 1900’s when a Quebec company came along and built one of the largest bucket and box factories in Canada, only again to be destroyed by fire in 1944. The company returned to Quebec and never rebuilt.
Next up - down the road - is the community of Caledonia. Caledonia was settled in 1820 by six Scots and one Irishman; they were attracted by the good farmland in the area. Gold was discovered later on in the 1800’s and with the discoveries brought many people from the province and Europe looking to become rich. The name Caledonia come from the Roman word meaning modern day Scotland and translating as New Scotland.
The Mi’kmaq people had inhabited the area
for centuries and became friendly with the new neighbours. Many of the Mi’kmaq people were employed as guides for Europeans looking for a great hunting experience. Today, Caledonia has a population of around 1,600 people and is the hub of industry in the North Queens County. After the gold rush the community remained strong with several industries including mining and lumber.
Caledonia is also the home of the Queens County Fair, which is a genuine agriculture fair that takes place in the fall after harvest. This fair is one of the oldest fairs as it was started in 1886. Caledonia is also the entrance to Kejimkujik
National Park and Natural Historic Site.
Kejimkujik is named from a Mi’kmaq word meaning little fairies and is the second largest freshwater lake in Nova Scotia. Kejimkujik covers an area of over
400 square kilometres and is the ancient travel route and burial ground of the Mi’kmaq people. This area has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Mi’kmaq people.
Today Kejimkujik is the prime choice for a vacation destination for many in Nova Scotia, offering a lake and camping experience.
Kejimkujik is also home to four Mi’kmaq petroglyphs site that contain over 500 petroglyphs, which are images carved into stones dating back hundreds of years, these images show the life of the Mi’kmaq peoples before there was any other contact with other people.
Kejimkujik is also home to of the largest concentration of mammals and birds in Nova Scotia - a great place to visit and explore.
Stay tuned to next week as we find our way into Annapolis Royal.
Caledonia Inn, Nova Scotia (Photos submitted)
Kejimkujick Petroglyph, Nova Scotia
Hard work pays off for Senior Blazers ... Biggar Central School 2000 Senior Girls Blazers have been having a great year. The senior girls’ volleyball teams were divided into three teams this weekend and were very successful in all their tournaments! The Senior A Team travelled to Perdue going undefeated on their way to winning the gold medal! They were in the finals with Asquith. These ladies were strong, played hard, and communicated well which will help them tremendously as we head to conferences next weekend, November 2. The combined A and B team travelled to Rosetown and placed second in the tournament bringing home a second-place plaque! They were in the finals with Lloydminster. The Senior B team travelled to Kindersley and played very well in that tournament, as well! They have been improving so much this season. It was a great weekend for our senior girls’ volleyball teams! (Submitted Photos)
Biggar Fisher Squadron Air Cadets come up huge for food bank ... Biggar Fisher Squadron Air Cadets held a food drive this past October 23. The cadets collected cash and 390 pounds of donated, non-perishable food items. Thank you to this group of hard working teens and their leaders. Thank you to all who donated these items. (Photo for The Independent courtesy of Barb deHaan)
CAREER OPPORTUNITY
Full-time Member Services Representative
If you enjoy working with people, we'd like to talk to you!
Biggar & District Credit Union requires a Full-Time Member Services Representative in the Biggar and Landis locations. In this role, you will provide excellent member service by processing financial transactions like deposits, withdrawals, and bill payments. You will also respond to members’ concerns, assist in identifying their needs, and provide and promote solutions. This position reports to the Member Services Team Leader. Transportation will be your responsibility, but compensation is available for travel expenses.
You must be a team player with a positive attitude toward learning and change; you must display initiative, and attention to detail, and be friendly, outgoing, and reliable. Experience in customer service and cash handling, a minimum Grade 12 education, and a working knowledge of computers and technology are required.
We offer a competitive compensation structure with 8% matched superannuation, and a comprehensive group benefits plan with a Health Care Spending Allowance. There are opportunities for advancement, and we encourage ongoing personal and professional development. Most importantly – you would work with a committed team in a fun and rewarding environment.
How to apply:
SCAN THE QR CODE for the application form
OR email your resume and cover letter to humanresources@biggarcu.ca
OR drop your application off at any of the branches.
We appreciate the interest of all applicants; however, only those under consideration will be contacted.
Apply by Friday, November 15, 2024
by Frank Cox
Frank N. Stein and the Halloween Heist
city, and Frank N. Stein, the toughest detective in town, sat in his
office with a cup of cold coffee and yesterday’s newspaper.
Jim Reiter, MLA
Jim Reiter, MLA
will be mine!”
Frank narrowed his eyes.
and walked over to the fallen thief.
Rosetown-Elrose Constituency
215 Main Street, Rosetown
Monday – Friday, 9:00 – 5:00
Tel: 306-882-4105
Fax: 306-882-4108
Toll free; 1-855-762-2233
E-mail:
RE-ELECT
JIM REITER
Rosetown-Delisle Constituency
Please call with questions or concerns
ROSETOWN-DELISLE
Jim Reiter, MLA
215 Main Street, Rosetown
Monday – Friday, 9:00 – 5:00
Tel: 306-882-4105
Fax: 306-882-4108
Toll free; 1-855-762-2233
E-mail: jimreitermla@sasktel.net
Box 278, Rosetown SK S0L 2V0
Rosetown-Elrose Constituency
Please call with questions or concerns
• Supporter of Revitalization
• Recreational Development
• Economic Growth & Forward Planning
• Making Biggar Better for All
Have your Say and Vote on November 13th
His biceps bulged beneath his trench coat, and his brow was furrowed in deep thought. Or at least as deep as Frank could manage after a long day of cracking skulls and solving crimes.
Attention: Kathie
I gave you a few variations to look at.
Just as he was about to call it a night, the phone rang.
“Stein, detective,” he growled into the receiver.
muttered. He followed the trail, munching on a candy corn he found along the way. The alley was narrow and creepy, but Frank wasn’t easily spooked. After all, he was a seven-foot-tall ex-wrestler turned detective. The only thing that scared him was kale.
Please let me know which you prefer by return email and we can get this ad started Thursday, November 24.
“Frank! You gotta help! The Halloween candy! It’s gone! ALL OF IT!”came the frantic voice of Mayor Taffy.
Price: $35.28 plus gst per week
Talk to you later, Urla Tyler, Advertising Consultant
His name was Clarence but everyone called him ‘Laffy’. He wasn’t laughing now.
Frank sat up straighter.
“Gone? What do you mean gone?”
“I mean GONE!” Laffy screamed. “Someone stole all the candy from every house in the city! The kids are rioting in the streets!”
Frank slammed the phone down.
“Nobody messes with Halloween on my watch.”
He grabbed his lucky fedora and a stale donut, then stormed out of his office.
Frank prowled the streets, his eyes scanning for clues. The smell of panic (and leftover pizza) lingered in the air as children in costumes rampaged up and down the streets, demanding their sugary loot. Ghosts were booing, pirates were swashbuckling in protest, and one tiny T-Rex was biting a fire hydrant out of pure frustration.
Then, Frank saw it. A suspicious trail of candy wrappers leading into a dark alley.
“Amateur,” Frank
At the end of the alley, Frank found himself face-to-face with the culprit: Sticky Fingers McNab, a notorious candy thief. Dressed head to toe in what appeared to be bubble gum wrappers, Sticky Fingers stood next to a giant sack overflowing with candy.
“You think you can steal Halloween candy and get away with it?” Frank growled, cracking his knuckles.
Sticky Fingers grinned, his teeth coated in chocolate.
“I’ve stolen every last piece of candy, Frank! Halloween is ruined, and soon the sugar rush
“You forgot one thing, Sticky Fingers.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
Frank pulled out a massive, shiny object from his trench coat.
“I’ve got the biggest sweet tooth in town.”
It was his official detective lollipop, custom-made and the size of a dinner plate.
Sticky Fingers screamed and grabbed the sack of candy, making a break for it.
But Frank was faster.
He held the lollipop like a shield, deflecting a barrage of jelly beans hurled in his direction.
Then with a mighty roar, Frank threw his donut like a boomerang.
It sailed through the air and bonked Sticky Fingers squarely on the forehead, sending him tumbling backward into the pile of candy.
Frank dusted donut powder off his hands
“Sweet dreams, Sticky Fingers.”
The next morning, the city awoke to the glorious sight of candy back in every home, and Frank N. Stein, the Halloween hero, standing tall (literally) at City Hall, holding a key-shaped chocolate bar the mayor gave him as a reward.
“Frank, you saved Halloween!” Mayor Taffy said, handing him a bag of assorted chocolates.
Frank popped a candy corn into his mouth and smirked.
“All in a day’s work. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a dentist appointment.”
And so, with Halloween saved and the candy returned to its rightful owners, Frank N. Stein went back to his office, ready for whatever sticky situation came next.
In this town when things get tough, Frank always comes out sweet.
The United States of America might produce the world’s best basketball teams - the U.S. has won 17 of 21 gold medals at the Olympics, including the last five in a row - but when it comes to individual play, Americans take a back seat.
A basketball website recently selected the top 100 National Basketball Association players and although much of the preseason NBA chatter revolved around the Lakers’ LeBron James playing on the same court as his son Bronny - Ha! Gordie Howe did the same thing in hockey with TWO of his sonsLeBron was listed as only the eighth best player in the league.
In fact, you’ve got to scroll down the list to No. 6 to find the first American, Steph Curry, in the top 100.
Proudly, Canada has the fourth-best player on the list, Shai GilgeousAlexander (everyone calls him ‘SGA’), who finished second in the Most Valuable Player
Canadian star one of the best in NBA
voting last year while leading Oklahoma City Thunder to a first-place finish in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record. Born in Toronto 26 years ago, GilgeousAlexander played college ball with the powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats. He was drafted 11th overall by Charlotte in 2018 but was traded to the L.A. Clippers the same day. The next year, the Clippers sent him to Oklahoma City, where he blossomed into a superstar. He is a twotime first-team all-star and has averaged more than 30 points in each of the last two seasons.
Only Luka Doncic of Slovenia (No. 3 on the CBS Top 100 list) and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece (No. 2 on the list) outscored GilgeousAlexander last season. (No. 1 on the Top 100 list, by the way, is Denver’s Nikola Jokic of Serbia.)
The Canadian guard also led the NBA in steals, averaging 2.0 per game.
The CBS.com story about the Top 100 players says GilgeousAlexander “led the NBA in drives for the fourth straight season in 202324, and, with improved spacing around him, opponents had an even tougher time disrupting his funky rhythm.”
“No disrespect to those who aren’t star players, but growing
up, I idolized Kobe Bryant, the cornerstone of the Lakers; LeBron James, the bedrock of the Cavaliers; and Allen Iverson, the linchpin for the 76ers,” Gilgeous-Alexander told the footboom.com website. “These were the players who left an indelible mark while I watched basketball. These are the guys you aspire to emulate and draw inspiration from. Indirectly, (general manager Sam Presti) has granted me that chance to step into a similar role.”
The Thunder made a couple of key acquisitions during the off-season and Sportsnet’s Michael Grange says the Canadian national team star “will have a platform like he’s never had before, likely an MVP award to go with it and - given the Thunder’s relative youth and roster flexibilitythe possibility that this is only the start.”
Meanwhile, Canadian fans of the NBA may have a hard time getting excited about the Toronto Raptors, who are in a rebuilding phase and destined to miss the playoffs. But with the exploits of GilgeousAlexander, fans north of the border have a homegrown superstar to cheer for.
• RJ Currie of sportsdeke. com: “Cleveland has one
ENFORCEMENT LIST
RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF BIGGAR NO. 347 PROVINCE OF SASKATCHEWAN
Notice is hereby given under The Tax Enforcement Act that unless the arrears and costs appearing opposite the land and title number described in the following list are fully paid before the 2nd day of January, 2025, an interest based on a tax lien will be registered against the land.
Note: A sum for costs in an amount required by subsection 4(3) of The Tax Enforcement Act is included in the amount shown against each parcel.
of the six NFL teams without a cheerleading squad. Inside sources say this may change if the Browns do something to cheer about.”
• Vancouver comedy guy Torben Rolfsen: “Wayne Gretzky used to say you miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take. Unless you’re Bronny James, then you miss 100 per cent of the shots you do take.”
• Headline at fark.com: “These two crazy Brits have played more than 1,000 mini golf courses. What completely useless thing have you done lately?”
• Steve Simmons in the Toronto Sun: “I love the Gregg Popovich line to his hopefuls at his training camp in San Antonio: ‘It’s your job as a player to make me play you. Don’t be a victim.’”
• Another one from Simmons: “Graterol is either a relief pitcher with the Dodgers or a medication I take daily.”
• Another one from Torben Rolfsen: “BC Lions are waiting to see if they’re going to Regina or Winnipeg for the CFL West semi-final. Very important to know for packing. You know, sweaters, mosquito netting, black flies.”
• Jack Finarelli at sportscurmudgeon.com: “Cleveland Browns: When your starting QB goes out for the year and
many folks believe that is a positive occurrence for your team, that team is incompetent.”
• Another one from Finarelli, writing about the Canadian Football League: “Unlike the U.S., folks in Canada have a sense of geography. Not a single team in the East Division is further west than any team in the West Division. Amazing!”
• RJ Currie again: “A tortoise with bad feet
that lives in a theme park in Norfolk, England, has been outfitted with wheel rims and tires. They renamed it Danica Patrick.”
• Another fark.com offering; “The NY Jets can’t buy a touchdown, heading for a 2-15 season. Jets’ execs: Better raise prices.”
• Care to comment? E-mail brucepenton2003@ yahoo.ca
Biggar Bowl weekly scores
Monday Adult Mixed
Tuesday Night Mixed
As we get older, we tend to assume that certain things like aches and strains after strenuous activity are inevitable. But, just as stretching before and after a workout or other physical activity can help avoid that pain, there are steps you can take to help protect your eyes. The most important step, if you’re 65 or older, is to have an annual eye exam. Take it from Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield, who recently spoke about the importance of eye exams for seniors: “As you get older, everything in your body ages,” he says. “It’s like your car. If you wait until the oil is so bad that it’s starting to affect your car’s performance, then you’ve already done damage.”
Here are three reasons why you should get your eyes checked: You could be covered According to a recent
Thursday Afternoon Seniors
YBC
survey, only 41 per cent of Canadian seniors are up-to-date with their annual eye exams. Price is often cited as a reason for not getting one, but many provincial healthcare plans cover the cost of an annual eye exam for eligible seniors 65 and older.
Early diagnosis is essential
According to the Canadian Council of the Blind, 75 per cent of vision loss is preventable and treatable if detected early. As the risk of developing major eye conditions like glaucoma or cataracts increases with age, a routine eye exam can help spot concerns at the earliest stage possible. Rather than needlessly suffering with blurry vision, you may be given a new or updated prescription for glasses. In other cases, treatment might involve lifestyle changes, such as eating
Ladies High Single - Marilyn Miller 175. Ladies High Triple - Marilyn Miller 474. Mens High Single - Brandon Markewich 199. Mens High Triple - Steven Little 542.
Ladies High Single - Melissa Raschke 184. Ladies High Triple - Melissa Raschke 494. Mens High Single - Michael Hebert 175. Mens High TripleMichael Hebert 431.
Ladies High Single - Cheryl Porier 211. Ladies High Triple - Cheryl Porier 442. Mens High Single - Walter Fernets 219. Mens High Triple - Walter Fernets 582.
Pee Wee Single - Blake Foster 102; Double - Blake Foster 174. Bantam Single - Kaysen Sauntry 131; Triple - Nash Wheaton 309. Junior Single - Jesse Bourk 258; Triple - Jesse Bourk 469. Senior High Single - Tegan McLeod 271; High Triple - Tegan McLeod 534.
3 reasons seniors should have regular eye exams
a healthier diet and getting regular exercise, eye drops, medication or surgery.
Eye exams can detect more than vision problems In addition to preventative care for your vision, and eye exam can also detect other issues affecting your general health. During an eye exam, your optometrist will look for indicators of everything from skin cancer and high blood pressure to diabetes and brain tumours.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a scan of the back of the eye that helps optometrists detect and monitor a range of sightthreatening conditions like diabetes, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Optometrists operating may include this test as part of every standard eye exam at no additional cost to the patient.
It is with profound sadness that the family announce the passing of Celine Armstrong on October 21, 2024.
Céline is lovingly remembered by her children, Audrey (Robert) Gallagher and family Patrick (Rachel), Niamh and Danann; Rebecca (Dan) Huber and family Koralie (Brett) Mack, Wyatt, Scott, Myla; Danielle (Rob) Armstrong, and family Pietro, Giovanni, Antonio, Alberto Pasqualotto; John (Roxanne) Armstrong and family Nicolas, Samuel, Max, Chloe and Jude; Natalie (Pat) Erickson and family Levi, Ryann and Ava; her sister Rita Gifford; six brothers Marcel (Janet) Cadrain, Dennis (Liz) Cadrain, Lawrence Cadrain, Richard (Yuliya) Cadrain, Philip (Kim) Cadrain, Kenneth (Carla) Cadrain; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her infant brother, Maurice, brother Albert; and parents Leonard and Estelle Cadrain Vigil of Prayer Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 7:30PM Our Lady of Fatima RC Church, Landis, SK Funeral Service Friday, November 1, 2024 at 10:30AM Our Lady of Fatima RC Church Donations ~ ALS Society of Saskatchewan Gerein Funeral Service entrusted with funeral arrangements.
ARIES – Mar 21/Apr 20
Your energy levels are soaring this week, Aries. Channel this vitality into a new project or personal goal. Be cautious of being too impulsive, and think things through before acting.
TAURUS – Apr 21/May 21
Embrace flexibility in your personal life, Taurus. Being open to change will lead to unexpected opportunities and strengthen your relationships. There are a few surprises ahead.
GEMINI – May 22/Jun
21 Communication is key for you this week, Gemini. You may find that your words carry extra weight and influence. Use this to your advantage at work and in your personal life.
CANCER – Jun 22/Jul 22
Cancer, focus on behind-thescenes work around the office — it’s not always about being in the spotlight that gets you ahead. All of your contributions are valuable.
LEO – Jul 23/Aug 23
Leo, embrace your natural charisma and confidence, but also remember to show appreciation for the people who support you. Balance is key in all social situations this week.
VIRGO – Aug 24/Sept 22
It is time to get organized, Virgo. Tackle any lingering tasks or projects that need your attention. Your meticulous attention to detail will serve you well as you bring order to things.
LIBRA – Sept 23/Oct 23
Libra, focus on finding harmony in your relationships this week. You might need to mediate conflicts or offer support to loved ones. Use your diplomatic skills to create balance.
SCORPIO – Oct 24/Nov 22
Trust your instincts when making decisions, especially those related to work or personal projects, Scorpio. Your intuition is pretty sharp this week, so use it to your advantage.
SAGITTARIUS – Nov 23/ Dec 21
Sagittarius, adventure is calling out to you. Whether it’s a spontaneous trip or exploring a new hobby, embrace opportunities to expand your horizons.
CAPRICORN – Dec 22/ Jan 20
Capricorn, your dedication and hard work are likely to be recognized, leading to potential advancement or new opportunities. Just wait for all of the exciting things to come your way.
AQUARIUS – Jan 21/Feb 18
Use creative energy to explore new ideas or tackle creative projects, Aquarius. When you interact with others, you also may gain some fresh ideas to use to your advantage.
PISCES – Feb 19/Mar 20 Pisces, this week calls for reflection and healing. Take time to address any emotional needs and seek support if you want to talk to someone or simply need another be close to you.
!"#$%&'()*%+%&!$,-.!
FLECTIONS
by Rev. Bev Dyck, former pastor, Biggar Church of God
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me ‘For when I am weak, then I am strong.’”
Somehow often the salvation message is communicated in such a way that seems to mean that when a person has Christ in their life, life will mysteriously become easy and one can just pray and God will answer them in a positive and wonderful way. Life will become a picnic in the park just because you are right with God. And as human beings, we seem to expect and desire a luxury-filled, easy life.
Being right with God and having God’s Spirit in our life is wonderful. That burden of guilt and sin is gone, and we are no longer alone - we have Christ with us in our everyday life. However, God is more concerned about the growth of our faith in Him and in our character than He is in making our life a life of ease.
Romans 5:3 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
Suffering sounds like the absence of luxury. Suffering sounds hard and painful. But suffering and weakness can produce beautiful results of a life that becomes deeply rooted in Christ. It becomes obvious that we cannot do the things in our own strength.
There is something wonderful to be said about ‘weakness’. When a person applies for a Government Grant, the person needs to be eligible. There needs to be an appropriate need and it needs to be expressed.
This is the same for God’s grace - we must see our need and bring that need before God and expect and know that we qualify and that God keeps His promises. We need to not have a plan B. We rest on God and His promises and then His strength can be made perfect in our weaknesses.
St. Gabriel roman CatholiC ChurCh 109 - 7th Ave.W, Biggar Father Edward Gibney Parish Phone: 306-948-3330
Saturday Mass.......7:00p.m.
Presbyterians, Anglicans and Lutherans
St.Pauls Anglican Redeemer Lutheran 205 4th Ave. E 319 7th Ave. E OCTOBER 27 ST.PAULS
Sunday Mass....... 11:00a.m. our lady of fatima CatholiC ChurCh, Landis Sunday Mass.......9:00a.m. Biggar associated gospel church 312 - 8th Ave.W. and corner of Quebec St., Biggar
Service 10:30 a.m. All are welcome to come and join us Biggar United ChUrCh REGULAR SERVICES SUNDAY 11:00 am Minister Dale Worrall Inquires Call Church Office 306-948-2280 Leave Message
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH SATURDAY SERVICES BIBLE STUDY 10:00a.m. CHURCH SERVICE 11:00a.m. 320 - 6th ave.east contact: 306-951-8445 3 abn www.amazingfacts.org
NEW
BEGINNINGS CHURCH
...In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope...1Pe 1:3 You are Invited Sunday Tea and Coffee -10:15am Worship - 10:30am NEW HORIZONS 117 3rd Ave. W, Biggar For
Alma Dorothy Covey… Jan. 5, 1920 - November 1, 2004
Kenneth Reid Covey… July 29, 1918 - Aug.13, 2004
“At the rising sun and at its going down we remember them
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of the winter we remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring we remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of the summer we remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn we remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends we remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us. As we remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength we remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart we remember them. When we have decisions that are difficult to make we remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share we remember them. When we have achievements that are based on theirs we remember them.
For as long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us.
As we remember them.
“We all miss you so much.”
…Love always, Leah Hi Price: Thursday, Please 948-3344. Hope
Sunday October 30, 1938, in a radio studio in New York City, a group of actors, musicians, technicians and sound effects artists busily made their final preparations for their evening’s performance.
With only a few minutes left before going live, electricity filled the air as the show’s 23-year-old director, actor, writer and producer dashed from group to group making sure everything was ready. This was to be the group’s 17th performance in a series of live radio dramas. The weekly, hour-long show presented classic literary works performed by the company, accompanied with music performed by a small in-studio orchestra and a crew of talented sound effect technicians.
Their previous plays had been lively adaptations of literary adventures such as ‘Treasure Island’, and ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ or vignettes of the lives of historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln or Julias Caesar.
But tonight’s performance was to be very different from anything the groupor anyone else - had ever done before. With less than a minute left, one of the young actors nervously turned to another and said “Do you really think we ought to be doing this?” to which his colleague just laughed and went back to focusing on his script.
At precisely 8 p.m., the red light on the studio wall lit up and the program began.
“The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations presents Orson Welles and the ‘Mercury Theatre On The Air’ in ‘The War of The Worlds’ by H.G. Wells...”
And with that, began an hour long broadcast that would have an impact on the world that is still relevant today.
The episode began with an introductory two minute
War of the Worlds was real for many
monologue read by Welles
Provincial Historian
based closely on the opening of the H.G. Wells novel, after which the program abruptly changed, taking on the format of a typical evening radio program consisting of live music from ‘Ramón Raquello and His Orchestra at the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza Hotel in Downtown New York’ and periodic interruptions by ‘news bulletins’ covering topics like the weather.
Thom Cholowski
Following several mundane bulletins, various ‘reporters’ from officious sounding (but entirely fake) news agencies began cutting into the music, relaying reports of multiple unusual explosions observed on the surface of Mars, supported by brief interviews with ‘noted’ scientists and astronomers (allegedly from the Observatory at Princeton). Following more music, another breaking news bulletin interrupted the program with a seemingly unrelated report of a “meteorite of unusual size” falling on a farm in Grovers Mill, New Jersey.
The tension escalated dramatically when a reporter on site at Grovers Mill describes the object and observes a door slowly “unscrewing itself”. Suddenly, creatures emerged from what was now clearly an alien spacecraft. The aliens employ a heat ray against police and curious bystanders, and the radio correspondent described the attack in increasing panic (accompanied by eerie and otherworldly sound effects and panicked screams of terror in the background) until, in an absolute masterstroke, his audio feed abruptly went dead mid-sentence with several seconds of empty airwaves.
This was followed by a rapid succession of panicked updates from multiple locations describing the beginning of an overwhelming alien invasion and ‘live’ reports from the front lines of the US Army’s futile efforts to stop it.
Warnings were issued to specifically named surrounding towns of advancing clouds of “creeping poisonous black smoke” and listeners told that “gas masks were completely useless”. At the 27-minute mark, the Secretary of The Interior addressed the nation (played by actor Kenneth Delmar, in a perfect impersonation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt), calling for “calm and faith in the military,” but also essentially telling the listeners that now is the time to panic and to take matters
Provincial Viewpoint
Provincial Viewpoint
into their own hands. This was followed with a hastily prepared, live report from a rooftop in Manhattan, from where a reporter described seeing citizens “fleeing from poison black smoke released by dozens of advancing, towering Martian war machines” until choking and falling silent. Following the silence another voice was heard calling out “2X2L... 2X2L... can anyone hear me? Is there anyone out there?” followed by more unnerving silence...
At that moment the program took its first break, roughly 38 minutes after Welles’ introductory monologue by stating “You are listening to a CBS presentation of Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre On The Air in it’s original dramatization of The War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells. The performance will continue after a brief intermission.”
The second portion of the show shifted to a more conventional radio drama format that follows a survivor (played by Welles) dealing with the aftermath of the invasion and the ongoing Martian occupation of Earth. The final segment concludes with the revelation that the Martians have been defeated by microbes rather than by humans. The broadcast ends with a brief “out of character” announcement by Welles in which he explains that the show was a drama inspired by the spirit of the Halloween season and nothing more, summarizing the intentions as “dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and saying ‘boo!’”
What was groundbreaking about this particular show was the style in which it was delivered - Welles directed it to played out in a man-
York City police showed up to stop the program. Actor Stefan Schnabel recalled “Soon, the room outside the studio was full of policemen and a massive struggle was going on between the police, page boys, and CBS executives, who were trying to prevent the cops from busting in and stopping the show.”
ner that was indistinguishable from news reports of the day in a breaking news style of storytelling. News parodies had been done before, but none to the degree of authenticity as the performance directed by Welles, especially with the dramatic acting, masterful tempo and accompanying sound effects. With Fascism on the rise in Europe and Imperial Japan at War in China, the increasing threat of another global war loomed heavily over daily life. The media was filled with terrifying headlines from overseas with bold headlines utilizing such words as such as “mechanized invasion,” “overwhelming advance,” “fierce resistance” and “mobilization.” The North American population was tense and Welles performance of an alien invasion of the continental United States, presented in the same manner as authentic news broadcast, repeating the same threatening verbiage of the headlines of the day, presented by convincing actors and backed up by unsettling sound effects, played right into the public’s pent up anxiety and fears, briefly touching off a storm. And touch off a storm it did. It is believed that some of the radio audience may have been listening to a program on a rival station and tuned in to The War of the Worlds during a musical interlude (the same as ‘channel flipping’ today during commercials), thereby missing the clear introduction indicating that the show was a work of science fiction. The program tapped into the nation’s collective fear, causing a subconscious emotional response and people believed they were listening to a legitimate news broadcast reporting live on real events. In the United States, police stations across the broadcast network were inundated with panicked phone calls and in some instances, people ran screaming in terror down city streets. Mass hysteria took over and in one case, an ill timed accidental power outage only fuelled the panic. One person in the Midwest allegedly mistook the town’s water tower to be a “Martian War Machine” and blasted several holes into it with a high powered rifle. It is estimated between 1.5 to 2 million listeners across the US had believed the program to be real.
The mass hysteria was so fevered that even before the show had finished, the telephone switchboard at CBS was inundated and the New
Calm and reason soon prevailed and the following day Welles held a press conference apologizing for the confusion. The incident propelled him to international fame, and despite several threats of lawsuits, calls for media censorship and an investigation by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), Wells survived unscathed and actually profited by the event, gaining a sponsor for the program - Campbell’s Soup.
But was the program heard in Canada? If so, how did Canadian listeners react?
Welles program was broadcast in Canada by the CBS affiliate station CFRB in Toronto. Boasting a powerful 10,000 watt transmitter located at a prominent four-tower array near the shores of Lake Ontario, the War of the Worlds broadcast was reported to have been received as far West as Calgary.
What caught the attention of most Canadian listeners was a “flash news bulletin” early on in the program:
“Ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News. Toronto, Canada: Professor Morse of MacMillan University reports observing a total of three explosions on the planet Mars, between the hours of 7:45 p.m. and 9:20 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. This confirms earlier reports received from American observatories.”
Though completely fictitious - MacMillan University was a publishing company not an educational institution - the reported times did not correspond with reality and there was no such ‘Professor Morse’ nor Intercontinental Radio News agency.
The inclusion of authoritative sounding names, allegedly based out of Canada, coupled with the news bulletin delivery caused Canadians to sit up and take notice.
While the hysteria was nowhere as extreme as in the United States, there were reports the following days of those who were convinced by the program that a Martian attack was imminent. In Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and London, the local police departments were inundated with phone calls from panicked listeners looking
for updates and direction on how to prepare for the impending attack.
In Western Canada, listeners had a more reserved reaction, but a reaction none the less. Reports published in the StarPhoenix, Calgary Herald and the Winnipeg Free Press in the following days describe stories of listeners pulling out atlases to see how far away Grovers Mill, New Jersey was from their location, of “alarmed farmers” loading shotguns “just in case” and people being compelled to go outside, while maintaining earshot of the radio, to scan the evening sky.
In the ensuing aftermath, the CBC issued a statement exonerating themselves, clarifying they “had no direct connection” with the broadcast “as it was not carried over their stations.” They went on to further state ominously “the Corporation has general control over Canadian stations and might regulate such broadcasts if it were thought they were having an undesirable effect.” In due course, the broadcast was overshadowed by global events and a year later, on September 10, 1939, Canada became embroiled in the Second World War.
Despite the passage of time, Welles’ broadcast and its impact was never truly forgotten. Twenty years afterwards on Oct. 28, 1958, CBC’s Front Page Challenge television show featured an interview with Mr. Everett Sloan, an actor who participated in the play, and a subsequent discussion with the panel (including Pierre Burton) about the power of the media and the gullibility of the public. Scholarly articles published over the years by the Universities of McGill, Calgary and Toronto study the broadcast and use it as a basis to delve into such compelling topics such as censorship, the sociological impact of ‘fake news,’ media inspired mass hysteria and the moral ethics and obligations of social media regulation - all topics highly relevant today.
Though almost 90 years old, Orson Welles’ War of The Worlds masterpiece still holds up today. It is readily available in its entirety online, and this Halloween I highly recommend you take an hour and listen to it.
Just promise me you won’t go out and shoot up a water tower afterwards.
Happy Halloween folks!
Special Thank you to Historic Saskatchewan members Phil Heilman and Lucas Punkari for helping me acquire a scan of the October 31, 1938 StarPhoenix.
Murray Mandryk
Murray Mandryk
Thom Cholowski
Les Callan, Canadian political cartoonist
Test run for Halloween ... The Biggar School of Dance held their always successful Halloween Cabaret, Friday at the Community Hall. Lights and colour, costumes and laughs, the annual ‘test run’ for this Thursday’s big day is always a popular event. (Independent Photo by Dale Buxton)
Fair Day for Inclusion ... Inclusion Biggar held a business fair at the Community Hall this past Saturday, bringing in vendors to sell their wares - a bit of pre-Christmas shopping. (Independent Photo by Dale Buxton)
On November 13th
ELECT MATHEW HARRABEK
For Biggar Town Council
Hello everyone. My name is Mathew Harrabek, and I am running for town council in the upcoming election. I have lived here pretty much all of my life and over the last 8 years I have seen vast improvements in the community, equipment upgrades for our public works teams, recreational upgrades for all ages to enjoy and most recently; Revitalization for which I am a huge fan...... I would like to do my part to help ensure our town is continually moving forward, investing in our children, and all of our citizens well being.
