Vol. 104 No. 19
Box 40, 102 3rd Ave West, Biggar, Saskatchewan S0K 0M0
THURSDAY,, MAY 9, 2013
email: tip@sasktel.net
24 pages
Phone: 306-948-3344
$1.25
www.biggarindependent.ca
Top high school rodeo stars hit Rec Valley this Friday
by Kevin Brautigam of The Independent
Club to Recreation Valley to individual residents, have shown how much they want the event here and how much they want it to succeed. They are still looking for more volunteers.
“The sponsorships from this community and surrounding communities has been fantastic, as well,” she stressed. In addition to the rodeo and shooting events, a farm
safety day will be held for local schools on Friday, giving around 150 kids a fun day of ATV safety, healthy lifestyle information, bike, auger, PTO and fire safety demonstrations, and much
T he
top high school rodeo athletes will be at the Biggar Recreation Valley this Friday for the Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association (SHSRA) penultimate round of the season. “It’s going to be big,” said Monika Schultz, one of the organizers of this year’s event, May 10-12. The SHSRA season runs the length of the school year, and the Biggar stop is the second last before provincials/finals. From finals, a select few will move on to nationals. That makes it crunch time for cowgirls and cowboys coming to Biggar this weekend. The weekend will also feature a shooting event at the Bear Hills Range and Gun Club - a provincial qualifier. The two competitions nearly didn’t happen due to the inclement weather. “The amount of time and effort that our community has given to pump out the valley, for one - I could send you pictures of the river running through the valley!” a relieved Schultz said of the Biggar Recreation Valley efforts to get the grounds up and running this year. “They’ve just wrapped their arms around us basically, and said this event can go.” Schultz also tips her hat to Mike Plysiuk and Dwight Smith of the Bear Hills Range and Gun Club for getting their facility ready. “They’ve been phenomenal,” she added. “Our kids are just so grateful. Usually we just have someone with a handthrower, throwing the skeets into the air, but this [the Bear Hills range] is a very luxurious set-up, and it really prepares them for nationals - we’re just not used to having a real gun range to go to!” Schultz said the volunteer support for a premier event that goes into a SHSRA event is huge, and Biggar - from Gun
Ready to start . . . Biggar Central School hosted some prospective students as kindergarten registration took place, May 1. Not only are there new students for next year, but a new teacher, Mrs. Carolin Kapiniak, here leading her new charges on a tour through the school. (Independent Photo by Kevin Brautigam)
High winds fan Perdue blaze . . . Smoking, charred grass and fence were all that remained after a fire Tuesday morning east of Perdue. Perdue firefighters had their hands full with high winds fanning the
more. There are many local cowgirls, cowboys and shooters competing this weekend: Colby Ellis, Jenna Boisvert, Justine Leschinski, Wil Auton, Cassidy Burton, Gordie May, Kenzie Oesch, Kayla Domashovitz, and many more. Friday night, the ladies take to the Rec Valley ring for some jackpot open barrel racing, starting at 5 p.m. A 4 p.m. shooting clinic will be held at the gun range. Saturday morning starts with a 7 a.m. pancake breakfast, followed by a shooting clinic at 8 a.m. with junior rodeo at 10 a.m., a 12 noon lunch, followed by a 1 p.m. high school senior rodeo, a 2 p.m. junior shooting competition, a 6 p.m. catered supper, a 7 p.m. rodeo competitors versus dads football game in the arena, winding up with an 8 to 11 p.m. dance. Sunday starts early with breakfast (6:30-9:30 a.m.), junior rodeo (8 a.m.), high school shooting (9 a.m.), ‘Little Buckaroo and Buckaretts Rodeo’ (12
noon), senior high school rodeo (1 p.m.). There will be the usual food booths through out the event. Bouncy castles, penny pit, all kinds of distractions for the kids. “A big thank you to everyone who helped, because it looked pretty hopeless,” Schultz said of the snow and the resulting runoff, turning the grounds into a near fine boating area, not so terrific rodeo facility. “It’s always good to have this kind of event. All the kids who were here last year were chomping at the bit to come back, they really thought Biggar was a great event.” A huge thank you to Dawson Boisvert and Fred Boisvert for loaning equipment to get the snow out of the way. Without that level of help, Schultz said the water-logged grounds may have meant cancellation of the Biggar SHSRA event. Boisvert’s equipment was the difference between making the event a go, or giving everyone water-wings, and possibly cancelling.
blaze, but had it all contained in short order. (Independent Photo by Kevin Brautigam)