Costumes displayed in Luseland Library. In order from l-r: “May” worn by Janelle Fischer in “The Incorrigible Four” in 2017. “Queen Guinevere” worn by Donna Fowler in “The Loathsome Lady” in 2011. “Hazel” worn by Bethany Anderson in “The Incorrigible Four”. “Jafar” worn by Jared Fischer in “Halloween” in 2019. “Long John Silver” worn by Susan Wilson in “The Paper Passages” in 2016. And the “Queen of Hearts” worn by Susan Wilson in “The Paper Passages”.
Luseland Library displays local art
JOAN JANZEN Your Southwest Media Group
The Luseland Library is showcasing local artists. Currently on display is the work of local artist Jared Fischer, consisting of six handcrafted costumes. According to librarian Kaitlyn Thrun, Jared isn’t the first artist the library has showcased, and he definitely won’t be the last.
“The library board
thought it would be good to use the space in the library for something involving the community,” she explained. Each work of art is displayed for a couple of months at a time, allowing the community ample opportunity to have a look.
Jared’s work at the library consists of six costumes which were used in theatre productions by Luseland’s theatre group, Pothole Productions which was started in 2003. The group produces and stages a live theatre production in the spring. All the beading on these hand crafted costumes was done by hand.
Not only did Jared make the costumes for Pothole Productions, but he volunteered to do set design, directing, writing and acting in the local dinner theatre. In fact he wore the “Jafar” costume in the production “Halloween” in 2019. Local residents Janelle Fischer and Bethany Anderson wore two of Jared’s creations in “The Loathsome Lady” in 2011. In 2016, Susan Wilson wore two of the costumes in “The Paper Passages”, Donna Fowler wore yet another of Jared’s costumes in “The Loathsome Lady” in 2011.
Jared’s handiwork is featured throughout the community of Luseland. The Luseland Cemetery commissioned Jared to create a beautiful war memorial. He also created murals on the local rink, and at the Luseland Museum. The original winter scene included a snow plane, owned by Tom Body and a telephone pole with a snowy owl perched on top. Jared was commissioned to add to the winter scene,
while incorporating a taxidermy moose head. As usual he was up to the task, completing the display in two weeks.
As well as painting murals, Jared has done portraits. His portrait of Marilyn Monroe hangs in the former home of Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio in Los Angeles.
Last November, Jared once again helped out the community by participating in the Luseland Homecoming Hall Board’s paint night, where he created a landscape of the sunset by a lake. This multi-talented artist also does maple leaf art, restores antiques, creates sculptures and is a tattoo artist at “Beauty On Point”, his business
ADMINISTRATOR ASSISTANT
R.M. of Prairiedale No. 321 Village of Smiley and Village of Major
The joint office of the R.M. of Prairiedale No. 321, Village of Smiley and the Village of Major invites applications for a part-time Administrator Assistant. Interested applicants must be flexible to work 3 days per week, but willing to work more and possibly full weeks when required. All applicants must also be prepared to submit a current criminal records check.
As an ideal applicant you should possess excellent communication skills, public relations, and time management skills as well as be proficient with Microsoft Office and knowledge in basic accounting. You should also possess the ability to work both independently and with others. Deadline for applications is 4:00 p.m., Monday, February 7, 2022
Duties include, but are not limited to:
• Filing, typing and all other aspects of clerical duties
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable
• Bank Reconciliations
• Payroll
• Taxes
• Utilities
Individuals interested in this position can send their resume, three work related references, and salary expectations, with the envelope clearly marked “Administrator Assistant Application” to:
Charlotte Helfrich R.M. of Prairiedale No. 321 PO Box
venture located at 509 Grand Avenue in Luseland.
Photo: Mural at Luseland Museum
We need to better apply COVID-19 lessons
One might think that after nearly two years of this pandemic, we’d be a bit better at figuring out where we are at.
Perhaps we shouldn’t fault ourselves for that.
Maybe we shouldn’t even completely fault the politicians for this, although they often to little to help their own cause by establishing reasonable parameters for measure and appropriately acting upon them
But the problem with knowing where we are in this pandemic is that it is has always been changing.
Really, it’s now even about trying to figure out where we are at as much as it’s about figuring out where we are going to next.
Having wandered through five waves of this pandemic and as many variants, we have clearly all seen how difficult this is.
For example, in the initial months of this pandemic, we truly saw what Premier Scott Moe describe as a lockdown.
At that time, our children were being taught on line because schools were closed, restaurants were limited to takeout, all sporting events were cancelled and you couldn’t even go to the barber and get a haircut.
This deemed necessary at a time when we had no vaccines (so there was no contro-
versy over vaccine passports or so-called vaccine mandates”).
However, it’s noteworthy that the daily cases were in the single- or low-double digits. We didn’t even hit two dozen COVID-19-related deaths in Saskatchewan until six months into pandemic.
By May 2020, the Saskatchewan Party government started to remove its most severe restrictions gathering restrictions, although it did institute a public masking order in the fall of 2020 to deal with what would be a second- and thirdwave rise in cases. Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib told us in that time period that we should be worried if cases got into the 200-plus-per-day range.
Rather miraculously, we get several different varieties of vaccines, causing a very significant shift in how we viewed this pandemic.
By last summer, 70 per cent of the adult population had received a single jab, meeting the government’s goal for full re-opening.
Things changes overnight on July 11th. Bars, restaurants and sporting venues were open to full capacity. Masks were off and social distancing was a thing of the past.
Or at least, that was the case until cases began to increase in August, soaring to
BY MURRAY MADRYK Political Columnist
then-record numbers in September and still-record numbers of hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
Vaccine passports were put in place and public mask wearing was re-instituted because things changed again.
During year-end interviews, Moe assured us he had learned lessons from that fourth wave about an ever-changing pandemic — lessons he vowed to carry forward in his battle with Omicron during the fifth wave.
So here are not sit during an ever-changing pandemic.
By all considerations, there is reason believe Omircron is less severe COVID-19 variant than Delta.
That said, we are now instead seeing massive numbers of infections likely in the thou-
sands each day in Saskatchewan — so many that the government is only counting the ones recorded through official PCR tests (about 1,000 to 1,500 a day) and telling everyone else with a positive rapid test to just assume they have COVID-19.
How we once viewed COVID-19 changed again.
But the sheer volume of Omicron means hospitalizations are again trending upward towards the peak the hit in October 2021. As Shabab has repeatedly said, leads to a certain percentage of ICU
admissions and then a certain percentage of deaths.
The Sask. Party government maintains things are still manageable. However, the government did announce last week a contingency plan to deal with over-crowded city hospitals to hospitals in neighbouring towns and smaller cities.
All this begs the question of whether we have learned enough about COVID-19 and are keeping up the change. We are about to find out.
OPINION
CHECK IT OUT with Joan Janzen
The road to resilient supply chains
Thisweek’s humour: “I told the procurement department a joke and they didn’t get it for 4-6 weeks”. Or how about the cartoon where the roll of bathroom tissue said to the Maple Leaf, “I think you’re about to become very popular.”
Two topics that are dominant these days are supply chains and inflation. Our inflation rate is the highest since 1991, at 4.8%. Record breaking real estate prices are
excluded from the calculation of the consumer price index.
MP Pierre Poilievre noted that “What’s incredible is prices are rising fastest for the things we source right here at home.” He listed chicken prices rising 6%, beef 12%, bacon 19%, natural gas to heat our homes 20% and gasoline 30%. “These are all things we provide here in Canada.”
He also asked why our Prime Minister blames
global supply chains for rising prices, when the products we make here at home and have an abundance of are the ones increasing fastest in price?
“Taxes on domestic supply chains have made it more expensive for farmers to produce food, for energy companies to supply gas and home heating. All these governmental costs are driving up Canadians’ costs. The more the PM spends, the more things cost,” he
said. “I expect he’ll try to blame the rest of the world for his inflation.”
Meanwhile our Prime Minister has also posed a question. “At a time where supply chains are disrupted around the world, where people are rethinking where are we getting things and what happens if there are breakdowns either political or geographic or climate related. How do we ensure resilience in our supply chains?”
Unfortunately his mandates are not a solution. “This policy is going to drive truckers out of the country and out of business,” Poilievre said. “It’s going to drive up the cost for our people, drive people out of work and leave us with empty shelves.”
Brian Lilly, of the Toronto Sun observed, “Before this trucker mandate, Canada was already short about 23,000 truckers according to Statistics Canada; 2,209 driving positions were already going unfilled in the trucking industry. All that was driving up prices because driving companies have to compete for drivers, because there isn’t enough freight capacity to take goods back and forth across the border or
across the country.”
He also stated that more than half the goods that cross the Canada/ US border come by truck, including produce, clothing, appliances. Parts cross the border up to seven times before a car is completely built.
One of the biggest suppliers of fresh produce at the Ontario food terminal said he has not seen it this bad in 25 years. Shortage of port workers is compounding the problem within the supply chain. The Retail Council of Canada observed, 20% of staff are off at one time.
Presidents and CEOs of transport and trucking companies are planning to shuffle their drivers, putting them into inter-Canada roles. The result will be a big increase in drivers wanting inter-Canada jobs, and a demand for cross border drivers.
After hearing all these observations, one has to wonder if our Prime Minister wants to hear the answer to his question: “How do we ensure resilience in our supply chains?” But what does the road to resilient supply chains look like?
By the time this is in print the trucker’s convoy will be at Ottawa.
Although the outcome of that pursuit is yet unknown, the response is evident to all.
A convoy participant from Alberta said they drove across the entire province of Manitoba and practically every single approach had vehicles parked on it with people cheering and waving. People would come right up to the truck and greet every vehicle, for nearly six hours, at minus 30 degree temperatures. The truckers were given bag lunches with hand written notes of appreciation in them.
He ended his comments by saying, “I have never been so proud to be a Canadian as I am today!” Not only do we need resilient supply chains, but we also need Canadians to be proud of their nation once again.
Pop89
Last week, I promised to offer a list of some of the Prairie Gold I’ve mined over my life as a reader. I realize the impossibility of listing all the inspiring books I’ve read just since moving to Val Marie, where the best thing to do on these long dark nights is to burrow into an armchair, enwrapped in the warm shawl crocheted by my sister and tuck into a new book. So I’ll spread this recollection over a few weeks and begin with some formative books.
First off, I’ve mentioned before that I live in a Dark Sky Preserve and the quietest place in North America, according to acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton, who travelled the world taking sound readings. (He did have to rise before the birds, however, because their racket will wake the dead at 4 am, even if you are in the middle of Grasslands National Park, where he took his soundings.)
I believe living in places like Val Marie, a village with a population of 89, allows an author to plumb great depths and creates a kind of sensibility that cannot be easily accessed by writers living amidst the hustle and crunch of the cities. I often think of the desert mothers and fathers, the first monks of early Christianity, who would wander into the dark and the silence to bypass the dictatorial voices of
bureaucratic clerics who institutionalized the voice of God, claiming only they knew how divinity should sound. Desert monks knew better; in the empty, dark and quiet desert, they waited patiently to engage in direct communication with The Beloved.
And indeed, I’ve discovered that sitting free from blaring noises and glaring lights, in pervasive silence and boundless darkness, aids in hearing with fresh ears and seeing with clear eyes. (And why most of the city-dwelling writers I know rise to write at five or even 4 in the morning before the world gets busy. ) For these and other reasons, I sometimes call this place a Deep Scribe Preserve.
I am surprised by descriptions of the prairies as bleak and empty. I feel far bleaker in cities crammed with billboards prioritizing things over nature. One of the reasons I find the Prairies so endearing is because it’s so full of living things: sky, land, weather, critters, and birds. And these become my primary relationships and encounters.
I rarely can recall the plots of the books I love; I just know I loved them for their language and their sensibilities. But I do recall phrases, pictures or descriptions that alter my perspective on things. I still carry an image of an experience unique to this place from
Deep Scribe Preserve
W.O. Mitchell’s Who Has Seen the Wind. The boy in the story stumbles on an animal’s skeleton, “its rib bones clutching emptiness. Crawling in and out of the jawbone’s teeth, an ant casts about; it disappears into an eye socket, reappears to begin a long pilgrimage down the backbone spools.”
That experience of living close to the land appears in all of the works of Sharon Butala who, at 81, has released yet another book. This Strange Visible Air is a collection of essays on ageing and the writing life. Butala began writing when she moved to Southwest Saskatchewan to what is now Old Man On His Back. Her book The Perfection of the Morning chronicled her profound awakening to nature. It was a book whose time had come,
By Madonna Hamel • madonnahamel@hotmail.com
especially for urban women, so many of whom never experienced the wild or chronicled the effects of nature on a woman’s soul. In her latest book, she continues to praise the wild while critiquing the “glib, speedy, ill-mannered chatterers on TV and radio” who clamour to tell us who we should be according to the standards and desires of youth. In the end, she reminds us, as an elder, “wild nature reminds us who we are.”
As I write this, I am about to attend an online book club discussing Halfbreed by Maria Campbell, another ground-breaking book. Campbell was born in the backwoods of Northern Saskatchewan, where, at a young age, she learned how to “set traps, shoot a rifle and fight like a boy.” She would find excuses to sleep on the floor on a braided rug, next to her Cheechum, her grandmother, who bestowed a love that ran deep and often manifested itself in Campbell as a deep belief in oneself. She told Marie stories when she was “afraid or hurt,” and that gift was obviously instilled in her.
Life with Campbell’s Metis family was full of singing and dancing, but there was hardship too, including “oppressive poverty, frustrations” and broken dreams. But life got even harder when she left for the city. Halfbreed is
a timeless book not just about survival but about witnessing with enlightened eyes so that what is seen is fully articulated and transformed into lessons we all need to learn.
Some writers you grow alongside. In 1986 I gave my parents Mark Abley’s book Beyond Forget for Christmas. The book is a prairie travelogue by a man who once lived in Lethbridge and Saskatoon and decided he wanted to travel rural Saskatchewan. He now lives in Montreal. In the 2000s, I continued to read Abley as he began writing about the uses and abuses and wonders of language in his books Watch Your Tongue, Spoken Here and The Prodigal Tongue. I recently reviewed his book The Organist, about his fraught relationship with his father.
At one point in The Organist, Abley quotes from the Gnostic Gospels: “If you bring forth what is within you,” he writes, “it will save you. But if you do not bring it forth, it will destroy you.” He added, “I don’t suppose it will save me now to tell the story of my father, but I fear it may destroy me if I don’t.” I’m thankful for the few mentioned authors for their gift of bearing witness to their lives and the lives of their families and the ways they help us in witnessing our own.
Government employees made out well during the pandemic
These days it seems there are three certainties in life: death, taxes and bigger government paycheques.
Even a pandemic that sent thousands of workers to the ranks of the unemployed couldn’t stop the iron law of government wage increases. The pandemic revealed the divide between those behind the golden government gates that shield them from financial reality and the taxpayers who will be left paying the growing tab.
There were 528,347 federal and provincial government employees that received at least one pay raise during the pandemic, according to government documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Those growing salaries will come from the pockets of workers who took pay cuts or lost their job during lockdowns and the many small business owners that were forced to close their doors.
Not a single federal or provincial government reduced pay during lockdowns, accord-
ing to research from Secondstreet.org.
Many municipal employees are also riding the gravy train. More than 34,000 employees at the city of Toronto received a raise during lockdowns in 2020, and so did nearly 14,000 city of Calgary employees and 11,400 employees at the city of Ottawa. How many other municipalities handed out raises?
It’s fair for politicians to stop these raises even if they were built into a contract. What’s unfair is making Canadians who took a pay cut, lost their job or business to pay for these raises.
Stopping these pay raises shouldn’t be rocket science. After all, politicians control the purse strings. If union bosses don’t want to accept haircuts, they can be the ones to hand out pink slips to their members. That’s the strategy employed by former Alberta premier Ralph Klein to implement a five per cent wage reduction when he had to extinguish Alberta’s deficit fire.
With 338 members of Par-
BY FRANCO TERRAZZANO Canadian Taxpayers Federation
liament, you’d think one of them could figure out a way to stop these raises. But you’d be wrong. The feds agreed to new contracts for thousands of its employees that included pay raises during the middle of the pandemic and as the debt ballooned towards the now-shattered $1-trillion mark.
It’s a good bet that many politicians haven’t the foggiest clue of how many bureaucrats received a raise during lockdowns. But given the sheer cost of government labour and the
mess that is our government finances, politicians should be considering taxpayers’ ability to pay before rubber stamping raises.
Then again, it would be tough for politicians to force a hard bargain when they’re helping themselves to raises.
While you and yours struggled through COVID-19, your representative in Ottawa pocketed two pay increases. Backbench MPs are now receiving $6,900 more than they did pre-pandemic, while the prime minister will pocket an extra $13,800.
CTF supporters received correspondence from more than 100 MPs – Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats – who either didn’t support the politician pay raise or committed to donating their raise to charity. With all these MPs seemingly against the raises, why haven’t we heard a peep from party leaders about reversing the pandemic pay hikes?
Taxpayers are also paying for more bureaucrats.
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland claims “we have recovered 106 per cent of the jobs lost at the peak of the pandemic.” But these new jobs come with a bigger tax bill for the private sector.
There’s 312,700 more government jobs across Canada than there were pre-pandemic, including an extra 114,500 “public administration” bureaucrats. There’s 80,100 fewer jobs outside of government. This follows years of federal bureaucrat increases. Between 2017 and 2021, the federal bureaucracy ballooned by 56,905 new employees. That’s more than 14,000 extra federal bureaucrats every year.
Politicians are tripping over themselves looking for more money to pay for their huge debts. They should start by looking in the mirror and forcing government to find ways to save money like millions of Canadians have done with their own budgets.
Franco Terrazzano is the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Brett Zerr, Chief
Gord
Chris
Luke Alberts Greg
Jace
Gary
Quenton
David
Dustin Oikor
Wyatt Knorr
LUSELAND VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
Back row (Left to Right)
Garrett Flueny, Jayden Olfert
Matthew Siwak (Lieutenant)
Steven Meissner, Brenden Obrigewitch
Devon Townsend Front Row (Left to Right)
Nick Anderson Brad Galbraith (Captain) Matthew Rumohr (Chief)
Missing:
Randy Gottfried, Brian Gottfried
Matthew Thrun, Garret Walford
Christopher Brost, Kevin Sloboda
Austin Gleave, Adam Franko
Neil Kennedy, Koby Reiber
Keagan Bazylinski , Kirk Meyer
Shane Bardick
DODSLAND VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT
From left to right
Fire Chief Vic Sittler, Shane Kruesel, Jarret Johnson, Deputy Chief Grant Sittler, Deputy Chief Grant Christison, Michael Bowden.
Missing:
Steven McMillan, Caleb MacDonald, Cory Turk, Dean Ellis, Devon Lovenuk, Jordan Halter, Kaid Hoffman, Patrick McGrath, Ryan Neumeier, Trent Nienaber, Travis Kennon
Tyler Srigley, Ryan Webber
Sports with Bruce Penton
Owners, players drag out baseball talks
Baseball fans yawned on Dec. 1 when Major League Baseball team owners said they were locking out the players until a new collective bargaining agreement was hammered out.
A big yawn, because Dec. 1 was a full three months before the start of spring training for the 2022 season and that would certainly give the two sides plenty of time to work things out, right?
Well, maybe not. Here we are at the end of January, with spring training scheduled to start about three weeks from now, and still no peace being reported from the negotiating rooms. Fans ask: Why can’t a bunch of billionaires and millionaires come to an agreement? It’s not like anyone’s going to starve, no matter what the final agreement looks like.
Except for baseball fans, of course, who will be starved for entertainment if this labour dispute drags on. Sticking points like free agency eligibility, minimum pay, expansion of the designated hitter, and luxury tax rules are just a few of the discussion points.
Memories of baseball strikes/lockouts are especially painful to Canadians, who had
visions of a World Series title for Montreal Expos in 1994 before the last work stoppage occurred and wiped out the rest of that season. The Expos never came close again and the franchise was eventually moved to Washington, D.C.
Luckily, one of this column’s spies has been privy to negotiations and some of the points already agreed upon would surprise even the most skeptical fan:
1. Each game to feature a lucky number contest, with the winning fan getting to pinch hit in the ninth inning.
2. If a fan yells ‘Kill the ump,’ the umpire is given the address of the fan’s workplace and is allowed to heckle him for workplace misjudgments at his office the following day.
3. A souped up Corvette brings in a pitcher from the bullpen; a clown car takes him out if he gets rocked.
4. On Babe Ruth’s birthday, the fattest pitcher on the team gets to start.
5. The popcorn and beer vendor has to visit each dugout at least once during the game.
6. Players get Sundays off.
7. The rosin bags are to be filled with peanuts for between-inning snacks.
8. Players get a $20/week bonus if they bring their own bats.
9. A player’s post-career pension to be calculated by dividing OPS plus RBIs minus stolen bases and multiplied by bat-ting average.
10. Mariachi band plays Take Me Out to the Ballgame in every ballpark on May 5, Cinco de Mayo.
11. An MLB franchise for Green Bay, Wis.
• Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: “Love how the contestants on ‘Jeopardy’ can answer what was the name of Mo-zart’s 45th concerto without blinking, but when asked what team Mickey Mantle played for they look like a cow star-ing at a passing train.”
• Blogger Patti Dawn Swansson: “Marc-André Fleury, Brian Elliott and Dustin Tokarski are the last three NHL goaltenders still using wooden sticks. I hesitate to call them dinosaurs, but today even Pinocchio would be made of carbon fibre and dipped in urethane.”
• Jack Finarelli, writing at sports curmudgeon.com, in his annual review of TV ads: “Subway has an ad where Tom Brady makes a cameo appearance. Given all I have read about Brady’s fanatic focus on his diet and nutrition, I somehow doubt that I might spot him and/or Giselle in line waiting for a 12-inch tuna sub there.”
• RJ. Currie of sportsdeke. com: “If Team Jennifer Jones wins a second Olympic gold medal this year, perhaps they’ll again be invited to present at the Juno Awards for Canadian music. Hey, who better than a curler to recognize rock stars?”
• Bob Molinaro of pilotonline.com (Hampton, Va.): “Sitting in front of my TV the other night, I witnessed the bas-ketball equivalent of a solar eclipse — an NBA player called for travelling.”
• Patti Dawn Swansson again, on the Oilers’ troubles
despite having two of the best players in the NHL: “It’s li-ke Steven Spielberg making a movie with Paul Newman and Marlon Brando as the leading men and his producer giving him Larry, Curly, Shemp, Moe and the Marx Brothers as the supporting cast.”
• Another one from theonion.com:“NFL expands Super Bowl to include two additional teams.”
• Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: The Washington Football Team is revealing its new name on Groundhog Day. Maybe they’re trying to limit themselves to only six more weeks of bad football.”
• Another one from Alex Kaseberg, via Twitter, after Browns QB Baker Mayfield announced his shoulder surgery was a success: “He should be back to pitching products in a couple months.”
• Former Auburn basketball coach Sonny Smith: “I told Charles (Barkley) that he made me what I am today. He said, ‘What is that?’ I said out of coaching.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca
Medical memories from days gone by
Anyone who works in the medical field may find this interesting. It’s an excerpt taken from ‘Pages of the Past’ published by the Leader Lioness Club. The article entitled “Memories of a Country Hospital” was submitted by Kay Blott, a long-time resident of Leader who passed away in February 2012 at the age of 95.
I joined the staff of the Leader Town Hospital in September of 1938 after answering an ad in the Regina Leader-Post. Nursing positions were at a premium, and I counted myself lucky to be accepted. The depression was still on, people couldn’t afford doctors, and hospital care and aids were few and far between. In a year and a half hence, World War II would be raging, and hospitals were clamouring for nurses as they, the nurses, were joining the armed forces.
I arrived in Leader after a day long trip by train, very hungry. (I had actually expected to find a diner on the train from Swift Current to Leader). I had another pipe dream that there would be a “taxi” to take me to the hospital - surely! I was met by Mabel Kasper (Wenzel) and Norma McKenzie as a welcoming committee and Jake Krentz to carry my luggage. I had never lived in a small town, and much to my dismay, the hospital was a large old house.
I was interviewed on the spot by Dr. Levson and the matron. Then I had the “grand tour.” The maternity ward and nursery was a former pantry, the operating room at the head of a flight of stairs, no running water, no flush toilets, a handful of surgical instruments, and a monster of a coal furnace. I was to be on continuous night duty, and feeding the monster of a furnace was one of my chores at night. I was to give anesthetics and assist at surgery. My total monthly salary being $35.00. We ate in the kitchen, and one could watch the patient in the case room be-
tween bites of food. The doctor scrubbed for surgery in enamel washbasins. We hung the laundry at night, so we would have enough dry clothes for the next day. I wanted to leave immediately, but my pride and pocketbook decided against that, and I stayed. My room was next door to the operating room - sleep was impossible while surgery was going on. Usually, I gave anesthetics until nearly noon.
After surgery and maternity, patients were required to stay in bed for at least seven days. Oh, those bed baths! Which had to be given before the day staff came on duty (that staff consisted of the matron) who had to cope all day while I was on continuous nights.
That fall, there was an army of mice that invaded the hospital. I spent any spare time I had during the nights setting and emptying the traps.
Later in the year, a classmate of mine, Viola Ormiston, joined the staff. Now there were two nurses on days and one at night. Sometimes we cared for over 30 patients.
It was a marvellous experience, and I learned the hard way that a hospital could give good service with minimal equipment. There were never to be forgotten experiences, and the same kind of friendships formed. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sargeant (Thirza) were like parents to me, and one could go to their home, day or night, and always be welcome.
Antibiotics were being administered now, and some of them had very bad side effects.
I nursed in all three hospitals in Leader, my last case when my daughter Marilyn and I treated the same patient, Mrs. Mike Baron, and I obtained a certain satisfaction out of that. In all those years I have never changed my opinion - small-town hospitals are the best.
TAX ENFORCEMENT LIST TOWN OF LUSELAND
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 paid before the 4th day of April, 2022, 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.
The Kerrobert Rink of Tyler Gamble, Matt Lang, Drew Heidt and skip Josh Heidt are seeking a Sask. provincial curling championship at SaskTel Tankard. | Photo from CurlSask Facebook page
SASKATOON – In recent months, Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) CEO Scott Banda has made a lot of major announcements over the last six months. They included a carbon capture and utilization partnership with Whitecap Resources, the sale of its upstream oil producing assets, the purchase of much of Husky’s gas stations, a renewable diesel facility and canola crush plant. And several years before, the Regina Refinery Complex completed a major expansion, adding Section V and bringing its nameplate capacity up to 130,000 bpd.
But on Jan. 25, it was announced to staff that Banda would be retiring this upcoming May after 20 years with FCL.
The announcement was made public by FCL on Jan. 26. That FCL announcement stated, “During his 12 years as CEO and through his career at FCL, Scott has made a lasting impact on the entire organization and on Co-op’s across Western Canada. His focus on advancing our Vision of Building Sustainable Communities Together continues to benefit local Co-ops and the over 600 communities they serve.
“FCL has experienced significant growth and evolution under Scott’s leadership, always with a sharp focus on creating value and ensuring the sustainability of the entire Co-operative Retailing System (CRS). As much as Scott has accomplished
throughout his career, he has remained true to his prairie and co-operative roots and the value of working together to benefit our member co-ops and local communities. That’s what makes Co-op a different kind of business.
“Scott’s belief in the cooperative model and the virtuous circle of shared success has positioned FCL to thrive and ensure these Co-ops can continue to benefit their communities for future generations.
“Scott’s visionary leadership and commitment to upholding our values of Integrity, Excellence and Responsibility are the basis for his outstanding contributions and lasting legacy,” the announcement concluded.
Not everyone has been so supportive, however. In 2019, a lengthy battle with unionized workers at the Regina Refinery left a bitter taste for many workers who spent bitter cold days on the picket lines. Unifor Local 594 ratified an agreement in June, 2020, after a six month lockout which followed a strike vote. The dispute focused on employee pensions. A Facebook groups called Co-op/FCL Boycott 2019-2021 is still active, for instance. When Banda’s retirement was announced, posts on that group noted “refinery explosions that injured dozens,” and “union-busting battles against hundreds of loyal Co-op workers.”
Scott Banda - Screenshot
Fire wipes out three of five bays in Arcola oilfield shop; but an excavator tearing the building in half saved the rest
BY BRIAN ZINCHUK
ARCOLA – Cody Christman was on his way westward on Highway 13 at Kisbey when he got an urgent call to come back his shop he had just left in Arcola.
It was on fire.
The owner of Outlaw Ventures, a boiler outfit that specializes in heating frac water, found his shop in flames when he got there.
By the time all was said and done, threefifths of a building that used to house Noble Well Services, Outlaw Ventures and Titanium Oilfield Services on the north side of Highway 13 was a smoking pile of rubble, being hosed down by volunteer firefighters.
“We’re not sure, yet, where it started. Titanium Energy Services had a bay rented next to me,” Christman said at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 24. He was sitting in his truck, watching from the yard next door that he used to rent. It was only this past summer he moved over to the building that had just burnt.
Chris Nidesh, area manager for Noble Well Services, said it happened around 11 a.m. He explained, “The main guy from Titanium came into my office and said, ‘Bay 3’s on fire.’
“And we literally walked around this, the north side of the building, and the smoke was starting to come out of Bay 3. And so, by the time I phoned 911, which I was standing right about here (north of the building), the flames started shoot-
ing out Bay 3. And at that point, we had a lot of fire trucks and everything started showing up. And JJ Trucking was a big savior here, because he brought a trackhoe. And we were able to rip the one door down and saw that the fire was in the wall between Bay 2 and Bay 4. And from there, it just it just went up.”
Nidesh continued, “Cody from Outlaw Ventures, he had just left. Like, he was in the bay, by that started on fire, by the wall. Right? And he had just left he didn’t even make it to Kisbey when I phoned him.”
Jeremy Johnson, owner of JJ Trucking, is also a firefighter. He brought in an excavator and proceeded to tear the building roughly in half, saving what they could.
Nidesh said, “Bays 1, 2 and 3 were a total loss. At that point, we decided to cut the building and saved the last two bays. The result did indeed save the western two bays of the five-bay building, including most of Noble’s facilities. (Their wash bay, on the east end, was destroyed).
Arcola assistant fire chief Blake Brownridge was running the excavator, piling rubble, at 4 p.m. he said, “We realized that water wasn’t going to get it out. We needed to get in and get the building separated off to try to save as much of it as we could. Jeremy ran and got a got a hoe and then Flying G brought a a payloader and pulled some service rigs out of Noble’s bays.”
Brownridge noted Classic Vac of Carlyle and Monster Enterprise of Arcola brought water.
“We had Kisbey and Carlyle on the scene with us today, with Arcola,” Brownridge said.
“There were about 25 members between the three,” he said, when asked how many firefighters responded.
There were no injuries, Brownridge said.
“It definitely started in Bay 3, is what we can tell. That’s the one we were having trouble with when we first got here,” he said, adding he couldn’t say what caused the blaze.
There was a rush to get equipment out of the building. A loader was used to drag two of Noble’s service rigs out of the building, as there weren’t drivable at the time. A pile of pressurized tanks could be found west of the building. Three of Titanium’s trucks, with large, pressurized nitrogen tanks on the back, were removed.
“That (Outlaw) truck is a loss but, believe it or not, when they were trying to push it from inside and their mechanic actually smashed the window got in, fired it up and drove it over there. What are the odds of that?”
Nidesh said, pointing to the boiler truck that was black from smoke.
But not everything made it out. South of the building, a car was on its side, dragged out and placed beside a smoked-covered pickup. Other destroyed vehicles were visible on the east side of the rubble pile.
By late afternoon a large generator was plumbed in to provide power and heat to the remainder of the building, meant to prevent any remaining pipes from freezing.
Nidesh said they thought it could have been a boiler, but when they ripped the door down, all the boilers were fine. “Everything inside was fine. It was in the
wall, between the two bays that was like glowing, hot flaming,” he said, adding he wasn’t a fire investigator.
“That wall there that you can see, that was my shop,” Christmas said, having just got off the phone with his insurer.
Christman has been working in the area since 2008. “We’ve got 14 boilers, one of the bigger boiler companies down here,” he said, noting they do frac operations, service rigs and production steaming.”
“I’ve got a burnt up boiler there, burnt up trucks up here.”
“I had a boiler truck a couple crew trucks. An operator had his car in there. And then I had my office stuff, all my parts and tools, tires and all that good stuff,” he said.
Most of Christman’s fleet was out in the field.
“If it has happened before four o’clock this morning or after eight o’clock, I wouldn’t have anything left because we park them all inside,” he said. As a result, theyell be able to continue operations. One consultant got a call saying that unit wouldn’t be able to make it. Now he’s looking for a shop to rent, Christman said.
“They split the whole building in half to keep that side from burning. So they went right through my bay and office,” Christman said.
He was good-humored about it, noting there was not much you could do about it.
That was also where he often lays his head at night. Christman farms and ranches at Beechy during the warm months, and spends the winters at Arcola, running boilers.
The company has 15 to 20 people working for it.
Several Noble employees had their vehicles parked in the wash bay on the east end of the building. Nidesh said, “One guy lost a truck another lost a car. Obviously, the building’s a loss.” They’ll be able to continue operations, he said, noting their middle management can work from home.
Whitecap Resources Inc. (WCSK area) is currently seeking Full-time Contract Field Operators. The Operator will monitor and test oil wells as well as operate all associated facilities and assist with operational and engineering strategies to optimize production. The successful candidate will have proven success in the ability to be flexible and adapt to change.
Whitecap’s positive work environment contributes to its success as an energy producer and a steward of the environment with a focus on safe and responsible operations.
We are looking for candidates with the following qualifications and training but are also willing to train the chosen applicant.
5-15 years of relevant industry experience with strong preference given towards oil operations, specifically oil wells, compressors and batteries
Driver’s license and clean driver’s abstract
H2S ticket
First Aid ticket
A disciplined work ethic
Capable of working in both a team and individual environment
Proven and demonstrated commitment to HSE expectations and requirements, software experience in field data capture (ProdMan), and electronic flow measurement and monitoring systems as well as the ability to coach and mentor others.
This position is available immediately; please email a cover letter and resume to:
Kayla Flanagan – Kayla.Flanagan@wcap.ca
We thank all interested candidates who apply, however only those being considered will be contacted directly for an interview.
An excavator tearing the building in half saved what was left.
| Photos by Brian Zinchuk
Chris Nidesh. | Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Classifieds
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When you place a classified ad with us, it goes in all three of our community newspapers for ONE LOW PRICE! Call Kate at 306-463-2211 or email: kate@yoursouthwest.com
KNORR - The family of (Hedvig) Marie Knorr are saddened to announce her passing on Dec. 26, 2021 at the age of 91. She is joining her husband, Adam and daughter, Sara and siblings Johanne, Greta and Hans. She is survived by Morris (Wendy), Maureen (Terry), Ellen (Denis), (John), sister Marit as well as other family members and friends.
The family of (Hedvig) Marie Knorr would like to express their appreciation for your patience, kindness, understanding and caring while she was in Long Term Care at Kerrobert. To Dr Wentzel and Yvonne Veronelly and all staff members, thank you. Thanks for all phone calls, texts and cards. Your help in coping with our loss will never be forgotten.
Marie was born on Oct. 15, 1930 at Relingen, Norway to Harald and Guri Aamodt. The family were small farmers at Relingen, not far from Oslo. Her formative years 1940-45 were spent under Nazi occupation during WW2. After the war, times were tough in Norway so a decision was made to send Marie to Canada for a better life. In 1947, at age of 17, she made the journey by sea to Canada on her own. She first docked in New York and then took the long train ride to North Battleford, Sask to stay with her Iverson relatives.
While being a resident babysitter, she met her best friend for life, Joan. They walked to the con-
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vent daily where Marie reviewed her schooling and learned English. She moved on to graduate as a Registered Nurse from Holy Family Hospital in Prince Albert in 1956.
She eventually settled in Kerrobert and worked until 1995, a rewarding nursing career spanning 30 years.
Shortly after arriving in Kerrobert, she met a local farmer, Adam Knorr at a barn dance. They were married on a beautiful day on Nov. 1, 1958.
The next 20 years were very busy raising a family of four children, proudly in the house that Adam built.
Competitive fastball was a big part of the Knorr family. After seeding, ball tournaments
Kindersley Royal Purple
We are looking for energetic, fun-loving volunteers to join us in making a difference in our communities and the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association. Help raise funds for our cause. This year we donated to the food bank, the women’s shelter and Sask. Brain Injury Assocation.
Come ride the purple wave with us!
Contact Darlene May 306-460-8947
every weekend! While Adam pitched, Marie took care of the kids and all the food. Never a complaint!
1978, Adam built a home in Kerrobert to ease the commute for Marie. So many loving family get-togethers took place with her feeding a houseful and many requesting her Norwegian Creations such as pancakes and Krumkake.
Eventually they moved to Hillside Manor until Adam entered Long Term Care and Marie moved to Pioneers Haven. She enjoyed her time there until having to move to Long Term Care. Remembrance to be held at a later date.
“Bless Your Heart”
KERROBERT FOOD BANK
The Food Bank is located in the Kerrobert United Church, 320 Lanigan St. The Food Bank is open for regular use the second Tuesday of each month Please call one of the people listed for the month the Monday before to make an appointment.
Food Bank Schedule: February - July, 2022 Feb. 8: Boni Seffren/Karen Zinger 306-834-8001 or 306-834-5004
March 14: Lorraine Cholin/Yvonne Schlosser 306-834-5056 or 306-834-8292
April 12: Calvin Ressler/Carol Grosskopf 306-834-5389 or 306-834-2376
May 10: Karen Zinger/Yvonne Schlosser 306-834-5004 or 306-834-8292
June 14: Trina Duhaime/Calvin Ressler 306-834-7646 or 306-834-5389
July 12: LCarol Grosskopf/Lorraine Cholin 306-834-2376 or 306-834-5056
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1. FOOD & DRINK: What grain is the Japanese wine sake made from?
2. MEDICAL: What is the common name for the condition called aphonia?
3. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is a gastropoda?
4. HISTORY: In what city was the United States’ Declaration of Independence signed?
5. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What word does the “R” movie rating stand for?
6. MUSIC: How old was Mozart when he began composing music?
7. MOVIES: Who voiced Mufasa in the animated movie “The Lion King”?
8. ASTRONOMY: What is the largest moon orbiting a planet in our solar system?
9. TELEVISION: What is the family’s last name in drama series “Blue Bloods”?
ARIES (March 21 to April 19) You’re eager to take on that new opportunity opening up as January gives way to February. Now all you need to do is resist quitting too early. Do your best to stay with it.
TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Doff a bit of that careful, conservative outlook and let your brave Bovine self take a chance on meeting that new challenge. You could be surprised at how well you do.
GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You might not want to return to the more serious tasks facing you. But you know it’s what you must do. Cheer up. Something more pleasant will soon occupy your time.
CANCER (June 21 to July 22) As you dutifully tidy your end-of-the-month tasks, your fun self emerges to urge you to do something special: A trip (or a cruise, maybe?) could be just what you need.
LEO (July 23 to August 22) Your achievements are admirable as you close out the month with a roar. Now you can treat yourself to some well-earned time off for fun with family or friends. (Or both!)
VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Be sure you know the facts before you assume someone is holding back on your project. Try to open your mind before you give someone a piece of it.
LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You might feel comfortable in your familiar surroundings, but it might be time to venture into something new. There’s a challenge out there that’s just right for you.
SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Your love of things that are new gets a big boost as you encounter a
situation that opens up new and exciting vistas. How far you go with it depends on you.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) That recent workplace shift might not seem to be paying off as you expected. But be patient. There are changes coming that could make a big difference.
CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) While few can match the Goat’s fiscal wizardry, you still need to be wary in your dealings. There might be a problem you should know about sooner rather than later.
AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Easy does it when it comes to love and all the other good things in life. Don’t try to force them to develop on your schedule. Best to let it happen naturally.
PISCES (February 19 to March 20) A surprise decision by someone you trust causes some stormy moments. But a frank discussion explains everything, and helps save a cherished relationship.
Trivia Test Answerst
1. Rice; 2. Complete loss of voice; 3. A snail; 4. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 5. Restricted; 6. 5 years old; 7. James Earl Jones; 8. Ganymede; 9. Reagan; 10. Vermont
Team Saskatchewan attends first-ever provincial sledge hockey tourney
JORDAN PARKER
Your Southwest Media Group
Last weekend showcased a Team Saskatchewan sledge hockey club that had never been put together in provincial history.
They played the Southern Alberta Allstars – made up of players from Calgary and Medicine Hat – on January 22 and 23 in Kindersley, SK., in tilts that helped them hone their talents.
“This was just an incredible experience for them,” said Team Saskatchewan Manager Tracy Lyons following the games. “We didn’t know what to expect, because for years these players only went up against each other.”
Chief among the reasons the games came to Kindersley was Lyons’ tireless efforts.
“We had a group that got together before COVID-19 to put a team together, and then we got shut down,” she said.
During the summer, they began again when restrictions relaxed. Coaches all got together and asked the players if they wanted to return.
“Since we had time we decided to hold tryouts so we really could get the best of the best in the province and here we are now,” she said.
After the games in Kindersley, the team realized there was a hugely competitive world to sledge hockey as a sport, and were invigorated by their experience.
“Everyone was so committed, and practices were always well-attended. This group did everything they can to make this work,” she said.
The first game was a 6-2 loss, and the second an 8-2, but for the team, it was all about the incredible experience.
“We definitely learned what we need to work on as a team. But we scored goals, which was wonderful. We didn’t expect to win,” she said.
“We know areas we need to work on next, but we’re working together and gelling well. It was fantastic and a really nice weekend.”
A difficult aspect was that COVID-19 dampened what Lyons thought would be a bigger crowd.
“We want to raise visibility for sledge hockey, and we thought lots of people would be at the rink because it was Minor Hockey Weekend,” she said. “But with so much cancelled, there wasn’t traffic like we expected.”
“In a non-COVID year the rink would have been packed. COVID canceled a lot of games, and the week-
end didn’t go according to plan from that perspective. I was really wanting to showcase this level of sledge hockey as it may have been the only time we could play here. That said, We did have spectators, and that’s good. We’re really just excited to continue to grow, get out there, and we can only get bigger.”
With COVID-19 worries looming for events planning, Lyons says the road to getting organized was one marked by patience and some luck.
“This was a hard thing to set up, especially with trying to get ice time in the city. We’re currently practicing in Aberdeen on February 19 to get ready to play against the Women’s Canadian Team on February 25 and 26 in Saskatoon,” she said.
The team is getting ready to work on positioning, among other things.
“There was just a really great atmosphere on-andoff the ice, and it was a wonderful teaching weekend,” she said.
“Most had never played full contact, and this is great preparation to go against provinces we’d never met, who won’t go as easy on us.”
One of the team’s goaltenders and Kindersley resident Jordan Graham had an amazing experience away despite a setback.
“It was a decent time away, despite breaking my hand. I caught the puck wrong stopping a shot, and shattered my pinky,” he said.
“I just have to stay off it for a month. I wanted to go into the second game, and no one let me.”
He ‘s one of seven Kindersley players on the team, as Braden Close, Ty Eagles, Nick Elliott, Matthew Kehrer, Bret Klassen and Kris Lyons are also from town. Graham says it was a great experience for the whole
team to go through.
“It was our first actual experience playing as a unit. It was a great learning curve for us,” he said. “We may not have won the games, but we know what we need to work on for Nationals.”
“This is a rare experience, and I can’t wait to see what happens with this later in the year.”
For Graham, he wants folks to begin to get more involved and learn about the sport he loves so much.
“I think it’s important because people need to know sledge hockey is out there. I didn’t know it was a thing until my friend Hunter told me,” he said.
“It’s a great experience, and we need more numbers. So many places would want teams if they had the people. This was the first game I played against people of that level, and it was so unexpected. It was a big jump, but it was so eventful.”
Lyons is now focused on the future, and finding more incredible opportunities for the team as things roll on.
“The team is now all looking for sponsors and they are doing a great job as one day of ice time in Saskatoon for practice is just over $1,000. The coaches are looking after all of the on-ice stuff and making sure our players are learning what they need to learn so we succeed,” she said.
She’s also gone the extra mile and asked Women’s Canadian Sledge Hockey coaches Derek Whitson and Tara Chisholm to help with try-outs.
“We have all put in a real team effort to keep this going and to make it to the 2022 Canadian Championships in Leduc, AB. Everyone is just really committed.”
Team Saskatchewan and the Southern Alberta All-Stars pose after Sunday’s battle on the ice. | SUBMITTED PHOTO
Team Saskatchewan member Braden Close hails from Kindersley. | PHOTOS BY KATE WINQUIST
