Archery program at Warren Peers School
BY SAMANTHA
Warren Peers School in Acadia Valley has been working with the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) for about 12 years. Teacher Jaime Didychuk explained, “it’s a wonderful way to get archery into the schools. It’s very regimented and has objectives set out. It’s very safe and the kids are loving it.”
Councillors discussed the municipal assessor, with Macdonald stating she was very happy with Big Valley’s assessor. The CAO stated the village’s assessor knows the job very well and meets all the requirements of the Municipal Government Act (MGA). Mayor Dan
Hoogenberg also mused that the water tower has been drained and refilled which may have also played a role.
The students started competing three years ago, which has taken the sport to a new level at the school. Students in Grades 7, 8 and 9 can sign up for archery as an option, which gives them about two hours of practice each week. This year, there were 15 students in the option class. 10 of them also chose to be competitive allowing them to attend tournaments along with some also going to the provincial and national competitions.
The students participated in five local tournaments, each of them within a two-hour drive of the school. NASP Provincials were in Edmonton this year where 2,500 archers from across the province competed. The school was very excited as one of the Warren Peers students came away with fourth place.
“It’s incredible watching them improve and change,” said Didychuk. “It’s really neat to see because it’s a sport where you don’t have to be athletic. It’s interesting to see the focus, determination, and self-motivation in the students because it really is a sport where you are trying to beat yourself and your own score and hone in on skills that can carry over into other parts of your life.”
Students are scored based on where their arrow lands on the target, receiv-
ing 10 points for a bullseye and one point for the arrow landing on the outside. During a competition, they shoot three rounds of five arrows at 10 m and again at 15 m. Additionally, Warren Peers also take part in an auxiliary competition called 3D animals where they shoot at foam targets of various types of animals.
“They love it,” stated Didychuk. “They have a target on the animal as well, so it is a similar scoring system. It’s a great connection with our rural country. Lots of our kids are avid hunters so this blends into some of their passions and works out nicely for keeping their interest.
Grade 7 student Ava Kuhn went to camp this past summer and took up archery and found she was surprising-
ly good at it. “It’s different than all the other sports because you aren’t really physically competing against someone else, you are only competing against your own score,” explained Kuhn. As her aunt, Jaime Didychuk, teaches archery at the school, Kuhn decided to sign up for the option class as well as compete at tournaments. This year, Kuhn’s highest score for 3D animals was 214/300 and for targets it was 209/300. At the NASP provincial competition, she placed 13th in 3D animals, out of about 250 Grade 7 girls competing. She did respectfully well in the target competition as well and, although she was unable to remember exactly how she placed, Kuhn said it was somewhere in the 20s.
JOHNSON
Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer
Warren Peers students recently competed at the Archery in Schools Program National competition in Moose Jaw. SUBMITTED
CFSEA to launch Lanfine Wind Community Grant
The Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta (CFSEA) will launch the Lanfine Wind Community Fund Grant on June 17. This new grant stream has been established by Pattern Energy to support local initiatives and community-based organizations for the people of Special Area 3, the MD of Acadia, and the Town of Oyen. To launch this inaugural grant stream, CFSEA will host a virtual Grant Writing Workshop on June 11th at 12:00 pm for anyone interested in learning more.
The Lanfine Wind Community Fund Grant will start accepting grant applications from charities and non-profit organizations within Special Area 3, MD of Acadia, and the Town of Oyen on June 17th, 2024, through an online grant portal. The priority areas include Local Communities, First Nation and Metis Initiatives, Environmental, Youth and Education, and Health and Wellness. This new, annual grant stream
BY LEE SWITZER
Seeding operations are well under way with branding also popping up. Recent rains have given new life to pastures, grass and trees. The local yards look wonderful. Gardens and flowers are being planted too. What joy to dig and work in soil that is soft and moist.
will be facilitated by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta and reviewed by an Advisory Committee including a representative from each area being supported, a CFSEA representative, and the project manager of the Lanfine Wind Project.
“We are extremely fortunate to collaborate with Pattern Energy and the local team on the Lanfine Wind Project, helping to steer their corporate community investment. This will play a crucial role in strengthening the area’s charitable sector. Pattern Energy’s enduring legacy will benefit the community for generations to come.” – Chris Christie, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta
For more information about the Community Foundation of Southeastern Alberta or the Lanfine Wind Community Fund Grant, please visit cfsea.ca. To RSVP for the Grant Writing Workshop, please email admin@ cfsea.ca or call 403.527.9038.
Sincere condolences are sent to the Molzan families on the recent passing of Leander Arndt in Penticton last week. Leander was the last student from Highland Park School just north of our place. Marvin, Allan and Bonnie flew out to attend Uncle Leander’s
...Archery
FROM PAGE 1
“My dad likes hunting, and our neighbour has a bow I’ll be able to use and I plan to get my hunting license,” said Kuhn when asked how she plans to continue on with the sport.
“It’s really interesting just watching kids the first time they pick up a bow and be apprehensive until the end of the season where they are loving it. They really want to do it and they realize they just have to hone into those skills and keep trying and keep doing it,” concluded Didychuk.
service. He was 95 years old. Truly a life well lived.
The calendar has flipped to June and the Sibbald Quilt Show is fast approaching. The show will take place on June 22 and 23rd at the hall. Community members will be needed to work the bar, door, and kitchen shifts, as well as, help with set up and take down. This is a fund raiser for the whole community, and needs all our hands and time to make this work. Very soon, texts and calls will be sent out asking for help - let’s all lend a hand to make this show be well run and profitable. Doesn’t it always seem that the warm months just dance by? Take care everyone.
Oyen Chamber of Commerce donation to Oyen Minor Ball
SUBMITTED
Oyen Minor Ball (OMB) is a well established Association in the community of Oyen. It brings in over 160 registrants to this season from the communities of Oyen, Sibbald, Acadia Valley, New Brigden, Cereal, Youngstown, Consort, Special Areas 2, 3 & 4 and the MD of Acadia. OMB is currently in the process of upgrading and improving the U15 (Bantam) ball diamond. Our upgrades include 2 new metal framed, tin enclosed dugouts, grooming the infield and removing overgrown sod and patching the outfield. It has been many years since Oyen has been the home to a U15 (Bantam) AA Provincial Ball Team. Our team has requested to host Provincial Ball Weekends this year on this diamond. With that brings many guests to our community benefitting our recreation facilities and businesses within our community. Our hope is to continue to house a U15 team in Oyen in the many years to come.
Our Association is currently accepting sponsorship to aid in the high cost of this development. With sponsorship, our partners will receive recognition via large, permanent signage on the backs of the dugouts as well as Social Media recognition of the supporters.
Warren Peers archery students standing with some 3D animal foam targets. SUBMITTED
The Chamber has made a donation to Oyen Minor Ball in the amount of $1000. Bud Herbert (President of Oyen & District Chamber of Commerce) and Erika Tessier (President of Oyen Minor Ball)
Sibbald News
Lee Switzer
OPINION:
Forgiveness can change the future
BY JOAN JANZEN
The T-shirt said, “It’s been ‘one of those days’ for like 3 years now.” Sometimes it may feel that way; other times it’s just ‘one of those days’. That was the case as a woman relayed the story of a life-altering event that took place forty years ago.
I recall listening to Shannon Ethridge share her story quite a few years ago. It’s a story that is not easily forgotten. Shannon is a public speaker and author, but in 1984, she was a 16-year-old high school student who jumped in her car and headed off to school. However, she never did make it to school that day. After driving for a mile and a half down a quiet dirt road, she adjusted her mirror and quickly applied her lipstick. Suddenly, she felt her car jolt. She remembers thinking she might have hit a farm animal who escaped from the pasture, but she found out something much more tragic had happened.
She stopped the car, got out and ran back to see what she had hit. Standing in absolute shock, she saw the body of a woman lying face down in the grass beside a twisted bicycle. Since this was before cell phones existed, the girl ran to the nearest farm and called 9-1-1, but it was too late; the woman was dead.
Late that night, alone in her bed-
How was she going to face the woman’s children or her husband, and would they hate her for what she had done? Soon, those questions were answered.
room, Shannon cried more tears than she had ever cried. Thoughts bombarded her mind – thoughts of suicide and thoughts about the woman’s family. How was she going to face the woman’s children or her husband, and would they hate her for what she had done? Soon, those questions were answered.
The woman’s husband, Gary, had been at work when he received the call informing him of his wife’s death. He and his wife had spent years working as Bible translators, and Gary asked himself how his wife would respond if it had been he who had been killed. He
TO THE EDITOR:
PYROMANIACS:
Just wondering if all pyromaniacs live in Alberta and BC. I believe Saskatchewan has as much forest as the other provinces, but they don’t seem to have any wildfires. Maybe these are just make-work projects or a good way to help clean up some land. I’ve heard it’s a good way to rejuvenate a forest because it cleans up all the deadfall and
debris and gives it a new start. Unfortunately, it is pretty hard on towns and villages or any other structures in its way, let alone all the wildlife affected in those areas. But El Wacko says not to worry because he will stop the wildfires with his “Carbon Tax.”
Robert Blagen Youngstown, AB
immediately knew the answer.
He was well aware of how compassionate his wife had been, and he knew she would forgive the teenaged girl. The first decision he made was that there would be no law suits or charges laid against the girl. The second decision he made was to issue a request to meet her in person.
The evening before the woman’s funeral, Shannon was invited to Gary’s home, where the family was gathered together. She tentatively knocked on the door. When she stepped inside she saw Gary come down the hall with his arms extended. He gave her a big hug and told her he forgave her.
He explained that his wife wouldn’t have wanted this tragic event to ruin her young life. Instead he hoped she would spend her life making this world a better place and helping other people, just like his wife had been dedicated to doing.
Even though the tragedy was Shannon’s fault, Gary insisted the district attorney drop the charges against her without a trial. Up until that moment, Shannon said she had always thought of God as a distant disciplinarian who would judge her for all she had done wrong. But Gary’s hug, forgiveness and refusal to lay charges changed everything. The God Gary revealed to her
through his unconditional forgiveness was very different from the God she thought she knew.
In an article for CBN, Shannon wrote, “It gave me hope, that perhaps if this family and Gary especially could forgive me, maybe God can forgive me too and maybe eventually I can forgive myself.”
Not only did Gary forgive Shannon, but he and his family welcomed her into their family just as if she were a daughter. Throughout the years, they continued to share a strong bond that had been formed because of tragedy. Shannon eventually became a public speaker and author. She dedicated her first book to the woman she had found face down in the grass beside a twisted bike. Through an ongoing process, Shannon learned how to love others like Gary’s wife had done. Most importantly, she learned to love and forgive herself and encourage others to do the same.
Bernard Meitzer summed up the topic of forgiveness quite well in a single quote. He conducted a radio advice callin show for several decades and offered these words of wisdom: “When you forgive, you in no way change the past— but you sure do change the future.” Those words played out in real-time in Shannon Ethridge’s life.
JAIDYN WINQUIST
Pop89: Discovering Grace
BY MADONNA HAMEL
Just before crossing the border into Michigan, we pass a billboard promising “Discoveries That Matter.” What matters to us is an encounter years in the planning, the convergence of trillions of cicadas in the Southern Illinois countryside. My pal Avril zeroed in on the “best” location for the convergence of two broods of the luminous song-bugs who live for seventeen years underground, emerge overnight, fly to the tree tops, mate and die in a matter of days. Such a dramatic display of short-and-sweet will not occur again for another 248 years, so to be an eye and ear-witness is no small privilege, a discovery that truly matters.
The border guard gives us a sweet, if slightly befuddled, smile and hands back our passports. Apparently, one woman’s creepy crawly is another woman’s thrill of the decade. The cicada looms in my memory as a Memphis staple. It has a long history of being the soundtrack of Southern writing because of its soft, soothing buzz, which comes from the males tapping on their tambourine bellies. The cicada is, to some, a cliche. I had a prof who forbade mention of cicadas in our poems. Cicadas are benign; they glitter and eat no one, not even leaves. What’s not to love? And yet, folks look at us as oddballs for driving all this way to be near them.
We do our best to leave the interstates behind and drive only country roads. Billowing storm clouds haunt us, corn crops span the horizon, and tractors replace transport trucks as we leave Michigan for Indiana. After a pleasant wander away from interstate freeway to state highway to county road, we roll down our windows and waves of cicada songs fill the air. At 90 decibels, the sound is wild, inescapable and overpowering evidence of nature’s potency. When, after 12 hours of driving, I pull into the forested roadway of our rental cottage, Avril is half-way out the car, squeal-
The Lasting Legacy of War Amputees
The War Amps Commemorates the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy
On June 6, 1944, a pivotal moment unfolded as thousands of Canadian soldiers stormed Juno Beach in Normandy, in the heavily German-fortified coast of France. As the world prepares to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, The War Amps pays homage to the Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice during the invasion, and the resilience of those who returned home severely wounded, many missing limbs.
These were young men from small towns and the inner cities embodying the true spirit of citizen soldiers during the Second World War. Driven by patriotism, adventure, or simply a sense of duty, they enlisted with the Canadian Army, unaware that they would become the vanguard of the allied invasion of Europe.
Among them were individuals like Ron Reid, Gavin Hickey, Bob Ross, Jim Parsons, Bill Neil and Dave Ingram.
ing with delight.
Early the next morning, we head to Vermillion River, where broods 13 and 19 seem to be converging, singing two songs in two pitches. Together, they sound like a combination of thousands of rattlesnakes shaking their rattles and a field of arcing sprinklers. After a couple of hours, a thunderstorm forces us back to the car. We sit for an hour telling each other stories about childhood discoveries while lightning flashes and thunder cracks. We return to Owl’s Nest. It rains for hours and hours.
It’s Memorial Day weekend and in every town on every lamp post is a name of a soldier and the dates of his birth and death - lives sadly cut short by war. American flags cover lawns and porches and stars and stripes hunting decorate front porches.
On Sunday, we attend the service at The Methodist Church in Potomac, where pastor Desmond, in American flag-festooned sneakers, reads from the first chapter of Isaiah. The Lord asks: who will I send into the world? And Isaiah says: Send me! “So,” says the pastor, conflating the prophet with the soldier, “Let us pray for those who said: Send me. And, if they make it out alive, let us welcome them home. I know many who served in Viet Nam, who hid when they returned, who were never thanked for risking their lives for the rest of us.” It doesn’t matter what we think about what was going on over there; what matters is they went with the desire to protect their loved ones.
An older veteran stands at the crossroads on the outside of town holding out a baseball cap. He asks for a dollar to go toward the ceremony at the Legion. We tell him we’re Canadian but drop a 20 in the hat. “That doesn’t matter,” he says. “You need us, too.” Memorial Day in rural America is a discovery that matters.
Signs on lawns in rural America announce their 2024 choice, as well. And it’s not Biden. But their vote
does not affect their willingness to make our stay in Illinois any less comfortable. I won’t say they
were interested in Canada. The mention of Saskatchewan drew blank looks but no curiosity, reminding me of my days at art college in Memphis at the beginning of the first Gulf War, when to criticize the conflict was to be called “un-American”. Best just to listen.
“Listen,” is the number one piece of advice from Debbie Hensleigh in her self-published book: “Which Old Woman Will You Be?” Debbie was the wife of the owner of our Owl’s Nest cottage retreat. She wrote her book after turning 60 when she realized, like her mother, she could have another 32 years of life left in her- a whole third of life, so what would her third look like? Debbie lived to 68, and she had some sage advice for all of us: “Don’t be bored or boring. Ask great questions, then listen.”
When not cicada-song bathing or walking along the Vermillion River, we sat on our screened-in tree-house porch, sipping coffee or beer, watching the finch couple natter at us from a branch one foot away and awaiting the lightning bugs. And I read from the Benedictine monk Christopher Jamison’s book: “Finding the Language of Grace, Rediscovering Transcendence.” His is a tradition of listening. Jamison says we live in a time of “mistrust and loneliness” and will continue to do so until we revive and re-invigorate “a language of grace to explore and restore trust and love among people.” We start, he says, by “being grateful for what we have.”
Gratitude is rooted in grace, he says. “To be grateful is to trust life; to catastrophize is to mistrust life.” Like Debbie, the monk’s primary rule is to listen. “Listen with the ear of the heart,” practice “conversational grace,” and speak only words that aid understanding and “help in the discovery process.”
Ron Reid, of Torbay, Newfoundland, suffered severe injuries upon landing on Juno Beach. Amidst relentless enemy machine gun and mortar fire, he lost his left leg above the knee.
Gavin Hickey, hailing from Durham Centre, New Brunswick, was a mere 19 years old when his regiment stormed Juno Beach. Wounded during the battle for Carpiquet, he lost his left leg below the knee and his left hand.
Bob Ross of Niagara Falls, Ontario, was injured during heavy enemy shelling at the Battle of Hill 195, resulting in the loss of his leg above the knee. Many years later, he reflected on his experience and shared, “It was an ordeal. I don’t think I would do it again because maybe I couldn’t come back the next time.”
Jim Parsons, a local of Sherbrooke, Quebec, landed on Juno Beach on D-Day and fought his way inland. Later that year, he lost his left hand and forearm due to an injury. He received a Mention in Dispatches for
his bravery in hauling his troop commander out of a burning tank despite having a badly shattered arm.
Bill Neil, from Winnipeg, and Dave Ingram, of Edmonton, Alberta, were also severely injured during the invasion. Neil, wounded in the Battle of Falaise when his armoured car was hit, lost his left arm above the elbow. Ingram lost his left leg above the knee and part of his right heel after stepping on a landmine during a sniper patrol.
When they returned to Canada, these brave soldiers became members of The War Amps, which was started by amputee veterans returning from the First World War to help each other adapt to their new reality as amputees.
Rob Larman, a Senior Advisor at The War Amps and a leg amputee himself, said, “In the Battle of Normandy, many Canadians died or suffered wounds they had to carry for the rest of their lives. As we mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, it’s important that we never forget.”
Is it next-year country for Blue Jays?
BY BRUCE PENTON
The Major League Baseball season has just passed the quarter pole, and it might already be next-year country for the Toronto Blue Jays. Could a rebuild begin by trading either Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., or Bo Bichette, or both?
Hope springs eternal every year, but here we are approaching the middle of June and the Blue Jays, in perhaps the toughest division in baseball, are sitting dead last, needing fairly strong binoculars to see the American League East-leading New York Yankees.
BY BRUCE PENTON Sports Columnist
Pitching-wise, the Jays are strong, and with the recent performance by Alek Manoah, who went seven innings May 19 for his first victory since last August, the staff could be the catalyst that turns the Jays’ season around. Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman provide the Jays with a solid nucleus, and the others filling out the rotation, Yusei Kikuchi and Manoah (fingers crossed) fill out a relatively reliable fiveman group.
But at the plate? When the Jays’ are on offence, Vincent Price should be the public address announcer. It’s not pretty. Of MLB’s 30 teams, Toronto stood 27th in runs scored and 23rd in home runs at the end of May. If the team was in a rebuilding phase, those numbers might not matter, because better days would be ahead. But better days might be in the rear view mirror with this
SPORTS TALK
group, because the supposed heavy hitters are hitting puffballs.
Take George Springer, for example. Yes, please, take him, as comedian Rodney Dangerfield would say. In 2021, Springer was a big-name free agent signee from the Houston Astros, and the Jays guaranteed him $150 million over six years. This year. he’s making $24,166,666 and after the May long weekend, Springer was batting .194 with three homers and eight runs-batted-in through Toronto’s first 47 games. Next year, and again in 2026, he’ll pull down salaries in that $24 million range and by then he’ll be 36 with likely even more diminishing skills.
The only Blue Jay with a respectable batting average through May 25 was Guerrero, Jr., who was hitting.289 with five home runs. Guerrero, Jr., hit 106 homers in the previous three seasons (35 per year average) but is on pace for a mere 16 this year. Shortstop Bichette, a career .294 hitter going into this season, was plodding along in the .230 range before hitting a bit of a hot streak. Both young stars (Guerrero, 25; Bichette 26) have been the subject of trade rumours and are free agents after the 2025 season.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com wrote in mid-May that it “seems inconceivable” that Toronto would move either Guerrero or Bichette. Sportsnet, in fact, reported that the Jays have engaged in talks around major league baseball about a
Hope springs eternal every year, but here we are approaching the middle of June and the Blue Jays, in perhaps the toughest division in baseball, are sitting dead last.
blockbuster trade involving both Guerrero, Jr., and Bichette. They’re stuck with Springer and his massive contract, but could start rebuilding by dealing their two young stars. Heresy? Perhaps, but it might be the only way out of the mess in which the Jays find themselves.
• Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “What’s really missing from this Jays season — a schedule with 162 games against the White Sox.”
• Headline at Canadian satirical website The Beaverton.com: “Toronto’s expansion WNBA franchise mathematically certain to win their league championship before Leafs do.”
• Comedy guy Steve Burgess of Vancouver: “LinkedIn says my profile was searched by the Dallas Vigilantes Arena Football Team. Better late than never, I suppose.”
• Headline at fark.com: “Watching every Dallas Cowboys game this season will cost $808.86 on various TV
and streaming services, thanks to the new NFL licensing model. $807.86 sounds like a lot of money, but that’s less than four hot dogs, eight beers and a pretzel at the game.”
• Scott Michaux of Global Golf Post, on Tiger Woods’ recent play “The last seven official results since the 2022 PGA for the 48-year-old Woods are: WD, MC, T45, WD, WD, 60th and MC. Age is undefeated.”
• Super 70s Sports: “I’m gonna tell my grandkids there was once a simpler world where college conferences actually made sense.”
• Another one from Steve Burgess: “The Canucks are out. Now there is nothing left in my bleak existence but waiting for the Garfield movie.”
• Swiped from Steve Simmons’ column in the Toronto Sun: “49ers’ Nick Bosa on the calmness of his quarterback, Brock Purdy: ‘He reminds me of Scottie Scheffler, except he didn’t get arrested.’”
• RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “Canada’s two PWHL playoff teams were eliminated in Round 1, so no championship for a Canadian women’s hockey team. Congratulations, ladies: you have achieved parity with Canadian men’s teams.”
• Another fark.com headline, after UConn beat Purdue in the NCAA men’s basketball final: “Perdon’t”
• The late Muhammad Ali, explaining his occupation: “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
Care to comment? Email b rucepenton2003@yahoo.ca
The most hated teams in sport – love ’em or hate ’em?
BY GREG BUCHANAN
As you sit back and enjoy the drama that is the NHL playoffs, think of some of the most hated teams in sports. Here is my take at the top of the list of the boys from the Bronx.
You either love them or you hate them. The New York Yankees are one of the most successful franchises in all of sports, and their staggering 27 championships means that they have dominated baseball at the expense of every other team. The Yankees fans are also despised as many feel that they are arrogant and feel it is their birthright to win championships, and this hatred unites other fanbases. In addition to
this, the Yankees’ jaw-dropping payroll suggests that they buy success, and this is through buying many of the most hated players in the league, like A-Rod. They may have many die-hard fans in New York and around the world, but everyone else hates this storied and immensely successful franchise.
As for the NHL, a recent Reddit survey showed that the most hated team in the NHL is the Boston Bruins, and this is a sentiment shared around North America. A large part of this hatred comes down to a crop of players for the Boston team that are not the most likable, most notably Milan Lucic, who has been famous for several dirty plays throughout his career. Then, of course,
there is Brad Marchand, hated for diving and various other dirty tactics. This dirty play seems to be a recurring theme with the Bruins, which does them few favours and ensures that even neutrals have disdain for this team. The fans are also notorious for their behavior and attitude, overall making them a franchise which is hated all around the world (and particularly in Canada).
The Dallas Cowboys are one of the more famous sports teams, and they are also one which is both loved and hated. They have an enormous fanbase, but outside of this, they are despised by everyone else. They have enjoyed a huge amount of success on the field, and this means that they are frequently in the
spotlight, which will also repel many fans due to their being overexposed. This means they have a gigantic fanbase outside of Dallas and all around the world, and this makes many people feel that their fans are “fake”. Many don’t like that they’ve christened themselves as ‘America’s Team.’ The arrogance of owner Jerry Jones also irritates many. As for myself personally, growing up as a Riders fan, you have to hate those Blue Bombers! And during my senior hockey days, Rosetown, hands down, with honourable mention to Chris Winkler and those Godless Kindersley Klippers. I’m kidding, folks. Sports are all about love and hate and we do love it all.
Baseball is back for the “flock” for another season. The Oyen Eagles travelled to Kindersley on May 28 to take on the Stallions. Nice weather made for a great night of baseball. Eagles dropped a tough one with an 11-10 loss to the Stallions. Home runs by Jarvis Smigelski and Scott Olsen propelled them to a lead, but timely hits by the Stallions gave them the win in the the bottoms of the 7th with 2 out and bases loaded. For the season schedule you can look on the Fertile Valley Baseball League website.
PHOTOS BY KATE WINQUIST
Piecing Together Oyen’s Past – 1924
BY BERNIE KREWSKI
This is a series of news items from 1924, offering glimpses of life in this community a century ago. How similar are they to events that occur now – or how different? That is the challenge for those with historical interests.
PEOPLE
On February 26, the Calgary Daily Herald carried a featured article on Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Riel of Oyen, who were celebrating their 50th wedding in Vancouver. It included a photo of their original witnesses – Mr. and Mrs. C.P. Riel of Prince Rupert B.C. and George Riel of Oyen. The event was attended by 200 relatives and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Riel are 70. Mr. Riel is known as “Dad” among the railwaymen on the Goose Lake line. He has been operating the pumping station here for the last twelve years. Mrs. Reil is well known for her charitable work in the Oyen community.
Mrs. J.A. Robinson has just given birth to twins (December 15). She is the mother of 18 children, although not yet 34 years of age. Ten of those children were born as twins. Eleven are living. Dr. H.C. Swartzlander, who attended at her births, was more than busy. Eighteen hours later, another local mother, unnamed, also gave birth to twins. More details about the Robinson family can be found in Many Trails Crossed Here, v. 2, pp. 456-457.
Mrs. J.H. Cooper opened a general store in February 1918, selling groceries, dry goods, and boots and shoes. The Cooper Trading Company also bought wolf and muskrat skins. Harry, her husband, manages the Oyen Hotel. Mrs. Cooper and their son are moving back to Calgary in August so their son Joseph, a brilliant student, can attend Hebrew school and continue his violin studies.
In November Mrs. J. Cooper, Harry’s mother, joined
them at their Calgary residence, 105 City Hall Square. She has just arrived from the city of Smolensk in the Soviet Union. Her departure, fortunately, was not questioned by Soviet authorities, a common practice. She and her son had not seen each other for 21 years. Mrs. Cooper had a difficult time during the war and was very glad to come to peaceful Canada, she said. Her son has been a resident of Calgary for 30 years. For the last seven years, he has had business interests in Oyen, where he also has a residence.
Much less joyful was a news report on the death of Bernard McCadden, a CNR employee, on May 27. A container of coal oil exploded when he was attempting to start a fire at his village residence. He was taken to hospital but died soon after. William, his brother, suffered severe burns to one hand. Bernard was a war veteran, settling here in 1911. He leaves a widow and two children, probably living on a farm.
In August, another war veteran, Sam Orpen, was reported missing from his home in the Buffalo district. He has been in poor health for some time, leaving a wife and three children feeling quite abandoned. The provincial command of the Great War Veterans Association has been asked to assist in the search.
Another terribly tragic event was the accidental death on August 3 of Roy Herbert Gripp, age 18. Shortly after midnight, Roy and his brother Clarence were returning home in a Ford run-about. The car overturned a mile south of town, and Roy was killed instantly. Clarence miraculously escaped any serious injury, simply stunned when thrown from the car. Dr. Swartzlander, in his capacity as coroner, and the provincial police visited the scene of the accident on Sunday morning. An inquest was held on Monday. The funeral held at the Union Church was filled, reaching out to the sidewalk. The pallbearers were Charles
Sweeny, Charles Nelson, P.A. Watrin and Sam Bowen. Roy Gripp was born in North Dakota, September 21, 1906. His family came to this district 1910. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Gripp, brothers Clarence and Leonard and three sisters, Helen, Leona, and Mrs. J.V. Sullivan.
OTHER HAPPENINGS
An announcement in the Canadian Gazette, the public information agency of the federal government, indicated that a tract of land in township 3, range 28, west of the fourth meridian, has been reserved by the RCMP for use as a pasture. This was not fully explained. At that time 1917 – 1932, the Alberta Provincial Police was responsible for law enforcement in many areas of the province.
The APP was indeed active here, especially because Prohibition laws were introduced in 1924. Constable Dobbin discovered a complete still and six quarts of intoxicating spirits at the home of H.E. Saggs. He was fined $200 for operating a still and $100 for keeping liquor for sale. Unable to pay these fines, he was sentenced to a seven-month term in the provincial jail at Lethbridge.
In the spring, there was brisk activity in the search for oil south of Oyen. The location is “about 20 miles northwest of the point where the Saskatchewan River crosses the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan.” Geologists for the Canadian Oil and Refining Company made extensive searches last summer and located “a large uplist” exposed in the big cut banks of Saskatchewan. Drilling at another oil site, the Fuego Oil Well south of Oyen has reached 1,560 feet.
During the summer there were 85 applications for the three vacancies at the Oyen Public School (that included high school). These teachers were engaged for the coming year: W.L. Irvine, Calgary, principal; Miss Lulu Bishop, Coleman, grades 6-8; Miss Agnes Laidlaw, Claresholm, grades 3-5; Mrs. J.W. Robinson, primary school, taught here previously.
Pomeroy’s Plaza Radio Orchestra, based in Calgary, recently returned from a five-month tour of the Orient (i.e. Asia), played at Oyenon on Friday, October 11. It was greatly enjoyed by a large crowd of dancers. Several families are under quarantine for scarlet fever and diphtheria. Opal McMurray, daughter of Charles McMurray, who was dangerously ill with diphtheria, is now on the road to recovery. There are three cases of smallpox - a businessman at Benton, and two families in Oyen are quarantined. It is regarded as a moderately mild type. An outbreak of measles also occurred for several weeks among children.
The annual two-day Oyen Fair on July 24 & 25 was reported to be the “Best Ever.” With a large attendance, “everybody seemed to be happy,” perhaps because “crops are a little better here than in most places. The quality of the cattle and horses exhibited would have done credit to any fair.”
