Reflections

Reflections

By Bonnie Hutchinson

Zucchini Wars, Part 2:
The Zucchini Strikes Back

‘Tis the season of sharing garden bounty. An email reminded me that some garden bounty is more welcome than others.
“The mom of one of the gals in the art department just dropped off a shopping bag full of zucchinis,” read the email. “Reminded us of your column about trying to find a home for a bumper crop that you had a few years ago. It was a scream. If you could lay your hands on it, I think it is worth a re-print.” Here it is. The world has changed since it was first written, but some things never change.
***
Well, I finally did it. I got rid of the last of the zucchini.
The facts of life are, hardly anyone likes zucchini. I didn’t start off knowing that.
“It’s the most wonderful stuff,” someone burbled. “So versatile. You can do so much with it.” Turns out she had a list from a magazine: “172 Things to Do with Zucchini.” Zucchini raw, baked, boiled, broiled, stir fried, sautéed, stewed, stuffed, deep fried. Zucchini loaf, zucchini pie, zucchini chocolate cake…
That should have been a clue. Anything that takes such earnest effort to use must have a problem, right? I mean, you never see a list that says, “172 Things to Do with Prime Rib.”
***
I doggedly started using zucchini in everything.
I was going to a potluck supper. “I’ll bring my fabulous zucchini and peanut butter aspic,” I volunteered.
The hostess said firmly, “You can bring the buns and butter.”
I invited my relatives over for supper. “Are you having zucchini for a vegetable?” they asked suspiciously.
“No,” I said. “Okay, then we’ll come.”
On the day of our supper, they asked, “What’s for dessert?” “Apple Crisp Surprise.”
They looked at the dessert. “Hey, this isn’t apple, it’s zucchini.” “Surprise!”
***
I was obviously not going to be able to use all the zucchini myself. I tried phoning a few friends.
“Hi, I’ve got some zucchini. Would you like some?”
“No. Thanks for offering, but nobody in my family will eat it. Another call. “Hi, I’ve got some zucchini…”
“Take two aspirin and call me when it’s gone.”
Then there were the hard bargainers. “Okay, I’ll take some zucchini but only if you’ll take a box of green tomatoes.”
***
I was getting desperate. Every time I went for coffee, I took some zucchini. People stopped having coffee with me.
Zucchini became my ultimate threat. My brother was hassling me one day. “Watch it,” I said, “Or I’ll give you some zucchini.”  He capitulated instantly.
I made the mistake of asking a group of friends one night, “What can you do with zucchini?” I got a lot of suggestions, none of them on the list of “172 Things to Do with Zucchini” and most of them starting with, “You can take your zucchini and…”
***
I actually left a couple of zucchini in someone’s mailbox. She reported that she’d wheeled the car around the corner, looked at her house and said to her kids, “Good grief, what are those green monsters hanging out of the mailbox?”
I had visions of skulking around in the middle of the night, leaving zucchini wrapped in a baby blanket and tucked in a basket on someone’s front porch. I would attach a note that said, “I’ve been abandoned. Please take me in.”
I now know how I’m going to solve the problem of “what to do with the zucchini” next year. I’m not growing any. Meanwhile, does anyone want some green tomatoes?
***
I’d love to hear from you. If you have comments about this column or suggestions for future topics, send me an email at Bonnie@BonnieHutchinson.com. I’ll happily reply within one business day.

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High school football season opens

By Murray Green

The Camrose Composite High School Trojans football team will have two more home dates.
The Trojans host Rocky Mountain House on Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. and the Ponoka Broncs on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
In the Alberta Six Man Football League, Our Lady of Mount Pleasant Royals play a few road games before opening at home on Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. against Provost Panthers.
OLMP hosts Rimbey Spartans on Sept. 29, Hanna Hawks on Oct. 13 and Strathmore Hawks on Oct. 19. All games start at 5 p.m.

Van Dornick makes top 15 golfers in Canada

By Murray Green

Local golfer Frank Van Dornick shot a 292 in four rounds to finish plus 12 at the 2017 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship at Kanawaki Golf Club in Kahnawake, Quebec.
Van Dornick placed 13th overall, fifth among Canadians and second from Albertans on Sept. 11 to 14. He shot rounds of 74-70-73-75 over the four-day event.
Gene Elliott of West Des Moines, IA won the event with a 282 total and a 66 score in his third round. Kanawaki Golf Club is a par 70 course.

Connecting Vikings to the local community

By Lori Larsen

Camrose and District Chamber of Commerce resumed the general luncheon meetings on Sept. 6 at the Camrose Regional Exhibition after a short summer break.
Making connections
Guest speaker at the Sept. 6 meeting, University of Alberta basketball coach Dave Drabiuk, presented attendees with insight on how Augustana athletes are trained to work together, are integrated into the community and how businesses can create connections with athletes that benefit both the athletes and the business.
“I have a job that I love. I get an opportunity every day to pursue my passion of making other people better,” said Drabiuk.
Having just completed his 13th season coaching with Augustana, Drabiuk said it has been incredibly rewarding and that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“The joy that I have every day when I get out of bed is being able to work with those student athletes.”
Drabiuk explained that of the approximately 1,100 Augustana students, 250 of them are involved in athletics programs as athletes.
Beyond the work these students are doing in the classroom, they also dedicate at least two hours per day to their sport and time outside of that volunteering for numerous organizations within the community.
In describing the dedication these athletes have, Drabiuk indicated that last year the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) handed out 869 combined academic and athletic excellence awards for 94 schools of which 41 were awarded to Augustana athletes. “I get to be in touch with those people every day,” added Drabiuk proudly.
When asked what the basketball athletes wanted as a team, their response was to be part of the bigger  campus community which in turn is part of the bigger community of Camrose.
“They (athletes) recognize that this community embraces the students of Augustana and they have a willingness and a genuine desire to give back to this community.”
Drabiuk described the quality of athletes at Augustana as ones who must first pass stringent academic requirements to be accepted into Augustana, then be good enough at sport that the coach wanted them, then have to want to live in Camrose, a smaller community. “If you are looking for some pretty motivated, driven characters that have already passed a lot of filters on the character test, we have 250 of them.
“If we can find a way to partner together, I think you are going to be pretty pleased with the results.”
Drabiuk further explained the constant need for fundraising to ensure funding for athletic programs continues and suggested if anyone in the community felt they could help to give these athletes the skills to speak about fundraising and the Adopt a Viking program, it would be greatly appreciated.
“How can we as an athletic program connect with other community members?” questioned Drabiuk. “How can we connect a student athlete or one of our programs to your business?
“The skill sets we are producing in our athletes are probably the same skill sets you are looking for in your business.”
In conclusion, Drabiuk said, “We have a pretty good group of 250 athletes that just might have the talents and the skills that you are looking for. Let’s see if we can work together to make our community better and our campus better.”

BRCF honours Rostads 2017 community builders

By Lori Larsen

In honour of two outstanding community members, Shirley and Ken Rostad, the Battle River Community Foundation (BRCF) is holding the Community Builder’s Tribute Night on Oct. 20 at the Norsemen Inn.
The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a meet and greet followed by dinner at 7 p.m then a variety of guest speakers including Shirley and Ken’s children, Kyle, Kelsey and Karsten, former deputy minister Neil McCrank and long time friends of the Rostad’s, David Stolee and Shirley and Lorne Smeland. The evening will be emceed by Don Hutchinson and will also feature a live auction with auctioneer Ron Pederson who will bring a little humour to the event.
Shirley and Ken have lived in Camrose for thirty-eight years, contributing to the community through their business, church, municipal and provincial government and other volunteer activities.
Aside from being successful businesspeople, Shirley and Ken raised their three children, Kyle, Kelsey and Karsten, and committed a great deal of their time and effort into volunteering for the Camrose Swans and Roses Lions Club, Rotary Club of Camrose, Centra Cam Vocational Training Association, The Bethany Group, Augustana, minor hockey and as school music parents.
Both Shirley and Ken originally hail from Saskatchewan, Shirley from Foam Lake and Ken from Yorkton.
Shirley studied accounting at the University of Alberta and after graduation articled with Price Waterhouse in Edmonton.
Ken first obtained a commerce degree (accounting) at the University of Saskatchewan then later studied law obtaining his law degree.
The couple married in 1979 then moved to Camrose where Shirley and her brother Doug Tien opened an accounting firm. Ken joined the legal firm of Gaede and Fielding.
In 1986, after serving as a City of Camrose councillor, Ken was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly serving three terms in the provincial government. Throughout the eleven years, he served as Attorney General, Solicitor General, Minister of Housing and Native Affairs, Minister of Justice and Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs.
One year after retiring from elected office, Ken was appointed a provincial court judge.
Shirley and her brother merged their firm with Grant Thornton in 2011 and in 2013, she retired. Ken retired completely in 2015.
Both Shirley and Ken agree the Battle River Community Foundation is an organization that works to ensure the success of the local area and provide a venue for donors and a source of funding for important local causes.
Tickets for the Community Builder’s Tribute Night are available through any BRCF board member or at the BRCF office or by telephoning 780-679-0449. Tickets will sell fast so purchase your tickets early and come and help celebrate the gifts that Shirley and Ken are to Camrose and surrounding area.

Weaving strong ties to rural Alberta

Weaving strong ties to rural Alberta
Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster Jane, right and Jack Ross sit outside the Fridhem Baptist Church welcoming guests to a piece of Alberta’s heritage.

By Lori Larsen

The world truly is an intricately woven tapestry consisting of colourful interconnecting threads that are representative of all its people and Jane Ross lives her life pulling those threads together.
Jane was born in Edberg where her family farmed land in the area. She attended school at Edberg until Grade 5 until the family moved to Kingman.
“I simply cherish my rural routes,” said Jane and that is where her heart lays. However, she has left pieces of her heart in places all over the world.
“We have lived so many places seeing the value of our landscape and cherishing the beauty of where we are from and the people, to me, is exquisite.”
Jane completed her nursing degree at the University of Alberta in 1965 after meeting her now husband Jack in 1962 and marrying in 1966.
“We decided to take an assignment in West Africa (Sierra Leone) for three years and that changed everything,” said Jane.
“But what that country has gone through…” she continued with a deep sense of concern. “The last time we were there, we literally left under such duress, we barely made it to the airport.”
From 1979 to 1980, she moved further up-country at the head of the Niger River and worked on a DIDA-funded research project (1979-82) studying and documenting traditional methods for disease prevention and treatment. “What I learned there is that our Western health and medical systems just weren’t the answer. You can’t go in and start helping people with explanatory models that just don’t fit.”
During this time, Jane and Jack were involved in the founding of Loma Secondary School which placed an emphasis on providing much-needed education in agriculture, health, community and economic development options. “In the charter year, the school had 20 students and now there are more than 2,000 students,” she said, smiling.
Returning to her rural roots in the Camrose area, Jane quickly began utilizing the worldly knowledge she had gained in her travels and dealings with so many diverse people and cultures, to the benefit of rural Alberta residents. “We became involved in the cofounding of Sahakarini to link what we had learned and experienced together with local Alberta and Canadian communities.”
From 1984 to 1985, Jane and Jack were off again to Kabala with the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (now part of Alberta Innovates) as part of Jane’s doctoral studies in medical anthropology from the University of Cambridge.
From 1973 to 1977, Jane taught as a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus. “I taught the first courses in native studies, with strong support from elders at Hobbema (now Makwacis), Blood and Stoney Reserve.”
Jane felt, and still feels, a strong connection to Alberta Indigenous people. She remembers times growing up when natives from Hobbema would set up camps on her parents’ farmland to work traplines. “I perceived very early that there was something other than me and the way we did things.”
A move to South Korea saw Jane deviate from her work in health care as she took a position in the Korea Register of shipping. It was that work on a global scale that tweaked Jane’s always active mind with an idea of how to apply this work to rural transportation.
“We like to say that if organizations can get the systems in place to move increasing masses of goods, services, people and products around the world  safely and in a timely manner, then we should be able to do a similar thing for transportation in rural Alberta.”
In 2016, Jane became a catalyst in the development of rural transportation by initiating the first Rural Transportation Day working with a dispersed and growing team around the province. “With the first transportation day, it was pretty much directed to the Battle River region. This time it is much more province-wide, people are doing things quite differently and realizing cooperating communities can work together.”
In 2004, Jane became a co-founder of the Norbo-Resident Families Group that registered as a society in Alberta in 2011 as the Association for (ALL) Life-wide Living. ALL partnered with Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN) in pioneering alternatives to rural transportation.
Despite a fascinating life of living, working and learning abroad, Jane finds a great sense of comfort in her rural roots.
As president and long-standing member of the Friends of Fridhem Society, Jane, along with other members, works diligently on maintaining not only the historical value of the church, but the strong sense of community and heritage that it represents.
“That’s where my great-grandparents came to the Northwest Territories. It is really something to have deep roots in a new country and I have always, ever since I was little, cherished that. My family communicated that was very important.
“We are so interconnected. Why shouldn’t rural Alberta be as important as any other place in the world.”
Who do you know as a community Difference Maker? Let us know. Call The Camrose Booster at 780-672-3142.

 

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County supports curling

By Murray Green

After some debate and a 5-2 vote, Camrose County agreed to help sponsor the Grand Slam of Curling  Canadian Open during a regular council meeting on Sept. 12.
A motion that council include a $10,000 sponsorship of the Grand Slam of Curling was made to assist the major national event to be held in Camrose on Jan. 16 to 21, 2018 at the EnCana Arena.
“From a public relations point of view, it would give us great national and local exposure,” said County administrator Paul King. Portions of event will be televised on national television.
“In the spring of this year, Camrose County council supported the Rose City Curling Club’s application for a Community Initiative Program Grant. The event will host 32 of the top ranked teams in the world,” said Teresa Gratrix, corporate services manager for the County.
Sponsorship includes in ice logos, a rink board sign, an advertisement in the program guide, ticket packages, venue booth display and media mentions.
In the past, the County sponsored the 2008 Continental Cup of Curling; the 2011 Scotties Provincial Ladies Curling Championship; Alberta Boston Pizza Cup in 2012 and the 2016 Boston Pizza Cup.
“We are very pleased to advise that the Rose City Curling Club will be hosting another major curling event in early 2018,” said  Harold Criggar, president of the Rose City Curling Club in a letter.
The top 16 women’s and the top 16 men’s curling team will be invited to participate in this curling event and an additional level of interest is that this event will conclude just two weeks before the Olympic Games commence.
“We anticipate that those teams that are qualified to play in the Olympics in Pyeong Chang in Korea and are ranked in the top 16 by their gender in the world, will be present at this event as a final tune up to prepare for the Olympics,” said Harold.
The event will provide for 19 curling draws with about 12 televised live.
“The facility, tremendous volunteer base and the sense of community and the community partnerships help to ensure the success we have been achieving and firmly establishes Camrose as a very desirable location for major curling events.”

Augustana Vikings place fourth in running events

By Murray Green

The University of Alberta Augustana Vikings have a busy fall of sports  lined up.
Soccer
 The women’s soccer team opened the regular season at home against NAIT with a 7-1 loss. Tara Berger scored for the Vikings. The Vikings lost to Concordia 6-0 on Sept. 10.
The men’s team lost 4-1 to NAIT and 6-0 to Concordia. Jadene Norton netted the lone tally for the Vikings.
The Vikings return for games on Sept. 22 in Camrose at 3 and 5 p.m. against King’s Eagles and Sept. 23 at 2 and 4 p.m. against Keyano Huskies.
Cross-country running
Augustana went to Concordia on Sept. 9 to begin the season. Matt Martin led the Vikings in the eight kilometre run with a fourth place finish. He crossed the line in 31:07 minutes.
Martin was followed by Braden Gourley in 19th, Lukas Visser in 20th, Kai Johnsen in 21st and Jackson Sewder in 24th. In the team event, Augustana came in third.
On the women’s team, Emily McIlroy also came in fourth (26:48 minutes) in the six km event. She was followed by Mackenzie Grove 15th, Tala Koerber 22nd, Lina Lim 25th, Annika Olesen 28th and Lylie Peake 30th.
The running teams compete in several grand prix races at SAIT on Sept. 16, Grande Prairie on Lakeland on Sept. 23 and Red Deer on Sept. 30 prior to hosting a meet on Oct. 14 at Stoney Creek Centre.
Provincials will be on Oct. 28 in Red Deer.
Golf
 The season began at the Camrose Golf Club on Sept. 16 and 17 with the Open North Regional Tournament. Provincials will be on Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 at Red Tail Landing in Nisku.
Hockey
The regular season begins on Oct. 6 for the Vikings in the EnCana Arena against NAIT at 7:30 p.m.
Basketball
 The women’s Vikings play exhibition games on Sept. 28, 29 and 30. After opening the season at Concordia on Oct. 20 both women’s and men’s teams play the same team in Camrose on Sept. 21. The women’s game starts at 6 and the men follow at 8 p.m.

 

Kodiaks ready for AJHL regular season play

By Murray Green

The Camrose Kodiaks have had enough of pre-season play. They welcomed the start of the new season and more meaningful games in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The regular season started with Camrose in Drumheller on Sept. 15. The home season launched on Sept. 16 against the same Drumheller Dragons at 7 p.m.
The next home games for the Kodiaks will be on Saturday, Sept. 23 when the Whitecourt Wolverines will provide the opposition at 7 p.m. in the EnCana Arena. The AJHL loves back-to-back games, so the  Wolverines will be in Camrose on Friday, Sept. 29 for a rematch.

Nomination Day attracts candidates for election

By Lori Larsen and
Murray Green

As of Monday, Sept. 18 at noon the unofficial list for candidates for the Oct. 16 municipal election were as follows.
City candidates
Unofficial candidates for position of Mayor: Wayne Massick, Norman Mayer and Bill Sears.
Unofficial candidates for the eight positions of City councillor: Tim Doering, Julie Girard, Anthony Holler, Agnes Hoveland, Kevin Hycha, Cathie Johnson, Max Lindstrand, David Ofrim, Niel Parker, PJ Stasko, Wayne Throndson and Greg Wood.
School boards
Unofficial candidate for trustee position for Elk Island Catholic School board is Ron Baier.
The City of Camrose electoral ward is required to have two representatives on the BRSD board of trustees. However, only one set of nomination papers was filed for that area by the deadline. That means the opportunity to file papers for a seat in the City of Camrose will be open again from 10 a.m. to Noon on Tuesday, Sept. 19 and each of the subsequent three days as well, until the vacancy is filled.
Unofficial candidates for trustee positions for Battle River School Board are Ward 1, City of Camrose: Norm Erickson and there is one seat still to be filled.
Ward 2, Beaver County East: Lyle Albrecht has been acclaimed. Ward 2, Beaver County West: Ruth Baerg, Neil Hardy and Zsuszanna Hemperger have all filed papers.
Ward 3, Camrose County North: Karen Belich, John Girvan and Penny Martin are all running for one position. Ward 3, Camrose County South: Kendall Severson was acclaimed.
Ward 4, Flagstaff County East: Laurie Skori was acclaimed. Ward 4, Flagstaff County West: Jeffrey Kimball was acclaimed.
                    County candidates
Unofficial Division 2 candidates for the position of county councillors are Ken Krause and Cindy Trautman. In Division 5, Brian Willoughby and Robert Lee will be running for one position.
Acclaimed councillors are Jack Lyle, Don Gregor-wich, Trevor Miller, Greg Gillespie and Doug Lyseng.
Forums
A candidate forum for mayor will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre at 7 p.m.
A candidate forum for the councillors will be held Wednesday, Oct. 4 at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre at 7 p.m.

Incumbent Krause runs for second term on council

By Murray Green

Incumbent Ken Krause is seeking re-election for the position as Division 2 Camrose County council on Oct. 16. He will be running against Cindy Trautman.
Division 2 includes the New Norway, Edberg and Ferintosh areas of the County south of Camrose.
“In the last four years, I have learned a huge amount on how the County is run, more than I first envisioned. I have some definite opinions on some of the things that go on, but I voice my opinions (to try and improve things),” said Ken.
“I would like to see the County roads improved as much as possible within limited budget restraints. I like to see us make decisions based on roads that really need upgrading based on the entire County, as opposed to each councillor lobbying for their division only.
“I realize that I am a strong supporter of the New Norway Fire Department and New Norway area, but I also realize that we have to look at the entire County as being looked after,” said Ken. “If I was strictly looking at the New Norway area, I would say we have to pave the Aberhart Road at all expense, but it is not feasible. I would like to work with the City of Camrose to pave it from the ring road to Highway 609. We could pave it to the city limits (landfill) and then the City could pave it the rest of the way, but I would like to see collaboration on projects.”
Ken said “Next year could be a tough, lean year and we have to make a decision on the Camrose swimming pool.”
He wants every person in the County to have access to vital services, such as water. “Down the road, every resident should have access to good water and it should be available, no matter where you live as much as possible. We would like everyone to have the same quality of water and that has been addressed in New Norway.”
The councillor said he feels that decisions he has made have been the right ones. “I put in as much time as I can into research. I am on enough committees to represent my division on council.”
Ken assisted the County on bridging the gap between the former Village of New Norway and the amalgamation of services into the County.
“I talk to the residents in New Norway as much as possible and I always ask, How are the County services? All of the time, they answer that things have improved since the County’s involvement. We have a new fire truck and fire chief in New Norway, so things are improving there as well. That was good to see and I’m proud of the fire department. We had a boil water advisory. I talked to several residents about that and things were handled well by the County. The public works crew did an excellent job. Now we are looking at the lagoon and making it as good as possible.”
Hamlet dissolution could be a problem for the County in the future. “I see it as a challenge for the County. We may have to increase the public works staff eventually down the road in order to handle them. The staff we added to assist New Norway is pretty capable. With what we learned along the way, I feel very confident that we could do it again if we had to without a huge transition.”
Ken doesn’t want to see the loss of hamlets or villages. “However, I do see a streamlined approach to services, which benefits the County. Investments in infrastructure are being made in the hamlets. We had to help the community because it is so small and doesn’t have much for business to help offset higher taxes. I hope it is well in the future before we have to do this again.”
Ken said when smaller communities lost their elevators, they also lost a major business. “We need to make it affordable living, keep schools open in these communities in order to attract business in the future. One of the reasons we joined BRAED is to attract business people to rural areas.”

Trautman seeks Division 2 position on County council

By Murray Green

Longtime Division 2 area resident Cindy Trautman will be challenging incumbent Ken Krause for a spot on Camrose County council on election day.
Division 2 includes the New Norway, Edberg and Ferintosh areas of the County south of Camrose.
“I’ve been thinking about running for quite a few years, about the need for possibly more diversity on County council. I have an interest in our agriculture community and the struggles that go on,” said Cindy.
“I have been on the County communications committee for five or six years now. I am on the Silver Creek Agricultural Society as treasurer, and have been for more than eight years. I have an interest in our struggling community.”
She said the County has been doing a good job over the years. “I would like to add to that and be part of the process. I have good communications and leadership  skills. I work with budgets all of the time, not only with our company, but with the agricultural society and other groups that I have worked with. That gives me an understanding on how and why budgets work. I like being involved with the decision making process to gather information through communication with clients and people to come with good solutions for everybody, not just individuals.”
Cindy lives in a rural area, but also lived in New Norway. “I saw the deterioration of the infrastructure in the village. I also understand how difficult it is to have a village operate on the budget they are given. It was good for the County to step up and assist them. Unfortunately, there are other villages (hamlets) that are similar to New Norway because of lack of funding and lack of water,” Cindy explained.
“That will be a struggle for the County over the years. They have to figure how to facilitate the needs of the hamlets and villages, as well as the rest of the County. We have to have a real approach with our governments to keep communications open with them and the citizens. We have layers of government over top of us and we are at the bottom of that cycle. We need to put pressure on the government to get funding for the farming community, the hamlets and the villages because they are still the bread basket of this province.”
She said agriculture is important, not just the oil and gas industry, because it puts food on the table. Food is sustainable because it keeps everybody alive.
“We don’t want a province that imports everything because of its short-sightedness,” added Cindy. “I would never want to see provincial jurisdiction on the County. What is good for the Rocky Mountain House area might not be good for Camrose County. I still think you need layers of government, but it would be nice to have more funds. You may have to be more creative with the funding.”
Cindy is a team player. “I look forward to working with all County councillors. I have met most of them through various functions. In our particular area, I feel our roads have been taken care of. Again, we have challenges, but I think council has done a good job. We have such a broad area and less people than say, Camrose, and it is  a challenge to maintain all services.
“My goal would be to make Camrose County the best County to live in. Make it fair and equitable for everyone if we can. We all want the best, but how are we going to pay for it? Our County changes every time the provincial government changes. The decisions at the top affect the bottom layer with no regards to the small rural areas.”
Cindy wants to be a voice for the rural area. “We need a voice, but we also need solutions. I don’t believe in complaining, unless I have a solution. I don’t mind hearing a complaint, but let’s work on a solution together.”

Baier maintains the faith

By Lori Larsen

The October municipal elections are just around the corner and candidates for positions within government are gearing up for the campaign trail.
Candidate for the Catholic School board of trustees Ron Baier weighs in on his platforms and his passion for maintaining the values and ideologies of the Catholic School mandates.
 “I am passionate about Catholic education and have committed my life to it,” said Baier.
“I have served the church and wider community in numerous servant and leadership roles over the past 35 years including teaching, administration, chair of Western Catholic Reporter board, currently conference chair for the Religious and Moral Education council and school board trustee to mention a few.”
Baier explained that  the mandate of Catholic education is firstly to bring up children in faith.
“Our unique identity requires an integration of vision of faith, culture and life; we are called to form community.”
Baier went on to explain how that unique identity sets the Catholic education apart from public school education.
“What makes us different is our faith. It is permeated into every moment of every day and every class and every encounter from the moment students walk into our school, which is Holy ground, as it has been blessed. Every interaction with every staff member is permeated with faith.”
As an example, Baier related specific times when he was faced as a principal with challenging situations. The normal response may not be as it should with in Catholic belief, so he consciously made the choice to pause and stop and think what Jesus would do at that moment and it totally changed his perspective.
“It is not something just offered in one 30-minute religion class. To work in a Catholic school is much more than a profession. It is a ministry, a calling, a discipleship where we strive to be the example of Christ.”
Baier stated that Catholic schools are open to anyone who wants what the Catholic schools have to offer, different than public schools.
“But sometimes people come and say they don’t want that difference. They just want to come for other reasons that may have nothing to do with faith. But we hope that they come to take part in all that the Catholic schools offer.”
With an apparent passion for maintaining this philosophy and ensuring longevity of the Catholic school system, Baier described his take on the role of a trustee.
“A trustee needs to be able to clearly understand and be able to articulate why we need Catholic education along with our mission and mandate. This is a difficult challenge in an era where moral confusion and relativism reign supreme.
“Our superintendent truly understands what a gift Catholic education is and has the unique ability to acculturate this outcome throughout our entire school division.
In conclusion, Baier said, “Our schools in Camrose continue to grow and we have a new Catholic high school as the number one capital project for our school division. Once approved by the government, we hope to have our new school open within two years.
“While we have much to celebrate and be grateful for, we find Catholic education is in a crisis across this province and even our country.”
Baier also eluded to the fact that the Catholic school system may be eroding because people may not understand what Catholic education is. “The challenge clearly is are we who we say we are?”
Baier finished, “Yes, we are in troubled times, but in chaos lies opportunity…as long as we handle the present issues with knowledge, courage and conviction.”

Buckaroos set for season

By Murray Green

The Bailey Buckaroos will be giving a Sunday afternoon performance each month for the 2017-18 season at the Bailey Theatre.
Each show begins at 2 p.m. This rowdy bunch of guitar slingin’ desperados offer a classic country music extravaganza that is fun for the whole family.
The first show will be held on Sunday, Sept. 24. Special guests already lined up this season include Randy Howell, Doug Ezeard, Les Hall, Kim Dyer, Charly Doll and Prairie Hearts.
Other dates to mark on the calendar for the Bailey Buckaroos will be Oct. 22, Nov. 26, Dec. 17, Jan. 28 (2018), Feb. 25, March 25, April 29, May 27 and June 24.

Mac Daddy honours Fleetwood Mac

By Murray Green

Rumours will go down in history as one of the best records ever produced.
You can relive some of those number one hits by Fleetwood Mac during Mac Daddy-The Fleetwood Mac Experience concert at the Bailey Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Every song performed by this tribute band evokes a memory from 40 years ago. You will hear all the songs you know so well, as well as some classic tracks Fleetwood Mac has never played live. Mac Daddy features Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits from the ‘70s and ‘80s and even touches on their early years as a British blues band.
It is the 40th anniversary of the Rumours album. Mac Daddy is celebrating this milestone by performing the entire album with a video show with light and sound. Hits include “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop” and “You Make Loving Fun.”
This is a live experience that pays homage to the line-up of the band with respect for its artistry and influence on popular music and culture.
Laurie Slater plays Stevie Nicks, Mark Donaghy reflects Lindsey Buckingham, David Bowden is Mick Fleetwood, Crystal Goodfellow portrays Christine McVie and David Gaitan Galvez plays John McVie.
The original Fleetwood Mac rock band was British-American and formed in London in 1967 and since has sold over 100 million records worldwide.

Improv theatre returns to Bailey

By Murray Green

Infinite Imagination Traveling Theatre will be presenting Infinite Improv that includes an hour and a half of improv on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
It will feature both long and short form acts performed by Infinite Imagination and special guests.

Onam harvest festival held in Camrose

Onam harvest festival held in Camrose
Murray Green, Camrose Booster Godwin Kunjumon, right, serves rice as part of the nine course meal to guests from Jamacia, as well as family friends.

By Murray Green

The Onam harvest festival is celebrated in the southern state of Kerala, India (known as God’s country).
About 50 people who originally are from that area came together to celebrate Camrose Onam 2017 on Sept. 9. They also invited special guests from Jamaica and Canada to join in the music filled event and the harvest meal served on a banana leaf.
“When Usha and I arrived in Camrose in 1996, there was one Malayalee family in Camrose,” said Varghese Manaloor. University of Alberta Augustana Campus associate professor of economics and management. “It is only in the recent past, perhaps five to seven years, the Malayalee community in Camrose has grown to what we see today. The arrival of Malayalee’s in Camrose  and area has now led us to hold a Camrose Onam, which I think is the first organized Onam in Camrose.”
Godwin Kunjumon attended a celebration in Edmonton last year and, with help from a few friends and family, decided to create a Onam event here to honour the harvest season. “I wanted to hold Onam here, so we didn’t have to go to Edmonton,” said the Bethany Group employee. “This gives us the opportunity to celebrate with our family and friends in Camrose.”
“Congratulations to the organizers for taking the initiative and help us all to reminisce about Onam in the newly adopted land. All of us who are gathered here today are a testimony to the fact that we cherish the traditions and festivals of our fathers and forefathers,” said Varghese.
Onam is the official state festival of Kerala celebrating the harvest season, especially rice harvest. It is a religious festival as well as a cultural festival. Kerala was once a major producer of rice. Even with less rice produced now, the tradition of Onam is still observed with songs, dance and a harvest meal.
“Legend has it that King Mahabali came to power by defeating the gods (devas) and he came to rule the three worlds. The devas approached Lord Vishnu to help in their battle against Mahabali,” explained professor Varghese. “Vishnu refused because Mahabali was a good ruler and a devotee of Vishnu. However, Vishnu decided to test Mahabali’s devotion at a time when King Mahabali was performing yagna and was ready to grant any wish to anyone.”
Lord Vishnu took the avatar of a dwarf (vamana) and asked Mahabali for three steps of land. Mahabali granted the wish immediately.
The dwarf grew in size and with two steps took all the land and area that Mahabali had. For the third step, Mahabali offered himself.  Vishnu was pleased with his devotees’ action and Vishnu granted him a wish, by which Mahabali could visit again once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. This revisit marks the festival of Onam. It is a reminder of the virtuous rule and King Mahabali’s humility in keeping his promise before Vishnu.
The last day of Mahabali’s stay is remembered with a nine-course vegetarian Onasadya, or feast and the meal is served on banana leaf. Festivities include decoration of flowers (pookalam), cultural events and traditional dance.
“I am sure we will all be experiencing some of these events and have a grand onasadya. Let this Onam celebration also be a reminder to us that the festivities bring together people of all backgrounds and everyone is happy, satisfied and wishing for peace and harmony. That was signified during King Mahaabali’s rule. Welcome to Camrose Onam,” said Varghese.
Jayakumar Alappuzha gave a vote of thanks for the people and festival after the meal.

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Former Augustana dean guest speaker at Olds conference

By Lori Larsen

The Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities, housed at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus, will be hosting a three day conference at Olds College on Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.
The theme of the conference is Rural Alberta Innovation and Learning Commons (RAIL) and will provide in-depth information creating a strong foundation for understanding rural economic and community development.
Keynote speaker, former Augustana dean Roger Epp will be presenting Reconciliation Where it Matters: Resetting Relations in Rural Alberta. Epp will be touching on what it means to live and teach as a multi-generational settler on Treaty 6 land with a sense of memory and care.
Topics for the conference include broadband connectivity, women in municipal politics, quality of life for rural seniors, engaging rural youth, flood management, farmland conservation and fragmentation and assessing cumulative environmental, community and health impacts of resource development.
For more information and to register for the RAIL-Commons visit www.rail.-commons.ca.

Local agricultural societies at risk

By Murray Green

Alberta’s agricultural community is being threatened once again by the government. The current government is planning to take away funding previously promised to the various agricultural societies across the province.
In Camrose County, there are agricultural societies in  Rosalind, Bashaw, Hay Lakes, New Norway, Round Hill and in Camrose (Camrose Regional Exhibition).
County councillor and agricultural service board chair Doug Lyseng said he received an email from the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies executive director that confirms they’ve been left in limbo on future support and funding. He reported this to council on Sept. 12 at the regular meeting after learning the Hay Lakes society may lose funding.
Alberta’s Agricultural Societies provide fundamental support to rural communities and farm families across the province are left in the dark about future funding.
“After the divisions created by the NDP’s disastrous introduction of Bill 6, the government should be doing everything they can to support rural Alberta,” opposition leader Brian Jean said. “Instead, the NDP has joined the (Justin) Trudeau government in further attacks on Alberta’s rural and agricultural communities.”
The federal Liberals recently announced tax changes that threaten the livelihood of many Alberta farm families by making it much more difficult to invest and grow without government taking an even bigger cut of their income.
“The NDP’s shocking silence in the face of Justin Trudeau’s arrogant assertion that family farm businesses are nothing more than tax shelters was bad enough,” Jean said. “But now instead of supporting agricultural societies, which are a critical part of the quality of life in rural Alberta, the NDP is piling on by threatening significant funding cuts that will jeopardize these important community organizations. Under my leadership, Alberta’s United Conservatives would not let this decision stand. I am committed to fighting for the best interests of rural Alberta and Alberta’s agriculture industry.”
County administrator Paul King told council he will be doing more research on the reduced funding threat and report back to council.

Community bus adds four more stops

By Lori Larsen

Keeping Camrose accessible for all residents is one of the mandates of the Camrose Community Bus operated by Rose City Handi-Van Society and funded by the City of Camrose.
Now running the route on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. the bus has become an inexpensive and viable option to moving throughout the city.
“Beginning on September 5, we (City) added four new on-demand stops,” said City of Camrose Infrastructure and Planning Assistant Kirsten Freeborn.
“On-demand means the bus will only stop (at the new locations) if there is someone standing there or someone wants to get off the bus there.
“The bus driver realized we didn’t have enough residential stops so that is basically what those four stops are trying to achieve,” added Freeborn in explaining the reasoning behind adding the new stops.
The bus will be using the same route as what is presently being used and the four new stops will not add any time to the hour long route.
The four new stops consist of 46 Street at the corner of 47 Avenue, Marler Drive at the corner of Mount Pleasant Drive, a stop on 65 Street between 44b and 45 Avenue (by the Rose City Baptist Church) and a stop on Grand Drive on the corner of Grand Drive and Grandview Crescent going northbound.
“None of these new stops affect the timings of the old stops these are just in between,” assured Freeborn.
The City is in the process of posting signs at each of the stops to clearly identify to riders where the bus will stop and to ensure there is no confusion to the bus driver as to who may or may not be waiting to board the bus.
There is also a bus loading zone located in downtown on 49 Avenue north of Tish’s Fashions and Finery.
Residents should note this is a No Parking Zone.
Since its inception in 2016 the Community Bus has seen a steady increase in ridership. In the month of August the bus averaged 190 riders per week, including the two-days-a-week group bookings.
For more information on the Community Bus, contact the Rose City Handi-Van Society at 780-672-8777 or to view routes and schedules, visit the City of Camrose website at www.camrose.ca under Our Community heading.

Keeping after school students’ stomachs and minds fed

Keeping after school students’ stomachs and minds fed
STACK SNACKS Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster In support of the Camrose Public Library Snacks in the Stacks program pictured left to right Wayne Throndson, Norm Mayer, Garry Zetsen and Greg Wood each hand a cheque for $500 to Camrose Public Library children’s programmer Nicole Bannick.

By Lori Larsen

Most people can relate to that 3 p.m. hunger pain in the pit of their stomach – the bewitching time of day when lunch is far removed and dinner seems ages away. Now add to that the exuberant energy of a child, the distinct possibility of not having had breakfast or lunch, and you have some very hungry, sometimes irritable, children.
Camrose Public Library along with the gracious support of members of the community have partnered to offer the Snacks in the Stacks program. The initiative began out of a need identified by library members to provide nutritious snacks to children visiting the library after school hours.
Every child who visits the library after school from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m. will have access to healthy snacks all provided by donations from the community.
On Sept. 5, 2017-18 project partners Garry Zetson, Wayne Throndson, Norm Mayer and Greg Wood each handed over a personal cheque for $500 to be used towards the continual support of the Snacks in the Stacks program.
Other partners include Wild Rose Co-op Camrose Food Store, Alberta Health Services and Marion Wandio.
Project partners for 2016-17 included Camrose and District Support Services, Camrose Swans and Roses Lions Club and Alberta Health Services.
From Sept. 5 to Dec. 23, 2016, the library provided snacks to 1,874 children, an average of 25 per day.
From January to June, the library provided snacks to an average of 30 children per day.
Samples of snacks include yogurt, fruit, granola bars, deconstructed pizza, vegetables and dip, cheese slices, pickles, cereal and milk, ham and cheese tortilla rolls, salads, whole grain pretzels and crackers.
For more information on the Snacks in the Stacks program, contact the Camrose Public Library children’s programmer Nicole Bannick at nicole@prl.ab.ca.

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Camrose airport taxiway to remain plowed

By Lori Larsen

A recommendation by City of Camrose administration to reduce winter maintenance service levels at the Camrose Airport was turned down during  the Sept. 5 Committee of Whole meeting.
City of Camrose director of engineering services Infrastructure and Planning, Jeremy Enarson presented a report recommending an option of closing the existing parallel taxiway (Taxiway Bravo) in the winter season, starting this fall. It was estimated that eliminating the plowing of Bravo would save approximately one hour of grader time on an average of four occasions per year.
In doing so Enarson pointed out that the City would be able to divert those snow clearing resources to other areas of the city and experience a cost savings of approximately $1,200 annually.
Councillor Max Lindstrand stated the cost savings would not be significant enough to convince him to change the service level. “What interests me more would be what impact would it have on the rest of the city when you say we save one hour (by decreasing snow removal levels from Camrose Airport). Would that have any significance of the snow clearing operation in other areas of the city? Would it be noticeable?”
Enarson stated it would help and referred to the continual growth of the city and the feasibility of allowing more grader time in residential areas.
Camrose Airport manager Wayne Steel and members of the Camrose Airport Commission including chairman Barry Graham, Les Hanberg, Rod Lindberg and Blain Fowler (Cliff Denham was unable to attend) were present to speak to the importance of maintaining snow removal on Taxiway Bravo.
“We would like to see the taxiway continue to be cleared and the biggest issue being the safety of the incoming aircraft.”
Mayor Norm Mayer voiced his thoughts on the importance of the airport to Camrose.
 “I am looking at the airport as a facility that is a benefit to the City of Camrose in so far as attracting economic development. I am reluctant to see services cut back.”
Mayor Mayer referred to the approximate one hour of snow removal time that would be saved by not clearing Taxiway Bravo and said, “I appreciate when we do get snow that I will get the odd phone call but I think I can justify we are going to be one hour later than we would have been before if we clean the airport Taxiway Bravo. I personally think we should continue to do that.”
Camrose Airport Commission member Les Hanberg related a story about the issue of safety and how a parallel taxiway can be an asset for aircraft, especially when flying in low visibility conditions.
“When we talk about safety, a parallel taxiway offers that. We have one and to not use it would be ludicrous.”
Hanberg went on to describe how an aircraft would have to land on the runway then turn around and taxi back on the same runway.
“There could easily be another aircraft coming in. We aren’t talking about somebody waiting (another pilot in an aircraft) and we are not just talking about a couple of minutes. A crash could happen that quickly when you are talking aviation.”
Blain Fowler also related concerns with not clearing Taxiway Bravo and therefore relying on one runway for all aircraft, indicating winter flying can pose extreme visibility concerns. “We do have Taxiway Bravo so why not use it to improve safety? It is a preventable loss and at this price tag ($1,200) I think that we should maintain the status quo.”
Councillor David Ofrim and Wayne Throndson spoke in favour of maintaining the status quo for snow removal on Taxiway Bravo.
Throndson stated, “The $1,200 is a drop in the bucket and I don’t think it would have a serious impact on the service levels in the rest of the city. I can wait 10 more minutes for my road to be plowed. I think safety issues trumps it all.”
Mayor Mayer concluded that the removal of snow from Taxiway Bravo, will remain as is and if there are any problems concerning the budget, it should be brought back to council.

Camrose business recognized

By Lori Larsen

Camrose’s own Bra Necessities was recently awarded the Best of Intima SAXX Underwear Retailer of the Year Award at a ceremony on Aug. 6 in New York City.
“The Best of Intima awards are industry wide in North America,” said Bra Necessities co-owner Kim Lindballe. “That includes the United States as well as Canada.”
There are usually between six and 10 Best of Intima awards given annually with the nominations for the awards coming from the Brands carried in the store.
“We won the Saxx Underwear Retailer of the Year and it is actually a new award that the Best of Intima sponsored this year.”
Lindballe speculated that part of the reason they were nominated and subsequently won this award was because they (the Bra Necessities team) are leading the way for women’s lingerie shops to carry men’s underwear.
“We have our clients and our team to thank for this,” said Lindballe.
 “When we talk about our team, they are the ones who talk to clients about the products, so honestly we couldn’t do what we do without them. They are the frontrunners of the business.”
Lindballe said their success is also contributed to their customers and the continual support they receive as a downtown business in Camrose.
“It has been amazing to be a part of the Camrose community. It is so welcoming,” she said, adding that building relationships is vital, not only with suppliers/brands, but with staff, the community and its causes and fellow downtown businesses.
 “As independent businesses, we are very collaborative. We brainstorm together and talk about what we are doing with the business. Everybody in the downtown core is very open. The people we see everyday are amazing.”
Co-owner Connie Turre interjected, “When I was in Moose Jaw the other day (opening their second store), I was telling a woman we also had a store in Camrose and the woman said, ‘I love shopping in downtown Camrose, I go there every time I am in Edmonton.’
“It gives you goosebumps to know what downtown Camrose has built, the uniqueness it has maintained.”
As for winning the award, Lindballe commented that when the shop opened in 2010, she dreamed of receiving a Best of Intima Award.
“Sometimes in business you operate in your silo and don’t realize what you do and how great it is because it is just what you do. It is good to be acknowledged.”
Lindballe noted that it is common for a boutique-type store to be nominated and win awards after 20 to 25 years of doing business, so to win an award after only seven years of being in business was a real feather in their cap.
“It is really exciting to know we are on the right path and doing good. We are excited to see what happens next.”

Willys truck a forerunner to modern Jeeps

Willys truck a forerunner to modern Jeeps
WILLYS TRUCK Murray Green, Camrose Booster Phil Nimigon of Bittern Lake proudly displayed his 1952 Willys-Overland truck at the community’s show and shine on Sept. 9. He tried to keep the classic as original as he could. The Willys line of vehicles were used by the army during the war years. Later the company became better known as Jeep.

By Murray Green

Phil Nimigon of Bittern Lake wanted a truck that no one else would have. That’s why he restored a  1952 Willys Overland four wheel drive pick-up with a three speed transmission.
“I was attracted to the body style mostly. It was something different than what other people were restoring and I liked the looks of this pick-up,” shared Phil.
Willys was the forerunner to the Jeep that is popular today. John North Willys bought the Overland Automotive Division of Standard Wheel Company in 1908 and in 1912 named it the Willys-Overland Motor Company. Willys-Overland made both automobiles and trucks.
In 1920, Willys-Overland struggled with financial difficulties and creditor Chase National Bank brought in Walter P. Chrysler to save the company. The reorganized Willys-Overland rose in value, only to be decimated by the 1929 stock-market crash. In 1933, Willys-Overland went into receivership until 1935. Founder John North Willys passed away that same year.
“I knew of them as a kid and I remember seeing them around. It is an early Jeep and has that feel and looks to it. I found this truck in a barn, west of Wetaskiwin,” said Phil.
The motor only has 32,000 original miles on it and it features its original interior. It has a F4-134 flat head motor, which would be a 2.2L today.
“It had been sitting there for about 22 years. I’m only the third owner of this truck. It was in okay condition, but it was used as a farm truck, so it had lots of dents, bends and twists in it. I replaced all of the box panels on it with new ones because they were bent too badly to straighten out,” he recalled. “Everything else I just straightened out. I put in a brand new master cylinder and I went through the drive line. The motor ran really well, so I left that. I added all new glass and exterior paint.”
Phil didn’t have any difficultly finding parts in the United States. “I tried to keep it as original as I could. Even the colour is very close, but it has metallics in it.”
Phil loves listening to people sharing stories. “It is interesting to hear stories from other people that say their Grandpa had one, or their uncle. Some tell me that they rode in one as a kid and how tough and durable they were. The Willys trucks have a unique look to them, so it stands out and people remember them.”
It is a tough truck and rated to be able to haul a ton and a half. That is why earlier models were used during the war.
“It was in fairly good shape when I got it. The toughest part was stripping it all down and rebuilding the box,” Phil said. “The box panels had to be cut out and had to be re-welded to the floor. The rear fenders you can’t buy metal, you can only buy plastic (fibreglass). Rather than using that, I bent the metal the best I could.”
The truck was similar in size and functionality of a GMC, Ford or Dodge truck of the day, but once again with the Willys-Jeep look and available in 4WD. The Willys utility wagon is the grand daddy of all modern SUV’s. It was a 4WD with enough space to load up and go most anywhere.
The end result was a great looking truck. “I love building vehicles, so I want to move on to the next project. It is great going to shows and having people wave at you because they have a connection to a similar truck.” 
After the war ended, Willys-Overland continued to produce Jeeps for civilian buyers alongside other Willys-Overland models. In 1953, Willys-Overland was purchased by Kaiser Manufacturing and renamed the Willys Motor Company. Jeep production increasingly became the company’s focus, as was reflected by the name change of the entire group, including Willys, to Kaiser-Jeep Corporation in 1963. The company was sold to AMC (American Motors Company) and later Chrysler. Walter Chrysler would have been proud of the Jeep’s legacy today.

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Preparing your vehicle for winter weather

By Lori Larsen

Winter weather can be extremely hard on many things including vehicles so it is vital to firstly understand what components of a vehicle are most susceptible to harsh weather and secondly, properly prepare your vehicle for the upcoming season.
The Canadian Automobile Association notes that winter can wreak havoc on just about every part of a vehicle, but that some parts, including the tires, windshield and engine block, may be more prone to winter wear and tear.
Taking your vehicle for a tune-up and inspection prior to the colder weather arriving can help to detect any issues and ensure your vehicle is in top running condition.
A mechanic will examine the car battery, check antifreeze levels and make sure that the thermostat, defroster, brakes, and even wiper blades are working effectively.
Book an appointment to have your all-season tires replaced with winter tires and make sure your winter tires are inspected for adequate tread, which can make navigating roads safer. If the treads are worn, replace the tires.
The following are a few other inspection suggestions that vehicle owners themselves can perform.
• Check to make sure all vehicle lights are operational so your vehicle is highly visible during inclement weather.
• Exchange your existing windshield washer fluid with one that will not freeze in cold conditions. Check the nozzles on the windshield-washer system routinely and clear out any blockages of ice or debris. Replace worn out windshield wiper blades with ones that can withstand snow and icy weather.
• A new coating of wax can serve as a shield against road salt, snow, sleet, and rain. Try a polymer wax to protect the paint. Whenever possible, rinse off salt and grime so it does not dry on the car and gradually wear away at the paint.
• Have your tires’ alignment checked toward the end of winter or early spring. A season of traveling over pothole-ridden roads or hitting curbs buried under snow drifts can affect the alignment. Inspect tires routinely, as weather changes can affect tire pressure and strength which in turn can affect the way your vehicle drives.
• Use a soft snow brush or a foam brush to clear snow off of the car. Never use a plastic windshield scraper on the body of your vehicle.
• If available, park your vehicle in a garage or covered carport.
Taking a few extra steps in preparing your vehicle for the onslaught of winter can make a difference in safe driving and the longevity of your vehicle.

Protecting your vehicle with a layer of wax

By Lori Larsen

Wet, cold weather can have an adverse affect on the exterior of your vehicle.
Regularly waxing your vehicle helps to maintain the overall paint by providing an extra line of defence against inclement weather and the hazards of every day driving.
Waxing provides benefits including the following.
Shine–Wax is the easiest way to get a glossy finish on your vehicle.
Protection From Airborne Contaminants–Bugs, tree sap, small rocks, hail, heavy rain, snow and other conditions can cause damage to your paint by settling into the vehicle’s  paint and etching it. A layer of wax creates a barrier between your paint and hazards and contaminants thus reducing paint chips
Easy Washing–Waxing your vehicle makes it much easier to clean. Once again the layer created by wax prevents any foreign contaminants or objects from reaching the paint.
Fills In Scratches – While waxing your vehicle will not remove scratches it can fill in smaller surface scratches making them less noticeable.
A simple waxing can provide the exterior of your vehicle with that extra protection needed to prolong its life with an added bonus of keeping your vehicle looking like brand new.

Winter tire safety

By Lori Larsen

The cooler temperatures we have been experiencing these past few days have people thinking about the inevitable, snowy, slippery road conditions.
Maneuvering slippery city streets can be made that much safer and easier by simply having winter tires installed on your vehicle. In fact, Quebec and British Columbia have passed laws that make it illegal to drive without winter tires during the snowy and icy months of the year.
Winter tires provide drivers with better traction, braking and handling for almost all winter conditions because they are designed with deeper treads and grooves and tire patterns that actually bite into the snow and ice.
Winter tires are constructed of rubber made specifically for colder temperatures which allows them to maintain their traction in temperatures below 10 degrees celsius and as low as minus 35 degrees celsius.
As the weather gets colder the rubber used to make all season or summer  tires can become hard and less pliable, compromising their ability to grip the road. Most winter tires are made with a specialized rubber that remains supple even in very cold temperatures, making it easier for the tire to hug the roadways even when those roads are in poor condition.
Studies have shown that with winter tires, a vehicle’s stopping distance during winter conditions was proven to be 25 per cent better than with all-season tires. Winter tires, provide ample grip and make it easier to turn corners and stop on slick roads.
To avoid wear and ensure the longevity of your winter tires have them removed and replaced with all season or summer tires once they are no longer required. It is also important to note that winter tires may not be as effective once they reach the tread depth of 6/32 of an inch and therefore may need to be replaced more often than you would all season or summer tires.
Make an appointment in the early fall to have your winter tires installed, thus avoiding being caught in one of Alberta’s famous early winter storms.
For your own peace of mind and safety and the safety of those around you invest in a set of winter tires and add a little more enjoyment to those white wintery days.

Race horses fueled on Camrose and area royal oats

By Lori Larsen

The Camrose Viterra Specialty Oat Plant is off to the races, literally, by supplying their world renowned royal oats to countries such as United States, Suadi Arabia, UK and Japan and fuelling some of the top names in horse racing.
Camrose Specialty Oat Plant facility operations manager II, Todd Logelin, explains the ins and outs of oat production and how oats processed in Camrose end up exported around the world for both human and other animal consumption.
Logelin went on to say how Canadian oats are the flagship internationally. “We can grow better oats than most people because of our farming practices and where we are on the globe.”
The majority of the oats processed at the Camrose Viterra plant is shipped to Asia, due to their lack of  land base for growing, and within North America.
“The United States consume upwards of a million tonnes of oats a year, so a lot of the oats go down to the US.”
The merger of the heritage companies of United Grain Growers and Alberta Wheat Pool brought together the two international selling programs to become part of Viterra of today.
“We (Viterra) have continued a market from those two companies and have followed through on it with a bit of branding but most of it is consistency. Our repeat customers have to be close to 90 per cent of our business.”
The majority of world oats are milled, a process that cleans and removes the outer hull leaving behind the inner kernel, or groat, then the milled oats are shipped around the world to be used in a variety of food products.
“Oats are a good thing,” said Logelin when referring to a world-wide recognition of the health benefits of oats.
“We supply some countries that are getting into milling, that historically didn’t, but are changing their diet realizing the benefit of oats.”
But humans aren’t alone in reaping the benefits of a diet with oats, horses are one of the main consumers of oats whether they’re horses used for recreational pleasure or pricey thoroughbreds used for racing.
“Japan loves racing horses,” said Logelin. “In Japan we have customers that have been coming back for up to 35 years.
“They have all these horses in Japan but don’t  have the crop to feed them,” he added noting that Viterra has fed its line of royal oats to just about all of the big name racers.
Approximately five to 10 per cent of all the oats grown in Canada could be selected for royal oats.
“I am not selling the oats to the horse. The horses run fast because we feed them but you have to get the product to the buyer, the owner and the trainer. And the trainer has a lot of pull. He talks to the nutritionist and the vet about what schedule and rations they want fed to the horses.
“It is all part of good horsemanship.”
When selecting the oats that are going to make the grade for Viterra’s top-of-the-line, three of the many indicators are used which include the colour, it should be an overall yellow-golden,  almost white, the size (plumpness) of the kernel and the bushel weight.
“That’s basically what we look for when we buy from farmers.”
Logelin did confess, however, that mother nature is the boss, when all is said and done she determines the fate of the crops.
“We have markets for almost every kind of oat. So even if mother nature isn’t perfect to the farmer we can offer them a delivery and a decent price so that they can still make a dollar.”
Logelin commented that the oat market is very stable and that the plant goes 12 months of the year.
Diversification of the use of oats and consistency in product has allowed Viterra to not only remain a stable business but enjoy enhanced growth.
“We are running 13 products (grades),” noted Logelin. “The facility is set up so we can do three or more things at once. That way it is more efficient.
“We just acquired a good contract in the pet food market.”
The oat groat is used in pet food as a healthy alternative ingredient that is gluten-free and high energy.
“It’s also great for nursing sows that need a ton of energy and is being used in bird feed.”
Viterra employs anywhere from 14 to 20 people and in 2008 converted from a seed plant to oat facility processing and shipping 60 to 90 tons of oats a year, which calculates to four to six million bushels per year.
“We have customers in Florida that I ship to every other week.”
The oat industry is growing strong, a conclusion easily drawn when you see all types of trucks coming and going from Viterra’s yard all day long.

Cowboys compete in rodeo

By Murray Green

Layton Green of Meeting Creek is having a fine year on the pro rodeo tour.
He is number one in the saddle bronc event heading into the final two months of the season. Layton is almost a lock on going to the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton this November. In 31 pro rodeos, he has collected $67,523.
Justin Berg of Camrose sits in eighth place and needs to stay in the top 12 to advance to the finals.
In bull riding, Garrett Green of Meeting Creek currently sits in fifth place with $28,527 in earnings in 27 pro rodeos. Coy Robbins of Camrose is 22nd in the standings with $6,492 earned in 16 pro events. Chris Young of Holden made the top 35 bull riders on the pro circuit.
Curtis Cassidy of Donalda is 19th in the tie-down roping event standings with $11,182 made on the pro tour. Curtis is third in the steer wrestling event with $21,299 raised in 34 rodeos. Cody Cassidy is in 24th place.
Rene Leclercq of Holden is currently 13th in ladies barrel racing with $14,808 in earnings in 37 pro rodeos. Shaylee McMann of Donalda is 38th, Marci Laye of Bashaw is 55th and Crystal Shaw of Daysland is 57th.
In team roping, Brett McCarroll of Camrose is eighth in heeling with $13,558 in earnings. Clark McCarroll of Daysland is 25th. In the header standings, Justin McCarroll of Camrose is fourth with $16,882 made on the pro tour.
Little britches
At the Prince George Little Britches Rodeo, Carson Musi of Camrose was third in novice steer riding on both days of the rodeo. Braiden Kelps of Camrose was first and second in the steer wrestling novice event.

Buffaloes host peewee, bantam football games

By Murray Green

Camrose Buffaloes peewee team edged the Fort Saskatchewan Falcons 20-19 in a very exciting game at Kin Park on Sept. 9.
The bantam squad dropped a 26-0 score to the same community. The atom team is now 1-1  after two games. They lost 4-1 to the Raiders in their last contest after winning 4-2 against the Sherwood Park Rams to open the season.
The last home set of games are slated for Sept. 23. Peewees take on St. Albert  Colts at 10 a.m. and the bantams play St. Albert Fury at 12:30 p.m.

Galenza plays well at ball nationals

By Murray Green

The Camrose Cougars peewee triple-A baseball team earned silver medals at westerns and provincials this summer.
Gavin Galenza of the Cougars was named the top catcher at westerns and was picked up by the Okotoks Dawgs to play in nationals in Repentigny, Quebec.
“It is always a good experience at westerns and play even better baseball. At provincials and westerns the games are better, more competitive, than league play and I enjoy that,” said Gavin. “Playing teams that you haven’t seen before, at westerns, is good to push yourself to be better. It is more fun when you have closer games.”
Okotoks has gone to nationals on previous occasions, but never won a game. With the help of Gavin the club went 2-3 at the national event.
“The eastern teams, Quebec and Ontario, are usually stronger, so it was a good challenge to face them,” explained Gavin. “It was fun having good games and a it was a good experience to go to Quebec. It was a different level of baseball and it was a learning experience. It pushed me to play my best.”
He hopes the added experience will help him as he moves to bantam ball next season. “I hope Camrose can have a bantam triple-A team.”
The Dawgs won the opening game against the host squad 7-4, lost to North York 11-1, lost 7-4 to Nova Scotia, lost 6-1 to Manitoba and beat PEI 11-7 to place seventh out of 10 teams.
“The Dawgs picked two other players and myself up to play with them. I had the win in the first game pitching. They never won before, so it was a good experience for everybody representing Alberta.”
Gavin went two for four in the Nova Scotia game with a home run and two RBI’s. He pitched two innings of relief allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk, while striking out four batters.
Gavin finished the tournament with a .375 batting average, a win and he didn’t allow a run on the mound, while striking out 10 batters.
He had a great experience being in a home run derby and winning it. “I was a little nervous, especially because I was the first batter. It was good to set the tone for other players,” said Gavin.
His closest competitor hit 15 in the final, but Gavin continued to out hit everybody at the event.
He has since been invited to tryout for the Team Alberta U16 team to form a squad for the Summer Games.
“Home runs happen, but I’m going to bat to help the team and hit singles. I don’t try to hit home runs unless someone throws me the right pitch.”
In the field, Gavin likes to be behind the plate like his dad, or on the mound. “I learned quite a bit from him (dad Ryan) and the coaches helping me along the way too. I want to go as far as I can in baseball.”

Election at the library

By Lori Larsen

The Camrose Public Library offers residents an opportunity to become more informed about the upcoming election and candidates.
On Thursday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. the library will be hosting a Speed Dating with the Candidate.
“We will host Candidate TV as well,” said Camrose Public Library director Deb Cryderman. “We will be posting an image of each candidate and two or three points about their platform on the television (monitor) by the front entrance of the library.”
On Sept. 22 the library will be hosting members of the City of Camrose staff to answer questions regarding the election.
“We will have information on our social media about election events including questions about the library to ask the candidates.
“We’ll also be sending information packages to each candidate about the library and how it supports the community, both in the City and the County.”
There will also be a display set up in early October for people to leave messages about issues that are important to them.

Rural transportation day

By Lori Larsen

Living in rural Alberta, especially for seniors, can pose some concerns when it comes to transportation in and out of the city to access vital services, shopping and other business.
Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN) has partnered with the Association for Life-wide Living (ALL) in an effort to develop safe and viable alternatives to private transportation for residents living in rural communities.
Residents of Camrose and surrounding areas are invited to Rural Transportation Day II on Saturday, Sept. 23 at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus. Minister of transportation Brian Mason will be in attendance along with other guests that include Dr. Ross Danyluk, executive director Strategy and Policy Branch Transportation Alberta, Martin Bean, chief administrative officer Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission, City of Camrose councillor Max Lindstrand speaking on the Camrose Community Bus and Dr. Peter Berg with Alberta Rural Development Network (ARDN).
The day begins at 9 a.m. with morning prayers by indigenous elders followed by registration, music and coffee at 9:30 a.m.
As part of the initiative to find solutions to the issue of rural transportation the Association for Life-wide Living (ALL) has partnered with ARDN in developing the Battle River Bus (BRB), a regional transportation option for the Battle River Region.
Operating on an on-call basis the BRB runs once or twice a week transporting residents of smaller communities in the Battle River region to and from Camrose for the day.
The long-term vision for the BRB includes an eventual system with interconnections to the entire region with the possibility of a daily service that would allow riders to access employment as well as services.
For more information email source21@telus.net or telephone 780-672-9315.

Wild Rose Co-op agrees to redistrict  changes

By Murray Green

Wild Rose Co-op asked Camrose County to redistrict farm land to provide a general framework for future land use and to assist with future development and subdivision applications within the 13 hectare (33 acre) parcel of land in the county at Pt. SW 33-46-19-W4.
After councillor Brian Willoughby moved the amendment, councillor Jack Lyle moved third reading for the bylaw that also passed at the regular Aug. 22 council meeting. Originally, council had several concerns about the proposal on June 27 and asked Wild Rose Co-op to make some amendments before bringing it back to council.
“It is anticipated that the site will initially provide full crop input services to between 25 to 50 co-op members. The plan is to grow the customer base over time,” indicated county manager of planning and development  Anjah Howard at the June meeting.
“The long-term plan is for blended fertilizer to be delivered directly to farms from the Federated Co-op central blending facilities that have been constructed in Saskatchewan and will be developed in Alberta. The remainder of the quarter section will be utilized for test plots and farming.”
Lyle moved, “That council amend Bylaw 1398 to redistrict Pt. SW 33-46-19-W4 from A-Agricultural to RCI-Rural Commercial Industrial by reducing the size from 40 acres to 33 acres and relocating the rezoning to the southwest corner of the quarter section.”
The preliminary site design includes a sales office, a heated garage, a chemical storage shed, fertilizer blender and storage bin, and several pieces of equipment and bins.
After the June public hearing council asked co-op to address the issues that were raised during the process. Wildrose Co-op met with specific individual landowners and held another Open House on Aug. 1. Based on the feed back, the redesignation was reduced from 40 acres to 33 acres and relocated to the south property line to create additional buffer between the developed site and the existing residential uses. This change also addresses other issues with this proposal.
 The Co-op has also begun a Traffic Impact Assessment for the project, as required by Alberta Transportation.
Some concerns were aesthetics/noise/dust, decreased property values and traffic safety.
“I spoke by telephone with Wayne Nikiforuk. I explained the changes to the proposal and asked if he would like to meet with us in person to discuss any concerns. He stated that he didn’t want to meet and that the move to the south west corner of the quarter should help move the project forward,” said Wild Rose general manager Carol Rollheiser.
“I also stated that we met with Alberta Transportation and they thought it best that we move the access road to the south quarter line to lessen the impact on the closest neighbours for turning lanes.”
Co-op officials met with proposed neighbours Glenda and Ernie Shiell and reviewed the amended plan and the changes to the location of the proposed redistricting acres. They had someone attend the open house and also received a letter.
Councillor Trevor Miller voiced his approval of the work that was done to comply with the proposed changes to the bylaw.
“We would like to note specifically that this planned development is located approximately 800 metres from the road to the first set of acreages and approximately 1.3 kilometres from the entry way to Avonroy Acres,” added Rollheiser.
The site development will be designed to contain storm water runoff, to ensure compliance with existing regulations. The planned dugout on the site will be utilized to provide a water source for fire protection. The Wild Rose Co-op will work with the Camrose Fire Department and the County Regional Fire Chief to ensure that appropriate facilities are developed for fire protection.

County wetland projects to proceed

By Murray Green

Camrose County has been given permission to pursue road projects that are near wetlands.
“Thank you for discussing your concerns about the wetland replacement on Aug. 14. I appreciate the ongoing desire of your council and administration to seek a solution that fits both the needs of your municipality and expectations of provincial policy,” said Ronda Goulden, assistant deputy minister of environment in a letter.
“I understand Camrose County has the option of pursuing the permittee responsible approach toward fulfilment of wetland replacement obligations (as described in the Wetland Mitigation Directive). Provided the requirements regarding wetland avoidance and minimization of impact have been met, it would be up to the County to propose permittee responsible replacement as a means of offsetting any loss of wetland area and function,” said Goulden.
“If the proposed wetland replacement project meets the expectations of the designated director and is executed in accordance with the Wetland Restoration Directive, it would eliminate the need for payment of an in lieu fee,” she added.
Should the County wish to pursue the permittee responsible option for wetland replacement on any upcoming regulatory applications under the Water Act, it is encouraged to work with the appropriate regulatory approvals manager to ensure the application and proposed wetland restoration project are appropriately presented and meet the expectations of the designated director.
“I hope the proposed solution proves satisfactory to you and Camrose County and with this approach the County’s development projects are able to proceed in a timely manner.”
County administration was happy with the response. “I’m not going to say we won the war, but we made significant advances with regards to our discussions with Alberta Environment and alternative options, rather than paying penalties to Ducks Unlimited,” said County administrator Paul King.
“We have been authorized by Alberta Environment, even though they are not finished with the directive, to do the permitting responsible with wetland replacement. We have been exempted from paying the fee provided we provide an alternative wetland replacement policy. This is very satisfactory to us.”

Crop facility in Forestburg

By Murray Green

Richardson Pioneer expanded its retail crop inputs network across Western Canada through the acquisition of two new crop inputs facilities in northeastern Alberta.
Richardson Pioneer acquired Webb’s Crop Services in Vermilion and Agro Guys near Forestburg. Both businesses are independent, full-service retail crop inputs centres that provide local customers with seed, fertilizer and crop protection products. The acquisitions closed on Aug. 31 and employees joined the Richardson Pioneer team on Sept. 1.
“Both businesses have been key service providers in their markets. We look forward to establishing a presence in these communities by working with local farmers to provide them with leading products and technologies, year-round support through our agronomy team and Richardson Pioneer’s best-in-class service,” said Tom Hamilton, vice-president, agribusiness operations.

Births and Deaths

Births
- To Marissa and Steve MacDonald, of Wainwright, a son on September 6.
- To Brianne Kelly and Mark Zatorski, of Ryley, a daughter on September 6.
- To Alycia Willier and Trini Minde of Camrose, a daughter on September 7.

Deaths
 - Lorraine Badry of Camrose, on September 10, at 91 years of age.
- Frederick Charles Crossman of Camrose, on September 11, at 73 years of age.
- Kenneth “Ken” William Hagey of Hinton, formerly of Calgary, on September 11, at 65 years of age.
- Joseph Adam Hill of Camrose, on September 12, at 37 years of age.
- Leonce Mary Dormody of Fort Saskatchewan, formerly of Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, on  September 16, at 79 years of age.