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Vol. 17, No. 13, Wednesday, February 23, 2022 www.LamontLeader.com
GOLDEN GIRL BY JOHN MATHER It was a hard fought game against a tough American opponent but the Canadian Olympic Ladies Hockey Team, with local star Emerance Maschmeyer, prevailed and won the gold medal at the Olympics Feb. 16. Marie-Philip Poulin scored a pair of goals in the 3-2 Team Canada win. It meant a gold medal for Bruderheim’s Maschmeyer, who played twice and celebrated two victories as she helped the team go undefeated through the Olympic tournament. Bruderheim Mayor Karl Hauch said her performance at the Olympics was
“awesome.” “Our community is very proud of Emerance and her achievement at the Olympics,” he said. “That’s the ultimate sporting event to compete in and we’re thankful the Maschmeyer family chose to call Bruderheim home.” He said the community was waiting for an opportunity to welcome her home to the town. “I know our administration is working with the family to come up with a game plan to celebrate and cheer for Emerance here in town,” he added. “We’re waiting for the opportunity to celebrate the achievement with Emerance.”
He said there was no specific date set to meet with the golden goalie, but administration would release information as it became available. The 27-year-old Maschmeyer started playing hockey when she was three and then moved to become a goalie when she was seven. It was her first time attending the Olympics as a player, but she has won gold at the International Hockey Federation’s world championship in 2021 to go with silver medals in 2016 and 2015 and a bronze medal in 2017. She also won a gold medal in 2012 at the world championships for U-18 aged players.
Bruderheim’s Emerance Maschmeyer, an Olympic gold medal winning Team Canada goalie at the Beijing games.
Bruderheim congregation gathers for final service in lost building Church looks forward to a new space for worship BY JANA SEMENIUK The Bruderheim Community Church congregation gathered Feb. 20 for one last service after losing a long-fought legal battle with the Canadian District of the Moravian Church for ownership of their property and buildings. The Moravian district won the ruling Dec. 14 and will take over as of Feb. 28. Walls in the church, which the congregation funded and built in 1995, were bare and each room emptied of furniture, books and knickknacks. The old church, on the same property, has not held services since the new church was built. In addition, boxes full of decorations, dishes and books sat neatly on a table near the front door with a sign encouraging anyone to take whatever they liked. After the group of approximately 50 people stood singing and praying, Pastor Wayne Larsen delivered a service focused on thankfulness and moving forward.
“God is not confined to boundaries and his work will go forward as he wants it to go forward,” Larsen said in his opening prayer. Moving forward, Larsen shared exciting news for the church’s next steps. “We had so many people in the community offer to help us out with a place to have Sunday service. Stricklands Dance Studio offered their space, and NightMoves also offered their space. It made me so happy to see so many people bend over backwards to help us out,” he said. “What we are going to do is use the Bruderheim Community Hall for the next five weeks then we are going to lease the ATB space on a month-to-month basis starting in March.” Alberta Treasury Branch, Bruderheim’s only bank, put out a notice in Sept. advising of the permanent closure of the Bruderheim branch as of March 8. The large building has been for sale since Nov.
The Bruderheim Moravian Church, established in Bruderheim in 1895, had been experiencing tension within the congregation since 2014 over ideological differences. Eventually, the ownership of buildings and property came under fire in 2016 when the church congregation in Bruderheim separated legally from the Moravian Church. They became their own entity, the Bruderheim Community Church, after a vote of 49-3 which spawned a fiveyear legal battle for ownership rights to the Members of Bruderheim's Community Church open buildings and proper- their Bibles to follow along during their last service in a ty. church they built and occupied for almost 27 years. Photo: Jana Semeniuk