Estevan Mercury 20200701

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New physician, Dr. Rania Eldin, is happy to be practising in the Energy City A new physician has arrived in Estevan, as Dr. Rania Eldin will commence her practice in Estevan this week.

Eldin will establish her practice in the Primacy Medical Clinic attached to the No Frills Grocery Store, where she will share her practice with Dr.’s Edward Tsoi, Allison Christie, Ahmed Belal, Hanan Abou El Yazid and Germin Attia.

Eldin received her medical training in Egypt and brings approximately 15 years of medical practice experience. She is a graduate of the Saskatchewan International Physicians Practice Assessment program (SIPPA), which is the competency assessment program used by the province of Saskatchewan to ensure the qualifications of international physicians prior to licensing in Saskatchewan.

She has also received her License from the College

of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan and has received privileges from the Saskatchewan Health Authority. “ The arr ival of D r.

Eldin will bring the number of full-time physicians practising in Estevan to 13, in addition to several providing locum services at St. Joseph’s Hospital,” said St. Joseph’s Hospital executive director Greg Hoffort. “Dr. Eldin is a welcome addition to the medial staff and the healthcare team at St. Joseph’s Hospital of Estevan and we are pleased that she has made the decision to move to Estevan to practice medicine in our community.”

Hoffort credits a collaborative effort between the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation and St. Joseph’s Hospital for their success in regards to recruitment and retention of physicians.

St. Joseph’s Hospital executive director Greg Hoffort, left, with new physician Dr. Rania Eldin. Photo submitted

Cornerstone school division offers thoughts on classes resuming in the fall “Education is a social endeavour.”

That statement was made by the South East Cornerstone Public School Division director of education Lynn Little near the end of a half-hour interview before the end of the school year.

Following guidelines developed by the Ministry of Health, including the lead medical consultant, Dr. Saqib Shahab, the Ministry of Education and the Education Response Planning Team, the province’s regional school divisions are assembling plans that will enable teachers and students to get together again in a classroom setting.

With schools set to open Sept. 1 in South East Cornerstone and the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division, Little said time was of the essence since there would be a lot to do in the interim. “ We were pro vided guidelines to support the health and the safety of stu-

dents and staff in the form of a framework,” said Little, referring to the June 18 on-line consultations with provincial authorities.

Those wishing to view the status of some on these educational outlines can access them through the Re-open Saskatchewan website.

Little said provincial school divisions are being given local autonomy and within that, there will be different looks in different schools since each facility will be given the opportunity and duty to align with the proposed guidelines.

“A Grade 1 to 6 school will align differently from a high school, for instance,” she said. “The structure will be different. In some schools the teacher moves from classroom to classroom, in others, the students may still have to move to a limited extent to accommodate the classes being taught.”

The goal is then to minimize physical contact in the school and on the school

grounds. Desks may need to be realigned to accommodate better social distancing, while recess and lunch periods may be staggered. Entries and exits to schools might be rearranged to acknowledge the fact many schools have tight hallways.

On the program delivery side, the director said Cornerstone’s Cyber Stone online offerings will undergo a significant expansion to include not only Grade 8-12 programs, but now, all the elementary grades as well, with the assistance of helpful parents who can support online learning programs.

“We have expanded the core curriculum for Grades 8 and 9 that formerly offered four cores. They will have the full seven cores, the same as Grades 10 to 12,” she said.

“With Cyber Stone, the teachers will be assigned to conduct these classes on-line and they will be responsible for their delivery. That is different from home schooling where the parent is responsible for delivering the program.”

Little said with the additional demands expected to arise at Cyber Stone, there could be a call made for additional teaching positions, but that has yet to be determined.

This will provide an option for parents and children to access full curriculum in an online environment as opposed to attendance in a physical school.

It offers another option.

Cornerstone teachers, in the meantime, have been checking in with the division’s administration teams, expressing excitement at being able to get back into a classroom setting, but also issuing statements of concern regarding safety. Little said she understood the mixed emotions that are accompanying the guidelines as they continue to roll out.

“It’s still a little unsettling, and I think it will be for a while,” said Little. “The reconnection will help, but there will be questions, just like there has been for the general public with the re-

Happy Canada Day!

opening of businesses.”

The advice being given by the consultants is to work with local medical officers and take a lead from those experts.

If there are any outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus within schools or among the school populations, there are guidelines to follow.

“We are talking about the regular items such as hand hygiene, soap and sanitizers. We are recommending that staff and students carry sanitizers.

There is no recommendations or demands to wear the masks. That will be a personal choice for staff members and students,” Little added.

If glass partitions are seen as being necessary in some areas, they will be installed.

Little said public access to the schools will be very limited, at best, since there will be a need to do contact tracing in the event of an outbreak in any of the schools.

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Residents can enjoy local fireworks show from home This year Canada Day will look different for residents in Estevan and area, even as restrictions ease amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City of Estevan has announced fireworks will be set off at the Estevan Exhibition Grounds at dusk on July 1.

“We have arranged the fireworks to be set off, up to 800 feet instead of the typical 500 to 600 feet so they can be viewed from further distances,” said event manager Diane Wenham. “With this higher elevation, residents can watch the show better from the comfort of their own home.”

There will be limited parking at the Estevan Exhibition grounds, with flag people to direct motorists.

Recently, the Town of Bienfait announced they would postpone their annual celebrations for Canada Day until the fall; they are aiming

for September. Bienfait has always been an excellent host to Canada Day celebrations with a parade, tradeshow, baseball tournament, outdoor swimming and their outstanding fireworks display, among other activities.

“The Town of Bienfait is welcoming the City of Estevan’s efforts to keep some normalcy for July 1,” said Bienfait Mayor Paul Carroll.

“We look forward to the City of Estevan joining forces with the Town of Bienfait in the future to make the fireworks even more outstanding.”

“Consumer fireworks are not permitted for use within City of Estevan boundaries,” added Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser. “Please take every opportunity to enjoy the display from the comfort of your own home.”

The city is thankful to the Estevan Exhibition Association for the use of their grounds for this event.

A fireworks show will happen in Estevan on Canada Day. People are asked to watch from their own home.

File photo

Communication will continue for back to school plans « A1 restricted and individual school basis once more is known.

There will be additional costs, but seeing that schools and the division witnessed a significant saving with the early shutdown in March, these savings will now be applied to meeting the expected additional costs associated with reopening schools this fall.

“There will be increased cleaning instructions for high touch areas in the schools and then a thorough clean-

ing of the schools at the end of each school day,” she said.

That will not come without an additional cost, although the current maintenance and janitorial structures will need to be accommodated as the plans roll out.

In the meantime, the communications will continue. Little said provincial school administrators have been engaging in conference calls with their counterparts and members of the newly created Education Response

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Planning Team that consists of Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation representatives as well as Saskatchewan School Board Association officers in concert with the Health and Education Ministries.

“We are having the conversations and we are being updated in a timely manner.

There is a lot of back and forth

discussion. We are aligning the pieces to get the information out to the schools and the principals at each school are working in and on areas they can deal with now for the coming school year,” Little said.

Asked how she felt personally about the current environment heading into a new school year that definitely

won’t be the same as other school year beginnings, Little said, “Again the challenge is the time. But things will be put in place and be ready to go to help folks feel more confident and comfortable.”

In the meantime, the general public can be armed with the knowledge there are assurances being built into the

system to consider all possibilities and needs, as students, teachers and support staffers get ready to get back to those schools.

That means Cornerstone administration wants to make the school opening experiences as normal as possible under current and future circumstances.

Estevan among first communities to receive MEEP funding The City of Estevan is among the first communities to receive funding through the provincial government's Municipal Economic Enhancement Plan (MEEP).

Estevan will receive $1,650,433 through MEEP for the expansion of the Estevan Police Service’s building, the Ministry of Government Relations announced June 22. According to the ministry, the funding represents the full allocation for Estevan.

Government funding will cover the bulk of the projected cost.

All Saskatchewan municipalities are eligible for MEEP, with allocations doled out on a per capita basis. To participate in the program, municipalities will need

to submit a signed funding agreement, a project plan identifying which project or projects will be funded and a council resolution supporting the projects.

It must also meet the criteria. MEEP funding can't be used by municipalities to pay down debt, purchase land, lease property or finance administration costs.

Government Relations Minister Lori Carr revealed the first 55 projects from across the province June 22, with more than $7.4 million in provincial investment.

“Through investments like the new MEEP, which focuses on municipal projects and initiatives which will help residents get back to work, Saskatchewan will recover from the devastating

economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Carr said.

“It is exciting to see communities taking advantage of this program by submitting a variety of projects that will improve their local infrastructure, capital assets to provide services and ultimately strengthen their communities.”

The $150 million MEEP 2020 is a key component of the Government of Saskatchewan’s $7.5 billion, two-year capital plan to build a strong province and stimulate its economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each project and its schedule will be managed by the municipality receiving funding. All MEEP 2020 funding must be used by March 31, 2022.

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Elementary schools celebrated their Grade 8 grads

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

Grade 8 graduation was not lost in the shuffle as schools in Estevan wrapped up what has been an eventful and unprecedented year.

Each of the elementary schools in the Energy City found ways to celebrate its graduating children, giving them unique send-offs to the Estevan Comprehensive School.

“We have such a great group of Grade 8s this year, and we wanted to make it special like it has been in past years. But obviously it has to be special different,” said Westview School principal Cheri Haberstock.

Westview wanted to keep their program as close to normal, just without the face to face component. Their ceremony was held June 23; 15 students graduated.

An online ceremony allowed students to show off their fancy dresses and beautiful hairstyles. A video presentation with photos taken during the school year offered a glimpse into the year of the Grade 8s.

Then Haberstock and Grade 8 teacher Shannon Sands addressed them individually, praised the strengths of each student and shared what will be missed about them. The principal’s award was handed out to a student who excelled.

The school posted photos of each student along the northeast fence to celebrate their grad as well.

Hillcrest School held a virtual ceremony on Microsoft Teams on June 24. Kids and their parents attended the ceremony, which was MCed

by Grade 8 teacher Rebecca Bonokoski.

“During the ceremony, we had different things like the messages from the teachers to the students,” said Bonokoski, who teamed up with a student to create a PowerPoint with pictures from throughout the Grade 8 year.

Each graduate had a baby picture and a current picture. “Who is most likely to…” awards were handed out, with each of the 12 grads winning an award.

The Grade 8 graduates from Pleasantdale School in Estevan are a great group of kids. Photo submitted School community liaison Sara Pippus delivered a speech to the Grade 8s, and then two Grade 8s delivered a message on behalf of the class.

Bonokoski said it was important to have something to celebrate the Grade 8s.

“We felt that the kids felt like they were missing out on a lot this year, just because it was their last year at Hillcrest.”

Four or five have been at Hillcrest since kindergarten, so they were particularly sad that their time at Hillcrest ended abruptly.

St. Mary’s School principal Ryan Jutras said it was important to have some kind of celebration for the students. Thirty-three students graduate from the Catholic school this year.

Students and parents have done a good job of navigating the stress and uncertainty of the past three months.

“I think we have to give a lot of credit to our students and to our families for their commitment and effort to maintain these connections and keep up with their school work and their supplemental

learning environment,” said Jutras.

A ceremony on June 25 was a live, virtual grad for students held via Google Meet.

A few students who previously graduated from St. Mary’s talked about their experiences at the Comp. Teachers praised each of their grad students.

Virtual diplomas and awards were handed out.

Jutras is coming to the end of his second year at St. Mary’s, and he has been able to get to know many of the grads very well.

“It sounds like a number of them continued with supplemental learning and persevered. It’s a group with a lot of grit and a lot of work ethic,” said Jutras.

Pleasantdale School’s Grade 8 grad farewell happened June 22, with 24 students celebrated during a virtual grad. Principal Michelle Smart described them as socially aware young people who are quick to volunteer.

The virtual grad followed a similar script to what would happen in the school, with a brief ceremony, a video, speeches from the teachers and an address by Smart.

Westview School has photos of their graduates attached to a fence on the school grounds. Photo submitted

“We thought it was very important, because one of the things that we’ve really missed is just being able to celebrate with our students and do some of those things that we normally do,” said Smart.

But they weren’t able to take pictures, or serve the traditional ice cream sundaes at the end.

Pleasantdale tried to maintain as many activities that are part of the school culture as possible during the past three months, and the Grade 8 grad was one of them. “ We will miss them greatly, and we think that they’re worth celebrating.”

Banners have been hung on a fence, and a lawn banner was delivered to each grad.

At Spruce Ridge School, they had a virtual Grade 8 farewell June 24 through an online learning platform.

Paula Hanson, who teaches the Grade 8s along with Teresa Johnston, said they have prepared a 25-minute video for the kids.

“We always have most likely awards, and they’re voted on by the kids, and they’re kind awards. They’re not making fun of them or

something,” said Hanson.

Also included in the video will be speeches from the elementary teachers with a skit, photos from when the kids were younger, school pictures and farewell tributes from the middle years staff.

“We asked the parents to send in any pictures of their Grade 8 grads dressed up in the clothes they would have worn on the 24th, if we were in the school. Some of them had already bought outfits for it, so we wanted to make sure they had an opportunity to dress up and share their outfits with each other,” said Hanson.

Fifty-six students will graduate from Spruce Ridge this year.

“This is a great group of kids. They’re really a nice group, and they’re going to be greatly missed at the school,” she said.

Sacred Heart School/ École Sacré Coeur is in a unique position in Estevan, as they have one Grade 8 class for English students, taught by Mark Moriarty, and one Grade 8 class for French Immersion, taught by Nancy Bourbonnais. Her class also has Grade 7s.

Bourbonnais said they have printed off the scrolls that they regularly hand out to the grads. They bought treat boxes from Shannon Campbell with Shaga Creations, and the school community council sponsored bracelets for everyone.

School representatives drove to each student’s home and delivered a treat box, a certificate, a bracelet and the Bible they received in Grade 4. Then they presented a slideshow online the teachers have created.

Forty-one grads will be part of this year’s class.

Bourbonnais has been at Sacred Heart for eight years.

She knew many of this year’s Grade 8s previously from coaching them in sports.

They are a wonderful group of kids, she said.

“The students adapted really well, and the students really pulled through. I think it really gave some opportunities to some students,” said Bourbonnais.

But she knows the kids have really missed school in the past three months, and they can’t wait to to go to the Comp. in September.

Photos of the Grade 8 grads from Pleasantdale School. Photo submitted

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EDITORIAL

Wanted: a safe place to walk It’s an issue that has come up at Estevan city council recently, and it should never be an issue to begin with.

Estevan city council twice had to debate the issue of sidewalks in open meetings in June, once at their regular meeting June 15, and the other at a special meeting June 24.

As part of the water main replacement project happening on Veterans Crescent – a short, peaceful residential road in the northwest corner of the city – the plan was to construct a sidewalk on the southern part of the crescent.

But a couple residents weren’t happy about it, so council decided to move the project to the north side. Pretty much every resident who lives on the north side of the street was upset with that decision, so Veterans Crescent will continue to be one of those roads that doesn’t have a sidewalk.

You can fault council for not speaking with the affected residents on the north side of the street before approving the shift in the sidewalk location, but not for their desire to enhance safety in the area by constructing a sidewalk.

It’s a lot safer to stroll on a sidewalk that on the street, even if you’re staying close to the curb.

And while Veterans Crescent would be safer with a sidewalk, you can’t fault residents for not wanting one. It’s either going to cut into their property, or it’s going to result in a narrower street.

We’ve heard of the small-minded “not in

my backyard” attitude that has often been an issue in small communities in this province in the past, but this would fit under “not in my front yard” thinking.

Reality is that at one time, it was acceptable to not have a sidewalk when a new subdivision or neighbourhood was constructed. It would be crazy to think that way now, because we recognize the benefits of well-maintained sidewalks. But when many parts of Estevan and other communities were built, sidewalks weren’t essential.

And so we find ourselves in this all-toocommon situation, in which there are streets and avenues without a sidewalk. Or we have just one when there should be two.

Councillor Trevor Knibbs pointed out that that there isn’t a sidewalk for a stretch of Nicholson Road near the Rusty Duce Playpark, which has a lot to offer kids. It’s insane that there isn’t a sidewalk running alongside a park on one of the most important residential roads in the community.

And then you have the east edge of the city. We all know about the lack of a proper walking area on Kensington Avenue south of Nesbitt Drive. But there’s a serious lack of sidewalks and pathways on roads east of Fourth Avenue South.

We’ve seen some progress on the sidewalk and pathway front in other parts of the city.

Pathways have been constructed on Souris

Avenue North between Eighth Street and King Street, and alongside Fourth Avenue South leading to the north edge of Woodlawn Regional Park.

The sidewalks for Souris Avenue North from Wellock Road to Edward Street, and on Wellock from Souris to Mayfair Bay have been welcome additions.

We’re not the only community with this problem. Go to most communities, and you’ll have some subdivisions in need of a safe place to walk.

A few months ago, Estevan city council decided to apply to the federal government for funding for a pathway system that would connect the entire city. It would resolve some of the issues mentioned previously (such as Kensington Avenue) and create a great system that would make this a much safer community to enjoy some outdoor exercise.

Ultimately, we would need to receive this federal funding to make this project happen. It would be too expensive to make this project occur on our own, even if it were to be completed over several years.

And ultimately, even if we do get the money from the feds, this interconnected pathway project would take time to complete.

But it’s something to possibly look forward to. After all, the more opportunities we have for people to walk safely, the healthier we’ll be and the better off we’ll be.

Is it the beginning of the end?

Today, July 1, 2020, is the last day when Russian citizens can vote for or against the suggested by the government amendments to our constitution. Even though the Russian government and especially our evil genius started gaining power and dropped the hammer a long time ago, today may become the last day of the country as I’ve known and loved it.

The process of changing the constitution is not new to political history, but such a significant reinforcement of the president’s seals is a relatively rare event in the contemporary world. Even though Russia formally is a democracy, in reality, it hasn’t been one for many years. And now it is pretty much the end of the constitutional rule for my home country, and it's really sad, as the amendments take away the last barriers that were controlling Putin’s thirst for power.

The changes were presented to the government by Vladimir Putin – who is in his fourth term and 17th year of presidency – back in January. The government turned the suggestion into a bylaw and invited the citizens to partake in a plebiscite on changes to the constitution.

There are 206 amendments altogether and people can either accept or deny all of them as a package. Russian Echo of Moscow’s author Maxim Katz grouped amendments into three types.

The first and the most important group includes amendments that strengthen Putin’s power and allow him to remain the Russian president pretty much until the end of his days unless he decides to resign or loses elections, in which case the amendments will guarantee his immunity and protect him from the

Ana Bykhovskaia Twenty Lines About… court. The peculiar part of the story is how the amendments are worded. Not just any Russian president, but only the current one will have a chance to claim the position for six times and will have his previous presidencies turned back to zero. So if accepted, the amendments will mean that if he decides so, Putin will run for president again in 2024, after his fourth term is over, and in 2030 for another six years. By the end of the sixth term, he will be 84 years old and will have a 32-year record as a president.

The amendments also give Putin more power over the prime minister and the government allowing him to pretty much control it and affect how it’s formed even more. So in case there is a strong leader growing in the next proximity, nothing will prevent the president from getting rid off potential competition ahead of time.

The second group of amendments is populist. I don’t see them changing anything in real life, but they looked awesome on billboards all over the country. “Let’s keep the family values” (an amendment that formulates marriage as a union between a man and a woman, which was in the constitution before but now probably will result in even more aggression against the LGBT community), “Affordable healthcare for people” (healthcare, including dental and eye care, is

free for citizens), “Let’s protect the memory of ancestors” (the “historic truth” now cannot be re-written) and many more. These amendments are mainly what people are supposed to vote for, even though in reality nothing is being changed in this part.

The third group included some minor corrections in wording, which didn’t actually change anything at all and probably were made just to increase the number of proposed amendments and make the entire process more confusing. As Ella Pamfilova, the chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Russia said, there were so many corrected articles that no bulletin could fit them, and the public was just asked to vote for or against “the amendments.”

I didn’t make it to voting stations in Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto, but most people who partook in the plebiscite and were willing to share their decision with me voted against this magic package.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure that tomorrow or the day after the world will hear that about 90 per cent of Russian people (or maybe a bit less, Putin’s support rates sank big time during the pandemic, so even his PR-team may consider it bad tone to announce such a high number) happily supported the suggested changes.

By the way, the updated Constitution of the Russian Federation already could be found in stores in Russia as early as June 16.

Will the amendments and what they mean to the country’s development eventually lead Russia to the new Iron curtain era? I don't know. But it's heartbreaking to see my country losing the last barrier to the KGB.

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Op-Ed

LYNN CHIPLEY, Broker/Owner Cell 306.421.0100

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

A5

David Willberg Willberg’s World

Thankful to be Canadian I’ve never been shy to express my love for my country.

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always felt very patriotic and so you can imagine the significance of Canada Day to me.

Canada’s birthday still means a lot, even if the 153rd birthday is going to be very different.

When I was younger, the things that fuelled my patriotism were far different: a championship for Canada in hockey or another global sporting event, the realization that a popular singer or actor was Canadian, or an accomplishment by a Canadian internationally in their field.

That mindset has changed over the years.The things that fueld my patriotism are different than they used to be.

Both my grandfathers fought in the Second World War, so our military history has become a greater source of pride over the years. In fact, nothing makes me prouder to be Canadian than our country’s contributions in combat. We definitely punched above our weight in the First and Second World Wars.

The men and women who are currently part of the Canadian Forces remain my greatest source of current Canadian pride.

Dad was an RCMP officer for 30 years, so I’m certainly of our law enforcement, and mom was a nurse for 38 years, so I’m proud of our healthcare system.

And yeah, I’m still pretty proud of our hockey teams (I’m surprised I didn’t get a visit from the city police for a noise violation earlier this year when Canada beat the Russians in the gold medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship). I’m proud of athletes, scientists, actors, authors, musicians and so many others who make an impact on the global stage.

(Yes, I know that Justin Bieber is Canadian, but every country’s going to have one or two musicians that we wish were from somewhere else. For every Bieber, we’ve had a hundred Burton Cummings).

I think I’ve hit the jackpot because I’m Canadian.

At the same time, I’m not going to pretend that everything is perfect in this country. We have a long ways to go. We see it in our treatment of Indigenous people. The residential school system might be our nation’s greatest disgrace. We’re still feeling the repercussions of it today.

The system that existed at one time, and the abuse that occurred, is inexcusable.

It’s tarnished the legacy of our first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. It was Macdonald’s leadership that played such an instrumental role in Canada becoming a nation in 1867; without him, we might not have had this country.

But his decision-making also led to the eventual establishment of the residential school system.

It would be foolish to deny that racism exists in Canada. Some like to talk about systemic racism, and make it an issue of policing, but it exists in other institutions, too.

It’s not just directed towards Indigenous people, either.

But this is still a country that gives us freedom of thought and expression, the freedom to do so many things that we wouldn’t have elsewhere, the freedom of faith, the freedom to marry who we want and the opportunity to choose our desired profession.

We might not like our current prime minister, but it’s not like we have ballot-stuffing, or vote pressuring at polling stations, or armed guards who would threaten us if we didn’t vote for the desired leader. And we can reasonably criticize the prime minister without fear of prosecution.

This country has been able to do some pretty incredible things.

We’re a nation of less than 38 million people. Global estimates put us at 39th in the world for population. Yet we’re one of the global heavyweights economically.

Canada Day is going to look very different this year. We won’t have a lot of the celebrations, whether they be in big cities or small towns. It’s great to see the City of Estevan stepping up to host a fireworks celebration, since there won’t be one in Bienfait, but we’re obviously going to miss out on a lot of events.

We’re a nation blessed with a wealth of resources, of thinkers and doers and innovators, of hard workers with a relentless desire to get the job done. People come from all over the world to live here because they see the opportunity that Canada offers, and they know how incredible our country really is.

Regardless of who said it, or what circumstance, we need to remember that diversity is strength.

And while our wonderful country has a long ways to go, and it will never be perfect, we need to be proud of the country we live in. After all, there are so many people who wish they could live here.

1339 Fourth St., Estevan, SK S4A 0X1 Office 306.634.1020 lynn.chipley@c21.ca www.century21.ca/lynn.chipley

Each office is independently owned and operated.

Hillcrest School wishes farewell to the person behind their breakfast program

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

The Hillcrest School breakfast program has been up and running for almost 10 years, brightening kids’ days, ensuring that every student has enough fuel to get going, and creating an atmosphere of safety and success in the school.

Thousands of volunteer hours were put into the project and now Pat Steinke, one of the people behind the initiative, is saying her good-bye and leaving the sustainable and running program behind.

“It was absolutely fulfilling and wonderful. I saw the students change within the school to becoming a united front where they all worked together. The older students came to the breakfast program and helped serve, they helped the younger ones fill their plates, cut their food.

They visited with the younger ones and literally mentored the young students, so that after the breakfast program when they went out on the school round, the young people had a friend,” said Steinke.

“There were so many positives with this program.”

About 10 years ago Steinke was putting on a school Relay for Life at Hillcrest School and she noticed that not everything was going smoothly with kids.

“I just could see a huge need within the school because there was something missing in some of the young people’s lives. The continuity of certain male figures in their lives, some of them … were arriving at different times to get to school, so something needed to be done to get them there first thing in the morning,” said Steinke.

Hillcrest School’s community liaison Sara Pippus recalled how the first little steps were made at the very beginning of the program.

“She watched as I went and took a little person from a younger grade to our server to make them a toast because they haven’t had breakfast that morning. Then she asked, ‘What did you just do?’ And I said, ‘Oh, we often will make toast or something like that for when they haven’t had breakfast.’ And she said, ‘What would the school do if we had funding for a breakfast program?’ I said, ‘Well, that would be fantastic.’ That was the beginning of a small conversation that turned into a bigger conversation.”

Steinke then was on the board of directors for the United Way Estevan, so after

Pat Steinke has been a big part of the Hillcrest School breakfast program. she talked to the principal and she agreed that there was definitely a need for a breakfast program, Steinke presented the idea to the United Way board during a monthly meeting.

“Every member could see the need and agreed.

Because the United Way Estevan wants to make a difference within their community, they decided to allot a certain amount of money towards the breakfast program. They also put in a lot of time volunteering and helping, so they were really instrumental in getting this off the ground.”

They started with a few little pancake grills and an industrial toaster that was donated early on, just serving off a little table in one of the multipurpose rooms. And now with the help of individuals and local businesses, they have a full kitchen and they are able to serve kids every morning.

“It’s definitely a worthwhile program and would not have survived without having Sara (Pippus) at the helm. She definitely is a caring, wonderful person who made this program work,” said Steinke. “All of the staff at Hillcrest are wonderful, caring people.”

Once the program started, soon the school staff noticed that the absenteeism went down.

“The students came, they had a place to go in the morning and not only fill their belly but in my mind, this program also fed their soul.

It made them realize how valuable they were. It made these students realize that all of these adult volunteers were coming and investing time in them, so they knew they were

valuable,” said Steinke.

T h ro u g h t h e ye a r s , Steinke served as a volunteer for the program. She said that the program was also good for volunteers involved as it made them feel needed as well.

Steinke was also making pancakes, muffins and waffles to feed up to 200 kids. It would take her at least one full day to get all the prep work done that would then be bagged and frozen for daily amounts.

“It was a huge part of my life and definitely a priority to make sure that there were always pancakes and waffles and muffins for these children,” said Steinke.

But now that Steinke and her husband have sold their business, E&G Auto, and retired, it was time for her to step back. She said she will miss the program a lot.

“It’s still a great part of my life … I’ll miss the communication with the school. I used to go have breakfast with the students once in a while, and I really enjoyed that,” said Steinke. “But as long as the program continues, I’ll be happy.”

S teinke spent many years volunteering in the community and said that it’s something she would recommend to everyone.

“The needs out there are huge and great, and volunteering, it opens up your world to realize that there is always somebody or something that needs help … COVID has definitely taught us that if we don’t work together, we are not going to make it.

Volunteering is huge and I find that I get back 10 times

in satisfaction to what work I ever do,” said Steinke.

And all the work and effort Steinke put into the school was always greatly appreciated.

“We just want to celebrate (Pat Steinke) as a volunteer and celebrate her courage and initiative in firing up the breakfast in our school at all, because without her we may have gotten to that point eventually but it never would have been what it is right now without her. So she is a very special lady to us,” said Pippus.

“There is no way that we can say thank you enough to a woman who helped us start our breakfast program and then supported it all the way through these last 10 years.

We were just very excited to have someone like that on board and she’s spent a lot of time spreading the word in the community about what we are doing. And that is valuable to an organization like ours.”

This spring due to pandemic the breakfast program was shifted into the emergency fund used to supply grocery gift cards to the families to help them a bit during trying times.

But once it gets back to normal next school year, they will look for someone who would be willing to join their team and help with breakfasts.

“I hope that there is an organization or somebody who wants to step up and take over what I’ve been doing. Even if they only want to do it for a month or two at a time,” said Steinke.

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A6 July 1, 2020

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City Hall: 1102 4th Street 8 am to 4:30 pm | (306) 634-1800 Leisure Office: 701 Souris Avenue 8 am to 4:30 pm | (306) 634-1880

FLUSHING PROGRAM

Message From

The Mayor

City of Estevan will be having Fireworks on July 1st from the Exhibition Grounds at dusk.

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

2020 WATERMAIN FLUSHING SCHEDULE The City of Estevan will be flushing watermains to ensure good water quality for all users of City water.

This work includes the turning of main water valves around the City, and flushing large quantities of water from various hydrants in each area. During this process you may notice a substantial drop in pressure, this will be brief. As well, discoloured water is possible during the days your area is scheduled for this work (see schedule below), please run a faucet for a few minutes until the water is clear again.

Please contact City Hall at 634-1800 if issues persist. Thank you for your understanding during this important maintenance!

Beginning Monday April 6,2020,and continuing to Friday, June 26,2020, the Water and wastewater Division will be carrying out Sanitary Sewer Main Flushing and Storm sewer Flushing, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. During the periods of jetting, residents and businesses are advised to securely cap basement floor drains.

You may smell an odor in your home, this can be resolved by simply opening windows for a short period of time and running water to ensure all traps are full of water.

Storm sewer will have no effect on homes and business’.

2020 Program Area will encompass all streets North of 6th Street, and west of Souris Ave within City limits including: Morsky Drive

Barabash Bay

Hill Avenue

Larter Road

Taisey Crescent

Veterans Avenue

MacCready Bay

Newcombe Drive

Veterans Crescent

Tedford Way

Nicholson Road

Veterans Bay

Matte Court

Wahlmeier Drive

Kohaly Avenue

Jesse Bay

Boyer Avenue

Lynd Crescent

Wellock Road

Mack Place

Hudson Road

Irvine Crescent

Mather Crescent

Hillcrest Drive

(6) Monday -Friday July 6-10 Area bounded by King Street on the North, CPR Railroad on the South, 14th Ave on the West, and Kensington on the East (includes 7th Street, 8th Street, 9th Street, Centennial, Trojan, and Soo Industrial regions)

Dieppe Crescent

Dyer Road

Hillcrest Bay

Victory Road

Pettigrew Road

Woodend Place

Gibbs Road

McCormick Crescent

Cundall Drive

(7) Monday- Friday July 13-17 Area bounded by Kensington on the West, Sawyer Road on the East, North and South City Limits (includes Glen Peterson Industrial Park, East Industrial, Southeast Industrial regions, and properties along Hwy 39E Service Road)

Mayfair Drive

Grundeen Crescent

King Street

Mayfair Bay

Thorn Crescent

Chinook Bay

Cardinal Avenue

Sinclair Bay

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING COMMUNITY ENGAGMENT BYLAW BYLAW NO. 2020- 2027 Public notice is hereby given that the Council of the City of Estevan, pursuant to Part X of the Planning and Development Act, 2007, will consider adoption of the City of Estevan Community Engagement Policy Bylaw.

The intent of the Bylaw is to describe the manner in which public notice and civic engagement is to be undertaken on matters related to the land use planning within the City of Estevan.

Prior to consideration of this Bylaw, a public hearing will be held: Date: Location: Time:

July 13, 2020 Council Chambers, City Hall 6:00 PM

The public hearing is your opportunity to make presentations directly to Council. Those unable to attend may submit written comments to the City Clerk.

City Clerk, cityclerk@estevan.ca City Hall, 1102 – Fourth Street, Estevan, S4A 0W7 The Bylaw may be viewed at City Hall during regular office hours or viewed online at www.Estevan.ca.

2020 PROPERTY TAX NOTICES 020 Property Tax Notices were mailed out Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Please contact City Hall if you do not receive your property tax notice or need to update your mailing / contact information.

2020 Taxes are due: July 31, 2020 Penalties are accumulative, applied the 1st of each month starting October 1, 2020 as follows: October 1 1.5%, November 1 2.5%, December 1 3.5% Arrears Penalty of 10% will be added to all outstanding amounts on January 1, 2021 Payment Options: • In person at City Hall, Open Monday through Friday, 8:00am – 4:30pm • Payments accepted by Cash, Cheque or Debit • Mail to: 1102 Fourth Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0W7 • City Hall Drop Box – located at main entrance at City Hall. Cheques only please.

• Payment can also be made on-line / or at your financial institution • Pay via credit card through a third party service provider called Plastiq.

Customers using this service will be charged a 2.5% service fee per transaction by the provider.

CONSTRUCTION BULLETIN VETERANS CRESCENT - The City of Estevan is undertaking construction for the Watermain replacement. The affected area includes Veterans Crescent.

• To pay via Plastiq please visit their website at www.plastiq.com you will need a credit card as well as the 12 digit roll number (don’t include the decimal, but use all the numbers) that is found on the top right hand portion of your Notice of Property Tax Levies

Property access and parking restrictions are to occur.

Interested in pre-paying your taxes monthly?

This work will commence June 15, 2020 and will take approximately eight (8) weeks to complete (subject to weather)

The City of Estevan offers (TIPPS) tax installment payment plan service. TIPPS allows property owners to pre-pay their property tax bill in 12 monthly installments making budgeting easier with no added fees or penalties. Monthly withdrawals are made on the first banking day of each month.

City of Estevan will perform this work within the current Bylaw regulations and specifications.

Safety - Construction site could be dangerous. If you have children, please ask them to keep a safe distance from the site. We will take every precaution to ensure public safety, but we need your assistance to constrain the natural curiosity of younger children. Please DO NOT attempt to go close to areas affected.

Theft or Vandalism - If you see any act of vandalism, theft or anyone suspiciously tampering with equipment, signage or barricades please contact 306-634-1800, or after hours call Police.

Questions and Concerns - The City of Estevan, Engineering Services apologize for any inconveniences that this work may cause and thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience. If you have any question or concerns, please call at 634-1800 or approach the supervisor or foreman on site.

The City of Estevan has received an application for a change of use within an existing building, described as: Civic Address: Application: Legal Description: Zoning Classification: Use Classification: Proposed Use

The best time to start would be August 1st to prepay for 2021. Contact City Hall 306-634-1800 for more information.

CAREER The City of Estevan is seeking: Associate Returning Officer

PUBLIC NOTICE • • • • • •

TIPPS applications forms are available at City Hall or by visiting our website at www.estevan.ca

1175 Nicholson Road DP022-2020 Lot 16, Blk 136, Plan 88R41149 Commercial Health Care Zone (C6) Personal Services, Discretionary Use Nail Salon

Prior to this application being considered by the approving authority, any person may inquire and/or make written or verbal submissions on the proposed development. Please direct inquiries to Land Development Services @ 306-634-1821, write or e-mail landdevelopment@estevan.ca prior to 4:00 PM, July 2, 2020.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES: • Provides administration support for the Returning Officer in fulfilling requirements of The Local Government Election Act. • Assists with booking of polling locations (regular, advance, special, mobile).

• Assists with recruitment, organizing of temporary election officials.

• Provides customer service for candidates, electors, and election workers, including answering or redirecting emails, telephone calls and in-person inquiries.

• Assists with ordering and distributing ballot boxes, ballots, vote counting equipment, and election supplies including coordinating logistics with voting locations across the city.

• Assists with closing of the Election process and evaluations following the election.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

REQUIREMENTS AND HOURS OF WORK: • This is a contract, hourly assignment. Hours will vary based on operational needs, with increasing hours as the election date (November 9, 2020) approaches.

• Must be available to work Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. as well as some evenings and weekends from October 1 to November 15, 2020.

Please submit your resume with qualifications to Judy Pilloud, City Clerk cityclerk@ estevan.ca or 1102 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0W7

Business A7

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IT TAKES MORE THAN A SIGN!

Josh LeBlanc

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Chamber releases results of business survey The Estevan Chamber of Commerce has released the results of its annual business survey.

The chamber posed se ver al questions to its members through an online survey, and about 60 of the 304 members, or a little less than 20 per cent, responded.

Executive director Jackie Wall said it’s the highest response rate they’ve ever had.

The first question was on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the businesses. Responses were very different, said Wall.

Just over 13 per cent of respondents said there was minimal impact, but more than 18 per cent said they had a revenue decrease of at least 71 per cent. “ The largest revenue decrease range was 10 to 30 per cent, and that was just about 37 per cent of businesses,” said Wall.

That was to be expected, she said. Some businesses have been able to navigate through this by adapting and changing their services.

But the chamber also has member businesses who had to completely shut down. “ It was kind of in-

teresting to see the range throughout,” said Wall.

The next question was on reasons for being a chamber member. The biggest reason is to support the health of the local economy, which follows a trend from previous years.

“We have a role in advocacy, we have a role in networking, we have a role in education, we have a role in leadership, and that is one of the underlying themes that we always see in that a lot of our members are there to support the health of the local economy,” she said.

Networking opportunities also factored into decisions to be a member.

The chamber also wanted to know whether members thought events add value to their individual businesses, and if events add value to the business community as a whole. Wall noted there were differences in the results, which she found surprising. “ They did see a big value to the business community as a whole.”

Coffee talks and political forums were popular; the support for the latter

surprised the chamber. In the case of political forums, there could be two this year, with both provincial and civic elections scheduled for the fall.

The Estevan Farmers’ Appreciation Evening, the chamber’s business summit and the Estevan Business Excellence Awards were also popular attractions.

“Ever ything that we put on as an event that we’re doing, we are looking at continuing in some form, because it was quite an equal support across the board,” said Wall.

A question on workshops showed that business people wanted to hear about business resiliency, social media use, increasing online presence, small business planning and business finance. “ We’re in a situation where we also have other community partners that the chamber works with, namely Community Futures Sunrise, the economic development office and the new business incubator that just opened up,” said Wall.

Also new on the survey was a question on different

ser vices available in the city. Sports finished first, followed by housing, recreational activities, arts and culture, and parks to round out the top five.

The survey ended with a question on what people think of the role of the chamber in the business community. People suggested the role should be advocating, facilitating business growth, building business confidence, fostering economic growth, enhancing networks and economic growth, and keeping entrepreneurs informed.

“We take this information and we basically take a look at how we’re going to move the chamber forward,” said Wall.

These are questions they have been asking when calling members and hosting events like Coffee Talk.

Property taxes are an issue that businesses in Estevan are always facing, Wall said. Now that the RM of Estevan has reduced its portion of commercial property taxes, other businesses are calling the chamber to find out how they will push for lower property taxes in the

Southern Plains Co-op member/owner allocations totalled at $2,451,019 for the period from Feb. 1, 2019, to Jan. 31, 2020.

But unlike previous years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year the cheques will be mailed out to members/owners.

This year, in the gas and commercial fuel, people received 5.25 per cent (or $0.06) per litre. On purchases of farm diesel fuel, the allocations were 6.75 per cent or six cents per litre as well. Oil purchases were 9.75

per cent payback, food was a 2.75 per cent return and everything else was 1.5 per cent payback.

Last year saw liquor stores open at the Estevan and Oxbow locations. Equity on the alcohol is being paid out as a food item at 2.75 per cent return this year.

Co-op human resources manager Carol McKay said their numbers this year were on par with last year's totals and breakdowns.

“It is very similar to the few previous years. And the

allocations are very similar.

They may be a little bit different, but they are very similar to what we’ve done in the last few years,” said McKay. Southern Plains Co-op has returned $6,793,901 in cash to members/owners over the past five years.

Member alloc ations are part of being a co-op member. Purchases, which people collect using their co-op number, are tabulated at the end of the financial year in late January, then the co-op makes their financial

statement, and based on the total income they made for the year, part of it is added to the paid back cheques.

McKay said they really appreciate all members and their business. “ T h a n k yo u t o t h e members for their support.

They are owners of this business, so they have received part of our profit back to them based on what they’ve purchased. It’s excellent, it’s great to be a member and it’s good that the co-op has done well again in 2019 and we do get to pay back to our

Estevan Chamber of Commerce executive director Jackie Wall city.

Results of the survey were revealed during the Chamber Check-In, a virtual gathering on June 17 patterned after their Coffee Talk sessions.

The day bef ore the check-in, the chamber did an operational review to discuss the impact of CO-

VID-19 on businesses and non-profit organizations.

“We’re looking at what we need to do as a chamber moving for ward, for the chamber organization, but also how we’re going to support the members, and I think the overall theme would be business recovery and resiliency,” said Wall.

members again this year.

That’s a good success rate.”

The member equit y days were held every summer at different locations and were a long-time tradition.

It’s a day when the co-op hands over cheques to members based on how much money they spent in the different departments the previous fiscal year, and the overall profits of the co-op.

This year cheques will be mailed out by July 15, and McKay said that unfortunately, she didn’t foresee any kind of activity to happen

this year due to gathering restrictions.

“That’s a big change.

We are not having members stopping to pick them up.

Because of COVID-19 we can’t do barbecues as we’ve done them in the past. We want to get these cheques out to our members, so everything will be mailed out by the middle of July,” said McKay. Those willing to become a co-op member can invest $10 for a lifetime member/owner share and start sharing in the profits.

Co-op will be mailing equity cheques out this year

YOUTH SPORT ATHLETICS CAMP

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Youth Sport Athletics Camp is a fitness camp for athletes aged 13-18 who are looking to improve their strength and conditioning in preparation for their upcoming sporting seasons. Camp will begin and end with fitness evaluations in order to gauge the progress of each athlete. Focus will be on the strength and conditioning of athletes and skill building, such as working on balance and hand eye coordination.

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2:30 -3:45pm July 27 - August 17 (No class August 3) Affinity Place Cost: $65.00 Register at www.estevan.ca

A8 July 1, 2020

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Exhibits, programs and art scavenger hunt: Estevan Art Gallery and Museum is reopening

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

The long-hoped-for news about museums reopening finally came in, and the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM) is now getting ready to welcome visitors once again.

Three summer students, hired by the EAGM with the help of a grant that director-curator Amber Andersen received from Canada Summer Jobs, are helping the EAGM's staff to get everything ready for the big day. Justin Hertes, Jack McGeough and Hunter Perkins are finishing with renovations inside the building and curating the first exhibit that is slated for July 20.

That’s when the doors will open to the public as well after all COVID-19 related safety measures are put in place.

“We’ve just been using

the opportunity of not being open to the public to paint.

(Summer students) are also working on rearranging the collection and doing other stuff that we can’t do when we are open to the public,” explained Karly Garnier, who is the EAGM’s education, outreach and programming co-ordinator.

The EAGM had to reschedule the shows they would have had due to COVID-19, and they decided to re-open with an exhibit based on their permanent collection.

The seasonal North West Mounted Police Museum won’t open this year.

“Unfortunately, art is fine, people know not to touch art, and all of our pieces will be put behind glass. But the artifacts in the museum, if they are touched, a lot of them can’t be cleaned,” explained Garnier. “And just the nature

REPORT FROM THE LEGISLATURE JUNE 25TH, 2020 Despite economic turmoil, Saskatchewan has remained on track to recover from the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic. S&P Global Ratings has affirmed Saskatchewan’s AA credit rating, proving that despite the effects of COVID-19, Saskatchewan is well-positioned for growth as we re-open our economy and recover from the pandemic.

Re-Open Saskatchewan This past Monday the second part of Phase 4 of Re-Open Saskatchewan, allowing libraries, museums, galleries, movie theatres and live theatres to re-open.

Plans to re-open indoor pools, indoor rinks, indoor sports and activities, casinos and bingo halls will be announced over the coming weeks. Event theatres may operate at 30 per cent capacity, and up to 150 people.

This past weekend, parks and campgrounds were able to open to 100 per cent capacity for overnight stays and limited-term campsites. Access can now be provided to washroom and shower facilities. Please be patient as there will be increased cleaning and disinfection protocols and expectations.

We understand that many residents are getting excited to be back outside and be active. In this phase, outdoor sports can continue to resume with some revisions.

Outdoor sporting events where physical distancing can be maintained can resume. For sports that include full contact play, mini-leagues with modified player participation should be formed to allow teams to safely return to playing games, while helping mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Clare’s Law On June 29, Clare’s Law will come into force, enabling Saskatchewan residents to apply to police for information regarding their partner’s past behaviour.

If applicable, police will be able to disclose of their partners information which may help protect potential victims of interpersonal violence. We believe an individual has the right to ask and the right to know if they are in danger.

Our government has consulted with municipal police services and the Provincial Association of Transition Houses to provide necessary training for police to process Clare’s Law applications in accordance with the legislation.

All municipal police services will be participating in this new protocol. The RCMP has indicated they will not participate. We will continue to reach out to our Prime Minister’s cabinet members and ask for this decision to be reconsidered.

Municipal Economic Program 55 projects with more than $7.4 million of provincial investment have been approved and are moving forward under the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program. This investment will be significant in our economics recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City of Estevan applied and was approved for expansion of the Estevan police service administration building in the amount of $1,650,433 million dollars.

As our government moves into the remaining days of this session, we will continue our work in being transparent and accountable to our constituents. We will pass our 2020-21 Budget and continue to build a strong Saskatchewan. I wish everyone a Happy Canada Day, and remind you all to continue to socially-distance and respect the direction of our health professionals.

If you have any question or would like to arrange a meeting with our office you can email loricarrmla@sasktel.net or give us a call at 306-634-7311.

Lori Carr, MLA Estevan Constituency Office

306.634.7311

loricarrmla@sasktel.net

The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum’s summer students, from left, Justin Hertes, Jack McGeough and Hunter Perkins, are curating the permanent collection exhibit.

of our museum, it ’s very congested in there. So in the interest of public safety and safety of our collection, it is going to be closed.”

She added that they hope to be able to open it again to the public next year. But for now, they will just have a few pieces from the museum displayed in the foyer.

The collection that will be presented to the public in July will also be featured online on their social media for people who can’t come or prefer to view it from the comfort of their homes.

The gallery is also preparing new entertainment for the community. Four artists, Belinda Harrow, Monique Martin, Zoe Schneider and Regan Lanning, stepped forward to help the EAGM put together a fun and art-centred activity for the Estevan community and summer tourists, named the Inside Out exhibition. “ We are par tner ing with Woodlawn on that,” said Garnier. “We are going to have four pieces of art from these artists and they will be popping up in Woodlawn … It’s going to be an art scavenger hunt.

We are going to post hints

when these pieces are down in Woodlawn. We encourage people to find them, take a selfie and send it to us and be entered to win a prize… And we are also going to highlight other cultural spots around town.”

All artists already had or will have their exhibition at the EAGM, and Inside Out will give the community a little taste of their art. More details about the exhibition/game will be published on the EAGM’s social networks. If the initiative goes well, they may expand it and place art indoors come fall to continue the art game throughout the year.

“It’s just something to get art out into the community since we can’t have much going on here,” said Garnier.

The two new regularly scheduled shows will open on August 28.

The EAGM is currently running the Isolation Summer Camp and family art classes that started on June 15 as virtual art programs, and Garnier said they won’t move any of that programming to an in-person format this summer.

The camp is for five to 12-year-olds, and it will go

until the end of August. Parents can engage their kids in activities weekly. Garnier makes projects every week and parents can pick up premade art kits. Each kit costs $5 and includes all one needs to start creating.

“It has all of the instructions, all of the supplies. You can grab it, it’s contactless pickup. You can sign up for one kit a week, two, three kits, whatever you want. Every week there are up to three projects that kids can do,” said Garnier.

Earlier the EAGM received a grant through the Community Initiatives Fund for their in-person summer camp, but the fund allowed them to adapt and to use the money for the different format.

The Family Art program is geared toward toddlers. Parents are offered to pick up one kit a week which costs $2. Both programs will continue until the end of summer. People can register every week by sending Garnier an email. She said they will keep going with contactless pickup for now.

Another initiative they are planning for and that will start in July is Art for Seniors.

“ We are going to be offering art cards with postage, so people can come and pick them up. We’ll post them weekly, it’s a kind of an inspiration project idea that if you want to do it, you can, but you don’t have to.

You come, pick up the card, write a message. We’ll have the postage and the address on it and send it to a senior home in the community.”

The EAGM’s biggest fundraiser, the Rafferty Rumble, was cancelled due to COVI D-19, and the board now is discussing what else can be done to engage and entertain the public and also raise some money to keep the gallery and art in the community going. But a lot of things are still up in the air on both fundraising and programming sides. “ We are sticking to what we have planned out right now, trying to pop up and do as much out into the community or get stuff out to people and then we’ll reevaluate and see where we are going from there.”

In the meantime, the EAGM’s staff keeps working, so with any questions, people can call the gallery during their work hours.

The Estevan Arts Council’s Visual Arts committee has announced that the annual Ev Johnson Memorial Adjudicated Art Show has been cancelled, due to the

current COVID-19 pandemic.

The art show was scheduled to happen this fall.

COVID-19 has impacted the annual event due

to the closure of the Estevan Leisure Centre, where the event was to take place, as well as the restrictions on the number of people allowed at gatherings.

These factors have made it very difficult for the committee to plan and organize the annual showcase of local artists.

The art show has been held yearly since 1984. This event promotes and cultures art in the community and gives emerging artists an opportunity to display their work.

It typically attracts eight to 10 artists.

For the past few years, the show has been a twoday event. The first day is for adjudication and time with the artists for individual and group critiquing. The

second day is an open to public workshop hosted by the adjudicator.

The winner of the Ev Johnson Adjudicated Art Show has two additional opportunities to display their talents. The artist is awarded a private exhibition at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, and is eligible to submit artwork for judging at the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils, with the possibility of having a provincial-level touring exhibition.

The Estevan Arts Council has been working these past few months to ensure that once they are able to hold public events, they will be ready to resume their cultural events schedule to bring the arts into the community for all to enjoy.

Estevan’s adjudicated art show cancelled for this year

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Government announces first of its kind project Saskatchewan is set to welcome an innovative, first-of-its-kind hydrogen production project, which

marks the first, formally approved initiative under the provincial government’s Saskatchewan Petroleum

Innovation Incentive (SPII).

Proton Technologies will deploy its process to extract hydrogen from existing

oil reservoirs, while carbon dioxide will remain trapped in the ground. This cuttingedge technology is the first

Proceeds presented from bottle drive

Sandon Weber, left, owner of Sector 1 Construction and Renovations, presented a cheque to Lynn Rosso, the administrative assistant with the Estevan Salvation Army. The money was raised during a community-wide bottle drive that Sector 1 held for the Salvation Army`s food bank earlier this year.

It is believed to be one of the biggest bottle drives ever in Estevan. A total of 43,624 empty cans and bottles were collected, and the fundraiser generated $5,245.65 for the Salvation Army’s food bank. Empty containers were taken to the Estevan SARCAN recycling depot once it was open to bulk recycling. Photo submitted “IN THE BUSINESS OF

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commercial deployment of its kind in the world. It also has the potential to repurpose abandoned wells, fields and facilities.

“Saskatchewan is a leader in the natural resource sector and continues to pilot new developments and technologies that benefit both the economy and the environment,” Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said.

“This hydrogen project is a win-win: it has a low cost structure and will emit zero emissions.”

The SPII was created to support the commercialization of significant innovations in the petroleum and natural gas sectors in the province. The program offers a 25 per cent transferrable royalty credit on eligible innovation projects and is open to pilot and commercial scaling projects that demonstrate oil and gas innovation in an operational environment.

SPII will target projects related to improving oil and gas recovery, managing environmental impacts, value‐added processing and production byproduct commercialization.

“Saskatchewan is a great

place to invest and do business, especially in the energy industry,” Proton Technologies chairman and CEO Grant Strem said. “We are excited to move ahead with the first commercial deployment of this technology in the world here in Saskatchewan, and we have exciting plans to further advance and scale this technology in future stages.”

“O ur province looks forward to being the home of the world’s first zeroemission hydrogen oil reservoir extraction technology,” Kindersley MLA Ken Francis said. “This project already employs 14 people in the Kerrobert area and has the potential to employ up to 30 people by the end of the year, and lead to further economic diversification and growth, despite these challenging times.”

The hydrogen market is expanding globally, with increasing use in power generation, transportation fuel and feedstock in the chemical industry.

For more information on this incentive, please visit the provincial government’s website.

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Southeast company Saskarc adapted during the pandemic and found ways to fill pressing needs

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

A company that is based out of southeast Saskatchewan was able to find ways to meet pressing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saskarc Industries Inc., an industrial steel and metal fabrication company headquartered in Oxbow, was involved in two separate initiatives. The first was a project named Fastbeds, in which hospital beds were built to meet the expected increase in demand. The more recent effort was to construct hand sanitizer stations.

Roy Drever, the general manager of Saskarc, said they saw a “massive need” across North America for hospital beds. There were a lot of stories in the news about the shortage and there were very high estimates for how many beds would be needed.

Saskarc was facing tough times in their efforts to keep their staff employed.

“We partnered up with two other companies, two large fabrication companies in the U.S., so the trio of us came together, and then there was another large global company that was also part of our group, where we were able to retool our fabrication facilities quickly and manufacture hospital beds,” Drever told the Mercury.

They had to develop a design, engineer it and test it in a rapid fashion, because the need was urgent.

“ Bet ween our three fabrication groups, we put together a large engineering team, and we basically worked 24 hours a day, developing prototypes, and then they’d get a group going to the shops and building them and testing them, putting them through a rigorous process to make sure they were meeting all of the requirements, and then do any design modifications,” Drever recalled.

They were able to quickly empty out a shop, wash it out, reconfigure it from a custom fabrication to a manufacturing site with four production lines, and get the beds to market. “ Virtually overnight, we went from our normal custom steel/structural steel, into producing hospital beds,” said Drever.

In the month of April, they produced about 5,000 beds, and through their network of sub-vendors in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, they produced another 5,000 beds.

About 30,000 beds were created through the various partners and network, and those beds were shipped to locations throughout Canada, the U.S. and other countries.

Drever believes it was “pretty powerful” for the team to support people during the pandemic, with just a one-week turnaround from when the concept was first conceived to the beds being shipped.

The beds that were created through the Fastbeds project, initiated by Oxbow-based company Saskarc and completed through multiple partners. Photo submitted Their strong engineering team, procurement team and knowledgeable production workers allowed them to make the transition and help people.

“We have a continuous improvement manager who is very well versed in production manufacturing, so she was very heavily involved with our production group as well to make sure that we’re setting our manufacturing lines up in the most efficient

Hand sanitizer and sanitization stations are Saskarc’s latest initiative to help out with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo submitted

and productive manner,” said Drever.

Eventually, the availability of beds caught up with the demand, and so production was reduced.

Fastbeds is still going, but they have scaled back. Beds are being shipped out almost every week.

More recentl y, they h a ve s t a r t e d p ro d u c i n g hand sanitization stations, in which they developed the stations for low, medium and high-traffic areas. These have been produced by the thousands, and Drever believes they have sent tens of thousands of gallons of sanitizer.

Everywhere people go, they are now asked to use hand sanitizer, from their office to grocery stores and other retail outlets.

“We had that same engineering team come together and designed three different hand sanitizer stations – low traffic and medium traffic and a high traffic one. And then one of our crews was partnered with an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved food processing facility, and

they retooled their facility to … developing and producing hand sanitizer.”

They were able to take these packages to companies throughout North America.

Manufacturing and production were done through the same facilities and sub-contractor.

Many of their subcontractors had to lay off all their people at the height of the pandemic because they had no work, or their employees were on reduced hours. Those shops became busy again, allowing these companies to return to more normal business hours.

The hand sanitizer project is ongoing. Saskarc has a team across North America that is working on it on a daily basis, and they are shipping to every province in Canada and every state in the U.S. Those who have received a bed through Fastbeds or a hand sanitizer station were ver y happy.

Saskarc has received videos of beds being delivered into large locations or being set up by the U.S. Armed Forces.

“We’d get videos back

from some of their senior officers, just thanking us.

We were sending people to the field to help support them and give them training on how to set them up, and making sure that it went smoothly,” said Drever.

Their normal customer base has been very understanding as well, and they have been willing to work with them on adjusting delivery dates of their normal projects to allow Saskarc to tackle these projects and assist those affected by the pandemic.

Saskarc has employed as many as 135 people, but it currently hovers around 75. In April, when they were at peak levels for the bed project, they hired additional people due to the activity levels.

The pandemic has forced Saskarc to adapt in other ways. They need to have alternating shift start times, coffee breaks and lunch breaks to maintain social distancing, and they had to set up wash stations and sanitization stations, and had to restrict people coming in. As for team

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ESTEVAN’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

www.estevanmercury.ca

July 1, 2020 A11

Advance Tickets recommended.

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Murray GM or High Energy.

Tickets also available at the gate.

Limited seating as per COVID 19 guidelines.

A12 July 1, 2020

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Wednesday,July 1, 2020

A13

Shelley Sargent selected for athletics recognition

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

A long-time supporter of youth athletics in the southeast region has been selected to receive an award for her commitment.

Shelley Sargent, who is the superintendent of schools for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, has been selected to receive the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s (SHSAA) service award for the South East region. “ There are definitely a lot of people in the South East District Athletics Association who would have (been worthy),” said Sargent. “We all do a lot for the student athletes, so to be recognized for my years of service and what I’ve done and brought forward to student athletes was an honour.”

Each year, the SHSAA presents awards at its annual general meeting, and each district selects an award winner to be honoured.

Sargent describes herself as someone who values education through sport, and views sport as an important component of what happens in the school.

“When I think back to when I was a high school

Shelley Sargent, back row right, with the members of the track and field team at Gordon F. Kells High School in Carlyle. Sargent has been selected to receive an award through the South East District Athletics Association. Photo submitted athlete, high school sport was very important to me, and I think had an influence and had an impact on my life, and helped me become the individual that I am today,” said Sargent.

She appreciates all her coaches did for her when she was younger.

“I view coaching as a way to work with students outside the classroom. It’s

definitely an opportunity to build positive relationships with students that then transfer back to the classroom environment.”

As a teacher, she believes she should be involved in the extra activities happening in the school.

She started teaching at Broadview School and coached several sports. She also became involved in

athletics at the district level.

In 1994, she transferred to Stoughton Central, where she was a vice-principal and athletic director, and in 1998 she moved to Carlyle to become the principal of the Carlyle Elementary School, where she remained involved with sport at the elementary level.

In the spring of 2012, she started coaching at the

high school level at Gordon F. Kells High School.

“My children were at the high school at that time, and so I started coaching track and field at the high school, as well as volleyball.

It just continued. I see such value in working with athletes and students outside of the classroom environment,” she said.

And she was a lead rep-

resentative with the SHSAA from 2016-2019.

Student athletes represent a “breath of fresh air and energy,” she said, and now that she is in the role of a superintendent, she has continued to stay involved in coaching in Carlyle.

“When I’m out there working with them, coaching them and helping them become better … in a day, it’s the only time I don’t think work,” she said.

In the community, she has coached baseball in Carlyle and has been part of a Legion track and field club.

During the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games in Estevan, she was the Team South East track and field coach, and will have the same role for the 2021 Games in Lloydminster.

Sargent believes there are a lot of people in the southeast who would be deserving of this award.

“All of the schools in the area have a lot of great people who put a lot of time and effort into valuing education through sport, doing those extras for student athletes in the division,” said Sargent.

Nathan Johnson, who is the president of the South East District, said Sargent was a deserving recipient.

Speedway will have fans present for July 5 program The Estevan Motor Speedway has announced that it is going to have spectators in the stands for a program July 5 at 6 p.m.

The track held its season-opening program on June 13. Billed as the Lockdown Showdown, it aired on pay per view through DARN TV, with no fans in the grandstand.

They will be able to have fans seated July 5, but the rules for the grandstand will have to comply fully with COVID-19 regulations.

Two out of every three rows will be blocked off to ensure social distancing.

When spectators go to find a seat in the grandstand, they are asked to remember that if they don’t live together, don’t sit together, and there should be six feet separating groups.

Track president Byron Fichter said they had been

having discussions with the provincial government about having a live crowd. When the government released Part 2 of Phase 4 of the ReOpen Saskatchewan Plan, and speedway officials saw the guidelines, they realized they could have the limited grandstand.

“Basically at the start, we looked at their outline of rules, which said outdoor sporting activities, you could open up the grandstand if you blocked off every other spot,” said Fichter. “We are actually blocking off two out of every three, which is above and beyond what they recommended. Then we just went ahead and planned the event based on their guidelines.”

Tickets went on sale last week at Murray GM and High Energy Performance.

Fichter noted there has been

a buzz in the community about the track being able to have fans present again.

“We’re just looking forward to having some fun,” said Fichter.

Portable washrooms and hand cleaning stations will be placed and spaced apart in strategic areas to minimize close contact. They will be cleaned non-stop throughout the program by professional cleaners.

The speedway washrooms will not be in use.

Canteen, beer gardens, and merchandise areas will be closed, too. Food trucks will be on site.

There also won’t be a 50-50 draw.

Masks will be provided free of charge. Their use will be recommended, but not mandatory.

All five classes – modifieds, stock cars, sport mods,

Drivers will race in front of fans at the Estevan Motor Speedway`s program on July 5. File photo hobby stocks and slingshots – will be racing that night, and they will be racing for points.

As for the pit area, the speedway will follow the exact same procedure as the Lockdown Showdown. Each driver will be allowed three

pit crew members, and they will be spaced out in the pits to respect social distancing.

The purse will be 50 per cent of its normal size.

“Going to the races is a choice you make. If you are considered a high-risk

individual we recommend you stay home,” the speedway said in a post on its Facebook page. “If you are feeling ill/ sick, please stay home. If you have been in contact with someone that has been ill/ sick, please stay home.”

Softball association excited to begin practices The Estevan Girls Softball Association is excited that it is able to begin practising for the upcoming season.

The association was scheduled to have its registration night and first practice on Monday evening at the Pleasantdale Softball Diamonds, with the under-12 and the under-14 divisions to take to the field for the first time this season.

Players were allowed to start practising once they paid their registration fees. The under-19 players and the learn to play under-10 athletes were to have their shot at registration and practice on Tuesday.

“It’s a great feeling that things are starting to open up again, and these kids will be able to start mingling again,” said president Randy Gooding.

Players can sign up until July 10.

“That’s how we usually start our year is a couple of weeks of practice, but we usually get even more of that, because the provincial teams will start getting together in April (in a normal year),” said Gooding.

The next step will be to allow players to start holding scrimmages and games against local teams. The third phase would allow for

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tournaments and league play outside of the area.

It’s not yet known if there will be provincial tournaments, but those are scheduled for August.

In a post on their Facebook page, it was noted Estevan Girls Softball protocols for cleanliness go beyond the provincial rules, to ensure they are doing all they can to minimize risk, to include pre-activity setup, spectator management and post-activity cleanup. Plans have been designed to consider what needs to be done, and wherever possible to minimize

costs to participants.

All participants in girls softball will be required to provide their own helmet and ball glove as well as hand sanitizer.

Practice sessions for U12 and U14 athletes will be Monday and Wednesday nights, and for the learn to play and U19 players, it will be Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Criteria will have to be followed for safe protocols under the COVID-19 requirements, without sacrificing safety within the sport and maintaining, as much as possible, the spirit and intent of the game.

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Lucinda Milford wins provincial water polo award A volunteer with the Estevan Sharks water polo club has been recognized for her commitment to the sport.

Lucinda Milford has been honoured with the Water Polo Saskatchewan Official of the Year Award.

In an interview with the Mercury, she said she was “quite shocked” when she found about the recognition, but she was also excited.

The award recipients were announced on the Water Polo Saskatchewan Facebook page June 23.

“It ’s nice to see that they were able to look at doing something for all of the athletes and volunteers, and parents and helpers who help make the sport continue as it does,” Milford told the Mercury.

Her involvement with

the sport started about six years when her kids were younger. They went to the annual fall city-wide registration, and she expected to sign them up for hockey. But they enjoyed swimming and decided to enter water polo instead.

Her children – Dierks, Brooks and Royce – enjoy everything associated with the sport.

“They are able to venture into playing with Team Sask., and there is the travelling and the meeting of new people,” she said. “They enjoy different pools around the province, and starting to go nationally and internationally is fairly neat for them to do, especially at a young age.”

The Milford boys practise four days a week between

Estevan, Weyburn and Regina, and they also compete at tournaments. When they get into the higher-end elements like the courses, it’s even more involved.

“It’s a big game to learn.

There are lots of rules. It’s very aggressive. But I have lots of love for it,” said Milford, who would like to get more into the coaching end of things.

As an official, she’s involved with the scoreboard and the computer elements.

She also helps those who aren’t as comfortable.

“I personally don’t like the clock as much, but I believe in diving into it and learning it for the higher end of it, because as they start training higher up and into different leagues for the national Canadian league,

we have to provide time to help with that. The higher up they get into the sport, the more officials they need.

They need the officials, they need the refs. They need everything to make the game go on,” said Milford.

In her award bio, it was noted that Milford is will-

ing to help parents learn the “scary game clock.” She recognizes the clock is part of a tournament.

“I like doing the computer, but it was funny that they noticed that if I have to do it (the clock), I have no qualms about doing it. But it’s not my preferred (sta-

tion),” she said.

And she enjoys learning, watching, helping and even taking pictures for the club.

Milford said she loves the Sharks and how everyone comes together and works together, and she hopes more people in Estevan will see how amazing the sport is.

Youth soccer cancels outdoor summer season The Este van Youth Soccer Association’s board of directors has made the decision to cancel the outdoor summer league for this year.

In an email to the Mercury, the association said countless hours were spent evaluating many different scenarios, but the board could not find feasible options to run the league this summer while ensuring the protection of all players, coaches, volunteers and fans.

The Return to P lay guidelines set out by the Saskatchewan Soccer Association and Soccer Canada, along with the Government of Saskatchewan’s guidelines, provided great insight into how a season could be run, but the board of direc-

tor’s decision was based on time constraints to have a summer season up and running, as well as the impact the guidelines would have on players, coaches, volunteers, parents and spectators.

The board feels that this decision is the best to keep all involved safe and able to play the game in the future.

The board is continuing to run scenarios that would allow Estevan to play soccer in 2020. These options include a fall season or an indoor winter season, as they received interest in both through a survey.

The board will continue to provide updates as they have them.

For those who have

registered with Estevan Youth Soccer already, they can remain registered and registration will continue to be open at this time to measure interest in any upcoming events. The association will not accept any payments with registrations that continue to come in. If you have made payment for a previous registration, please contact estevanyouthsoccer2017@gmail.com or send them message through their Facebook page to arrange a refund and return.

The board appreciates the patience and understanding provided by the community and they anticipate a strong and healthy return to spring/summer soccer in 2021.

Lucinda Milford with her sons Royce (front row left), Brooks (front row right) and Dierks. She has been named Water Polo Saskatchewan`s Official of the Year.

Photo submitted

Wednesday, July 5, 1989

The DC Bombers defended their Souris Valley Ladies’ Softball Association championship in late June and happily posed for the Mercury before an exhibition game. Back row, from left, Doug Wood, Annette Lonechild, Shauna Senger, Diane Anderson, Kim Fichter, Racquel Babyak, Jody Heidinger and coach Dick Mujygla. Front row, Donna Selk, Jane Moriarty, Susan Colbow, Lynn Frehlick, Melanie Balon and Tracey Moroz.

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KIDS ON THE COURSE! Benefits of golf include:

• Making life-long friends and learning a game that can be played. - - Spend quality time with family: Golf can be an event around which all family members can gather for several hours.

• Spending time outdoors: Walking and being active in the outdoors allows for breathing in fresh air and establishes healthy exercise habits, far beyond indoor video games or television.

• Business skills: In addition to etiquette and the ability to play comfortably with new acquaintances, golf teaches self-confidence, improves the ability to work with numbers, and applies problem solving skills that are critical in business.

• Anyone can play: Men, women, children, people from all over the globe and all walks of life come together on a golf course. The diversity found on a golf course opens young golfers to a broader view of the world and all people.

• Self improvement: Golf challenges the player toward constant selfimprovement. Players analyze what they did well and what has to change for them to improve. Players develop habits of self improvement by self-analysis skills, seeking professional instruction, and accepting critique from others.

• Etiquette and values: Golf has a rich tradition of etiquette which lives on today. Playing golf teaches youth how to behave towards self and others, and imparts values such as truthfulness and strength during adversity.

• Health: Golf is an active game and is less injury-prone than contact sports.

Conditioning for golf improves strength of core muscles that support the spine, improve flexibility, and allow participants the opportunity to be active and fit.

• Controlling emotions: In golf as in life, there are achievements and disappointments. Learning from mistakes and overcoming obstacles improves a player’s game, and teaches them to optimistically carry out the same pattern in day-to-day life.

• Fun: Young people grow up too quickly in today’s busy, technological world. Gathering with friends to play golf gives young golfers the opportunity to spend enjoyable times in friendly competition or collegial companionship.

TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course offers private and group lessons.

Find out more by visiting www.estevangolf.com or call 306.634.2017

www.estevanmercury.ca

July 1, 2020 A15

Mats for homeless, crocheted by residents of Bow Valley Villa in Oxbow, are ready to be delivered

By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

The residents of the Bow Valley Villa in Oxbow have been working together for quite a few months in an effort to help the less fortunate. And now handmade, durable, soft and waterresistant mats for homeless people are completed.

Since Christmas, some residents were collecting plastic bags and turning them into plarn, also known as plastic yarn, while Ida Scott and Frieda Sombrutzki, along with Kate Johnston and Sharon East, who

work at Bow Valley Villa, were crocheting the plastic yarn into big cloths. Then Johnston and East finished off the edgings of the mats and crochet beautiful carry straps.

The six mats, formed into backpacks, are ready to serve those who may need them. They will be delivered to Siloam Mission, a shelter in Winnipeg, and Sara Adams, who is the activity director of this non-profit retirement/assisted living complex in Oxbow, is planning to take them up there in October.

Scott and Sombrutzki

made two mats each, and Johnston and East made two more. This activity helped residents keep busy during the long days of self-isolation. The project was planned to go all year long but was completed a bit faster.

“Probably it would have been nice to go a full year with it, but it was quite a difficult medium to crochet with,” said Adams.

Adams won’t be able to deliver mats earlier since the shelter doesn’t accept donations at this point due to COVID-19. Even though there is some time left, residents decided not to make

any more mats due to the difficulty of the material.

Instead, Adams is now looking into the next craft initiative that will help those who don’t have a roof over their heads.

“I hope the community will get behind it. It involves recycling chip packets, chip bags,” said Adams.

She is now on the search for people to drop off their clean chip bags and also clear plastics. Adams found the idea on social media and decided to give it a try. It involves melting the clean chip bags together and using old clear plastic front and back to coat the chip bags. Once two three by six foot panels are made, they seal the end and two sides together to make a foil-lined sleeping bag cover for those sleeping rough on the streets.

“We are hoping to get that up and running,” said Adams. “It ’s a little less labour intensive.”

Diff erent progr ams and the plastic mat project helped the residents to stay involved during the past few months.

“It’s been tough,” said Adams. “We are fortunate that none of us had to be confined in a room, but we still were physically distancing. And not seeing the family is the biggest problem.”

W hile ever ything is

For their next project residents started collecting crisp packets to make sleeping bag covers for the homeless. Photo submitted

Grants for southeast communities Saskatchewan communities will benefit from 358 grants totaling $3,985,127 through the Community Initiatives Fund’s (CIF) Feb. 1 and April 1 deadlines.

These grants will contribute to the wellbeing of 133 communities across Saskatchewan. For the health and safety of all, programs are to adhere to current provincial public health orders and recommendations.

As part of the CIF community grant program, the Estevan Family Resource Centre will receive $25,000 for its crisis counsellor and support services.

Other projects receiving support through the community grants include the school nutrition program at Arcola School, which received $9,500; community programming and education at the Cornerstone Family and Youth Centre in Carlyle, $25,000; craft corner at the Carnduff branch of the Southeast Regional Library, $1,250; and the Healthy Rural Family Project at the Lampman Family Centre, $18,000.

As for the summer grants, Estevan programs

to receive support were: the City of Estevan’s summer playpark program, $5,000; the Estevan Area Literacy Group’s Nature Smarts program, $4,500; the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum’s summer arts camps, $2,000; the Estevan Family Resource Centre’s summer discovery camps, $5,000; the Souris Valley Museum’s summer education and programming, $5,000; and the Souris Valley Theatre’s summer youth theatre camps, $5,000.

Three projects in Carlyle also received support: the Carlyle and District Leisure Complex’s summer programs, $5,000; the Cornerstone Family and Youth Centre’s summer programming, $5,000; and the Carlyle branch of the Southeast Regional Library’s summer programs, $1,250.

Other projects to receive funds are the Arcola Daycare, $800, for Staying Active for all Ages; the RM of Benson, $2,500, for its summer camp; the Village of Carievale, $3,000, for its mobile playground; the Carnduff library, $1,250, for its summer reading program; the One Hope Ministries

of Canada Kenosee Lake Bible Camp, $5,000, for its summer camp program; the Town of Midale, $5,000, for Keeping Cool in the Pool; the Midale branch of the Southeast Regional Library, $1,800, for its summer reading club; the Expressway Family Centre in Oxbow, $5,000, for community summer programming; and the Oxbow and District Recreation Board, $5,000, for its summer activities.

Some summer programs might not be able to happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Projects that won’t be able to proceed returned the funds.

Through its Community Grant Program’s April 1 deadline, CIF approved $2,966,134 in support of 122 grants, for programs that contribute to the wellbeing of children and youth, families, and communities, benefitting an estimated 205,000 participants.

These programs are crucial, as they provide opportunities for children and youth to gain knowledge, skills and supports to develop positive mental health, self- esteem and healthy

lifestyle behaviours, and ensure families have access to supports and resources to create healthy and caring environments.

Additionally, 236 summer grant programs were approved totaling $1,018,993, to support camps and day programs offering positive recreation, arts, culture and learning opportunities for an estimated 59,000 children and youth during the summer months.

The CIF is a special purpose fund created through the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation Act and managed by a government appointed board of community volunteers.

Thanks to an Emergency Pandemic Response Gaming Grant of $5 million from the Government of Saskatchewan, the Community Initiatives Fund is able to proceed with its regular Oct. 1 application deadline.

This one-time grant to the CIF is intended to help offset the loss of more than $8 million the CIF expected to receive this year after the temporary closure of Casinos Regina and Moose Jaw due to COVID-19.

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Ida Scott, left, and Frieda Sombrutzki completed two mats each to help homeless people. Photo submitted

reopening and the residents now can see their families again while keeping distance, it was nice to have the programming going that kept them busy. Now

Adams hopes that she’ll be able to source enough plastic from the local people and businesses to have residents engaged again with the new project.

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Classroom learning in Holy Family will be changed

By Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review The face of learning for primary and secondary students will likely never be the same again, said director of education Gwen Keith at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division’s June board meeting.

The board met in person for the first time since the lockdowns for COVID-19 began in mid-March, with physical distancing observed and a limit to the number of people in the building for the meeting.

The first basic fact remains, said Keith. “We remain in a civil emergency in the province, that is where we are.”

S he noted that the guidebook for how the school division is proceeding is the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan as set out by the province and the chief medical health officer, “and these are the rules we are required to follow. …

We take direction from the medical officer and the premier in terms of education.”

All schools were shut down on March 20, and students have been voluntarily accessing supplemental learning since then, with the school division providing technology for those families who’ve needed it.

“I’m very proud of the efforts of the staff for those

The Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division’s board met in person in June for the first time in three months. Photo by Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review parents who wanted supplemental learning,” said Keith, noting they have now been told that learning could be ended as of June 19, while the staff ’s last day is June 25.

With the return to class now mandated to be on Sept.

1, Keith said the school division needs the details on how they’re supposed to operate the schools when they reopen.

As of the meeting date, no details had been provided, but the province has since posted the guidelines for the return to class.

“Knowing the pandemic

still exists, we have to address the safety of our people and the students,” said Keith.

“We’re having fun doing this, by the way.”

Holy Family has done a couple of surveys of parents about how they’ve been handling the supplemental learning, and Keith said, “They’ve had it with remote learning.”

Noting that the guidelines say physical distancing should be maintained where possible, Keith asked, “How do you manage that with kindergarteners? People must stay home when you’re sick,

so what are the rules for that?

There’s lots of HR complications here.”

She said the top two priorities for the school division are to keep people as safe as possible, and provide education as efficiently as they can.

Board chair Bruno Tuchscherer pointed out that there are bound to be parents who won’t want to send their children to school because of concerns around COVID-19.

“With education being mandatory, we have to figure out how we’re going to deal

with that,” he said, pointing out there are three levels of decision-makers they have to listen to, including the government (including the chief medical health officer), the response planning team (RPT) and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA).

“We want as many kids as we can safely put in the building in school,” said Keith. “We may have some parents say, ‘I don’t want my kids back in school until it’s all figured out.’”

Trustee Rocky Sidloski pointed out that the basic

restriction of two-metre distancing would cause a problem, as with some classrooms, they can’t physically put 30 students into one class based on that restriction.

“The reality is, there are no answers. At the end of the day, if a kid falls down and is hurt, a teacher is going to care for that child. We have this serious obligation to educate … but how do we support a family who has a vulnerable child, or a family with three children and just one computer?” said Keith, adding of the pandemic, “This is going to be around for a while, so we need to do this right.”

In a normal school year, the June meeting is the last board meeting until the fall when the new school year gets underway. Keith noted that the hope is no board meeting will be needed, but as things unfold in the coming weeks, she said a meeting may have to be called if there are decisions needing to be made by the board before school starts in September. “ We ’ve b e e n wo rk ing with the principals and they’re up to the challenge, and we just want to make it happen,” she added.

There will be a virtual opening mass for the new school year on Aug. 25, and the details and the links to access it will be sent out later this summer.

Cornerstone files third straight deficit budget The 2020-21 budget for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division (SECPSD) has been sent to Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education for approval.

For a third consecutive year, the local division is filing a $4.6 million cash deficit operational budget, said Shelley Toth, the division’s chief financial officer.

Pending wholesale adjustments triggered by necessary responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the current budget includes $112.5 million in projected revenues, and operating expenditures of $111.6 million and $11.6 million for capital expenditures.

“We haven’t identified some cost savings this year, but when we do, we will have to post them separately for future use as a one-time event and then we’ll be posting additional future costs as an individual item too,” she said.

Once the provincial health and education bodies indicate what will be expected of the school divisions moving forward into a new academic year, these numbers and budgeted items will become more concrete.

Toth said there is a 1.8 per cent increase in overall funding being put in place for SECPSD in this year’s provincial budget, and a two

per cent increase in salaries for teachers as well as contracted union employees will be covered by the province.

“When it’s all together and we’ve pulled out all the information, it’s a $4.6 million operational deficit,” Toth said.

The division had been dipping into an accumulated surplus of about $30 million to accommodate past operating deficits and they will do so again this fiscal year.

“We could be down to $25 million (in accumulated) surplus for sure, and we’re hoping for better in the future, we’ll just have to wait and see what August brings,”

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she said.

On the capital expenditure file, Toth said $8.2 million of the overall $11.6 million is to be directed to the new Weyburn elementary school.

Another $1.5 million is designated for computer hardware and equipment for eight schools that will be “refreshed” and the data centre will receive an upgrade.

There is another $1.5 million set for the purchase of new school buses.

Jim Henderson, who is the trustee for Subdivision No. 3 in the far southeast corner of the division, noted that at one time when the cur-

rency exchange rate was more beneficial for Canada, they would be able to purchase 10 new school buses from the American suppliers, now that’s probably not possible.

Another $225,000 is being set aside for other division vehicles and $131,000 is designated for the purchase of office furniture and equipment.

Toth explained the $8.2 capital grant for the Legacy Park Elementary School in Weyburn will not be expensed until the construction is complete. The school will be amortized over a 50-year period.

To explain the operating cash deficit, Toth tabled a

report showing operating revenues at $111.5 million and expenses just under $116.5 million that included $11.6 million in tangible capital assets statements, and a further $6.6 million in amortization and $94,500 for future employee benefits.

Debt servicing is now just around $600,000 or less than one per cent of the overall operations while salaries and benefits take up 72 per cent of the expenditures, or nearly $80 million. Goods and services eat up another 22 per cent, or $24.4 million and amortization at six per cent grabs the aforementioned $6.6 million.

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JD 8570 4WD tractor with 4 hydraulics, Versatile 856 $WD tractor with PTO, JD 4440 2WD tractor with JD 148 FEL and 7070 hours showing, John Deere 4020 2WD tractor for parts, Massey 101 Junior 2WD tractor, Husqvarna YTH 23V48 lawn tractor, JD 9600 SP combine with JD 912 pickup header, JD 930 R straight cut header and trailer, 22’ Co-op 722 SP diesel swather, Premier 1900 PT 30’ swather, Case IH PT Chev C-70 grain truck with Cancade grain box, Chev C-65 grain truck needs brake work, 90’ Flexicoil NH SF 110 suspended boom sprayer with chem mixer, Meridian 100 tonne fertilizer bill, 3-Behlin 3300 bushel hopper bottom bins, 2-Westeel 3100 bushel bins on steel floors, Westecl 3300 bushel hopper bottom bin, 2-Behlin 2911 bushel bins on cement, Forever grain cleaner with steel grain bin and pencil augers, Farm King 10-70 swing auger, Brandt 7-40 auger and engine, Sakundiak 6-33 auger and engine, 40’ JD 737 air seeder and JD 787 air cart with double shoot and paired rows, Morris CP-725 cultivator, Riteway 50’ harrow packers, Westeel 1000 gallon diesel tank and electric pump, Degelman ground drive rock picker, Crown hydraulic drive rock picker, Crown hydraulic rock ripper, hydraulic trailer mount log splitter, shop built grain box with hydraulic dump, Versatile sprayer frame with water tank, JD 7720 for parts, Case 1482 PT combine for parts, 1970’s Ford half ton for parts, quantity of scrap iron, various shop tools plus much more! Consignments Welcome. For More Information call 306.861.7555

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Cheers & Jeers

306-634-5588 104 - Hwy. 47 S. Estevan, SK

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

A18

Cheers Cheers to Norm Mack and the City of Estevan for painting the new crosswalk markings on Petterson Drive. The residents in the area really appreciate it.

www.floorstoreestevan.ca

306-453-2519 Bay #1 - Hwy. 13 Carlyle, SK

Council discusses Veterans Crescent project

Cheers to the Estevan Mercury and Scotsburn Dental Centre for providing the children’s page every week. Children enjoy the colouring, puzzles and jokes.

Cheers to Sector 1 Construction and Renovations for organizing the bottle drive that raised so much money for the Salvation Army’s Food Bank, allowing the ministry to continue to meet the needs of the community.

Cheers to gradual addition of services for the Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan. While there’s still a lot to be done, it’s good to see we can enjoy more and more activities.

Cheers to the Estevan Motor Speedway for finding a way to have fans in the stands for their next program July 5. It’s far more enjoyable to watch the races there than on pay per view.

Cheers to the programs that our children will be able to do during the summer months, regardless of whether they are in person or virtual. At least they’ll have something to keep them occupied.

Cheers to all of the great photos that we see of the beautiful scenery in the southeast.

It goes to show what a wonderful area we live in.

Jeers Jeers to people complaining about loud vehicles. Are they really hurting anyone?

Jeers to the Padwick Park for having wood chips instead of sand or rubber under the play structure. So many kids have been getting injuries already this year, with slivers in their feet. There were scrapes all up a kid’s body from coming off the slide and landing on his back.

Jeers to the number of traffic tickets being handed out by members of the Estevan Police Service. In these times of financial difficulty, it makes one wonder why so many are handed out for minor traffic offences.

Jeers to those people who decide they will slander you, when they don’t really know that person and continue to gossip. They might be part of the story one day, and they won’t like what people are saying. Slander is a form of bullying.

To submit a cheer or a jeer, please email it to dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca, or visit www.estevanmercury.ca.

Building

Quality

Affordable For

and

Homes H

Canadian n Families since 1978

A watermain replacement is currently underway on Veterans Crescent.

Estevan city council made a couple of decisions related to projects for a road in northwest Estevan during a special meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The first decision was to award a tender for asphalt resurfacing on Veterans Crescent to Genco Asphalt for $190,020. The resurfacing is connected to a water main replacement project currently underway on Veterans.

In a document released at Wednesday’s meeting, city engineer Kiflom Weldeab said that resurfacing is to start July 13 and wrap up by Aug. 3.

The watermain replacement and asphalt resurfacing are being funded through the infrastructure levy assessed

bimonthly on utility bills.

City manager Jeff Ward noted the cost of the Veterans Crescent project is within the budgeted amount of $650,000.

Councillor Shelly Veroba said she and the other members of council were pleased to see the resurfacing work go to a local contractor.

A new sidewalk was to be constructed on Veterans Crescent, but council has decided to scrap those plans.

A report from Weldeab at the June 15 council meeting called for the sidewalk to be constructed on the south side of the street, but due to opposition from a few affected homeowners, the proposed sidewalk location was shifted to the north side.

However, those who live on the north side of the road were even more vocal in their opposition.

There isn’t a sidewalk on either side of Veterans Crescent.

Mayor Roy Ludwig noted he and Councillor Dennis Moore did some canvassing of those in the area.

“We are in this city all together, and sometimes you have to change your mind to keep peace in the people that are really strong about it,” said Moore, who credited those on Veterans Crescent for being civil about the issue.

C o u n c i l l o r Tr e v o r Knibbs suggested that the money that has been saved by not doing the sidewalk on

Veterans could be directed to another area without one, such as along Nicholson Road near the Rusty Duce Playpark.

“If we can improve the area … I am 100 per cent on board for moving the sidewalk,” said Knibbs, who has seen more people walking since the COVID-19 pandemic came to Saskatchewan.

Knibbs has seen people walk around cars and on people’s lawns in areas where there aren’t any sidewalks.

It was also noted during the June 24 meeting that the ratepayers on Veterans Crescent weren’t going to face extra costs because of the sidewalk addition, despite rumours to the contrary.

Uplifting zucchini A neighbour brought me a freshly picked zucchini Saturday, the first one we’ve had this season.

That act of kindness got me thinking about the power of this oft-maligned vegetable. First, if ever there was a prolific garden vegetable, it’s got to be zucchini. Even one or two plants can become nearly overwhelming, so much so that I stopped growing them a few years back. Boasting their beautiful yellow blossoms, they seem to pop out of the green growth, 10 at a time.

Then, they are not quite as insignificant as they may seem. In researching a bit, I

Linda Wegner Words of Worth found this definition: “[zucchini] a type of botanical berry called a ‘pepo,” being the swollen ovar y of the zucchini flower.” Who would have thought about the internal origin of these bland veggies?

S ometimes, though, zucchinis are not valued highly enough for the nutrition and the taste they bring

to everyday eating. They form part of a delicious casserole and there’s not a lot of things tastier than a zucchini dessert loaf on a winter’s day.

But lest you think I’ve lost my focus as to the purpose of my articles, what I really thought about when Sue handed me that gourd was how it compares with the power of encouraging words.

Often without even realizing it, simple words of reassurance can brighten a day, lift a heavy load or season a time of pain with love-inspired hope.

In writing the epistles to early Christians, the apostle Paul often spoke of the need for and the power of encouragement. While we may never have been imprisoned for our faith, who hasn’t faced situations that have weighed us down with discouragement. Even more, who knows what someone else is facing?

“Anxious hearts are very heavy, but a word of encouragement does wonders.”

(Proverbs 12:25) The Living Bible)

While Canada Day will be Celebrated

in many different ways this year it still reminds us of the precious freedom we have - the gift from the sacrifices made by our countrymen.

“…Free to speak without fear

Free to worship in my own way Free to stand for what I think right Free to oppose what I believe wrong…

- John Diefenbaker

“

www..sheltterho www.shelterhomes.ca ome es.ca Box 845 #200 Hwy. 18 West, Estevan, SK S4A 2A7 Phone: 306-634-7255 • Fax: 306-634-7597

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www.estevanmercury.ca

July 1, 2020 A19

Enjoy your day off with this fun Canada Day word search.

WORDs to find

Simply find the listed words and circle them in the grid.

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Wednesday, July 1, 2020

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Obituaries

Obituaries

JOHANSEN - On Tuesday 16 June 2020 Eleanor Johansen (nee Cory) passed away in Regina,SK at the age of 55.

Eleanor was loved immensely throughout her life and admired for her strength wherever she went. Eleanor will be forever loved and deeply missed by her loving husband Ed and her two children Cory & Lisa. Her brother Norman Cory (Marlene) and her nephew and niece (Brett and Alexa).

Eleanor was predeceased by both her parents Lyall Cory and Frances Cory (nee McFarlane) of Nesbitt, MB. In keeping with Eleanor’s wishes cremation has taken place and a Celebration of Eleanor’s Life will be held on 11 July 2020 in Estevan,SK. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or if you are able to, please plant a tree in Eleanor's memory.

Kevin J. Csada 1959 - 2020

Career OppOrtunities

A cluster of precious memories Sprayed with a million tears Wishing God had spared you If only for a few more years.

You left so many special memories, And a sorrow too great to hold To us who loved and lost you, Mum and Dad Your memories will never grow old.

Thanks for the years we had, Thanks for the memories we shared, We pray that when you left us You know how much we cared.

Forever loved and remembered by your family. Sending you all of our prayers and love, Walter, Donald, Marion, Basil and their spouses and the rest of the family.

Farm ServiceS

Heavy Duty Mechanics, Heavy Equipment Operators and 1A Drivers required: Late model, clean CAT, JD equip: winch, dump, gravel trucks and trailers. Both camp and shop locations; R & B provided.

Wage negotiable.

Clean drivers abstract a must.

Send resume and work references to: Bryden Construction Box 100, Arborfield, Sk. S0E 0A0; Fax: 306-769-8844 Email: brydenconstruct@ xplornet.ca www. brydenconstruction andtransport.ca

Feed & Seed

Kevin passed away surrounded by family on Thursday, June 18, 2020 at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home, Estevan, SK at the age of 61 years.

Kevin will forever be remembered by his family; mother Maxine Csada; brother Michael (Marlene Andreas) Csada; sister Corie Csada and her daughter Courtney; sister Tara (Robin) Holma and their sons, Travis (Katie McLean) Holma and their son Hudson, Zach Holma (Hayley Penner) and their son Liam, J.J Holma as well as special family friends, Karl, Wendy and Krystal Baxter.

Kevin was predeceased by his father Mike Csada.

At Kevin’s request, cremation has taken place and a private family graveside will take place in the summer of 2020 at St. Elizabeth Cemetery near Gravelbourg, SK. Kevin’s family would like to thank the staff at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home for their great care for Kevin over the past six years.

If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to the Estevan Regional Nursing Home (bingo fund) 1921 Wellock Road, Estevan, SK, S4A 2B5.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Kevin’s family – Yvonne Clark Funeral Director.

Bert, late of Estevan, SK, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 21, 2020 at the Estevan regional Nursing Home, Estevan, SK at the age of 80 years.

Bert belonged to the Local 179 and retired in 2016 from being a steamfitter/ pipefitter. Bert will be missed by his brothers and sisters of Local 179.

Bert was predeceased by his parents, Lorne and Alta; 2 sisters, Marilyn and June and Burton’s girlfriend Amanda and father-in-law James Molyneaux.

Integrity Post Frame Buildings

In keeping with Bert’s wishes there will be no memorial service.

If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #60, 1317 - 4th Street, Estevan, Sask., S4A 0X1 or to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, 1600 Halifax St, Regina, SK S4P 1S8 in memory of Bert

SINCE 2008

sales@ Integritybuilt.com 1-866-974-7678 www. integritybuilt.com

HealtH ServiceS

HIP/KNEE Replacement?

Other medical conditions causing TROUBLE WALKING or DRESSING?

Hal Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Bert’s family – Yvonne Clark Funeral Director.

ApArtments/Condos for rent FOR RENT OR SALE Very clean 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo behind Estevan Mall.

All appliances included.

Laminate flooring except lino in kitchen and entrance.

New windows.

On third floor with elevator to underground heated parking garage.

Very well maintained building.

Available in July.

Contact Glenn @ (306) 380-6778.

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Gwen, late of Estevan, SK passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 21, 2020 at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home at 98 years young.

Gwen was predeceased by her husband Edward Walton; daughter Leanne and son-inlaw Lonnie Wolos; parents, Isaac and Ethel Mitchell (Livingston); brothers, Stanley, Gordon (Ruby), Clifford (Shirley), sisters Eileen (Gordon) Miller, Beatrice (Tom) Cox, Ella (Wilfred) Miller, Vera (Milford) Swalwell; brothers-in-law, Lyle, Joe (Ann), sister-in-law Louise (Gordon) McGreggor and Robert Dickinson.

Gwen is survived by her children, Ray (Elaine) Walton, Keith (Fern) Walton, Glen (Merridith) Walton, Donna (Dwight) Dukart, Denise (Sam) Dryden and Murray (Carol); sister Blanch Dickinson and sister-in- law Margret Mitchell.

Gwen was born to Isaac and Agnes Mitchell in January, 1922 in the Justice, Manitoba area. One of nine children Gwen was athletic, she loved sports of all kinds but especially baseball and curling. Meeting and marrying Ed Walton at the start of WWII. Ed enlisted and Gwen worked through the war years. When Ed returned home, they packed up and moved to Bryant, Sk and began farming. Soon children arrived with four boys and three girls and at one point they had four kids under three and with no modern conveniences, hard work was always required. Gwen did have, however, time to enjoy all the kids, friends and activities of Bryant, Benson and eventually Estevan. Mom’s heart broke when she lost Leanne and Lonnie in a terrible accident but found a way to heal and soldier on.

Gwen had a special place in her heart for 14 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Never missing a chance to cut and collect any article appearing in the newspaper and eagerly sharing their accomplishments with anybody and everybody.

We’ll miss you Mom. A Private Funeral Service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers if friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to Estevan Regional Nursing Home – Auxillary, 1921 Wellock Rd., Estevan, SK S4A 2B5.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for the Walton family – Deb Heidinger, Funeral Director.

Cutting your advertising budget Cutting your when businessbudget is slow advertising isbusiness like saying: when is slow "I'll some logs isthrow like saying: on the firesome whenlogs it "I'll throw warms up inwhen here!" on the fire it warms up in here!"

Gwendolyn Ellinor Thompson Gwendolyn Ellinor Thompson, 67, a resident of Cape Coral since 2015, formerly of Annapolis, MD and Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada passed away Sunday, June 21, 2020 in Cape Coral. She was born May 5, 1953 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada to Kenneth and Reta Lang, now deceased. She was also predeceased by in-laws Archie and Phyllis Thompson and brother-in-law Mark Thompson.

Gwen was of the Lutheran faith. She expertly and lovingly balanced a homemaker’s and professional life working in many senior administration positions around the world including Calgary and Toronto in Canada, California, Maryland and Saudi Arabia. She was an avid hockey fan and enthusiastic supporter of her husband, sons and grandson’s hockey teams as well as her favorite professional team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gwen had a gentle personality with an infectious smile and lived life the way she taught her family: Do what’s right, do what’s good, do it with kindness and help others. She was a dedicated mother first and foremost. She treasured her sons, instilled in them strong values that have served them well and embraced every moment with them. She especially loved her role as Grandma and lovingly looked forward to every visit. Earlier in life she embraced and cherished her role as big sister to her siblings. She was truly one of a kind.

Gwen is survived by her beloved husband of 49 years, Brad Thompson of Cape Coral; two loving children, Blair Thompson (Jennifer) of Canton, MI, and Christopher Thompson (Kathryn) of Glenwood, MD; three siblings, Richard Lang (Debbie) and Donna Fleck (Harvey) of Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, Glen Lang (Connie) of Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada; seven grandchildren, Spencer, Bailey, Kelly, Stacia, Adelaide, Avery, Carter; as well as several nieces and nephews. Gwen is also survived by Sister-in-Laws Bonnie Frank (Lorne) of Indio, California, Pat Thompson of Boyle, Alberta, Canada, Brother-inLaws Blaine Thompson (Jana), Regina Saskatchewan, Canada and Darcy Thompson of Vancouver, BC Canada. She will also be lovingly remembered by her best friend and caregiver Susan Hart of Cape Coral, Fl. Gwendolyn was preceded in death by her infant son, Curt.

Memorial Services will be held at a later date in Canada. Details to be announced via HYPERLINK "http://www.MullinsMemorial. com" www.MullinsMemorial.com There will not be any services held in Florida.

Stay up ESTEVANMERCURY The Disability Tax to date Credit allows for ESTEVAN $2,500 yearly tax .CA MERCURY credit and $20,000 BREAKING Lump sum refund.

ESTEVAN NEWS Take advantage of ESTEVAN Apply NOW; quickest refund Nationwide!

Francis Gwendolyn Walton (Mitchell) 1922 - 2020

Bert Middleton 1940 - 2020

Bert’s memory will forever be remembered by his family, wife Jo-Anne; son Wayne and his children, Anna and Tommy; son Burton; brother Mark (Lorrie) and their children Anna and Brandon; as well as special nieces and nephew, Randi (son Daylen), Ricki (children, Braylon and Brynlee), Chandie, Christopher, Lucas and Oliver; mother-in-law Carol Molyneaux; sisters-in-law Jackie, Roberta (Neil) and Donna (Gerard) and brothers-in-law Clarence and Lonnie (Elizabeth).

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coin2000@hotmail.com 306.421.3787 Providing Friendly, Honest Saskatchewan Service

Eleanor Johansen (nee Cory)

In Memory of Effords Vic - December 23, 1919 April 16, 1981 Susie - May 10, 1917 November 2, 2010 Ronnie - December 9, 1951 July 11, 2014 Bobby - October 25, 1948 September 15, 2018 Your memory is our keepsake With which we will never part, God has you in his keeping We have you in our hearts.

Your Family

Anna (Annie) Nettie Ciepliski January 24, 1916 - June 12, 2005 Stephen James Ciepliski November 29, 1908 June 28, 2006

Gold • Silver • Canadian & US Coins • Paper Money Old Scrap Jewellery

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Memorial Contributions in memory of Gwendolyn Ellinor Thompson are suggested to The Turtle Hospital @ HYPERLINK "https://www.turtlehospital.org/files/2014/12/Donation-Form.pdf" https://www.turtlehospital.org/files/2014/12/Donation-Form.pdf Friends are invited to send condolences via the on-line guest book which can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www. mullinsmemorial.com/" www.MullinsMemorial.com.

Mullins Memorial Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Cape Coral, is entrusted with final care.

1056 NE 7th Terrace, Cape Coral, Florida 33909… (239) 2420909 3654 Palm Beach Blvd, Fort Myers, Florida 33916… (239) 2887000 (855) 242-0909 FAX

www.estevanmercury.ca

July 1, 2020 A21

Estevan Bible Camp to have day camps this year The Estevan Bible Camp (EBC) is going to have activities at their site in Woodlawn Regional Park this summer, but their offering will be different than in years past.

Day camps will happen this summer as opposed to the traditional overnight camps. There will be a squirt camp from July 6-8, a junior camp July 13-16 and a teen camp July 18-21.

Camp director Ladan MacKenzie said they have known for some time that they likely wouldn’t be able to have the overnight camps due to COVID-19, and they weren’t sure for a while whether they could do anything at all.

But their team has been wonderful to work with on what they could accommodate.

The Bible camp has some c amp counsellors hired, but they won’t be able to have as many staff members as the past couple of years.

“We’ll still have our kid to team member ratio up so that each of our campers is well looked after, and still gets a very personal camp experience,” MacKenzie

said.

Registrations have been coming in steadily, and the Bible camp is processing them as quickly as they can.

Up to 30 kids can attend each camp, and those youths will be spread out in groups on the EBC grounds at the southeast edge of the regional park.

“We’ll still be doing our traditional things like archery, some different crafts, climbing on the rock wall.

We’ll be able to do some canoeing, but obviously we’ll be spaced out in the canoes” he said.

And, of course, there will be activities such as chapel services during the day.

MacKenzie said people have been gracious about the challenges brought about by the pandemic.

“They seem very happy that we’re actually able to run something, so we’re quite excited to have something for the kids to come and do, and to be able to have camp continue,” said MacKenzie.

In recent years, the EBC’s rock climbing wall has appeared at e vents throughout the region during the summer to promote

The Estevan Bible Camp will have day camps at its facility in Woodlawn Regional Park this year.

the camp and provide another fun options for kids.

MacKenzie hopes that they

can have it out at functions at some point this summer.

Another attraction that

has proven popular in the past few years, the Corn Cob Junction corn maze, will also

be back this fall, but it will have a new location near Macoun.

Firefighters attended another vehicle vs. deer accident Active wildlife in the Estevan area has been frequently coming into contact with drivers lately, which in most cases were not good for either of the participants.

Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) members were called to another accident Tuesday that involved a deer. The collision happened about one kilometre east of Bienfait at about 10 p.m.

“Crews arrived on scene to find out that the vehicle did suffer some fairly significant damage, however, the driver was uninjured,” said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.

Fire crews provided traffic control. The driver was picked up by a friend, while the towing company recovered the vehicle.

“Another big word of caution there. When the mo-

toring public is out driving around during the nighttime, especially dusk and dawn are the times of the day when we see a lot of wildlife activity and they seem to be up moving around. Just exercise a little bit of extra caution, use some situational awareness when you are driving, adjust your driving speed to the road conditions,” said Feser.

Human vision is also adjusting during the twilight times, which makes the situations even more dangerous.

“Just make sure that you are paying attention as there is lots of wildlife,” said Feser.

There were some signs of the animal being injured due to collision, however, firefighters were unable to locate it as it probably wandered away from the scene.

On Tuesday night just before the call, firefighters

were going through their regular training at the station. At this time, the department broke into three separate platoons. One of them was running hydrant drills, another one was doing the ground monitor training and the third one was doing aerial breathing apparatus drills.

The EFRS will also be on scene for the July 1 fireworks in Estevan, monitoring the situation and ensuring there is no fire on the ground.

They are currently working with the City of Estevan and the company that will set up the fireworks, ensuring the safety of the celebration.

“We strongly encourage everybody to enjoy the show at home. The fireworks are going to be … reaching higher elevation, so everybody should be able to see

it safely from the comfort of their back yard.”

Feser also reminded the

public that consumer fireworks are not allowed within the city limits.

“Please, let the professionals do the show and kick back, enjoy and relax.”

CAREER WE ARE LOOKING FOR A SALES REPRESENTATIVE.

SOUTHERN PLAINS CO-OP

CALL FOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS The Southern Plains Co-operative Ltd. invites nominations for the position of Director.

The 3 year terms for the following directors have expired: • Linda Thauberger-Smith • Richard Ruetz • Lynne Hewitt • Michelle Deichert Nominees must meet the qualifications and requirements specified in the Co-op’s Bylaws. Details on the qualifications and requirements can be picked up at the Administration Office.

Nominations must be submitted in writing, no later than July 13, 2020 to: The Nominating Committee Southern Plains Co-operative Ltd. 826 4th Street, Estevan, Sask. S4A 0W1

What you get...

• Friendly, fun & professional work environment • Competitive compensation • The opportunity to sell into many print & digital products • Cake on your birthday • The opportunity to work with local businesses • Flexible hours • Being part of a team that strives to make Estevan a better place by keeping the public informed

If you...

• Enjoy working in a fast paced environment • Are a team player • Are outgoing, creative and can think outside the box • Enjoy working with businesses to promote their products & services • Embrace new opportunities • Thrive working with little supervision • Have sales experience (not necessary) • Are willing to learn • Are self motivated and driven Then this could be the job for you!

Please email your resume with cover letter to: Deanna Tarnes - Publisher/Sales Manager dtarnes@estevanmercury.ca

Questions can be directed to the Nominating Committee: Scott Kienlen: 306-421-8569 Frances Boutin: 306-453-6095 David Murray: 306-685-4606

BUSINESS SERVICES LEGAL Barristers & Solicitors

Paul Elash Q.C. Aaron Ludwig, B.Sc., LL.B. Genevieve Schrader, B. Mgt., J.D. Gainsborough: Thursday a.m.

Carnduff: Thursday p.m.

1312- 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0X2

P. 306-634-3631 • F. (306) 634-6901 • www.kohalyelash.com

AUDIOLOGIST

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306-636-EARS (3277)

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www.suncountryhearing.com

Estevan Constituency Office

306.634.7311 loricarrmla@sasktel.net

A22 July 1, 2020

www.estevanmercury.ca

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HOURS: July 1 - ClOSED - HAPPy CANADA DAy JUly 2 - 4: 10am-6pm • JUly 5 - ClOSed 400 KING STREET • 306-634-7211