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Grand opening held for new addictions treatment centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital

By Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter When the current St. Joseph’s Hospital was built in Estevan in 1991, it had an addictions treatment centre in its northeast wing. Budget cuts under the New Democratic Party (NDP) government in 1997 closed that addictions centre, and the space was converted into office usage.

On Sept. 10, a grand opening was held for the new St. Joseph’s Addiction Recovery Centre, in the same space as the previous one.

The project is just about ready to receive patients, with the first expected in early October, according to hospital CEO Greg Hoffort. It should be up to full strength by the end of the year. It will have a total of 30 beds – 15 dedicated for the treatment of crystal methamphetamine addiction, five for treatment of other addictions, four for pre-treatment, such as detox and six for post-treatment.

There are 15 new jobs associated with the centre, with the final round of hiring expected this week. Treatment counsellors have been in place

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From left, St. Joseph’s Hospital board chair Don Kindopp, Minister of Health Jim Reiter, Estevan MLA and Minster of Government Relations Lori Carr, and St. Joseph’s Hospital CEO Greg Hoffort unveil the sign for the new St. Joseph’s Addiction Recovery Centre. The flowers were sent by Sister Therese Roddy and the Sisters of St. Joseph. Photo by Brian Zinchuk for a month, according to Hoffort. Four local physicians have stepped up to provide medical support.

Health Minister Jim Reiter said the proposal was

“forward thinking and demonstrated a real connection to the needs of people experiencing addictions problems in Saskatchewan.”

He said the project will

make a difference in the lives of people and families impacted by addiction.

“The Government of Saskatchewan has heard from residents that more needs to

be done to support people with addictions challenges,” said Reiter. “In particular, we have seen and heard the devastating impacts that crystal A14 » TREATMENT

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Rally tackled mandatory masks and other issues

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

Speeches, a march, signs and supportive applause were all part of a Peaceful Freedom Rally held Saturday afternoon at Torgeson Park.

About 120 people gathered for the demonstration.

While the mandatory use of masks in businesses and schools was the focus of a lot of people’s attention, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was also discussed at length.

Local residents who spoke at the rally included Emily Gillies, Les Dueck, Stacey Wempe, Tara Smart, Bridget Bittman and James Trobert.

Wade Sira, who is the leader of the recently formed Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan (formerly the WExit Saskatchewan Party) also spoke at

the event. He had already been scheduled to be in Estevan for a meet and greet.

The speeches lasted more than an hour, and then about half of those who attended embarked on a walk past No Frills and Walmart – two businesses whose national head offices are requiring customers to wear masks. After returning, the crowd went on their way.

Lauren Packer, who organized the event with a couple of friends, said the rally went really well. She was pleased with the attendance and the messages from the speakers.

“Everybody stayed safe and there was nothing not peaceful about it,” said Packer.

She noted that during the Participants in the Peaceful Freedom Rally march down the path at Torgeson Park march, they came across two as part of the event Saturday. facemasks that were discarded “We stopped at Walmart take some pictures, and then Packer believes the event on the ground – a moment that stuck out for a lot of for a bit so the videographer we turned around and re- succeeded at conveying its and the photographer could turned to Torgeson,” she said.

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Southeast College’s new program receives funding The Southeast College has received significant funding for its newest program.

The provincial transitioning funding committee for economic development is directing $100,000 towards the heavy equipment operator (HEO) program, set to start in April or May 2021.

The announcement was made at the college Thursday morning in the presence of Mayor Roy Ludwig, who is the committee chair, Estevan MLA Lori Carr, representatives of the United Mine Workers of America, the president and CEO for the college Patrick Stoddart, college board chair Janice Giroux and other members of the college and the community.

The establishment of an industry accredited HEO program has been a longtime goal of SE College, and Ludwig said that it was important for the committee and the city to step forward and help this goal to come true.

“Larry (Heggs, SE College facilities manager) and I had a conversation and he mentioned the heavy equipment operator program and that they needed a little bit of extra funding,” said Ludwig.

The provincial transitioning funding committee for economic development was formed to administer

$8 million announced in the fall of 2019 for Estevan and surrounding communities.

The fund was created to assist in the funding of projects that will offset the effects of the transition away from coal-fired power in southeast Saskatchewan.

In his address, Ludwig praised the government and Carr for allocating the money, which will help this program and other important projects to come to fruition. “ With mine workers, with training, I think that’s going to be a key thing moving forward that as we evolve and we need training programs in different areas … they are very willing, very knowledgeable, very fluid to work with us and make the necessary changes, and put different programs in place that can help out the community,” said Ludwig.

The funding will assist in the development of a specialized curriculum that will be used to facilitate training and retraining opportunities.

The project will also have another unique advantage of supporting the City of Estevan with various infrastructure projects as part of the hands-on practical training for the HEO students.

According to the college’s data, employment estimates in 2019 topped almost 5,300 positions with the

future job prospects rated as fair. Most students who were interested in this program had to travel out of the province to receive the training that will soon become available at the college.

“There has been a number of provincial projects announced in Saskatchewan recently that will require an increase in experienced and skilled heavy equipment operators in our province,” said Stoddart. “We are very pleased with the collaboration between the province and the southeast coal transition board that has made this funding possible for Southeast College. The funding towards the heavy equipment operator project will help provide key skilled employees to help fulfill this important labour market need.”

Carr, in her address, thanked the college for being initiative and bringing the needed program forward. She also extended her gratitude to the City of Estevan and the committee for supporting the evolving initiatives.

“To bring programs like this here will not only help the existing businesses, the mines that are here, SaskPower that are here, to continue to be successful operations, but any other economic development that comes out

Southeast College board of governors chair Janice Giroux, left, accepted a cheque from Estevan MLA Lori Carr and Mayor Roy Ludwig, the chair of the provincial transitioning funding committee for economic development. Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia of the community,” said Carr.

She added that the mayor and the committee, which includes representatives of the RM of Coalfields, the RM of Estevan and Town of Bienfait, has been working very hard looking for new opportunities for the City of Estevan and the surrounding areas. And Carr said she is hopeful for the future of the power production in Estevan.

“ W ith all these new opportunities that are hopefully coming our way we’ll only become stronger than before,” said Carr.

On behalf of the college, Sheena Onrait, marketing and communications coordinator, thanked all parties that made the program possible and said that there are more exciting announcements on the horizon.

The timeline for completion of the HEO project is March 31, 2021. The college will tentatively start accepting applications for the program at the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021.

Approximately 18-24 students per year will benefit from this training with the majority of students relocating to Estevan for the duration of their program.

Speakers shared their thoughts on ongoing pandemic « A1 message. People she has talked to found it very informative, and the speakers were effective.

Wempe was the creator of a petition, along with Liana Gill, that generated 2,500 signatures on change.org, calling for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division to make masks optional for their schools.

That petition was going to be circulated at the rally before it was removed from the website.

“All of those signatures are gone. All of those comments are gone.They’re gone,” Packer told the crowd.

Wempe noted it can be found on the iPetition website.

There is a meeting scheduled with the Cornerstone board on Sept. 16, which she finds encouraging.

She said she wants choice on masks.

“We as parents want to be brought into the discussion, because ultimately they are our children,” said Wempe.

She also pointed out that just one child has died of COVID in Canada in six months.

And she’s concerned about children wearing masks all day without a break.

Wempe said people in Estevan have courage, they’re tenacious and they always have hope when they come together as a community.

Trobert said he doesn’t fear COVID-19; rather he fears people are losing individual freedoms for safety.

“While the issue of masks is the most visible and tangible flashpoint in our present dis-

SLOW DOWN

IN SCHOOL ZONES!

course about the erosion of our rights during this pandemic, I’m not here to talk about whether masks are effective or not,” he said.

Rather, Trobert said he was there to discuss people’s legal rights, and what they can do about it.

Trobert argued the government has not used the least restrictive measures to combat the virus, and that the mantra of public safety has subverted individual rights.

He pointed out that the number of people who have died from COVID in Saskatchewan is lower than vehicle collisions, suicides and children who have died while in the care of the system.

Trobert went on to argue that southeast Saskatchewan is not a densely populated area, and it shouldn’t have the same restrictions as Toronto or Vancouver.

“This is Saskatchewan, a place filled with common sense and hard working people,” said Trobert, who encouraged those in attendance to think critically and to support local businesses not requiring masks.

Smart spoke about her mental health experiences during COVID. She told the audience that she battled mental health in the past, but her health

Many people who gathered for the Peaceful Freedom Rally brought signs to voice concerns associated with mask use and other issues. improved, and she was doing well until last fall.

“I had reached out for help again, as I could feel that old darkness creeping back into my thoughts. I didn’t really talk about it with people, because obviously that’s very hard to do.

So I just carried on,” Smart said.

Smart had put her name on a wait list for help, but when COVID hit, the wait list was cancelled. She thought she would be OK, but the pandemic exacerbated the situation as she tried to navigate family needs, distance learning and more.

It’s required a lot of work to remain all right mentally.

“I have to constantly selftalk, focus hard on breathing and calming myself. This happens especially when I wear a mask, and it induces extreme panic. I assure you this is a very real condition. This is not an excuse that some people make up.”

Smart reached a better place by accessing help available from professionals, talking to people, being open and honest, and realizing it’s all right to put the needs of her family first. She asks critically when things don’t

make sense.

Now she’s concerned with how kids will cope with the stress of back to school, and not having sports, extracurricular activities and music programs.

Packer said there has been talk of having another rally, but she wants to take a break, because organizing the rally was a lot of work for her and her friends. A few people suggested having it each week, but Packer would like to see those who reside in the city take the lead, as the organizers live outside of the city.

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Becoming an organ and tissue donor is the easiest way that we can save lives; Blaine Pho

By Ana Bykhovskaia

abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

The Government of Saskatchewan officially launched an organ and tissue donor registry on Sept. 3, the anniversary of the most difficult day for former Estevan resident Blaine Pho and his family.

Two years ago, on that day, his beloved wife and wonderful mother of two children Michelle passed away.

“Michelle was diagnosed with lupus, and after 10 years of fighting this disease it left her with irreversible kidney damage,” Pho said in his sincere and deep video testimony released on the day of the registry launch.

Blaine and Michelle met when they were 25 years old. “ We were out with friends, we got introduced.

And instantly we knew that there was something between

the two of us and before long we were together quite seriously and engaged within a year,” recalled Pho in the video.

Michelle died just a couple of months after their 20-year anniversary. Pho talks about her as “an extremely kind and sensitive, caring and loving person.”

“She was a fantastic mother and friend and my soulmate. She was a schoolteacher in the city, she taught primary grades. Kindergarten to Grade 4 was where she spent most of her years teaching. And she was a very, very compassionate and kind teacher, but it was also a part of who she was,” Pho said in the interview with the Mercury.

Despite all challenges, Michelle kept teaching 20 per cent for over five years, even though she could have been completely on disability.

“She did it because it was something that she was very passionate about and it was part of who she was. It made her feel better to be able to be involved with the school.”

She was also involved with the community and she was helping first-generation Canadians. Faith and the church also played a big role in her life.

Michelle became ill with lupus nephritis, an autoimmune disease, in 2004. For about 10 years, she was ill off and on when the disease would attack her immune system and some of her organs.

“She aggressively treated it with really, really good doctors and good healthcare here. It took them about 10 years, and they were able to put lupus into remission,” Pho recalled.

But while in active phases, the disease damaged Michelle's kidneys, and she was

Blaine and Michelle with their two children, Emily and Carson.

Photo submitted

put on a transplant list. After Michelle went into remission, the family could finally breathe again and thought that everything would be okay, but over the course of the next five years, her kidneys slowly began to fail.

“Once the damage was done, it was irreversible,” Pho said. “She was on the list prior to being on dialysis, however … there aren’t too many donors and it’s very difficult to get a kidney. So the window closed where her kidneys were failing, but she didn’t need to be on dialysis.”

Michelle started dialysis about three months before she died. She was on the transplant waiting list for about three to four years combined.

“There just aren’t that many donors and it’s very difficult knowing the person you love needs a kidney and there is nothing you can do.”

Each case is very specific, but Pho said that a multi-year wait is not unusual when it comes to organ transplants.

Already prior to the tragedy, Pho had known that Saskatchewan didn’t have a registry.

“While my wife was sick it was something on our mind that maybe it was something we can get involved with, helping fundraise or something else after she got her kidney, and of course that didn’t happen,” Pho said.

Life took its course and went the way it did. About a year ago Pho learned that the government was moving forward with an organ and tissue donation registry and he made a decision to become involved in any way that he could. The government asked Pho to share Michelle’s story and be a part of the campaign in that way.

In just a week, the video in which Pho shares Michelle’s story was viewed by thousands of people.

“I was shocked, I’m not an expert on social media, but my video had nearly 15,000 views (as of Sept. 10) on Facebook, which is incredible.

And that’s just people sharing my page, I don’t have a broad

Blaine Pho decided to share Michelle’s story advocating for organ and tissue donation. Photo courtesy of the Government of Saskatchewan footprint,” Pho said.

He added that sharing the story in such a raw format is really hard, but he hopes that it will make people think and make a decision that will save lives.

The new registry allows Saskatchewan residents to make a formal declaration of their decision to become an organ and tissue donor. The registry has been a key part of the government’s plan to modernize the province’s organ and tissue donation system and improve donation rates while reducing transplant waitlists.

Pho was among the first ones to register. He said it doesn’t take much time, but may change the world for someone.

“It wasn’t a tough decision for me to register because I know the impact that an organ donor can have on a person or a family that is waiting for an organ. So for me, it was an easy decision to make and an important one to do,” Pho said.

“It’s the easiest way that we can save lives. It takes about two minutes to register.

All you need is your health card.”

One tissue donor can help 75 people, and one organ donor can save eight lives.

Registering as a donor is the only secure and guaranteed way to make the decision known. Any Saskatchewan resident 16 years or older is eligible to register.

“With this organ and tissue donor registry, we have another way to support grieving families by confirming the intentions of their loved ones,” Saskatchewan Health Authority medical director for donations Dr. Joann Kawchuk said. “Every person who registers increases the chance of a longer, better life for people waiting for a transplant.”

Pho said that after the launch of the new registry a lot of people he knows, including his family in Estevan, reached out to him, and many people acknowledged their decision to become organ and tissue donors as well.

“I believe that the take up for the registry will be very strong, people do care about this. So many people know of someone or they know someone that is in need of a transplant or an organ,” Pho added.

To watch the video testimony, go to www.estevanmercury.ca.

For more information and to register people can go to www.givelifesask.ca.

Estevan Kinsmen Club looking for new members The Estevan Kinsmen Club is seeking new members to join the service group.

Preston Majeran, the president of the Estevan Kinsmen, said that the club is a great fit for anyone who cares about giving back to the community and also likes meeting new people. All talents and skills are always welcome to the club.

“We are looking for any kind of members we can get out there,” said Majeran. “We are kicking off our year. The first meeting was September 14 at Estevan Diversified Services, and we are looking for anybody that wants to volunteer and be a part of the community.”

The Estevan Kinsmen Club currently has 16 members and they are always happy to see more people.

“We do have a lot of projects that require a lot of manpower like our Christmas trees, our Christmas Card Lane, our Chace the Ace. We are always looking for new people to come out,” said Majeran.

The Kinsmen is not just a service club, it’s also a fellowship organization and members have a great time together. “ We do a lot of things, we go to conferences, hockey games, we go golfing together. It’s just a way to get out and meet new people.”

The club can be as big as they want. And the time commitment can be as low as an hour here and there, but sometimes members also can be pretty busy if they choose.

“We always believe that it goes family,

work, Kin. It’s not always about how much time, it’s more that you can come out,” said Majeran.

“We have one meeting a month, and some months we don’t have anything out there. Other months, like during Christmas time, we ask people to come out and do a couple of shifts just for a couple of hours a day.”

If people want to join the Estevan Kinsmen Club, they can reach out to them through their Facebook page or talk to any of the members they know and come to the meeting on Sept. 14.

There are always many projects on the go. Currently, the club is getting ready for the Christmas tree sales that will start at the

end of November. They also keep going with Chace the Ace on Thursday nights at the Black Grasshopper with all proceeds going to various community projects. The club is also looking to do an NHL lottery in partnership with another group in Estevan.

“We are always open to new ideas for fundraising.”

Majeran added that the rink at Kin Park will be undergoing construction in the next little while.

“We just ask that everybody obey the signage.”

The rink will be done by professionals, but the Kinsmen Club is always working on beautifying the park, which can be another way to get involved for new members.

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EDITORIAL

New donor registry is long overdue It was a day long overdue in Saskatchewan.

The provincial government launched an online organ and tissue donor registry earlier this month, making it easier for Saskatchewan residents to declare that they want to donate their organs once they die.

Anything that brings our organ and tissue donation system up to date, improves donation rates and reduces transplant waiting lists (within reason, of course) has to be viewed as a positive.

It’s important to make organ and tissue donation as simple as possible. Go online.

Fill out the forms. Declare your intentions.

Do your part to help others. The new registry does just that.

Outside of religious beliefs, you have to wonder why anyone wouldn’t want to be an organ and tissue donor.

It’s pretty incredible that this province, with its incredibly generous people who care so much about their friends, family and neighbours, has often languished in last place in the country when it comes to organ donations.

We’re so generous in so many ways, but when it comes time to make one of the greatest donations possible, we fall behind the rest.

Organ donation is a tough subject to

broach for a lot of people. Talking about it is a reminder of death. It can be particularly difficult for young people to hear it, because it’s so far removed from their thought process, but in the end, the best time to register someone for the registry is when they’re young.

You can register once you turn 16. We know that for most young people, getting a driver’s licence is top of mind at age 16. But this is another great thing they can do at that milestone year.

And if you’re older, and you haven’t registered to be a donor, what’s stopping you?

Again, it’s a tough subject, but now you have another tool to help others.

There is an out of sight, out of mind component to this. Every once in a while, something has happened to bring organ donation back into the public spotlight. A young person will die far too young, and we’ll marvel at that person for agreeing to be an organ donor. It will inspire other people to finally fill out organ donor forms.

Or we’ll hear the story of a relatively young person who has encountered a serious health issue, through no fault of their own, and will need a life-saving organ donation.

At that point, you’ll often see people stepping forward to offer to be a donor, hoping that they will be a match.

They might not always be compatible with someone, but at least they’re in the registry at that point.

Like so many other issues, after a while, these inspirational stories of organ donation, who saw the value of their efforts, get shuffled to the back pages in favour of other stories of the day.

Just because someone is an organ and tissue donor, doesn’t mean they will be able to help others once they die. But we can’t afford to take a defeatist approach on this issue, either. There’s too many people who need help to say “well, I might not be able to make a difference.”

You can’t make organ donation mandatory. You’ll get caught up in freedom of religion calls in some circles, and the legislation will be caught up in the courts before eventually getting squashed.

And perhaps one day our government will adopt presumed consent with organ and tissue donation, and decide to make it something that you opt out of, rather than into.

But until that day comes, initiatives like this new registry will go a long ways in improving our donation rates.

Perhaps one day, we’ll be first in the country for organ donation, rather than near the bottom.

A day that changed history A bit behind schedule, but this week I finally got to watch the new Mayday on the fourth plane crash on 9/11 (thanks to husband, who watches them all).

Usually, I’m not very kin on this show. It is curious to watch, and some information might be somewhat useful if life takes a flip in the air, but in general, in my case, it just builds up fear.

And I love flying.

But the 9/11 episode caught my attention.

This year they produced a new one, which walks the viewers through the United Airlines 93 flight from the moment of departure to crash, literally reproducing what was happening onboard minute by minute.

This plane was flying to San Francisco, but when hijacked it was initially flown toward Washington, D.C., presumably towards the United States Capitol. It never reached the new destination and crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township, Penn., after passengers thwarted the hijackers.

I guess since this plane never hit the target, I paid less attention to what was happening onboard. In the show, they tried to reproduce what was going on there by crumbs of a Mayday call and phone calls, black box records and testimonies of people related to those who died in that plane. (The last 30 minutes of the cockpit tape remains classified by the FBI, so the producers were working with a transcript and memories of relatives who were invited to listen to the last minutes of their spouses, siblings and children).

The further I was watching the show, the more the two things were getting to me.

First, how brave those people onboard United 93 were. At the time there was an estimate of 5,000 people running the U.S. from the Capitol.

Ana Bykhovskaia Twenty Lines About…

And second, what a huge role coincidence plays in our life. If not for the over 40 minutes of delay, this plane would be in the air and then crashed with the other three aircraft. And not realizing what was going on the passengers and crew probably wouldn’t even try to do anything. But once they knew about the twin towers, those brave people came up with a plan of taking over the plane. They waited until the plane was over the rural area, knowing that chances that they won’t make it out of it alive were too high, and executed their plan to the best of their abilities.

All 44 people on board were killed, including the four hijackers, but that was the only plane that was crashed that day with no casualties on the ground.

The further investigation showed that the military jets were authorized to act too late, and if not for passengers and the crew, who despite the circumstances, refused to give up, United 93 would have made it to its target.

But they acted and probably prevented even a greater shift in tectonic platforms of the contemporary world.

After the show, I looked back at the last 19 years. I remember myself sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner with the family back then. The TV was on and the first breaking news started coming up. I was pretty little, and for me, it looked completely unbelievable.

Probably most of the world then had that vision of a safe and strong country, that was

crashing along with the World Trade Centre.

It was hard to take it as something real. But the changes that came after were even more unreal.

The U.S. outer security approach changed completely. The airport security control never looked as it was prior to 9/11 anymore. (Remember, there was the time we didn’t need to take shoes off and could actually bring our drinks onboard?) The American immigration rules also became way stricter; the country now deports many more people than they used to.

American inner security policies changed significantly as well, and many countries in the world followed that lead, allowing much greater interference of intelligence services into private lives of citizens. National security and defence are now the main priority.

The war against terrorism and related economic changes also affected people all around the world. The villains were known, named and wanted. And that could justify almost anything.

There were new heroes as well. Valiant firefighters, police officers and other first responders who were out of the spotlight before took the place of astronauts, sportspeople and business leaders.

Many young adults now, 19 years later, don’t know the world as it used to be before 9/11, and it definitely changed.

But after thinking about all that, I came back to the United 93. Those people accomplished a feat. The deadliest terrorist attack resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 people and endless injuries. Most people were civilians, the terrorists’ favourite target. But cutting off the legislative head of the state would be a very different story.

Imagine what the world would look like if the Capitol would also have been destroyed that day...

Op-Ed A5

David Willberg Willberg’s World

Drop the puck already. With some fans present.

Normally this would be the time of year in which I’d be stoked for local hockey to start.

The Estevan Bruins would be coming off their first games of the season, or getting ready for their opening games. Minor hockey age rep. teams would be holding tryouts. House league teams would be getting ready for the season to start.

And this year was to have even more excitement with the inaugural season for the Eclipse Downhole Solutions Estevan U18 AAA Bears.

Obviously, this year isn’t a normal year. We don’t know when hockey season is going to begin. We’re confident there will be a season.

As Saskatchewan Hockey Association president Kelly McClintock pointed out recently, there are a lot of things that need to be worked out before a season starts.

But the Manitoba Junior Hockey League just announced they’ll begin play on Oct. 9. That was the date the SJHL had hoped to start, but that now seems unlikely. I don’t know why Manitoba can start in three weeks and we’ll be waiting indefinitely.

For the longest time, Manitoba was doing as good of a job as anyone in North America when it came to COVID-19 cases, but those days are over, and their caseload is more in line with what you would expect from a Canadian province with 1.2 million people.

Is their government more progressive than ours? I doubt it. Are their health officials more permissive? Is their league or hockey association better run? Again, unlikely. So for whatever reason, the Manitoba league will be starting Oct. 9, and the Saskatchewan league will be waiting.

Granted, the Manitoba league’s season will be different than what people are used to. It’ll be a shorter season with just weekend games, and reduced travel and fewer non-division games. But at least fans in those communities get to watch good junior hockey.

The B.C. Hockey League, meanwhile, hopes to start their season on Dec. 1. Not sure why they have to wait. Is it because of all of the yahoos out there who have been holding mass gatherings and leading to the spread of a potentially dangerous virus? Ah, for the days when B.C. was doing a really great job in keeping COVID numbers low.

When hockey games do begin out here, we’ll need to find a balance. Get the protocols in place. Establish a start time for the season. And determine how you can have a reasonable number of fans in the stands.

This is not a call to have business as normal at arenas.

We’ve done a great job of keeping our numbers low. Thirteen cases of COVID-19 in six months in southeast Saskatchewan is a testament to us being smart, especially early in the pandemic.

If we decide to allow Affinity Place to be at full capacity each night right away, we aren’t going to be in great shape for long. You will get a surge in cases, and it won’t just be hockey fans who get sick.

But what’s wrong with 650 fans in an arena that seats 2,662? With the design of the arena bowl, the amount of standing room spots, and the elevated boxes, you can have a decent crowd that’s social distanced and still enjoying the game. You might not get to sit or stand in your usual spot, and you won’t have 10 fans in a private box, but you can still have a crowd that would be close to what the Bruins would attract for a game against the Notre Dame Hounds on a Tuesday night.

(Other teams in the SJHL won’t be able to do 600 fans, because they don’t have the size of the venue. That’s definitely an issue that will have to be addressed).

You can’t try to force an SJHL team to operate with 150 fans per night. It’s not feasible. If 150 fans is the limit, then these non-profit, community-owned teams will need a lot of government support to stay afloat.

If you’re hoping to have 1,200 fans for a Dec. 30 game against the Weyburn Red Wings, that’s likely still asking too much.

But it’s time to get moving on things, to get a schedule in place and to get the games going. Not just on the ice. On basketball and volleyball courts, on football fields, in pools, and on curling ice. These sports can happen while being smart and responsible and while adapting to the current times.

There’s so many people out there who need this to happen: parents, kids, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans.

It’s time.

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Newly formed Buffalo Party’s leader visits Estevan The leader of a new provincial political party was in Estevan on Saturday to chat with local residents and to tout the party’s ideals.

Wade Sira talked about the Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan (formerly WExit (or Western Exit Saskatchewan) and the vision it has for the province. In addition to a pair of meet and greets at the Days Inn, he and local candidate Phil Zajac were at the Peaceful Freedom Rally organized by several local residents at Torgeson Park.

“We want to meet the people and give them more awareness of what we’re trying to do as a party,” said Sira, who was elected as the party’s leader in late July, replacing Jake Wall.

Since he became leader, Sira has been trying to prepare the party for the upcoming provincial election.

The work they’re trying to do would take two or three years, but they want to do it in two or three months.

“We’re trying to make sure we get everything set up with validity,” he said. “We’ve been doing a few other meet and greets across the province to try to bring more awareness.”

The party had six candidates, including Zajac, for the Oct. 26 provincial election, and have more in the vetting process. With the

short time frame, they hope to have 12-16 candidates for this election.

“As a start-up party, the funds aren’t there as well, so for us to run a full slate of 61 candidates, financially, is going to be inconceivable, so if we’re going to do this, we want to make sure we do this with validity and go after the constituencies that are constituencies we feel we can win,” he said.

He hopes to have MLAs in the legislature after the election.

Until they can have a convention, Sira said they’re going to have a baseline policy and platform that members can discuss and vote on.

But they didn’t want to miss this opportunity to provide people with an alternative to the governing Saskatchewan Party and the opposition New Democratic Party.

“COVID has changed everything, so our ability to function as what most parties would function as has been taken away from us,” said Sira.

The party’s platform will focus on how the party was formed as WExit in an effort to get a better deal for Saskatchewan. This province needs to have more power than what is there at this time.

S askatchewan has a wealth of resources that are the envy of the rest of Canada

Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan Leader Wade Sira was in Estevan on Saturday. and the rest of the world, so it’s vital to produce raw materials into milled goods, he said.

The party also calls for a vote among Saskatchewan people to separate from Canada.

He believes Estevan is a constituency that the party can win, even though the Saskatchewan Party has held it since 1999. Sira is impressed that Zajac has past experience as a candidate and knowledge of politics.

“He stands for a lot of the things that we stand for here as Buffalo,” said Sira.

Sira also supports the continued investment into carbon capture and storage technology at Boundary Dam

and the Shand Power Station.

A semi-truck driver, he has delivered loads to both, and has been to the local coal mines.

“There’s no reason why that we invest those billions of dollars into carbon capture and then we decide a few years after it’s been going … and it’s working, so why do we want to shut down our industries in our province and our country, while other countries are putting more and more coal power up? We can lead them.”

Sira noted that when Premier Scott Moe was the environment minister, he said Saskatchewan should be leaders in carbon capture and storage.

Phil Zajac to represent Buffalo Party in Estevan constituency The newly formed Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan has found its candidate for the Estevan constituency in the upcoming provincial election.

Phil Zajac was announced as the party’s candidate on Friday night, and spent the day Saturday meeting with the public alongside party leader Wade Sira.

“The Buffalo Party has a lot of the same core values that I believe in about putting Saskatchewan people first, and finally standing up and saying ‘Enough is enough,’” said Zajac.

Zajac said he wants to see Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station operating; those two units are slated to come offline in 2021 and 2024, respectively. He also wants to see the coal mines continue to operate.

He would also continue to fight the carbon tax that has been forced on Saskatchewan by the federal government. Zajac is concerned the carbon tax might increase.

“Also, the equalization that we send out east to Quebec and area needs to stop as well. There’s no reason for Saskatchewan to be subsidizing Eastern Canada,” said Zajac.

And he wants to see smaller governments and lower taxes for everybody, and for more money to be put into people’s pockets.

“Now everybody has more money to reinvest in their communities, to

continue to grow the economy, but as you keep taking and taking and taking away from the constituents, they have less money,” he said.

The Buffalo Party of Saskatchewan changed their name from WExit (short for Western Exit) Saskatchewan earlier this year. On their website, their platform calls for Saskatchewan residents to have a vote on separation from Canada. Zajac said he supports the vote, because he wants to see Saskatchewan people have a choice.

“That’s the essence of the Buffalo Party philosophy, is we can be independent inside of Canada, or we can be independent outside of Canada.

And that’s what I really like about it.

We don’t want leave Canada, we just want to get some respect from Eastern Canada.”

Zajac believes people in the constituency are tired of the status quo, both federally and provincially. “ We need someone who has a strong personality, a strong voice, to be physically heard in the legislature every day. I believe I have all of those qualities. With my background in oil and farming, I’m able to represent all of the people of this constituency, and I’m able to bring those values to the government, and actually be a voice,” said Zajac.

This isn’t Zajac’s first foray into an election. He ran to be the candidate

p r e b m e t Se $ THE

Phil Zajac for the Conservative Party of Canada in Souris-Moose Mountain for the 2015 federal election. And he was the People’s Party of Canada’s candidate in Souris-Moose Mountain in last year’s election.

Those two campaigns taught him that it’s a lot of work, and it’s important to get his message out.

Zajac is the third candidate to be nominated for the Oct. 26 election. He joins incumbent MLA Lori Carr of the Saskatchewan Party and Linda Sopp of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Zajac said he’s not concerned about having a late start compared to Carr, who was nominated in October 2018, and Sopp, who became the PC candidate in early July.

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New board game celebrates the Energy City

By Ana Bykhovskaia

abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca

A new board game was launched in August to celebrate Estevan.

Estevan-Opoly, created

by Outset Media, is a game that gives players a chance to own some of the most famous landmarks in the community. It appeared in Estevan’s Walmart at the end of summer and since then attracted a lot of attention of local board games fans.

The game is based on Monopoly, the best-selling board game of all time. It allows players to have a great time with family in friends competing to become the biggest real estate mogul in the Energy City.

While the money used in the game is imaginary, the fun is real.

Estevan-Opoly takes a unique spin on the original version of Monopoly, as the places are pillars of the Estevan community. Landmarks that are featured in EstevanOpoly include Hillside Park,

Affinity Place, the Estevan Water Tower, the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club, Hidden Valley Golf and RV Resort, Souris Valley Theatre and Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, among others.

Outset Media, a Canadian owned and operated company, has rights from Parker Brothers to produce Monopoly-style games legitimately and were experimenting with Cat-Opoly, DogOpoly and other versions of the popular game before. But less than two years ago they decided to produce something more unique. In partnership with Walmart, they came up with a line of games based on cities across Canada celebrating the communities Canadians live in.

Jean Paul Teskey, senior vice-president of O utset Media, said they started the line focusing on larger cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, but nowhere was the game as big of a hit as in smaller communities.

“Our best-selling game

last year was from a city in Ontario called Sarnia,” said Teskey.

So this year when Teskey was planning for the new boards, he decided to stick to smaller communities as they seemed to embrace the idea more, and Estevan was among the communities selected to be featured in this new and exciting game. They launched the limited Estevan edition this summer, and it already proved to be a success.

“The sales have been incredibly strong. We sold out of the first shipment very quickly … and sent another one, (which was sold out as well),” said Teskey.

In the last week of summer, they sold 91 EstevanOpolies as opposed to just one Edmonton-Opoly over the same period of time, and 180 more games were shipped to Estevan.

Teskey said that it ’s pretty unique to do something so custom, especially in this day and age, when everything is universal, produced in bulk, and in most

weekly crossword puzzle presented by:

Estevan-Opoly follows rules similar to traditional Monopoly but is played on a board with Estevan landmarks. cases manufactured in Asia.

“We decided to make it very custom and we are making it in North America and we are only producing 720 games at a time,” said Teskey.

Board games in general became more popular during the pandemic when people have been spending more time at home. But having a unique piece makes the game even more exciting.

“I think smaller communities have a stronger sense of community, so they can get it more,” said Teskey, who is personally connected to Estevan through family.

Teskey explained that when it comes to deciding on what to put on the board of each individual game, the Internet helps a lot, but personal knowledge and connections to the communities

are what allows the company to make it even more specific.

Teskey said that Estevan-Opoly so far has been one of their best-sellers and they will probably be producing more games to ensure that they are still available during the Christmas season.

And then they might take a break.

The game is available for sale online at walmart.ca.

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The nominations forms continue to come in for the upcoming civic election in Estevan.

Five nomination papers have now been received for Estevan city council. Incumbents Shelly Veroba and Travis Frank have already filed their papers. First-time candidates Geoff Thiessen, Kirsten Walliser and Bernadette Wright have also submitted the necessary forms.

Mayor Roy Ludwig has already filed his nomination package as he seeks a third term in that role.

And Eric McCrimmon has submitted his forms to be one of two Estevan trustees for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division board.

The RM of Estevan has also started accepting nomination packages for the position of reeve, and for councillor for Divisions 1, 3 and 5.

Incumbent councillor Lorne Jahn filed nomination papers for Division 1, while Kevin Daoust filed for Division 3.

The deadline to file nomination papers for the municipal and school board elections is Oct. 7. The civic election is Nov. 9.

Be sure to visit www. estevanmercury.ca for updates throughout the week on who has filed nomination papers.

www.estevanmercury.ca

September 16, 2020 A7

Prairie Winds hold annual ride The Prairie Winds women’s motorcycle club held its annual Ride for Ronald McDonald House on Sunday, and it proved to be the most successful edition of the event in its 22-year history.

A total of 130 riders registered for this year’s event, and they raised approximately $7,500 for the Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon. It’s believed that both numbers are a record.

This year’s ride started at the Estevan McDonald’s restaurant. Then the motorcyclists travelled to Lampman, Arcola and Stoughton, where they enjoyed a beef on a bun supper at the Crossroads Inn. The Inn donated profits from the supper to the Ronald McDonald House. After supper, the riders dispersed and travelled home. In an effort to respect social distancing, the bikes were parked in the McDonalds and the Room by Room Furniture parking lots this year.

DMS Services meets community’s computer needs DMS Services in Estevan has given the community a retail computer store, and it’s always eager to meet the needs of the community.

“We’re an essential service, so from keeping radio links for people getting Internet to their homes in rural (areas), to helping people get remote stuff set up from your office to your home so people can work from home … we’ve been steady,” said Graham Cennon, the owner of the business located in the 200-block of Fourth Street.

He believes the staff members at the business eat, sleep and breathe computers.

“You name it, we do it.

And we do it well,” he said.

DMS is a Lenovo business partner and serves as a depot for them, so DMS does all of Lenovo’s on-site warranty work. They can handle servers and network rollouts, and nearly 100 people are connected to their WiFi network in rural communities.

The company also looks after website hosting, email hosting, off-site backups and repairs for home computers.

Cennon described it as “end-to-end IT support.” “ We’re a pretty special company, because there aren’t very many of them around like us,” he said.

Back to school always keeps them busy in the late summer weeks, and this year wasn’t any different, with

people looking for a laptop or other computer needs for a child in high school. DMS also sells smart TVs, and those are popular for young people off to post-secondary education.

“Pretty much anything computer-related you need we have here.”

While technology is always changing, Cennon believes DMS is always adapting. He credits the team they have at DMS, which has more than 30 years of technical experience. “ We try to share the information here and work as a team. We’re a ver y team-based company. One guy doesn’t know everything, but everybody knows everything. We teach each other.

That way everybody can do everything.”

The WiFi service has been happening for about two years; they installed towers and expanded their network remotely. Previously they offered private links for people.

“It’s for people … who can’t get Internet and need to be connected. So we plant our shocks and our links, and it’s been very successful.

It’s been very good, and it fits our reputation. We don’t stop until it’s working.”

People in rural communities are able to stream Netflix, run a remote desktop, download their work materials and connect, which has helped during

From left, Abu Faisal, Graham Cennon, Adele Roy-Cennon and Blaise Friess are always eager to greet customers at DMS Services in Estevan. Photo submitted these times as many have shifted to working from home.

Also popular are custom gaming machines. Some of the new games coming out are pretty intensive for computers, so the computers are made for these specific games.

“It’s been taking off a lot more than we expected it to, but more and more

people are coming out and they want to get a gaming machine. Anybody can go online and order parts, but you need to know what you’re ordering and how it all works together and what all that stuff means.”

DMS Services incorporated in 2007 and Cennon arrived in 2013. A growing customer base, combined with Staples’ decision to

leave Estevan, caused Cennon to think it was time for DMS to do more, and move to a new home. “ We bought a building and we renovated it … although we had a little bit of help, but a lot of it we did ourselves after we were done working for the day,” he said.

Those renovations took about a year.

People in the Estevan

area are finding out they’re here, and DMS is able to meet the needs of their customers. The public appreciates the work that they do, and DMS is always going to do its best to please the customers.

“We’re still here after the sale. We’re not just trying to get the sale and not talk to you again. We support you right to the end.”

COVID causes “most interesting” school openings for Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division

By Greg Nikkel of the Weyburn Review There have been many adjustments needed at all levels with the reopening of schools on Sept. 8 in the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division, board trustees heard at their first board meeting of the new school year.

“It’s been the most interesting start-up we’ve ever had for Holy Family,” said Gwen Keith, the director of education for Holy Family, who noted there were two major objectives they aimed for: reducing the risk of transmission of the COVID virus, and continuing classroom instruction with the least disruption possible.

She noted the staff at the schools had a gift of a few extra days to prepare for school opening when it was pushed back to Sept. 8 from Sept. 1 by the province.

Holy Family, along with all other school divisions, are at Level 2 out of the four levels set by the province’s chief medical health officer, which requires mask-wearing by students from Grades 4 to 9 in high-traffic areas, such as hallways or anywhere that

physical distancing is not possible.

Keith said the decisionmaking on what level to operate on was left up to the school divisions, but in reality the chief medical officer recommended that schools be at Level 2 or higher, and there really is no realistic way a school board can go against that.

“Really what we are looking at for Level 2 is the expectation our schools are operating in cohorts, bubbles or clusters. If we were to get into any kind of trouble, it would be easier for tracing and for people to stay within their clusters,” she said. “ What we’ve done is give them the gift of bringing in our own nurse that we’ve hired to help us manage the complexity of this, and to help us be OH&S (occupational health and safety) compliant.”

She referred to registered nurse Joan Pratchler, who came in and did an inservice with administrators, teachers, bus drivers and caretakers, giving specific information for their areas of responsibility in how to understand what COVID is and how to make sure people

stay safe.

As a part of the board meeting, a series of educational videos about COVID were shown to the trustees, who were then able to sign an official form that they have had full information provided to them about the pandemic and how to deal with it.

Keith noted that the theme for Holy Family for the 2020-21 school year, which goes along with this emphasis, is “Work safely!

Teach safely! Learn safely!”

In her presentations, Pratchler told the staff the most impor tant cr itic al piece for everyone involved is proper hand hygiene, followed by proper physical distancing.

“When you think about how the pandemic spreads, the whole focus is why you have to be using things like masks if you can’t properly social distance,” said Keith, adding the school division is staying very tight to the province’s public health officials and their recommendations for safe practices.

“If we have to move to Level 3, it will be in discussion with public health,” said Keith. “We’d have to have

a hybrid model where we can’t have as many people in a building as we do now, so how do we micro-manage people in a building in a different way?”

Under Level 3, half of the staff would work from home and half at the school, she added.

Holy Family has hired additional support staff to do the cleaning and sanitizing of the buildings, over and above the normal cleaning of the caretaking staff. The school division has also started their own online cyber school for those parents who are not yet comfortable with sending their children to school.

Each school in Holy Family will have a separate, dedicated room, a “care room”, for any time a child is sick at school or exhibiting any of the symptoms of COVID-19, or even of the flu or a bad cold.

Each care room is equipped with special supplies, and staff are dressed in a gown with mask and face shield, and are trained to look after the child until a parent is able to pick them up.

Asked if the school division is supposed to make up

the lost days with the startup of school later than originally planned, Keith said, “The government didn’t tell us to make any further adjustments in our calendar, but they’re also pretty adamant that we still have to achieve all of our outcomes.”

As schools were shut down in March until the end of the last school year, this already put students behind, but the Ministry of Education has not mandated any additional requirements, “so it’s up to the teachers and students,” said Keith.

Some concern was expressed by trustees about people panicking over the signs of a cold and whether people will automatically assume that it ’s COVID, particularly with allergies and flu season coming up this fall.

Keith said there will need to be “huge communications” going on with parents and teachers, so if a child does have allergies, the staff at the school will know that, or if a child has a bad cold.

It was also pointed out that parents are not happy that they might have to miss time off work to get a child

if they’re in the care room, particularly if they have the sniffles or are sneezing due to something like allergies.

Keith commented this school year will not be a sprint but a marathon, and likely the schools will be dealing with this situation for the entire school year.

Board chair Bruno Tuchscherer said the teachers and administrators both deserve a lot of credit. “How many times have the regulations changed since June?

And it could be different again tomorrow. The government is sometimes not on track with what’s going on,” he said.

Another factor that will impact on students and parents is there is a ban on transporting students to events, like sporting events or concerts, and most extracurricular activities have been put on hold for the time being.

Tuchscherer noted this is very frustrating for parents who have had kids in ball or soccer all summer, and may be taking them to ball or football after school, yet they’re not allowed to have extra-curricular sports at the schools.

Agri News A8

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Remnants of summer Straw bales keeping the last warmth of the bygone summer appear here and there in combined wheat and barley fields around Estevan. These final accords testify that for most farmers in the area the harvest is nearing completion or is already done, and it’s finally the time to have a little break.

Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia

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The figure is up from 28 per cent the previous week and remaining well ahead of the five-year (2015-2019) average of 35 per cent for this time of year.

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An additional 49 per cent of canola was swathed or ready to straight-cut.

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Rainfall ranged from small amounts to 29 millimetres in the Kelvington area.

Provincial topsoil moisture conditions continued to deteriorate with recent strong winds. Cropland topsoil moisture was rated as two per cent surplus, 34 per cent adequate, 41 per cent short and 23 per cent very short. Hay and pasture land topsoil moisture was rated as one per cent surplus, 23 per cent adequate, 42 per cent short and 34 per cent very short.

The majority of crop damage was due to strong winds, lack of moisture and frost. Most of the province received a hard frost that caused damage to later-seeded and immature crops.

Producers are assessing the damage to determine the potential impact. As field conditions remain very dry in some areas, seeding of winter cereals will be minimal this fall. Strong winds continue to blow swaths and shell standing crops.

Farmers have been busy combining, swathing, baling straw and hauling bales.

With harvest underway in Saskatchewan, the Ministry of Agriculture wants to remind producers to exercise caution and remain safe.

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Saskatchewan’s drilling rig count climbs to 9, but still less than a quarter of the last two years’ numbers

By Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Drilling rig activity has started to slowly pick up in Saskatchewan’s oilpatch, but the numbers are still very low compared to any point over the last decade.

On Sept. 11, Rig Locator (riglocator.ca) showed nine rigs working in Saskatchewan.

It was eight the previous day.

That makes for a utilization rate of nine per cent, out of a total of 97 rigs within Saskatchewan. And that number has, in recent years, dropped from a steady 120 rigs in the province. Some rigs have recently been cut up for scrap.

Those nine rigs working are an improvement from the static three to five that were working from July 25-to Sept. 7. Drilling activity was totally flatlined at zero from spring breakup, when the COVID-19 crisis hit, until mid-July. For the past several years, Saskatchewan would see roughly 30 to 60 rigs working from May to mid-July.

While nine is an improvement, it is a shadow of even the last few years, considered downturn years, which saw an average of 4055 rigs working throughout the province from late July to mid-September. To put that in

perspective, from 2010-2015, there would typically be 60 to 90 rigs working during that period, and in August 2011, a record of 122 rigs were in the field at the same time.

Things aren’t much better in Alberta, where there were 38 out of 359 rigs working on Sept. 11, an 11 per cent utilization rate. In 2019, one of Alberta’s worst drilling years in recent memory, there were 93 rigs working on Sept.

12. The year before that, the number was 157.

Manitoba is showing zero rigs working out of four in the province.

British Columbia is the only jurisdiction showing better numbers this year compared to last year. There were 14 out of 31 rigs working, for a country-leading 31 per cent utilization rate. On Sept. 12, 2019, B.C. had 12 rigs working, and on Sept. 12, 2018, the number was 17.

Nearly all of Saskatchewan’s drilling activity since COVID-19 hit has been on the western side of the province. Only a few holes have been drilled for oil in southeast Saskatchewan. But the increase to nine rigs shows one rig, Precision Drilling Rig 195, working for Crescent Point at Huntoon, northwest of Benson.

As usual, Mosaic Canada

This drilling rig, built by Totem Drilling, became a CanElson Drilling, then Trinidad Drilling, and finally Ensign Drilling rig. It spent the downturn racked in Crescent Point’s Stoughton laydown yard, and was cut up for scrap this summer, as seen on Aug. 25. Photo by Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Reporter. had a rig show up at Esterhazy, Ensign Rig 689, working on potash.

In southwest Saskatchewan, helium drilling has continued for North American Helium Inc., which has Savanna Drilling Corp. Rig 629 working at Oxarat, north

of Consul.

Vital Energy Inc. has Savanna Rig 419 working just west of Gull Lake, drilling for oil.

Teine Energy Ltd. was the first company out of the gate drilling for oil in midJuly, and they’ve kept two

Revamped Oilmen’s golf event still brought the industry together The Estevan Oilfield Technical Society (OTS) was able to host a successful Oilmen’s golf event on Sept. 11 at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course, but the format was different from previous years.

A total of 179 golfers entered. Normally it would be played over three days in June, with 18-hole and 36-hole champions crowned, and about 250-300 golfers, but due to COVID-19, it was just a oneday showdown in September.

“We were hoping to fill the day up, and the day did fill up. We started tee times at 7:30 a.m., and the last one was 3 p.m.,” said Tony Sernick, who co-chaired the event with Conrad Meili.

“We were a little concerned at the start that the last few groups may not finish, but as far as I knew, the last group did finish. They needed headlights on the green, but they got it in.”

Given the current economic climate and the changes made for this year, the OTS was hoping to attract at least 100 golfers, and the turnout soared past their expectations.

The golfers were pleased with the format and the opportunity to get out there with their friends and play.

“Everybody was obviously happy to see each other, and it just felt a little better this year,” said Sernick.

The revised tournament was originally scheduled to be a scramble, but the OTS went with an 18-hole individual tournament instead. Rick Hallberg of Weyburn was the winner with a 3-under-par 69. They did not have individual flight winners.

“We wanted to stick with the 63-year tradition of having a singles champion. It’s one of the major stops on the Estevan golf tour for the year,” said Sernick.

The tournament didn’t have its traditional supper at the

Power Dodge Curling Centre, either, but they were able to serve a steak lunch or supper to all of the entrants as they finished their round.

“Hats off to the golf course and their staff,” said Sernick.

Sernick said they hope to be back to the traditional format for next year, because it’s good for the course and the local economy, but it was good to know that people liked the modified system this year.

They also know how many golfers they can put through the course in one day while respecting the current rules and regulations.

If they were to have it earlier in the year, then they could have more daylight to work with.

rigs going since then. Ensign Drilling Inc. Rigs 351 and 356 are both drilling near Dodsland.

Prairie Thunder Resources Ltd. has also been punching a number of holes, and has Lasso Drilling Corp. Rig 6 working near Macklin.

• • • • • Serving Southeast Saskatchewan for 38 years • • •

IPC Canada Ltd. has also been active this summer, and had Ensign Drilling Inc. working at Onion Lake North on a steam injection well.

Serafina Energy had Precision Drilling Rig 188 working at Prince, north of North Battleford.

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Aaron Turnbull repeats as winner of prestigious race

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

When Estevan’s Aaron Turnbull won the John Seitz Memorial Race at Rivers Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., in 2019, he said it was his biggest win while driving a late model race car, by a mile.

Not only did he win the race again this year, he’s the first to do it in back to back years.

Turnbull captured the prestigious 92-lap race on Saturday night, and pocketed US$9,200 for his efforts.

“This seems like a dream.

I can’t believe it actually happened,” he told the Mercury.

“It was one thing to win it once. I can’t believe we did it twice.”

There are other drivers who have won the Seitz twice, but nobody has gone back to back.

“If anybody thought last year was a fluke, I guess we backed it up now, so that was

Aaron Turnbull won the prestigious John Seitz Memorial Race in North Dakota for the second straight year. Photo courtesy of FYE Motorsports pretty sweet,” he said.

About 50 late model drivers were vying to get into the 92-lap feature. They came from throughout the northern mid-west U.S. Normally there would be a healthy contingent of Canadian drivers, but due to the closure of the Canada-U.S. border to non-essential traffic, Turnbull was the only racer from Canada.

He finished ahead of two Wisconsin drivers: A.J. Diemel of Elk Mound and Jesse Glenz of Cadott.

The 92-lap feature was the culmination of three days of racing. Thursday was the prelude, in which he finished second in his qualifying race, and then second in the feature.

Friday was the qualifying night for the memorial race.

Turnbull finished second in his qualifying heat again, so he advanced to Saturday’s final, and didn’t have to tempt fate with the last chance races.

But he still had some racing before the feature. He won the pole dash Friday night, making a pass coming out of the final turn to take the lead, and claim the inside front row position for Saturday’s feature.

And then he was entered in Saturday’s past champions race, where he finished fourth.

“It was a good little tuneup just to feel things out and just to make sure everything’s running well. I didn’t really get too concerned about it. Once I fell into line there in fourth, I wasn’t about to make too many passes with the way the track was,” said Turnbull.

As for the 92-lap feature, Turnbull started on the pole and had zero intention of taking the lead right away. He fell back into third and bided his time.

A break 32 laps into the race allowed him and the rest of the field to refuel. He moved into second a couple of laps later, and remained there for about 30 more laps.

“We had a caution on around lap 62, and just before that, I found a really good line, which is pretty much the line that won me the race in 2019.

So I started to run that, and I was thinking in my head

I need to get ahead of AJ before he finds this line, and then it gets really tough to get by him.”

Turnbull took the lead on the restart, and while the challengers came close, they never passed him for the lead.

“When I took the lead, it was a little earlier than I wanted to. I’d rather stay in second a little longer, because you can see what’s going on a little better and move around and gage off the guy in front of you,” he said.

Turnbull had crossed the Canada-U.S. border for a commercial trip and had things he had to do for his business.

Then he went to Grand Forks for the racing weekend and returned to Canada.

Since returning from North Dakota, he’s been selfisolating, which he’ll continue to do for the next week and a half. He can still run his business, Future Signs, and he can delegate tasks to his employees.

Local minor football teams begin seasons The Estevan Lions Club U14 Oilers football team dropped their first two games of the season, but coach Paul Duncan was still pleased with the progress of the players.

The Oilers dropped a 47-18 decision to the Weyburn Ravens on Sept. 4 at the Woodlawn Athletic Field, and a 63-32 game against the Yorkton Gridders on Saturday.

“We started off a little bit slow, but we were able to work our way back into the game … off of some really nice offensive plays by Payton Tendler and Dorian Sifton and our quarterback Tristan Tober,” said Duncan. “He ran for a couple of touchdowns in the game, which was great.”

The defence was more aggressive in the second game, even though they surrendered more points than the previous week. They forced five turnovers in the game, with four forced fumbles, and one strip in which the defender ripped

the ball from the offensive player’s hands.

Brody Bembridge was the top defensive player on the day, Duncan said.

The big takeaway from the game was the Oilers were able to work their way into the game and kept playing hard.

“We’ll build off of those stepping stones, and hopefully in the next game it’s a little bit closer, and hopefully we work a little bit harder and we come away with a victory ourselves,” said Duncan.

Estevan and Yorkton will meet again Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Woodlawn Athletic Park.

• • • The Estevan Century 21 U12 Chargers were defeated 57-0 by the Weyburn Ravens on Labour Day in Estevan, and 40-0 by the Ravens on Saturday. Of note is that the Chargers only allowed one late touchdown in the second half.

The two teams will meet again Sept. 16 in Estevan at 6:30 p.m.

• • • The Estevan Power Dodge U10 Cudas squared off against Moose Jaw Sunday in their first action of the season.

The teams were split in two for the day. Each team played twice. They don’t keep score at this age, as the focus is learning to play.

TJ Thompson and Brody Hogg earned hard hats for being the hardest-working Cudas.

The Cudas will host Moose Jaw and Weyburn for a football jamboree on Sunday at noon at the Woodlawn Athletic Field.

• • • The Estevan Kinette Club Viragos U18 football team will play their inaugural game Sunday at 3 p.m. against the Moosomin Generals, starting at 3 p.m. at Woodlawn.

The Estevan Century 21 U12 Chargers opened their season on Sept. 4 versus Weyburn.

Woodlawn golf course hosts parent-child event One of the top junior golf events in Estevan each year was held Sunday at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course.

The 37th annual Parent-Child competition occurred under ideal weather conditions. There were 38 teams entered in this fun event, contested with COVID-19 guidelines in mind.

This tournament uses the Rondeau scoring system which has a handicap based on age. All the juniors received a trophy and lunch following play, thanks to the support of sponsors.

Emma Spencer finished first in the motherdaughter junior division with a score of 57. Sec-

ond place went to Kayden Stepp with a 59 while Malina Stead shot 69 to claim third.

The mother-son junior division winner was Parker Stepp with a score of 47, and Nixon Jesse finished a close second with a 48.

Mykenna D r iedger and Natalie Currie tied for first place in the fatherdaughter junior division at 47, while Jovi Pratt was third with a 49.

The final junior division was the father-son division which continues to have the most entries with 17 this year. There was a first place tie with Jayden Chernoff and Rylan Deichert shooting a 43

each. Brook Cote and Cruz Symons tied for third at 44.

As for the senior youth division, which is for those 12 and up, Cammy Henry won the father-daughter senior division with a score of 45.

The mother-daughter senior division was won by Kiarra Biette with a score of 59.

The father-son senior division also had the most entries for that age group.

The champion was Connor Spencer, who shot the lowest score in the tournament with a 4-under-par 32.

Second place went to Ryan Chernoff with a 33 while third place was Gradin Irwin at 34.

Emma Spencer, left, and Mackenna Driedger were among the entrants in this year’s parent-child golf event. Photo submitted

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City-wide registration Pauline Ziehl Grimsrud from the Estevan Curling Club spoke with Twyla Thompson about youth curling during the annual fall city-wide registration at the Power Dodge Ice Centre Thursday evening. Numerous sports, recreation and cultural organizations in the community were present to promote their organizations and sign people up for programs. Other organizations have been offering online registration.

Kevin Sutter receives recognition from the Riders

By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have recognized an Estevan man as one of their SaskTel Everyday Heroes.

The Riders announced on Sept. 8 that they were saluting Kevin Sutter for Sutter’s efforts to go above and beyond. Sutter has been travelling through Alberta and Saskatchewan during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that everyone has safe drinking water, and that water and wastewater plants are running.

“He has had to live for weeks away from his family to make this happen. Kevin has been living in hotels and doing his best to ensure he is social distanced from everyone to ensure coverage is maintained to the plants,” the Riders said in a Facebook post.

As an Everyday Hero, Sutter received some gift cards. People have been offering their congratulations in the past week.

Sutter, who was nominated by his wife Shari, retired from his job as the

manager of the City of Estevan’s water division in 2017, following a lengthy career with the city. He has been helping other communities since retiring.

“Whenever a community finds themselves without a certified operator (I’ll go there), and also I’ve been doing some training,” he told the Mercury. “If a community needs their staff trained – ATap (Infrastructure Management Ltd.) is a company I’m contracted with, and they do municipal training, and also help out as a resource for communities that find themselves short-staffed.

For temporary positions, I’ve been going in and helping out whoever needs it.”

That work continued during the pandemic, but his workload and time away from home increased the past six months. When in communities, he has had to adapt to COVID protocols.

For example, when away from home, rather than staying in a basic hotel room, he had to find something with a kitchenette to prepare his own food.

“A lot of communities were building their second-

ary plans in case the COVID pandemic hit the operators of that community, and they wanted some redundancy in their operational staff, so I was making myself available so that if someone got sick, I could come in and help out that community. I did that for a few communities,” he said.

Sutter worked for the City of Wetaskawin in Alberta, and while he was there, some of the communities needed a secondary resource, so he was put on a list. The Province of Alberta recognized his certificates for water and wastewater in Saskatchewan, so that he could operate at plants.

His last job was with a potash mine in Saskatchewan for about three months.

Their water and wastewater operators were coming in from outside the province via helicopter. They needed emergency staffing for the plant, so Sutter took the contract to help them out until they found a permanent employee who didn’t have to be flown in.

“I was away from home quite a bit this summer,” said Sutter. “So my wife

Fast Trucking in Carnduff earns provincial award Fast Trucking has earned an honour from the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce for its efforts to support its employees and the community.

The chamber announced Thursday that the Carnduffbased company would be receiving an Award of Merit at this year’s Achievement in Business Excellence Awards (ABEX) later this fall.

In a news release, the Sask. Chamber noted that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ABEX Awards will be shifting from its traditional celebration of Saskatchewan business success to recognizing businesses and individuals who have become Saskatchewan’s everyday heroes.

Fast Trucking Service has been providing service to the oil and gas sector for more than 60 years, and has worked

in other sectors, too. The business has been a big part of the southeast region as well.

Earlier this year, the company received widespread acclaim. When the oil prices sank to the record minimums and the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Saskatchewan, Fast Trucking had to lay off many employees.

With millions of people going on unemployment at the same time, Fast Trucking wanted to make sure that their employees would have at least some help before government support kicked in.

The company purchased $50,000 in co-op gift cards for the employees who were laid off, and president Dennis Day wrote a letter to each employee from his family.

Since then some employees were able to come back.

In an email to the Mercury, the chamber said it re-

ceived over 200 nominations this year from all around the province for businesses and individuals who went above and beyond when the COVID-19 pandemic peaked here in Saskatchewan.

Fast Trucking’s story was nominated a number of times, and it really resonated with the independent judging committee.

This year’s awards will be taking place virtually on Nov. 14 and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce is encouraging nominees, recipients and the public to host viewing parties in accordance with Saskatchewan Health Authority guidelines.

In honour of the chamber’s 100th anniversary, the theme of this year’s awards is Roaring Twenties and viewers at home are encouraged to host 1920’s-themed viewing parties of their own.

Kevin Sutter was recently saluted as an Everyday Hero by the Saskatchewan Roughriders. File photo thought it was prudent to nominate me for the award, and between SaskTel and the Riders, they chose my nomination and gave me the award. And I’m thankful.”

Sutter is now waiting to see if there are other communities that need help. If there aren’t, he’ll get to enjoy his retirement again. At the very

least, he’ll continue to work with ATap, who provides training throughout Western Canada.

He believes there are a lot of people who are worthy of the Everyday Heroes accolade, so he was surprised when he found out he would be recognized.

“I believe there are a lot

more people out there more deserving of recognition who are doing a lot more work than I am, but I will take the recognition and be grateful for it.”

Nomination forms are still available, so he hopes other people will be recognized through Everyday Heroes.

Motorist charged for impaired driving-related offence Members of the Estevan Police Service (EPS) made an impaired drivingrelated arrest Saturday night.

Po l i c e s t o p p e d a 38-year-old Estevan woman for impaired driving. She refused to provide breath samples and has been charged accordingly. She was lodged in cells for the evening and will appear in court on Nov. 2.

In other recent police news, a traffic stop on Sept.

8 resulted in two males being arrested for breaching release conditions. The two males were also issued tickets under provincial statutes and the vehicle was seized as a result of the driver having a suspended licence.

Police received a call Thursday regarding a possible impaired driver leaving a business in north Estevan.

Members located the vehicle and the driver received a

72-hour driving suspension.

Police attended to a noise complaint in the Hillside area Friday. The homeowner was warned under the bylaw that if a further complaint came in, a summary offence ticket would be issued. Members received another noise complaint from the Trojan subdivision, which resulted in a warning.

Police responded to two disturbances taking place throughout the evening.

On both occasions police deescalated the situation and sent the parties on their separate ways.

O f fi c e r s re c e i v e d a complaint about two neighbours living across the street from each other having verbal altercations across the street. They were warned to conduct themselves more appropriately.

Police received a call through the Report Im-

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paired Drivers line Sunday.

Officers located the vehicle and checked the driver. The motorist provided a sample of his breath into the approved screening device and passed the exam.

Police received a report of individuals riding on the exterior of a vehicle. Police were unable to locate the vehicle but the matter is still under investigation.

The EPS is also seeking the public’s assistance with a stolen trailer.

According to a post from the S askatc he wan C r i m e Wa t c h Ad v i s o r y Network, it’s a grey 2008 dual axle transport trailer.

It has damage to one of the fender flares and the vehicle ramp will be sticking up in the back.

If you have information related to this advisory, please call the EPS at 306634-4767.

A14 September 16, 2020

www.estevanmercury.ca

Treatment centre will have innovative approaches « A1 meth addiction has had on families and people across the province.

“The journey to recover from crystal meth addiction is difficult, both mentally and physically, but recovery is possible.That's why the government of Saskatchewan has committed to $1.5 million this year plus $1.9 million in annualized funding to establish a new specialized crystal meth centre in Estevan.

“This new centre will be an important resource for people in need of these services, and what helps Saskatchewan people successfully continue on their path to recovery. The centre will develop innovative protocols and approaches to support crystal meth treatment, which will also be available to other addictions treatment centres across the province.

“The centre will continue supporting former patients as they transition their recovery to their home community.”

One example are quilts, made by the Redvers Quilting Group, which patients will

take home with them, as well as their pillows.

The area of the hospital where the addictions centre will be located most recently housed public health, mental health, and speech therapy services. Those are being relocated.

Contractors have been busy doing the renovations since early August, having been delayed by the COVID-19 crisis.

The patients’ rooms have three beds each, in contrast to the general trend of private rooms in hospitals. That’s because the treatment model works on the idea that people dealing with their addictions should not be alone.

There’s a lecture area, a lounge and a kitchen where patients can get snacks any time of the day. Additional meeting areas are in the former mental health area, and there will soon be a small gym, too. Additionally, a solid privacy fence will be built outside, providing patients privacy from outsiders.

Government Relations Minister and Estevan MLA

The painter of the new addiction centre at

The rooms inside the new Addictions Treatment Centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Photo by Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Lori Carr, who acted as master of ceremonies, noted that 27 years before, her father had the opportunity to go through the treatment centre.

“It was an excellent program and so valuable to the community and the province.

So to see it transition into a different use, and now come back to being a treatment centre, is something that is near and dear to me and my family's hearts.”

She added, “Being born and raised here, I saw firsthand how the treatment facility worked years ago and how successful it truly was. And the people that I know that still

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live in this community are still clean and sober. So to have this facility back and have the services expanded to crystal meth is really important for our area and the province.”

Hoffort said the project started 14 months ago with a fact-finding mission to Cedars at Cobble Hill, an addictions treatment centre in Cobble Hill, British Columbia. They realized something similar could be done in Estevan. But it wouldn’t be the first time.

In 1969, the first St Joseph's addiction center was opened by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Hoffort said. He noted

they have received greetings from Dr. Michael Stone, the first-ever clinical manager back then, and from Sister Therese Roddy, who sent the flowers sitting in front of the podium.

“She is just overjoyed that we were able to do this,” he said.

Roddy was the long-time executive director of St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Hoffort said referrals “will come from everywhere.” It will be a provincial treatment facility.

Don Kindopp, chair of St. Joseph’s local council, said, “The field of addiction recovery has made remarkable progress. It is

constantly evolving. One such change is that now addiction is widely recognized as a chronic condition, and a progressive disease affecting all aspects of an individual's wellbeing. As such, clinical services are adopting strategies similar to treating chronic conditions. This has led to a massive change or shift in culture as successful recovery is now being measured, not only by abstinence, but by the quality of life in finding solutions to engage and empower individuals in their journey of recovery.

“The patient plays an active part, or an active A15»A

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September 16, 2020 A15

A very important site for crystal meth treatment « A14 role, in co-creating the path of their recovery. In an effort to foster intrinsic motivation, patients are encouraged to participate in their own care, and the decision making process impacting their treatment and continued recovery. This service is a bold and necessary step to provide for the treatment of addictions, here at St Joseph's, and

Estevan, thank you for your attendance in recognizing this milestone,” Kindopp said.

Reiter said this centre will be very important for crystal meth treatment. “In particular, protocols that they develop here can be expanded and will be used around the province,” he said.

One of those protocols is that unlike other treatment

regimes, there will not be a specified number of days, like a 28-day program. Patients will take as long as they need to recover, and that could be two months, as an example, according to Hoffort.

Reiter said, “With in this situation with crystal meth, addictions people, counsellors, experts that I've talked to over the last few years have all

... indicated to me that what worked for other addictions doesn't necessarily work for crystal meth. And it's so important that it has its own type of treatment, its own structure. The treatment here is going to be individualized.

You're going to see things like traditional treatment is 28 days, that won't be the case here. It'll be individualized.

So you'll see it much more customized, if you would.”

Asked about additional treatment capacity for the opioid crisis that has spread across North America, Reiter said addictions treatments beds and post-and pre-treatment beds are being expanded around the province. He noted there are five treatment beds are part of the Estevan centre for other

forms of addiction, not just crystal meth. He said, “We're probably going to need to increase addictions treatment capacity around the province.

But you know, when you're talking about specific crystal meth and the protocols that need to be developed, you have to start somewhere. And this just seemed like a logical place. So we want to see how this works out.”

Speaker: St. Joseph’s Hospital board chair Don Kindopp was among the speaker at the grand opening. Photo by Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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A lounge area is among the amenities at the new Addictions Treatment Centre in St. Joseph’s Hospital. Photo

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Classifieds

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

A16

Mobile/ Manufactured

Obituaries Doreen Christofferson 1940 - 2020 The family of Doreen Christofferson sadly announces her sudden but peaceful passing at her home, with her loving husband by her side, on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at the age of 80.

Doreen's memory will be forever cherished by her husband of almost 49 years, Dennis; daughter Meegan Christofferson and son-in-law Wes Nyeste; granddaughter Kayla Christofferson (Dillon Currie) and their children: Enver and Rooney Currie; grandsons: Jaden Christofferson (Katie Wall), Masyn, Kale and Asher Nyeste; daughter Bonita Christofferson and son-in-law Ron Duffus; grandchildren: Kristen Duffus and RJ Duffus; son Wayland Christofferson; granddaughter Skyla Tessier. She will also be sadly missed by her sisters: May (Henry) Lischka and

Edith Haselhan.

Doreen was predeceased by her parents: William and Mary Krieg; brother Eugene Krieg; sister Rita Verbeem; brother Amie Krieg; brothers-in-law: Edward Haselhan, Allan Grimes and Andrew Verbeem; sister-in-law Iona Krieg.

A private family Funeral Mass was celebrated on Saturday, September 5, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. at St. John the Baptist R.C. Church, Estevan, with Rev. Sathiadas Antony presiding. Interment followed in the Estevan City Cemetery.

For family and friends so wishing, donations in Doreen's memory may be made directly to the Canadian Cancer Society, 1910 McIntyre Street, Regina, Sask., S4P 2R3 or the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation, 1176 Nicholson Road, Estevan, Sask., S4A 0H3.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan cared for the Christofferson family - Dustin Hall, Funeral Director.

Kenneth Lawrence Ivarson 1937 – 2020 Kenneth Ivarson, late of Medicine Hat, AB and formerly of Estevan, SK passed away in Medicine Hat, AB on Wednesday, August 27, 2020 at the age of 83 years.

Kenneth was predeceased by his wife Marlene and his parents.

Kenneth is survived by his children: Earl Ivarson, Marjorie (Rick) Breisnes, Colette (Lorne) Stuart, James Ivarson and Kimberly (Dale) Dickson. Left with special memories are Kenneth’s grandchildren and great grandchildren: Colby (Kim) Bay – Ava and Emily; Jessie Ivarson (Steven); Chelsea Ivarson; Michael Breisnes; Stacey (Corey) Dornian – Ethan and Logan; Alisha Lloyd (Jody) – Kaydra, Kiera and Kaysen; Amber (Cody) Betham – Emma and Emmett; Candice Ivarson (Andrew) – Isaac, Noelan, Dylan and William; Matthew Ivarson (Breanne) – Charlie; Maxine Ivarson (Aaron); Payton Ivarson; Lindsey (Dustin) Siewert – Marcus, Everett and Hazel and Mackenzie (Brittney) Dickson – Cora and Ruby. Kenneth will also be remembered by his sister Margaret Hainstock, special friends, Wendy Lueke and Ken Lloyd, as well as numerous sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law.

A Private Family Gathering took place in Estevan, SK to honour Kenneth’s life.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Kenneth to a charity of your choice.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Kenneth’s family – Deb Heidinger, Funeral Director.

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Advertisements and statements contained herein are the sole responsibility of the persons or entities that post the advertisement, and the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association and membership do not make any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness or reliability of such advertisements. For greater information on advertising conditions, please consult the Association’s Blanket Advertising Conditions on our website at www.swna.com.

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George Gelmich March 5th, 1928 - September 3rd, 2020 George Gelmich, born on March 5, 1928 in Vikno, Ukraine, passed away peacefully September 3, 2020 in Calgary, Alberta at the age of 92 years.

George is survived by his loving family: son Howard (Olive) Gelmich of Calgary, Alberta; three sisters Gladys (Wayne) Somerville, Anne Hoffman, and Sophie Fefchuck; sisters in law Joyce (Bill) Lutsch and Irene Lamers, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A Funeral Service was held on Saturday, September 12, 2020 at Choice Memorial Cremation and Funeral Services. George will be laid to rest beside his wife, Lydia in the Estevan City Cemetery in Estevan, Saskatchewan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the family is planning to hold a Memorial Service for the summer of 2021, rather than having a graveside service at this time.

In memory of George, donations to the Calgary Humane Society or to a charity of your choice would be greatly appreciated.

To view and share photos, condolences and stories of George please visit www.choicememorial. com. Those planning to attend the service are encouraged to register on the Choice Memorial website in compliance with Alberta’s COVID-19 mitigation measures.

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Shirley A. Jensen 1945 - 2020 Shirley Jensen, late of Estevan, SK and formerly of Lampman, SK passed away on September 9, 2020 at the St. Joseph's Hospital, Estevan, SK at the age of 75 years.

Shirley’s memory will be forever cherished by her children, Paulann Boulding, Holly (Dave) Tweed, Leroy (Selina) Jensen, Kale Jensen and Gail (Ray) Malloy; grandchildren, Tavis, Stephanie and Trisha Boulding, Chad Jensen, Luther and Michael Waschenfelder, Ashley, Leroy Jr. and Despina Jensen, Liam Kent, Mary (Jon) Orlowski, Terrance Lever (Brittany McLaughin) and Andrew Lever, as well as great grandchildren.

Shirley will also be lovingly remembered by her siblings, Wayne (Gail) Biette, Don (Janice) Biette, Wendy (Hartley Bowles) Biette, Allen (Marcia) Biette, Charlotte Huber and Darold (Corrinne) Biette, as well as numerous nieces and nephews and a very special friend Yvonne Allard.

Shirley was predeceased by her daughter Barbara; husband Paul; parents, Denis and Evelyn Biette; brother Gary Biette; Card of Thanks sister Lareine and grandson Jeron.

There will be a private family service on September 12, 2020 at the Chapel of Hall Funeral Services, Estevan, SK with Sandy Dalziel officiating. The interment will take place at the Estevan City Cemetery.

Those wishing to make donations in Shirley’s memory may do so directly to The Lung Association of Saskatchewan, 1231 8th St E, Saskatoon, SK, S7H 0S5.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Shirley’s family - Yvonne Clark, Funeral Director.

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• Assembling and installing modular components Send, fax, e-mail or drop off resume to: Thank You The family of Carol Geisel would like to thank everyone who offered the gift of kindness through conversation, cards, food, flowers and prayers.

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September 16, 2020 A17

NOTICE TO CREDITORS In the estate of Faye Marilyn Prommer, late of Glen Ewen, Saskatchewan, deceased.

All claims against the above estate, duly verified by statutory declaration and with particulars and valuation of security held, if any, must be sent to the undersigned before the 7th of October, 2020.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

1329 Third Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0S1 Solicitors for the Executors

In the estate of George Michael Kovh, late of Estevan, SK, deceased. all claims against the above estate, duly verified by statutory declaration and with particulars and valuation of security held, if any, must be sent to the undersigned before September 30, 2020.

Daniel Kovh executor of estate for George Kovh Po Box 25013 Parksville, BC v9P 2X2 email: kovhdan@gmail.com

FORM H (Section 66 of the Act)

Form H (Section 66 of the Act)

Bridges & Company LLP

NOTICE OF CALL FOR NOMINATIONS PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nomination of candidates for the offices of: MAYOR: Village of North Portal Number to be elected: 1 COUNCILLOR: Village of North Portal Number to be elected: 3 will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and during regular business hours Tuesdays and Wednesdays on September 8th to October 6th, 2020, at the Village Office, 204 Park Ave, North Portal, SK. Nomination forms may be obtained from the undersigned at the following location: 204 Park Ave, North Portal, SK Lindsay Davis, Returning Officer Village of North Portal Dated this 8th day of September, 2020

Notice of Call for Nominations Village of Macoun Public Notice is hereby given that nominations for the candidate for the office of: Mayor: Village of Macoun Number to be elected: 1 Councillor: Village of Macoun Number to be elected: 4 will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020 from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Village Office and during regular business hours Monday to Friday 8:30am – 3:30pm at the Village office.

Nomination forms may be obtained at the Macoun Village Office.

Dated this 16th day of September, 2020.

Carmen Dodd-Vicary, Returning Officer

Notice of Call for Nominations

TOWN OF CARNDUFF

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the office(s) of: MAYOR: Town of Carnduff COUNCILLOR: Town of Carnduff Number to be Elected - Six (6) will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Municipal Services Building, and during regular business hours on September 16th, 2020 to October 6th, 2020, at the Municipal Services Building.

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following location: 1312 Railway Avenue (Municipal Services Building - Town Office).

Dated this 16th day of September, 2020.

Annette Brown, Returning Officer

Form H [Section 66 of the Act]

Notice of Call for Nominations RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF ESTEVAN NO. 5 PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the offices of: Reeve, Councillor for Division No. 1, Councillor for Division No. 3, Councillor for Division No. 5, Will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Municipal Office, #1 – 322 4th Street, Estevan, Saskatchewan. and; during regular business hours on September 9th until nomination day, October 7th, 2020.

Nomination forms may be obtained from the municipal office or at www.rmestevan.ca Dated this 9th day of September, 2020.

Michelle Dickie, Returning Officer

FORM H

[Section 66 of the Act]

Notice of Call for Nominations Municipal Elections PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the offices of: Mayor:

Village of Frobisher

Councillor: Village of Frobisher Number to be Elected 2 will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at The Village of Frobisher Office, 423 Main Street, Bienfait, and during regular business hours on September 16th to October 6th, 2020, at The Village of Frobisher Office, 423 Main Street, Bienfait.

Appendix C Form H [Section 66 of Act]

NOTICE OF CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF CYMRI NO. 36 PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the offices of: REEvE FOR THE R.M. OF CyMRI COUNCILLOR FOR THE R.M. OF CyMRI -DIvISION 1 COUNCILLOR FOR THE R.M. OF CyMRI- DIvISION 3 COUNCILLOR FOR THE R.M. OF CyMRI - DIvISION 5 will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Rural Municipal Office at 234 Main Street, Midale, sk and during regular business hours from September 16th, 2020 to October 6th, 2020 at the Rural Municipal Office at 234 Main Street, Midale, SK. Dated this 16th day of September, 2020.

Sarah Leek, Returning Officer

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following location: The Village of Frobisher Office 423 Main Street Bienfait, Saskatchewan Dated this 11th day of September, 2020.

Kate Halkyard, Returning Officer

FORM H [Section 66 of the Act]

Notice of Call for Nominations Rural Municipality of Mount Pleasant No. 2 PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nomination of candidates for the offices of: REEVE – R.M. of Mount Pleasant No. 2 - Four year term COUNCILLOR FOR DIVISION NO. 1 – R.M. of Mount Pleasant No. 2 - Four year term COUNCILLOR FOR DIVISION NO. 3 – R.M. of Mount Pleasant No. 2 - Four year term

Appendix C FORM H [Section 66 of the Act] Notice of Call for Nominations (Municipal Election) TOWN OF BIENFAIT PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the office of:

Councillor: Mayor:

Six (6) One (1)

Will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Bienfait Town Office located at 415 Main Street, Bienfait.

During regular business hours on Monday, September 21, 2020, to Tuesday, October 6, 2020 at the Bienfait Town Office located at 415 Main Street, Bienfait.

Nomination forms may be obtained from the Bienfait Town Office.

Complete Packages are available at the Bienfait Town Office.

Dated this 10th day of September, 2020.

COUNCILLOR FOR DIVISION NO. 5 – R.M. of Mount Pleasant No. 2 - Four year term

FORM H

[Section 66 of the Act]

Notice of Call for Nominations Municipal Elections

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the offices of: Reeve:

Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4

Councillor: Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 - Division 1 Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 - Division 3 Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 - Division 5

Nomination forms may be obtained from the Municipal Services Building.

Dated this 16th day of September, 2020.

Lydia M. Hammell Returning Officer

will be received by the undersigned on the 7 day of October, 2020, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at The Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 Office, 423 Main Street, Bienfait, and during regular business hours on September 16th to October 6th, 2020, at The Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 Office, 423 Main Street, Bienfait. th

Form H [Subsection 66 of the Act]

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following location:

Notice of Call for Nominations

The Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 Office 423 Main Street Bienfait, Saskatchewan

Dated this 11th day of September, 2020.

(Returning Officer or Nomination Officer)

will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (local time) at the Municipal Services Building, and during regular business hours on September 16 to October 6, 2020 at the Municipal Services Building.

Holley Odgers, Returning Officer

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the office(s) of: Board Member:

Notice of Call for Nominations Public Notice is hereby given that nominations for the candidates for the office of:

Mayor: One (1) Councillors: Six (6) Nominations of candidates will be received by the undersigned on the 07th day of October 2020 from 8:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and during regular business hours on September 17th, 2020 to October 06th, 2020.

Nominations Papers and Public Disclosure Statements may be obtained at the Town of Midale Business Office located at 233 Main Street.

Midale, Saskatchewan Dated at Midale this 17th day of September, 2020.

Returning Officer Linda M. Dugan

(Section 66 of the Act) NOTICE OF CALL FOR NOMINATIONS RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF BENSON NO. 35 Public notice is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the offices of: Reeve: Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35; Councillor: Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Division No. 1.

Number to be Elected: 1; Councillor: Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Division No. 3.

Number to be Elected: 1; Councillor: Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Division No. 5.

Number to be Elected: 1; will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the municipal office at 370 – 1st Avenue, Benson, Saskatchewan, and during regular business hours on September 16 to October 7, 2020, at the municipal office at 370 – 1st Avenue, Benson, Saskatchewan.

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following location: 370 – 1st Avenue, Benson, Saskatchewan.

Dated this 8th day of September, 2020.

Chantel Walsh, Returning Officer

Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division No.140 Number of elected: one (1) member for each Subdivision Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Weyburn School Division Board Office, and during regular business hours on September 22nd to October 6th, 2020, at the Weyburn School Division Board Office.

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following location(s): The Board Website: www.holyfamilyrcssd.ca The Board Office at: Dominic Place #103-433 4th Street N.E., Weyburn Please note that Calls for Nomination for school board members to represent the subdivisions within the City of Estevan and the City of Weyburn are done in conjunction with those municipalities. If you require further information, please contact the City of Weyburn or the City of Estevan.

Dated this 31st day of August, 2020.

LISA WONSIAK RETURNING OFFICER

A18 September 16, 2020

www.estevanmercury.ca

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Estevan phenomenon: Schubert chokecherry started blooming in early September

FOR THE ESTEVAN CURLING CLUB

Monday, September 21, 2020 • 7:00pm Power Dodge Curling Centre in the ice area Please bring your own chair

Nomination Day: October 7th, 2020 Time: 9am-4pm Place: Torquay Village Office MAYOR: 1 ALDERMAN/COUNCILLOR: 4 Nomination papers can be picked up at the following location: Torquay Village Office Nominations may be filed any time during regular office hours between now and the deadline of 4pm on October 7th, 2020.

Thera Deschner, Returning Officer Dated this 16th day of September, 2020.

Appendix C FORM H [Section 66 of the Act]

One branch on a deep purple chokecherry tree by Petterson Drive is covered with green leaves and fragrant flowers. Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia On a beautiful morning on Sept. 10, through her apartment window looking at Sereggela Place, Sally Ciepliski noticed that something was different with the Schubert chokecherry tree growing in front of the building. The tree that turned dark red in mid-summer had bright green sparks in it.

She came on the balcony to realize that one big branch on the tree turned green, and beautiful fragrant flowers were in full bloom despite all laws of nature.

Ciepliski phoned the Mercury to share

this wonder with the community.

Shubert chokecherries, bright trees well-known to Estevan that beautifully bloom in spring and when the heat comes, turn deep purple and stay like that until fall, can be found in many places around the Energy City. Attractive racemes of white flowers that cover the tree in spring are followed by small, astringent black cherries that usually become a treat for local birds.

Ciepliski said that like all other chokecherry trees, this one was in full

bloom and just “gorgeous” in spring. The fragrance from it was spreading far around the neighbourhood. Her family has been living in that apartment for three years, but never before have they seen any flowers on the tree in fall.

It’s hard to say if it was the rapid change in weather Estevan experienced earlier this month that could seem like an imitation of spring, or something else, but the fact is the fact. The chokecherry tree on Sereggela Place is blooming in September.

CROSSWORD ANSWER

PUBLIC NOTICE VILLAGE OF TORQUAY CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

NOTICE OF CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The Rural Municipality of Cambria No. 06

ESTEVAN

Public notice is hereby given that nomination of candidates for the office(s) of:

BRUINS

Reeve Councillor for Div. No. One Councillor for Div. No. Three Councillor for Div. No. Five Nominations will be received by the undersigned at the municipal office during normal office hours until Wednesday October 7, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. local time.

Nomination forms may be obtained from the municipal office.

Dated this 16th day of September 2020.

Annual General Meeting Thursday, October 1st @ 7:00pm Taylorton Room, Days Inn Estevan

Due to existing restrictions on the size of public gatherings, we ask that you RSVP by Sept 30th to enable us to make appropriate arrangements

RSVP info: (306) 634-7730 or info@estevanbruins.com

Monica Kovach Returning Officer

LIFE-CHANGING DEBT SOLUTIONS

“Life Happens.

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Notice of Call for Nominations PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the office of: Board Member: South East Cornerstone School Division No. 209 Subdivision Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 will be received by the undersigned on the 7th day of October, 2020 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Board Office, 80A–18th Street N.E., Weyburn AND during regular business hours from September 11, 2020 to October 6, 2020, at the Board Office, 80A–18th Street N.E., Weyburn.

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following locations: The Board Website: www.secpsd.ca The Board Office at 80A–18th Street N.E., Weyburn

Pamela Meger, CIRP, LIT

Dated this 10th day of September, 2020.

FREE CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION

Shelley Toth, Returning Officer

310-DEBT (3328)

ESTEVAN 1219 - 5th Street, Suite 100

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Cheers & Jeers

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

A19

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Flashback – Wednesday, Sept. 15, 1982

Cheers Cheers to the teachers/support staff at Bienfait Weldon School for the great start to the school year. Kids talked non-stop all evening about how awesome their first day was. The time and preparation did not go unnoticed.

Cheers to the City of Estevan and the water treatment plant staff for the excellent quality of water since the changeover to Rafferty Dam. Cheers to the progress on the new addictions treatment centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Estevan. It will be a big addition to the community once it’s finished.

Cheers to all of the candidates who have already stopped forward to let their names stand for the upcoming municipal and school board elections. Why waste time? File the papers right away.

Cheers to the Prairie Winds for finding a way to have their annual ride for Ronald McDonald House. It’s such a fun event and it supports a great cause.

Cheers to Kevin Sutter for all that he has been doing to help communities with their water needs.

He was a deserving choice for the Saskatchewan Roughrider Every Day Hero.

Cheers to the Estevan Oilfield Technical Society for bringing people in the oilpatch together for a golf tournament. All of the sponsors and volunteers were appreciated.

Jeers Jeers to the truck route still being on Perkins Street, only half a block from a playpark, day care and elementary school. The kids in the south end get to dodge semi trucks trying to cross the road to get to school.

Jeers to the fact that we didn’t have football to watch during the Labour Day long weekend. We really miss the Riders and the CFL. Jeers to those who insist on dragging out arguments on social media, and resorting to name calling, rather than having civil discussions face to face.

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

The Dairy Queen gang were winners of the third annual Great Race, held in downtown Estevan in September 1982. Dairy Queen ran a super final race against the Estevan Water Ski Club and won in a photo finish. Donn Henderson, left, of Labatt’s – official sponsors if the 1982 race – congratulated the winning team. Pushers were, from left, Tanya Wanner, Michael Murray, David Walliser and Rhonda Carriere. At far right is Dairy Queen owner Kay Gessner. Driver was Stan Gessner and guest navigator was Cliff Hawkes representing Estevan Downtown Association.

More funding for municipalities Government Relations Minister Lori Carr has announced that Saskatchewan’s portion of the federal Safe Restart Canada Plan for municipal governments, approximately $70.32 million, will begin to be distributed immediately to all compliant Saskatchewan municipalities.

“As Saskatchewan returns to a new normal, this is another important investment to help municipalities and their residents weather the storm,” Carr said. “This funding will support efforts to protect health and safety, prepare for potential future waves of COVID-19, and facilitate the safe reopening of economies.”

Of the amount, $62.26 million will be granted in general municipal support on a per capita basis, while $8.07 million will be allocated to municipal public transit

support for the four cities with transit systems, based on ridership. The amounts will start to be distributed immediately so municipal leaders can funnel dollars to areas of highest local priority.

This federal funding was matched by $150 million dollars announced previously from the Government of Saskatchewan in the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, t h i s summer, the province fasttracked a record breaking $278 million in municipal revenue sharing. Annual, nostrings attached funding was paid directly to municipalities to support local priorities and recovery efforts.

The ministry will be contacting all municipalities directly with details about their specific allocation.

The City of Estevan will be receiving $685,007.

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kids speak What is an activity that you’re looking forward to this fall?

Cailyn Phillips

Age: 8

“Curling, because whenever I go there, it’s fun.”

Payton Forrest

Age: 10

“Gymnastics and parkour, because I like flipping around.”

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A20 September 16, 2020

www.estevanmercury.ca

Local firefighters dealt with structure, combine and field fires Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) members were called to mutual aid calls for assistance twice in recent days and also responded to a fire alarm.

The latest mutual aid call came in on Sept. 9 at about 9 a.m., when Estevan firefighters were asked to assist the Bienfait Fire Department in combating a fire in the Village of Roche Percee.

“We received a call that there was a structural fire in Roche Percee,” said Bienfait Fire Chief Adrian Bachorcik.

Crews arrived on scene to find that there were a couple of small structures on fire. One was a trailer and the other one was a garage. The structures weren’t occupied at the time of the fire and nobody was injured.

“Nobody was at home at the time. I do believe one of the neighbours called the fire in,” said Bachorcik.

Estevan fire crews assisted in bringing the fire under control and then turned the scene over to the Bienfait Fire Department. Bi-

enfait fire crews spent about four to five hours at the scene, ensuring that no fire danger remained.

“I’d like to thank the Estevan fire department for coming out and helping us, because we were short on manpower on that call,” said Bachorcik.

Both structures were a total loss. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

The other mutual aid call for Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) members came in on Sept. 5 at about 5:30 p.m. In that case, EFRS members were helping the Torquay Fire Department in fighting a combine and farmland fire. The fire occurred about six kilometres north of Outram.

“Crews arrived on scene to find that the Torquay Fire Department was suppressing what was a rather large fire, so we assisted in suppression efforts and brought the fire under control,” said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.

Estevan fire crews dedicated about four hours to that mutual assistance call.

An unbeatable offer While looking through the newspaper flyers, I noticed that one of my favourite stores had oil filters and grinding wheels on sale. Needing both, I went and purchased them. On the way out of the store, I looked at the bill which said, “Total: $20.45”and, happily,“Today you saved: $41.33”.

I love that “Today you saved” line! It always makes me feel good to see a big number there. Everyone likes getting more than they paid for which, of course, is why the store includes that line on the bill in the first place. Everyone likes bargains!

That being the case, here is an even better offer for you: “He [God] saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (1 Timothy 1:9-10).

I love the line that says that we are saved and made holy “not because of anything we have done” but because of God’s grace.

Over the years, lots of people have told me that they will come to church

A combine malfunction was a cause of the equipment fire, which, in turn, set the dry vegetation on fire.

The combine sustained serious damage, and a significant part of the field was lost to the fire.

No people or cattle were injured.

On Sept. 12 at about 10:30 a.m., the EFRS responded to the report of a fire alarm at a commercial occupancy located on the east side of the bypass in the RM of Estevan.

Once on scene, crew couldn’t see any visible smoke or flame from the exterior of the occupancy. Firefighters contacted a company representative who allowed access onto the property to find the cause of the alarm.

After a search of the building it was found that a duct work sensor had been triggered for the building’s HVAC system due to dust and a plugged filter. Crews turned the scene back over to the company representative and cleared the scene with instructions to replace the filter and troubleshoot the detection head.

Tim Pippus of the Estevan Church of Christ as soon as they get their life sorted out. That is completely backward, and it will never work! The church does not exist for those who think they are good and have everything figured out. Rather, church is for those who realize that they cannot sort things out and, therefore, need help. Faith is not about our ability or goodness. Instead, it is based on God’s grace and kindness. He does for us what we cannot ever do for ourselves.

Our goodness is never good enough. In fact, if we try to make it by our own strength, we will always fall short. However, the good news is that God offers us a new beginning and a new life.

There is no better deal than that!

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

The Estevan Police Service is seeking applications for the position of Police Constable.

The Estevan Police Service offers a competitive salary and benefit package along with ongoing professional development and a range of career opportunities.

Currently serving and trained Canadian police officers are encouraged to apply.

All other candidates must possess the minimum qualifications: • • • • • •

• • •

18 years of age Grade 12 Diploma or equivalent Excellent physical condition is essential Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident (Landed Immigrant) Valid driver’s license (unrestricted for a minimum of one year) and good driving record Good moral character. Recent illegal drug use and/or other criminal activity, either detected or undetected by police, will result in a deferral. No criminal convictions or pending criminal charges before the Courts (copy of Pardon required).

Exemplary employment record Excellent communication skills, both written and oral Computer skills

For more information on the requirements, selection process, and the application package, please visit our website, www.estevanpolice.ca (Employment Opportunities). You will also need to complete the Personal Disclosure Form.

Please return completed package including an up-to-date resume in a sealed envelope to: Chief of Police - Estevan Police Service - 301-11th Ave. - Estevan, Sask.- S4A 1C7 We thank you for your interest in the Estevan Police Service. Only successful candidates will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Closing date is September 22, 2020.

FITNESS SCHEDULE MONDAY SPIN 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM GRIT 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM EASY STRETCH 10:10 AM - 10:50 AM SPIN 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM POWER BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SPIN/CORE 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM AQUA STEP 5:15 PM - 6:00 PM WEIGHT ROOM 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

ESTEVAN LEISURE CENTRE -2020 EFFECTIVE -SEPTEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 24, 2020

TUESDAY SPIN 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM SPIN 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM CARDIO BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SPIN 5:30 PM - 6:10 PM WEIGHT ROOM 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

WEDNESDAY GRIT 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM CORE BARRE ABOVE 9:10 AM - 10:15 AM FOAM ROLLER 10:30 AM - 11:10 AM CARDIO BLAST 1:10 PM - 2:00 PM BARRE ABOVE 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM AQUA STEP 5:15 PM - 6:00 PM WEIGHT ROOM 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

THURSDAY SPIN 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM SPIN 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM CARDIO BLAST 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM HEAD TO TOE MOBILITY 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM SPIN 5:30 PM - 6:10 PM WEIGHT ROOM 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

FRIDAY GRIT 6:10 AM - 6:50 AM AQUA AWE 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM GRIT 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM EASY STRETCH 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (virtual class) WEIGHT ROOM 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM

SATURDAY WEIGHT ROOM 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM SUNDAY SPIN 9:10 AM - 9:50 AM DEEP WATER POWER 8:00 PM 8:45 PM WEIGHT ROOM 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM

PLEASE NOTE - Due to the pandemic-related protocols registration has moved to a PRE-Registration process. Users must pre-register online or by calling the Information Desk. Patrons will be screened upon arrival and asked a few questions as per the Operational Health and Safety Guidelines. Space between workout stations have either ncreased or a machine has been put into 'not in use.' Drinking fountains and change rooms will be closed.

Memberships that were bought previously were put on hold; the days remaining on memberships have been applied to your accounts starting June 8th, 2020. If you need a new membership, please either book online at www.estevan.ca or call the Information Desk for contactless payment.

AQUATIC SCHEDULE MONDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8;00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE/AIS 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM -1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM SWIM LESSONS 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM MERMAIDS 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM LANE SWIM 9:00 PM - 9:45 PM

!

EFFECTIVE - SEPTEMBER 14 - 20 2020

TUESDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8;00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE/AIS 9:15AM - 10:00 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM -1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM SWIM LESSONS 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM INSTRUCTOR INSERVICE 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

SATURDAY LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM PUBLIC SWIM 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM LANE SWIM 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

WEDNESDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8;00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE/AIS 9:15AM - 10:00 AM SWIMMING LESSONS 10:00 AM - 11:45 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM -2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM SWIM LESSONS 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM AQUA STEP 5:15 PM - 6:00 PM MERMAIDS 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM LANE SWIM 9:00 PM - 9:45 PM

FAMILY SWIM 6:15PM - 7:15 PM PUBLIC SWIM 7:15PM - 9:00 PM

THURSDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8;00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE/AIS 9:15AM - 10:00 AM SWIMMING LESSONS 10:00 AM - 11:45 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM -2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM SWIM LESSONS 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM PUBLIC SWIM 7:15 PM - 9:00 PM

SUNDAY LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM FAMILY SWIM 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

FRIDAY LANE SWIM 6:00 AM - 6:45 AM LANE SWIM 7:00 AM - 7:45 AM LANE SWIM 8;00 AM - 8:45 AM AQUA AWE/AIS 9:15AM - 10:00 AM SWIMMING LESSONS 10:00 AM - 11:45 AM LANE SWIM 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM LANE SWIM 1:15 PM -2:00 PM SURF & SWIM 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM PUBLIC SWIM 4:00 PM - 5:45 PM LANE SWIM 6:15 PM - 7:00 PM AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE BOOKING 7:15 PM - 9:00 PM

LANE SWIM 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM DEEP WATER POWER 8:00 PM - 8:45 PM

PLEASE NOTE - Due to the pandemic-related protocols, Lane Swim, Aqua Step, A.I.S., Deep Water Power Awe programming has moved to a PRE-Registration process. Users must pre-register online or by calling the Information Desk. For all other activities space is limited. Patrons will be screened upon arrival and asked a few questions as per the Operational Health and Safety Guidelines. Water fountains are not available.