Estevan Mercury 20220928

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The victory worth voting for: Estevan enjoys concert with Smith and Prescott

By Ana Bykhovskaia

New position, known face.

Estevan

department announces new deputy.

The victory in the Sirius/XM Music Towns competition presented Estevan with an epic concert by Dallas Smith, with Kelly Prescott as the opening act on Saturday night.

Hundreds of people lined up in front of Affinity Place more than an hour ahead of the doors opening.

Truth and Reconciliation.

Stories about Indigenous peoples.

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By 7 p.m. the line reached the Power Dodge Curling Centre but was moving fast once the doors opened. Excitement, laughs and joy were in the air among the crowd, which not only was treated to a concert by multiple Juno and Canadian Country Music Association award winner Smith and country star Prescott, but also had a unique opportunity to enjoy all of it free of charge, thanks to Sirius/ XM and their initiative.

Senior Living. Special shares latest news from the world of wiser people.

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After receiving enthusiastic submissions from over 400 unique communities across the country this summer, Sirius/XM Canada narrowed down the entries to 16 finalist communities across four different regions – Eastern Canada, Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada –based on heartfelt stories describing what makes each community special.

In our region, Estevan was competing against Lloydminster, Nanaimo, B.C., and Sylvan Lake, Alta., to win a great concert experience from Smith. And with communitywide support, the Energy City won the competition.

As a result, thousands of people got to listen to their beloved singers, dance the night away and enjoy the incredible event.

Multiple times Smith would reach out to the fans, take their phones and have a selfie with the crowd, which was greatly appreciated by the audience in the front rows that came in hours ahead of the show to save their spot.

For Prescott, it wasn’t her first time performing in Estevan, as she was a part of the CP Holiday Train tour in 2019. Ahead of the concert, she spared time to talk to the Mercury.

said with a laugh, and suggested the restaurant stock up on hash browns for their next visit.

“I walked around. It was actually a really nice day today. It’s always fun, I love coming to places that we don’t usually get to stop in and just walk around and meet the people. Everyone’s really nice.”

We got it!

Team South East males brings home title from golf provincials.

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Smith and his band rocked the audience, performing long-time favourites and some of the newer songs. He played hits like Some Things Never Change, If It Gets You Where You Wanna Go and Wastin’ Gas, Wasting my Time from his days with the band Default, and One Too together with Prescott, and many more hits.

Prescott arrived in Regina the day before the concert, and as she shared with the audience, they went to Leopold’s Tavern to have some fun while waiting for everyone else to arrive. She also got to see a bit of Estevan on the day of the concert.

“I woke up and you know really did the full cultural experience by walking to Tim Hortons. Why not, right? But they were sold out of hash browns, and it was really sad this morning. So I started my day off a little shaky on that but no, it was great,” Prescott

Prescott dropped her third EP Cloud 9 this summer. According to her website, its lead single Convertible — the honkytonk corker and followup to the award-winning singles Trailer Trashed from late 2021 and Church from 2020 — was igniting country music charts from Nanaimo to Nashville, and showcasing Prescott’s massively expressive voice.

This spring and summer Prescott spent six weeks performing alongside long-time pal Smith during the Some Things Never Change tour.

“We were on the road all across Canada for six weeks together, so we became one big, happy family. Dallas

ONLINE AT SASKTODAY.CA

Multiple Juno and CCMA award winner Dallas Smith entertained the crowd at an epic concert.

Photos by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia

A2 » SIRIUS

Musical addition. St. Paul’s United Church hosts an organ dedication recital.

and I’ve been friends for years, but his whole crew, everyone involved, are just so wonderful to work with and treat me like family. So I really love that we’re reunited again [for the Estevan concert],” Prescott said.

For her part of the Estevan concert, Prescott was on stage with just guitarist Chad Murphy, which was different from the Some Things Never Change tour.

Country star Kelly Prescott was the opening act for the Sirius/XM Music Town concert on Saturday.

Sirius/XM

Music Town concert a success

“I’m used to playing with a full band. And we are just doing a duo set tonight. So, it’s just my partner, my guitar player, Chad, who actually, conveniently enough, also plays in Dallas Smith’s band, too. So the tour really worked out well for us. Getting to travel together for six weeks with the person you love is very fun. But yeah, tonight’s a bit of a more laidback thing,” Prescott shared ahead of the concert.

“We’re just doing a duo set, but we’re going to try and keep it as fun and keep the party going and warm everyone up for Dallas to put on the best show. We are going to play a lot of my new stuff from my new EP that I just released on June 30, Cloud 9, and a couple of older ones that I still love.”

And the duo setting worked out great. During the concert, Prescott shared her personal stories and tales of her songs, confessed her love to Estevan and got people in the mood for the headliner.

Former Estevan resident Trevor Gowen was the MC

for the night, and the crowd greeted him with no less enthusiasm than the performers.

Councillor Kirsten Walliser welcomed the entertainers and thanked the organizers and the community on behalf of the city.

“We want to thank Sirius/XM for their commit-

ment to bringing live music back through their Music Town challenge. We’re so thankful that we were nominated as one of the four cities representing Western Canada in the top 16. And we want to thank everyone who voted and made this possibility come through,” Walliser said.

“And we want to thank all of our city staff working long and hard to make sure this came to our community and all of the volunteers that came up tonight to help us. Again I want to thank Sirius/ XM and Live Nation for bringing this night to Estevan.”

Two buildings caught fire on Albert Street in Estevan Saturday

Estevan firefighters were called to a house fire Saturday evening.

Just after 8 p.m., crews were dispatched to a structure fire on Albert Street.

“We did find a working structure fire, so we confirmed that everyone was out of the house and accounted for and safe. Crews went to work with extinguishing the fire. Due to the construction of two occupancies in the same area, we did have fire that spread into this second structure,” said Estevan Fire Chief Rick Davies.

Crews were able to contain the fire to one side and keep it from spreading.

“It was a bigger fire. We were called for a structure fire and ended up having almost two multiple units going at the same time. Obviously, the first one contained a lot more extensive damage than the second one,” Davies said.

No injuries were sustained as a result of the fire, however, two families had to be relocated. The Red Cross ended up assisting with housing for the time being.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Davies said they don’t believe it was anything suspicious. He also said it will be up to the insurance company to decide if the more damaged house can be repaired. The other house is in a better shape, Davies said.

It took firefighters about an hour to extinguish the fire, and then they spent four more hours doing what they call “overhaul”.

“We spent probably half that night doing overhaul to confirm all hotspots were

put out and that there was no more extension into the second part. And then we got to come back and clean everything up,” Davies said.

A lot of Estevan firefighters were out Saturday night, and with a structure fire call as many of the firefighters that could have been there were there, Davies added.

“Most of the guys were at the concert or weddings. The majority of the crew that showed up were out that night doing something,” Davies said.

Mills-Miller sentenced following theft of taxi and police pursuit

to three years in a federal penitentiary after pleading

guilty to numerous charges, stemming from an incident in May.

The sentence was handed down Friday in Weyburn Provincial Court.

Mills-Miller was charged after he hired a taxi early on May 15, then forced the driver from the vehicle at knifepoint and stole the cab.

The Estevan Police Service located him travelling westbound on Highway 39, and with the assistance from the RCMP and Weyburn Police Service, disabled the vehicle with the use of tire deflation devices.

He then fled on foot.

He was taken into cus-

tody in Weyburn a couple of hours later.

The driver of the taxi was not physically injured during the incident.

Mills-Miller has pleaded guilty to stealing a motor vehicle with a weapon, threatening to use a weapon in committing an assault, failing to stop while being pursued by police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public, and failing to abide by a probation order. All charges are under the Criminal Code.

The charges will be served concurrently.

Riley Morgan MillsMiller has been sentenced

Dallas Smith invited the crowd to sing along and reached out to fans to take selfies for them. Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia

1-306-634-0193 #130-1175 Nicholson Road dunlophearing@gmail.com

Former Estevan resident Sandra Young Tangjerd held organ dedication recital at St. Paul’s United Church

By Ana Bykhovskaia

St. Paul’s United Church hosted Sandra Young Tangjerd’s organ dedication recital on Sept. 25.

Young Tangjerd performed and demonstrated the wide capabilities of the recently-installed new organ.

A native of Estevan, Young Tangjerd has a bachelor of music from the University of Manitoba, a master of musicology from the University of Western Ontario and a performance diploma from the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt, Germany. She maintains a private studio in London, Ont., where she teaches piano, organ and theory.

She is also an adjudicator and clinician, along with being a practical and theoretical examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music.

Young Tangjerd is a member of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association, Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, Royal Canadian College of Organists and currently serves as the RCCO regional representative for SW Ontario.

She was born and raised in Estevan, and back in the day was part of “a Young family

that lived on Young Street”, but she hasn’t been to the Energy City for about 11 years. She still has family in the Estevan area, and she gets to see them on regular basis, just not in Estevan. So she was glad to come home when an opportunity came up.

“Shirley Andrist has more or less retired from the position and she’s been doing the job as the organist since 1957, for 65 years. That’s remarkable. And she was my first organ teacher,” Young Tangjerd went on to explain. “And this is a new organ for the church, so [Shirley] suggested that [the church] made sure they were bringing in somebody who was an actual organist … So, they got a hold of me and offered to come. And it was easy, since I have family here, my brother and his family, niece and a nephew and their children all live here.”

Andrist’s dedication to music and arts in the community, in the province and beyond was celebrated during the event. St. Paul’s United Church also named their back parking lot Andrist Lane.

“This morning, we have the opportunity to dedicate our new organ to the glory

of God and in recognition of Shirley Andrus, who has been an organist St. Paul’s Church for 65 years,” said Don Kindopp during the opening.

The conversation about the recital started before COVID-19 hit, and then the event was postponed for two years until now. Young Tangjerd said she’s been up for doing the recital in her hometown throughout this entire time.

She arrived in Estevan on Wednesday to practise with the instrument at St. Paul’s United Church, and she also had a chance to visit with friends and family and explore the city, which she said has changed quite a bit.

“It’s interesting to come back and see some of the people. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back here,” Young Tangjerd said. “There’s a lot of things that have changed, I think for the good. [My friend and I] went out for lunch, and we were both admiring the cycling or the walking paths all over the area because we used to ride our bikes through this valley, and it was just pathways made by kids walking and riding their bikes on them. And if it rained, it was slip-

pery mud and it wasn’t much fun. Where now it’s paved, and you can do that sort of thing.”

While she had a chance to visit with some people, Young Tangjerd mainly used her time in Estevan to get ready for the recital.

“No two instruments in the world are alike. So, if you go into pipe organs, pipe organs are designed for the building that they’re in, and for the budget of the church that’s putting it in. So, they look at the building, they look at the shape, they look at where they’re going to be putting the pipes and how the sound is going to be. And there are no two that have really identical stop lists. Which is the fun part about playing the organ because you go from one place to another, and you have to rethink what you are doing,” Young Tangjerd explained.

Young Tangjerd praised the new organ, which like many contemporary instruments is run by a computer.

“All of the sounds who got on instruments like this, they’re not an electronic sound, they’re actually a sound that has been sampled or dubbed from some of the best pipe organs in the world,”

Young Tangjerd explained. “You are not going to see any pipes. So, what happens is these instruments are all unique, but they’ve brought together a whole bunch of sounds that come from a legitimate pipe organ. And the big thing about any organ, whether you’re playing pipe organ, whether you’re playing something like this, is the fact that you have to figure out what sounds you want. And so I could take any of the pieces that I’m doing, and I could put different sounds to it. And that would change the character of the piece.”

For the Estevan recital, Young Tangjerd picked Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 547 by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as several smaller pieces, which would allow her to show guests the capabilities of the new organ.

“I haven’t picked a big program in terms of huge works.

I asked Shirley Andrist if she had any requests, and she said, she would like a piece by Bach. My son, who’s also a musician, said to me, ‘Well if it doesn’t have Bach, it’s not an organ recital.’ So I have one big Bach piece,” Young Tangjerd explained. “And the rest of them I picked because I wanted to be able to dem-

onstrate the different kinds of sounds that you could get.”

She also played Preludium by Nicolas Bruhns, from Preambulum supra by Johann Ludwig Krebs, from Cat Suite by Denis Bedard and from “Cookham Notebook” Op. 30 by Derek Haley. At the end, she performed a bonus piece, which she played solely by feet.

Since her arrival, she’s been practising for the Sunday program, adding different colours of sounds to the pieces she’s chosen for the recital.

“We [organ players] have the challenge of choosing the stops and choosing what kinds of sounds you’re going to make, and how you’re going to combine them. Is this a piece that should be a very big sound, should it be a soft sound, or should it be somewhere in between? Should it have low pitches, should it have high pitches, you have to figure that out. And sometimes the only way you do that is you sit down, and you put some on and you play it for a while and then you try something else, and you try something else,” Young Tangjerd noted.

A plaque will be placed on the organ in memory of the Sunday event.

Bocce ball windup

Sandra Young Tangjerd played St. Paul’s United Church’s new organ during a recital on Sunday.

St. Paul’s United Church renamed their parking lot Andrist Lane to commemorate Shirley Andrist’s dedication to music and community.

Special Olympics Estevan wrapped its successful bocce ball season on a beautiful Saturday morning with an activity. Athletes played some bocce ball, cheered each other on and enjoyed the fall sun. The games at Royal Heights Veterans’ Memorial Park were followed by a lunch for athletes, staff, volunteers and spectators.

Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia

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The more power options, the better

SaskPower has revealed the two locations for its much-discussed small modular nuclear reactors (SMR), and Estevan is one of the options.

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It makes sense that Estevan would be on the shortlist. For starters, we have the water sources needed for the power generation. Boundary and Rafferty Dam reservoirs, as well as Grant Devine Lake, are in close proximity to Estevan.

Thanks to the existing power generation facilities in the Estevan area, the transmission lines are already in place.

And with the uncertain future of coalfired generation in Saskatchewan, including carbon capture and storage, the Crown corporation needs to look at options for power that will keep people and jobs in this area, even if those options don’t create as many jobs as coal power.

The Elbow area of central Saskatchewan is the other location SaskPower is considering.

It will be some time before we know whether SaskPower is going to proceed with SMRs. In fact, according to SaskPower, the decision won’t happen until 2029 – a year before its remaining conventional coal-fired power generating facilities are to be forced offline by the federal government.

Many of us might sit here and wonder why it’s going to take seven years to make a decision about SMR technology and a potential location. What we do know is

that it’s going to be costly and it won’t happen without federal support.

If SaskPower won’t be making a decision on SMRs until 2029, then it will be several more years before it is delivering power to local residents.

And if coal-fired generation isn’t going to be an option starting in 2030, then SaskPower is going to need to find an option to bridge the gap. Solar and wind power aren’t going to get the job done.

You’re not likely going to have both SMRs and carbon capture and storage, but if you can, then that’s great.

SaskPower claims the federal government’s clean fuels standard won’t allow for further investment into coal-fired power, even with CCS technology. A lot could change in the next few years, including the federal government itself, before SaskPower has to make final decisions about its coal-fired facilities, but it’s clear that the federal Liberal government has decided that anything to do with coal-fired electricity is bad news.

People do need to shift their mindset when it comes to nuclear power and SMRs. This isn’t nuclear power the way you remember it. This is an evolving technology that is very different from what we have seen in the past.

Let’s have SMRs in the Estevan area. Let’s have solar power. SaskPower is taking a serious look at having a 100-megawatt solar facility in the Estevan area. We think that’s great. Granted, it won’t generate as much

power as one of the existing units at the Boundary Dam Power Station, and it won’t employ nearly as many people as a coal-fired unit, but it’s still a nice addition to the area.

And let’s have geothermal, too. It’s proven technology when it comes to providing clean, baseload power elsewhere in the world. The efforts of Deep Earth Energy Production are on track to one day yield a facility in this area. Again, it won’t create jobs like a unit at Boundary Dam, but it could still be part of our power generation and economic options.

But above all else, let’s have carbon capture and storage.

One day technology for wind and solar power will evolve to where these can be legitimate, baseload power options. But that day is not today, and it likely won’t happen before the end of this decade. It might not be before the end of the next decade.

That’s why you still need baseload power options. Carbon capture and storage has proven to be a viable option. There have been hiccups. But as of the end of June, it has prevented nearly 4.6 million tonnes of CO2 from entering the Earth’s atmosphere since opening in October 2014.

Coal is still abundant, cheap and a reliable option for creating power. Carbon capture and storage allows it to be environmentally friendly. And so it should be a part of our power grid moving forward.

Conventional coal power’s days might be numbered in Canada, but coal with CCS technology should not.

Have you seen that line? It proves that we can

That’s the way to concert, Estevan!

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Saturday night thousands of people were out at Affinity Place. The line to come in went all the way to Souris Avenue North. And even though those who came in earlier ended up waiting for a while before the doors opened, the atmosphere in the line was amazing.

We are definitely a hockey city, but I don’t think even the Centennial Cup final game attracted as many people as Dallas Smith last weekend. And being a part of that crowd felt really great, something I haven’t experienced in a while.

I had a short-cutting media pass, but before the concert, I kept coming back out to breathe in the excitement, happiness and vibes of a good old big event. It indeed was an occasion that brought the community together and, at least for one night, made us forget about our daily problems. Not only was it great entertainment, but it actually was a project, which to me proved that Estevan can.

Sirius/XM Canada’s nationwide Music Towns contest invited all Canadian smaller communities to try themselves out in this race. And the fact that we won shows that we have all it takes to be the champs of anything we set our minds on. We wanted the concert; we got it following all the steps of this fun Music Town journey.

Step one – nomination. Sirius/XM said they received submissions from over 400 unique communities. I’ve written motivational letters several times before, and it’s not an easy job to find the right facts and the right words to make an invisible jury choose you. Especially when the competition is strong. Apparently, we have sincere

and dedicated people whose heartfelt words convinced the contest-runners that we deserve the attention and the fun.

So, we ended up making the final 16 Canada-wide, and the final four in our Western Canada region. An achievement already worth celebrating, but we didn’t stop.

Step two – online voting and social rallying. We nailed that part too. In our group, we were facing Lloydminster (over 31,000 people), Nanaimo, B.C. (over 101,000 people) and Sylvan Lake, Alta. (over 16,000 people). Estevan’s population, according to the 2021 census, is 10,851 people. And even if the numbers for our and other communities varied some since the latest censuses, we were still the smallest community competing. Did it mean that we had to give up? No, not Estevan. We voted as much as we could and beat the community 10 times bigger than ours. Just because we could.

Sirius/XM said that over 100,000 votes were cast for the different communities, with local officials and community leaders motivating residents to get involved and bring live music to the heart of their town. Well, most of those votes must have been ours.

Step three – enjoying the prize. The concert was awesome. There were some tickets offered on social media hours before the event as some couldn’t make it, but I’m assuming most people that secured their entry were at Affinity Saturday night. And it was

busy, way busier than at some other concerts I attended in Estevan.

Of course, tickets were free, which not only allowed for filling the place, I’m assuming, to capacity, but also ensured people could enjoy some food, snacks and drinks and buy some merchandise without turning a night out into an event costing $1,000 for an average family. It’s different with regular concerts, but I’ve seen Affinity as full before and I hope to see it many more times.

Step four – learning from the experience. Yes, it was a concert and just something fun for all of us in the Estevan area. Even those that didn’t get to go or didn’t want to go got to share the excitement the event sparked through others’ experiences. It indeed was something that lifted our spirit.

But more importantly, the experience with the Music Town competition showed that we can achieve what we want. We pulled together to win this concert and beat serious competition. And it proves that we can do it again if we really set our minds on the goal.

Estevan can achieve anything if we keep working together as a community. We have the people who can see and word what’s better for the community. We have the people who know how to work to make it a reality.

We have the people who can organize it. We have the people who value the results and are ready to build on them.

The community, the city, the volunteers, the performers and the organizers all equally played a role in this experience, and I can’t thank everyone involved enough.

And if we want to keep this city prosperous and we want to see a great future for ourselves, I know for sure that we can, no matter what challenges we are to face on our way.

Reconciliation must be a year-round effort

David Willberg Willberg’s World

For the second time, Sept. 30 will be a federal holiday to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Since this is a federal holiday, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to get a day off. Schools will be closed this year (they weren’t last year), but a lot of businesses will be open. Sept. 30 will be business as usual for a lot of people.

We’ll wake up, we’ll go to work, we’ll come home and we’ll do whatever it is we do after we head home for the day.

Some of us will take a few moments to pause and reflect on the long-standing effects caused by residential schools, not just for the survivors, but for generations of Indigenous people that followed. We’ll think about the progress that has been made in our relationship with Indigenous communities, and the extensive work that remains.

You’ll see events. There were activities last year at reserves and in communities across the country. There should be more this year now that there is time to plan something, and the COVID-19 restrictions have mostly been lifted across Canada.

Last year the government announced the federal holiday for Truth and Reconciliation a few weeks prior, giving people little advance notice. There wasn’t much of an opportunity to alter schedules.

And we saw how much this day really meant to our prime minister when he decided to take a holiday in Tofino, B.C., rather than be in Ottawa, despite all of the talk we’ve heard from him in the past seven years about the need to improve the quality of life for Indigenous peoples.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation needs to be a time of reflection, recognition and resolve. We need to commit to do better.

But we should ask what would be more effective for students? Giving them the day off in which they get to do what they want? Or being in school, where they can learn more about Indigenous peoples’ rich culture, and hear stories from residential school survivors?

I know they’re going to have lots of opportunities to learn about it this week and at other points in the school year, and it’s great they’re learning about residential schools. When I was in school, we didn’t hear about them. We heard about First Nations people and their culture, but we didn’t learn about the abuse and the other horrors at these schools, the fact that they had graveyards, or that there were still residential schools in Canada. (The last one didn’t close until I was in university).

It’s great there will be events happening in the community on and before Sept. 30, because people get the chance to learn more about this chapter of our nation’s history from the people who experienced it.

It’s important to reflect on what, if anything, has changed in the past year. Indigenous communities still face the same issues they faced a year ago. Those who live on reserves still face the same problems. They still encounter discrimination from non-Indigenous people. Long-standing drinking water advisories remain.

It’s also important to realize just how much work remains in building relationships with Indigenous peoples and how long it’s going to take. We didn’t get to this point in our history overnight. We’re not going to solve these problems overnight. It’s going to take the time and effort of generation after generation. And we’ll have to recognize that this is one of those problems that will never truly end.

So regardless of whether you get a holiday on Sept. 30 or not, or whether you get a day off school, it’s vital to take the time to pause and reflect. And it’s important to commit to do your part.

In the end, that’s the most important part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It’s not about whether you get a holiday or not. It’s about whether you’re willing to do your part.

And then it’s vital to continue the efforts, both individually and collectively, throughout the year.

New deputy

re chief is well-known in the community

The Estevan Fire Rescue Service has found its new deputy fire chief.

Estevan firefighter Kyle Luc took the position in mid-September, to serve the community alongside Fire Chief Rick Davies.

Luc started his career in firefighting in 2002 in Drayton Valley, Alta. He got into the fire service through work experience in high school.

“It was something that I started to really, really enjoy,” Luc shared.

After graduating high school, he went on to postsecondary at Lakeland College to further his education in emergency services.

He then returned to Drayton Valley and worked for several years in different places before he ended up in Estevan in 2009.

“I was fortunate enough to be hired on with Estevan fire. Started as a firefighter here, then I worked my way to lieutenant, and I worked my way to captain, then I worked my way to a fire inspector. And now here we are with the deputy fire

chief, just about 20 years later,” Luc said.

The EFRS had an open process to hire a new deputy fire chief, so Luc, who always wanted to take the job but previously felt it wasn’t the right time, decided to put his name forward.

“This time around, my kids are a little bit older now, and I sat down and

talked to my wife and it seemed like it’d be a good fit now. So, I put my name forward. And I was lucky to be the one that got hired as deputy chief,” Luc said.

“When I was younger, I wanted to make this a fulltime career. So now that I’ve done that, I’ll just keep on moving forward with whatever training oppor-

tunities that we have. And my wife’s born and raised in Estevan, so I’ll be here for many years to come hopefully and take it every day as it is.”

His new position will see Luc having some more administrative duties but will still allow him to do what he’s been enjoying for years – being a first responder when the community needs him. He will now be on call every second weekend, rotating with Davies, and will be in the office throughout the week.

Luc said that the camaraderie he’s seen and then experienced in the profession was a big part of his decision to become a firefighter.

“The thing that attracted me the most is I had friends that were in the fire service, and they would speak about the camaraderie. And when I got in, it really truly did show how tight of a group it is. Doesn’t matter where you are in the world, if you’re a firefighter, you’re in the brotherhood and camaraderie is great,” Luc said.

Call volumes continue to be down for the EPS this year

The Estevan Police Service has seen an increase in the number of Criminal Code charges in the first eight months of the year, but overall call volumes continue to be down considerably.

According to figures released at the Sept. 21 meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners, the EPS had 525 total calls for service in August, a fraction of the 1,424 they received in the same month the year before.

Meanwhile, total calls for service were at 4,432 for the first eight months of the year, down 35.2 per cent from 6,837 for the first eight months in 2021.

As for the Criminal Code statistics, there were 11 crimes against the person in August, with nine assaults and two sexual crimes, compared to seven for August 2021.

So far this year, the EPS has had 99 crimes against the person, with 73 assaults, 19 sexual crimes, six assaults causing bodily harm and one robbery. There were 88 such charges in the first eight months of last year.

Crimes against property

were at 32 for the first eight months of the year, led by 18 thefts under $5,000, eight mischief/wilful damage complaints, three residential break and enters, one business break and enter, one other break and enter and one theft of a motor vehicle. There were 24 such infractions in August 2021.

There were 218 crimes against property from Jan. 1-Aug. 31, up 17 per cent from the 186 for that stretch in 2021. This year’s crimes against property have included 101 thefts under $5,000, 83 mischief/wilful damage complaints, 16 residential break and enters, four business break and enters, 10 thefts of a motor vehicle, three thefts over $5,000 and one other break and enter.

There was just one charge for possession under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in August, compared to none for August 2021.

Twenty-five charges were laid under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in the first eight months of this year, with 17 for trafficking and eight for possession, versus 27 a year earlier.

Nine charges were laid for Criminal Code traffic violations last month, including eight for impaired/exceedrelated offences and one for dangerous driving or other. Eleven were laid in the same month last year.

So far this year, there have been 69 such violations – 55 for impaired/exceed-related offences, eight for impairment by drug and six for dangerous driving and other. There were 89 Criminal Code traffic violations in the first eight months of 2021.

Five-year averages for each category are 85.6 for crimes against the person, 210.2 for crimes against property, 83.8 for Criminal Code traffic violations and 33.2 for Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

When asked by Councillor Lindsay Clark about what constitutes a call for service, Police Chief Rich Lowen said any call that generates a number in the police recording system would be counted. If an officer stops somebody on the street and gives a warning, it would not be counted.

Also released was the August report for Spec. Const. Morgan Prentice, the city’s bylaw enforcement office. It showed 28 animal related calls, 38 vehicle infractions, including 31 parking violations and 65 unkempt property inspections, among other occurrences.

So far this year she has had 614 unkempt property inspections, by far the largest number among her activities.

Estevan Deputy Fire Chief Kyle Luc

Fuel Good Day raises more than $6,000

The Southern Plains Co-op received excellent support from people in southeast Saskatchewan during the annual Fuel Good Day on Sept. 20.

A total of $6,430.06 was raised this year. The coop donates 10 cents from every litre of fuel sold at the co-op’s convenience store gas bars in Estevan, Oxbow and Carlyle during Fuel Good Day, along with sales of any size coffee for $1 each.

The 2022 recipient organizations will be receiving the following from Fuel Good Day efforts: the Estevan Public Youth

Centre will get $3,150.99 from the sales in Estevan, the Carlyle District Lions Club will earn $2,322.90 through the support in Carlyle, and the RM of Enniskillen Wellness Centre will have $956.17 from the Oxbow sales.

Fuel Good Day was held at co-op locations across the province on Sept. 20.

New Estevan zoning bylaw moves closer to approval

By David Willberg

Estevan city council is one step closer to approving an updated version for one of the more important documents for land development.

Council gave first reading to the new zoning bylaw at the Sept. 12 meeting. For land development services manager Richard Neufeld, this has been four years of work.

Once council gives second and third reading – expected next month – the zoning bylaw will replace a document approved in 2010.

Among the big changes for users, according to

Neufeld, will be a separation of building permits and development permits. He concedes it will not be popular with some, but this is the direction many communities are heading following a provincial edict.

“Currently, for low-density housing, for example, or for garages, you could get a combined building and development permit. One application fee would go to our building official, and everything would be done to build your house.”

Now if someone wants to build a garage, for example, that person will have to go to Neufeld for a development

permit and the building official for a building permit.

“What we’re going to do is try to work together on this as close as we can, so that we don’t have any time delays between the one permit and the other,” said Neufeld.

The provincial government didn’t like the old process because the building and development permits are done under separate legislation, Neufeld said.

The city also used to have a separate bylaw for signs, but the province doesn’t want that now, either, so the existing sign bylaw will be rescinded and provisions for signs will be added.

Another change will be “beefed up” character and appearance guidelines for new developments so they fit esthetically and meet requirements for length, width and property line separation distances.

There is also a fairly significant change in the definitions for buildings. The existing building and development bylaw from 2010 had the different types of housing defined separately. The new document will scrap those terms to go to basic qualities such as if the building meets codes. If it does, it would have to meet the setbacks, minimum floor requirements and fit esthetically into the community.

“It provides us with an environment where we don’t really care where your home was built or what it’s built out of, if it meets the building code and meets the esthetic controls that we have in some neighbourhoods, for example on finishing, colouring and stucco versus vinyl, that sort of thing.”

He expects that should help with building construction because people won’t get “pigeon-holed into definitions” any longer.

Changes have been made with architectural controls. In the past developers would put them in when they sell the property for the first time to a homeowner, but they weren’t registered for the property.

If the home burns down or if someone wants to make an addition, they’re not bound by those controls. The city has added architectural controls that

would be considered in the municipal interest.

The city is also now allowing for heritage designations for buildings, which wasn’t contemplated in detail under the 2010 bylaw.

The new bylaw will also separate seniors’ housing into different groups, as opposed to something uniformed like the present bylaw. Supportive living is different from a nursing home or acute care.

“The needs in the building are changed, depending on what kind of senior you’re looking for,” Neufeld said.

He hopes this will allow for a more efficient use of land when proposals are submitted for seniors’ homes. Before he came to Estevan, he tried this approach in other municipalities.

Neufeld said the updated bylaw was needed because definitions have changed and there have been shifts in the construction industry that started in the early 1990s. A 3D printer could be used to build a home, and new technologies need to be incorporated into the new bylaw.

And at nearly 200 pages, Neufeld said it needs to be long because there are so many different issues to take into consideration when looking at zoning and implementing policies from the official community plan.

Neufeld said he added a lot of graphics and maps that weren’t in the 2010 version.

The zoning bylaw has to go through four weeks of advertising before it can receive approval from council. Neufeld believes it is scheduled for Oct. 24. As for open houses, they have been happening since 2018, when the

city first started looking at an updated community plan, and attendance has dropped off. He didn’t have any inquiries at an open house this spring.

Council gave third and final reading to the business bylaw at its Sept. 12 meeting. One of the big provisos, according to Neufeld, is for food trucks.

“If an ice cream truck wanted to go to the Dennis Moore [Centennial] Park on a hot summer day for a while and sell ice cream to the people of the park, they’ll be able to do that now,” said Neufeld.

It would also allow for a mobile food court for food trucks. A property downtown can now be reserved for a certain time, with four or five food trucks, picnic tables and more.

The bylaw does not allow for food trucks to park on city streets downtown, as the city thought there was more than enough room on city-owned parking lots for food trucks during the summer. The conceptual plan for downtown revitalization, with angled parking on Fourth Street, is not conducive to food trucks, he said.

Enforcement provisions and fees have been updated and the structure of the bylaw will allow for city council to amend fees if they want on an annual basis. Some definitions might have been out of date.

A package will be sent out to business owners in advance of licence renewal in 2023, explaining the changes that have been made and what they need to do.

The Southern Plains Co-op’s convenience store in Carlyle was busy on Fuel Good Day.

Photo by Gord Paulley of the Carlyle Observer

SESKSAR members partake in mock disaster scenario

By Tyson Off and Ana Bykhovskaia

A multi-jurisdictional search exercise (MJSE) was held at Good Spirt Lake and Provincial Park from Sept. 16-18, and people from the southeast were involved.

“We do this annually, but this is the first provincial training exercise since COVID,” said Dustin Brears, vicepresident of Parkland Search and Rescue.

Search and rescue teams from across the province attended the exercise. Four Southeast Saskatchewan Search and Rescue (SESKSAR) chapter members were involved, including president Katia Bigney, Mickey Quigley, Pat Ross and Sofia Paulson.

“With responders and volunteers we’re at about 125 people,” said Brears. “We’ve got the entire RCMP search and rescue team here, we have EMS, local fire, Sask. Public Safety — a whole bunch of emergency organizers.”

Brears said the exercise was based on a conceivable disaster scenario.

“We grouped them all together and given them a tornado scenario, and they need to manage through that scenario … ultimately find some missing people throughout the day, and hopefully rescue them successfully,” said Brears. “[According to the scenario], the tornado went

through the golf course, through the provincial park, across the lake and wiped out Burgis Beach.”

The fire, search and rescue, RCMP and all the other organizations had to work together to manage the immediate casualties. Later in the day the focus was on locating people that were reported missing. That’s where the main search began as SAR volunteers were going out in a structured way, looking for missing individuals.

“A tornado in this area is a very real possibility, so it brings attention to the first responders who may be arriving at a scene like that,” said Brears, “It lets them know the terrain, it lets them know the local community and it gives them an idea of what they’re walking into.”

Both seasoned veterans and people new to search and rescue partook in the training.

“We try to put those seasoned veterans in key roles so that the up and comers can learn at this exercise. If they make mistakes here that’s okay,” said Brears.

“We were kind of thrown together. We didn’t just stick with our SESKSAR team,” Quigley shared for his experience. “That way we got to know other people and got introduced to all the other members that we could be working with in the future.”

It was the first time Quigley partook in a multi-juris-

diction mock training. He said the experience was really interesting and useful.

“It was our job along with other agencies like fire and police and EMS, that we would go through the Good Spirit area and look for people that had been reported missing or that just hadn’t been seen after the tornado had gone through,” Quigley shared. “It was very interesting and very real. They had hired lots of volunteers to go out and play victims or play lost people and patients in that. It was a great learning experience.”

SESKSAR, as a chapter under the Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers (SARSAV), was formed in 2019 to serve the southeast corner of the province. Due to the pandemic, most local novice searchers didn’t have much exposure to big training until now. And Quigley said the MJSE was indeed very helpful to sharpen and progress participants’ skills.

“It gave me a whole lot of knowledge. I got to work with people from different chapters that have been around for a while. [Parkland SAR] that kind of set this all up and gave us lots of information. I also got to network a lot with the Regina Search and Rescue chapter. Our chapter here is more into rural searching, so I picked up there a lot of information about urban searching through the Regina and Saskatoon chapters. And then just network with other ones too,” Quigley shared. The weekend wasn’t limited to learning about disaster scenarios. Participants also debriefed the big scenario, and also partook in bear safety training, as well as critical incident stress management and radio efficiency.

Before COVID-19 hit, multi-jurisdictional training was held twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. And Quigley said he is looking forward to future training opportunities.

“These MJSEs, now that I’ve attended one, I think it’s a great way that not just our chapter, but all the other chapters throughout the province can get together and we get introduced to each other in a relaxed environment. Most times we might be thrown together on a search, especially this last year with how many we had province wide. And this is just the way that we can get to know each other before we’re thrown into a situation where we have to go out and be all serious and provide a search effort,” Quigley said.

For more information on opportunities with SARSAV visit their sarsav.ca website.

A multi jurisdictional mock disaster training was held at Good Spirit Lake. Photos courtesy of SARSAV

Estevan being considered for SMR technology

By John Cairns of SASKTODAY.ca

SaskPower announced on Sept. 20 that they have picked two areas in Saskatchewan for further study to host small modular reactors.

One of them is Estevan, including a 40-kilometre radius around Boundary and Rafferty Dams and a 40-kilometre radius around Grant Devine Lake; and Elbow, encompassing the area around Lake Diefenbaker from Gardiner Dam to Diefenbaker Dam.

These have been identified as areas for further study to determine the feasibility of hosting an SMR.

“At a high level, these two areas have several locations technically suitable to host a nuclear power plant,” said Don Morgan, the minister responsible for SaskPower.

It was explained the Estevan region is already important to SaskPower’s operations with a large amount of SaskPower infrastructure there already, while officials noted Lake Diefenbaker has always been seen at the top of the list as a technically suitable location.

In making the selection, SaskPower used technical criteria based on the requirements

of the various SMR technologies, including proximity to a suitable water supply, existing infrastructure and a population centre to support workers.

Other areas were looked at across the province, but the Estevan and Lake Diefenbaker areas emerged as clear front runners. Doug Opseth, director of generation and asset management planning for SaskPower, said some other areas of the province were excluded because of proximity to environmentally sensitive lands, archaeologically important areas and other protected and unique regions.

The technologically suitable areas were then ranked based on which showed the greatest opportunity in regards to licensing, construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.

Based on that, the Estevan and Elbow areas were identified. The next step is detailed analysis and consultations by technical experts, and the expectation is they will select two candidate sites in the Estevan and Elbow areas in 2023 and make a final recommendation in 2024.

“At the end of the day our goal is to find a suitable site with a willing and informed

host community by the end of 2024,” said Opseth.

It was noted that SaskPower still does not know what the long-term plans might be for coal and for carbon capture and storage technology.

“We want to continue to work with and have better discussions with the federal government,” said Morgan.

Morgan later said the federal government’s Clean Electricity Standards would not allow for further expansion or usage of fossil fuel.

“We intend to continue working with the federal government and existing the life of some of the existing assets that are there, but an expansion in those things does not fit with the federal government requirements,” said Morgan.

A final decision on whether to build an SMR won’t be made until 2029, and a number of steps must still be taken including obtaining federal licenses and a comprehensive impact assessment process.

But Morgan made clear the utility needs to consider the nuclear option, given the requirements to transition to cleaner energy in the future.

“SaskPower, like the rest of the world, finds itself in the midst of the largest energy transition in our history,” said Morgan. “The federal government continues to make the old way of power in Saskatchewan harder and harder, and … SaskPower must undergo a swift and comprehensive change in how it does business.”

He noted the province’s geography does not lend itself to hydroelectric technology. As a result, Morgan said Saskatchewan has been evaluating and developing a wide range of other options including wind and solar, increased interconnection with neighbouring jurisdictions and expanded hydrogen and utility-scale energy storage.

He said nuclear power comes with significant economic potential, from supply chain opportunities to hundreds of construction contracts, and employment and education opportunities.

“Establishing this new industry in our province has a potential to bring unprecedented economic opportunity, thousands of good paying jobs and would ensure Saskatchewan’s energy security into the next century.”

Rupen Pandya, president and CEO at SaskPower, said the focus will now be on a thorough evaluation of these two regions, “not just at a technical suitable level but a social level.”

He said there must be “open and meaningful dialogue with the province of Saskatchewan. SaskPower is committed to ongoing and meaningful dialogue, engagement and consultation.”

Pandya said they plan to be in these communities to meet with residents and elected officials, and consult with Indigenous rights holders, not just prior to the selection but through the life of the project. They will also meet with non-government

organizations, government ministries and agencies.

He said there will be “no shortage of opportunities” to engage with SaskPower, with plans for in-person meetings and virtual and online information sessions.

A particular challenge will be to have a meaningful dialogue, and avoid what transpired over a decade ago with the public consultations and information sessions held during discussion of the proposed Bruce Power large-scale nuclear power project for the northwest.

Those sessions around the province ended up with individuals whose minds were already made up about nuclear power, for or against.

“I think we’ve learned from that process,” said Opseth, who said part of what they were looking for was an “informed and willing” host.

“The ‘informed’ part was not served by holding that kind of process,” he said.

As they engage with communities, Opseth said they were looking for a “different approach to ensure that all the voices do get heard as opposed to just the loudest ones.”

Morgan said the goal of the public engagement is to “provide information to the residents of Saskatchewan, invite them to ask questions, to express opinions.” He said they wanted to make sure people understood there was already significant amounts of nuclear power in Canada, to understand what the decision points are and how they are made, and give them full and complete and accurate information.

Morgan said Saskatchewan would use significantly smaller reactors. The SMR technology is “a good fit for electrical generation in our province.” He noted their natural gas facilities in the province produce 350 to 360 megawatts of electricity, “almost exactly what the SMR produces.”

Morgan said they would be looking at a variety of different entities who would participate in funding the projects, but further details would be down the road. The indication from SaskPower is they would be interested in federal participation.

SaskPower president and CEO Rupen Pandya, left, and Don Morgan, the minister for SaskPower, answered questions from the media last week. Photo courtesy of SaskPower

Sacred Heart shows support for Terry Fox Run

Sacred Heart School/ École Sacrè Coeur was among those in the southeast to show their support for the fight against cancer by hosting a Terry Fox Run.

Students raised more than $2,200 for the foundation, bringing Sacred Heart’s lifetime fundraising total to more than $22,000 for cancer research. Their walk was held on Sept. 20.

During an assembly before the walk, Madison Massey, a school ambassador for the Terry Fox Foundation, told the students she was excited to be in Estevan and talk about one of Canada’s heroes. She travels to schools across Saskatchewan and talks about the things Fox did when he was young.

“I remember running in the Terry Fox Run when I was younger like you guys, so it’s pretty cool to be the one up here today to show

you and tell you all about Terry,” said Massey.

She showed a couple of videos to the students that chronicled Fox’s famous story.

He had his right leg amputated six inches above the knee at the age of 18. The night before the surgery, his former high school basketball coach visited him and gave Fox an article about another man who lost his leg to cancer but managed to complete a marathon.

It inspired Terry to eventually embark on the Marathon of Hope for cancer research.

After learning to walk again with a prosthetic leg, he focused on running and told family and friends he was training for a marathon.

In September 1979, he finished last in a 29-kilometre race but amazed the crowd with his tenacity.

On April 12, 1980, he set

out from Canada’s most eastern point in Newfoundland and ran 42 kilometres per day – equivalent to a marathon – for 143 days. His goal was to raise $1 million but it eventually became $1 from every Canadian – equivalent to $24 million at the time.

“Terry ran through snow, rain, wind, heat and humidity, all to achieve his one goal,” she said. “Some days Terry began running at 4:30 in the morning and didn’t finish the last mile until 7 [p.m.]. Other days hundreds of people would show up to support him and some days he looked over on the road with no money being raised. But Terry never gave up hope.”

His prosthetic leg was made for walking, not running, so every step he took burned, she said.

The Marathon of Hope ended just outside of Thunder Bay, Ont., after Fox had run more than 5,500 kilome-

tres, or more than two-thirds of his journey. The cancer had spread to his lungs. He

arrested for thefts

The Estevan Police Service has announced charges related to investigations into two separate incidents of theft last week.

An EPS member on patrol early on Sept. 22 spotted a suspicious vehicle in the east end of the city. A photo of the vehicle had previously been circulated on EPS social media, seeking the public’s assistance to identify the individuals responsible, following a theft early on Sept. 17.

Police were able to interrupt a theft in progress on Sept. 22 and take two men into custody.

Regina’s Justin Jackson, age 48, and Southey’s Roland Roberge, also 48, have been charged jointly for theft under $5,000 for allegedly stealing a catalytic converter, and possession of instruments used for a break-in.

Jackson has also been charged with theft under $5,000 for stealing copper pipe, stemming from an incident on Sept. 17.

The two were released on conditions of an undertaking that include a curfew, no contact with each other and not to attend the city of Estevan except for court purposes.

The charges have not been proven in court.

In other recent police news, officers received a re-

quest on Sept. 20 to do a welfare check on an individual living in Estevan. The individual’s family resides outside the city. Police located the person and arranged to make contact with their family.

Police received a report of mischief to property. The subjects were alleged to have thrown eggs at a residence in the Westview area. The investigation identified several individuals as being responsible for the act and police formally cautioned them against a future similar incident. The EPS would like to remind the public that criminal charges may be laid against anyone found throwing eggs at another person’s property.

The EPS reported on Sept. 23 that a local man was arrested following an investigation of an incident that occurred earlier this month. As a result of a complaint from a local liquor establishment, a 44-year-old Estevan man was arrested and charged with uttering threats and assault. He was released with conditions, and will appear in court at a later date to answer to the charges.

On the same day, EPS responded to a report of a theft of fuel from a local business in the industrial area of the city. The matter is under investigation.

Members also received a report of a possible scam. The caller asked for gift cards to be purchased and provided to the caller.

The Estevan RCMP is asking for the public’s assistance with a stolen truck.

According to a message from the Saskatchewan Crime Watch Advisory Network, sometime between the evening of Sept. 22 and afternoon of Sept. 23, a white 1995 GMC dually with a black tool box and hoist was reported stolen from the Souris Valley Memorial Gardens near Estevan.

If you see this vehicle, please contact the Estevan RCMP at 306-637-4400, 310-RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Fall In Love

died in 1981 at the age of 22. Thousands of schools across Canada participate in the Terry Fox Run and raise funds for cancer research each year, she said.

Students from Sacred Heart School/École Sacrè Coeur depart for the start of the school’s Terry Fox Run.

Residential school survivor Tony Stevenson will share his story during presentations in Estevan

By David Willberg

Tony Stevenson wants people to know about his experiences in residential schools, how they shaped his life and how they continue to impact Indigenous communities in the province.

Stevenson, who is originally from the Cote First Nation and a part of the Anishinaabe First Nation, will speak at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch on Sept. 28, starting at 7 p.m., and the following day at 9:30 a.m. Stevenson will also show a video each day.

Joining him will be his wife Marcie McArthurStevenson, who hails from the Pheasant Rump First Nation and is also a residential school survivor. Stevenson will do the bulk of the speaking, while his wife looks after the audio-visual component. He noted a lot of female audience members will approach his wife after the event.

The couple started sharing their experiences about three years ago, but then the COVID-19 pandemic halted their efforts. This year has been their busiest yet.

The presentations are a result of the legal compensation process, he said. Stevenson worked for two law firms in Regina as an agent, acting on behalf of the survivors.

“I lost both firms because they didn’t treat the people

right. They weren’t equipped to handle the psychological backlash, the emotional turmoil of these repressed memories that set my residential family off. Many have passed on. Many have revisited a rough life with drugs and alcohol,” said Stevenson.

People weren’t equipped to deal with these repressed memories, and when they relived them through hearings, they did not recover.

Some of the questions he gets will be how to help Indigenous peoples get over this. He replies they don’t, because it’s a life-long battle.

“You see first-hand how this affects us mentally and emotionally. The way I feel people can help is talking about, to their kids, to their family members, about this history that hasn’t been taught in schools. That’s what helps us the most,” he said.

There are a lot of BandAid solutions, but people have to be prepared to hear and accept the truth, he said.

Stevenson asked how many Indigenous people are at the helm of big corporations.

He recalls that when working for a pipeline company, some non-Indigenous people made comments about a young Aboriginal man who was shot by a farmer up north. Some of his co-workers made racist remarks.

He was told by the company and the union to forget

about it and move on.

“This is the kind of stuff that creates the triggers. We can’t move on. The racist, ignorant attitude has to be stopped,” said Stevenson, who encouraged them to learn history and the spirit of the treaty.

He also recalled being part of a project that gar-

nered provincial awards for a business to hire and retain Indigenous employees, but many of those who were hired eventually left.

“Things like that are created by a lack of education, lack of awareness. The idea is to get to all of the schools, all of the colleges and universities, places of busi-

ness, some much-needed education,” said Stevenson. “There is so much ignorance out there that it hurts our people.”

Through reasonable dialogue, his goal is to address these issues in the best way he can and that’s by being honest and sharing his experiences.

“I can stand up there in front of a group or a crowd with a PowerPoint presentation with 50 pages, explaining this is the perks of the treaties and this is the downside,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure that the participants who come into the room, that partake in this presentation, leave with a feeling of empathy, that they understand that’s what it’s like to be ostracized because of the colour of your skin, your ethnic origin, and to be treated unequally.”

Stevenson’s first exposure to the residential schools came when he played hockey as a visitor at the Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School in Lebret. His uncle was a head childcare worker. He was a student at the school from 1981 to 1991.

His wife started at a residential school in Grade 3 in 1979.

He finds people are often surprised to find out the last residential school didn’t close until the late 1990s.

In the first year they had the presentations, they had four and then grew it to

12. They have 15 or 16 this month alone, he said. And with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation coming up on Sept. 30, they expected to be busy.

Stevenson said many in the audience are hearing them for the first time. They weren’t taught that in schools or universities.

“They wish they would have learned it. They wish they would have learned,” said Stevenson.

The money that residential school survivors received didn’t take away the hurt and the pain that they have experienced.

“When I saw the anger and the loss and the emotions from everyone that I worked with, it takes its toll on you. Their final wish was that their stories be told, the truth be told. That’s one of the main drives, wone of the reasons we do this,” he said.

Stevenson said he is glad the general public is starting to accept the history of Indigenous people. If it weren’t for the unmarked graves being found at former residential school sites last year, he believes these discussions wouldn’t be happening.

Stevenson has won a number of awards and recognitions over the years, including a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

A group of local agencies and businesses is bringing Stevenson to Estevan. His presentation is for those at least 16 years of age.

Holy Family working on Indigenous education plan

By Greg Nikkel

The Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) is lending support to school divisions as they implement the Indigenous Education Responsibility Framework from the Ministry of Education.

Trustees from the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division heard from Felice McKay, the strategic advisor

for Indigenous education for the SSBA, on Sept. 14. She explained what is behind the framework, and pointed out that the SSBA’s goal is to ensure education on Indigenous peoples is aligned and consistent across the province.

The Ministry of Education has set out five goals that they want each school division to accomplish in relation to teaching students about First Nations and Métis culture and languages.

“The hope and desire is to align everyone’s Indigenous education plan and work at all levels. We have an advisory committee, people who have worked on the document for a year, which is available on the website,” said McKay.

“What this framework is animating or putting life into [is an] Inspiring success framework from the

ministry that’s been out since 2018. We’re looking at it a little bit differently and giving life to it.”

The five goals are as follows:

•All learners are to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the worldviews and historical impact of First Nations and the Métis Nation;

•There are to be equitable opportunities and outcomes for First Nations and Métis learners;

•Shared management of the provincial education system by ensuring respectful relationships and equitable partnerships with First Nations and Metis peoples at the provincial and local levels;

•Culturally appropriate and authentic assessment measures that foster improved educational opportunities and outcomes; and

•First Nations and Mé-

tis languages and cultures are valued and supported. McKay said the hope is that each school division will do a self-assessment of where they are at in terms of First Nations and Métis education and meeting these five goals, and noted they want to disrupt the status quo, particularly how things have always been done.

“How do we know what we’re doing is making a difference? The idea is you do the assessment, seeing where you’re at and really look at what you’re doing,” said McKay, adding there is no further reporting required by school divisions.

“Really the framework is an opportunity for selfreflection by each division. … It really gives a little bit more incentive for people to do things, and provide a more co-ordinated way of doing things.”

Marcie McArthur-Stevenson and Tony Stevenson will make presentations at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch. Photo courtesy of Marcie McArthur-Stevenson

Estevan organizations to host events on National Truth and Reconciliation Day

The Souris Valley Museum, in partnership with the Métis Nation Saskatchewan Estevan Local No. 25 and the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, will host events to mark National Truth and Reconciliation Day on Sept. 30.

People are invited for a lunch from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the museum courtyard, with admission by donation. The lunch will be provided by the Métis group and will consist of traditional hamburger soup with bannock.

After lunch, Métis artist Karlie King, whose art is on display at the EAGM and who has been doing a mini-residency with the gallery, will be doing a walk and talk down at Woodlawn Re-

gional Park. King will talk about her residency, artistic practices and research, and her ceramic work that is displayed in the Inside

Out displays around the park.

“This is our way of holding space and allowing Karlie to talk about

her experiences here and her familial experiences as a Métis person, and just to give people a different experience, because we don’t

always have an artist’s talk for Inside/Out,” explained EAGM director/curator Amber Andersen.

The walk will start at the

dog park at 1:30 p.m. after lunch at the museum and will go around the park to each of King’s displays. This is a free event, and the organizers encourage all to come and hold space for Indigenous voices on this important day.

King is a multi-media ceramicist based in Regina on Treaty 4 Territory. The EAGM’s current Inside/ Out project features artworks made during King’s mini-residency at the beginning of September. The artworks consist of ceramic vessels created by locally sourced clays and fired on location with a pit fire at Woodlawn, where the residency was hosted.

Inside/Out is featured in Plexiglas lidded plinths at four locations in Woodlawn Regional Park.

Oxbow to host events on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The town of Oxbow is inviting the public to join them for a communitywide event dedicated to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

“Join us in honouring and remembering the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities,” said the town.

Building Relationships: We are in this Together will take place Sept. 30 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Bow Valley Park’s stage area.

The event will start with an Every Child Matters free t-shirt pick-up for the

first 100 pre-registered participants from 9-9:45 a.m.

The opening prayer and song will be at 10 a.m.

A Reflection Walk led by

Angie McArthur Delorme – an elder, residential school survivor and children’s advocate who resides within the First Nations community and worked with First Nations – will talk to the public first. The other guest speaker will be Joanne Neddow, who is a retired social worker/therapist, and also the author/ developer of Grandmother Medicine for Children, Youth and Adults.

singers will start at 11 a.m.

Moose stew, bannock and berries lunch will be served at noon.

The event is free of charge, but people willing to participate are asked to pre-register for lunch and tshirts. People are also asked to bring their lawn chairs.

Oxbow community development officer Treena Mohrbutter said that as of Monday afternoon, they already had over 100 people registered for the event.

To register go to oxbow. ca/p/oxbow-culture-days or call 306-483-2747 or email development@oxbow.ca.

Treaty boundary signs to be placed on highway

Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty, the Government of Saskatchewan and the treaty commissioner of Saskatchewan unveiled the official road signs to mark the Treaty 4-Treaty 6 boundary near Highway 11 – one of the province’s busiest transportation links.

Following an Indigenous ceremony and protocols, provincial crews will place the pair of signs, measuring about five feet high by about 12 feet wide – along the four-lane highway near Bladworth. Motorists travelling north will see the Treaty 6 sign. Motorists travelling south will see the Treaty 4 sign.

This section of Highway 11 sees more than 5,000 vehicles daily.

“I am grateful to the Office of the treaty commissioner and the Government of Saskatchewan for working together to officially mark Treaty boundaries along our province’s major highways,” said Mirasty. “It is important recognition of our treaties.”

“The Government of Saskatchewan is proud to play a role in being the first Canadian province to mark a treaty boundary along a major provincial highway,” said Don Morgan, the minister responsible for First Nations, Métis and northern affairs.

“The treaty boundary signage, in partnership with the office of the treaty commissioner, complements treaty education in our province

to continue moving forward together towards meaningful and lasting reconciliation efforts in Saskatchewan.”

“It is common sense to acknowledge the treaty boundaries by the province and by the federal government,” treaty commissioner Mary Culbertson said. “This first sign acknowledging the

for Truth and

Treaty 4 and 6 boundary is paid for by the province. It is going to spark dialogue and lead to policy changes. It is education. There are Treaties 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10. These treaties were here before this province was created – before these roads were here. We will work with our elders and the knowledge keepers

advisory council to ensure that other treaty boundaries that cross provincial highways will be marked with signs in the coming years.”

Each new sign includes:

•An image of a Treaty medal. The medals were provided to Indigenous leadership following the close of the Treaty negotiations.

•Wording of the original treaties to indicate they will remain valid “as long as the sun shines, grass grows and rivers flow.”

•A welcome in the respective Indigenous languages of each Treaty area.  Saskatchewan is the first Canadian province to mark a Treaty boundary along a major provincial highway.

The Estevan Bruins were a part of the National Truth and Reconciliation Day at the Souris Valley Museum last year. File photo

Car club entertains people in seniors’ homes

Estevan’s informal car c lub made their 2022 season windup memorable not just for themselves, but also for many seniors in the community.

On Sept. 18, local owners of antique vehicles got together and drove by Estevan’s three senior places.

Club president Nathan Dies said their year-end plans came out of a suggestion from the public, which turned into a heartwarming initiative.

“We didn’t really have anything planned for the end of the year. Then I think Beckey Franke, she works at the hospital at the long-term care, she’d gotten a hold of me and asked if we can do an end of the year cruise past long-term care, and they’d bring the residents out,” Dies said.

“So, over the course of a couple of weeks, we planned it out and worked the day, and really lucked out with the day we booked. The weather was beautiful. And we also decided that while we were going to do that, we’d hit up the two other seniors’ homes in Estevan, so we did the Estevan nursing

home, and we did Hill View Manor.”

Over 40 cars gathered at a parking lot on the west side of Estevan from 1-2 p.m. on the day of the cruise. From there they headed down the highway to make a pass through the driveway at Hill View Manor. Then they went north to make a couple of passes by the Estevan Regional Nursing Home, and then onto the long-term care at St. Joseph’s Hospital, where they stayed for about half an hour so that the residents could come out, look at the vehicles on display and visit.

“Everyone really enjoyed it,” Dies said, adding that a lot of people came out to look at their cruise at all three places. “They enjoyed the vehicles. Some of them I think also had family members that showed up.”

The turnout for the club was higher than during their monthly show and shine gatherings at the Estevan Market Mall. With the cruise by the seniors’ places, the club wrapped up their season, but they plan on getting back out in the community next year and probably repeat the initiative.

“It was a great turnout. And the weather worked in our favour. And we’ll for sure do it again next year if we can,” Dies said.

He also noted that they are not a formal club anymore, but rather are a Facebook group, uniting people who have a soft spot for antique vehicles. The Estevan Car Club or technically The Estevan Antique Auto Club Corp used to be an incorporated group, but in the last several years they had so few members that they decided to switch to being an informal club.

An enjoyable summer for Creighton Lodge residents

By Shelly Veroba

July and August are complete and now we have a chance to reflect on our summer months and the happenings around Creighton Lodge.

Our July birthday party was a small one. We celebrated Rose Dowhaniuk and Lois Matt. The August birthdays was extra big, with wishes for Jeri Smith, Denyse Hygard, Marie Bill, Louise Fleck, Sylvia Oszust,

Sarah Harder, Irma Lesiuk, Jean Broadhead and Raymond Mack. Some of our birthday babes celebrated special birthdays as they turned 85 and 90, with family celebrations to mark the milestone.

Marie celebrated her 100th birthday with her family here to help make her feel special.

Sadly, Herman Kleebaum, who had moved to the Estevan Regional Nursing home, passed away

on July 27. Herman’s wife Nancy passed away in the spring. Those of us that were able attended a joint celebration of life for Herman and Nancy on Aug. 15. Our condolences go out to the Kleebaum family. Herman and Nancy were great people who will be thought of often in our memories and in our stories.

KFC night was enjoyed in July, and in August we ordered in Tower Pizza. Thank you to Margaret Mack, Jean

Delorme, Marge Heidinger and Doreen Hagen for volunteering to serve the meal. These ladies have been faithful volunteers at Creighton Lodge for many years and we appreciate all their dedication.

Thank you to our musical groups who came to entertain us this summer: the Olsons, Del and Kelly, Homespun Harmonies and the Caragana Ramblers. We are always looking for people who like to entertain. If you are interested in singing, playing an instrument, juggling or even just playing cards, please come on over to the lodge and we would love to meet you.

Thank you to Joy Beahm, who came each Monday this summer and gave us all manicures. We enjoy your company Joy and appreci-

ate how pretty you make our hands look.

Norma Blackburn and Melodye Pierson served us our cocktails at our social hour. This is an event that happens twice a month, which gives us time to relax, eat a salty treat, drink our favourite spirit and visit with our friends. Norma and Melodye know everyone’s favourites and we enjoy seeing their smiles while they are with us.

Thank you to Bev Holinaty for being our weekly Bingo caller. Irene Dyer also helps at Bingo to check the cards of the lucky winners and help hand out our prizes. Bingo is our favourite event and we are so blessed to be able to play it each week with the help of our volunteer ladies.

The library came and

brought our books that we wanted to check out to read, and then they came to read to us for our reading and reminiscing hour. We enjoy the outreach services that the library has for us. Jess Kelly will no longer be our adult learning coordinator for the Estevan Public Library. We want to wish her the best of luck in her future endeavours and thank her for spending time with us over the last few years.

We hope you all had a great summer and you travelled, visited with family or friends, and filled your hearts with lots of great memories that will see you through until we can do it all again next year. Now it is time for school to start, routines to begin and for the leaves to fall.

The Estevan Car Club visited local senior living places for their season wrap-up. Photo sourced from the Estevan Car Club Facebook page

Drivers that partook in the event were greeted by senior home residents, who came out to visit and look at the vehicles.

August and September enjoyable at Hill View

By Jeannette Betteridge

August and September have been exciting times at Hill View Manor.

We recently had a few new residents come into our home, including Marie M., Tea (Tyvolia) C., and Margaret and Walter B. Welcome to our home.

Many activities were planned for August, including exercises, Bingo, card games, crocinole, bowling and bean bag

toss. The last Friday of the month is loonie Bingo, followed by wine and cheese or fruit juice for anyone not wanting wine.

The gardens we planted have produced a wonderful amount of vegetables and fruit. This has been enjoyed by all who reside in our home. Fresh produce from the garden has been so delicious.

Our apple tree blessed us with more apples than we could ever use. Our stocks for winter are so significant, we donated

some apples to a church and they made 31 apple pies, so no apples have gone to waste.

An outing for August was to Make Music with Friends. This is a favourite for the residents as the music and socialization is amazing. Also, we enjoyed a visit to the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course for lunch and cart rides.

August was great for live entertainment, which includes the Caragana Ramblers, Susan Moser, Susan Shepherd,

Wilma and Val, and Keith and Gary.

We are sad to say goodbye to one of our residents, Genevieve J. she will be missed by all.

We were very sad to say goodbye to another our residents, Ross L., who had just moved to the manor. He truly will be missed. He came to entertain our residents several times over the years with his musical partner Susan Shepherd. We were all blessed when, the Thursday before his passing, he came

out and played with Susan to entertain the residents in the home one last time. Everyone loved to see him up playing and singing once again. Thank you Ross, you won’t be forgotten.

August had no resident birthdays.

September saw our residents go out for a country cruise to see how harvest is going. This was enjoyed by all who went.

Outings were also planned for Walmart for shopping and the Days Inn for lunch, and

another trip to the golf course for cart rides and lunch.

An ice cream social was also enjoyed by the residents. This is a favourite with great ice cream and socializing time for all of our folks.

Our entertainment for September included the Susan Moser group, Susan Shepard, and Keith and Gary.

September will see three birthdays: Marie M. will be 89 years of age, Walter B. will turn 82, and Nat O. is 81.

P

r s o n a l C a r e H o m e • E s t e v a n, S K

We are a licensed personal care home that provides all levels of care. This includes Level 1-4 care, memory care, end of life care, palliative care and respite care. Our Philosophy of “Aging in the Right Place”, provides residents the choice to live at Hill View Manor as long as they like regardless of their care needs.

Our dedicated team are kind, courteous and committed to making each resident feel right at home.

Always Time for a Music Lesson!

For more information or to schedule a tour, please call Paige at 306-637-2600 Ext 5 Hillview Manor, 1401 1st Street Estevan , SK goldenhealthcare.ca

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Southeast male golfers win provincial title

Golfers from southeast Saskatchewan had a great showing at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association’s provincial championship at the Jackfish Lake Golf and Conference Centre in Cochin on the weekend.

The Team South East male entry captured the provincial championship with a two-round total of 437. The South East squad shot a 213 in the first round to take an 11-shot lead over Central Valley (224) and North East (225), and then had a 224 in the second round to finish 22 strokes ahead of Central Valley (459).

South Central finished third with a two-round score of 463.

Members of Team South East male team were Darien Herlick of the Weyburn Comprehensive School, Conner Spencer of the Estevan Comprehensive School, Kerr Cudmore of the Wawota Parkland School and Porter Barnett of the Gordon F. Kells High School.

Herlick finished second in the male individual division with a two-round total of 145, shooting a 70 in the first round and a 75 in the second. He finished a stroke behind Saskatoon’s Max Regier.

Spencer was sixth with a 157 (78-79), Cudmore was tied for eighth at 160 (7585), and Barnett was 10th at 161 (78-83).

ECS golf coach Nathan Johnson, who is also the school’s principal, said the four South East players had an impressive weekend to all finish in the top 10.

“It got really, really windy on Saturday, and they were still able to put up some good scores,” said Johnson. “They handled the nerves of the big provincial event.”

Johnson noted that Spencer was pleased with how well he hit the ball and avoided the rough. Spencer also had good approach shots and putts, which kept his scores low.

The level of competition at provincials was tough, Johnson said. He watched

the top three golfers play in the same group the first day, and they were really impressive. He noted there were a lot of birdies on the

cards for all three players in the opening round, before the conditions became tougher.

In the female division,

Team South East was sixth with a two-round total of 382. The South East scored 194 in the first round and 188 in the second.

Members were Jade Krainyk of Redvers School, Faith Gerspacher of Rocanville School, Tianna Delalleau of Gordon F. Kells and Alainna Brown of Moosomin’s McNaughton High School.  Krainyk was seventh in the province with a 185 (9293). Gerspacher was tied for 21st with a 225 (112-113), Delalleau was 31st at 247 (130-117), and Brown was 33rd at 250 (131-119).

The East Central team won the provincial title with a two-round score of 345 (167-178), 10 better than South West (175180). Horizon Central was third at 361 (192-169).

Ella Kozak of Yorkton Sacred Heart won the individual female title with a two-round score of 136 (67-69), 26 better than Kyle’s Chloe Willis, who had two rounds of 81 to finish with a 162. Johnson said it was “amazing” to watch Kozak play, especially in the second round when the conditions were tougher.

Bears open their campaign with split against Yorkton

The Estevan Steelhaus U18 AAA Bears opened the season this past week by splitting games with the Yorkton Maulers at Affinity Place.

Estevan lost 3-1 to Yorkton on Thursday night, but recovered to win 3-1 Sunday.

After a scoreless first period Thursday, Bears’ forward Carter Onrait scored a minute into the second period for the first goal in the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League this season. Edward Knittig’s goal 70 seconds later tied the game.

It remained a 1-1 game until Yorkton’s Kyle Weisgarber notched what proved to be the gamewinning goal with 6:21 to play in the middle frame.

Sam Cristo then put the game away with 7:46 to play in the third period.

Kaden Perron stopped 31 shots for the Bears, while Blake Settler made 24 saves on the 25 shots he faced for Yorkton.

The Bears scored three times in the opening 12 minutes of the first period to win Sunday. Kole Keen opened the scoring a minute into the frame. Onrait

doubled the lead 3:10 later, and Teigan Semchyshen’s goal gave the Bears a 3-0 lead.

Blaze Gutzke assisted on all three goals.

It remained a 3-0 game until Jaxon Sperling scored with 14:28 to play in the game for Yorkton.

Riley Deck stopped 19 of 20 shots he faced for the win, while Sittler made 19 saves on 22 shots.

Estevan was scheduled to host the Regina Pat Canadians on Tuesday night. (Results not available at press time).

Estevan U13 AA Bearcats eager to begin first season

It’s going to be a history-making day for the Estevan IG Wealth Management U13 AA Bearcats female hockey team on Oct. 1.

The Bearcats will play

their inaugural regular season game when they host the Saskatoon Comet Hurricanes at 3:30 p.m. at Affinity Place. It will also be the first-ever game for the new U13 AA division

in the Saskatchewan Female Hockey League.

Coach Shawn Madsen said it’s going to be hard to gauge the team because everything is brand new. They also haven’t seen many of the players in the league in the past three years due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re going into this fairly blind, as I think most teams are,” said coach Shawn Madsen. “I think we can be competitive. We’ve had a couple of [preseason] games against Weyburn, and we match up extremely well against them.”

Estevan defeated Weyburn 1-0 in Estevan and 3-2 in Weyburn. If those games against Weyburn are any indication, the league should be fairly tight and exciting, he said.

“The second game was

much better,” said Madsen. “It’s interesting. Everyone just got more comfortable and you could see they were trying a few more things. There was a little more offence.”

The team has come together really well, Madsen said. The weekend of tryouts and cuts was really difficult. The Bearcats selected 15 players – nine forwards, four defencemen and two goaltenders. A total of 23 players tried out for the club.

The Bearcats’ staff had three tough decisions to make, he said. Some teams might have a fifth or even a sixth defenceman, but Madsen noted the Bearcats have three forwards who could shift to defence if necessary.

“That group of girls, I think, is going to have a fun year. They’re already excited. It’s a loud dressing room. You walk in the door,

and they’re having a blast,” said Madsen.

The Bearcats also boast players from Macoun, Lampman, Bienfait and White Bear.

Other teams in the league are from Swift Current, Lumsden-Bethune, Rosetown, Warman, North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort, which will have players from throughout the northeast. He expects Saskatoon will be one of the toughest teams in the league, while Rosetown has had some great teams at the U11 level the past couple of years.

Madsen believes having a U13 AA program in Estevan will pay dividends for young female hockey players in the area.

“This is a stepping stone for these players to develop and get ready for the next level. Once they can get to

U15, which is also AA, and then there’s the [U18] AAA in Weyburn, this will just set them up, and it should help improve the quality of the play all the way through.”

He’s already seen it the two preseason games.

“Typically what you see in some house teams is a sprinkle of good players amongst some that maybe aren’t quite as good,” he said. “And now you’re taking all of those ones and putting them together.”

The U13 AA Bearcats have received excellent support from the community, and people seem to be excited to see this calibre of youth female hockey come to the city.

Estevan will also have a team in the female U13 A division this season. Madsen expects they will have a full roster as well, with 14 or 15 skaters and a goalie.

From left, Darien Herlick, Kerr Cudmore, Porter Barnett and Connor Spencer teamed up to win a provincial golf title. Photo courtesy of Nathan Johnson

Jace Konecsni of the Estevan Bears tries to fish out the puck from two Yorkton Maulers opponents during the season-opening game for the two teams on Thursday.

South Corner Racing Circuit wraps up season

The South Corner Racing Circuit (SCRC) wrapped up its season on Saturday by hosting races at the Trackside Motocross Association’s facility outside of Estevan.

Riders competed in a number of different divisions. The top five finishers in each class, from first to fifth, were:

C Class: Clay LeMoine, Steve Butler, Cyrus Ferrill, Marcel Peloquin and Matt Russell.

B Class: Brooks Milford, Kent Shumlich, Tucker Wyatt, Koby Machniak and Andrew Wilson.

A Class: Ryder Zackrisson, Travis King, Trey Griffin, Dylan Honig and Connor Bendickson.

Supermini: Nathan Bendickson, Deegan LeMoine, Reid Hubur, Grayson Pryde and Cayden Fonstad.

50cc: Vinton Penna, Colton Juneau, Maddox Romich, Kayden Drumm and Kendyn Rekken.

Small wheel beginner: Mason Fonstad, Max Penna and Noah Brown.

Moto Mom: Tory Brown, Jasmine Tomolak, Beckey Franke, Amanda Cambell and Lucinda Milford.

Two-stroke: Jordan Weber, Randy Franke, Andrew Wilson, Koby Machniak and Tucker Wyatt.

65cc: Leo Hickey, Reid Hubur, Eli Hickey, Carter Yunick and Royce Milford.

Women’s: Emily Quigley, Parker Russell, Mya Bendickson, Lacey Barbour and Kaitlyn Alexander.

Vet: Adam Saban, Jason Lowen, Bryce Friess, Randy Franke and Blair Fonstad.

85cc: Grayson Pryde, Reid Hubur, Royce Milford, Matt Russell and Leo Hickey.

Youth: Travis King, Dylan Honig, Connor Bendickson, Marcus Quigley and Ryder Zackrisson.

The SCRC had races in Estevan, Carlyle and Alameda starting in July. Drivers compiled points over the course of the season based on their finish.

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Ryder Zackrisson soared through the air during Saturday’s program. Photos by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia

Connor Bendickson was among the riders entered.

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Doreen Brandon 1924-2022

Doreen Brandon of Regina, SK, formerly of Frobisher and Arcola, SK passed away peacefully on September 18, 2022 with family by her side. Doreen was born on August 15, 1924 in Aberdeen, Scotland and remained in Scotland and England during her service in World War II. On May 5, 1945 Doreen married Ross Brandon, a Canadian serving member in the same squadron and she moved to Canada as a War Bride in 1946. They made their home on the Brandon homestead northwest of Frobisher. They had two sons, Bill in 1947 and Dennis in 1952. In 1995, they made Arcola their home until Ross’ passing in 2002. Doreen remained in Arcola until 2012 when she moved into the College Park Retirement Residence, her home until her passing.

Doreen will be forever loved and missed by her son Dennis Brandon; grandchildren Lori (Brice) Kolybaba and their children Mitchell and Mackenzie, Lianne (Jeff) Herman and their children Jayden and Cole, Jason (Jessica) Brandon and their children Mya and Ty, Devon (Sharon) Brandon and their children Kayla and Skye, Shannon Brandon and her children Anika, Ava, and Jaxon, Nathan Brandon and his children Dana, Cohen, Hunter, and Brody, Bridget (Jaus) Neigum and their children Eve and Pierce, and Angela (Lenard) Vogelaar and their child Deziray. Also remembering Doreen are her daughters-in-law Brenda Brandon, Gail Brandon, and Cathy Beck, as well as many family members and friends in Canada, the United States, and Scotland. Doreen was predeceased by her parents Charles and Margaret Penrose; her brother and four sisters; husband Ross; and her son Bill. Doreen was special. She loved her life in Scotland but jumped into her new life in Canada and made many cherished friends along the way. She worked hard on the farm but also knew the importance of having fun, making memories, and was always up for any new adventure. She was a proud lifelong member of the Royal Canadian Legion. She taught Highland and Tap Dancing in Frobisher for almost two decades, and when she retired to Arcola, she taught Scottish Country Dancing. She loved to tell stories and always did so with her wee Scottish accent and a smile. Doreen loved to sing as everyone who knew her could attest to, especially the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Doreen was featured on Facebook over the last few years as the Singing Grandma of College Park, something she was very proud of. The family would like to thank College Park and thank the staff at the Regina Pasqua Hospital Palliative Care Unit for their compassion and support. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice.

A Celebration of Life was held at the Arcola United Church in Arcola, SK on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. There will be a tea at the Arcola Hall following interment in the Arcola Cemetery. To leave an online message of condolence, please visit www.orstedcarlylefuneralhome.com

Lois Karst 1936 - 2022

Lois Doreen Karst (Kyle) born 29 November 1936, passed away Saturday, September 17, 2022 at the Lampman Community Health Centre.

Lois was predeceased by her husband, Lynn, brother Jack Kyle, and sister Betty Mirwald. Lois is survived by her son, Dale Karst (friend Dorothy), daughter Karen (Doug) Percival, granddaughter Celestine (Corey) Van Engelan, grandson Cole (Nikki) Karst, granddaughter Jenny Wiggett, grandson Andrew (Princess) Percival, great grandkids, Hadley,

OBITUARIES

It is with much sadness but also grateful hearts for a long and full life, that the family announces Marie’s passing at St Joseph’s Hospital in Estevan, Sask. on September 22, 2022.

Marie was born in August of 1922 to Jacob & Mary Schaff at Lampman, Sask. She was the second of nine children with six sisters and two brothers. After finishing public school Marie worked as a telephone operator in Lampman, Sask. for three years. She then met Gordon Bill and they were married on April 12, 1944. They moved to a farm near Estevan and Marie became a “farm wife”.

Marie was an excellent seamstress and her nieces & nephews benefited from this talent. She also did petit point and the pictures she did were lovely! Marie & Gordon were long time season ticket holders for the Estevan Bruins and she was very active in the Royal Purple. She and Gordon, who belonged to the Benevolent Order of the Elks went to many conventions as delegates. In the later years Marie volunteered at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home, calling bingo twice a week.

When Gordon died in 1976 Marie moved into Estevan and resided in what was then the Jenish Apartments. From there she moved to Yardley Place and in 2013 she made her final move to Creighton Lodge.

Marie is survived by her brother William (Florina) and her sister Agnes, along with numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Gordon, her parents Jacob & Mary Schaff, her brother Mike, her sisters Lillian, Cathy, Ann, Gert and Irene.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. John The Baptist Church, 109-12th Avenue, Estevan, Sask. on Monday, October 3, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. presided by Fr. Stephen Bill. A live stream of the Funeral Mass will be available. Please visit Marie’s tribute page at www.hallfuneralservices.ca for details.

In lieu of flowers, donations to a charity of your choice would be appreciated.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Creighton Lodge for the care she was given for the last nine years and to St. Joseph’s Hospital Unit A for their compassion and kindness while Marie was a palliative patient. Also, special thanks go out to Joanne Bill for always being Marie’s “go-to person” for the last 20 years!

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for the Bill family - Deb Heidinger, Funeral Director.

Simonne Rita Brown Simonne (Simmie) Rita Brown (nee Charlebois), wife of the late Allan Brown, passed away on September 11, 2022 in Canora Union Hospital at the age of 87. Simonne was born in Estevan, SK on May 28, 1935 to Arthur and Beatrice Charlebois (nee Tessier).

She attended Valley View School, Estevan Collegiate High School, and then ventured to Teacher’s College in Moose Jaw. While applying for teaching positions, Simonne made up her mind she would take the very first offer. The first to reply was Kamsack, SK and although she had many offers, she stayed committed to her plan. She began her career teaching her class on the gymnasium stage as the school was overflowing. The Assiniboine School opened the next year and Miss Charlebois gladly relinquished the stage to move over to the new school.

Lincoln, Emelia and Emerie.

Lois had been an employee with Sask Power for many years prior to her retirement. She enjoyed visiting with their neighbours along McLeod Avenue, as well as visiting with old friends, work colleagues or farmers whose land Lynn may have drilled on.

In her younger days, Lois played softball, basketball and coached women’s basketball. Lynn and Lois travelled to see the Minnesota Twins and also attended the Grey Cup in Vancouver after Lois won tickets! They loved to travel to new places and every trip was a new adventure.

They had many dogs over the years, and when the last one went over the rainbow bridge she said it was as hard as if they had lost a child! That’s how big of a part their dogs played in their lives. Lois would pass out dog treats when she saw any of their neighbours walking their dogs along her back alley.

Just as Lynn was always cooking up something to share with friends, Lois enjoyed baking carrot cakes to take to different friends and businesses in Estevan.

Lois moved to Creighton Lodge after Lynn passed away, and then moved to Lampman, where she passed away after a few tough years battling Alzheimer’s.

Thank you to the staff of the Lampman Community Health Centre for their care and compassion during her stay there and her final days, thank you also to the Creighton Lodge staff, Dr. E. Tsoi, Dr. S.

Tsoi and Lois Coffey for all your care and compassion.

Donations in memory of Lois may be made to the Estevan Humane Society, Box 1095, Estevan, SK S4A 2H7 or the Estevan Wildlife Federation, Box 105, Estevan, SK S4A 2A2.

A Private Family Graveside service will be held at the Estevan City Cemetery.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Lois’ family - Deb Heidinger, Funeral Director.

While renting a room at Chuck and Shirley Brown’s, Simonne met Chuck’s brother, Allan. As Allan struggled pronouncing Simonne (Sim on), he began calling her “Simmie” which became her nick name from then on. Simonne and Allan were married on July 2, 1956 at St. John the Baptist Church in Estevan, SK. They were the first Saskatchewan interdenominational marriage to be performed in the Roman Catholic Church and not the Sacristy. Simonne and Allan were blessed with three children each born in a different town. Debbie was born in Kamsack, Shelley in Moosomin and Todd in Estevan. Simmie was a stay at home mom until Shelley was ready for kindergarten. At that time she decided to start a kindergarten class in the basement of the Moosomin Elementary School. After moving to Estevan in 1967 and having Todd, Simmie began teaching Grade Three at Sacred Heart School from 1971 until June, 1989.

After retirement, the Brown’s became Snowbirds, traveling to Raymondville, TX January thru to the end of March for twenty-one years. They made many friends while there and Simmie continued to correspond with them. She was a real letter writer. Christmas cards and birthday cards were her specialty. She was not shy in sending off a letter letting a company know if they failed on a product she’d purchased but she was also quick to give out kudos as well.

Simonne and Allan’s favourite summer destination was Madge Lake. After building a new home in Moosomin, they decided their ‘skid shack’ would make a suitable summer cabin. Being a teacher, Simmie and her children were able to spend six weeks each summer at Madge. As the Brown’s only had one car, Allan would drive back to work each week leaving them without a vehicle. Biking or walking were their only weekday means of transportation for quite a few years. When the grandkids started to arrive, the retired teacher kept them at the lake for several weeks each summer. Swimming, skiing, fishing, and cards kept everyone busy.

Simmie was an active volunteer with the CWL, Hospital Auxiliary and the Estevan Nursing Home. She looked forward to helping out with making Pillowcase dresses and going to Bible Study. Sunday brunches with her friends was one of the highlights of her week. She was a puttzer, seamstress, an organizer (she had homemade closet organizers decades before they showed up on the market) and was affectionately referred by her family as ‘the Little General’.

Simonne loved her family. When her husband, Allan was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, she took on the role as caregiver and kept him at home until his death in 2013. She’d think nothing of driving twice a year to Saskatoon to see her brother even as recent as March of 2022. Simonne enjoyed attending the great grandchildren’s events no matter if they were in Regina or Bienfait. The four hour trip to Madge Lake was tackled most Christmases and every summer including the 2022 May Long Weekend. We are going to miss her terribly as she is the rock of our family. How fortunate are we to have had this caring and compassionate lady bless our lives.

Simonne is survived by her three children; Debora (Scott) Sears, Madge Lake, SK; Shelley (Lynn) Pion, Sherwood Park, AB; Todd (Monique) Brown, Calgary, AB. Her ten grandchildren; Jessica (Brad); Garrett (Heather); Renee (Tyce); Laurie (Matt); Colleen (Dave); David; Lisa (JJ); Sara (Jesse); Brayden (Sabrine); Mariah (Jordan) and fourteen great grandchildren; her brother Paul and wife, Cecile; In-laws Chuck Brown, Pat and Allan Munholland, and many nieces and nephews.

Simonne’s great faith will reunite her with those that predeceased her; especially her husband, Allan, parents, Arthur and Beatrice Charlebois, her brother Lawrence and wife, Yvonne; her sister Rose. Her in-laws; George and Mary Brown, Doreen and Bob Bannister and Shirley Brown. Prayers will be held on Friday, September 30, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.

at Hall Funeral Services, Estevan with Bill Mann officiating. The Funeral Mass for Simonne will be held at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Estevan, SK on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at 10:30 a.m with Rev. Sathiadas presiding. Everyone is welcome to join the family for the lunch reception in the parish hall following the service. A private interment will be held in the summer of 2023.

The Family wishes to acknowledge and thank the wonderful staff working in the Canora, SK Palliative Care Unit. Their compassion, care, and dedication to ensure Simonne and her family were comfortable was exceptional.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be directed to Simonne’s top charity: Rajput Endowment, Royal University Hospital Foundation 103 Hospital Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0W8. This endowment is in support of Parkinson’s Research.

Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Simonne’s familyYvonne Clark, Funeral Director.

Melanie

Marie Bill 1922 - 2022

Arts council sets schedule for concert series

The Estevan Arts Council has announced its schedule for the 2022-23 Estevan Concert Series. Seven concerts are on the docket, including one special event.

The season will begin with a performance by Ken Lavigne on Oct. 19, starting at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Church. Lavigne has performed across North America with his blend of a classical tenor sound and contemporary style. He weaves music and stories together from his personal experiences.

Lavigne’s Three Knights with a Tenor features the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Paul McCartney and Elton John, who have all been knighted.

She came to Canada in 1991 and has called it home ever since.

A third Prairie Debut concert, DuWors and Dowling, will be April 16 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Church. Violinist Kerry DuWors and pianist Katherine Dowling capture the timeless stories of human experience.

The works of Robert and Clara Schumann – created in the springtime of the Romantic era – resonate through eloquent compositions designed to refresh the soul and inspire delight in listeners.

Up next will be Twin Flames on Nov. 29 at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Building across bridges, continents and style, Twins Flames bring together personal history and musical experience. Blending together Indigenous and western instruments, as well as their own unique sonic creation, this multi-award winning duo floats between Inuktut, French and English.

tive Canadian Folk Music Awards for Aboriginal Songwriter of the Year.

They won consecu-

The third concert will be Prairie Debut Kosravi & Stadnicki on Jan. 12, 2023, at Trinity Lutheran Church at 7:30 p.m. Prairie Debut provides the opportunity to hear the santur musical instrument, which dates back to Babylonian stone carvings. The instrument will be played in a contemporary style.

The performance of Farhad Kosravi’s santur weaves with the sounds of Daniel Stadnicki’s percussion. Their second collaborative album, Mosàfer, was released in August 2020 to critical acclaim.

Another Prairie Debut concert, Vioarnesti, will be Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church. Catherine Wood and Victoria Sparks come together as Viðarneistí, the Icelandic term for wood spark.

It is an apt description for what happens when the rich, sultry tone of the clarinet meets the percussive punch of marimba. The recognition of their shared Icelandic heritage serves as a springboard for Wood and Sparks, as they delve into themes from their Nordic roots.

Motus O will perform the Prisoner of Tehran at the Estevan Comprehensive School on April 16 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.

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:

Prisoner of Tehran, based on the book of the same name, is a unique collaboration between Iranian born writer-speaker Marina Nemat and Motus O. This unique performance piece is a synthesis of theatre, video and storytelling that swims in a landscape of movement brushing the themes of oppression, persecution, survival and most of all hope.

After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Marina was arrested at the age of 16 and spent more than two years in Evin, a political prison in Tehran, where she was tortured and came very close to execution.

A season pass is $150 and a patron rate is $275, including a $25 tax receipt. Patrons also receive 12 tickets and their name in the program. Individual tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

There will also be a special performance when the Poltava Ensemble comes to the Estevan Comprehensive School on March 12 at 2 p.m.

The Poltava Ensemble of song, music and dance is a 50-member Ukrainian group which includes dancers, musicians and singers. This will be an add-on concert with a subscribers’ price of $25. General admission will be regular price.

22084MX2

ENFORCEMENT

OF CARIEVALE

OF SASKATCHEWAN

Notice is hereby given under The Tax Enforcement Act, that unless arrears and costs appearing opposite the land and title number described in the following list are fully paid before the 30th day of November, 2022, an interest based on a tax lien will be registered against the land.

an

the costs

Note: A

by subsection 4(3) of The Tax Enforcement Act is included

the amount shown

Councillor: Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 – Division 2 Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 – Division 4 Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 – Division 6 will be received by the undersigned on the 5th day of October, 2022, 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 12th to October 4th, 2022, at The Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 Office, 423 Main Street, Bienfait.

Nomination forms may be obtained at the following location: The Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 Office 423 Main Street Bienfait, Saskatchewan Dated this 12th day of September, 2022.

Holley Odgers Returning Officer

(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. 2.

Number to be Elected: 1;

Councillor: Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Division No. 4.

Number to be Elected: 1;

Councillor: Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Division No. 6.

Number to be Elected: 1;

will be received by the undersigned on the 5th day of October, 2022, 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 14 to October 5, 2022, at the municipal office at 370 – 1st Avenue, Benson, Saskatchewan.

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

Nomination forms must be properly executed and accompanied by a completed Public Disclosure Statement and a current Criminal Record Check from the RCMP as per R.M. of Benson No. 35 Bylaw No. 2016-006 - A Bylaw to Require Criminal Record checks with Nomination Forms.

Dated this 14th day of September, 2022.

Chantel Walsh Returning Officer

The Poltava Ensemble will entertain in Estevan in March of next year. Photo courtesy of the Poltava Facebook page

Flashback –Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1970

The ECS Girls Volleyball team for 1970-71 season was chosen in September. Back row, from left, Paula Mosley, Connalee Densley, Brenda Winter, Marcia Leptick, Monica Lucotch and Marquita Gosselin

Front row, Maureen Cossette, Janet Hart, Gwen Sali, Wendy Gosselin, Sandra Lipka and Sandra Young The girls played their first game in Lampman on Sept. 27, 1970.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

may be viewed at City Hall during regular office hours or viewed online at www.Estevan.ca. Stakeholders are also encouraged to contact Land Development Services for the purpose of discussing land use issues related to the Zoning Bylaw prior to the public hearing.

Sale by Tender

MAYOR’S

Sweep campaign

October

2022. Please take advantage of the free landfill.

Estevan fi

Members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service had to respond to a number of calls last week.

On Sept. 20, just before 3 p.m., fire crews were dispatched to a transformer power pole fire on the southwest side of the city. Crews responded and secured the area until SaskPower arrived and shut down the power. Then SaskPower and fire crews confirmed the power pole fire was extinguished, and the scene was turned over to SaskPower to do repairs.

The next call for the EFRS came in at about

refi

ghters kept busy through last week

5 p.m., when firefighters were dispatched to a scene south of Estevan to battle a grass fire.

“They were on scene for a couple of hours out there, contained the fire and extinguished it,” Davies said.

“No losses, no injuries. It was contained to the one area that was burning and there were no structures or anything in the immediate area.”

As of Monday morning, southeast Saskatchewan was in a high fire risk index.

Davies noted that as vegetation starts drying out, and the temperatures still rise

during the day, there is a possibility of wildland fires, so farmers working in the fields, as well as the public, should exercise caution.

“We always advise people to be cautious. Fire will burn. We’re getting into that time with cold weather at night and we start to get the frost, so the vegetation dies off, and it still warms up for the day. So, we have the potential to have bigger fires,” Davies said. “I don’t think it’s anything to be extremely, extremely crazy careful about right at the moment. But anyone working in the field or any-

thing like that should be cautious for sure.”

On Sept. 21, the fire chiefs extinguish a car fire occurring in their parking lot. Davies and Deputy Fire Chief Kyle Luc said someone walked into the fire hall, claiming their vehicle was on fire by the station.

“We walked outside and there it was,” said Luc. “It wasn’t fully engulfed or anything, but there was fire under the hood.”

The person had been able to drive the vehicle to the parking lot. Luc and Davies brought one of the

fire trucks out front and together they extinguished the fire.

Davies noted people have come to the station for a variety of reasons, but this is the first time they have encountered something like this. The motorist was not injured, Davies said. The vehicle sustained damage to the engine compartment, and Davies expects it will be written off

On Sept. 23 at about 4:30 p.m., fire crews were dispatched to central Estevan for a commercial fire alarm. They responded, determined it was cooking

related, ensured the building was ventilated enough to reset the fire alarm panel, which they did, and then returned to the station.

At about 8 p.m., another fire alarm went off, this time in a residence. It appeared to be a cookingrelated incident as well, so firefighters confirmed that their assistance wasn’t required and stood down.

Just before 10 a.m. on Sept 25, a residential fire alarm went off on the west side of the city. Fire crews responded and confirmed it was false, so they stood down.

MASTER CHEF GT GRILL

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