Estevan Mercury 20230823

By David Willberg

The addictions recovery centre at St. Joseph's Hospital in Estevan has been making positive contributions to the lives of its patients since it opened in the fall of 2020.

"We're now at capacity and full staffed, which we're really proud of," said Anthony Cafik, who is the manager of the facility.

"Some of our staff have actually gone through our program and then changed their lives, and now are coming back as employees to help others who suffer, which is really a testament to the work that they've done, that the goal of the program is to help people return to society in a productive way."

The staff at the centre would like to help even more people, but there is currently a waitlist of about 100 people from across the province looking to come to Estevan.

"Our admissions, I would say, is over-inundated with requests for people really struggling with addictions, wanting to come into our centre," said Cafik.

St. Joseph's addictions recovery centre currently has

a capacity of 32 people who can receive in-patient care. It also has beds available for a post-treatment sober living program. An increase in the number of post-treatment spots was announced in the 2023-24 provincial budget.

The centre is funded for 32 beds in sober living and is at over 95 per cent capacity. They are on track to be full in the next few weeks.

Approximately 30 per cent of patients who come to them are seeking post-treatment options, Cafik said. He also noted 30 per cent of the people receiving care at St. Joe's are Indigenous.

Four pre-treatment beds are also available for patients before they start the program. Cafik calls the detox spots "shock absorbers".

If there is someone from the Estevan area, that person can access a pre-treatment bed and receive that medical attention before being part of in-patient care.

In-patient care is currently over capacity with 35 patients. Cafik said they can have 10 per cent more patients than the 32 beds they have allocated.

"We found the capacity

within ourselves to make that happen said Cafik.

Candace Kopec, the executive director of St. Joseph's Hospital, said they do it to meet immediate needs.

"We've had to do some adjusting internally to make that happen, but that's what we're about," added Cafik. "We want to meet those needs, and if we have to squeeze a bed in somewhere, we've done that."

Kopec said the addictions recovery centre at St. Joe's has the ability and the desire to meet the province's needs because they now have a successful and established program.

"I think the need is well known and Emmanuel Health and St. Joseph's want to be a big part of meeting that need," Cafik added.

St. Joseph's has had 32 in-patient beds for about a year, but because of staffing issues, they weren't able to reach their capacity until this spring.

The St. Joseph's addictions recovery centre has been working with other treatment facilities that have shorter stays but are demanding longer treatment

sessions to bring people into sober living.

There are great resources across the province with creative and passionate people wanting to help he said.

"Because of the integration and the alliances we're making with the different referrals, and our intake and our admissions process, and building those relationships, and with the successes of the patients completing, we are now growing exponentially," said Cafik.

The program they have continues to evolve. Counsellors are trained in trauma.

"One thing with addictions is that you will find at the root of it, that there is some level of trauma," he said. "The trauma that triggers can be a trigger then for drinking or using for a coping strategy, so it's important to be able to deal with that, so they feel safe and have an alternative to turn to as opposed to addiction."

With the sober living component, they have a volunteer program comprised of people Cafik referred to as the centre's alumni. They help out as part of the treatment centre and in the

community.

Cafik said if they added 20 more beds immediately, the centre could fill them. They also want to look to the future for how they can meet the demand.

Cafik said they continue to see the positive impact of the addictions recovery centre. Their alumni is a growing list, and they have remained in contact.

During the Canada Day long weekend, the addictions centre had their first Recovery First alumni gathering with over 80 people present at Rotary Hall in Woodlawn Regional Park for a barbecue and a weekend gathering.

"It was wonderful," said Cafik. "We had families there. We had a barbecue. We had staff. Our sober living put on all of the activities. They were flipping hamburgers. We put together a big community meeting."

They had guest speakers from Alberta at the event, and they handed out sobriety medallions.

Cafik said it would become an annual gathering for the former patients to come together and celebrate the successes they have enjoyed.

A parade was among the activities offered for the annual Carlyle Fun Dayz on Saturday. The parade made its way through the town's Main Street and attracted many people who were eager to see the floats. Other activities also proved popular. For more on Carlyle Fun Dayz, please see Page A5. For additional photos, please visit our provincial news hub at SaskToday.ca. Photo by Stephanie Zoer

Pathways to be named after community leaders

Four sections of pathways in Estevan will be named in honour of those who made significant contributions to the community.

Estevan city council approved the new names at Monday night's meeting. Half of the pathway from Kensington Avenue to Fourth Avenue will be named after the Estevan Brick Wildlife Park, while the other half of that pathway will be named Mike Csada Way, in honour of his work with the park. The pathway cuts through part of the former park area.

The wildlife park was home to many different species of animals from when it was open in the 1960s until the 1990s. This included buffalo, bears, goats, deer, llamas, a burro and many different species of birds. When the park was open to the public, many children and adults visited the attraction yearly. Csada was instrumental in the opening of the Estevan Brick Wildlife Park and remained involved as a volunteer until it closed in the 1990s. He was very involved in getting the large animals into the wildlife park.

A section of pathway to be named after Craig Bird is in Lynn Prime Park, a 325-metre stretch heading west from Boey Way. Bird has dedicated many hours of his time to honouring those who have served in the military. He is the founder of the South East Military Museum, which educates people about military history and contributions.

He has also been involved with the Estevan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, No Stone Left Alone and other efforts.

A section of pathway from McDonald Road to Kensington Avenue will be named after Gale Tytlandsvik. She has been involved with numerous projects, including a breast-feeding support group, the Estevan Early Years Family Resource Centre, garden tours, a metal art sculpture of ECS band students, the Garden Park on Fourth and numerous beautification projects such as murals in the community.

She dedicates many hours to the community on an annual basis.

Previously, a portion of a

This section of pathway will pay tribute to the Estevan Wildlife Brick Park and its contributions to Estevan. File photo

pathway in northeast Estevan was named after local author, historian and retired teacher Marie Donais Calder.

• • •

Also during the meeting, Coun. Shelly Veroba apologized for her conduct during a meeting earlier this year.

During the June 26 meeting, delegates from a group

named Concerned Citizens SK appeared before council and asked for council to proclaim a Mom and Dad Week in July and to fly the straight pride flag. Council denied their request, citing the divisive nature of the issue.

At one point, Veroba called out a member of the delegation due to his conduct

while council members were addressing the delegation.

Veroba apologized to council, the chambers and members of Concerned Citizens SK for "not following the proper council procedures and policies during the delegation."

She noted there was a high amount of emotion in the room that night, and she could

have called for a point of order instead of continuing with her comments, which she said were "emotionally charged and came across as disrespectful."

Mayor Roy Ludwig had to call point of order on a number of occasions.

After her apology, members of Concerned Citizens SK applauded Veroba.

A busy week for Estevan firefighters with power line fires

The Estevan Fire Rescue Service experienced a busy week with eight calls for service over seven days.

On Aug. 14 at about 1 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a grass fire along King Street in the west end of the city. Estevan Fire Chief Rick Davies said the fire burned a small area along the street and was already put out upon their arrival.

“The fire had already been extinguished by a passerby, and we’re thankful for that,” Davies said. “We determined the fire was caused by a damaged communication line in the area, so crews remained on scene until those guys got there and confirmed that that line was off, and

everything was okay. We also confirmed that there were no other areas on fire and everything was good.”

Fire crews were dispatched to a commercial fire alarm going off in central Estevan on Aug. 15 just before 9 a.m. The incident command responded and determined the alarm was caused by system testing. It was confirmed there was no emergency and crews were stood down.

The same day around 6 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a power line and tree fire in an alley in the southeast area.

“We secured and investigated the area and confirmed that a power line was down, but there were no signs of fire in the area at that

time. We remained on scene until SaskPower arrived and confirmed that the power line was off. Then our crews went in and confirmed that there was actually no fire in the area, then the scene was left for SaskPower to perform repairs,” Davies said.

Another power line outage and fire occurred southwest of Estevan on Aug. 16 just before 9 a.m. Fire crews responded and confirmed the power line was down and a small fire was occurring in a treed area. Firefighters secured the area and monitored it until SaskPower arrived and confirmed power was off. Firefighters then went in and fully extinguished a small fire in the trees.

The scene was then turned over to SaskPower for repairs.

The same day at about 9:30 p.m., crews were called to a vehicle vs deer accident on Highway 39 east of Estevan. “One westbound vehicle was involved and sustained fairly significant damage,” Davies said. “It was not drivable. No injuries were reported at the scene. We provided traffic control, cleaned up the debris from the highway and moved the vehicle off the road. We remained on scene, providing traffic control until tow services arrived to assist the driver with his vehicle.”

On Aug. 18 at about 1:30 a.m., the EFRS was called to a residential

carbon monoxide alarm that went off in the southeast area of the city. One occupant was assisted by EMS on scene. Fire crews investigated the scene but didn’t pick up any CO readings at the time.

Fire crews were also called to help with a spill clean-up on the southwest side of Estevan on Aug. 19 at around 5 p.m. A small amount of fluid leaked from a vehicle. Firefighters were able to quickly contain a leak and clean up the fluids.

A couple of hours later on the same day, crews were dispatched to a residential fire alarm in south Estevan. Members responded and determined the alarm was false and no emergency was occurring.

White Bear woman’s death is under investigation

The Saskatchewan RCMP says Caitlin Maxie, age 29, has been found deceased. She was located near the White Bear First Nation on

Aug. 20. Her family has been notified.

"Carlyle RCMP thanks the volunteer searchers and community members for their assistance locating her. Our

thoughts are with her family during this difficult time," the RCMP said in a news release. The investigation is ongoing with the assistance of the Saskatchewan Coroner's

Service. According to the RCMP, Maxie was last seen Aug. 18 at approximately 1 p.m. on the White Bear First Nations. After she was reported

missing, the Carlyle RCMP was checking places Maxie is known to visit and following up on information received. A missing person advisory was initially issued Saturday

afternoon. An updated report was released Saturday evening. Any further updates on this story can be found on our provincial news hub at SaskToday.ca

1037 5th Street, Estevan 306-634-5172 johnsonplumbing.ca

be issued to the applicant.

On and after the date that the title is issued to the applicant, you will be forever estopped and debarred from setting up any claim to, or with respect to, the land.

The amount required to redeem the land may be ascertained on application to the Clerk, Treasurer or Administrator of the municipality.

Dated this 8th day of August, 2023.

Lindsay Davis, Treasurer

Laura Ashley Bulgin

(Name of Assessed Owner)

Legal Description of Land(s)

Lot 25, Block 13, Plan 55056

Lot 26, Block 13, Plan 55056

Title Number(s)

144034961 144034983

FORM H

[Section 66 of the Act]

Notice of Call for Nominations

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

Councillor: Village of Roche Percee

Number to be Elected: 1 will be received by the undersigned on the 13th day of September 2023, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at

Story of Estevan’s Jesse Gibson and the band Long Live the Glory

By Ana Bykhovskaia

For Jesse Gibson, his musical journey began just shortly after he learned how to walk and talk.

Now a high school and School of Rock Regina graduate, Gibson and the band Long Live the Glory, which he plays for, are getting more and more popular across the province and beyond its borders after performing at such platforms as Shake the Lake Regina, Rocking Fields Minnedosa and Dauphin Country Fest.

They have also played rock and blues gigs at Regina's Bushwakkers Brew Pub and many performances in Estevan, including opening for the Harreson James Band at the latest Street Dance, playing at the Whiskers and Wine Gala, etc.

The Mercury and SaskToday.ca talked to Gibson about his music career and future plans.

Gibson grew up in a family with a large farming background in the Lampman area. The roots of his music career lay in his family as well, as his musical choices were inspired by his grandfather's dream to become a musician, and they came possible with the help of the family.

"My mom knew a little bit of piano. My grandfather actually played. It was his dream

to be a musician, and my mom passed it on down to me. She put me in piano lessons when I was three and pushed me all the way through. We've done all the music festivals, we've done the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) for piano. I'm in my Grade 8 now. I couldn't have done it without her," Gibson said.

"It wasn't like she pushed me to be a performer or anything like that, I always just wanted to perform. This has really always been me, and my parents have been supporting it the best they can, and they've done an amazing job."

Gibson started piano lessons with Music for Young Children and said he always felt that music was a big part of who he is.

"I've always felt like I belonged to the music industry," Gibson shared. "I've great memories for the piano. I'm still great friends with the people that I was in lessons with. And then music festivals really helped with my stage performance. Getting on stage now is not a whole lot different than going up and playing by yourself in front of a crowd and being adjudicated."

He noted that his love for rock music comes from his early years as well.

"I grew up listening to Elvis and Kiss. I remember

two-year-old me listening to Detroit Rock City on repeat," Gibson recalled with a laugh.

At eight, still doing piano, he started drumming. The second instrument came into his life almost by accident.

"We were at a family reunion, and the family decided that they would do a talent show. There was a drum kit at

the venue, so I messed around on it, and people said that I was really good. I had never touched a drum kit in my life before," Gibson recalled. "The talent show went pretty well. It was just out of nowhere. And it took a lot of convincing for my parents, but they had a family friend that taught drum lessons. So I did lessons for a few years."

At 11, the third instrument – the guitar – came into his life.

"My brother got a guitar for Christmas with a game called Rocksmith, which was like Guitar Hero, but with an actual guitar. He wasn't a huge fan of it, so I picked it up a little while after he moved out, tried Rocksmith, learned the basics, but I couldn't get anything more."

The drive to get better with his guitar and singing skills took Gibson to the School of Rock Regina. The program helped him improve, allowed him to meet other players, get lessons with actual musicians and also led to many larger gigs. That's also where he got the experience that he now puts to work with his band Long Live the Glory, which also formed

through the School of Rock.

"It made a huge difference," Gibson said about the school.

"You can take lessons on guitar, drums, vocals, anything in a rock band. And there are seasons, when they pick a genre of music, and all their students learn these songs and perform them as a concert. My very first season would have been modern rock, so we learned songs by Smash Mouth and Blink 182 and then we went to perform them live for an actual audience, which was about five years ago now and I was about 12-13 when I first started, which was a very big jump."

Gibson noted that the weekly program allowed him to have experiences that not only helped develop his skills but also grow confidence in performing and introduced him to the real gigging world.

"It was very crucial in my musical development," Gibson said.

Coming from Dilke, Estevan, Imperial and Regina, Long Live the Glory met in 2018 and has been rehearsing and performing together ever since. Today, the band consists of Gibson, lead vocals and keys; Jaxon Hicks, guitar and vocals; Harry Mooney, bass, Cohen Jones, guitar and vocals; and Marshall Brooks, drums.

"We played together for five years," Gibson said. "We grew with each other, we were all learning ... The guys are amazing players and I'm so proud of those guys. They've come so far."

Their last two gigs with the School of Rock Regina are I Love Regina Day, which was on Aug. 19, and Gibson's fourth performance at the Shake the Lake this weekend.

Not only does the band play most major rock covers, but they also write and play their own music.

"We did one season with the School of Rock that was about songwriting, we wrote a bunch of songs from there. And then some of them we play depending on the gig if they fit. And we have a lot of solo songs that we've written that we just share with the band,"

Gibson said.

"When we're with the band, songwriting goes really smoothly. The last song we wrote, we were getting ready to play blues at Bushwakkers, and we were about five minutes short on material. So Harry whipped out a baseline, I sang over it, we threw the guitars in, and drums are easy to fill in. And that was it. It was done in about half an hour."

He noted they have about five original songs each. One of Gibson's songs was professionally recorded in Regina, and some other pieces were recorded in his garage. He said they are working towards recording and releasing some songs, but they don't want to rush it.

"We're very conscious of our demographic and how we can market our stuff. So, we take that into account. If the band isn't getting a lot of recognition, we probably won't release a song right away until we can get more of a crowd," Gibson explained.

"We try to go with the flow, we want to grow our social media presence a bit more, and then we're going to start releasing stuff."

He noted they upload all their gigs onto YouTube and get some recognition not only across the province and in Canada but globally, and they plan to keep growing their audience.

The new school year will see two of them going to the universities. Gibson is starting his bachelor of commerce through the Edwards School of Business with the University of Saskatchewan. They plan to get their name out there more during this time, write more songs and get more gigs.

"I'm very excited to reach out to some places in Saskatoon. Lots of great venues," Gibson said, adding that he also plans to be back to Estevan a lot and the band will be available for local gigs.

The latest news about their concerts and music can be found on social media platforms and YouTube through Jesse Gibson Music and Long Live the Glory pages.

Estevan youths to run carwash fundraiser for

Jesse Gibson of Estevan is the lead singer with the band Long Live the Glory, comprised of young musicians from all across the province. Photos courtesy of Jesse Gibson

Long Live the Glory features, from left, Jaxon Hicks, Marshall Brooks, Cohen Jones, Jesse Gibson and Harry Mooney

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Council should be selective with proclamations, flag raisings

Earlier this year, Estevan city council approved a policy that governs proclamations and flag raisings.

It was one of those documents that might have had some people scratching their heads and wondering why. After all, this city was just fine for decades without having such a document. Why enact one now?

There were some proclamations that might be divisive, or would cause some to think the city is voicing support for an organization that maybe didn't have the support of the community. At first glance, it felt like the answer to a question that nobody asked.

Still, there are actually some advantages to this document.

We saw it earlier this year when council denied the request from a local organization, Concerned Citizens SK, who wanted to have the straight pride flag flown in front of city hall and to have a Mom and Dad Week in July. We're not going to get into the debate here over having Pride Week celebrations (which we've voiced support for in the past) and a countering straight pride week. That's another discussion for another time.

But at least the policy gave council something to fall back on when it denied the request, rather than simply saying "we disagree with you".

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And while the straight pride request came shortly after the policy was enacted, it wasn't the catalyst for the form. It was, however, the first test for the document and its contents.

Also of significance in this policy is it requires people to be at city hall to speak to it.

A proclamation should mean something. If the mayor and council proclaim a day, a week or a month, there should be a genuine impact of the organization on the community.

Nobody would complain about having a United Way Week prior to the annual Telethon, or Telemiracle week prior to that wonderful fundraiser put on by the Kinsmen and Kinettes.

Nobody would have complained if the city would have proclaimed July 30 as Brayden Pachal Day in honour of him bringing the Stanley Cup to Estevan. Nor should anyone be upset if the city were to honour coal miners, SaskPower workers or oilpatch employees with a designated week.

But other times an organization would just send a long-winded proclamation to city hall and hope Mayor Roy Ludwig (or a predecessor) would read it out in the open meeting. Nobody from that organization was present. They didn't say anything specific about what they do in the community. And it really didn't register with anyone who was watching.

It was the same proclamation as Weyburn, Yorkton and any other community where this was mailed out.

If it's worthy of a proclamation, or to have a flag flown in front of city hall, then they should be able to have someone present at the meeting.

Council also has to be aware of precedent with a proclamation. If you say yes to one group, then you're going to open the door to other similar groups that can also have someone present for the meeting.

If you say no to one group that can have someone present, then you'll likely have to say no to similar entities.

There are some who would say council should just give a rubber stamp to every request it receives for a proclamation or a flag raising, but that would leave the city open to some requests that might reflect poorly. A proclamation is not an endorsement, but it is promotion. The flag raising might be even more significant, because it is that visible sign in front of city hall. There will be some proclamations that have happened for many years that might not happen any longer. There might be some who won't be happy.

But at least council has taken the step forward in reducing some of those that just don't have much local significance.

We are in a fight, which is tough to win

The federal government announced at the end of last week it was to deploy military forces to battle Mother Nature's latest fastspreading inferno in British Columbia as more than 35,000 residents were being evacuated in the province.

Warmer temperatures since early spring and into the summer allowed for the accumulation of a lot of wildfire fuel in this summer's drier-than-normal and up-to-drought conditions in many areas in the country. Because of lower levels of moisture, vegetation ignites and fires spread easier.

With many wildfires starting in Canada's boreal forests, they are hard to get under control quickly if at all. Besides, the season began earlier this year and simultaneously in many areas, making the problem even more difficult to address.

Early this week, over 380 fires were burning across B.C., with about 150 of them out of control as of Monday, according to the Canadian Press. The North West Territories had over 240 active fires. Quebec experienced one of its worst wildfire seasons earlier this year as well, with some of them still out of control as of this week.

The hell on Earth the world had been witnessing in B.C., N.W.T. and other areas across the country this summer and especially the past few days is horrifying, to say the least.

B.C. imposed a state of emergency late last week as the fires were progressing, destroying wildlife and infrastructure at a high pace, and polluting the air for millions in North America. That province's government also banned all non-essential travel to fire-affected

Ana Bykhovskaia

Twenty Lines

areas to open up more rooms for evacuees, firefighters and other first responders.

The pictures and video footage from emergency zones, to me, looked more like frames from an end-of-the-world type of movie, just they were documentaries.

Of course, forest fires are not new to Canada and the rest of the world. Just a few weeks ago we witnessed Hawaii burning, with Maui joining the top 10 deadliest American wildfires on record since 1871. Australia hit some records with terrible bushfires in 2019-20.

Wildfires make the news globally all the time. However, Canada hasn't experienced anything as bad as this year's fires in a long time and as destructive - ever.

The lists of the world's worst wildfires differ from source to source, but Canada appears at the tops with some major natural disasters including the 2014 N.W.T. fires that burned 8.5 million acres, the Great Fire of 1919 (Alberta and Saskatchewan, five million acres), 1950 Chinchaga Fire (northern B.C. and Alberta, 4.2 million acres) and others. Canada's previous annual wildfire record was set in 1989 when over 18 million acres were burned.

While wildfires are naturally common in the country that has 362 million hectares (894,5 million acres) of forest, which covers

about 40 per cent of its land area and accounts for nine per cent of the world's forests, the speed of the spread of fires this year and the level of destruction underlines the severity of our worst wildfire season yet.

As of Monday, an area compared to the size of Greece or the state of Illinois had been burned nationwide. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there were 1,041 active fires and 5,824 year-to-date fires, which already scorched over 37.8 million acres across Canada – more than twice the level of damage during a full wildfire season. And it seems that we are not close to being done.

Officials are concerned that the fire season, which for the most part normally would come to an end in several weeks, may extend further into fall this year due to widespread drought-like conditions. The longer it goes, the thinner the resources are spread.

And here we are, checking on our friends and relatives in burning areas of the country, worrying, trying to support people experiencing an emergency as best as we can, while also, in terror, sharing pictures of West Kelowna, consumed by fire.

A lot is being put into battling the blaze, with help coming from people, organizations and governments from all across the country and from other states. Even though the state of emergency allows for more power for officials to deal with fire risks, it still might not be enough to tilt this scale until Mother Nature calms down, bringing in some really decent precipitation. In the meantime, we can try to keep doing our best to help in any capacity possible.

David Willberg Willberg’s World

Evacuees deserve better than Meta blockage

At the start of Meta’s blackout of Canadian news sources, my principal concern focused on the impact it would have on public safety and the ability to alert people in urgent situations.

The concerns were quickly validated, thanks to a couple of natural disasters that had a direct impact on tens of thousands of Canadians, and an indirect impact on many more.

The wildfires that struck the Northwest Territory and southcentral B.C. are indeed a terrible situation. In the case of the fires up north, the majority of people in that territory have been forced to flee their homes, and the territory’s capital of Yellowknife has been nearly empty for almost a week, with only those provided essential services supposed to remain.

As for south-central B.C., the fires have destroyed homes and resorts in the Kelowna area. The fires have been a recurring story in B.C. in the past three months, and a few weeks remain in what is traditionally their forest fire season.

But with both the B.C. and N.W.T. forest fires, people were limited in their ability to access updates on the situation because of Meta’s decision to block Facebook and Instagram users from receiving news from Canadian feeds. Meta has ignored calls to end this dangerous policy.

Instead, it feebly said that people could check in to let their family and friends know that they are safe, something that people have been able to do for years.

But as far as checking for updates from valid news agencies about evacuations, instructions from the government, the status of the fires, weather updates and other information, people were out of luck.

Meta might think the simple check-in was enough for public safety, but it wasn’t.

For the people making the 1,400-kilometre-plus drive from Yellowknife to evacuation centres in Edmonton, they needed a place where they could find updates as often as possible. Three weeks ago, Facebook was that place. Not any longer.

The governments in B.C. and the N.W.T. provided updates, but they weren’t as rapid as what you used to find. Facebook would allow you to see updates from the different news agencies in one place, rather than going from website to website to see if anything was new.

If you’ve been neutral on this issue, or if you’ve been leaning towards Meta’s actions, the wildfires are perfect examples of why Meta is so wrong. And when Facebook could have done the right thing and lifted the ban, at least temporarily until this crisis is resolved and people can return to their homes, they failed to compromise.

It goes to show how little users actually mean to them.

Companies such as Meta have largely enjoyed being in an unregulated space for nearly two decades. And they seem to think that they can continue to operate with impunity.

The Meta block is so ridiculous that now Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers cannot update its Facebook page because it has been deemed as news. You can see posts from Aug. 2 and before, but nothing since despite its value as a public service.

And we’ve seen other situations in which the ability to keep the public updated instantly was compromised. One was close to home: a missing person case from the White Bear First Nations that had a tragic ending when the missing woman was found deceased.

Just a few weeks ago, we could have posted a report and quickly informed thousands of people. Missing person reports are among the most important things that we can get out to the public, along with kidnappings, dangerous person advisories and other matters related to public safety.

While there are other platforms beyond Facebook to reach the public in an accelerated fashion, Facebook is still the one that most people turn to.

We don’t know how long Facebook is going to be in this standoff with the federal government. It might be permanent. By the time this showdown is finished – if it ever ends – you’re likely going to be sick and tired of us talking about the need to find alternate ways to find out about what is happening in your community, province, country and world.

But we’re harping on it because we know the value of getting the news to you as quickly as possible. And we’re going to continue to talk about it until this ends or until we all know that Facebook is no longer a reliable way to get news.

Tribiger Hearing Aid Practitioner Clinic Owner

Carlyle Fun Daze packed Main Street with activities

By Stephanie Zoer

Excitement began early on Aug. 19 and continued throughout the day during the annual Carlyle Fun Daze.

Work started weeks before to organize the big day. Main Street in the town was cleared out the night before the festivities for setup. Barricades were put into place at each end of the street and the main stage was rolled in. Grandstand benches were placed for visitors to enjoy the music and picnic tables were added for those that wanted to enjoy a sit down meal.

The work carried on into the early morning hours Saturday, only for the volunteers to return bright and early hours later to welcome trades people and food vendors.

It started with a pancake breakfast served by the Carlyle District Lions Club at the Memorial Hall. Also in the hall, a trade and craft show attracted over 20 vendors. It was a great place to check out for baking, jewelry, oils, lotion, nail products, art, sewing, birdhouses, specialty coffee, stones and so much more.

The Fun Daze parade hit the street with both sides of the road lined with people and eager kids looking for candy. The parade was led by the Carlyle RCMP, followed by the familiar sound of the bagpipes. Many floats followed.

The street filled with people and a large crowd remained all day.

The Southern Plains Co-op in Carlyle held a family fun zone with bouncy castles spreading from Souris Avenue to Coteau Avenue. A climbing wall was a popular attraction with the youngsters as well and had a steady lineup.

A petting zoo ran behind the Carlyle Public Library, while Pharmasave hosted Joe the Ventriloquist, a laser shoot, a candy cannon and a foam party.

All the stores remained open along Main Street during the festivities, giving visitors time to shop and look around.

There was no shortage of food and drinks along Main Street, as vendors lined up along the centre of the road.

There was a great variety of food with Moxy Tailz, Get in my Belly, Filipino Pride, Smokin' Okies BBQ, Fluff and Slush, Booster Juice, Bake and Cook by Shao, Buzz’s Spiral Spuds, Asian food and ice cream.

An old-time dance was done by Lorne Frape and Ryan Bender on the

main stage, and high tea was served at the Rusty Relics Museum.

The main stage had plenty of entertainment, and many people took the time to sit and relax, and listen to and watch the performers.

Once the Bromantics came on stage, this changed as many people hit the street to dance to the oldies.

As the crowds continued to flock

the streets, Brody Siebert took to the stage, and the evening ended with Switch performing tunes until midnight. Throughout the day, the wind caused a lot of dust and dirt to blow around, but by late afternoon the winds slowly diminished, and a beautiful evening was had, bringing smiles to everyone who enjoyed another year at the Carlyle Fun Daze.

Summer real estate special can be found in this week's Mercury

Looking for a new home? Looking to sell your home? Looking for some insight on where to turn before you put your home on the market?

The Mercury is here to help with our summer Real Estate Guide, which can be found in this week's paper.

Inside, you will find ads from several local Realtors, showcasing their properties and many of the unique properties on the market. You'll also find ads from businesses in the community that are related

to real estate. You'll find ads for flooring, blinds, furniture, inspections, lawyers and excavations.

Christine Jones, the sales manager for the Estevan Mercury, said she pieced together a real estate guide because in previous years it had been well-received by the Realtors and the real estate agencies and the community, and it hadn't been done for a while.

Having been a previous real estate legal assistant, Jones said she has an insight into

what it takes to buy and sell a house, and it's more than just hiring a Realtor, although Realtors are a huge part. So she reached out not only to real estate agents but to other companies.

"Real estate is a huge investment and there are many different businesses involved in selling and purchasing," Jones said.

Jones added this special was well received, and many businesses who took part know how pivotal they are to the housing market.

a real player, always up for some fun with toys or hanging out with fellow cats.

But his absolute favorite? Getting all the love and snuggles!

Seriously, he’s a laid-back, friendly guy who’s totally into people and other cats.

Dogs? Well, he hasn’t met any officially, but we’re pretty sure he’d do well in any living situation!

Escorted by the Carlyle RCMP, the familiar sound of the bagpipes soon followed.

Photo by Stephanie Zoer

When the Bromantics took the stage in the afternoon, dancers quickly went to the dance floor to enjoy the oldies. Photo by Stephanie Zoer

Souris Valley Museum hosts a busy senior social

Souris Valley Museum invited local seniors to stop by and enjoy afternoon tea, treats and musical entertainment.

The Senior Social, a traditional annual event, was held on Wednesday with over 40 people attending.

Guests would come in groups from various local senior living facilities to enjoy a performance by Homespun Harmonies, featuring Eileen Roche and Myrna Linn on accordions, Gerald Linn on banjo, Wilma Bjorndalen on keyboard and Dalton Knox on guitar. Visitors also took the opportunity to check out the museum's collection, socialize

and have a nice day out. Museum director/curator

Melanie Memory said the local care homes always support the museum and their initiative, and this year wasn't an exception. And they do their best to make it entertaining for guests.

She also noted that the Homespun Harmonies were their Senior Social entertainment last year and were popular with guests, so she invited them to come over again this year.

The summer for the museum was busy in general with many tourists from all across the province, the country and the world. "It's been really busy this summer," Memory said.

"We've had a lot of tourists come in from all over, not just in Canada, but the world. There's been Germany, Italy, there's been a lot of people visiting here … a lot of Americans.

"And then the camps were beyond full. We've had waitlists for almost everything. A lot of activity."

To ensure everything goes smoothly, the museum had three summer students this year including education assistant Faith Hanson, curatorial assistant Kelsey Carson and programming assistant Francis Aceron. They will be wrapping up their terms on Aug. 22.

"I'm sad to see them go.

They were really good," Memory said. "We needed extra hands to help with camps, so full and so busy they were."

Once the summer students are gone, the museum will go back to Monday-Friday operating hours.

Come fall, they will also have new programs, including a new offering for homeschooled kids.

Homespun Harmonies, featuring Eileen Roche and Myrna Linn, on accordion, Gerald Linn, banjo, Wilma Bjorndalen, keyboard, and Dalton Knox, guitar, entertained at Souris Valley Museum's senior social last Wednesday.

Souris Family Pharmacy opens in Estevan

There’s a new option for Estevan-area residents looking for a pharmacy.

Souris Family Pharmacy opened its doors on Aug. 17 at 106 Souris Avenue North in Estevan. The space has been completely renovated to accommodate a small retail area, two consultation rooms and the dispensary.

Souris Family Pharmacy currently has three full-time staff members working at the store. Matthew Walliser is the pharmacy manager and store operator. He is joined by registered technicians Donna George and Trisha Lee-Karcha.

The pharmacy is locally owned and operated by Legacy Pharmacies, a group of Saskatchewan entrepreneurs that believes pharmacies should be owned and operated by pharmacists.

“Being locally owned, we understand the importance of personalized care and building long-lasting relationships with our customers. Our main goal is to provide exceptional service, expert advice and quality products to meet our community’s pharmacy needs," said Walliser.

“With the recent closure of two pharmacies in the community, there was a need for another pharmacy to fill that gap, and it provided an exciting opportunity for us."

Souris Family Pharmacy says it brings a new approach to pharmacies, focusing on client care with a smaller retail store that features over-the-counter medications along with a range of health and wellness products, from vitamins and supplements to personal care items.

Walliser says he is excit-

ed about what Souris Family Pharmacy will bring to the community.

“One of the aspects that sets us apart is our commitment to innovation and convenience. We have implemented technology to streamline our operations and ensure a seamless experience for our customers," said Walliser. "We can accommodate prescription transfers from other pharmacies, and our online prescription refill system allows you to conveniently request refills from the comfort of your home.”

Souris Family Pharmacy will be hosting its grand opening on Aug. 29 with a free barbeque from 11 a.m.1 p.m. They will also have a freewill donation at the event, raising money to support Limitless Disability Advocacy Services.

Street Fair brought many to downtown Estevan

the street and enjoy the activities that were offered. It was a cool, windy day in Estevan, but that

didn't stop people from attending. The conditions did force vendors that were supposed to be outside to move indoors. And the Estevan Bible Camp couldn't bring its rock-climbing wall to the event.

Many of the businesses downtown had in-store specials to attract customers.

People who attended the street fair could also view a variety of race cars from the

Estevan Motor Speedway and classic vehicles that were parked on the street. Bouncy structures were set up on the street and a food truck and local restaurants served lunch. Some organizations were selling tickets for fundraisers.

The movie Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was shown at the Orpheum Theatre during the afternoon.

Earlier in the week, the association's final night market of the year was held at the RBC parking lot. The markets had been held weekly since late June, and offered live music, food trucks, fundraisers and a variety of exhibitors each week for people to enjoy.

For more photos from the Street Fair, please visit our provincial news hub at sasktoday.ca.

From left, Donna George Matthew Walliser and Trisha Lee-Karcha are eager to greet the public at the new Souris Family Pharmacy. Photo by Robert Godfrey with Lemon Wedge Marketing

Lincoln Karst, Hailey Karst and Ella Petterson schecked out the selection at The General Store on Saturday morning. Photo by David Willberg

The annual Dustin Pratt Memorial Redneck Golf Tournament continues to bring lots of laughs and fun to the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course.

A total of 104 golfers participated in the event Friday afternoon. The Texas scramble tournament began with a shotgun start, but before the first strokes were recorded, all of the participants gathered for a toast to Pratt. A couple of champagne bottles were popped from the Woodlawn clubhouse patio in his honour.  Pratt's mother Roxane thanked all of the golfers and sponsors for supporting the event and continuing to honour his memory. It's one of the more casual events of the year at Woodlawn. Instead of traditional golf attire, the participants were often wearing cutoffs, plaid, sleeveless shirts and sandals. Some golfers played barefoot. Many of the teams had matching outfits.

Some of the groups had eight golfers instead of four.

Music blared from many of the power carts.  Golfers donned beer goggles for their tee shot on the first hole. The goggles simulate the impact of impairment on driving.

It's a non-competitive tournament, and many of the teams didn't keep score.

The tournament is held in memory of Pratt, who died in a workplace accident in the oilpatch in August 2016. His family has created the Dustin Pratt Memorial Fund, which supports local families and organizations.

Roxane Pratt noted the fund has supported a variety of causes since its inception, including the Free to Be Fit program offered by the Limitless Disability Services; the Estevan Lacrosse Association and its U11 team; the Estevan Wildlife Federation's Conserva-

tion Camp; Special Olympics in Estevan; the Young Fellows hockey team; and the Estevan Early Years Family Resource Centre, which purchased two computers for the Southeast Youth Employment Services program.

The fund has also purchased pucks for the Estevan Minor Hockey Association.

It has also been a perennial supporter of the Estevan Community Hamper Association's Angel Tree Program and the Estevan Kinette Club's PJ Project, which helps families at Christmas each year.

And the fund donated $15,000 to the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation to fix up the play area in the hospital that's now called Dustin's Corner. The money also went towards purchasing boxes for kids admitted to the hospital.

The fund has also privately supported numerous families of sick children, has made private

donations to families suffering loss, and helped Gage Goetz when his 4-H steer was auctioned off to raise money for

the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon.

A decision has not been made on the beneficiaries for

this year's tournament. For additional photos of the event, please visit our provincial news hub at SaskToday.ca.

Youth soccer wraps up season, receives financial boost

Estevan Youth Soccer wrapped up a successful 2023 season with an increase of 90 kids joining soccer, totalling 360 kids that participated from parent-tot to U13/U15 leagues.

Throughout this summer, the EYS has continued the Free To Be soccer program where kids with disabilities can safely enjoy the sport.

For the first time in a long time, a soccer tournament was held in Estevan in early June 2023.

"It was the first time a tournament was held in the Energy City for quite some time, long enough that standing board members are unsure of when the last tournament was held," said the EYS vicepresident Jordan Isbister.

Estevan was only able to host a U13/U15 age group with Stoughton winning the tournament and Estevan being the runners-up.

"The EYS board is looking forward to building the soccer tournament next year and forward," Isbister said.

Estevan also had two travelling teams competing in friendly matches and weekend tournaments in southeast Saskatchewan.

"The U13/U15 and U11 squads showed tremendous growth throughout the season and had many successful games against teams with more competitive experience," Isbister said. "EYS is looking to build on the travelling team's successes this year into next year."

The organization also received a financial boost from a local business upon the wrap-up of the season.

On Aug. 16, Kingston Midstream presented the organization's president Stacy Murphy and Isbister with a cheque to go towards the upgrades to their building at Cactus Park.

"On behalf of Kingston Midstream, we are pleased to present a donation of $16,974 to Estevan Youth Soccer for a new cement foundation, Phase 1 of their building upgrade," said Dena Bachorcik, public awareness and community

tiatives in the communities in which we live and operate. As part of our commitment to communities, Kingston Midstream provides funding opportunities three times a year through a Richardson Foundation."

Isbister updated those present on their plans.

"EYS is planning to renovate the soccer building down at Cactus Park, which will include a canteen area. The upgrades

and canteen development will help further grow the sport of soccer in Estevan … The funds will go towards replacing and stabilizing the cement flooring," Isbister said.

Bachorcik also noted that their funding opportunities are open to any local nonprofits. For information regarding funding requests and applications, people can visit the Community Investment page on their website, kingston-

midstream.com, or reach out to Bachorcik at 306-636-7242 or by email at dena.bachorcik@ kingstonmidstream.com.

investment co-ordinator with Kingston Midstream.

"Community investment is a priority for Kingston Midstream. We believe in supporting non-profit organizations, charities and community ini-

Participants in the Dustin Pratt Memorial Redneck Golf Tournament gather for a toast to Pratt before the start of this year's tournament.

Kingston Midstream presented a cheque for almost $17,000 to Estevan Youth Soccer for their building upgrades. Participating in the presentation were, from left, Dena Bachorcik, public awareness and community investment co-ordinator, Kylie Armstrong, summer student, and Mike Grobbink, foreman, Steelman operations, all with Kingston Midstream; and Estevan Youth Soccer vice-president Jordan Isbister and president Stacy Murphy.

Last Birds’ new single to be released this week

North Portal’s Lindsay Arnold and Mike Davis –the folk and American duo known as Last Birds – are releasing a new single on Aug. 25.

The piece is the first single from their upcoming, self-produced album. Give It To Me highlights Arnold and Davis’ intimate two voices, two guitars approach. The song portrays a patient lover waiting for their desires to be returned. The duo has watched similar scenarios play out many times in their small town where one’s personal life becomes everyone’s business.

“This song was written in the living room, and we were both in the same room at the same time. Some -

times that doesn’t happen. Sometimes Mike will come up with an idea on his own, or I will work on something by myself. But this happened very organically,” said Arnold in the interview with the Mercury and SaskToday.

“I just started strumming a little sort of baseline on my guitar. And Mike joined in, and I would say we had this song written within an hour; it came together very quickly. And it’s always kind of magical when that happens.”

The song was born in early 2022, and the musicians let it sit for a while before releasing it.

“We knew that we really felt strongly about the song. And then when we recorded

the music for the album, we both felt that we wanted this one to be the first single because it’s just the two of us playing. It’s just two guitars, two voices. And we wanted to set it up, so people know what to expect when they get the album because it’s mostly the same way – just the two of us playing,” Arnold explained.

Last Birds will be releasing an official music video for the single on the same day. The video features Arnold’s skills as a visual artist by exploring the sensuous quality of paint and catering to society’s fascination with the creative process.

The video will be released on Last Bird’s website, social media and YouTube channel. And the single will be available through all major streaming platforms.

Give It To Me is the lead track on Last Birds’ upcoming full-length album, Endless Turn of Day Into Night. Last Birds will release two more singles before the debut of the new album, which is scheduled for release on Oct. 20.

Using their Prairie hometown as a backdrop,

Saskatchewan grant to help with the recording. It’s just been a really long but good project.”

She also noted that a full-length album was the perfect format for the songs they’ve created over the past couple of years.

“We wanted to do a full-length album because we had so many songs that were related to each other. All of these songs are based on our experiences of growing up or living in a small town. We felt that if it was only a handful of songs, we wouldn’t be able to capture as much of the story of where and how we live as we wanted to. That’s why we wanted to go with a full-length project. We also really wanted to put it on vinyl, so there will be vinyl available,” Arnold said.

The duo was able to record in Estevan at the studio of their friend and former Hook and Nail band member Jeff Michel.

Last Birds formed in November of 2019 and

quickly gained momentum. The duo was nominated for multiple awards in 2021 and 2022, including the Saskatchewan Music Awards’ Roots/Folk Artist of the Year as well as the Saskatchewan Country Music Association’s Group and Alternative Country Album of the Year. Their self-titled debut EP, released in 2021, reached No. 1 on Kansas Public Radio while spending several weeks on the Roots Music Report charts for Top Folk Album and Top Canadian Folk Album.

This summer, they had an opportunity to perform on the main stage at Regina Folk Fest, as well as do a workshop and two sets on Sunday. They will also be at the Artists’ Colony at the Moose Mountain Provincial Park on Labour Day long weekend, where they are doing three smaller free concerts at the artists’ cabins on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“It will be very informal,” Arnold said. “And we’ll be giving a sneak preview of the songs from the album.”

Lindsay Arnold and Mike Davis, who comprise Last Birds, are releasing the first single of their new full-length album on Aug. 25. Photo by Canadian James

Two famous musicians and former Estevan residents, Audrey and Rachel Andrist, are to perform in their hometown of Estevan on Aug. 24.

Hailed as a stunning pianist with incredible dexterity, Canadian pianist Audrey Andrist has thrilled audiences around the globe, from North America to Japan, China and Germany with her passionate abandon and great intelligence. Canadian pianist Rachel Andrus is recognized internationally for her insightful musicianship, sophisticated pianism and generous collaborative spirit. They will play at Hill View Manor and at Creighton Lodge.

The Hill View Manor performance is slated for 2 p.m., and the one at Creighton Lodge will begin at 7 p.m. Both are open to the public and are free, but people are encouraged to opt for Creighton Lodge as the facility has more space.

Audrey Andrist grew up on a farm west of Estevan, and

The Rotary Club of Estevan is looking for Estevan-area charities and non-profits’ projects to support.

Club president Terry Williams said they help local registered charities, non-profits and even not-registered groups that are working on some projects. Rotary is to give a financial boost to non-religious community organizations that are providing services in community caring, sports or arts and are located in the Estevan area, from Macoun to Steelman and from Benson to the U.S. border.

Local groups are asked to reach out to Rotary and provide information about their projects and the funding they

while in high school travelled three hours one-way for lessons with William Moore, himself a former student of famed musicians Cécile Genhart and Rosina Lhévinne. She completed masters and doctoral degrees at the Juilliard School with Herbert Stessin, and garnered first prizes at the Mozart International, San Antonio International, Eckhardt-Gramatté and Juilliard Concerto Competitions.

She is a member of the Stern/Andrist Duo with her husband, violinist James Stern, the Strata Trio, the AndristStern-Honigberg Trio and the PostClassical Ensemble. She has performed at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington, the Place des Arts in Montreal, and the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

As a specialist in the violin and piano duo repertoire, Audrey Andrist has collaborated with violinists Nurit Bar-Josef, Scott St. John, Irina Mure -

need. Then the club members will decide how they can help.

"They just need to apply in writing and say what they're doing, how much they are looking for and how much that project is going to cost. And then the club will decide whether we are going to cover any of it, part of it or all of it," Williams said.

There is no limit on how small or big a project can be. As an example, Williams recalled the STARS helipad at St. Joseph's Hospital, which was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Estevan with $15,000 a year for several years.

There is no deadline to apply for funding either, as even

sanu and Anne Akiko Meyers, among many others. An avid performer of new music, she has recorded for more than a dozen record labels and has presented over 75 world premieres as a soloist and with various ensembles.

In her numerous new music adventures, she has played a wide variety of instruments, including synthesizer, melodica, paper accordion, mbira, tack piano and slide whistle.

if Rotary uses up all money this year, there will be more next year.

Williams noted that the Rotary Club is about supporting others, and local members do their best to help Estevan organizations strive in what they do for the community.

"Rotary exists to serve humanity. Rotary's motto is 'Service above self.' And importantly service to our community," Williams said.

To apply for financial support, please reach out to the club at rotary.estevan@gmail.com or via messaging the Rotary Club of Estevan on social media.

Rotary Clubs of Estevan and Weyburn also have Golf

A devoted teacher, Audrey Andrist lives in the Washington, D.C. area, where she teaches at the Washington Conservatory and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and where she is in constant demand as a soloist, chamber musician, adjudicator and master class teacher. In her spare time, she is an enthusiastic cook and hockey fan.

Following her studies at the Cleveland Institute of

Ball Drop tickets available for sale through club members or via e-transfer to rotary.club. estevan@gmail.com. Please include name and contact information.

First prize will be $5,000, second prize is $3,000 and third prize is $1,000.

The golf ball drop will be held this year at the Weyburn Golf Club on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m., and three lucky ticket holders will win a cash prize.

The proceeds of the raffle tickets will go toward the STARS Air Ambulance service and Estevan Minor Ball. The

Music and St. Louis Conservatory, Rachel Andrist joined the music staff of Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels as chef de chant. Based principally in Europe since 1997, she has also been on the music staff of the Salzburg Festival, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Salzburg Easter Festival, Glyndebourne Festival, Netherlands Opera, English National Opera and Scottish Opera, serving as repetiteur for such conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Antonio Pappano, Ivor Bolton, Vladimir Jurowski, René Jacobs, Valery Gergiev and Kazushi Ono.

Of particular note was her position as Studienleiterin for the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival from 2009 to 2012 and for Copenhagen's Royal Danish Opera, where she was head of musical projects.

Rachel Andrist's early studies with Martin Isepp fostered a lifelong love affair with song repertoire and she has shared the recital stage with ac-

claimed artists including Adrienne Piesczonka, Sir Thomas Allen, Jason Howard, Allyson McHardy, Klara Ek, Ekaterina Gubanova, Franz-Joseph Selig, Elizabeta Szmytka, Quinn Kelsey, Elliot Madore and Heidi Melton among others. Returning to Canada in 2010, she is currently a member of the Canadian Opera Company's music staff and is a frequent guest at the University of Toronto's Opera School, l'Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal and the Oslo National Opera in Norway. Eager to share her musical knowledge with emerging young artists, she has joined the faculty at the Glenn Gould School at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music, where she co-founded the Songmasters Recital Series with soprano Monica Whicher. Her current post is head of accompanying at the Conservatory in Regina and guest coach at the University of Toronto Opera School and National Opera in Oslo.

Pianists Audrey Andrist, right, and Rachel Andrist will perform in Estevan at Hill View Manor and Creighton Lodge on Aug. 24. Photos submitted

EXECUTIVE property includes fully Matured Landscaping offering an abundance of Privacy. Enjoy the Huge SHOP, Dbl detached garage, Dbl Attached Garage, AMAZING EXECUTIVE Home with Adorable Guest house and a Bonus 3-Season room. Stunning Finishes everywhere (both inside and out). 2 entry roadways- (1 paved reaching to concrete), stamped concrete patios & accents, Nature Stone entry plus walking paths, large decks, massive retaining wall parking space with White Rock finishing off the driving spaces. Majestic trees encompass the whole yard with lawn in back overlooking the duck-filled pond. (Irrigation system) Great Constructed Home: Exterior is Brick/Stucco and Long-life Shingles (great quality windows). Interior has a Spectacular Spiral Staircase, adjacent to a sunny office complete with an executive custom desk. Straight across you’ll find the Chefs kitchen chock-full of wood cabinetry, granite countertops, loads of Storage nooks plus a bright Dining area (windows abound), (full appliance pkg). Around the corner is where you’ll find the Sitting room (bay window, gas Fireplace and a peaceful aviance). Completing the main level is a 3 piece wash room (matching cabinetry/glass walk-in shower/slate flooring) followed by the main-floor laundry room area located at the back door entry. The Upper level greets you with warm wood floors leading to a lovely nook, massive Great Room, 3 bedrooms (Master is over 200 ft2 w. cedar lined walk-in closet) and a spa type 4 piece bathroom. The lower level contains a Family room & the Utility. This whole property is virtually maintenance free, the lush vegetation is looked after by the irrigation system, the buildings are all completed with long-life finishes (brick/stucco/metal etc). The driveway(s) are completed with pavement/concrete/white rock. SO lavish & opulent you’ll NEVER WANT TO LEAVE.

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You’re going to lose access to local news on Facebook and Google.

Dear readers,

Your access to local, provincial and national news is going to be revoked on Google, Facebook and Instagram.

And it’s not because of anything we’ve done.

Recently, Canada passed the Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, which has led to a standoff between the government, Google and Meta — the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram.

Both Google and Meta have said they plan to cut ties with the news industry in Canada as a result.

This means Meta will block the posting and sharing of our news articles on Facebook and Instagram. Google will also remove links to our sites and articles in Google News, Discover and search results. They’ll also cancel significant content licensing agreements already in place with our parent company, Glacier Media.

Undoubtedly, this will have a huge impact not solely on us but, more importantly, on people like yourself who may use these platforms to discover what’s happening in your community and to get context to events happening in your own backyard.

We’re not planning on going anywhere, but here’s how you can help:

1. Sign up for our free daily newsletter by scanning the QR code. (And encourage your family and friends to do the same.)

2. Follow us on Twitter.

3. Bookmark our website as the homepage on your devices.

4. If you own/operate a local business, consider supporting local by placing ads with 100% Canadian-owned media outlets, like us.

With your help, more people will be able to get their local news from a trusted source. In today’s age of misinformation, that’s more important than ever.

Thank you. We appreciate you.

Sincerely,

The Estevan Mercury team

|

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 | SASKTODAY.ca

Evelyn Svorkdal

November 19, 1933 – January 28, 2022

Evelyn Georgia Catherine Svorkdal (Jensen) passed away at the age of 88 at Hill View Manor in Estevan. Her remarkable life was magical, fulfilling and sparkled with enthusiasm.

The Memorial Service for Evelyn will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, Estevan, SK with Rev. Martin Olson officiating. The lunch reception will take place in the church social hall immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Stoughton and District First Responders (Box 282, Stoughton, SK S0G-4T0) or Trinity Lutheran Church (738 2nd Street, Estevan, SK, S4A -2B3).

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

Helen A. Miller (Hirsch) 1930 – 2023

Helen Miller passed away on Saturday, August 12, 2023 and was greeted in Heaven by her husband Harry. Helen was 93 years of age and resided at the Estevan regional Nursing Home.

Helen will be remembered by her 3 children and their families: daughter Marilyn (Terry) Jenish (grandson Kim (great granddaughter, Alaina (Weston), and daughter Sherisse (Brad) Schindel (great grandsons, Bradyn, Carson, Ryder)); daughter

Lynda (Dmytro) Ignatiuk (grandchildren, Alexander (Lisa) (great grandchildren, Jaiden, Alexandria), Ashley (Jessica) (great grandchildren Axel and Olin) and Thyrus (Meghan) (great grandchildren, Nevaya and Ellera); son Harry Miller; brother-in-law

Tony Miller as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Helen was predeceased by her husband Harry; parents, Ralph and Pauline Hirsch; great grandson Korey Jenish; sisters, Mae (Leo) Morisette and Shirley (Rodney) Miller; Harry’s brothers, Joe (Elizabeth) Miller and Mike (Emma) Miller and his sister-in-law Betty Miller.

There will be a private family Memorial Service for Helen on Friday, August 25, 2023 at Hall Funeral Services, Estevan, SK with Connie Wheeler officiating. The interment will take place at Souris Valley Memorial Gardens following the service.

If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to a charity of choice in memory of Helen. Hall Funeral Services in Estevan is caring for Helen’s family – Yvonne Clark, Funeral Director.

Roger Peter HOFFORT

December 13, 1935 – August 13, 2023

Roger Hoffort passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 13, 2023 in Calgary, AB. He will be greatly missed by Sisters Rose, Anne, Lorraine (Ernie) and Marion (Dave), Daughter Tracey Strashok and son-in-law Jeff, Granddaughter Jenelle Quast (Dustin) and Great Grandsons Keane and Kallen as well as and many loving nieces, nephews and close friends. Roger is predeceased by his Parents August & Balance Hoffort, brothers Armand, Gerry and Phil and Tracey’s Mother Sherrill.

Roger was born in Rose Valley, Saskatchewan and worked on the family farm until he was old enough for his first job in the oilfield in 1954. He spent his entire 65 year career in oil and gas, travelling to 6 continents and 11 countries. Roger was also a long time member of the Okotoks Petroleum Association and was awarded a certificate for his work internationally.

Roger travelled all over North America racing and training Arabian horses with his daughter Tracey. His biggest accomplishment in racing was his beloved Sueade who had an unprecedented race record and was inducted into the Arabian Race Horse Hall of Fame.

Above all, his Daughter Tracey was always the main focus in his life. He was extremely proud of Tracey and equally so of his son-in-law Jeff. Roger always said how happy he was with his little family and enjoyed being Grandpa Roger to Jenelle & Dustin, Keane and Kallen.

We were all so lucky to have had Roger in our lives and he will be missed beyond measure.

A Celebration of Life for Roger will take place at South Calgary Funeral Centre on August 21 at 12:00 p.m. (12700 Macleod Trail S).

Messages of remembrance may be left for the family at www.southcalgaryfuneralcentre.ca

SOUTH CALGARY FUNERAL CENTRE and CREMATORIUM (at Lake Fraser Gate)

Norma Ida Barber

1921-2023

It is with heavy hearts that the family of Norma Ida Barber (McIlmoyl) announce her passing on Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at the Mainprize Manor and Health Center in Midale, Sask. Norma was 102 years old.

Norma was born in Scottsguard, SK but grew up and finished Grade 12 in Frobisher, SK.

Norma was working at the Royal Bank in Oxbow when she saw a handsome man in an Army uniform. He was Melvin Barber, and they were married on January 15,1947. They moved to North Portal where she was a homemaker, hairdresser and postmaster’s assistant and Melvin worked with Canada Customs. Norma moved to Creighton Lodge in Estevan in July, 2009 and Mainprize Manor and Health Center in Midale in 2019.

Norma was a loving wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great grandmother and aunt. She was predeceased by her husband Melvin; her son Brian; her parents and all of her siblings and in laws as well as the Barber in laws. She was dearly loved by all. She leaves to mourn her passing her son Barry {Supaporn] Barber; grandchildren - Krista [George]

Leonty, Sean [Andrea Habermeyer] Barber and Shane [Michelle] Barber; great grandchildren Alissa, Macee, Grayson, Ellis and Asher as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

A Graveside Service will be held at the Souris Valley Memorial Gardens, Estevan, SK on Friday, August 25, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. with Sandy Dalziel officiating.

Those so wishing may make donations, in memory of Norma to the United Way.

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

Janitorial Wanted help for commercial cleaning. Please call 306-487-7477 for further information

RCMP seeking information on 2021 murder

The Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes division is renewing its request for information on the murder of 28-year-old Crystal Castle two years ago. On Aug. 25, 2021, Castle was found dead in a rural area west of St. Louis.

Castle was reported missing to the Prince Albert Police Service on Aug. 11, 2021. She was last seen that day in Prince Albert, in a red Dodge Dakota truck near a Circle K convenience store on 28th Street East.

At the time of her disappearance, police in Prince Albert said she had ties to both Estevan and Regina.

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The RCMP says that for more than two years, its Major Crimes unit has been working diligently to investigate the circumstances surrounding Castle’s death, which is being treated as a homicide. To date, investigators have conducted numerous interviews, and gathered and processed evidence to develop a clear timeline of events.

Investigators continue to follow-up on any information provided to them that may assist with determining what happened to Castle, and why.

Investigators say they have remained in close contact with Castle’s family throughout the ongoing investigation. Family members have expressed their appreciation for the support from the community and encourage anyone with information to come forward and report it to police.

Information can be submitted to the RCMP by calling 310-RCMP or a local police service. Information can also be submitted anonymously by contacting Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.saskcrimestoppers. com.

Barristers & Solicitors

Paul Elash K.C.

Aaron Ludwig, B.Sc., LL.B. Genevieve Schrader, B. Mgt., J.D. Gainsborough: Thursday a.m. Carnduff: Thursday p.m. 1312 - 4th Street, Estevan, SK S4A 0X2 P. (306) 634-3631 • F. (306) 634-6901

Multiple trucks stolen in the southeast

A couple of RCMP detachments in southeast Saskatchewan have been investigating truck thefts.

Fillmore RCMP issued a message through the Saskatchewan Crime Watch Advisory Network on Friday morning, asking the public to keep an eye out for a stolen truck and trailer that was nabbed from a field north of Stoughton on Highway 47 on Aug. 17.

The truck is described as a white 2008 Ford F550 with a red customfuel trailer made by Thunder Creek Industries.

In a follow-up message, the RCMP said the vehicle and trailer had been located. The RCMP asks people to remove their keys from vehicles when leaving them in the field.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Fillmore detachment at 306-722-3400, or submit a tip to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Earlier on Friday, the Carlyle RCMP reported the theft of two trucks. One of those trucks was still missing as of the Mercury's press time.

The RCMP says both thefts occurred during the early morning hours of Aug. 18.

One of the vehicles has been located, but a blue 2002 GMC Sierra 1500 four-wheel-drive pick-up truck

is still missing. There are a heat wave and piston stickers on the back window.

The Carlyle RCMP has had at least one individual come forward to say the vehicle left Manor and was headed south on the 603 grid road.

If you have any information, please contact the Carlyle RCMP at 306-453-6707, or call 310-RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

• • • Members of the Estevan Police Service arrested and charged a 23-yearold individual Aug. 14 for impaired driving and operating a motor vehicle while over .08. The subject provided breath samples that were more than double the legal limit. He was held in custody until he was sober.

Police received a call of a domestic disturbance in east-central Estevan. A 31-year-old woman was arrested for public intoxication. She was lodged in cells until sober.

Police received a report Aug. 16 of an individual driving erratically who might be impaired. Members located the vehicle. No signs of impairment were noted and the driver passed a roadside screening test. The motorist was ticketed for not having a valid driver's licence.

A report of damage to a door in the south part of the city was received. Nothing appears to have been taken from the residence. The matter is under investigation.

Charges were laid Aug. 17 against an individual for failing to comply with conditions of her release order, after members attended to conduct a curfew check.

Police received a report of an intoxicated individual who was passed out in the hallway of a local motel. Members attended and the male was arrested and lodged in cells until sober.

Police responded to a total of 64 occurrences over the weekend, with 21 traffic-related tickets issued.

An Estevan male was arrested and charged with breaching his conditions of no contact with a female. He was released for court at a later date.

Police received a complaint Aug. 18 about a solicitor visiting a Westview residence a second time after being told they were unwelcome. Police caution individuals that it might become a criminal offence if they return to an individual's residence to solicit when they are aware they are unwelcome.

Police received a report of theft of a package that had been delivered to a home in the Westview area of the city.

The matter is still under investigation.

Police received a report of a social media scam in which the complainant received a friend request from an individual unknown to them but had "mutual" friends. The complainant accepted the friend request and shortly after received a scam attempt. This matter is under investigation.

Police received a report of two suspicious people hanging around a local service station. The people were reported to have gone into backyards around the area. Members attended and spoke with the individuals who were waiting for a ride, warned about their actions and sent on their way.

An individual was arrested for causing a disturbance and trying to re-enter a licensed premises after being asked to leave. He was transported to the police station to be lodged until sober.

A driver was issued a 72-hour driver's licence suspension and her vehicle was impounded for 72 hours after a traffic stop in north Estevan. The driver provided a sample of breath on the roadside screening device with "warning" result.

Police received a report of a theft of property from a Westviewarea business on Aug. 20. The in -

MAYOR’S MESSAGE

dividual that committed the theft has been identified and the matter is under investigation. Charges are pending.

Police received a request to do a wellness check on an individual who was not answering calls or responding to messages. Police made contact with the individual and determined he was okay and didn't need any further assistance.

Officers arrested a 41-year-old man for breaching one of his release conditions. He was released with a court appearance for October.

Members received a harassment complaint. The matter remains under investigation.

Police received a complaint of a domestic disturbance. While speaking with one of the parties involved, it was determined that the person had an outstanding warrant. The individual was released with a court appearance in October.

The RCMP requested assistance in finding a vehicle that was reported to have an impaired driver and heading towards Estevan. Police located the vehicle entering the city limits, however, no signs of impairment were noted. The driver had travelled a long distance and was tired.

Summer is winding down. We would like to acknowledge the parks staff and playcare leaders for another successful year. Thanks for all your efforts and contributions to our city!

MEMBERS NEEDED!

CITY OF ESTEVAN DEVELOPMENT APPEALS BOARD

The City of Estevan is recruiting new candidate(s) for appointment to the City of Estevan Development Appeals Board (DAB). The DAB hears appeals on matters related to land use and building within the City. DAB decisions shape the community and affect the lives of developers, neighbours, citizens and businesses. It is important for the public to have confidence in the quality of these decisions and the decision-making process.

To be eligible, candidates shall be a minimum of 18 years of age and a resident of the City of Estevan. Applicants cannot be an employee of the City of Estevan. Appointments are for a period of two years.

Applicants are encouraged to submit a letter describing their experience on previous positions on boards and other organizations along with a willingness to serve their community. Other factors include a flexible meeting schedule to attend hearings as they arise (typically in evenings) and the ability to make decisions with fairness, objectivity and impartiality. Some familiarity with chairing a meeting and land use related bylaws would be an asset.

Deadline for applications is September 15, 2023 at 4:00 PM. Please mail or e-mail your application to:

Nine feature races in one night meant lots of entertainment at the Estevan Motor Speedway

It was arguably one of the busiest nights ever at the Estevan Motor Speedway (EMS). Nine feature races were part of Saturday night's program at the 23-year-old venue, and in a show of parity, there were nine different feature winners.

The program started an hour earlier than normal at 6 p.m., in order to squeeze in the four feature races that were postponed from the Aug. 12 program due to rain.

Travis Hagen won the modified feature. Kody Scholpp was second, Aaron Turnbull finished third and Steven Pfeifer came in fourth.

Brandon Beeter won the hobby stock feature, finishing ahead of Kyler Satran, Brennor Grinstead and Connor Hanson.

Austin Daae won the stock car feature, finishing ahead of Mike Hagen. Adam Goff was third and Chris Hortness was fourth.

Jacek Ashworth won the slingshot feature, finishing ahead of Hudson Mann, who was second, Eli Turnbull came in third and Landon Gaudreau

was fourth.

The only feature that was run on Aug. 12 was in the sport mod class, with Leevi Runge emerging victorious.

After a brief intermission following the last of the rescheduled races, the drivers regrouped and the regularlyscheduled portion of the Aug. 19 program began with qualifying heats in each of the five divisions. The preliminary races wrapped up slightly later than they normally would.

Features were held after the intermission.

Scholpp took top spot in the modified feature, finishing ahead of Marcus Tomlinson.

Aaron Turnbull was third and Travis Hagen was fourth. Grinstead was the winner of the hobby stock feature, with Kaiden Tuchscherer in second, Diezel Raynard in third and Kayden Hjorteland in fourth. Grinstead started 13th in the feature but worked his way up to the lead.

Mike Hagen won the stock car feature, finishing ahead of Goff, Hortness and Kyle Scholpp. In the sport mod feature,

Robby Rosselli emerged as the victor, with Mike Hudson in second Ryder Raynard third and Runge fourth. As for the slingshots, Gunner Raynard was the feature winner ahead of Mann, who worked his way up from

the 15th starting to finish second. Gage Goetz was third and Eli Turnbull was fourth.

The next program at the track will be on Aug. 25, starting at 7 p.m. It will be the track championship night, and the season winners in each of the

five divisions will be crowned.

Travis Hagen leads the modified division with 346 points, 15 better than Pfeifer, who sits at 331. Kody Scholpp is third at 324 and Isaiah Geisel is fourth at 296.

Goff leads the stock car

division by one point over Chris Hortness, 340-339. Kyle Scholpp is third with 329 points. Joren Boyce is fourth with 319. Satran leads a closelybunched hobby stock division with 299 points. Hjorteland sits two back with 297. Grinstead is third with 294 and Hanson is fourth with 286.

Rosselli has a commanding 30-point lead in the sport mod division, 307-277, over Ryder Raynard, who is the only driver with a mathematical chance of catching Rosselli. Keenan Glasser is third with 265 and Runge is fourth at 250.

Ashworth sits atop the slingshot division with 335 points, 10 better than Eli Turnbull who has 325 points. Mann is third with 324 points and Goetz is fourth at 315. The maximum number of points a driver can pick up in a race is 40 for a win. For an update on the speedway's track champions for 2023, you can visit our provincial news hub at www.sasktoday.ca during the weekend.

Bruins hockey school brings out best in players, instructors

The Estevan Bruins Hockey School has been giving young players the chance to work on their skills before the start of the 202324 season, while learning from a couple of high-profile instructors.

Estevan's Brayden

Pachal, a defenceman for the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, was on the ice with the kids on Monday afternoon. He was joined by Zach Benson, who was selected in the first round, 13th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in June's NHL Entry Draft. The hockey school started Monday and will continue until Friday. More than 100 kids have been participating.

Pachal was helping out with the camp 15 days after he brought the Stanley Cup to Estevan, and he was de -

lighted to be back on the ice in the Energy City.

"The kids are out here to have fun and obviously are gearing up for hockey season, so that's what it's all about,"

Pachal said in an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday.ca.

They focused on edge work to help the players improve the skating. The athletes have been receptive to the message, he said, and they've been working hard while having fun.

"If you become a good skater first, you can work on the rest of the things afterwards," said Pachal, whose father Kent always preached the importance of being a good skater.

The message stuck, because Brayden Pachal has been known for his skating

ability since he was a minor hockey player in Estevan.

He's been training pretty hard to get ready for the start of training camp in the fall.

Benson is from Chilliwack, B.C., and he knows Bruins' head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic from when Tatarnic was working in that city.

"We created a pretty good relationship there, and he did a lot for me," said Benson. "So, when he asked me to come out here, I definitely wanted to come out here I definitely wanted to give back to him as well."

Also, when Benson was four or five years old, he was in Estevan, as his family operates West Coast Amusements, which supplies the midway for the Estevan Fair.

He was happy to see the

number of kids on the ice, trying to improve and move onto the next level.

"I've been running a few drills. Tarts (Tatarnic] and Drew [Bruins' assistant coach Drew Kocur] have it pretty good here. They're first-class coaches, so every session we go on, they're organized, so I've been running one station per ice session."

It's great to be in a community like Estevan, Benson said. He heard from Tatarnic they have a pretty good fan base, and Benson marvelled at Affinity Place, which he said is as nice as a Western Hockey League facility.

"It's pretty first class," said Benson. "I'm happy for Jason, and it sounds like they're going to have a pretty good team this year. I'm sure the fans are going to be pretty

wowed." Benson will be at the Sabres training camp in September. If he doesn't crack the roster, he'll be skating with the Western Hockey

League's Wenatchee Wild. The Winnipeg Ice, where Benson played the past three seasons, announced their move to Wenatchee in the offseason.

Elecs football getting ready for season to begin

The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs football team is looking forward to the start of the 2023 season, and they could still use a few more players and coaches.

The Elecs were scheduled to hand out equipment to players on Tuesday afternoon, and their first practice will be Thursday at the field south of the Estevan Comprehensive School.

Coach Mark Schott said the Elecs have approximately 35 players who have com -

mitted to this year's team, including some who will be moving up from Brandt Truck & Trailer Estevan Minor Football. They also have 26 or 27 players who are expected to return from last year's team, a number that Schott said is quite high.

Only one player from last year's team was in Grade 12. After a couple of years of young teams, the Elecs boast a large contingent of Grade 11s and 12s.

"Coming right out of

COVID, most of our players were right in that Grade 9 and 10 age group," said Schott. "So, then this year, that same group is now Grades 11 and 12. Hopefully, two years of experience at high school football, some physical maturation, having a chance to learn the high school game for the past two years, that will allow them to have some bigger, stronger, faster players on the field, and lead to some more success on the field,"

said Schott.

He's particularly looking forward to watching the offensive line. The entire line from last year's team is expected to return. Last year the Elecs didn't allow what Schott called a true sack – a loss of yards of a passing play due to pressure rather than a bad snap – until the final game of the season.

"They were phenomenal last year in the passing game," said Schott.

The Elecs' offensive

line is big and physical, and Schott hopes that can lead to success passing and running the ball.

ECS will open with a preseason game on Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. at the Dana Quewezance Memorial Field at Woodlawn Athletic Park, when they will host Regina Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School.

Their first regular season game is Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. against the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles,

also at Woodlawn.

Schott said the Elecs are always looking for players at all positions. Anyone from Grades 9-12 can join the team. The Elecs will accept players from schools in rural communities in the southeast, and the athletes can be new to football.

As for coaches, they need people to help out on both sides of the ball, and they can reach out to Schott or drop by the practice field if they want to join the staff.

Young players worked on their skills during the Estevan Bruins hockey school.

Austin Daae, middle, receives congratulations from track president Brad Pierson and flag man Dave Wetsch after winning the stock car race. Photo by Peyton Beeter sourced from the Estevan Motor Speedway’s Facebook page

Sehns put fitness to the test in North Dakota

By David Willberg

Two local runners recently put their fitness levels, endurance and resiliency to the test during a recent ultra marathon in North Dakota.

Lloyd and Roanna Sehn competed at the Maah Daah Hey Trail Race at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on July 29 and 30. Lloyd noted that in ultra marathons, usually, the distance would be 80 kilometres (50 miles) or 160 kilometres (100 miles), but Lloyd pointed out the Maah Daah Hey is a point-to-point race that was actually 90 kilometres for Roanna and 172 kilometres for Lloyd. It began just south of Watford City and ended at Medora.

Roanna finished first in her age group and 22nd overall among 51 registered racers with a time of 16 hours, 33 minutes and 22 seconds. Roughly half of the runners finished.

She overcame a bad case of plantar fasciitis, which is a tendon injury in the foot, Lloyd said. They weren't certain how she would do, but she finished the race in her first attempt at the distance.

"I was pretty pleased with my finishing time," said Roanna. "I wanted to finish … as well as conquer some of my fears. I figured that I would be finishing the race probably in the dark, which I'm not a huge fan of. I'm also not a huge fan of

snakes in general, but especially rattlesnakes, and just being out in the remote wilderness by myself."

Competitors are alone for most of the race, she said.

Prior to this race, the longest Roanna had gone was 52 kilometres at an ultra marathon in Regina in June.

Lloyd finished in 31 hours, two minutes and 14 seconds, which left him first in his age category and sixth out of 27 runners. Only 15 men finished.

Racers have a time limit to complete the Maah Daah Hey. There are 12 checkpoints and eight stations that racers have on the course where they can get a quick break, take off their hydration vests, and enjoy a quick snack and some water before resuming the route.

They also hired crews, consisting of area residents who will meet them at the checkpoints and manager their food and water. Lloyd noted the crews play an important role in the race, and take great pride in the success of the runners.

"We tried to keep our check stops to about five minutes, and in the first half of the race, I would say that was probably fairly close, but in the second half, our check stops probably got a little longer."

The Maah Daah Hey is on a groomed trail, but still has lots of challenges. One of them is the heat, as the temperature

often clears 30 C. And they're running up and down buttes and through canyons.

"In the canyons, they call it a confection oven. So, if it's 30 degrees up on the plains, when you're down in the buttes, it's more like 40 degrees."

Lloyd said he was pleased with the end result. During the evening of the race, the area was hit by a thunderstorm that brought rain and hail. Prior to that, he said he was on pace to finish in 27 hours.

"I got caught in an open field in the hail storm. Roanna had to wait it out – the trail passes underneath the I-94, so she was close to the interstate, so she ran through the storm to get into the underpass to get cover, and she had to wait 10, 15 or 20 minutes before she could get going again."

The storm devastated the course, making it difficult to finish because it was muddy and slippery. It was treacherous, too, with cliffs that had a drop of several hundred metres to the bottom.

"Our feet got pretty battered up because they were constantly wet, and we ran out of dry socks and shoes. So, they got all blistered and skin was torn, so we had to do quite a bit of first aid on my feet to finish," said Lloyd.

The crew members were phenomenal in helping him with first aid, he said.

"Without them, it would have made for a truly miserable experience," Lloyd said.

The Maah Daah Hey was a training event for a much larger and more difficult multi-day event they plan to enter next year outside of Canada. They needed to run those distances in North Dakota to simulate what they would go through. It helped that the Maah Daah Hey was relatively close to home.

"We needed something with a very high degree of heat," said Lloyd.

They have a running program that they will follow, and they will spend time in the gym, working on their core and lower body strength. They will have to be self-sufficient during the race, so they will have to focus on their upper body as well because they will be carrying supplies on their back.

"I think we have a long road ahead of us as far as training, but it will be exciting," said Roanna.

Flashback – Wednesday, Aug. 21, 1968

23092GE2

Roanna and Lloyd Sehn recently competed at the Maah Daah Hey Trail Race in North Dakota as they continue to prepare for a global competition. Photo courtesy of Lloyd Sehn

These four lads were tops in their respective flights during the Estevan Golf and Country Club’s annual junior golf tournament in August 1968. From left, Garry Hank, third flight; Brian Hank, second flight; Ellis Robertson, first flight; and Billy Tholl, the champion.

Roanna Sehn was proud of her effort at the Maah Daah Hey Trail Race.

Creighton Lodge residents had fun this summer

By Shelly Veroba

Summer is coming to an end soon, yet we feel like it should just be getting started. We aren't ready for the leaves to fall and the wind to blow, so for now we will continue to enjoy the last of the summer days that are left.

July 1 marked our 13th anniversary since the RMs took ownership of the lodge. We celebrated this joyous event by hosting a barbecue on June 29, with over 200 people attending. The Can't Hardly Play Boys entertained us and a good time was held by all. We were entertained this summer by the musical talent of The Olsons and Laurie Fornwald. On Aug. 24, Audrey and Rachel Andrist will perform a concert for us in our main lounge.

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.

Joy Beahm comes each Monday to give manicures.

Norma Blackburn, Kathy McKelkie and John McKelkie come every other Monday to serve our cocktails and snacks during our happy hour. Bev Holinaty and Irene Dyer have kept the balls rolling in the Bingo machine, which we host on Wednesday nights.

Angelle Avery also came a few times this summer to volunteer and get to know the residents.

The library has continued its outreach program for us and the Souris Valley Museum welcomed us to its annual seniors' tea on Aug. 16.

Thank you to Jocelyn Dougherty at the Orpheum Theatre for opening the doors to us on a Wednesday afternoon in July so we could see

Champions. What a great movie.

Thank you to the new owner of the ice cream truck, Kevin Mortenson, and his crew for coming twice this summer to ensure we got to experience the delicious ice cream they are serving up. City Coun. Rebecca Foord sponsored our first event and joined us for a treat. Thank you, we appreciate the support.

If you saw our trishaw bike out in the Pleasantdale neighbourhood, then you saw the biggest smiles of the entire summer. Our residents have been enjoying the sights, the new houses they didn't know had been built and the different flower gardens in all the yards.

Wade Wrubleski and Greg Choma have been the two bike volunteers so far, but we have a list of a few more so there is still time to get them out there in the coming

month. The bike program has been such a success, we can't thank Sask. Lotteries and the United Way Estevan enough for helping make it a reality.

Thank you to the St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church for coming the second Monday of each month for mass and on Sundays for the rosary and communion. We also want to thank Trinity Lutheran Church and St. Giles' Anglican Church for the monthly services they provide to the residents. It isn't always easy for us to get to church; we are blessed that the volunteers in the churches come to us. We hope everyone had a great summer and was able to travel, visit family or friends, and fill 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.

Youths enjoy summer camp in Benson

The community of Benson held a successful summer camp during the week of July 31-Aug. 4, ending with a water gun battle and pizza party.

Many games were played at the Benson Hall, such as waiting for Kaylee, British bulldog, octopus, four corners, green light/red light, tag, dodgeball and capture the flag. The youths enjoyed indoor crafts by making paper snakes and flowers, and wooden airplanes with clothespins and popsicle sticks. They also had fun making their own ice cream sundaes.

Wooden signs were supplied by Out-of-the Woods with Vanessa. The attendees enjoyed painting the wooden signs and creating a sign with their name on it and a sun -

catcher.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders were asked to attend for a sports day but had other commitments, so they sent footballs and sunglasses, which were appreciated by the kids.

Also, the youths managed to sneak over to the playground a couple of times despite the excessive heat. They had lots of fun at the playground equipment, the outdoor kitchen, caterpillar, swings and the sandbox, and they played basketball and outdoor hockey

The Benson Culture and Recreation Board thanks the Community Initiatives Fund and Sask. Lotteries for funding, which provided the opportunity for the children of Benson to enjoy a summer camp-like experience.

(Estevan) Drewitz School of Dance

Celebrating over 40 years of Professional Dance Instruction in the Estevan Community & Area

(Pre-school through to Major Levels)

Held

at:

1037 2nd Street, Estevan

Directed by: Lorie-Gay Drewitz-Gallaway, A.R.A.D. (Director, Teacher, Choreographer, Examiner, Adjudicator)

• Registered Ballet Teacher with the Royal Academy of Dancing

• Tap and Jazz Examiner for the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Assoc., Sask. Branch

• Ballet Examiner for the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Assoc., Sask. Branch

• Member and Associate of the Royal Academy of Dancing, London, England

• Member of the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Assoc., Sask. Branch (Stage & Ballet)

• A.D.A.P.T. Syllabus Teacher in Tap & Jazz (Brian Foley)

• Member of the Scottish Dance Teacher’s Alliance, Highland Branch

• Member of Dance Masters of America, Inc.

• Stage Consultant C.D.T.A. National Board (1999-2002)

• Honourary Member C.D.T.A. 2002/ A.D.A.P.T. 2005

• National C.D.T.A. Jazz Rep. (National Board 2006)

• National C.D.T.A. Ballet Syllabus Rep. (2019)

• Positive and team-oriented attitude At Redhead Equipment we do "Whatever It Takes" to meet the needs of our customers and have been doing so for 75 years. We deliver the most dependable brands of agricultural, truck and construction equipment across 11 locations in Saskatchewan. Apply at redheadequipment.ca/careers

John McKelkie and Ted Fai were on the trishaw bike in the Pleasantdale area. Photo courtesy of Shelly Veroba

Young people who attended the summer camp in Benson gather for a group photo. Photo courtesy of Laureen Keating