Vol.114 No. 48 - Weyburn, Saskatchewan Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - 10 Pages
Sun Country Hearing held their Grand Opening last Thursday.
Page 4
If you are going to drink this holiday season, DON’T DRIVE!
Plan a safe ride home!
More than 55,000 postal workers across the country continue strike action. Page 10
The 25th anniversary of the Festival of Trees returns to an in-person auction for the decorated Christmas trees, in support of the Family Place’s Early Years Family Resource Centre, along with a silent auction and raffles.
The viewing of the decorated trees and silent auction items opened on Nov. 20, at the Great Plains Ford auction building, located at 285 First Ave. SW.
The viewing was open on Nov. 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A special feature for families was a visit by Santa Claus on Nov. 25.
The evening for the tree auction is tonight, Nov. 27, and will be a ticketed event, at a cost of $20 for individuals or $150 for a table of eight. A charcuterie board will be served to the tables at intermission, and a cash bar will be available.
Tickets are available by calling the Family Place at 306-842-7477.
The gala evening will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m., a presentation at 6:30 p.m. followed by the tree auction.
The Family Place recently marked a full year in their new location at 744 McLelland Drive. They run various services, including Little Learner and the Mini-Go program. Local residents can find them on Facebook.
Korryn Kubashek held her granddaughter, Olivia
Trees on Saturday.The
held tonight, Nov. 27, at the
as
By Greg Nikkel, SaskToday.ca
Weyburn city council gave first reading to a new bylaw to regulate the use of portable signs in the city, at their first meeting since the municipal election.
Before council got down to business, the new mayor, Jeff Richards, and members of council were officially sworn in by city solicitor, Levi Paradis.
In regard to the portable sign bylaw, which was last amended in 2014, planning and development coordinator SharaLee Malcolm pointed out there are a lot more portable signs out than the city has given permits for. At the last recordtaking by the City, there were 67 portable signs in 41 locations around Weyburn, with the City only issuing 36 permits for signs currently.
In addition, Malcolm said there is no physical way for the city to track which signs have been paid for, as the signs’ owners information is not displayed or else the signs are in different locations than listed on the permit.
The amended bylaw will have colour-coded stickers for the owners of the signs to affix on the sides of the sign, so they’re visible to city of -
ficials.
The owners of the signs placed without a permit sticker will have letters or calls made by the city, and if they do not comply, there will be fines levied and the signs will be confiscated.
The bylaw will now come back at a future council meeting, to allow for time for the public or council to make any comments for amending the bylaw.
• In other council business, council approved a tender bid for the supply and installation of a new air purification system for the Fire Hall and Public Works building.
This was a project carried over from 2023, with $100,000 budgeted for the project. Three companies registered to review the tender proposal, and in the end one bid was made by an Ontario company, Air Technology Solutions Canada Inc. They bid $116,750, which was accepted by council. In addition to approving this, council had the overage of $16,750 moved to the 2025 budget year as a pre-approval, to enable the project to go ahead.
The company indicated they would install it by February or March of 2025.
The system will scrub the air of diesel exhaust and other potential carcinogenic contaminants, providing a safer work environment for the Fire Hall, Public Works and offices in that building.
City manager Mathew Warren noted the budget pre-approval is put in so that it can’t be removed from the upcoming 2025 budget.
• Council approved sending out a six-month notice to those property owners who have not paid their 2023 taxes.
The notice is being served to give property owners the opportunity to redeem their property before the city requests the title of the properties from the Provincial Mediation Board. If no action has been taken in six months to pay the taxes, the city will request the titles from the mediation board.
This year, there are 20 properties in arrears, owing a total of $51,795.49. This is down significantly from last year, when there were 68 properties in arrears.
• There wasn’t much new construction activity in the city in October, as the City issued one building permit, and one demolition permit for a garage. The building permit was
for a new garage in the location of the demolished one, and had a construction value of $12,000.
This brings the number of building permits to 47
as of the end of October, along with nine demolition permits, with a total construction value of $86,387,024. This compares to 2023, when the city had issued 47 permits as of the end of October, along with 11 demolition permits, with a total construction value of $14,465,768.
A large load of Christmas trees are unloaded by Young Fellow members Trent Rommann, Dwain McKnight and Duane Walkeden on Tuesday morning. The Christmas Tree Lot, located behind the Prairie Sky Co-op Food Store, opens on Nov. 29.
The Weyburn Police Service (WPS) responded to 79 calls for service during the period of Nov. 18 to 24, resulting in a total of nine charges. Of the charges, one was laid under the Criminal Code of Canada, seven under the Traffic Safety Act (TSA), and one under the Vehicle Equipment Regulations (VER).
Police received a complaint of two motorcycles and a large amount of copper wire stolen from an enclosed trailer on Saturday. The motorcycles are described as a blue 2014 Yamaha XT 250 and a red 1984 Honda 350 XR. The wire is 200 feet of black copper wire and 100 feet of white copper wire. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Weyburn Police Service or Crime Stoppers.
The lone criminal charge was in relation to an individual who failed to attend court as required. Traffic charges resulting from the past week include speeding, proceeding from a stop sign before safe, failing to stop at a red
light, and failing to properly wear a seat belt.
Police attended a traffic collision involving a school bus (with no passengers) that collided with another vehicle at the intersection of First Avenue and 16th Street on Tuesday. One driver sustained minor injuries and the other driver was charged under the TSA for failing to stop at a red light. Police caution motorists to be alert at this intersection as it was recently upgraded from a four-way stop to a functioning traffic light system.
On Friday, police received two complaints of hit and run incidents. The first incident occurred around 2 p.m. behind a local bank and resulted in substantial damage to a vehicle. The second occurred in the Canada Post parking lot sometime between 8:30-11 a.m. Anyone with information about either of these incidents is asked to contact the Weyburn Police Service.
Also on Friday, police mediated a situation be -
tween two males who had an altercation regarding property.
On another note, as the weather gets colder, police would like to remind residents that under the city noise bylaw, trucks within 100 meters of any type of residence (house, hotel, motel, etc) are only allowed to idle for a maximum of 20 minutes within a three-hour period.
The Weyburn Police also responded to a variety of other calls including alarms, domestic disturbances, suspicious persons or vehicles, mental health concerns, requests to check on an individual’s well-being, harassing communications, and calls relating to animals, parking, or other bylaw concerns.
*Anyone with information regarding one of these matters, or any other matter of a criminal nature, is encouraged to contact the Weyburn Police Service at (306) 848-3250, the local RCMP Detachment at 310-RCMP (7267), or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Weyburn
The Weyburn Rotary Club will host this year’s Carol Festival, with a variety of performances for listeners with performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Organizers encourage people to arrive early to hear the Christmas prelude performed by Colleen Weimer and Gail Murray. A slideshow will be running showing memories from past festivals.
“We look forward to hearing groups who have previously performed, such as the Grace United Church groups, school choirs and Variations. These groups are the backbone of our festival with their dedicated annual performances. It is always wonderful to hear their uplifting music and see their enthusiastic performances,” said festival chair Heather Sidloski.
“We are excited this year to welcome Richard Beach who will start the
afternoon performance. Richard has sang and played guitar for many years in Weyburn and we look forward to hearing his country style carols,” she added.
The club is looking forward to hearing from the Mahnke family this year as well. They are a very musical family who have been involved in music in Weyburn for a number of years. Sheri has taught singing and piano, Tori and Keira have many years of vocal training, and all of them including Kevin were recently part of the WCS musical.
“We are fortunate to have a number of church choirs this year. We are delighted to have the Weyburn Free Methodist choir perform. This is an adult and children’s choir conducted by June Fletcher. We also welcome the St. Vincent de Paul Youth choir, and another new
addition to our festival is the Christian Mennonite Church of Yellow Grass. This group of young people have performed at senior centres and their beautiful harmonies are a delight,” said Sidloski.
Another returning group is Prairie Tunes, who in addition to their carols, will sing some songs in the Malayalam language.
“The Rotary Club would like to thank all of the conductors and accompanists for the many hours of rehearsal that have gone into preparing for this year’s Carol Festival. We can’t wait to hear all the beautiful carols and songs of the season. For many of us, the Carol Festival marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Weyburn and with the snow that we’ve received, ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.’,” said Sidloski.
Trombley, Schick to lead Southeast Cornerstone school board
The Southeast Cornerstone School Division held their organizational meeting held last Wednesday, and Audrey Trombley was selected to continue as the chair. Weyburn trustee Megan Schick was chosen for her first term as vicechair.
Trombley is a seasoned veteran trustee with 14 years of experience as chair, and has represented subdivision 5 (Fillmore, Stoughton, Midale and Macoun) since amalgamation in 2005.
Schick joined the board in 2022 in a byelection, and looks forward to working alongside Trombley in her new role.
The board of trustees are as follows: subdivision 1, Devona Putland; 2, Velda
Weatherald; 3, Jim Henderson; 4, Tami Scott; 5, Audrey Trombley; 6, Michelle DeBruyne; Estevan, Kevin Keating and Craig MacDonald; and Weyburn,
Megan Schick and Norma Hewitt-Lendrum.
The Cornerstone trustees were named to their various committees and organizations.
SGI is aware that scammers are targeting Saskatchewan residents with emails claiming to be from SGI. The subject line and text of the emails is ever changing but they’ve covered subjects like residency confirmation and registration requests. SGI does not contact customers via email to receive this kind of information.
If you’re unsure if an email claiming to be from SGI is legitimate, contact your local licence issuer or the SGI Customer Ser-
vice Centre at 1-844-TLK2SGI (855-2744). Don’t use the phone number or email address included in the suspect email. These emails can be very convincing, so approach any email claiming to be from SGI with a skeptical eye and never click on a link until you are 100-per-cent confident it’s a legitimate email.
If you’ve discovered that the email is fraudulent, don’t click on any links. Report the email as spam through your email
provider and delete the email.
If you did click on links in a fraudulent email or provided your personal information to someone who shouldn’t have it, contact the police and take the steps suggested by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Please also notify SGI of the potential issue. There are steps you can take to have your SGI information password protected. You can do this at any SGI motor licence issuing office.
Vrunda Upadhyay, an acclaimed teacher of classical Indian dances, led a class through some moves of the
at a class on Saturday morning
1:45 p.m. - Prelude
2:00 p.m.
Community Singing with Rotary
The Christmas Story
Richard Beach
Small Voices of Grace
The Mahnke Family
St. Vincent de Paul
Youth Choir
Put a Little Love in Your Heart
Christian Mennonite
Church of Yellow Grass
Community Singing
Spirit of Grace
Choir
“Silent Night”
6:45 p.m. - Prelude
7:00 p.m.
Joy to the World
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Hark the Harold Angels Sing
Read by Jean Fahlman
New Star Shining
TBA
God Gave Me Jesus
On That Very First Christmas
Oh What a Special Night
A New Noel
A Wacky Family Christmas
Come On Ring Those Bells
African Noel
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Angels We Have Heard on High
Have a Blessing Ready at this Christmas Time
O Come All Ye Faithful
Go Tell it on the Mountain
The Candle is a Symbol
That’s Christmas to Me
Kris Kringle’s Kazoos
Carol Medley
Corny Teichroeb
Community Singing with Rotary
The Christmas Story
WCS RISE Choir
Grace United Church
Chancel Choir/Spirit
Prairie Tunes
Joy to the World
The First Noel
Read by Jean Fahlman
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Happy Xmas War is Over
Nutcraker Jingles
Listen!
Colleen Weimer
Who Would Imagine a King?
First Noel
Mary Did You Know?
WCS Senior Choir
Kendra Gonczy
Spirit Singers
Variations
“Silent Night”
The Grinch Medley
Breath of Heaven
Subi Koshy
A “Holiday Road” of Carols
First King and two Malayalam Songs
Grandma’s Killer Fruitcake
White Christmas
Oh Come, All You Unfaithful Kendra
A Tribute of Carols Colleen
A Jolly Jingling Carol Medley
A Light of Hope, A Song of Peace Holly Butz Holly
Nelson Motors and Equipment announced the success of their second annual Think Ag event, a hands-on experience that provided students from Southeast Cornerstone School Division and Prairie South School Division insight into the operations of their John Deere dealership.
Students participating in the event had the opportunity to work in the four main departments of the dealership. They gained practical experience in the parts department, where they handled receiving parts for internal and customer orders, manufactured hoses, and engaged in a race with one of the owners to locate and store parts correctly.
The Service department exposed the students to working with a pulled
combine engine and allowed them to complete tasks such as setting valves.
Jaret Nelson, General Manager of Nelson Motors and Equipment, emphasized the importance of the hands-on approach, stating, “We wanted the event to be hands-on for these students. It’s what our business is about, hands-on and helping customers be the best growers they can be.”
In addition to the departments mentioned, the students also interacted with the Precision Ag and Sales departments. They were tasked with assisting a “customer” in finding suitable equipment and attachments for their land, and then working with the Precision Ag team to set up a job using computers and send instructions to the equipment.
Shannon Mack, Human Resources and hiring manager at Nelson Motors and Equipment, said, “It was truly rewarding to see the students engage meaningfully with our team. We discussed education options including apprenticeships, job opportunities, wages, and the overall work environment, giving them a comprehensive view of potential career paths.”
Mack also mentioned that two students would be participating in work placements with the company in the future.
Grand opening held for Sun Country
Sun Country Hearing in Weyburn held a ribbon cutting to celebrate their
Street on Nov. 21. Sun Country Hearing offers hearing assessments, hearing aid fittings, repairs and accessories along with custom hearing protection and ear wax removal. From left are Coun.
and Mayor Jeff Richards, City of Weyburn; Val Tribiger, staff, and Melanie Tribiger, hearing aid practioner and clinic owner, Sun Country Hearing; Monica Osborn, executive director, and
Chamber of Commerce.
By Greg Nikkel, SaskToday.ca
The former education director for the Holy Family school division, Gwen Keith, will be receiving the Julian Paslawski Meritorious Service Award from the Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association next spring.
The Holy Family board was told of the successful nomination of Keith at their November board meeting on Wednesday
“She is quite excited about that,” said board chair Bruno Tuchscherer. “We were happy to put her name forward for that.”
The association gives this award to individuals who have “made a highly significant contribution to Catholic education in Saskatchewan.”
The award began in 1982 as the Meritorious Service Award, and was renamed in 2006 in honour of Julian Paslawski, who was the executive director of the SCSBA until his retirement in 2007.
Keith will receive the award at the SCSBA spring convention to be held in Yorkton in May of 2025.
Keith has spent over 50
years in education, including 27 years in CEO positions in rural, urban and northern settings, including at Holy Family since 2013 until her retirement as of Aug. 31. She was presented with a Distinguished Service Award from LEADS at their annual conference earlier this year. LEADS (the Saskatchewan League of Educational Administrators, Directors and Superintendents) is the professional organization for all senior educational administrators in Saskatchewan.
• In other board business, Holy Family held their organizational meeting for 2024-25, and acclaimed Tuchscherer as the board chair for the next year.
In addition, Jerome Sidloski was acclaimed as the vice-chair.
Other highlights of the organizational meeting include that Holy Family will be putting out a Request for Proposals for being the school division’s auditor for next year. Grant Thornton has been the auditors for the last few years, and the trustees felt they should put out an RFP to see if they are getting the best price for this service from the market. In addition, Holy Family trustee indemnity rates were kept the same as last year, and the mileage and meal allowances were aligned with the provincial government rates for the next year.
As part of our commitment to keeping communities informed about our work, Enbridge is pleased to invite you to a Town Hall to learn more about the proposed Seven Stars Energy Project within the Rural Municipalities of Griffin No 66 and Weyburn No 67 The 200-megawatt wind project will be operated by Enbridge and provide a stable source of renewable power for the people of Saskatchewan. Final design will be determined through public engagement, environmental and regulatory reviews, and requirements set out by SaskPower.
Please join us—your feedback is important as it helps guide project development. Agenda
6 – 7 p.m. Open House
An opportunity to review updated project information, including a revised project layout and schedule, and to speak to project team members and industry experts.
7 – 8 p.m. Town Hall presentation followed by Q&A
We’ll deliver a short presentation, leaving time afterward for your questions
Please
To learn more about the Seven Stars Energy Project, scan this QR code or visit enbridge.com/sevenstarsenergy
By Norm Park, Contracted Reporter for SECPSD
A steady downward slide of what was once a healthy surplus in 2017 has decreased within the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, board members heard at their Nov. 20 public meeting.
That disclosure in the audited financial report was just one final tidbit of information highlighted by the division’s Finance Manager Shelley Toth, who provided a solid summary of SECPSD financial activities within the past fiscal year. The items are contained in the annual auditor’s report that is filed with the provincial Ministry of Education.
On the operations side of education in southeast Saskatchewan, SECPSD is running a tight and efficient ship, with only a few emerging concerns outside of the sliding surplus.
Toth mentioned in her presentation to the trustees that grant revenue, most of it from the province, that now controls taxable income for education, was $2 million lower than budget expectations in the past fiscal year but total revenue slippage though was at $836,000, or less than one per cent below budget expectations.
In the past year, total revenues in the SECPSD amounted to $113.2 million while expenses came
in at $114.3 million, for a net deficit of $1.15 million, which was slightly better than the budgeted deficit of $1.23 million. That was due to the fact that other revenue, outside the government grant system, was $1.36 million higher than budget, with the bulk of that coming from additional interest revenue being added as a result of the increase in the prime rate.
Digging down into further details, Toth said total operating expenses were $922,000 lower than budget, or just under one per cent. Significant variances in that sector included instructional expenses that came in about $1 million under budget due to unfilled vacancies and unused contingencies.
“Plant operation and maintenance expenses were $1.1 million higher than budget as additional facility repairs were completed using surplus from prior years from the Ministry’s preventive maintenance and renewal (PMR) program,” she said.
Student transportation expenses were $688,000 under budget. Toth noted that bus driver salaries were under budget due to unfilled bus driver positions and contracted transportation services were higher than budget as a result. Repairs and maintenance of buses were under budget while amortization of tangible capital assets
was higher than budget which was reflected in the fact that there is a newer bus fleet with additional buses having been purchased over the past two years, meaning 30 new buses last year and 27 more this fiscal year.
The 27 new buses came with a price tag of just under $4 million and were part of the $6 million added to the division’s tangible asset base that also included four trucks and one wheelchair accessible van at a total cost of $367,000. Furniture and equipment purchases amounted to $350,000 and that included caretaking and facility maintenance equipment at $143,000 and $69,000 for transportation equipment. There was another $719,000 spent on needed computer hardware and audio-visual equipment. Toth noted there is $627,000 tied up in assets “under construction,” meaning the addition of a relocatable classroom at Assiniboia Park Elementary School, and the start of the design process for the new school in Carlyle. As for the previously noted operations budget and surplus decline, she reported that the once healthy surplus of $32.3 million in 2017 has now been reduced to $18.1 million following the seven years of steady decline in financial resources being made available.
I was scrolling through my social media accounts the other day and I realized that our world has changed so much over the years. We live in a world where we seek instant gratification and want immediate results. But what about when we must wait?
There is an English proverb - good things come to those who wait. Often, the benefits of waiting patiently were usually a better outcome rather than rushing into something. If someone was willing to work hard and wait for the desired results rather than ruining the chances of success, the wait would be worth it.
For years, society was willing to wait for those results. We relied on the information to be handed down, usually by letter, which sometimes took days or weeks to receive.The invention of the telephone increased the rate of speed in information sharing, but not everyone had a telephone. As the world of technology changed, so did the norm for having such luxuries. If you think about it, it has only been roughly 20 years since having a cell phone has been considered normal.
Information is now at our fingertips, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We no longer need to go to a store to shop, go to the bank to cash a cheque or even to our children’s sporting events as parents know it will be live-streamed. We have put more trust in online diagnoses over those of our medical professionals. And when we do seek out medical advice, we want a quick fix or a magic pill to make it all go away.
We share our photos and videos online, hoping for that rush of dopamine as the thumbs up and hearts start flooding the screen. Our world is always looking for bigger, better and brighter.
We have become a society of life hacks. We are searching for any trick or shortcut that can increase our productivity and efficiency in any situation. Anything to reduce the amount of time we must wait for the outcome we are looking for. Everywhere you look, someone is sharing a hack they have come up with, which hardly seems more efficient than waiting.
While there may be some life hacks that are beneficial, we need to find moments of slowing down. We need to pause, give ourselves time to process our day, even sometimes multiple times a day. When we don’t, our children grow up faster, we miss out on things we feel are important and before you know it, life has passed us by
- Azure McGonigle,
SaskToday.ca
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By Greg Nikkel
email: gnikkel@sasktoday.ca
You have all no doubt seen the admonitions and encouragement to get your flu shot, as this is a prime time of year to stave off the flu and that C-word.
I understand that people just don’t like needles, but there are times you just can’t avoid them, such as for a blood test, or for vaccines or some other medical purpose.
The thing is, I’ve learned the hard way that getting a flu shot actually makes a difference. I don’t know if this is true for everyone who gets them, but I find if I have my shot, any colds or other infections I get are much, much milder than they otherwise are.
A number of years ago, before the “Time of the Pandemic”, I got a really, really bad cold and cough, and shortly before Christmas I checked into the hospital.
They put me into the ICU, and I was in hospital for a total of eight days. I had a double shot of trouble: Influenza, and bronchial pneumonia.
I ended up being in there over Christmas, and was released on New Year’s Eve day. It was not fun – I had to have a medicine that they needed to obtain approval for from the health authority,
because of the infection I was dealing with.
One moment that stands out to me during that stay was when Dr. Lenferna was in, checking me over, and he asked if I had gotten my flu shot. I had to tell him no, and he said that that was the simplest way I could’ve avoided all of that medical stuff.
This is perfectly true, and each year I have been getting my flu shots. Now, this year I didn’t have time to get it yet, and before I knew what was happening, I caught a bad infection, which I am now dealing with.
The doctor feels I’m most of the way through the infection period, and it shouldn’t take long to get clear of it. As soon as I’m well again, I will be getting my flu shot, because I really don’t want a repeat of what happened all those years ago.
I don’ know about you, but I enjoy the holidays with all the concerts and music and parades, etc. etc., and I don’t really want to be missing out on that, or being with my family. I’m very much hoping that it will work out – so, for those of you who have not yet got your shots, I’m just making the friendly suggestion to go and do that.
By Leslie Coulter
One link.
That’s all it takes.
One click and you are on your way.
Down the rabbit hole.
Have you ever found yourself scrolling social media and something catches your eye?
Before you know it, you are lost in the realization of just how many things you can make with cottage cheese!
I have yet to try any of them, but once I clicked on one, the algorithms kicked into high gear and fed me more of what I watched.
I admit to going down the rabbit hole regularly, but sometimes you find something worthy of your online time.
My latest one has been The Saskatchewanderer on Facebook.
Photos and videos posted show the utter beauty and wonder of our province and its people.
Seeing the small local businesses being praised and promoted for their signature items
has me planning next spring’s road trips.
Two of my favourite local businesses, Weyburn Noodle House and Meok Ja have been featured on this page.
I love watching all the videos our own local businesses post as well.
Showing us ‘behind the scenes’ antics and showcasing new products can be very entertaining!
It also makes Christmas shopping easier, for me at least.
My children have very specific interests and I’ve been able to find Weyburn vendors who carry or can order what I’m looking for.
Before ordering “online”, see if you can find a local business that can find your perfect gift.
Be sure to follow all your local businesses on social media and support them. They are the ones who support us and promote Weyburn as a vibrant community.
As for the rabbit hole, I’ll let you know how the cottage cheese crackers turn out.
Lacrosse winter camp trains up players
Weyburn Lacrosse held a night of drills and practice for younger lacrosse players on Friday evening at the Credit Union Spark Centre. An older group of lacrosse players underwent intensive drills to build up their strength and stamina.
The Weyburn Minor Hockey Association will also a hockey player development day at Crescent Point Place on Friday, November 29,
U9 coed will be at the rink from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m., U7 coed takes the ice from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m., U11 coed will then play from 12:45 to 2 p.m., fol-
lowed by U15 and U18 coed from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. The U13 coed will be at the Tom Zandee Sports Arena from 2:45 to 4 p.m. In regular minor hock -
ey season action, the U11 Panther Drilling Wings will host Estevan at the Sports Arena, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Two teams will host
Team Sask trains in Weyburn centre
The top 25 U15 and U17 girls and boys in the province were in Weyburn for two days of soccer training at the Credit Union Spark Centre on Saturday and Sunday. The Saskatchewan Soccer Association set up the two days of intensive drills and training for the teams who will be playing in next year’s Canada Summer Games.
games at Crescent Point Place on Saturday, November 30. The U13 AA YF Wings will face the Regina Royals at 12:45 a.m. The U15 AA White Cap Res Gold Wings will host the Regina Rebels Black at 3:30 p.m.
Over at the Sports Arena on November 30, the U13 East Wey Wings will host Milestone at 12:45 p.m. Later that day, the U15 Creekside Carwash Gold Wings will host the Estevan Bear Cats at 5:15 p.m.
Local residents can follow the Weyburn Minor Hockey Association on Facebook for more details.
The Weyburn Red Wings are preparing for the next instalment of the Highway 39 Cup, to be played in Estevan on Saturday, Nov. 30.
The series will see Weyburn play their rivals eight times this season, and will be playing for bragging rights and the Highway 39 Cup, to be presented by the respective police chiefs of Weyburn and Estevan.
The Wings are putting together a fan bus for Saturday’s game, and the deadline to get a spot was
extended to today, Nov. 27, at 5 p.m. Meantime, the Red Wings presented a cheque recently to the Weyburn Legion, as they raised $18,000 from the auction of special jerseys worn for their game held on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11. In other team news, goaltender Dazza Mitchell reached a milestone of his 100th game with the Wings. In those 100 games, he had a .912 save percentage and a 3.11 goals-against average, along with five shutouts.
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By Greg Nikkel, SaskToday.ca
Southeast College held a graduation in Weyburn for two classes of Continuing Care Assistants, from Assiniboia and Weyburn,
on Friday afternoon. The graduates were accompanied by the Red Iron drumming group from Ochapowace First Nation as they entered, and again as they left after the ceremonies.
Before the certificates were presented to the students, Jody Holzmiller, CEO and president of Southeast College, spoke of the pride she felt for the
students as they set out in their life journeys.
“I feel an overwhelming sense of pride and admiration. It hasn’t always been easy for you, and there’s no doubt this past year
The graduates from the Continuing Care Assistant program at Southeast College gathered at the end of the ceremonies on Friday afternoon. The class includes (not in order) Felix Agong, Tatiana Angulo, Gifty Boafo, Gisell Flores, Daniela Cule Leal, Cae Badilla Maniebo, Hiral Thakkar (class valedictorian), Dzidzor Abra Tomu, Jenny Torres and Danikko-John Co Venzuelo. Their instructor, Karissa LaBrash, is in the back row centre, at the request of the class.
The classical stylings of the Prairie Sons will grace the Cugnet Centre stage on Wednesday, Nov. 27, for the next performance of the Weyburn Concert Series, starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Weyburn Comp’s RISE choir will be performing from 6:45 to 7:15 p.m., prior to the “Prairie Sons” concert.
Patrons are asked to come early to enjoy the show and consider making a donation to help cover travel costs for the school’s Spring Music Trip.
Special Olympics will be on hand with water and baking at intermission. Donations will be gratefully accepted.
As the Prairie Sons, cellist David Liam Roberts and pianist Godwin Friesen embody the expansive, nuanced perspective of their home landscape in their concert program. The two award-winning musicians met at the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School of Music, and recognized a kindred spirit in each other.
Both hail from the Prairies, began performing alongside other members of their families, and have been named to CBC’s list of Hot 30 Classical Musicians Under 30.
The energy and innovation of the Prairie Sons
invites you to take a fresh look at a familiar landscape, and to witness the miracle in the everyday.
Both Roberts and Friesen first experienced the thrill of performance as part of a musical family. Friesen grew up in Edmonton and Saskatoon, while Roberts grew up in Winnipeg. As the Prairie Sons, the two are dedicated to innovative programming and unforgettably engaging performances.
Described as a “deeply thoughtful and soft-spoken artist” by the Winnipeg Free Press, Roberts is an awardwinning cellist, an athlete, and a passionate music educator with a bent toward philosophy.
Originally from Winnipeg, he began his musical career at age five busking with his older siblings. Great-grandson to an amateur Métis fiddle player on his father’s side and descended from a long line of German Lutheran church organists on his mother’s, he is increasingly interested in exploring his family’s roots and Métis heritage.
With a sensitive, soulful performance style, David Liam has garnered considerable recognition in the Canadian music world. Along with being named to CBC Radio’s list of top
young musicians, he was awarded First Prize at the 2022 biennial WMC McLellan Competition, won the prestigious Canada Council for the Arts’ Michael Measures First Prize, and was the 2021-22 recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s Developing Artist Grant for Canadian instrumentalists.
For many years, Roberts led the Back to Bach Project, a global non-profit organization which instills a love of music in children around the world. He continues to support this endeavour as a Back to Bach soloist.
Roberts is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma as a student of Hans Jørgen Jensen and Andrés Díaz at Toronto’s Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, where he holds the prestigious Temerty Fellowship. His studies have taken to him to Poland, Slovenia and Italy, and some of his most formative mentors have been Yuri Hooker, Bryan Epperson and Joseph Johnson.
An impassioned pianist who infuses his performances with emotion, Godwin seems to embody every note he plays, and his sentiment resonates in his listeners. In 2022, he took first place at the OSM Competition (and received the prize for best interpretation of the imposed Canadian work). He also placed first in piano at the National Music Fes-
tival (2015), won the Glenn Gould School Concert Competition (2019), and took second place at the Piano Arts North American Competition in Milwaukee (2022).
Godwin frequently returns to play with the very first ensemble to which he belonged – he grew up touring music with his parents and five siblings in the Friesen Family Band. The musical development he experienced during several Canadian tours and three album recordings was profound, and he began formal piano studies around age seven.
In an age of artificial intelligence, Godwin speaks of what makes live music enthralling – embodying the emotion of the music, communicating with and without words, and the dedicated years of effort it takes to entice a range of sounds from an instrument. He has made a promising start as a composer, and toured a narrated concert called “Songs of the Settlers” which told the history of Milwaukee through music in an artist residency with PianoArts.
Godwin holds a bachelor’s degree and an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School, where he studied with John O’Conor from 2016 to 2022. He is now pursuing a master’s degree at the Université de Montréal as a student of Jean Saulnier and Henry Kramer.
has tested you in ways you hadn’t expected. You’ve undergone the complexities of taking on adult studies, while some of you were raising a family or working while studying, and for others this is a new country for you. You’ve all persevered, you’ve learned and adapted and emerged stronger for it,” she said.
She thanked the families and friends of the students as they have provided support for them during their time of study.
“I’ve had the privilege of watching your growth along with your instructors as you now enter a profession that not every one is capable of,” said Holzmiller. “It’s not just earning a certificate … it’s about building your capacity for critical thinking, innovation and collaboration, combined with skill and drive as you bring what the continuing care profession needs.”
She added that whether they stay here to work or move on elsewhere, “you’ll be part of the global community that is shaping our future. No matter where life leads you, remember the lessons you learned here, to question, to know and to strive for excellence in everything that you do. There’s so much promise in each one of you.”
Holzmiller noted that the world is full of opportunities, but also full of challenges, and she asked each student to be “leaders who lead with integrity, with passion and always with kindness.”
Judy Okanee of the college’s board of governors spoke also, noting that graduation “is a significant milestone and a significant achievement for you all. Your dedication and
perseverance and sacrifice is what brought you to this momentous occasion.”
She added they should be proud of the education and the confidence that will serve them well in their lives to come, whether they seek more education or enter the work force.
The class valedictorian was student Hiral Thakkar, who noted that everything was new to her as she came here from India to take these classes, including the language and culture.
She said she has enjoyed the last eight months of class, and attributed her instructor, Karissa LaBrash, for the help she gave her whenever she asked.
“I would like to be your student again if I get the chance,” she said, and later insisted that Labrash join them for the Weyburn class photo.
After the certificates were presented, Holzmiller concluded the ceremonies by encouraging the students to go out and make their mark.
“As you step into the next chapter of your lives, remember the knowledge and skills you acquired here are only the beginning. The future is yours to shape – take pride in how far you’ve come,” she said.
The students who graduated from Assiniboia included Dorcas Assuah, Abena Asuama Siaw, Prince Junior Ayiley, William Duah, Shubreet Kaur, Muskan Sharma and Yogesh Sharma.
The Weyburn class included Felix Agong, Tatiana Angulo, Gifty Boafo, Gisell Flores, Daniela Leal, Cae Badilla Maniebo, Hiral Thakkar, Dzidzor Abra Tomu, Jenny Torres and Danikko-John Co Venzuelo.
