Marketplace 2022-11-11

Ring action

Yorkton’s Jason Boyda gets into a ring argument with CWE star Danny Duggan, part of the action in Yorkton Friday. The CWE plans a return engagement in January. See related story and photos inside on Page 5.

Staff Photos by Calvin Daniels

Champion talks Lines of Action

When it comes to games with super simple rules, easy to assemble pieces, yet offering play ers a definite challenge, it is pretty hard to beat Lines of Action.

The game was creat ed in 1969 by Canadian Claude Soucie, and it plays on a regular 8X8 checkerboard, with each player having 12 pieces.

The pieces are split with six set on one side of the board, and six on the other, the opponent’s the same. The goal is to move your pieces until they are all connected, typically somewhere in the middle of the board.

Movement is reliant on how many pieces are in the line on which you are moving, so it can be a challenge to get where you want to go.

Capture is possible, but rarely overly wise as it reduces how many pieces the opponent needs to bring together.

So how does a top player view the game?

Koichi Nicholas is from Reading in the UK, a town about 40 miles west of London, and is the 2022 winner of a major Lines of Action event in that country.

Not surprisingly he is an avid gamer.

“I’ve played games for as long as I can remem ber although usually I have been focused on only one or two games at any point in time,” he said via email. “This began with chess which I played competitively from the age of about 10. At around 16 I learned how to play Lines of

Action (LoA) and instant ly took a liking to it, play ing wherever I could, although there were fewer opportunities as it is much less known than chess.

“Then at university I learned how to play poker and subsequently spent many hours play ing in both online and live events. Work com mitments meant I have had less time to spend in recent years but I have managed to learn some new games recently which has been good fun.

“My favourite game tends to change and is usually whichever one I am focused on at the time. From the months leading up to the World Championship up until the present, I’d say it’s probably LoA.”

For Nicholas the recent win was a return to the top after years of absence.

“I had won the LoA world championship a few times previously in my youth, but other com mitments meant that I hadn’t played for many years,” he related.

“At some point during the pandemic, I thought it might be interesting to play in the event again to see what changes had occurred in general game play and also to see if I could still hold my own against the top players.

“I was fortunate that in the months before hand, I encountered the reigning world champion online and we played a series of games in which he thoroughly outplayed me. I learnt a lot from

THE MEEPLE GUILD (YORKTON)

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these matches, increas ing my preparations as a result, and much to my surprise I managed to end up winning the title!

“One takeaway from the event was how strong the entire field had become and there were no easy games. I intend to play again next year and look forward to the chal lenge, although I expect I will have a target on my back next time.”

So what is it about LoA Nicholas likes?

“LoA is such a sim ple game with only four rules and therefore very easy to learn,” he said. “Games typically last around 20 moves or thereabouts and so are relatively quick.

“However despite this, the game play can be very complex and I think that the top players have only really scratched the surface in terms of trying to master the game.

“Therefore no matter how many times I play, it retains a constant fresh ness and there is always room for finding ways to improve one’s game.”

Nicholas likes the game play most.

“For me, the best ele ment of Lines of Action is how dynamically the games play out,” he

offered. “Because the way that an individ ual piece can move is dependent on the other pieces on the board, the nature of the position is constantly changing with every move. This gives a lot of scope for creative play and I find there is rarely an obvious best move in any given pos ition.

“In addition, the key strategies are quite easy to understand and so once a player has learn ed these they will be able to have good games against any opponent, no matter how experienced they may be.”

Interestingly, while topping the champion ship he said he isn’t sure what made him so suc cessful.

“Honestly, I wish I knew the answer to this question as I would then apply it to other games that I play,” said Nicholas. “I recall pick ing up the game very quickly and I think part of that was down to being able to recognize what the most important fac tors in the game were.

“I used to keep my decision-making as sim ple as I could and base my moves around just four factors - I found that

this used to be enough to be successful in the game but more recently, it’s been necessary to look at things a bit more deeply.”

It helps of course if you have played other games.

“As a game, LoA shares much in com mon with other abstract games and I think those who have played games like chess, checkers, Othello etc. will have no problems picking it up,” said Nicholas.

“Obviously I have a personal fondness for the game, but when I have shown others how to play I have been surprised at how much people gener ally seem to enjoy play ing it, even those with out any background in abstract games.

“From a competitive perspective, LoA has one major advantage over other abstract games in that I believe it’s pos sible for anyone to reach a high level relatively quickly as long as they are willing a spend a bit of time.

“The major drawback

is that there are far less resources available and it is much harder to find opponents online to play against.”

That said because the game is less played the ‘book’ of best moves is less defined too.

“One aspect of more established abstract games that I know regu lar players can become frustrated with is the amount of opening theory that needs to be memor ized in order to be able to compete effectively at their chosen game,” offered Nicholas.

“In chess for example, the variant known as Chess 960 which random izes the starting position continues to grow in popularity and the Chess 960 World Championship held last week attracted more coverage than any 960 tournament to-date.

“There is next to no opening theory in LoA -- as far as I’m aware -and so no memorization needed. You can get your opponents thinking, even from move one.”

Strenthening Sask’s lithium industry

The Government of Saskatchewan is expanding both the Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive (OGPII) and the Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive (SPII) programs to allow

eligible lithium projects to be included.

“Lithium demand is forecast to increase sig nificantly over the next decade and our govern ment is making the most of our opportunity to be a leader in the industry,”

Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter said. “These already attractive incentive programs being expanded to include this critical mineral advances Saskatchewan’s position as one of the best juris dictions in the world for resource development.”

Saskatchewan’s Growth Plan supports the transformation of the province’s econ omy through innova tion, technology and growth development of Saskatchewan’s tech nology sector, includ ing the development of the lithium sector and lithium extraction technologies. Lithium is considered an emer ging commodity which will aid in diversifying Saskatchewan’s min ing and energy sectors. Primarily used in port able electronic devices and electric vehicles, Lithium has been gain ing global attention. The Saskatchewan Geological Survey with the Ministry of Energy and Resources has confirmed the pres ence of lithium in some Saskatchewan aquifers from their brine sam pling program, which began in 2011.

Prairie Lithium and

Grounded Lithium are currently drill ing for lithium here in Saskatchewan. Prairie Lithium has been using proprietary technology to extract lithium from subsurface brine water since 2020 and drilled their own well dedicat ed to lithium extraction in fall 2021. In summer 2022, Grounded Lithium also commenced drilling its first lithium focused well. In addition to these two companies, there are several other companies that have acquired sub surface mineral tenure to explore for lithium in Saskatchewan but are not yet drilling. With the expansion of the OGPII and SPII programs to include lithium, the prov ince can look forward to growth and innovation in the sector.

“We are thrilled to

hear that the Government of Saskatchewan is including eligible lith ium projects into these important incentive pro grams,” Prairie Lithium CEO Zach Maurer said. “We want to see the lithium resources in Saskatchewan further explored and put into production, these incen tives help all parties in the industry.”

“We welcome this news from the Government of Saskatchewan to support this potentially signifi cant industry in the prov ince,” President and CEO of Grounded Lithium Gregg Smith said. “The geology of Saskatchewan chose us as the right place to pursue our lithiumfrom-brine project, and Saskatchewan stands out as a favourable jurisdic tion for lithium resource

development. We fore see significant growth over the next five years with drilling and facil ity development accom panied by the associated benefits of impactful job growth and royalty rev enues.”

OGPII was created to support Saskatchewan’s competitiveness in oil and gas development by enabling an increase in value-added processing and infrastructure cap acity, while SPII supports the commercialization of significant innovations in the petroleum and natural gas sector in the province. The expan sion of these programs to include eligible lithium projects is expected to accelerate the develop ment of the sector.

Saskatchewan has occurrences of 23 of 31 commodities on Canada’s critical mineral list, which includes lithium. Critical minerals are considered essential for the sustainable eco nomic success of Canada.

Saskatchewan is a global leader in potash and uranium production and Canada’s largest produ cer of helium.

We welcome this news from the Government of Saskatch ewan to support this poten tially significant industry in the province

— President and CEO of Grounded Lithium, Gregg Smith

USask survey shows food bank use highest in Saskatchewan and Alberta

By Bailey Sutherland, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (Prince Albert Daily Herald)

A University of Saskatchewan poll found that food bank use in the Prairies is the highest in the nation as grocery prices continue to sky rocket across the country.

The finding is among several from a national comprehensive survey on food security con ducted from Sept. 6 to Oct. 17 by the University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research (CHASR).

“The Prairies were quite a lot higher, at 10.3 per cent, versus the next

lowest, British Columbia, at five per cent,” said Dr. Jessica McCutcheon (PhD), survey research manager at CHASR.

Faced with soaring grocery bills that have grown at their fastest rate since August of 1981, more Prairie residents are turning to food banks and community fridges to feed themselves than cit izens of any other region in Canada.

“I looked into what might be causing this, and there wasn’t a clear answer. What was clear is that it’s not just a finding in this survey but it’s also in other surveys pretty consistently, that Alberta and Saskatchewan have among the high est food bank use rates,” McCutcheon said.

Prairie residents (27.8 per cent) are also more likely than Ontarians (17.5 per cent) or Quebecers (15.7) to say they have reduced meal sizes or skipped meals entirely to save money. And Prairie residents (52.2 per cent) are more apt to have grown or hunted their own food than Quebecers (37.1 per cent) and Ontarians (41.1 per cent), something McCutcheon said could be attributed to the relatively larger rural component of the Prairie population.

Low income is the driv ing cause for food insecur ity, said McCutcheon, and these numbers likely far underestimate the true extent of the problem because low-income per sons are the most difficult

SGI launching new impaired driving awareness campaign

SASKTODAY.ca

REGINA — SGI’s newest impaired driving awareness campaign focuses on a practical thing anyone can do to ensure they and the people they love get home safe.

“We hope this new campaign reson ates with people,” said SGI President Penny McCune. “It makes the point that every good choice you make matters. If you are impaired – even if you didn’t make a plan beforehand – please find a safe ride. You can call a family member or a friend. Anyone who cares about you would much rather be woken by you calling them for a lift than finding out you were hurt – or worse – in an impaired driving collision.”

The 60-second video will be seen across Saskatchewan starting this Sunday on TV, online, and in movie theatres but you can find it starting Friday on SGI’s social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. In addition to the video, the new campaign includes billboard, radio and

newspaper advertising. It’s the latest installment in SGI’s “Stick With Safety” series, following the recent “Take Care Out There” and “Just Drive” campaigns (all of which can be found at www.sgi. sk.ca/stickwithsafety).

The campaign’s debut coincides with the November Traffic Safety Spotlight on impaired driving.

While it’s best to make a plan for a safe ride beforehand, sometimes that doesn’t always happen.

So if you find yourself impaired, you have plenty of options:

· Phone a friend or family member.

· Take a taxi, rideshare or designated driving service.

· Sleep over where you are.

And if you’re the one who gets a late, late night call from a friend or family member who needs a sober ride home, give them one, SGI urges. Be glad that they care enough about themselves, the people who love them, and the other people on the road to make the right choice, a press release states.

to get to complete surveys.

Locally, Executive Director for the Prince Albert Food Bank, Kim Scruby, said they have seen an increase of around 15 per cent in recent months compared to pre-COVID. That works out to be around 1,100 hampers per month for approximately 3,000 people, with half of those being children.

“The first spike occurred in June or July when gas prices started to go up a lot,” said Scruby. “Food inflation has been the other major contribu tor.”

The Prince Albert Food Bank is always tak ing donations for non-per ishable goods, food dona tions can be dropped off at 64 11th Street East to help individuals in need.

CHASR’s Taking the Pulse of Canada survey had 1,001 respondents across Canada who were contacted via landlines

and cellphones. Nearly 78 per cent of respond ents said they had used coupons or bought food items on sale, 58.6 per cent said they had decreased household food waste, and 54.5 per cent said they had planned meals to ensure they had enough money and food. As well, 30.7 per cent said they had eaten less healthy food because it’s cheaper.

Notably, nearly five per cent of respondents nationally said they had stolen food out of neces sity, while seven per cent of Prairie residents said they had done so.

“Again, that’s prob ably an underestimate because we are talking about a social desirabil ity bias in the response,” said McCutcheon. “Some people might not admit it, but people having to go to such extremes paints a stark picture.”

As for strategies to

help Canadians cope with food insecurity and raise funds to offset costs, 90 per cent support increas ing funding to publicly accessible community gardens, 88.5 per cent sup port increasing funding to food banks, 88 per cent support implementing a universal healthy school food program, and 87 per cent providing grocery subsidies to low-income households.

While nationally 56.6 per cent support imple menting a tax on sugar and artificially sweet ened beverages, the strongest support for the measures is in Quebec with 77 per cent and low est in the Prairies, where opinion is evenly split.

Similarly, when it comes to penalizing carbon emissions, 73.5 per cent of Quebecers are in support while the support drops to just 30.6 per cent on the Prairies and 39 per cent in British Columbia.

New-look Terriers led by Zawatsky’s five goals

The Yorkton Junior Terriers are celebrating 50 years in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League this season.

To mark the milestone Yorkton This Week is dig ging into its archives and pulling out a random Terrier-related article from the past five decades of reporting on the team, and will be running one each week, just as it originally appeared.

This feature will appear weekly over the entire sea

50 YEARS

Looking back at the Yorkton Terriers

son in the pages of The Marketplace. Week #8 comes from January 1987.

By Dave Quick

It was one of those down-to-the-wire games.

The Yorkton Terriers needed an empty net goal Sunday from Perry Fafard to secure a 10-8 win over the Estevan Bruins. Fafard and cap tain Mark Marianchuk

If you are a softball fan your eyes will soon be focused on what is hap pening ‘down under.’

Australia is set to host the 2022 MSWC XVII Men’s Softball World Cup.

Pierce ready for softball down under CALVIN DANIELS Sports

The champion ship event will see 12 teams compete in a 50-game tournament Nov. 26 through to Dec. 4 at Rosedale Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

Headed into the event Canada has to be among the favourites for a medal, and the team is in group play with Australia, Denmark, Japan, South Africa and Venezuela.

One of the Canadian players hoping things go well is Saskatoon’s Zach Pierce.

Pierce said he is more than ready to get on the airplane and head to New Zealand, even when contacted a couple of weeks ago.

“The last couple of weeks I just want to put the foot down on the gas pedal,” he said.

The team will finally get on that plane Nov. 16, arriving in New Zealand for a couple of pre-tournament games to acclimatize for the big event.

Once the champion ships start Team Canada will first hit the field against Venezuela on the 26th.

“We saw them a couple of time in Argentina (Pan Am Championship),” said Pierce, adding as the championship level you need to be ready for every game.

“When teams are representing their coun try they play their best.”

Still, Team Canada goes into the event among the teams expected to at least be in the medal mix, which is an expectation which comes with some added pressures.

“We are favoured a bit more than other teams,” said Pierce, adding that gives the teams some inner confidence, but they can’t just expect to win either.

“We need to be confi dent, but respectful too of who they are.”

So while Venezuela

TERRIERS

Continued from Page 3 broke away from the pack and skated in alone on the empty net.

Marianchuk then unselfishly passed the puck over to Fafard, who easily scored with 35 seconds left in the game, played before about 825 spectators at the Parkland Agriplex. The Terriers’ league record is now 19-18.

Yorkton’s captain says he gave up the goal, “because he (Fafard) did most of the work getting the puck out of our end, I caught up with the puck and figured he deserved the goal.”

The goal, more or less, sealed the fate of the Bruins, who made a spirited comeback, despite being down 8-3 after two periods.

Yorkton’s win was the first credited to Barry Marianchuk, who took over as coach Sunday after coach and general manager Norm Johnston was fired earlier in the day.

“It was quite scary, because they (Estevan) didn’t quit,” says the coach. “We made some glaring defensive mistakes in the third per iod and they capitalized.”

On the other hand, he is pleased with Yorkton’s scoring output – “anytime you score 10 goals you should win.”

The Terriers were helped out consider ably in this regard by centre Eddie Zawatsky, who scored five goals and added two assists. Zawatsky remembers scoring six goals as a midget against Notre Dame a few years ago.

The goals were “going in fairly eas ily Sunday and bouncing off me (into the net),” he jokes. At this point in the sea son, Zawatsky has an unofficial total of 44 goals and 43 assists for 87 points and is behind only Humboldt’s Bill McDougall in the league’s scoring race.

However, McDougall, who has more than

might not be expected to upset Team Canada, there are a number of teams which are very much in the hunt for medals.

“Argentina for sure,” offered Pierce.

The Argentines are the defending champions from the last champion ships in 2019, the year Japan finished with sil ver medals and Canada taking the bronze.

Pierce said Argentina puts a very balanced team on the diamond, with good pitching and good hitting, making them formidable.

With Japan com ing close in 2019, they dropped the final 3-2 to Argentina, they are in the mix too.

And, with the cham pionship in New Zealand the hosts are going to be tough, suggested Pierce.

That is a pretty safe prediction considering New Zealand has won

six of the last eight men’s world championships held.

The home crowd will be an added boost for the Kiwis, said Pierce.

“It’ll be a loud environment,” he said, adding he went to New Zealand when he was 23 for about five months of ball there.

“The day I left here it was minus-42. It was plus-32 when I got there,” he said adding that was pretty good incentive to go, but he also got to

100 points, “is soaring pretty well and it will be hard to catch him.”

Before the third period got underway, it appeared Estevan’s fate was sealed, “but it got tense towards the end. Some fans prob ably thought we should have won easily, but we were kind of tired going into the third and lots happened over the weekend.”

As well, Estevan started playing much better in the third.

Earlier in the week, Melville downed Yorkton 6-4.

Aside from Zawatsky’s five goals, Fafard added two, with singles scored by Brent Mireau, Ian Tuberfield, and Darren Gates. Marianchuk added three assists, while Grant Ottenbreit and Curtis Fayant each had two assists.

Scott Burfoot scored a hat-trick for the Bruins, with single goals added by Ed McMillen, Scott Clendenning, Ken Shaw, Chris Lindberg and Dean Ehrmantraut.

The Terriers got off to a fast start on two goals by Zawatsky and one by Mireau on the way to taking a 3-1 lead. A power play goal by Burfoot narrowed the gap to 3-2 midway through the opening period, but Tuberfield tapped the puck by Estevan goalie Eric Strachan on a four-on-four situation with four minutes left.

Forty-five seconds into the middle per iod, Zawatsky stole the puck at the Bruins’ blue line and scored his third goal. A few seconds later Estevan’s Trevor Thomas was awarded a penalty shot after Pat Chotowetz put his glove on the puck in Yorkton’s crease.

But Thomas shot the puck over both the shoulder of the goalie Evan Westerlund and the crossbar. Soon after, McMillen scored on a power play goal to lower the gap to 5-3.

Yorkton scored three goals to round out

experience how support ive of softball fans are in New Zealand.

“I learned a lot there too. There’s a lot of good hitters down there,” he said, adding as a pitcher you need to face good hit ters to refine your craft.

“It was a learning curve, but also a fun one.”

In terms of learning, being with Team Canada at the Pan Am event was big too, said Pierce, who noted as a pitcher it was chance to get some

the period – Tuberfield made a pass from behind the net to set up Gates, Zawatsky jumped on a loose puck by the Estevan net after a lot of work by Marianchuk and Ottenbreit, and, from the left faceoff circle, Fafard put a partially screened shot past Strachan.

But most of the third period belonged to Estevan. Burfoot scored on a breakaway early in the period, while soon after, a sharpangle shot from Clendenning counted after the Terriers were sloppy in their own end. At the mid-point of the period, Shaw stole the puck inside the Terrier line to narrow the gap to 8-6.

With nine minutes left, Zawatsky scored what could be termed a “lucky” goal. Ottenbreit fed a pass to the Terriers’ centre that seemed to go a bit too far. But Zawatsky just managed to tip the puck and it rolled between the pads of Strachan.

But Estevan wasn’t dead yet. With three minutes left, Yorkton’s Lee Odelein blocked the first shot of Ehrmantraut, but the shoot er grabbed his own rebound and skated around Westerlund for the eighth goal.

Soon after, Strachan was pulled from the net and Estevan, in particular Lindberg, put a lot of pressure on Westerlund. But Fafard’s goal put the game out of reach.

Estevan outshot the Terriers 18-9 in the final period and overall outshot their hosts 41-33.

An edition of Sunday night at the fights ensued in the third period, as the matchups of Tuberfield and Colin McKersie, Yorkton’s Troy McDonnell and Estevan’s Geoff Simpson, plus Terriers’ Mark Woolgar and Bruins’ Wade Shutter flailed away at each other in three separate battles.

innings and learn what strike zone umpires call in international events.

Pierce hopes that experience will have earned him a bigger role in New Zealand. He said the team has a good staff of arms, but he feels ready to be in that mix when called on whether to start or in relief.

In the end Pierce said Team Canada should be in the mix though, fired by pride in the jersey and what that means.

“It’s one of those thing, when you have the Canadian flag on your chest, you’re not just playing for yourself, but for your team, for your whole country,” he said. “. . . This one you’re representing your coun try it means a little bit more.”

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Canada.

Photo courtesy of Softball Canada.

Local football coach faces CWE legend

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer

It was another night of heels and heroes, suplexes and full nelsons as Canadian Wrestling’s Elite (CWE) returned for a night of action at the Yorkdale Central School gym in Yorkton.

The action was highlighted by a feature bout appearance of WWE alumni ‘British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Smith went to the ring wearing the championship belt versus Danny Duggan, a true villain on this night arriving waving an American flag.

Duggan had come to the ring earlier and taking the microphone belittled the local high school football team for its lopsided loss in Weyburn. Then he turned his vitriol on coach Jason Boyda.

Boyda would make his way to the ring to implore Duggan to become the good guy he once was, and offered to ‘hug it out’, but the gesture only led to Duggan pushing Boyda to the canvas. It was at this point Smith appeared to save Boyda from further harm, and the tension for the main event was set.

While chants of ‘Canada’ erupted from the fans in support of Smith in the final, it would be Duggan who prevailed to take the CWE Central Canadian Championship belt.

Other matches on the night saw Bull Bodnar, for merly of Yorkton top ‘The Canadian Rottweiler’ Kash. And, the 400-plus pound Big Chief bested CWE EZ Ryder.

The big horses were put to work over two nights at the Dave’s Diesel Heavy Horse Pulls at the Grain Millers Harvest Showdown. The big horses getting into the traces and pulling thousands of pounds is a long time highlight of the Showdown in Yorkton, and this year nine teams – all of them Belgian horses – did not disappoint.

Big pulls

Staff Photos by Calvin Daniels

Kascia,

Maci, St. Paul’s School, Grade 4.

Khalyssa, St. Paul’s School, Grade 4.

St. Paul’s School, Grade 4.

Canada Post Foundation funds Norquay Library project

Courtesy of Canora Courier

An oversized cheque of $550 from the Canada Post Community Foundation was pre sented to the Norquay branch of the Parkland Regional Library on Oct. 20.

The money is being used for the Library’s Youth Resources Project, said Karen Crawford, librarian, explaining that it will purchase a chil dren’s table and chairs, a bulletin board, a puzzle floor mat, floor cushions and a folding table.

Thanking the Library for “helping us to deliv er on our commitment to provide a brighter future for our children,” Candy Teron, Sturgis postmaster, said that post office staff “are fully committed to nurturing and caring for the Youth Reading Resources Expansion Project and are very proud to play a small role in helping you get them.”

The Canada Post Community Foundation is one of the best examples of Canada Post’s commitment to its purpose: A Stronger Canada- Delivered.

“The Foundation’s grassroots, communitybased approach allows us to make a real differ ence across the coun try,” Teron said. The Foundation has granted $12.3 million to more than 1,000 community projects nationwide since 2012.

“Last year, our retail employees brought in just over $900,000 for the Foundation,” she said. “This year, we hope to meet our objective once

again.

“Every penny that is raised in a province, stays in that province,” she said. “This grant is the result of some of that effort.”

Attending the recep tion in the Norquay Post Office with Teron and Crawford were: Coralie Radawetz of Yorkton, area acting super intendent for Canada Post; Valerie Koroluk, Norquay Postmaster; Orla Frampton, Norquay Post Office employee of many years, and Norquay Mayor Don Tower, who commended Crawford for her work at the library.

The goal of the expan sion project is to improve and increase the ways in which the Library, which was founded in 1978, can be used for patrons and the community, Crawford said, adding that current ly the library has an aver age of 100 patrons who use the facility monthly, most commonly is to bor row books and movies and to use the computer and the Wifi access.

“We have a monthly story time and crafts aimed at pre-school children,” she said. One way to increase the use fulness of the Library for children would be a small table and chairs. This would provide a comfortable place to sit and read, write, colour, do puzzles and crafts or STEM (science, technol ogy, engineering and mathematics) activities provided by the Library. With young children occupied with activities, it would allow parents and caregivers to enjoy bringing their children

along to the Library and keep kids entertained while parents explore the Library, Crawford said. A bulletin board placed near the table and chairs would pro vide a place to display children’s artwork and possibly inspire local artists.

Currently at monthly story time sessions, chil dren sit on the floor and do their crafts there, she said. A large mat as well as cushioned seat

ing would help with mak ing the craft time more comfortable. Stackable floor pillows where the children and Librarian could sit would create a cozy, sharing storytelling atmosphere.

A folding table would provide multiple func tions, she said. “Our Library participates in local street festivals and markets in which we need to provide our own table. A folding table within the Library

would provide a space for students to study or do homework. It would expand the usefulness of the Library in that local artists could present classes and meetings or clubs could utilize the table as well.”

There are 220 local children registered at the Norquay School, who could benefit from this project, she said. Preschool children, home schooled children, chil dren attending local day

homes and numerous other children belong ing to Hutterite and Mennonite colonies and surrounding Indigenous communities use the Norquay Library.

It is hoped the project helps increase the num ber of patrons using the library and will encour age a larger variety of age groups using it and will increase the number of meetings, classes and events to be held at the Norquay Library.

Newly-formed hockey team provides opportunity for Preeceville area girls

A new team, the U13 Parkland Prairie Ice female hockey team, has been formed to “support and foster girls hockey in rural Saskatchewan and specifically the parkland area,” accord ing to Jaime Johnson of Norquay, manager.

“Hockey is tightly woven into the fab ric of Canadian soci ety – especially in rural Saskatchewan.

“Over the years, par ticipation by girls in the sport has grown con siderably, but unfortu nately the opportunities for girls in the east cen tral area are limited. Girls can play on coed teams, but once they reach the Under 15 age division, most drop out because this is when body contact is allowed,” said Johnson.

The success of the U15 Prairie Ice female hockey team during the 2021/22 season, and the girls’ improbable run all the way to the provincial semifinal where they lost out in a close series to the eventual provincial champion, only height ened the interest in girls hockey across the region.

“Meridee Kopelchuk of Canora established the Prairie Ice brand last season while man aging the U15 team, and we’re building on that. We added Parkland to the team name because we’re part of the Major Hockey League. Our team does not have a home base as it con sists of players from a number of communities within the Major Hockey League.”

Team members include: Ryea Harper, Cassidy Wolkowski, Tessica Mydonick and

Chloe Doogan of Canora; Rowyn Johnson and Ty Northrop of Norquay; Morgan Olson, Avery Masley, Allie Babiuk and Rylee Coleman of Sturgis; Camryn Kosokowsky and Quinn Keshane of Kamsack; Avery Lammers, Harper Danchilla and Isabelle Smith of Yorkton, and Makayla Johnson of Preeceville.

Jaime Johnson is the manger and the head coach is Nicole Korpusik of Norquay, who played with the University of Regina Cougars dur ing her playing career. Johnson said Korpusik is also involved with other teams, and has two boys playing hockey, so they have brought in five assistant coaches to help with the team: Greg Olson of Sturgis, Jess Harper of Canora, Bowdrie Northrop of Norquay, and Brent Danchilla and

Greg Smith of Yorkton.

Johnson said the clos est girls hockey team is in Melville, but that would be a long distance to trav el, making it appealing to have their own team.

The players on the U13 Parkland Prairie Ice are members of coed Major Hockey League teams in their own com munities, but the MHL has been very supportive of girls hockey.

“The league has made a big push to promote girls hockey in east cen tral region,” she said. “They have designated four weekends during the season for the U13 girls division that they would be free from their regular teams for our team. Hopefully this will inspire younger girls to stick with girls hockey in the future.”

With the girls playing on their own local teams, getting them together all

at once can be a chal lenge. Johnson said the first practise is sched uled for Nov. 20.

“During the season we will be practising in Canora and anywhere else we can find avail able ice.”

The goal for the team this season is to “Get the girls together, create friendships and bonds, and play in a few tour naments and a couple of exhibition games. We want to introduce them to how wonderful girls hockey is while provid ing them with an oppor tunity to learn, grow and excel in a safe and equit able environment.”

The vision for this team goes beyond just the coming season.

“The intention is that this team will transition to a league team in the all-female league next year when most of them move into the U15 div

ision, and they’ll have the benefit of the experi ence from this year” explained Johnson.

Johnson said the team would not have been pos sible without the support of many local businesses who have provided sup port in the variety of areas required to start a new team.

The first tournament for the U13 Parkland Prairie Ice is sched uled for Melville on Dec. 10-11, followed by a tournament in Portage la Prairie, Man. on Jan. 13-15.

“Then hopefully we’ll have one more in Moosomin on March 25-26. We are hoping to get in one or two exhib ition games later in the season, but it is tricky co-ordinating sched ules because we have girls from five differ ent teams,” concluded Johnson.

Coralie Radawetz, left, of Yorkton, the area acting superintendent for Canada Post, presented a cheque of $550 from Canada Post’s Community Foundation to Karen Crawford, right, Norquay librarian, to fund the Library’s Youth Resources Project. Holding large versions of Canada Post stamps, the sale of which help raise funds for the Foundation, were: Valerie Koroluk, left, Norquay Postmaster, and Candy Teron, Sturgis Postmaster.

Courtesy of Preeceville Progress

The

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1130 Coming Events

Also

CardofThanks

Wewouldliketoexpressourheartfeltthankstoourmanyrelatives, friendsandneighboursfortheir kindnessshowninthedeathofour belovedMother,RoseHarrison. Forthebeautifulflowers,food, prayers,cardsanddonationstothe MargoCemeteryfund,wewillbe

ThankyoutoPastorRickGibsonfor thelovelyserviceandthesolosung sobeautifullybyAmandaBuhler. ThankyoualsotoCrystalandBailey'sfuneralHomefortheircaregiventoourfamily.

MayGodBlessYou, TheFamilyofRoseHarrison

the service, Jackie Guy - soloist, for her special songs, the Rhein Lion’s Club for the use of the hall and the many people who helped with set up of hall, lunch and clean up. Thank you to everyone who shared with us and our families, Kirk’s Celebration of Life on August 15, 2012. Your support was overwhelming. “You can shed tears that he is gone, or you can smile because he lived; Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.” — With healing hearts, tears in our eyes, Wendy, Brandi and Dana Neibrandt. The family of the late Pauline Spelay wish to extend their heartfelt thanks for cards of sympathy, mass cards, flowers, gifts of food, donations, visits, phone calls from relatives and friends following the loss of our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Thanks to the doctors and nursing staff at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre, Pasqua Hospital - Regina, St. Peter’s Hospital - Melville for their care. Also a special thank you to St. Paul Lutheran Care Home, Melville for your excellent care during this past year. We also wish to express our thanks to Larry and staff at Bailey’s Funeral Home for their professional services, Father Ray Lukie, Father Peter Pidskalny, Father Joakim Rac for officiating the services, the cantors, choir and the Knights of Columbus for leading the holy rosary, the grandchildren and great grandchildren for being pallbearers, crossbearer, epistle reader, and giving the eulogy, the luncheons as served by the St. Mary’s Cultural Centre after the prayers, and the Royal Canadian Legion after the funeral service. —

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LOOKING FOR a female companion between 55 and 65. I enjoy dancing, dining, cooking, and shopping. Please respond to Box E, c/o Yorkton This Week, Box 1300 - 20 Third Ave., Yorkton, SK, S3N 2X3

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at the R.M. of Orkney No. 244 this 21st day of September, 2012. Donna Westerhaug,

for preparing the lunch in Theodore after the funeral and a thank you to Garry Gawryliuk for the eulogy.

a special thanks to the staff at Bailey’s Funeral Home for their caring and professional matter for getting us through a difficult time. — Val & Family

family of the late Kirk Neibrandt wish to extend our heartfelt thanks for the numerous cards of sympathy, flowers, gifts of food, the generous donation Education Trust Fund, visits, phone calls and support from relatives and friends following the loss of my husband and our father. Thank

to the Doctors, Nursing Staff of ICU and 1st West, Home Care Treatment Nurses and Palliative Care of the Yorkton Regional Health Centre. The Doctors and Nurses of the Allan Blair Cancer Centre, Regina, Regina General Hospital and the Foothills Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, for their care of Kirk. A special thank you to Dr. van Heerden and staff and Louck’s Pharmacy also. We also wish to express our thanks to Vern and staff at Christie’s Funeral Home for their professional service, Pastor Dan Moeller for officiating

Historic trumpet to be presented to Kamsack Legion museum

Courtesy of Kamsack Times

The trumpet that was used to play The Last Post at every Remembrance Day held by the Kamsack branch of the Royal Canadian Legion for over five dec ades will be presented to the Legion museum dur ing the Remembrance Day banquet on Nov. 11.

The late Sgt. Paul Ratushny, who died in 2001, was the first trum peter of the 53rd Field

Regiment Band through out its existence, said his brother, Ed Ratushny of Ottawa, who remains a member of the Kamsack branch. “He was a proud and loyal member of our Kamsack Legion and his legacy continues with his dear wife Margaret, who continues to be a strong and active member to this day.”

Ed explained that speaking with his sisterin-law recently, he had learned that she was to move from her home

to a condominium and she had asked what she might do with her late husband’s trumpet that had been hanging on a wall in her home.

“Paul was a very tal ented musician who taught me to play and was my mentor in many ways,” Ed said. “I sug gested that Marg donate it to the Legion. She has endorsed my proposal.

“The trumpet is a small memento of our his tory,” he said, explaining that the instrument would be an interesting and significant addi tion to the museum that would integrate nicely with other memorabilia such as photographs on display.

Following the Second World War, the federal government put money into reserve regiments in which men would march, use rifles and attend summer camps, being basically a background army, and Kamsack had enough local musicians to include a regimental band, Ed said, remem bering that two brothers from Switzerland who played the French horn had joined the Kamsack group and were a big asset to the band.

“Paul taught me to play sax,” he said, add ing that many high school guys had joined the band which practiced every Tuesday night and mem bers got paid as a mil itary regiment.

“It takes special kinds of people to give of their time and energy for the betterment and vitality of an organization, and you, surely are one of those examples,” Burns said. “You are a credit to your branch and com munity.

“Again comrade, thank you for your excel lent leadership and we trust you enjoyed your position as Deputy Zone Commander and that it was a rewarding experi ence for you.”

“I love Kamsack,” said Ed Ratushny, who had studied law at the University of Saskatchewan, and then found his way into pol itics, where he was an executive secretary to his former law professor, Otto Lang, a minister in Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet. Later, after obtaining a master’s degree in England, he became a university law professor in Ottawa. He retired from the University of Ottawa in 2009.

Ed is an officer of the Order of Canada and was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan last year. He and his wife Lynn, who is also a lawyer, have three children and three grandchildren.

The late Paul Ratushny of Kamsack played the trumpet at Kamsack Legion cere monies includ ing those, like the annual Decoration Day, which are held at Riverview Cemetery.

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Ed explained that his father Dmetro was a bar ber and in his shop he had a side business sell ing high quality musical instruments, includ ing the trumpet that his brother played.

“Paul and I got some really good instruments from him,” he said, add ing that his father had “played wicked violin.”

“The band had from 20 to 25 members from the early 1950s to about 1960,” he said. “When I left Kamsack, the band was still going strong, and when I would return during the summer or on special occasions, I would join them.”

In April, 2001, Paul Ratushny received a letter from Brent G. Burns, the Provincial Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Command of the Royal Canadian Legion.

“On behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion, Saskatchewan Provincial Command Executive Council, we would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your service as Deputy Zone Commander District 4 Zone 3,” the letter states. “Your dedi cation to your duties was very much appreciated by Command and the Legion as a whole.

“I have always talked of Kamsack as a beauti ful place to grow up,” he said, mentioning the music, the sports, includ ing hockey, and baseball at Madge Lake. Although he visited Kamsack more often when his parents, Dmetro and Tillie, were still alive, he recalls hav ing had jam sessions with his brother on his visits and fondly remembers travelling from Winnipeg down the Yellowhead Highway to Madge Lake with his wife, and then touring the rest of the prairies.

“It was probably at a dance at Madge Lake,” Ed said when asked when the last time it was that he had played with his brother.

The brothers had also been members of the Bill Dewores dance band of Kamsack that played a variety of tunes, from country to polka.

“We had so much work with the Bill Dewores band,” he said. “All the high schools had gradua tion dances, and there were weddings, and dances by the Elks and Kiwanis clubs, and New Year’s Eve parties.”

Paul led the Bill Dewores Orchestra on his trumpet or he would also double on the alto sax, Ed said. Also on the band were: himself on alto sax; Bill Dewores on tenor sax or doubling on clarinet; Mike Dewores on stand-up bass and doubling on accordion; Tony Caruk on drums,

For more than 50 years, the late Paul Ratushny played The Last Post during Remembrance Day observances held by the Kamsack branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. He also played trumpet with the Bill Dewores band. With Ratushny, left, is Bill Dewores.

and Willard Kozoriz on piano.

“The band was really active and quite good. I paid my way through uni versity with the money I earned with the band,” he said, remembering the big crowds at Crystal Lake where the band was paid 65 per cent of the gate.

“I think our record was a Canada Day dance at Crystal Lake when I was in Grade 11 and I earned $140 that night.”

“We were an incred ible dance band that was the first call for every occasion.

“Whenever I had business in Saskatoon or Regina, I brought my horn and played.”

“Paul also gave trum pet lessons to students in school,” Margaret said.

Asked what music was played by the 53rd Regiment Band, Ed said that they played “all the familiar marches as well as concert tunes.

“We would play slight ly classical tunes and many common melodies with the Regiment band, while in the dance band we’d play a lot of big band music, like Glen Miller numbers.

“We did some beauti ful arrangements, achiev ing three-part harmony with the saxophone to sound like Glen Miller.”

“Paul was a real men tor and he supported me in sports as well,” he said, explaining that he, along with Allan Dosdall and Bill Verabioff, were in a line of three students on the men’s Kamsack Flyers hockey team which won the regional championship.

“We were also undefeated in our foot ball league.

“Paul inspired me to go after things when an opportunity arises,” he said, explaining how with Paul’s encourage ment, he as a 14-year-old had walked up and down main street in Kamsack, looking for work, and found it folding papers for the Kamsack Times and then working with John Pawlyshyn at Marshall Wells depart ment store, cleaning out the cluttered basement.

Music has continued in Ed’s life. He has a dance band in Ottawa with a couple other law yers called The Wave, which has played at uni versity alumni occasions.

Margaret said that both of their children, Scott of Calgary and Paula of Regina, played piano growing up and were in the school band, and both of Paula’s daughters have sung in school musicals.

Rough rides

The Mazergroup PBR was once again a highlight of the Grain Millers Harvest Showdown in Yorkton with two nights of action Friday and Saturday.

Staff Photos by Calvin Daniels

The Echo Sand Ranching land base consists of 12,598.85± title acres, 9,168± acres of which are cultivated. The home quarter on the property includes a grain handling and drying system, with a storage capacity for 90,000± bushels; a 1500± sq ft three-bedroom modular home; 1600± sq ft heated shop; 8400± sq ft equipment storage building; and a 1500± sq ft processing barn. The 71 parcels of farmland in this auction are being sold unreserved, with land split between the RM of Fertile Belt #183 and the RM of Grayson #184.