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Wednesday, March 17, 2021

The City unveiled its 2021 budget at the regular meeting of Council Monday.

No new taxes in municipal budget

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer Terming it the “first blush publicly” Ashley Stradeski – Director of Finance, with the City presented the 2021 operating and capital budgets in open Council Monday.

Stradeski began by noting budget preparations were begun by the individual departments in September and October of last year.

During these meetings, which were not open to the public or media, some options on

more time sensitive decisions related to service levels were presented and decided upon, as well as targets for budget and tax increases were set.

Council gave direction to present a budget with no change in taxation lev-

els from the prior year (2020), and we set out with this goal in mind, said Stradeski.

On Jan. 18, 2021, we brought forth a draft budget to the Committee of the Whole meeting that achieved a zero percent increase in taxation, with

some changes in resources and allocations, he added.

At that meeting, more need for change arose, with the changes brought to an in-camera session at the last Council meeting on Feb. 22, said Stradeski.

The document presented in open Council Monday showed a combined Operating and Capital Budget with no tax increases.

“The operating budget as presented does not require an increase

Continued on Page A2

COVID variant concerns at local schools

By Tanner Wallace-Scribner Staff Writer Multiple cases of COVID-19, including two variant of concern cases, have numerous classes around the Good Spirit School Division switching to remote learning.

Grade 9 to 12 at the Yorkton Regional High School, the day-

care and kindergarten class at the Dr. Brass School, all students in Grades 8C and 8DM, and Pre-kindergarten to Grade 6 at the Davidson School in Melville will all be moving to remote learning.

All classes are tentatively scheduled to resume face-toface learning next week on March 23, with the daycare at the Dr. Brass School scheduled for March 25.

Quinton Robertson, Director of Education and CEO of the Good Spirit School Division, said that both the Yorkton Regional High School and the Davidson School had a variant of concern.

“The Yorkton Regional High School had 17 classes impacted just because of the crossover of individuals due to the semester switch, and there was a large number of potential close

contact or contacts that would have come in contact with the variant, and we’ve notified that it is potentially more contagious or more transmittable, so we aired on the side of caution.

In regards to Davidson, (it was) another situation where a large number of individuals came into contact with the individual who was infectious with the variant.”

Robertson added that they

are being very cautious with the two incidents involving the variant as it is something they, nor the health authority in Yorkton, are familiar with.

The schools join a Grade 7 class in Esterhazy, which is set to return to face-to-face this week, Victoria School in Kamsack, and Grades 5 to 7 in Yorkdale, which will return to face-to-face learning next week.

Legion banner project returning

By Tanner Wallace-Scribner Staff Writer

up to Remembrance Day, with banners flying high along Broadway and Darlington Street around the cenotaph.

The Honour Our Veterans Banner Program is back for its second year, and the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 77 is looking to build on the program’s successful rookie year.

Tami Hall, the committee chair, said that the program gives people a chance to honour veterans for more than just one day.

Last year 100 veterans were honoured the month leading

“It makes awareness of the sacrifices that people did for us. It makes that a little bit bet-

ter known.”

Hall said that last year’s program went excellent, and she is hoping to continue that this year.

but when they go, and they willingly try to make the world a better place, I think we need to try and remember what they did.”

“It was just a celebration of loved ones. It was a way of our community showing honour, respect, and appreciation for the veterans,” she said.

“Nobody loves war, nobody wants to send people to war,

Hall noted that the program is for any veterans, past or current, from any war.

“We want to make sure that people know that any veteran is welcome. It should be open to all veterans from all walks

of life, all areas, as long as they have some connection to Yorkton whether the person living here is the sponsor or the veteran was living here at one point.”

The deadline for sponsors to get their applications in is set for mid-June, and people can get applications from the Legions website, at the Legion office, or by emailing yorktonlegionbanner@gmail.com.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

BUDGET Continued from Page A1 in taxation,” said Stradeski. “This is a budget that is very much status quo.”

While Stradeski noted COVID-19 impacted revenues, reducing or eliminating some streams at recreational facilities in particular, that was somewhat offset by grant dollars.

Fortunately for us, relief was available from the Federal and Provincial Governments in the form of the COVID Safe Restart program which provided us with $975,000 to use to offset lost revenue and increased costs related to COVID-19, he explained.

The budget as presented includes utilization of just under $350,000 of this funding to offset these decreased revenues and increased costs.

Stradeski said it was a goal to rely as little as possible on this funding, leaving the remaining

amount to cover any other unforeseen deficits from COVID-19. Leaving just shy of two-thirds of this money available at this time allows us some flexibility to apply it to any unusual losses we may occur or if revenue projections or cost increases from COVID-19 are worse than anticipated That said there was a need to tighten spending as some costs still rose.

“In order to achieve a zero percent increase in taxation, other changes had to be made as well. Inflation affects our spending as it does any individual or organization, and thus many of our costs increase annually.

This can include utilities, wage contracts, cost of supplies and all other inputs to perform the services the City provides,” detailed Stradeski’s report to Council.

“To offset these cost increases, reductions in spending had to be con-

sidered. Our goal was to find cost reductions that had the least impact to service levels to the general public. Some fulltime positions, as well as numerous part-time positions were temporarily furloughed with relation to services at our recreation facilities.

Further, other staffing changes were made in areas where efficiencies could be realized and in those divisions/functions that would have the least impact on the provision of services.”

While there is a zero increase, some taxpayers will pay more in 2021.

This budget will result in no overall increase in taxation for the City – while this means the City won’t be raising its rates to collect more tax, it does not mean that individual property owners won’t see changes to their taxes. It is a revaluation year for property assessments, and with this, it

Welcome to ‘Wordy Wednesday’ brought to you by our friends at Yorkton Public Library, (including Slow the friendly sloth), and appearing here courtesy of Yorkton This Week.

Happy St Patrick’s Day and Wordy Wednesday.

This week’s word is ‘colleen’ a noun - an Irish girl For example; Slow needs a colleen to share ‘two pints’ with.

And, remember you can find all kinds of great books filled with words to read at the YPL. Check it out at https://parklandlibrary.ca/ branch/159

is likely that there will be some fluctuation in the value of nearly every property within the City, explained Stradeski.

While we still collect the same amount of taxation dollars, the value of the properties determines how much each individual property will pay of that.

“As typically happens during a revaluation, there will likely be a third of properties that see some form of decrease in what they pay, a third that won’t see much change at all, and a third that see an increase – all dependent on values. How tax collection will be distributed, which we refer to as Tax Policy, will be discussed at a future meeting with Council,” detailed the report.

The Gallagher Centre levy will be replaced with a recreational facility levy, and funds will be placed in reserves for future capital recreation related projects. These may include such things as a new Deer Park clubhouse or renovation/replacement of the Kinsmen Arena.

The 2021 Capital Budget includes $4,390,000 of funding from tax revenue, the same as thein previous

years. It does not include an increase in capital spending and does not require an increase in existing taxation to fund.

The Capital Budget includes a project previously approved by Council as part of the two year Capital Budget approved last year. This includes completion of the Darlington St. / Mayhew Ave. project, including reconstruction of Darlington St. between Mayhew Avenue and Dracup Avenue, as well as the new pathway along Darlington Street.

There are also some new projects for 2021 which were not in the original two year capital budget. These are funded from reserves and do not require an increase in taxation to achieve. The new projects include: York Road reconstruction preliminary design; Deer Park Clubhouse Design; grandstand rebuilding; landfill improvements and upgrades to several water wells ($450,000 over two years, both of which are self-funded); and support for the Brick Flour Mill Project.

This Capital budget has paused the normal one per cent annual increase in taxes to fund replacement of aging City infrastructure, much of

which is over 100 years old. This may be reinstituted as economic conditions improve in future years.

“This budget, as presented, represents a zero percent increase in taxation for the City while maintaining a balanced budget, which is required of us as a municipality,” said Mayor Mitch Hippsley in a release sent to media after the meeting. “I’m very pleased that we were able to maintain 2021 taxes at last year’s level.

“Not knowing where the city and the province will be financially and economically over the next year, Council thought it only prudent not to increase taxes this year. This was a promise I and several of the current Council made during the election last fall, and working closely together with city administration, we have achieved that goal.”

The draft budget will be posted on the city website www.yorkton.ca to allow for public feedback, and residents may also contact the city via email at finance@yorkton.ca or telephone 306786-1721 prior to the next Council Meeting March 29, 2021.

‘Not rocket science:’ CTF pushes Sask. government for public documents website Evan Radford Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (The Leader-Post (Regina) More than a year after the provincial government pitched it, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is still waiting to see a public website that publishes municipalities’ basic financial information.

“Alberta and Ontario post municipal documents and hundreds of First Nations communities provide this transparency.

The Saskatchewan government already has financial statements from every municipality — it’s time to put them online so that everyone can hold their local leaders accountable,” CTF prairie director Todd MacKay said in a recent news release.

In December 2019, then-Government Relations minister Lori Carr told the Leader-Post she expected such a web portal to launch this year, saying it would centralize access to public accounts for all of the province’s 775 local governments.

Government relations spokesperson Shaylyn McMahon said this week the ministry “is considering options for an online system where municipal finances would be publicly available, including... on Saskatchewan.ca.”

MacKay acknowledged 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic likely left the province scrambling on some fronts with unprecedented workloads.

McMahon alluded to that in her response to the Leader-Post, saying project timelines needed adjustment “as the ministry’s focus was on supporting municipalities through the pandemic.”

But MacKay under-

Photo by Brandon Harder/ Regina Leader-Post

Canadian Taxpayers Federation prairie director Todd MacKay stands in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina, Saskatchewan on Mar. 10, 2021. scored it’s fairly simple to publicly post “basic PDF (portable document format) files” to the web.

“It’s not rocket science,” he said.

Alberta’s municipal affairs ministry has a searchable online database, which allows users to find a municipality’s audited financial statements and its tax rate bylaw for a given year.

The Municipal District of Pincher Creek, a region west of Lethbridge and north of Waterton Lakes National Park, has PDF files available for download from 2015 to 2020.

A taxpayer there could see, for example, the municipal district spent $319,987 on waste management in 2019, $22,113 less than what it had budgeted.

Ontario posts downloadable Excel spreadsheet files for each municipality through its Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Some documents go back to 2012.

In Saskatchewan, McMahon said the public can still get “a municipality’s financial statements directly from municipal administration offices.

This will continue to be an option for accessing municipal financial statements.”

Her ministry didn’t address questions about when or if said data would be available online this year.

A joint-newsroom investigation in 2019 from the LeaderPost and Saskatoon StarPhoenix found 429 of Saskatchewan’s 775 local governments (55 per cent) have websites to communicate with ratepayers. The rest did not.

When the newspapers checked back with some of those local governments in June, they found 14 had either launched a website or were in the process of building one.

The 2019 investigation also found there are no provincial regulations outlining how many local governments can charge a person to release public documents. Instead, they have to come up with their own policies, or in some cases, create fees on a per-case basis.

One municipality invoiced the newsrooms for $2,200 for a basic document request.

“This isn’t a tough issue,” MacKay said.

“We’re asking for a website with a bunch of PDFs …when the province has these documents, and the public has the right to see them, we can connect the dots.”

Up Front

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 www.yorktonthisweek.com

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Some of the colourful works of artist Judd Fagrie who grew up in Yorkton.

Submitted Photos

Fagrie pours into art exploration

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer They might remind of the boiling lava of an active volcano.

Or, maybe it’s the moment of the ‘big bang’ at the beginning of the cosmos.

Of course that’s the allure of acrylic poured art, it is up to the viewer to decide what the swirls of colour might be.

It is certainly a style artist Judd Fagrie, who grew up in Yorkton, his parents Terry and Olivia, are retired here, has come to appreciate.

“I started back in Feb 2019 with the desire to make a headboard out of resin, however, that involved a lot of tools, equipment and space that I did not have,” explained Fagrie 44. “I then discovered through resin Facebook pages that paintings and molds could be done. Resin is a great, but expensive medium to use. You can make a lot different art with resin but at the time the cost to make resin was more than I expected so moved to acrylic pouring. That being said, I do eventually want to get back to working with resin but need the PPE, some more tools and more money to resume.”

An explanation on what the technique is all about, can be found at acrylgiessen.com “Acrylic Pouring is a fascinating fluid painting technique,” it notes. “It is based on acrylic paint, which can be brought into a liquid, pourable consistency with the addition of a pouring medium and other additives as required.

Depending on the technique, this liquefied paint is then poured into each other or tilted onto the canvas and distributed by tilting the painting surface. Depending on the choice of paint, the medium, and the additives, different effects are created.”

So for now Fagrie, a Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces as a Logistics Officer, currently at 17 Wing Winnipeg at Royal Canadian Air Force Barker College as the College Logistics Officer, is working with acrylic pours.

“My focus has been on acrylic pouring, mostly doing, dirty pours, flip cups, open cup pours, swipes,” he told Yorkton This Week. “There are a ton of different techniques out there, some that require specific materials or mixing consistency to do the pour.

Currently, I am in the middle of renovations, but once done, I plan to explore a few new types of pours as I do have a garage and part of a basement to use. I

would like to explore more pour techniques to achieve different styles and effects like spin pours, string pull pours, paint swing pours and test out pour on larger canvases.

“I enjoy acrylic pouring, not being able to draw, I can use different colours, materials, mediums to create something unique on the canvas. I like that I can manipulate the art somewhat to achieve whatever desired effect I may or may not have in mind. I also like that the paint will do its own thing and when eventually settled it may form to resemble something, which I can then create a story for the painting. I have had paintings that look like outer space, a pig, shape of a figure, person or face, a mushroom, a dragon, just to name a few without swipes or “drawing” with the paint; most end up with unique cells, patterns and effects.”

Fagrie said he has always been interested in art, but it took some time to find a medium that he felt fit him.

“When I was young, about 7 or 8, I always had an interest in books, comic books, cartoons and paintings. I have just always had an interest in art but could not produce what I liked,” he said. “I never could draw, I tried, just don’t have that ability. I enjoyed album and movie art whether it was album artwork, drawn movie posters or the front covers of VHS tapes.

“I have an active, imaginative mind that could come up with anything, just can’t put that to paper, canvas, molds, etc. If I could draw I would do comic books or horror art. If I could draw, then I would also paint.

“As side note, a friend of mine and talented local artist, Liberty Enriquez, has on several occasions, taken a few of my paintings and then embellished them with drawings, giving them new life. She did one of Magic Johnson, which was shown at the Cre8ery Gallery in The 100Plus Exhibition, 2020. The pour I did and I did not like, but it apparently

had the Lakers colours so she drew him. She has also done a skull, planet and trees on some of my other canvases.”

So what attracted Fagrie to art at a young age over other possible activities such as sports?

“Well, I did all of those as well,” he said. “I still have some short stories I wrote back in elementary school tucked away and comic book characters I made up and created back stories for. I can’t draw so I traced them out

from comics then made up their appearance and uniforms.

“I played the tuba since grade school until end of High School. I played in the band, marching band and jazz band.

“I sang in the choir and jazz choir too. I have a bass and Theremin but never got very far with trying to play them, maybe one day.

“I played volleyball in junior high and football in High School. Now, I

Judd Fagrie

do weights, cardio and stretching to stay active.”

But, acrylic pouring has proven an outlet for Fagrie’s creativity.

“Being able to do acrylic pours and resin art, it has allowed me to explore creating art within my abilities since I can’t draw,” he said.

“I can still work with materials, mediums and colours to create a lot of different kinds of art and use a lot of different techniques.”

What Fagrie creates has come through experimentation rather than education.

“I wish I did have the inherent ability to draw and paint,” he related, adding some art education would have been a good thing. “I would like to understand more about colour theory and concepts about art. This would definitely help me correcting my errors and enable me to expand on what I can do with acrylic pours and resin art.

“Most of what I have learned has been off of YouTube and Facebook

groups. I have a membership at Cre8ery Gallery and Studio (Inc.).

“I came across Cre8ery while trying to find a place to have my art documented professionally to eventually be able to make prints from. Cre8ery had a variety of workshops on art and art theory but also how to build and learn a business, manage social media and other topics that help both the artistic and business side of things. Jordan Miller, Owner, has been a tremendous help and her gallery has been an excellent resource for someone like me just starting out, whether a hobby for me or career for another.

I did not imagine that I would have started creating art and then getting the opportunity to show that in a gallery. Just being able to show my work with others who can draw, paint and/or sculpt has been something I never thought would have happened.”

The experimentation into the medium is still under way to the point Fagrie is still defining his style.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I have a certain style yet,” he said. “The pouring techniques I mostly do at this time are flip cups, open cups, swipes and dirty pours. I feel that as I am still learning various techniques, colour combos/theory and other elements that I haven’t developed a style that would scream that is something by Judd.

Continued on page A9

Yorkton Media Introduces Lyle Walsh as Senior Vice President of Operations Yorkton, Saskatchewan, March 9, 2021 - Yorkton Media, a division of The Hill Companies, is pleased to announce Lyle Walsh as its new Senior Vice President of Operations.

Lyle is a long-time pillar of the Yorkton and area community and he will be trusted to carry on the storied tradition of the GX94 and FoxFM brands while also introducing new innovations that better serve the market and its listeners.

“Lyle brings decades of experience and expertise in the broadcasting and retail industries, and is a passionate, well respected community & business advocate for Yorkton and its neighbouring communities,” says Paul J. Hill, President and CEO of The Hill Companies. “Adding his leadership and savvy, paired with exciting new digital initiatives, we believe the future of Yorkton media is in very capable hands.”

GX94 and FoxFM broadcast under the Harvard Media umbrella of The Hill Companies, which successfully operates 13 radio stations across Western Canada. Both stations boast deep roots within the Yorkton area and take pride in being the pulse of the community hosting numerous fundraisers and charity drives throughout the year and being the broadcast partner of the Yorkton Terriers, Melville Millionaires and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“GX94 and FoxFm have always been very community-minded stations; always involved and ready to help the community and its local businesses wherever it can.” says Lyle Walsh. “I am honoured and thrilled to join this team and look forward to building upon these strong community traditions for years to come.”

ABOUT YORKTON MEDIA Yorkton Media has a storied history. CJGX Yorkton (GX94) came on the air in 1927 to serve the farming community. It was connected directly with the Winnipeg Grain Exchange and regularly reported all agricultural related information. Yorkton Media operates two historic brands - CJGTX Yorkton (GX94) and CFGW-FM Yorkton (FoxFM) - proudly serving over 300 communities.

FoxFM was established in 2001 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary within the Yorkton community throughout 2021.

Perspective Regina COVID-19 cases demonstrate provincewide problem

www.yorktonthisweek.com

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Owned and operated by: The Prairie Newspaper Group LP, a division of GVIC Communications Corp.

Publisher/ Advertising Manager: John Bauman Editor: Calvin Daniels Production Manager: Debbie Barr

MURRAY MANDRYK

Advertising Sales: Sandy Kerr Dougal Todd

Murray Mandryk is a political columnist with the Leader Post

Politics Many of you in rural Saskatchewan would be quick to agree that the problem is always Regina where the decisions on running the province are made.

Most days, you’d likely be correct.

But when it comes to COVID-19 in Saskatchewan right now, Regina is the problem.

During one three-day stretch last week, the province saw 130 of 329 new cases in the Queen City— 50 out of 98 in a single day. Regina also accounted for 30 per cent of active cases —420 out of 1,414.

And while Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab has suggested there is no one reason why cases have been rising in Regina compared with everywhere else in the province, the government also recently noted 35 cases of the new more infectious variant of COVID-19 have been spotted in Regina.

So if Regina is the problem, why would the latest COVID-19 restrictions apply equally to Regina that clearly has a bigger problem and is likely in need of further restrictions?

The problem may be that imposing restrictions on just one city may be an even bigger problem.

Premier Scott Moe’s recently announced a slight easing of his Dec. 19 public health restrictions by increasing household bubbles to 10 people from as many as three different households and by increasing the size of worship services to the lesser of 30 per cent of a church’s capacity or 150 people.

“We are putting our trust and our faith in the people in province,” Moe told reporters at a press conference. “They’re going to have some personal decisions to make in the next number of days and weeks, and we trust that they will make the appropriate ones.”

There are a more than a few problems with this approach.

Notwithstanding Saskatchewan’s general approach of co-operation and looking out for one’s neighbour, we live in a world of mass media and social media instantaneous communication.

The news from the United States and elsewhere coming from unreliable Internet sources or news channels of a particular leaning only reinforce whatever message people want to hear.

In other words, it’s really hard for governments to get people to follow their messages.

And in the pandemic situation we are in where it’s critical to get everyone to buy in, it’s that much harder.

The problem with the latest restrictions is that even more reasonable people might not view them as consistent, logical or enforceable.

If Shahab is telling us that household spread is the biggest problem in fighting COVID-19, does it truly make sense to expand our household bubbles?

Is anyone really going to pay attention to the latest recommendation that those 50 years and older keep their bubbles to their immediate households if they now have an opportunity to expand their bubble to the bubbles of their adult children or grandchildren?

And if the problem remains indoor spread, does it make sense to keep the 10-person restrictions on outdoor gathers yet allow as many as 150 people at an indoor church service? Despite added recommendations to keep the six-foot social distance and to wear masks, isn’t this just looking for trouble?

Finally, if we are being told we need to keep our distance until we are vaccinated, why not wait with these recent tempting restrictions until we are vaccinated?

Well, Moe’s government likely felt it had to do something — especially given that we are winning the COVID-19 fight elsewhere.

However, with Regina cases pumping up provincial numbers, there was only so much he could do.

Separate restrictions aimed specifically at Regina would be hard to enforce — especially with the rural areas so interconnected to the cities for commerce or social reasons. This would not be like blocking roads into La Loche or restricting visitations on Hutterite colonies.

We likely have reason to blame Regina, but the recent Regina outbreak reminds us we are all in this together.

Murray Mandryk has been covering provincial politics since 1983.

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Classified Sales: Deanna Brown

Phone:

◆Editorial◆

Budget offers what was expected N

early half a year after the process began, Yorkton Council brought its 2021 Capital and Operating Budgets before an open meeting Monday.

The dual budgets don’t contain a lot of surprises with a zero per cent increase the highlight, and not unexpected given that Mayor Mitch Hippsley had championed the idea of not increasing taxes in last fall’s municipal election, a position favoured by a number of Council candidates as well.

The vision was that holding the line on property taxes, at least the municipal portion, would help taxpayers deal with the impact of the now year-long COVID-19 pandemic.

The relief though, is rather limited.

In 2020 taxes rose 2.9 per cent, and at the time that document was unveiled, the City noted the total impact of the tax increase would be approximately a $5.00 increase per month per household or a total of $160 per month tax bill for the average Yorkton home.

So, this year with zero increase, the average homeowner can purchase a cup of coffee a week on the City, depending on where they purchase the beverage.

What was interesting was that within the budget, the Gallagher Centre levy will be replaced with a recreational facility levy, and funds will be placed in reserves for future capital recreation related projects.

The levy was instituted as a way to fund payments on the major expansion of the Gallagher Centre and was slated to come off the tax bills when those payments were done.

Eliminating it at this time might have been seen as another good way to offer some relief in the midst of a pandemic.

But, on this one, and frankly to its credit, Council tweaked where the money collected will go and left the levy in place.

There are certainly places to spend capital dollars when looking at recreational facilities including the current needs of a new Deer Park clubhouse,

and renovation/replacement of the Kinsmen Arena.

In this case, keeping the levy in place to create some reserve funds for some projects on the horizon trumped the need for COVID relief, although in so doing seems to sends something of a mixed message - continuing a levy for recreation is OK in a pandemic, increasing taxes to fix roads and sidewalks was not.

But that is what happened as in the process of holding the line on property taxes; this Council paused what had been a normal one per cent annual increase in taxes to fund replacement of ageing City infrastructure, much of which is over 100 years old.

“We recommend that further increases to capital budget be considered in future years, as the City has a large amount of aging infrastructure and our annual capital spending is nowhere near enough to have reasonable replacement cycles ... we refer to this spending gap as the 'infrastructure deficit'. For example, our road replacement cycle at current spend is close to 100 years, and much of our water and sewer network is well over 100 years as a replacement cycle at current capital spending amounts. Every year we have an infrastructure deficit, we fall farther behind and the burden to “catch up” is going to be that much more,” explained Director of Finance with the City Ashley Stradeski’s report to Council Monday.

Now it can be argued increasing one per cent or not does little to address a deficit that is as massive as the infrastructure one is, but at some point residents will have to pay to catch up, or face some significant repair bills to keep aged infrastructure functional.

In the end, the budget simply adjusted operations and capital to achieve the goal of no tax increases, and it did so without a major shake-up in services.

As Stradeski noted during Monday’s meeting, “this is a budget that is very much status quo.”

WEB POLL RESULTS LAST WEEK’S QUESTION

Are you concerned some hospital lab services may temporarily move to Regina?

YES - 82%

NO - 18%

QUICK VOTE Are you satisfied by a zero increase in taxes in the 2021 Yorkton budget?

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New deal for urban highways

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer The Urban Highway Connector Program is being altered by the provincial government, and that will change how some roads in the city are funded.

In 2011, the City of Yorkton entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (Ministry) and joined the Urban Highway Connector Program (UHCP), said Rene Richard – Director of Engineering & Asset Management with the City at the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.

This was first brought to Council in a report on March 22, 2011, and the original agreement was signed by the City

on March 29, 2011.

“The UHCP is the way the Ministry establishes responsibilities and provides funding for maintenance and capital projects on the highway connectors through the City,” said Richard.

“Now Municipalities are being asked to sign a new and updated agreement. There are program changes that the Ministry has included in the new agreement. The most notable changes are revisions to the Provincial Interest Levels and which municipalities will be eligible for funding under the UHCP,” he continued.

The amount of funding available for each specific road segment depends on which “Provincial Interest Level (PIL)” it has been assigned.

In the new agreement, Yorkton’s average funding per kilometre increases from 78 percent to 85 percent.

This is because a greater portion of the connectors in Yorkton has been moved to PIL 1 which the Ministry is 100 percent responsible for, said Richard.

This will affect (lower) our annual operation and maintenance grant due to the increase in the amount of Level 1, however in theory though, there will be a reduction in operational costs to match as the City will no longer be required to perform any maintenance on those segments.

In the past, the UHCP program has had limited funding available for capital projects.

“Basically, there hasn’t been enough

funding to go around. All cities and towns were in competition for these limited funds,” said Richard.

Under the new agreements, there are two changes with respect to the number of eligible municipalities.

Firstly, the Province’s two largest cities will have separate agreements/grants with the Ministry. Secondly, all highway segments through towns will now be considered PIL 1.

“That leaves just the 12 small to medium cities as being eligible for capital project funding,” said Richard.

Council was unanimous in authorizing executing the new Urban Highway Connector Agreement between the City of Yorkton, and the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.

New Community Safety Officer

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer Yorkton Council has approved the appointment of Lyle Heinemann to the position of Community Safety Officer (CSO).

Heinemann began with the City March 1, “To fill the vacancy after the previous CSO left the City at the end of 2020,” explained Nicole Baptist – Bylaw & Safety Supervisor, with the City at the regular meeting of Council Monday.

Heinemann joins the City of Yorkton

with previous experience as a CSO and therefore does not require any additional training that would have delayed him receiving his CSO appointment.

Heinemann joins Special Constable Galbraith as the City of Yorkton’s Community Safety Officers.

“Since the Bylaw Division is now at full staff capacity again, the City of Yorkton will not require the services of the temporary part-time Bylaw Enforcement Officer that assisted the Division in January and February,” added Baptist.

CUPE worried over move of lab services

By Tanner Wallace-Scribner Staff Writer A week ago, the Executive Director with the Health Foundation said that there is a possibility of lab work from the Yorkton Regional Hospital being sent to Regina.

The situation was confirmed in an email from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, which noted the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Laboratory Medicine Provincial Program in Yorkton has been experiencing staffing shortages for hard to recruit classifications for over a year.

While the SHA Laboratory Medicine team is actively recruiting across the hard to recruit classifications of MLT’s, CLXT’s and MLA’s the email noted they are exploring options to ensure staff and the delivery of service for both specimen collection and diagnostic testing is supported in Yorkton for the patients of this community and surrounding area. As a provincial program within SHA, Laboratory Medicine can now draw on a full provincial team of expertise and capacity to provide support to our Yorkton health system team.

Ross Fisher noted that

Yorkton Regional Health Centre this is because there are not enough young people to replace the old (retirees) to keep up with the demand.

CUPE health workers are worried that cutting the microbiology lab services at Yorkton Regional Health Centre would increase diagnostic health wait times in rural Saskatchewan.

“Rural health services have been struggling under this provincial government, and the cutting of lab services would further erode rural health care services in Saskatchewan,” said Sandra Seitz, president of CUPE Local 5430.

“Having to send samples to Regina would double the wait time for test

results meaning rural patients are at a greater risk of delayed treatment. Cuts and privatization are once again hitting small communities the hardest.”

According to CUPE, a recent survey showed that eight per cent of lab workers stated that heavy workload had kept them from doing their jobs to the best of their ability, with 92 per cent citing appropriate support and direction from management as a factor negatively impacting their job performance.

“Centralization is not a long-term solution to the staffing crisis in lab services,” said Linda Renkas,

General Vice-President CUPE Local 5430 (Region 5). “Cutting microbiology services would delay much-needed diagnostics when patients need answers quickly.

Centralizing the labs would not speed that up.”

The cutting of lab services would affect more than just Yorkton’s people, as testing samples are sent from Kamsack, Canora and Esterhazy.

“Rural patients should not have to wait longer than patients in Regina to get test results,” added Renkas. “Small communities are once again being sacrificed in the name of short-sighted cuts to health care.”

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

Schools get another $29 million in COVID-19 contingency funding

By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Regina - On the one-year anniversary of the declaration of the global pandemic, the Government of Saskatchewan announced on March 11, nearly $29 million in approved funding to support schools during the pandemic.

This amount is meant to help school divisions and independent schools with sanitation, substitute teacher costs, procure PPE, and assist schools in ensuring proper supports for students are in place for the fall of 2021, the government said in a release.

“This third round of funding will ensure school divisions continue to have the resources needed to keep schools safe for students and staff,” Education Minister Dustin Duncan

said. “Nearly $21 million of this funding allocation will provide the supports necessary for school divisions as they make preparations for the fall.”

This funding is in addition to the $37.5 million announced in December and the $51 million announced in September.

This funding is from the more than $150 million in the COVID contingency fund for education from provincial, federal, and school division savings.

Fifty-three applications have been approved to provide new funding to school divisions, qualified independent schools, and historical high schools. The applications are primarily for sanitation and substitute teacher costs, totalling $3.1 million in funds.

In preparation for the fall, school divisions are receiving $20.7 million to be used for: • Interventions for Grade 1 students who did not attend Kindergarten

in 2020-21; • Interventions to support Grade 1 to 3 students who are behind in their reading levels; • Support staff to reach out and engage with students and families that did not attend or had low attendance in 2020-21; • Supporting student mental health; and • Sanitation and PPE. In addition, $4.9 million from the nearly $29 million will be allocated to school divisions and independent schools to recognize previous and future purchases made directly for PPE required to maintain the safe operations of schools during the pandemic.

With this latest allocation, the remainder of the COVID contingency fund for education has been distributed to school divisions, independent schools, and historical high schools.

NDP response New

Democratic

Party Education Critic Carla Beck, MLA for Regina Lakewood, said by phone from Regina, “I know that any funding will be appreciated by school divisions. I think this has been an extraordinary year. Of course, it goes without saying, for administrators, for school boards, and certainly frontline workers, and teachers in our school. So, any amount of support I think will be welcomed.

“I do have some concerns about as we move towards the end, hopefully, of this pandemic, and we see vaccines roll out, I do think it’s very important that we start looking at next year, and how we’re going to provide supports to students. Even before the pandemic hit, we know that our classrooms were overcrowded in many cases, and under resourced.

“We know that this pandemic has been very

difficult for learning for many, many students. It’s been a difficult year for mental health of everyone in the province. But we’re hearing a lot of concern about mental health of students. And I think it is very important that we start looking, now, at how we can support school divisions to help undo some of what has happened over the last year, in terms of learning loss, in terms of mental health concerns. And I think that that needs to be funded.

“It’s good to see a start here. But we have to remember that this was a system that was underfunded before the pandemic. And it’s going to take some concentrated effort, cooperation, as well as funds, to make sure that we have a plan over the next several years to bring our students back to even where they were before the pandemic,” Beck said.

On that day, some high schools, like in Estevan and Weyburn, have resumed 100 per cent attendances after months of running at 50 per cent capacity. Beck said in that regard, some divisions have moved to fulltime, and some are still half-time. “This is where the local knowledge of boards is really important, and what’s going on, in local context,” she said.

“We’re in a race between getting the vaccine out, and getting it into arms, and making sure people have some protection against the virus and the spread of these variants. So, where people are congregated in, in high numbers, and exposed possibly to the virus, I think that still does remain a concern. And it’s something that we shouldn’t forget is a danger that that is present for those who are working in our classrooms.”

March 17, 2021 - March 23, 2021

Next Council Meeting Monday, March 29, 2021 at 5:00 p.m.

Other Job Opportunities • Temporary Clerk Steno For additional information regarding these employment opportunities, visit the City of Yorkton’s website at www.yorkton.ca/employment or you can pick up a copy of the job posting at the Human Resources Department - City Hall.

The City of Yorkton thanks all applicants; however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

GENERAL INQUIRIES: 306-786-1700 Mayor’s Office................................. 306-786-1701 After Hours Emergency ...................................... 306-786-1760 Building Services ............................. 306-786-1710 Bylaw Control .................................. 306-786-1725 City Clerk ......................................... 306-786-1717 City Manager ................................... 306-786-1703 City Parks & Green Spaces ............................................ 306-786-1780 City RCMP....................................... 306-786-2400 Communications ............................. 306-828-2424 Community Development, Parks & Recreation .......................... 306-786-1750

Economic Development .................. 306-786-1747 Engineering Department...................................... 306-786-1710 Farrell Agencies Arena Booking ........................................... 306-786-1740 Fire Hall ........................................... 306-786-1795 Gallagher Centre Water Park & Meeting Rooms/Convention Centre Booking ............................... 306-786-1740 Gloria Hayden Community Centre .............................................. 306-786-1776 Godfrey Dean Meeting Rooms Booking ........................................... 306-786-1780

Kinsmen Arena & Blue Room Booking ........................................... 306-786-1780 Library Rooms Booking ........................................... 306-786-1780 Property Sales ................................................ 306-786-1747 Public Works .............................................. 306-786-1760 Sports Fields & City Centre Park Bookings ......................................... 306-786-1780 Tax Department ............................. 306-786-1736 Water Billing Department...................................... 306-786-1726

Did you know.....all City News is also accessible on the City of Yorkton website.

Just go to our website at www.yorkton.ca and scroll down to view the “City News” links.

Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

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Reeve unimpressed with out of province call centres for Crown corporations

By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Regina – When you call into a Saskatchewan Crown corporation, there’s some expectation that the person answering is based in Saskatchewan. At least that’s what RM of Willow Bunch Reeve Patrick Therrien thinks. He grilled the Government of Saskatchewan cabinet about that during the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities annual convention “bear pit” session, held virtually on March 10.

Therrien pointed out that any payments under $10,000 to SaskPower are sent to Alberta for processing. “More recently, calling into SaskTel last month to arrange an automatic debit from my credit card on my mobility bill, I was shocked to find out that my call was forwarded to Ottawa, Ontario, to a call centre for processing.

“And last summer dialling into Sask. First Call, otherwise known as dial before you dig, and having my call answered as such, ‘Sask. First Call,’ I was disappointed to find out that this call, too, was to our neighbours to the west, Calgary, Alberta.

The Crowns have, over the last number of years, been given a directive that they should be as profitable as they possibly can. They look towards the Saskatchewan companies first to provide services. If they’re not able to find it as quickly as they want, they’ve been looking outside of the province, which in a lot of areas is unacceptable.

— Don Morgan, Minister of Crown Investment Corporation

Screen capture courtesy SARM

Crown Investments Corporation Minister Don Morgan responded to a question about Crown corporations using out-of-province services like call centres.

What gave it away was when the person on the other end asked me what county I was calling from? I had to explain to him that Saskatchewan and Sask. First Call doesn’t have counties in our lovely province. We are all municipalities.”

He added, “And then calling to the affected ministries to discuss these concerns, I was told from SaskEnergy that it was their decision, based solely on efficiencies. So I humbly request that we please ensure that agriculture remains our number one export, and not good-paying Crown Corporation and public jobs in this province of Saskatchewan.

Premier Scott Moe thanked him for the question, saying, “And here is our first peek into Main Street, in rural communities across Saskatchewan. Because I was unaware of this, it’ll be something that we’ll be checking into. Point well taken.”

Minister of Crown Investment Corporation Don Morgan responded, “The Crowns have, over the last number of years, been given a directive that they should be as profitable as they possibly can.

They look towards the Saskatchewan companies first to provide services. If they’re not able to find it as quickly as they

want, they’ve been looking outside of the province, which in a lot of areas is unacceptable.

“I was not aware of the full nature and extent of the issues that you’ve raised. But I can tell you that we’re working with the Crowns to try and develop better systems of collaboration, of working with each other,and trying to do things more where we hire and retain some of the best and brightest people in Canada, and those people live right here in our province, so I want to make sure that those people are given the best opportunities to do it.

“Interesting enough, at

one time, Saskatchewan and Saskatoon had some of the best infrastructure for call centres, and we were doing work in Saskatoon for Apple for an all the tech centres.

All the tech calls went through Saskatoon, but if you lived in Saskatoon, your tech call was rerouted through Bombay. So, I think we should do a better job of trying to focus on keeping things the in Saskatchewan, so point well taken and we’ll see what we can do.”

Moe added, “Given that we do try to prioritize Saskatchewan workers, to the degree that we can, and there’s some work that’s done, on that,

through Sask. Builds across government when priority Saskatchewan, and it’s some good work that has occurred. There will be some, such as this, I suppose, for the time being, where there is going to be some contracts that are out or province. As Don said, better to be out of province then out of country, in some instances.

“But there is some work that will be contracted to companies outside of the province, but we always do have an eye to prioritizing the opportunities that we have for building a strong economy here, within Saskatchewan.”

Government announces increased funding for channel clearing Recently, Premier Scott Moe announced $2 million over two years in funding to expand channel clearing for Rural Municipalities across Saskatchewan.

“As we work through economic recovery, investments in our communities will help build our future,” Moe said. “Increased funding for water management in rural communities will not only help protect essential infrastructure but also help our producers grow Saskatchewan’s economy.”

The Water Security Agency originally budgeted $600,000 over two years for channel clearing. This increase in funding will allow for the program to grow to $500,000 for the 2020-21 fiscal year. In 2021-22, funding will increase again to $1.5 million for a total investment of $2 million over two years. This is an additional $1.4 million over two years to support RMs with channel clearing activities.

Channel clearing involves removing beaver dams, debris, trees and shrubs, and the removal of silt and blow dirt

from and along natural channels, lessening the possibilities of blockages that can cause flooding and damage to infrastructure.

Obstructed creeks and channels cause flooding and erosion problems to many RMs and local landowners. This program supports RMs in the removal of these obstructions.

“Our members welcome the news of this timely additional support for a needed program, especially as we enter the spring season,” SARM President

Ray Orb said. “Our communities are concerned not only about proactively dealing with situations like flooding, but also practicing good water management that protects our ratepayers investments.”

Clearing dense vegetation can also reduce unwanted nutrients from water bodies and is an essential component of any long-term water management plan.

For more information on the program and how to apply please visit, www.wsask.ca.

Business incentive program tweaked

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer The recently developed Business Improvement Incentive Program was updated

by Yorkton Council at its regular meeting Monday.

“At the February 1, 2021 Council meeting, Administration brought forward a report on Business Improvement Incentive Program Policy, seeking direction on whether to expand the eligibility for business owners who reside outside the City,” explained Michael Eger - Director of Planning, Building & Development, with the City at the meeting.

Eger said City Administration consulted with the Yorkton Business Improvement District (YBID), the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce (Chamber)

and the Economic Development Committee, (EDC), in preparing changes.

Program changes were then discussed in detail at the Feb. 11, 2021, EDC meeting. A range of options were considered, with members commenting that: • There are many business owners who live outside the City and still contribute their time and money to local teams, events and fundraisers, and we should be supportive of their importance and value to the community; • The amount of funding to any successful applicant needs to be large enough that there is real benefit and incentive to invest. Given available funding limits, we should not open the Program too much or incentives will be spread

too thin to achieve desired results; • The Program is brand new and we cannot yet be sure if it is not working – the amount of applications to date indicate that the Program is working as intended, so it may be premature to consider changes.

• It would be beneficial to incentivise all commercial investment, regardless of where owners reside; • Not all taxpayers would be in favour of offering incentives, especially to non-local business owners.

Following the discussion, the Committee carried the following resolution: That Council be recommended to revise the BIIP as follows: • Fifty per cent of the shareholders to be locally-owned (down from 51 per cent),

• Extend the local boundary to the Regional Planning District (which includes the City of Yorkton, RM of Wallace, RM of Orkney, and towns and villages within), • Preference to be given to City residents; and • If applications exceed annual funding, to be able to approve in principle funding for the following year.

“Administration favours the Committee’s recommendation for its

comprehensiveness and for its consideration of the early success, limited funding and policy goals,” said Eger.

Council previously allocated a total of $100,000 of funding toward the program in 2021.

“We are on pace to award all available funding this year through the Façade and Site Improvement Incentive, while approved applicants under the Vacant Building Abatement

and New Construction Incentive would receive their first year of abatement/funding in 2022,” added Eger.

The proposed changes will not exceed Councilapproved funding, but will increase the likelihood that all annual funding is disbursed. If funding is fully-allocated and qualified businesses continue to apply, they would not receive funding until the year(s) following the work they have completed.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

C

VID-19

The coronavirus pandemic:

A YEAR LATER

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organizaঞon (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Shortly a[er, borders were shut down, restricঞons on gatherings were implemented and school and business closures were announced. One year later, the pandemic conঞnues to a@ect our lives in profound ways.

Nevertheless, our community has triumphed. These hard ঞmes have inspired generous acts, gestures of solidarity and innovaঞve projects of all kinds.

Indeed, people, businesses and organizaঞons have rolled up

their sleeves to o@er help and happiness to their fellow ciঞzens.

Despite the diLculঞes our region has faced, or possibly because of them, our community has come together. We feel it’s important to highlight this and share the stories of those who’ve disঞnguished themselves over the past year.

YORKTON shines in hard times!

MARCH 15, 2020

MAY 6, 2020

May 19, 2020

June 2, 2020

YORKTON CITY COUNCIL MOVES TO CLOSE RECREATIONAL AND COMMUNITY CENTRES

ROYAL FORD DISTRIBUTES FACE SHIELDS

LOCAL BUSINESSES GET BACK TO SERVING CUSTOMERS

SIDEWALK CONCERTS COMING TO YORKTON

Personal protecঞve equipment (PPE) is in short supply, because COVID-19 has caused a big spike in demand that is diLcult to meet. Ford Motor Company has responded to a need for more face shields by making them in factories that would otherwise be producing cars.

Terry Ortynsky’s Royal Ford has been distribuঞng those face shields to medical professionals in Yorkton.

The second phase of provincial plans for reopening Saskatchewan launched May 19.

Among those businesses re-opening was K.d. studio & Spa. Owner Kristy Procyshen said her customers were more than happy to be able to once again have their hair cut, or coloured.

“They’ve (customers) been just fantasঞc,” she said, adding most of her customers are long ঞme clients. “They’re just happy to be in the chair.”

To help keep our community connected while accommodaঞng physical distancing, the City of Yorkton, in partnership with the Yorkton Arts Council, will be offering free Sidewalk Concerts for Yorkton residents this summer.

Sidewalk Concerts can be enjoyed by households from the safety of their own private properঞes, and have been happening in communiঞes around the world.

As a result of the meeঞng Monday Maloney announced Tuesday a[ernoon will be moving to close its faciliঞes where people normally gather, such as the Gallagher Centre, including the Access Aquaঞc Centre, Kinsman Arena, Gloria Hayden Centre, Visitor Informaঞon Centre and Yorkton Public Library e@ecঞve Wednesday, March18.

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JULY

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SEPT 27, 2020

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

JANUARY 22, 2021

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

YORKTON REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL GOING TO REMOTE LEARNING

SANTA CLAUS PARADE

OUTBREAK DELCLARED

The Yorkton Business Improvement District held it’s 23rd Annual Santa Claus Parade on Nov. 28th 2020.

In partnership with the City of Yorkton and many volunteers and huge community involvement they had over 800 vehicles through the Parade and it was held over an hour to try to accommodate all the spectator vehicles.

Friday (Jan. 22), it was reported an acঞve COVID-19 outbreak had been declared at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre which had the Intensive Case Unit and two general medical wards a@ected.

As of Monday, there were two addiঞonal units on “suspect outbreak,” which due to a posiঞve COVID case possibly transmi ed on the unit.

FIRST COVID҃19 VACCINATIONS AT YRHC

Following four students tesঞng posiঞve for COVID-19 Sunday a le er to sta@ and families of the YRHS was posted at www.gssd.ca.

The le er outlined that Sept. 27, (Sunday), the Saskatchewan Health Authority advised Good Spirit School Division of posiঞve cases of COVID-19 in the community of Yorkton which has impacted individuals at the YRHS.

The Crst COVID-19 vaccine shipment to Yorkton has taken place.

Calling it “Phase I” of a vaccine roll-out, Janna-Lea Yawney, interim Director of Acute Care at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre said Wednesday with the arrival this week «some of the sta@ at the Yorkton Regional Health Centre will receive the vaccine Thursday and Friday.» In addiঞon, planning and training for a broader vaccinaঞon program covering «the rest of the sta@ and public is ongoing,» said Yawney.

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Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

A9

Decorating with ‘Irish Moss’ Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We quite often see pictures of gardens with a lush green groundcover, surrounding statuary and looking very exotic, and the photo’s caption often says that the plant in question is “Irish moss”.

What is Irish moss?

I found some very interesting information while I did homework to learn about Irish moss.

First of all, Irish moss it not a moss at all, but a member of the pearlwort family, and has the fancier name “sagina subulata”.

Irish moss could easily be confused as a moss, because it is low growing, likes moist growing conditions, forms a thick growing habit, and does well in part-shade or sunny

areas. For added interest, the plant has dainty white flowers.

The plant loves soil with good drainage, and while it likes moist soil, it does not like wet soil.

The plant does not like wet feet, so well-drained soil watered regularly is better than a constantly wet location. And while the plant will grow in sun, it isn’t one of those plants that yearn to be in the blazing sun.

It is a beautiful plant once it is established, and guess what, we can even grow it in containers (but it will have to be planted in the garden before fall weather sets in, it won’t survive winter in a container).

It will produce more family members from seed.

DEBBIE HAYWARD YORKTON AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Gardener’s Notebook But…there is a true Irish moss, and it is not what you think!

True Irish moss is not moss at all, but algae!

The lovely name “chondrus crispus” is Irish moss, red algae that grows in the cold waters of the Atlantic, common along the rocky and beautiful shores of Ireland. Aside from being plentiful in that location, that is not its main claim to fame.

It is known because it

has a gelatinous substance in it called carrageenan which is used to stabilize and thicken ice cream or milk.

So there is Irish moss that is not really a moss, and Irish moss that is actually an algae.

Just like the beautiful symbol of St. Patrick’s Day, the shamrock, is not the clover that we expect, but is usually the oxalis plant, part of the wood sorrel family.

`Tis true, it’s not a lot of blarney for gardeners, but we may need the luck of the leprechauns to sort it out!

Here’s more horticultural trivia about St. Patrick’s Day. Green is the lucky color, and this even extends to the food we eat on this holiday.

The idea is that good luck will come to us if we eat green leafy food like kale, cabbage or lettuce. It’s good for us, too!

And did you know that in the US, it has been a tradition that the president receives a beautiful Irish crystal bowl filled with shamrock from Ireland’s leader. More holiday lore: keeping with the color green being popular, Mrs. Obama began the

tradition of green water in the White House fountain on St. Paddy’s Day. The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society is still without meetings, but looking ahead with hope to when we can gather again! Visit us at www. yorktonhort.ca to find out what’s new!

“May you always find three welcomes in life: in a garden during summer, at a hearth during winter, and in the hearts of friends throughout all your years.” Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Thank you to our friends at the Yorkton This Week for their great work; let`s pray for health for all and bright spring days on the horizon!

Have a great week!

Road bans begin Monday across the province after early start in the south

By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Regina – On March 15, the rest of Saskatchewan will catch up with the most southern part of the province, which had winter weights lifted on March 1 due to unseasonably warm weather.

Spring road bans will be in effect as of 12:01 a.m., March 15, 2021, across southern Saskatchewan and will

File photo by Brian Zinchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Winter weights are being lifted province-wide on March 15.

POURS Continued from page A3 “There are still techniques that I would like to try out. Once I can experiment more with different techniques, materials and mediums to find what I like, maybe I m ay find a certain style that I prefer.”

Fagrie added he still draws inspiration from what he sees others doing.

“I watch a lot of videos on Facebook and YouTube on pouring to view different techniques, to get information and read comments from people to learn and improve on my work.

There is no person(s) currently that I follow to gain inspiration from. If anything it would be the internet, Facebook and YouTube to build upon my knowledge and skills and apply that to current and future work “I enjoy that I am able to control and manipulate the paint to some extent. I am a visual person and enjoy colours so being able to mix and pour paint that will form unique patterns and effects allows me to create interesting works.

“With this type of art, you never know what you will get when your pour comes out. If I was trying for a sea, space or

fire theme for example, I would use colours associated with those and hope the pour comes to resemble what I was aiming for; you also get a lot of happy accidents as well. With using different colour palettes and combinations, along with different techniques, you can create anything you want.

“When I do resume using resin as a medium I would like to explore more avenues to create, resin does allow for a more controlled medium and the fact that you can cast with in as well, opens a lot more doors for creative works.”

Fagrie added he looks forward to learning as he grows as an artist.

“I hope to learn more aspects of colour theory and experiment with other techniques -- both ones that I have and haven’t done,” he

said. “I would like to experiment more with resin and incorporating different materials to create different effects and textures to add to the canvas rather a resin pour painting. I would also like to explore with abstract art and learn to better work with colours and a brush. I have thought several times about doing this in the past but never got around to it yet.”

Fagrie’s work can be seen on Facebook under the name, Apocacrylic ResinFreak. He can be reached on Facebook via message.

“I post new pictures when I do finish the paintings. I would like to make videos eventually of my works and post those as well,” he said.

Prices are listed with the picture on FB; shipping is separate and added when purchased.

Hear it. L Live itit.t Coralee Schoenrock 275 Bradbrooke Dr, Yorkton, SK S3N 3L3 306.782.1881 premiercarehearing.ca

M.A, Aud(C)

Audiologist/Owner Registered Sk

also be in effect in many rural municipalities in this area. Updates on the status of bans in other regions will be made available through the Highway Hotline and social media.

Spring road bans are used to protect roads and infrastructure during the thawing period when roads are in their most vulnerable state. They work by reducing allowable weights on RM roads and secondary weight highways by 10 to 15 per

cent, the Ministry said in a release. Typically, road bans are brought in in late March or early April after winter weight restrictions have been lifted.

As spring road bans are enacted on March 15, winter weights for the remainder of the province will also be removed. All current weight restrictions are available at www.saskatchewan.ca/truckingweights or on the Highway Hotline.

Agriculture

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 www.yorktonthisweek.com

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Lower cattle numbers now a trend When it comes to any agriculture commodity there is an ebb and flow to production levels, typically tied to returns.

So, when prices are higher, producers up production to try and grab a piece of the better returns.

When you are looking at cereal grains, oilseeds and pulse crops, the ebb and flow results in more, or less, acres planted, which of course reflects in overall production.

On the livestock side of things, increasing production means keeping more females to produce offspring, and when you want to reduce production you send some of the produ-

cing females to market.

Of course the ups and downs in production are typically relatively short-lived, as prices tend to react to production in an opposite fashion. Increased farm production sends a message to markets there is a greater supply, and prices tighten, which in turn tells farmers to reduce supply.

So when Statistics Canada releases numbers in terms of livestock herds, or crop acreages, increases and declines are the norm. While they help farmers formulate plans, if you see a big increase in numbers, you might want to hold off expansion in that area because you

Agriculture THIS WEEK

Calvin Daniels can see prices may be declining in response to bigger production; the more telling numbers are in long term trends.

For example, when Statistics Canada released the 2020 livestock inventory March 1, a one per cent decline in the Canadian cow herd, all of the decline in the west as numbers actual-

ly inched higher in the east, was not extremely significant past maybe sending some market inklings to producers.

Far more telling is that the one per cent drop in the national cattle herd is part of a general decline that has been happening since 2005.

When numbers have

generally moved lower for 16 years it is a trend and one that will not easily be turned around in a significant way.

The situation suggests some producers have simply quit the cattle business, and depending on location; their land base may well be in grain production now, meaning fences have been pulled up, and the likelihood of cattle ever returning slim.

Once a fence gets pulled,it takes a serious shift in agronomics over a period of time to see the investment of putting it back as worthwhile.

The question then becomes what the long

term decline means?

It would suggest the consumer looks to beef less often these days. If demand was steady production rarely declines.

It may also mean those wanting a good steak will see regularly higher prices. Lower supplies tend to push up end product prices.

It also likely suggests cattle production is moving back to the fringe lands best-suited to grazing, with land where crops can reasonably be grown are being planted.

And, certainly the trend of cattle numbers will be one producers and consumers will want to watch in the years ahead.

India is going through something similar to our dissolution of the CWB, and Moe says we did okay

By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Regina – The agricultural industry in India is in turmoil, as the national government there has been moving to open up highly regulated markets, and many farmers are resisting, fearful of change. Agriculture is the largest employer of the Indian population, and most of those are small-scale, subsistence farming operations.

The protests have numbered as many as 250 million people, taking part in a 24-hour general strike in late November 2020, according to Slate. com, which said it “may have been the single largest protest in human history.”

The deregulation opens markets, but removes farmers’ “guaranteed, timely sale and distribution, stops businesses from hoarding produce, keeps prices at a fair level, and prevents small farmers from being taken advantage of by agribusiness corporations” as Slate.com described it Dec. 9, 2020.

If any of this sounds familiar, that’s because Canadian farmers went through a similar discourse a decade ago, and in 2012, the Canadian Wheat Board lost its monopoly. It, too, guaranteed a marketplace and prices, and back then, there was substantial resistance to change and the unknown new, free market. Now, with the better part of a decade of hindsight, Premier Scott Moe is suggesting that the Indian farmers might not need to be so afraid of what is coming, as Saskatchewan farmers have benefited from open markets.

On Feb. 11, Moe said, “While the Government of Saskatchewan does not take formal positions on internal political questions in other countries context is important in this discussion.

“The path of agricultural reform being

pursued by India is one that has been walked

by Saskatchewan in the past. As a province we have moved from small scale subsistence-based farming practices in a highly regulated and government-managed production and marketing system to one in which our producers have the ability to manage and market their own produce. The elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly in 2012 removed the final piece of government involvement in the marketing of agriculture products in Saskatchewan.

“This has created tremendous prosperity for our province and literally helped feed the world through massive gains in production volumes and efficiencies. Most recently, we saw records smashed with over $16B in agricultural exports in the last year alone.”

Moe continued, “The three bills that have been the catalyst for discussion with respect to India do many of the things that Saskatchewan agricultural producers takes for granted. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020 allows farmers to sell their produce anywhere outside the stateregulated markets without the burden of taxes or fees. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance allows farmers to enter into direct contracts with companies, even prior to the production of crops; and The Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, remove restrictions in production, storage, movement and distribution of major crops unless under extraordinary circumstances; stock limits may be imposed on produce only if there is a steep price rise.

“Saskatchewan greatly values our trading relationship with India. In the last two years alone, we have seen a massive

91 per cent increase in the value of exports from Saskatchewan to India.

This has been the result of a concerted effort to build our political and commercial relationships in the country. This year Saskatchewan will be opening a trade office in Delhi, and we will continue to work with the Government of India in building a prosperous relationship for both of our jurisdictions.”

Trade and Export Minister Jeremy Harrison expanded on those comments by phone on Feb. 19. He noted the three bills “are not well understood, because what the bills are actually doing is very much what Saskatchewan and Canadian farmers take for granted; particularly Western Canadian farmers who now, since the demise of the Wheat Board, particularly, can market and sell their own product. That was kind of the end of a long process of highly regulated, highly managed industry here in Saskatchewan.”

“In India, it’s been that way. I mean it’s a highly regulated, highly managed, very prescribed in terms of even crops that can be grown; all of those sort of things. You can only sell produce at state regulated markets. You couldn’t enter into any direct contracts with company to buy your prod-

uct,” Harrison said. He noted it was not dissimilar to what Saskatchewan farmers went through, depending on what they grew.

“This is a process we’ve seen happening in jurisdictions that have gone from, you know, small scale subsistence agriculture to larger-scale, more efficient, much more productive agriculture which is a process we’ve walked in Saskatchewan.”

Saskatchewan and federal governments differ There is a distinction in the stances taken between the federal government and provincial government when it comes to India. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been criticized by the Indian government for siding with the protesters. “Such actions, if continued, would have a seriously damaging impact on ties between India and Canada,” the Indian Minister of External Affairs said in a statement on Dec. 4, as reported by the CBC and Global. “These comments have encouraged gatherings of extremist activities in front of our High Commission and consulates in Canada that raise issues of safety and security. We expect the Canadian government to ensure the fullest security of Indian diplomatic personnel and its polit-

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ical leaders to refrain from pronouncements that legitimize extremist activism.”

Harrison said, “We’ve had a very, very different view of working with India and the trading relationship with India than the Trudeau government has. Their approach has been a catastrophe.

“You know Trudeau, himself, obviously everybody knows about the disastrous trip he took a couple of years back and really embarrassed the country and set back the relationship between India and Canada in a substantial way. What’s less known is the fact that that trading relationship, which is a significant one between Canada and India, the majority of that trading relationship is actually between Saskatchewan and India, in that over a billion dollars a year of exports from this province go to India, being one of our most significant destinations for exports in the entire world.”

“Trudeau damaging that relationship, between Canada and India, really has a massively disproportionate and negative effect on the relationship between Saskatchewan and India,” He said, “A disproportionate impact it falls on the fact that our farmers went from exporting a

huge amount of peas and lentils into that Indian market a few years ago, to exporting about a quarter of that amount of product, up until the last couple of years, when we’ve seen those export numbers really recover.

“So, it is important for us to make sure that there is a clear understanding that we, as Saskatchewan, have an interest that is separate perhaps, or different than, the interest of the national government in relationship with the national government with India.”

The location of the trade offices was announced prior to this Indian legislation, largely due to India being the fastest growing trilliondollar economy in the world. Saskatchewan’s merchandise exports to India in 2019 were valued at approximately $775 million, a 23.2 per cent increase from 2018. The top commodity exports to India in 2019 were potash, lentils, uranium, peas, chickpeas and wood pulp.

According to the government of Saskatchewan, trade offices in India, Japan, and Singapore are set to open this year with the recent hires of a managing director for each office. In addition, a new managing director has been hired for the office in China, which was recently relocated to Shanghai.

2021-03-12 11:27 AM

Sports

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 www.yorktonthisweek.com

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A life of sport and science

By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer Leslie Kozak was a pretty good hockey player in his younger days.

Although born in Dauphin his family was from Yorkton.

“My mother returned to Yorkton with my brother, Garry, and me in 1943 when I was about threeyears-old. We lived with my grandparents, Alex and Anne Nimeck, and the other six siblings at 156 Myrtle Ave, across from the high school.

My grandfather came from the Ukraine alone as a teenager around 1910; my grandmother was born on a farm near Yorkton. I regret that I did not record more of my grandfather’s journey to Canada.”

As a young hockey player in the city, Kozak had a dream inspired by a local hero of the game.

“Inspired by the achievements of Metro Prystai from the time I was seven-years-old I set a goal to be an NHL player, an ambition that drove my life,” he related. “I believe that Metro had a profound influence on shaping my character and career as well as that of many of the youth of Yorkton during our formative years in the 1950s. He provided a model of excellence in sport and goodness and generosity as a member of the community. When he returned to Yorkton after the NHL season was over he would load his car with the neighborhood kids and take us for ice cream.”

That inspiration pushed Kozak to excel at hockey and set him on the path to the pros, a tale he tells in a recent book; ‘Play Up! Play up!

And Play the Game’.

“In the middle of the night of August 15, 1956 when I was 15-years old I left Yorkton by Greyhound Bus to attend St. Michael’s College School in Toronto on a scholarship,” he told Yorkton This Week. “I studied and played hockey at St. Michaels until 1960.

“In 1961 I played

professional hockey for less than a year for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans.

My hockey career ended in February 1961, when I fractured my skull. I changed the focus of my career goals to scientific research and pursued studies in chemistry and biology at St. John Fisher in Rochester, NY as an under-graduate, Notre Dame where I received my PhD, then post-graduate studies at Michigan State University until 1970 when I accepted a position as assistant professor to study the genetics of brain development at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

“I eventually became a full professor at the Jackson Lab where I remained until 1998 when I accepted a professorship at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I remained at Pennington until 2010 when I took a position in Poland to teach PhD students to do research in the field of energy expenditure and obesity.

In 2015 I joined up with my high school sweetheart (Loraine Harvey) and we currently spend six-months in Maine and six on Lake of the Woods, Ontario.”

But, why a book?

“One of the gifts of a life in scientific research is the opportunity it provides to travel and meet other scientists from many parts of the world,” said Kozak. “This has often led to the formation of deep friendships that have lasted a lifetime. I have also found in my travels that people in general have trouble identifying with scientists. For example, when I am part of a social gathering of non-scientists it is difficult to sustain a conversation talking about my scientific research.

“In contrast, the realization that I played for the Maple Leafs on a line with Dave Keon elicits a completely different response, “Oh wow you played for the Leafs” from the average reader.

Leslie Kozak and wife Lor “Knowing this beforehand I thought that bringing the average reader, exemplified by my children, to the book through this unusual coupling, hockey plus science, might entice additional readers to the science.

Also, the realization that I was successful in achieving international recognition in athletics and science suggested that I had a story worth the telling.”

That all said the work was one thinking of family first.

“If it helps my family know me better, the book was worth the writing,” said Kozak. “Telling the story of someone who was able to combine science and hockey is somewhat novel and it might interest other young athletes to take the same career path.”

Kozak said the book came from memory.

“I did not rely on a set of notes, the first part of the book was based on my memory of growing up in Yorkton and St. Michaels, which was very personal, while the second part relied on my memory of the research that went on in my lab over 50 years,” he related.

“I used published papers to check on the accuracy of what I describe.

For the most important

research I described, and I was only interested in reporting this research, the research projects frequently took years to complete. Consequently, with such an immersion in this research it was not difficult to remember the details of the work even after decades have elapsed. Unfortunately, over the past threeyears I have developed Parkinson Disease, I could not write this book today.”

When asked what was the most challenging aspect of the project?

Kozak had a short reply; “making the years in science as interesting as those in hockey.”

The science actually showed itself early in Kozak’s life too.

“During my studies at St. Michael’s and in college I began to discover that my academic strength lay in the sciences. Hence when I was no longer able to play hockey because of a head injury I changed the focus of my studies to the sciences, but I maintained a devotion being an athlete,” he said.

The St. Michael’s years were significant for Kozak.

“Becoming a student athlete at St. Michael’s College in 1956 with a pass to Maple Leaf

Gardens when I had just turned 16-years of age was a remarkable gift and privilege,” he said. “I was essentially tutored by a faculty of young priests devoted to the education of young men. Although this was a Catholic school the education was not narrow or dogmatic, but based on the philosophy of Christian humanism, a philosophy of life that begins with Aristotle in the fourth century BC. He was a Greek philosopher who pioneered systematic, scientific examination in literally every area of human knowledge and was known, in his time, as ‘the man who knew everything’.

“Aristotle’s philosophy was applied to Christian thinking by the Dominican theologian St. Thomas Aquinas who believed that people could have both faith and reason and said that both kinds of knowledge came from God so it was alright to have both. Christian Humanism was applied to modern Christian thinking by the French philosopher Jacque Maritain. These ideas, seeking to develop a balanced life of body, mind and soul, caused me to take a year off when I was 19-years of age to see whether I had a vocation to become a Trappist Monk. I didn’t, after 8 months I left the monastery, returned to Toronto and continued with my hockey career.

“When I left Yorkton in August, 1956 on that bus ride through Winnipeg, Chicago and Detroit to St. Mikes in Toronto I came under the influence of a brilliant, magnetic young priest, Father David Bauer. He had been a student of St. Michael College and the brother of NHL star Bobby Bauer of the famous Kraut line for Boston in the 1940s.

Father Bauer was a terrific hockey player and a key player for the St Michael’s Junior A team that defeated Moose Jaw for the Memorial Cup in 1945 and in what is a bizarre twist of fate, the Moose Jaw team was led by none other than Metro Prystai of Yorkton.

Following his achievements in hockey David Bauer became a priest went on to become a remarkable and inspiring mentor and leader to maintain the amateur status of Olympic hockey. He coached the St. Michael’s team to the Memorial Cup in 1960.

Then in the 1960s and 1970s he led the effort to develop a truly amateur National Canadian hockey team for international competition; he was the coach of the Canadian Olympic Hockey team ... This effort to maintain the Olympic teams as amateurs eventually failed because the Pros did not get on board and support the program.”

It was in school he had the focus that would one day help in writing his book too.

“Until I was 21 years old my academic interests were in literature and philosophy -- my major in college was English Literature with a secondary concentration in chemistry,” said Kozak. “However, as long as I could support myself with a salary as an NHL player it allowed me to indulge my interests in the arts.

“However, this changed after I fractured my skull and had acquired a young wife and son. I realized that I must get serious about an alternative career. It did not take much thinking to realize that academically my future lay in the sciences. It was a good choice; I found that I had a gift for scientific research and discovery and the competition in a hockey game very much resembled the drive to be the first to make an original scientific discovery.

“Subsequently over 50 years as a scientist (1965 to 2015) I wrote scientific papers (175 of them) and dozens of grant applications. I have made significant and original contributions describing the role of brown fat to the induction of thermogenesis to reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The book is available online at Friesen Press.

Einarson ready for world event For the second year in a row the Gimli, Manitoba rink of Kerri Einarson captured the Scottie’s Tournament of Hearts, emblematic of the Canadian Women’s Championship in curling.

The foursome, including lead Briane Meilleur, second Shannon Birchard, third Val Sweeting and skip Kerri Einarson, headed into the ‘bubble’ in Calgary as the defending champions, and curled their way through the 18-team field to earn a berth in the final.

In that final Einarson defeated Team Ontario, skipped by Rachel Homan, 9-7 to repeat as champion.

Unlike last year, Einarson will now get a chance to compete for the World Championship, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in

2020, and had looked to be off again this spring until a last minute effort to move the event from Switzerland to Calgary saved the event.

“We had heard rumours but weren’t getting our hopes up after what happened last year,” Einarson told this reporter in a telephone interview as she self-isolated back at her home in Manitoba.

Once a world event was confirmed Einarson said they were obviously pleased.

“Once we heard the news we were very excited,” she said.

In some respects the worlds in Calgary is almost bittersweet for the Manitoba crew.

“We definitely would have loved a trip to Switzerland,” admitted Einarson, but to get a chance to play for a world title trumps any location concerns.

CALVIN DANIELS

Sports “ . . . It’s nice that it’s going to be in Canada where we can feel all that support,” said Einarson, who added even without fans in the building they will be able to feel the support.

In fact, since winning their second Canadian championship, and the announcement of a world bid, they have felt some of the ‘celebrity status’ that comes from being a top curler in Canada.

“We’ve been self-isolating but we know a lot of people would like to see us and congratulate

us,” said Einarson.

So what was it like to play a Scottie’s without fans?

“The first few games were definitely strange not hearing the crowd cheering for good shots,” said Einarson.

And, players could hear everything. For example Einarson said a television in the hallway had the game on, and because of the delay, when she was settling in the hack of the final she could hear the commentary on the previous shot.

But, after a game,

or two, players just blanked out the chatter, and went about their game, she said.

The World Championships begin April 30, in Calgary on the same ice Einarson won the Canadian crown on, which would seem to give her an edge.

“I definitely think it’s an advantage,” said Einarson, even with a couple of events upcoming that some international competitors will take part in, including the Grand Slam of Curling April 14-18. “ ...

But, we do have a good handle on the ice.”

Getting a good ‘read’ on the ice is something Einarson said is a big part of her game.

“It’s definitely something that I’ve worked on,” she said adding playing on a lot of smaller rinks in Manitoba where “tough ice conditions” are not unusual

have helped her hone that part of her game.

Einarson will next head back to Calgary for the Home Hardware Canadian Mixed Doubles Championships March 18-25, and the team will stay over for some practice, as they ready for the World Championships, which come with added pressure as Canadian teams are expected to do well.

“There’s definitely going to be some added pressure, but we’ll just take in one game at a time, and focus on ourselves,” said Einarson.

NOTE: For the month of March there will be a ‘bonus’ sports column posted each Saturday.

Watch March 19 for an interview with Bill Webb President and general partner of the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby which begins the 2021 season this Saturday.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

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DERENIWSKY - Kenneth - It is with great sadness the family of the late Kenneth Dereniwsky, beloved husband of Monica Dereniwsky of the Mikado District, SK, announce his passing on March 3, 2021, at the age of 74 years. Kenneth was born November 3, 1946, in Yorkton, SK, to Paul and Beatrice (nee Malinsky) Dereniwsky.

The oldest of five children, Ken was raised with his siblings on a farm northeast of Rhein, SK. He attended school and completed his grade 11 education prior to moving east of Mikado, SK, where he operated his own farm. In addition to farming, Ken worked as a school bus driver and as a grader operator within the RM of Sliding Hills.

On July 29, 1972, Ken married Monica Yurkowski at Yorkton, SK. Together, they continued to work and raise their family on their farm.

The birth of his children and grandchildren were the highlights of Ken’s life and he beamed with pride as he watched them grow, knew the value of quality time spent with them, and remained an inspiring positive role model in their lives. Many lasting memories were made during family gatherings at Clearwater and Madge Lake, playing cards with his granddaughter, Hailey, or while cheering on his grandsons in hockey and celebrating their remarkable achievements. Undoubtedly, Ken’s family was the greatest treasures of his life. In 2012, Ken retired from the RM and enjoyed the opportunity to proudly help his son as he continued the family farming operations. Physical limitations became more apparent as he aged, but he still anxiously anticipated being a huge support on the farm with his wealth of advice, listening ear, constant willingness to lend a hand, and his admirable work ethic. Evident in how much he enjoyed teasing his sisters or having a good, wholesome laugh with his family and friends, Ken had a great sense of humour. He was a humble, hardworking, sensitive, genuine and loving man who was always willing to help anyone in need. These, the qualities of his legacy, are the characteristics he proudly instilled in his children and grandchildren. Ken will be remembered as a gentle, kind soul with a heart of gold and he will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him. Ken was predeceased by his parents, Paul and Beatrice Dereniwsky; and his son, Garrett Dereniwsky, in infancy. He is survived by his loving wife, Monica; son, Dean (Kristen); daughter, Carmen (Shane) Kraynick; his treasured grandchildren: Carson and Carter Dereniwsky and Connor, Parker, and Hailey Kraynick; sisters: Gail (Jim) Sletten of Yorkton, SK, Gloria (Bob) Faryon of Yorkton, SK, JoAnn (Bill) Wilson of Calgary, AB, and Glenda (Garnet) Ottenbreit of Winnipeg, MB; and his uncle, Mervin (Marlene) Malinsky of Rhein, SK; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. A Private Family Funeral Service was celebrated and livestreamed at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 10, 2021, from the Chapel of Leson’s Funeral Home, Canora, SK, with Very Rev. Fr. Joakim Rac, as Celebrant. A Public Committal Service will follow at the Canora Cemetery, at a later date, once Public Health restrictions allow for larger gatherings. Those wishing to make expressions of sympathy may make donations to STARS Air Ambulance or to a Charity of Donor’s Choice, as tokens of remembrance, in memory of Ken Dereniwsky. Family and friends are invited to sign an online guestbook at www.lesonsfuneralhome.ca. Arrangements were entrusted to LESON’S FUNERAL HOME, Canora.

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Graduation Congratulations to Maria Jean Markewich who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Regina. Maria is the daughter of Dr. Leonard and Anna Markewich of Regina, and the granddaughter of Mary Popowich of Yorkton.

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MORE - Milli More (nee Mess). It is with great sadness that the family of Milli More, of San Clara, MB announce her passing on March 7, 2021 at the age of 77 years. Due to current health restrictions, a celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date. Sneath Strilchuk Funeral Home, Roblin, MB entrusted with arrangements. For more information or to share a message of condolence with the family of Milli More, please visit www.sneathstrilchuk.com.

Monuments FRANKFURT - Elaine. It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved wife, mother, grandma, sister, aunty, and friend Elaine Frankfurt on March 6, 2021. Elaine is predeceased by her brother, Danny and parents Stella and Laurence Tourand. She leaves to cherish her memory, her loving husband Gerald (Jerry), her children Danette Lowenberg (Troy), Shawn Frankfurt (Melissa), her grandchildren Hunter and Cole Frankfurt, Sam and Parker Lowenberg, sisters Sylvia (Lorne), Zay (Garry), Kathy (Glenn deceased), Fay (Al), Bonny, Shelly (Mark), brothers, Keith (Charlene), Calvin (Brenda), sister in law Donna, several nieces and nephews and their families, Jerry’s siblings and their families. Elaine was born in Watson, SK on March 5, 1948 to Stella and Laurence Tourand. Elaine grew up in rural communities throughout Saskatchewan as well as Saskatoon.

Elaine was blessed with nine other siblings, three boys, and six girls. As a young girl Elaine developed strong family values and cherished that time together. On March 18, 1966 Elaine and Jerry were married in Ebenezer and later moved to Grenfell, SK. They were blessed with two children Danette and Shawn. Nothing will ever compare to Elaine’s love for her family. Her face lit up when she spoke about her favourite moments being outdoors, hunting, and fishing, while visiting with her family. Elaine enjoyed picnics as a young girl with her siblings and parents. Elaine was known for her phone calls and visiting with family. Elaine’s greatest joy was her children and grandchildren, whether it was watching them in sports, dance, listening to their newest adventures or having bonfires in the yard. Elaine and Jerry made it a priority to visit their children and grandchildren for all the special occasions.

Elaine will be known for her devotion to Jerry “the true love of her life”.

Elaine was incredibly proud of her kids and grandchildren and loved to share stories about them with her family and friends. Elaine reflected upon her life with happiness. One piece of advice she shared was “Enjoy every single day. Do not worry about the future, it will take care of itself.”

She aspired to be like her mom, as thoughtful and fair as her. Elaine was the most kind-hearted and loving person. She was never too busy to talk on the phone with friends and family. Friends and family agree that Elaine had the greatest laugh which will be sorely missed. A come and go celebration of life for our beloved Elaine Frankfurt to be held at Legacy Inn, 800 Ennis Ave. in Grenfell, SK on Saturday, March 27, 2021 from 1pm - 4pm.

WEEK

sales@yorktonthisweek.com 306-782-2465

WOZNY - Lillie (Betty) Wozny (nee Onofreychuk) March 14, 1944 – February 8, 2021 Yorkton, SK. It is with great sadness the family of Lillie Wozny announces her passing at the age of 76. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband Norman Wozny of 57 years, her son Darren Wozny (Sophie Zhang) granddaughters Angelina and Athena Wozny of Calgary, daughter Cindy Wozny (Dave Rubis) of Redwater, AB, grandsons Sean (Ian) Watt and Dustin Thiessen (Angela Schwarzer) of Calgary and great-grandson Lucas Thiessen of Red Deer. Lillie was predeceased by her parents Alex and Mary Onofreychuk, sisters Julie and Helen and brothers Peter and George. Lillie was born in the Wroxton district. She met Norman and they were married May 18, 1963 in Calder, SK and moved to Calgary, AB where they resided for several years. Lillie worked at Bon Ton Meat Market for 30 years in downtown Calgary. Norm and Lillie moved back to Calder for their retirement where she spent endless hours tending to her huge garden on their acreage in Calder along with all her cooking/baking skills making perogies and sausage. Due to Covid 19 restrictions a “Celebration of Life” will take place at a later date. Please visit www.ChistiesFuneralHome.com for information.

Name, address and phone number must accompany any advertisement placed in the Classifieds. Publisher reserves the right to withhold ad from publication if information not complete.

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Obituaries

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ADVERTISING IS AN INVESTMENT NOT AN EXPENSE

RENOVATED 2 Bedroom Apartment on Dalebrooke Drive.

Available December. Call Shelby 780-208-3337.

Give us a call soon. We’d like to help you place a classified ad in Yorkton This Week. Phone 306782-2465.

Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

At Your Service BUSINESS & SERVICE DIRECTORY Handyperson WHATEVER NEEDS DONE. Carpentry, plumbing, painting, yard work, garbage hauled away.

Phone 306-621-7538, leave message.

Health Services

HIP/KNEE Replacement?

Other medical conditions causing TROUBLE WALKING or DRESSING? The Disability Tax Credit allows for $2,500 yearly tax credit and up to $50,000 Lump sum refund.

Apply NOW; quickest refund Nationwide!

Providing assistance during Covid.

Expert Help:

1-844-453-5372 Services for Hire BUILDING NEW, Doing Renos, need repairs. Over 20yrs. experience. Able to do framing, electrical, plumbing, drywall, tape, texture, paint, flooring. Specialize in walk-in tile showers, finish carpentry, windows & doors, siding, decks.

Will travel. Guaranteed workmanship. Call Glen 306-6414987.

CASTLE ARBOR CARE Tree Removals & Pruning.

306-621-5420. www.castlearborcare.com R.U. SHARP Sharpening Services & Sales. Reseller of RADA Knives & Cutlery. Call/Text 306-621-0657.

For Sale - Misc

Livestock

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

FOR SALE: Polled Purebred 2 year old and yearling Charolais bulls. Some red factor. Phone 306435-7116. King’s Polled Charolais.

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Cars 2 GOOD YEAR 275/65 18 tires.

One like new. $100; 4 Nordic snow tires on steel VW rims. $150.

Phone 306-338-2750.

FOR SALE: 2014 Ford Focus Hatchback.

205,000kms, new tires, remote start. No accidents, non-smoker. Very clean, asking $6,000. Call or text 306-594-8191.

Trucks & Vans 2015 CHEV Silverado, double cab, 4X4, 5.3 auto, ps/pb, spray in box liner, backup camera, 89,000kms.

306-782-9497 or 306-621-5625.

Farm Implements GOOD’S USED TRACTOR PARTS (204) 564-2528 or 1-877-564-8734 Roblin, MB

Feed & Seed

SPRINGSIDE HOUSING Authority is currently accepting applications for a 3 bedroom home. Fridge and stove included. Well kept, clean and quiet neighborhood. Rent is based on income. For more information and applications please call Morlie at 306-792-2222 or 306-621-7815.

Shared Accommodation SHARE FURNISHED house in Heritage heights Yorkton with 63 yr. old male/cat. Prefer over 45.

Call for details. 306-890-0571.

Suites For Rent SPRINGSIDE HOUSING Authority is currently accepting applications for 1 & 2 bedroom Senior Suites at the Heritage Place. Fridge and stove included. Central laundry with two washers and dryers. Well kept, ready for rent. Rent is based on income. For more information and applications please call Morlie at 306-792-2222 or 306-621-7815.

Appliances FREEZERS LARGE $475, Small $350; 20 qt. dough mixer $2500.

Phone Elaine 306-849-4910 or 306-272-7583.

FOR SALE: 2pc. wall unit, TV stand, table, 3 dressers and other misc. items. Phone 306-783-2717.

FOR SALE: Chesterfield and loveseat, beige in colour with wood accent. Good condition. $250 OBO. Phone 306-783-3852.

FOR ALL YOUR GARDEN SUPPLIES

YOUNG’S PLANT WORLD LTD. /634&3: t ("3%&/ $&/53& t (30$&3: 4503&

Highway #9 North, Yorkton 306-783-8660

CROP HAIL ADJUSTERS for the 2021 hail season.

(July - October) Semi-retired or retired this job is for you!

Competitive salary, all expenses & mileage paid, health spending account and pension plan. We provide extensive training using our industry leading crop hail adjusting program.

Email: dtiefenbach@smhi.ca for application form and job overview.

306-569-1852 ext 170.

General Employment Heavy Duty Mechanics required: Late model, clean CAT, JD equip; winch, dump, gravel trucks, and trailers. Both camp and shop locations; R & B provided Wage negotiable.

Clean drivers abstract a must.

Send resume and work references to: Bryden Construction )V_ (YIVYÄLSK :R : , ( " Fax: 306-769-8844 ,THPS! brydenconstruct@ xplornet.ca www. brydenconstruction andtransport.ca HELP WANTED: Full Time Yard/Sales Personnel. Apply in person with resume to Windsor Plywood Highway 10 East Yorkton, SK.

BUYING COINS, Paper Money, Scrap Gold, Complete Estates, All Collectibles. Call 306-783-3230 or 306-621-1419.

Auctions

CERTIFIED SEED WHEAT

GO EARLY, PINTAIL. OATS AC JUNIPER, AC MORGAN, AC MUSTANG, DERBY, SO1 SUPER OAT.

BARLEY

AMISK, BUSBY, CONLON, CDC AUSTENSON, CDC MAVERICK, CERVEZA, SUNDRE. PEAS AAC PEACE RIVER (VERY EARLY YELLOW), CDC HORIZON (FORAGE), POLISH CANOLA, SPRING TRITICALE mastinseeds.com 403-556-2609 FORAGE SEED FOR SALE: Organic & conventional: Sweet Clover, Alfalfa, Red Clover, Smooth Brome, Meadow Brome, Crested Wheatgrass, Timothy, etc.

Star City, SK. Birch Rose Acres Ltd. 306-921-9942.

For Sale - Misc FOR SALE: 2015 VOLVO and 2017 grain bulker B-train. For more info phone 306-338-7006.

Currently accepting applications for

Wanted

Houses For Rent

Livestock ANDERSON CATTLE CO. BULL SALE. 60 Red & Black Angus Bulls. March 30/21 at Swan River, MB. 204-734-2073, www.andersoncattle.ca.

Diamond W Bull Sale: 19th Annual Bull Sale Diamond W Bull Sale: 19th Annual Bull Sale, Tuesday, March 23th, 1:30 PM DST, JTM Livestock, Minitonas, MB. Offering 45 Charolais Yearling & Two-YearOlds, many polled, some red factor, 30 Red & Black Angus Yearlings & Two-Year-Olds. Sound, semen tested with delivery available. For catalogues and info contact Orland Walker 306-865-6539.

Sale broadcast live www.dlms.com.

Catalogue and videos online at www.bylivestock.com 306-865-6539

PLAN OF THE WEEK

Agricultural

THE LEADER POST is currently seeking to fill newspaper delivery routes in Yorkton. Tuesday to Saturday to be delivered by 8am. Approx. 115 deliveries to retailers and home delivery customers will earn you $1100 a month. If you or someone you know is interested in this opportunity please contact 306-781-5409 or carriers@leaderpost.com

Spate Covers Rubber Surfacing Spate Covers Rubber Surfacing is your local source for Rubber surfacing in Yorkton and the surrounding areas.

Rubber surfacing is decorative and durable with many features that make it the ideal option for new installations or for resurfacing existing areas with the most popular options being driveways, poolsides, and patios.

Call or email Spate Covers for more details or for a brochure to be delivered to you. View our website for details and current promotions.

This month's promotion is our season start "Dethaw Discount".

Book any project of 500 feet squared and above within the month of March 2021 and save 5% on your total installation cost.

Contact Spate Covers for a Free estimate.

306-830-0513 | spatecovers.com

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Gateway Coop Hardware Surplus Live Online Auction - 49 1st St NE, Preeceville SK Don't miss the first Global Auction Marketplace Live Online Auction in Preeceville, SK on Saturday, March 27th @ 10:00AM. This will be conducted with online-only bidding, with a live auctioneer. Over 400 lots of unused, reconditioned, and gently used items will sell. Pre-sale viewing and full auction catalogue with photos is available on our website at www.globalauction.ca and in-person viewing will be available on Friday March 26th in Preeceville from 10:00AM - 6:00PM. Items include: unused home renovation materials, livestock supplies, fencers, lawn & garden items, shop tools & fixtures, and tons more!

PLAN NUMBER 1-3687 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A VIEW This charming threebedroom home is designed for a lot that slopes to the back, to take advantage of a view.

The covered entry will be appreciated in inclement weather and leads into a foyer with the third bedroom (or den) to the right. A coat closet is located nearby.

Directly ahead is the staircase to the unfinished basement, as well as the great room. A gas fireplace will cast its rosy glow throughout this room, as well as the open-plan dining area and kitchen.

The kitchen features an L-shaped counter configuration that will save steps for the cook and is separated from the great room by a change in ceiling height. The dining area includes an optional built-out buffet, always welcome when guests

come to dinner.

The great room and dining area open through sliding glass doors to a covered deck that looks out to the back, an ideal spot for al fresco meals.

The roomy master suite also looks out to the back It includes a threepiece ensuite, as well as a walk-in closet.

The second bedroom is tucked in between the double garage and the laundry room and is served by a three-piece bathroom adjacent to the third bedroom or den.

The two-vehicle garage is located near the front entrance and enjoys access through the laundry room.

Exterior finishes include painted horizontal siding with brick accents and wood trim.

This home measures 38 feet wide and 60 feet, eight inches deep, for a total of 1,341 square feet, not including the unfinished basement.

Plans for design 1-3-

687 are available for $735 (set of 5), $795 (set of 8) and $985 for a super set of 10. Also add $35.00 for Priority charges within B.C. or $60.00 outside of B.C. Please add H.S.T., PST, OR G.S.T (where applicable) to both the plan price and Priority charges.

Our 52ND Edition of the Home Plan Catalogue containing over 300 plans is available for $16.50 (includes taxes, postage and handling). Make all cheque and money orders payable to “Jenish House Design Ltd.” and mail to: JENISH HOUSE DESIGN LTD. c/o...Yorkton This Week #201- 1658 Commerce Ave Kelowna, BC V1X 8A9 OR SEE OUR WEB PAGE ORDER FORM ON: www.jenish.com AND E-MAIL YOUR ORDER TO: homeplans@ jenish.com

Domestic Help Wanted

Domestic Help Wanted

Auctions

Childcare Needed: Looking for part time childcare for 4 children in home. Must be able to drive.

Approx. 5-7 days a month. (Mostly Mondays and Tuesdays) 2 children attend school full time. 6:30 am or 8:30 am start. Pays $15 an hour. Will consider mother who needs to bring 1 other child with her.

306-620-3314

Trucking & Transport

C & G SHUTTLE 1-306-647-3333 1-306-620-3521 (Cell) Airports, medical or shopping trips, up to 5 people.

For more information on this sale or about selling items in upcoming auctions in your area, call us today at 306-952-6270! PL#: 341458 306-952-6270 www.globalauction.ca

General Employment

General Employment

NOW HIRING! The Yorkton Real Canadian Superstore is hiring

FULL & PART TIME MEAT CUTTER

We’re looking for talented colleagues who are passionate about providing an exceptional shopping experience for customers and delighting them every step of the way!

At Loblaw, it’s about our respect for the environment, sourcing products with integrity and making a positive difference in the community. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility and a benefits package.

We seek great people to continually strengthen our culture.

We believe great people model our values, are authentic, build trust and make connections.

If that sounds like you, and you are open-minded, responsive to change and up to the challenges provided in a fast- paced retail environment, apply today online at loblaw.ca/careers Real Canadian Superstore 206 Broadway Street East Yorkton, SK S3N 3K4

Give us a call soon. We’d like to help you place a classified ad in Yorkton This Week. Phone 306782-2465.

WARD’S & BUD HAYNES FIREARMS AUCTION, Saturday, April 24th, Edmonton, AB. Online Bidding, Live Preview April 23rd.

WardsAuctions.com.

Consign Now. Brad Ward 780-940-8378.

NEILSON CATTLE COMPANY Charolais Bull Sale, Monday, March 22, 1:00 pm at the Ranch, Hwy # 47 South of Willowbrook, SK. Offering an elite group of 35 two year old Charolais bulls, all semen tested and vet inspected. for a catalogue or more information contact Mike at 306-620-7252 or T Bar C Cattle Co. at 306-220-5006. Watch and bid online at www.DLMS.ca and to view the catalogue online, visit www.BuyAgro.com. (PL#116061).

Smart shoppers find the best buys in the Yorkton This Week Classifieds.

General Employment

General Employment

Rural Municipality of Saltcoats No. 213 Mower Operator The RM of Saltcoats No. 213 is now accepting applications for the position of seasonal full-time Mower Operator for the 2021 right of way mowing season.

This position will be a seasonal full time position for approximately 800 hrs commencing on or about June 21st, 2021.

Applicants must hold a valid drivers license. Experience and maintaining and operating tractors and mowers along with Powered Mobile Equipment(PME) training would be an asset. A vehicle to haul fuel and blades would also be an asset.

Applicants are invited to submit a resume stating experience, along with 3 references on or before April 9th, 2021. )RU PRUH LQIRUPDWLRQ SOHDVH FRQWDFW WKH 5 0 R൶FH DW 306-744-2202.

Please submit application to: Ron Risling, Administrator R.M. of Saltcoats No. 213 Box 150, Saltcoats, Sask., S0A 3R0 E-mail: rm.saltcoats@sasktel.net

Kaleidoscope

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 www.yorktonthisweek.com

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ART • ENTERTAINMENT • COMMUNITY

Saskatchewan to Mars: Tim Haltigin is the constant space inquisitor Evan Radford Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (The Leader-Post (Regina) Scientists should always have more questions than answers. It’s the main kernel of advice Tim Haltigin gives for any aspiring astronaut.

The Canora native knows a thing or two about curiosity: A planetary scientist by training, he’s a mission designer with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA); his latest project is sample collection and research on Mars, part of NASA’s Perseverance rover mission, which landed a probe on the red planet in February.

“Science is not always about finding answers.

It’s actually about finding better questions.

I think curiosity is the most important quality you can develop,” Haltigin said in a recent

interview.

The other important thing — have fun.

“Science is so often mischaracterized as being very rigid and very serious and no one can make mistakes,” he said.

“We make mistakes all the time and we learn from them and we get better. Don’t worry about being perfect.”

Though he now lives in the Montreal area and earned his PhD at McGill University, Haltigin and his mom, Linda Osachoff, both concede his childhood home near Canora had a big influence on him.

She recalls how her son would often be enamoured with the expansive, prairie night sky and its seemingly endless stars.

“He’d spend hours out there at night, looking at the stars,” she said.

The two of them said the family farm afforded that opportunity, which

Photo by Micheal Bell / Regina Leader-Post

Linda Osachoff poses for a photo at the University of Regina. Linda’s son Tim Haltigin is a scientist with the Canadian Space Agency, and recently worked on NASA’s Perseverance rover mission to Mars that successfully landed Feb. 18. The photo was shot in such a way as to hint at Mars’s red atmosphere.

might be harder to come by for urban dwellers, especially on a daily basis.

Whenever Haltigin makes it back home for a family visit, he does the same thing, she said.

He and his colleagues at the CSA and NASA have now begun directing the rover probe, nicknamed Percy, to drill down into the planet’s surface using a twometre arm.

Over two years, the plutonium-powered machine will collect 36 to 48 rock samples, all the size of a piece of chalk.

Those will be sealed in tubes, to be picked up and delivered back to Earth by a fetch rover, ideally by 2031.

“I’ve been involved with (the project) since 2014. This has been a long time in the making. To see it land on Mars is so tremendously exciting,” he said.

Assuming the mission is successful, his team is to study rocks as old as four billion years. At that time, Mars’ “atmosphere was a lot thicker; there was liquid water at the surface and the conditions were a lot more favourable for life as we know it,” Haltigin said.

He hopes to understand what Mars was like then, “if life arose and if we can find signs of life.”

For comparison, Earth is 4.5 billion years old; scientists agree the big bang happened about 14 billion years ago.

His mom says she’s proud of her son’s work and accomplishments.

“There’s a quiet pride.

There’s also a huge acknowledgement of truly the village it takes to raise any child,” Osachoff said of Canora.

“I’m (also) very proud of the married man and father that he his.”

Barta-Bonk named honorary Hungarian consul Rob Paul - Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (The WorldSpectator - Moosomin) Candace BartaBonk was recently named Saskatchewan’s Hungarian honorary consul, a role focused on protecting the interests of Hungarian citizens in Saskatchewan and promoting the culture.

Although born in Saskatchewan, BartaBonk has deep family ties to Hungary and has always had a connection to the rich Hungarian community in the province and even spent time living in Hungary. This led to her involvement with the consulate.

“I am a fourth-generation Canadian, but I have pure Hungarian roots,” said Barta-Bonk. “All of my great-grandparents were born in Hungary.

This has led me to be involved in the Canadian Hungarian community.

“I was approached by the Hungarian Ambassador to Canada and asked if I would be willing to take on this role. It is a great honour for me and of course, I

accepted.

“I feel that it is a way to give back and serve two different countries that I have called home. I grew up in Moosomin but moved to Kipling while I was in high school. I have also lived in Hungary Kaposvár for a large portion of my working career.

I believe that this will give important context when fulfilling my duties in this role.”

The journey to becoming Saskatchewan’s honorary consul began a few years ago for BartaBonk when she hosted Balint Odór on his trip to Saskatchewan.

“In 2017 the Hungarian Ambassador to Canada at the time, Balint Odór, visited Saskatchewan,” she said. “On his trip he visited the Kaposvár Hungarian settlement near Esterhazy and the Bekevár Hungarian settlement near Kipling. I had the privilege of hosting the Ambassador at Bekevár.

“It was very special for me as it was my greatgrandparents who were the settlers who helped to build the church. It was after this visit that

Candace Barta-Bonk, left, with Hungarian Ambassador to Canada Dr. Balint Odór and Moosomin MLA Steven Bonk, on a visit by the ambassador to Bekevar Church, an early Hungarian settlement in Saskatchewan, located near Kipling. the ambassador wanted to create an honorary consul position for Saskatchewan. Up until that point, the honorary consul in Calgary was also responsible for Saskatchewan.”

In her role as honorary consul, BartaBonk’s priority is working with Hungarians in Saskatchewan and helping to foster the country’s culture in the province.

“The role of honorary consul is to help facilitate cultural, economic, and social relations between Hungary and Saskatchewan,” she said.

“The responsibilities also include assisting Hungarian citizens living in Saskatchewan with notarizations, and authentications of documents as well as directing them to the consul general in Toronto or the Hungarian Embassy in Ottawa. A very important aspect of the role is to promote economic and scientific relations between Hungary and Saskatchewan.

“The Hungarian ambassador to Canada, Dr. Mária Vass Salazar, has a very keen interest in innovation and

“It was important to register and pay respect to the work of our ancestors. I am a proud Métis citizen.” Daniel / Citizen & Entrepreneur

Now is the Time.

Become a Registered Métis Citizen.

In-person Sessions, March 18-20, 2021 The Métis Nation–Saskatchewan Registry Office is booking appointments in your area to help you with your citizenship application. COVID-19 protocols will be in place.

Call 833-343-8391 to book. Access forms at:

metisnationsk.com/citizenship “Métis means a person, who self identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and is accepted by the Métis Nation.” Métis Nation–Saskatchewan Constitutional definition of Métis

science, and I am working towards highlighting points of common interest. The honorary consul is also responsible for organizing and preparing a program when the Hungarian Ambassador visits Saskatchewan.”

With a large Hungarian community in Saskatchewan and a strong history in the province, Barta-Bonk is excited to help continue the tradition and share the heritage.

“Hungary and Saskatchewan have a long connection,” she said. “The very first Hungarian settlements in Canada were in Saskatchewan—they were started in the late 1880s at Kaposvár near Esterhazy, Otthon near Yorkton, and Bekevár near Kipling. Many other Hungarian settlements in Saskatchewan followed. There was also a second wave of immigration from Hungary following the 1956 revolution. The Hungarian community is very proud of their shared heritage and traditions. There are very active Hungarian communities in Regina and

Saskatoon, with festivals, celebrations, language schools and folk dance groups for all ages.”

Barta-Bonk says it’s a privilege to be able to represent Hungary in Saskatchewan as an honorary consul, and she emphasizes the importance of keeping the cultural connection alive.

“This is something that is very important to me and the main reason why I took this role,” she said.

“I feel that it is important for people to know where they come from and to understand their history. The Hungarians who came to Saskatchewan were tough, resourceful people, who integrated into Canadian society but were able to hold on to their culture and traditions, so the Hungarian culture was all around me when I grew up. There was always Hungarian singing, food and of course, the language. I know that this is a similar story for many people in Saskatchewan, and it is my hope that now we have an honorary consul, we can make a stronger connection between Hungary and Saskatchewan.

A porch makes room for many things Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Anything can happen on a porch. Connection.

Refreshment. Reflection.

Rejection, sometimes.

Even buying and selling.

As a child in the sixties, I had the chore of sweeping our small front porch clear of its weekly accumulation of dirt and spiders. Rarely do I remember anyone but company using that porch – and door-to-door salesmen like the Fuller Brush man. He stood his brooms and mops in the porch’s corner, opened his case and spread out his smaller wares on the small top platform. Mom hovered low to inspect; opening tins and sniffing soaps and ointments before choosing.

The fellow never

left the porch without leaving a gift: a letter opener or shoehorn, a comb or small plastic fry pan spoon holder, all embossed with the words “Compliments of your Fuller Brush Dealer.”

A big enough porch makes a convenient place to welcome family and guests, even considering today’s pandemic social distancing dictates.) To enjoy a refreshing pause during the dog days of summer. To hello a passing neighbour, wave farewell to a beloved. Or simply to stand and stare, perhaps utter a prayer, as emergency vehicles rush past.

Got rugs to shake?

Birds to feed? No better place than a porch

KATHLEEN GIBSON

Sunny Side Up has inspired readers of faith since 2001. Read more at www.kathleengibson.ca or reach Kathleen at sunnysideup.press@gmail.com

Sunny Side Up for that. For watching the sunset, the moonrise, the stars wink. For shouting out pleasant words like “Dinner!” and less pleasant ones—anxious calls to wandering pets or stern warnings to furry squatters.

Something I’ll never forget happened on my porch at sunrise once.

Overnight, the thermom-

eter plummeted to twenty below zero, but Grace Cat insisted on escaping outside for a sniff of morning air. When he didn’t return after an hour, I stood outside the front door and began calling.

“Graaaa…..cy! Here, Grace! Come, kitty, kitty!”

The cat didn’t respond. Someone else did, though. Clear and

pure as a silver dart flew back the voice of a child who loves me. “I hear you, Nana!”

“I hear you too!” I called, tickled.

Our daughter and family lived just a block away then. My voice had floated over to Benjamin, still a youngster, as he stood in his front yard, viewing the sunrise through his family’s telescope.

The cat came back eventually. Years later, I still ponder the wonder of that responsive little voice, piercing the still, chill dawn and reaching me. God’s wireless network; a message transported on frigid Saskatchewan air alone.

A sunrise surprise on my

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porch. I smiled all day.

Having the unexpected voice of someone who loves you waft like a feather and land all by itself on your porch warms one from the toes up – even on a winter prairie morning. Makes you want to rush to that child and embrace him.

Imagine another porch, near, but unseen.

Imagine Jesus there, calling your name. Imagine recognizing his voice.

Answering back, heart full of eager. “Lord, I hear you!” Imagine his delight. “Child, I hear you too! Come to me!”

God never stops calling. Are you listening?

Have you answered? No better time than today, my friend.

World Backgammon Day Sunday Gamers might not be aware, but March 21 is World Backgammon Day. For several years the World Backgammon Association (WBA) has promoted the day by encouraging the backgammon community to celebrate by gathering, playing, organizing tournaments and enjoying the game.

Regular readers may recall back in July (2020), this space was devoted to the WBA and its efforts regarding the rather ancient board game.

For those still unfamiliar Backgammon is one of the oldest known board games. According to Wikipedia “its history can be traced back nearly 5,000 years to archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia. It is a twoplayer game where each player has fifteen pieces (checkers or men) that move between twentyfour triangles (points) according to the roll of two dice. The objective of the game is to be first to bear off, i.e. move all fifteen checkers off the board. Backgammon is a member of the tables

family, one of the oldest classes of board games.

“Backgammon involves a combination of strategy and luck (from rolling dice). While the dice may determine the outcome of a single game, the better player will accumulate the better record over a series of many games. With each roll of the dice, players must choose from numerous options for moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. The optional use of a doubling cube allows players to raise the stakes during the game.”

The 2020 article attracted the attention of the recently incorporated Canadian Backgammon Federation which called to let us know there was a lone Federation member in Saskatchewan, Brian McHolm of Saskatoon.

In a recent telephone chat McHolm said he has been playing the classic game for years.

“I’ve been playing Backgammon for 10-15 years, oh more than that. My first tourna-

THE MEEPLE GUILD (YORKTON) meeple.guild@gmail.com ment in Saskatoon was probably 30-years ago,” he recalled. “I came across it (the tourney) it was a bunch of university kids and I was in my late-20s, and I was looking for somebody to play backgammon against in Saskatoon.”

Since then McHolm has stayed a fan of the game, although he admitted even before the current COVID-19 pandemic finding face-to-face opponents in Saskatoon has been a major challenge.

That is where the Canadian Federation has been a huge benefit, offering apps that allow for online players across the country and around the world, including weekly tournaments.

The Federation,

found at www.backgammoncanada.com, also has a system to rate players, world level players at about 2200, players like McHolm in the 1700s and new players around 1200.

While ratings help players match up with liked skilled opponents, rolling dice is part of backgammon and that means there is luck involved.

“I’ve beat players in the 1800s and been beaten by ones at 1200,” he said. “... You can get a fairly good rating in Backgammon and still get beat by somebody just starting.”

McHolm said for some the dice rolling may be seen as a drawback adding games “can be unpredictable because of the dice,” but therein

lies one of the great challenges of Backgammon learning how to best mitigate the luck, pushing it at times, or trying to more conservative.

Another way of looking at it is dealing with the risks of the game.

“You can’t play without some risk ... you just have to figure out how to best deal with it ... how to mitigate the risk,” said McHolm.

One of the tools is the doubling cube.

“To speed up match play and to provide an added dimension for strategy, a doubling cube is usually used,” details Wikipedia. “The doubling cube is not a die to be rolled, but rather a marker, with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 inscribed on its sides to denote the current stake. At the start of each game, the doubling cube is placed on the midpoint of the bar with the number 64 showing; the cube is then said to be “centered, on 1”. When the cube is centered, either player may start their turn by proposing that the game be played for

twice the current stakes.

Their opponent must either accept (“take”) the doubled stakes or resign (“drop”) the game immediately.

Whenever a player accepts doubled stakes, the cube is placed on their side of the board with the corresponding power of two facing upward, to indicate that the right to re-double belongs exclusively to that player. If the opponent drops the doubled stakes, they lose the game at the current value of the doubling cube. For instance, if the cube showed the number 2 and a player wanted to redouble the stakes to put it at 4, the opponent choosing to drop the redouble would lose two, or twice the original stake.”

McHolm said the doubling cube is an essential element of the game, giving it a sort of ‘poker-like’ aspect where bluffing and bravado come into play.

“I’ve probably won as many games because of the doubling cube as I have on the count,” he said.

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7+$1. <28 THE GRAND TOTAL RAISED AT THE 2021 EASTER SEALS SNOWARAMA WAS

119,422!

$

The funds raised at Snowarama will provide individuals experiencing disability the opportunity to participate in Camp Easter Seal, Summer Fun, and Adaptive Technology Services.

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SUMMER FUN is a recreational day camping program, operated during July and August, for children and youth aged 6 to 22. The program fosters community inclusion, social skill development, and increases confidence and self-esteem in program participants. The rewards of laughter, play, and learning are immeasurable! In 2020, Summer Fun was ran as a virtual program and, although we are hoping and planning for an “in person” experience in 2021, we are still prepared to maintain the program virtually.

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TOP 10 PLEDGE RAISER CLUB Top pledge raiser: Kenn Propp of Yorkton - $40,653 2nd top pledge raiser: Lynn Schmidt of Langenburg - $5811 3rd top pledge raiser: Bruce Peppler of Rhein - $4015 4th top pledge raiser: Richard Purves of Rhein - $2120 5th top pledge raiser: David Harris of Yorkton - $2022.80 6th top pledge raiser: Kevin Kluk of Yorkton - $1340 7th top pledge raiser: Darrel Mirva of Yorkton - $1226 8th top pledge raiser: Kailee Popowich of Yorkton - $1145 9th top pledge raiser: Alyssa Popowich of Yorkton - $1010 10th top pledge raiser: Shannon Scott of Regina - $979 Thank you to the 2021 Easter Seals Snowarama Committee Barry BradshawChairperson Rick BradshawChairperson

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