Rick's Ride for the Animals

The Estevan Humane Society hosted the annual Rick's Ride for the Animals on June 20. About 40 people participated in the motorcycle poker derby, racing $1,600 for the Humane Society. The event is held each year in memory of Rick Ganje.

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Perry stepping down as fire chief
Estevan Fire Chief Rick Perry has announced he will retire in September, ending an association with Estevan Fire Services that lasted nearly 40 years.
Perry cited health reasons for his resignation.
Perry joined Estevan Fire Services in 1970 as a volunteer firefighter. He was eventually promoted to captain. He also served as president of the firefighter's association.
In 1990, he was named the deputy fire chief to Ron Hawes. He became the chief in 1997.
"It's quite an accomplishment for somebody in their career," said Perry.
Firefighting is a fun, exciting job, Perry said, even though people aren't always happy to see him. Sometimes it stemmed from him completing a fire inspection. Other times he and the other firefighters were responding to a fire or an accident.
"But knowing that you've done some good gives you a lot of job satisfaction," said Perry. "It's a tremendous feeling to be able to help somebody in their time of need."
Highlights from his tenure as chief include fire prevention programs that were introduced in Estevan's schools. Firefighter equipment has also improved.
"You used to go into a burning building, and when the back of your ears started to burn, you knew it was time to come out," said Perry.
Self-contained breathing apparatus was introduced just before he joined the fire department in 1970. That helped firefighters a lot, he said. Clothing has also improved.
Perry said there were several memorable fires during his career. He remembers when a backdraft knocked him 30 or 40 feet down a hallway during a fire at the International Hotel in 1973. And he remembers battling the flames during a fire that destroyed the old Trinity Lutheran Church building in 1990.
He also recalled a backdraft during a fire at Park Place Apartments in 2001 that forced several firefighters to evacuate the building.
Perry said Estevan is fortunate that there haven't been any firefighter fatalities during his career.
The biggest challenge facing the department in the future is it will have to grow to match Estevan's growth, he said.
"That may mean some more staff to deal with all the issues that are out there," said Perry. "Get more inspections done. Inspections are part of fire prevention."
More equipment will need to be purchased, he said, and that could mean a new fire hall.

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Police Report
*Several people were arrested for driving while over .08. They will appear in court on July 27. In one instance, the suspect was also charged with having care and control of a vehicle while over .08. He was found passed out behind the wheel on 13th Avenue near Sixth Street. In another case, a 48-year-old Estevan male was also charged with possession of marijuana.
*Police are investigating an assault complaint involving two males in the central area of the city. No further information was released.
*Police responded to a domestic dispute. The matter remains under investigation and charges may result. Both parties had been drinking.
*An assault complaint was received from a business on 13th Avenue. A 26-year-old intoxicated male was arrested. He was lodged in cells until sober. The assault remains under investigation.
*A missing person was reported to police. A 13-year-old male subject failed to return home to return to his residence in Torquay after school. Within minutes, the subject was located by police. Arrangements were made for the child to be given a ride home by a family friend.

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Protection against West Nile Virus
In anticipation of a potentially high risk year for the West Nile Virus (WNV), the Ministry of Health is posting a visual tool to help Saskatchewan residents better understand their level of risk for contracting the disease this summer.
The colour-coded risk map, introduced in 2008, allows residents to see their risk of contracting WNV by health region, whether it is low, moderate or high. The map is based on the number of WNV-infected mosquitoes caught in surveillance traps around the province and other risk indicators such as the weather.
However, residents are reminded that they should take personal precautions, even in low-risk areas.
"Although the risk of contracting West Nile varies from year to year and region to region, there is always a risk," Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Moira McKinnon said. "Low risk is not 'no risk'. West Nile Virus is here to stay in Saskatchewan and it does not discriminate. If you can be bitten by a mosquito, you can contract West Nile."
Personal protection measures against WNV include:
*Wear insect repellent containing DEET;
*Wear protective clothing;
*Reduce time spent outdoors at dawn and at dusk; and
*Reduce mosquito habitats.
Only one in 150 people infected with West Nile Virus will develop serious illness, with high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness or paralysis.
These symptoms may last several weeks and neurological effects may be permanent. People who develop symptoms of severe West Nile Virus illness should seek medical attention immediately.
April and May were cool, dry months in Saskatchewan, resulting in fewer mosquitoes hatching and delaying development of mosquito populations by approximately two weeks. With more moisture in the first week in June and increasing temperatures, it is anticipated that mosquito activity will increase through the WNV risk season, which is typically the end of June through early September.

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Council notes
Highlights from the June 22 meeting of Estevan City Council:
*Eleven more tenders were awarded for Estevan's new arena: $373,008.23 to Raven Roofing for steel decking, preformed metal siding, single ply roofing and modified bituminous roofing; $46,595.16 to Specialty Industries for overhead cooling doors to Specialty Industries; $175,285.63 to Souris Valley Paving for subbase courses and asphalt paving; $11,661.50 to Nordic Industries for chain link fencing; $203,324.06 to M2 Painting and Decorating for painting; $101,260 to Shanahan's Building Specialties for miscellaneous specialties, HDPE plastic toilet partitions, toilet and bath accessories, and metal lockers; $619,595 to Flame Fabricators for structural steel and metal fabrications; $168,867.65 to Global Sport Resources for steel framed dasher boards; $377,235 to Tierdon Glass for aluminum framed entrances and storefronts, aluminum windows and glazing; $483,928.39 to Regal Flooring for thin set tiling and resilient flooring, and $1,077,962.50 to Pace Industrial for the ice plant and related systems. Mayor Gary St. Onge voiced concern with many of the tenders, as they were substantially over or under budget.
*Nexen has tentatively been contracted out to supply natural gas to the City of Estevan buildings for $0.2853 per cubic metre. Council is waiting on a natural gas quote from SaskEnergy.
*Glen Peterson Construction was awarded the concrete works contract for the city. This year's concrete works include Phase VIII in the Trojan subdivision, the Rooney Road/Nesbitt Drive and Kensington Avenue intersection, the Fourth Street and Second Avenue intersection, and various other projects in the community.
*A landfill compactor lease tender was awarded to Brandt Tractor of Regina for $513,500.
*Salmers Contracting was awarded the tender for a new cemetery building for $50,565.11.
*A Hillcrest Playpark gazebo tender was awarded to Advance True Value Building Products for $5,999.50.
*Southeast Tree Care will handle monitoring for the Banded Elm Bark Beetle. Ten traps will be placed throughout the city for $3,500.
*An amended summer ice allocation policy was approved that will push the deadline for summer ice requests to December 1. All user groups will be notified of approval by December 15.

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Open house on Steelman line
SaskPower discussed the proposed rebuilding of a substation in the Steelman area, and the construction of transmission lines to that substation, during an open house at the Estevan Royal Canadian Legion on June 18.
Design engineer Craig Preikchat said SaskPower is trying to reinforce their existing infrastructure in the Steelman area due to an increasing load demand. The oil industry is growing around Steelman, he said, and other sectors have gone through load growth as well.
SaskPower also wants to be ready for future load growth in the Steelman area, he said.
The substation will be upgraded from 78 kilovolts to 138 kilovolts. About 50 kilometres of new transmission lines will be constructed from the Boundary Dam Power Station to the Steelman substation.
Power outages haven't been a problem, Preikchat said. But they want to improve the power quality in the region.
"There are lots of large, industrial customers out there," said Preikchat.
Preikchat said SaskPower has several similar projects taking place around the province.
"It's partially due to the economic boom, and also due to the aging infrastructure that we have in place currently," said Preikchat.
The open house is part of the environmental approval process. Once SaskPower receives comments from the affected landowners, Preikchat said they will proceed with environmental approval, which will be needed before detailed design and construction can begin.
If they do receive approval, construction is expected to take place from May to July of 2010. The project should be finished in July of 2010. The estimated cost is $7 million.

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St. Onge will seek another term
Estevan Mayor Gary St. Onge will seek another term in the upcoming October civic election.
St. Onge, who has been mayor since 2005, initially planned to run for a councillor seat in the election. But pressure and encouragement from residents and local entrepreneurs swayed him to run for mayor one more time.
"There are several projects that the last two Councils have initiated for the betterment of the city, and I would like to see them accomplished," said St. Onge.
Two of the projects are the new events centre, which is currently under construction, and a new truck route that would run north of the city.
Those were also factors in his decision to run, St. Onge said.
"This Council has, I believe, done a pretty good job in continuing to do a lot of work, and making Estevan a better place to live," said St. Onge.
Council has also fostered positive relationships with Souris-Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki and Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles, he said.
Mistakes have been made, he conceded. While the current garbage pick-up system is fine, he said, consultation with the public should have taken place prior to making the switch from manual to mechanized garbage pick-up.
"So we've tried to do that (more public consultation) since then, with some areas of success," said St. Onge. "Sometimes people do come out. Sometimes they don't. At least give them the opportunity. I think we learned from that."
He doesn't know if anybody will oppose him in October's civic election. Four of the five city councillors are expected to run again, he said. He knows of a couple people who are rumoured to run for councillor.
St. Onge was first elected Estevan's mayor in a by-election in June 2005. He was re-elected, by acclamation, to his first full term as mayor in October 2006.

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Arts Council hands out scholarships

Participating in the scholarship presentations were: (Back row, L-R): Arts Council representative Heidi Hesselink, Alyssa Biberdorf, Riley Gyorfi, Adam Shirley and Josh Pele. Front row: Maya Branyik-Thornton, Bailey Holzer, Teagan Graham, Jake Rundle Spilchuk and Amber Dechief. Missing: Kayla Brodziak and Shaylee Foord.

The Estevan Arts Council handed out their arts scholarships for 2009 during a June 18 reception.
Eleven students received $100 scholarships this year. Kayla Brodziak, Teagan Graham and Bailey Holzer received $100 scholarships so that they could attend the Drewitz School of Dance's summer camp. Shaylee Foord and Riley Gyorfi received $100 scholarships for the Estevan Summer Band Camp.
Jake Rundle Spilchuk received a $100 scholarship for the Estevan Band Camp.
Receiving $200 scholarships were: Alyssa Biberdorf for the International Music Camp; Maya Branyik-Thornton for the Victoria Youth Musical Theatre camp; Joshua Pele for the Missoula Children's Theatre camp; and Adam Shirley for the Prairieland Jazz Camp.
Amber Dechief received the Eli Mandel Scholarship for Creative Writing. She will be attending the International Music Camp.
The Arts Council provides scholarships each year to students in Grades 7 to 12 who are attending summer camps in the fine arts.

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Multicultural Day celebrations coming
Multiculturalism Day will be celebrated with a potluck supper June 27 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The event will take place in the Souris Valley Aquatic and Leisure Centre's multipurpose room. Everyone who attends is being asked to bring food, and include the name of the food and its list of ingredients.
The event will be hosted by the Southeast Community Settlement Committee, the Southeast Regional College and the Estevan Area Literacy Group.

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Ground-breaking planned for Metochos building

Metochos Ministries Lutheran Bible Camp, which is located northwest of Estevan, is going to have a new building.
A groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Friday, July 3 at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Construction is expected to be finished in the spring of 2010.
"This is a project that has been at the Board table since the original camp site near Midale was displaced by the building of Rafferty Dam about 20 years ago," said Metochos board chair Vern Buck.
Lindal Homes and Apogee Contracting has been contracted to do the work.
"They have been very accommodating in redesigning a smaller lodge to meet our needs," Buck says.
The 6,850 square foot facility will use geothermal heating and cooling systems, making it environmentally friendly. It will house kitchen facilities, a dining area and a hall for worship. It could also be rented for retreats, weddings or conferences for up to 125 people.

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Emmett rocked the Orpheum

Rik Emmett from the rock group Triumph appeared at
the Orpheum Theatre in Estevan on June 20.

A famed Canadian musician performed during a concert at the Orpheum Theatre in Estevan on June 20.
Rik Emmett from the rock group Triumph played in front of about 180 people. Jocelyn Dougherty from the Orpheum said Emmett - who was joined by his current band - was thrilled with the enthusiasm of the crowd. The audience showered Emmett with several standing ovations.
Emmett played mostly his own music. He also played selections from Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin.
Dougherty said that Emmett was very happy with the community and the friendly people in Estevan.
She also noted that some in the audience told her that Emmett was the best guitar player they had ever seen.

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National awards for Spruce Ridge

Spruce Ridge School's Grade 3B class recently won a
pair of national science fair awards.

The Grade 3B students from Spruce Ridge School won a pair of awards in the Canada-Wide Virtual Science Fair.
The students were presented with an award for best overall project in the Kindergarten to Grade 3 category. They were also recognized for best conservation project in the Kindergarten to Grade 12 division.
Their topic was the black-footed ferret, which is a rare North American mammal.
"The reason the children won the conservation award was because of their study of that particular animal," said teacher Joyce Kimber Parent.
The black-footed ferret will be released back into the wild this fall at the Grasslands National Park in southwest Saskatchewan. The ferret is currently being bred at the University of Toronto and in the U.S.
Students described the animal, talked about its food and habitat, and discussed human impact on the mammal.
"All their research had to come from the Internet, simply because there aren't a lot of books written about that animal because it's so rare," said Kimber Parent.
Judges said it was an excellent project. They liked an accompanying quiz and power point presentation, Kimber Parent said. And they liked the art included with the project.
Students drew photos of the animal using pictures that they found on the Internet.
Kimber Parent said she doesn't know how many schools entered the Virtual Science Fair.
The Grade 3B class won a $100 prize for each award. Kimber Parent said the money will be used to purchase some new materials on animals.

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Century farm award for Marcotte's

(L-R) Caroline, Matthew, Nicole and Jane Marcotte recently accepted the Century Family Farm Award.

The Marcotte family has been recognized for their 100-year commitment to agriculture in the Torquay area. The family was recently presented with the Century Family Farm Award in Regina.
Matthew Marcotte said that his grandfather, David, received the initial registration papers for a quarter-section of land (160 acres) near Torquay in December of 1908. David Marcotte, his wife Josephine, and their eight children arrived in Torquay in 1909. A homestead shack was constructed in April of 1909.
When Torquay was settled, the homestead shack was moved to another part of the Marcotte's land, closer to the community.
"They did what they could to keep the farm going," said Matthew. "They needed to do a whole bunch of things. My grandfather did carpentry work."
Matthew's father, Roch, was pulled out of school at age 14 in 1928, after Roch completed Grade 6, to help with the farm. It was a common occurrence back then, Matthew said.
"Everything was pretty much by hand," said Matthew. "My dad, my dad's older brother, and David, they all were working. Everything was manual. It took three of them."
Roch spent more than 50 years working on the farm.
Matthew took over most of the operations in 1975, when Roch and Roch's wife, Caroline, moved into Estevan. Matthew and Roch farmed together until Roch's retirement in 1982.
Matthew and his wife, Jane, continue to farm the land. They have six quarter-sections of land just outside of Torquay. Four quarter-sections are leased out. They also have some cattle on their land.
"Who knows what the future will bring. I'm hoping it can stay in the family for another 100 years."
A total of 661 families from across the province will receive the Century Family Farm Award this year.

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Lifestyles’ Father’s Day contest winner

(L-R) Lifestyles’ employee Amy Hammermeister, contest winner William Duncan and sister Rebecca Duncan.

Congratulations to William Duncan, the winner of Lifestyles’ Father’s Day contest. To enter, William had to draw his father’s face and let us know what he would look like with a mustache. William will receive two tickets to see a movie of his choice with his Dad.
Thank you to everyone who participated.

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Crowds attended Pure Energy events
More than 1,500 people attended the various events held during the Pure Energy Motorsports Weekend in Estevan.
Jeunesse Mirbach, the marketing manager for the Estevan and District Board of Tourism, Trade and Commerce, said about 150 attended the Trackside Motocross Association program and 900 people were at the Estevan Motor Speedway races on June 20.
Another 360 people attended the Estevan Drag Racing Association program on the 21st.
The totals for all three events don't include drivers or riders.
A pioneer day celebration also took place at the Souris Valley Museum on the 20th. Highlights included bread-making, rope-weaving, hot dogs and tours of the museum and the neighbouring Schneller School House.
Mirbach said that the events on the 20th had "fantastic" weather.
She also noted that the three different racing organizations have events during the summer, and she encourages the public to attend the races.

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United Way sets its goal
The United Way of Estevan has established a goal of $285,000 for their 2009 telethon, which will take place on October 16 and 17.
The goal is $10,000 higher than last year. President James Lainton said the goal went up because of the financial pressures facing the United Way's agencies.
"Agencies in these current economic times have different needs, and some of the federal grants aren't necessarily there this year," said Lainton.
Lainton is confident that Estevan will once again reach its goal in 2009.
"When Estevan and area pulls together in that weekend, it never ceases to amaze me what can happen," said Lainton.
The United Way had a brand new application for its agencies this year that standardized the requests for funding, Lainton said. The allocations committee also did interviews with many of the agencies to find out what they do, and where the money will be directed.
The United Way board has also established its theme for this year: "Making Hope Real."
"We thought it was appropriate in Estevan and area," said Lainton. "When we hope to do a project, or we hope to meet a goal, the people of Estevan and area always pull together to make that hope a reality. It was fitting for what we do year after year."
The United Way of Estevan has been the first in Canada to reach its goal 31 times in the telethon's 32-year history. Last year's telethon raised more than $292,000 for the United Way's agencies.

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New Rotary president

(L-R) Bill Fonstad accepted the president's pin from David Hickie during the Rotary Club of Estevan's weekly meeting June 23. Fonstad will be the club's president in the 2009-10 year. His one-year term as president starts July 1. Hickie has been the president for the last 12 months. Fonstad said he is looking forward to the upcoming year. He wants to see the club continue to grow, and further promote their accomplishments in the community.

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Moose spotted near Hitchcock

A moose was photographed cooling off in a dugout just north of Hitchcock in the afternoon of June 24. Photo credit: Matt Messer

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Playpark season approaching
Opening day for Estevan's playparks is June 29.
Four playparks will be operating this year: Hillside, Hillcrest, Churchill and Rusty Duce. Playparks are open for children up to the age of 11. Children under the age of five must be accompanied by someone at least 15 years old.
Play leaders are Lesleigh Stubel at Hillside, Alicia Gooding at Rusty Duce, Lisa Zeleny at Churchill and Yakira Smeltzer at Hillcrest. Andrea Stelnicki is back for her second year as playpark supervisor.
Crafts and activities run from 10:30 a.m. to noon every morning, and swimming is from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday swims alternate through the different parks.
Several special events are planned for this year. Canada Day celebrations, sponsored by Estevan's Kinsmen and Kinettes, are July 1 at Hillside Park from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a barbecue, swimming, games, activities, face painting and more.
A PJ Pancake Party will take place at Rusty Duce Park on July 17. Pancakes will be served from 10 a.m. to noon. The pool will be open.
A campout will take place at Hillside Park on July 31 and August 1. The annual carnival is August 14 at the Hillcrest Park. This year's carnival has a rodeo theme. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. and games start at 1 p.m.
Summer camps are also being offered this year for children between the ages of nine and 14. The purpose of each camp is to improve participants' knowledge and skills with a variety of different sports.
Camps are: cheerleading for ages 9 to 11 on July 6 and ages 12 to 14 on July 7 and 8; football for ages nine to 12 from July 13 to 15; golf for ages nine to 12 from July 14 to 16; rugby for ages nine to 12 from July 20 to 23; tennis for two different age groups from August 10 to 12; and diving for ages nine to 12 from July 27 to 30.

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