1-877-783-4494 6305 - 44 Avenue, Ponoka MONDAY TO SATURDAY 2015 CHEVROLET COLORADO THE ALL NEW DRIVE ONE TODAY! WWW.PONOKANEWS.COM Vol. 66, No. 50 | WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10, 2014 | 403-783-3311 | [email protected]CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY George Cox.... early Ponoka rancher, inventor, and entrepreneur Story on page 5 JV Broncs win first game of season Story on page 21 Seasonal selfie Connor and Jackie Wirch show a lot of holiday spirit and love as the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train leaves Ponoka on Monday afternoon, Dec.8. Photo by Amelia Naismith
Transcript
1-877-783-44946305 - 44 Avenue, PonokaMONDAY TO SATURDAY
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2 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
The Town of Ponoka is excited about a decade of stable, predictable funding thanks to the early November renewal of the federal Gas Tax Agree-ment.
Calculated on a per capita basis, Ponoka will
see $368,000 per year. While Mayor Rick Bonnett says it does not look like there will be any raise in the funding, a population increase would lead to more money.
The town will be conducting its own census in the near future to see if there has been enough
growth to claim. “I would recommend we look at that for sure.”
While the money can only be used for projects such as roads or bridges, anything not used within a year is not automatically returned to the federal government. “If we didn’t have a project to send it on . . . we can bank it for a significant project,” Bonnet said.
“This year, it’s go-ing to some railway upgrades and 50th Street upgrades,” he added.
This year the mon-ey will not be used for the construction of the north bridge project, which begins construc-tion in July, 2015.
Renewed gas tax funding to aid town upgrades
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BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
More than 250 people attended the Ponoka Kinette Club’s first holiday par-ty, targeted at local businesses looking to find a way to entertain staff.
“It was, we’re hoping, to be our first annual business Christmas party,” said Kinette Leah Cline.
The event was held at the Stagecoach Saloon Saturday, Dec. 6 with many dif-ferent businesses attending.
“We kind of thought it was some-thing that was lacking in the community,” she explained.
She said Kinettes used the party as an opportunity to give businesses some holiday entertainment and as a way to raise funds for their Centennial Park Playground. The group is working with the Ponoka Lions to improve the park.
Bull Skit Comedy was hired to pro-vide some laughs and entertainment with their improvisational comedy routines. Cline said they provided some great mo-ments during the evening.
“The improv stuff was fantastic and hilarious,” said Cline.
Cline says each year the Kinettes will hire a different act to change up the entertainment. She said they would not know the full amount raised until full numbers have been tallied.
Kinettes’ first Christmas party a success
The Ponoka Kinettes hosted their first business Christmas dinner Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Stagecoach Saloon with entertainment from Bull Skit Comedy. Photo submitted
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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 3
Emergency crews responded to a rollover south of Ponoka on Highway 2 on Saturday Dec. 6. Freezing rains caused for slippery roads for some time until crews could sand the road. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
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This image is an RCMP sketch depicting the Caucasian male who attempted to lure a child leaving the Ponoka Elementary School after school ended on Dec. 4.
Photo courtesy of the Ponoka RCMP detachment
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Ponoka RCMP are on the lookout for a man who attempted to abduct a child by luring her into his car last week.
Police say a 10-year-old girl was walking from the Ponoka Elementary School to the Ponoka Youth Centre just after school ended Thursday Dec. 4. A Caucasian male in his 30s walked up to the girl offering candy to her if she fol-lowed him.
The girl then ran to the Youth Centre after noticing the man walking towards her. Police say the man was wearing a green toque with black jacket and jeans and had a moustache. Police have provided a composite drawing of the suspect.
Youth Centre executive director, Beth Reitz, said they are working with all Ponoka schools on this issue. “The safety of our youth is of utmost impor-tance to the Ponoka Youth Centre. We are actively working with Wolf Creek School Division, St. Augustine School,
RCMP and parents of our youths to ensure the safety of the children in our community.”
Wolf Creek Public Schools said in a press release in relation to the incident that teachers would be reviewing with their students the importance of “strang-er safety” and appealed to all parents to do the same.
Driver at three times legal limitPolice have charged a 42-year-old
Red Deer woman with impaired driv-ing after providing two blood-alcohol samples of .24 and .23.
She was stopped on Highway 2A south of Ponoka after officers witnessed her driving erratically and weaving in and out of lanes Dec. 3 at 11 p.m. She is reported to have been travelling at 60 km/h in a 100km/h zone.
Man arrested with pellet pistolWitnesses helped identify a man
who brandished, what looked like a gun, Dec. 5 at 10:20 p.m. in Ponoka.
After providing a description of the suspect, officers were able to locate
and arrest a 19-year-old Red Deer man who had a pellet pistol in his possession. He was charged with possession of imitation of a weapon dangerous for public peace.Police find marijuana in
rolloverEmergency crews
attended the scene of a rollover on Highway 2 Dec. 6 at 5 a.m. where marijuana was found in the vehicle.
As police were talk-ing with a 56-year-old Edmonton man involved the collision, he asked the Mountie to grab his cell phone from his pickup.
Police searching for a suspect attempting to abduct a child
While the officer didn’t find the cell phone, he did find a 56 grams bag of marijuana instead. The man was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Stolen vehicle recoveredA person driving a stolen vehicle may be regret-
ting that decision. Police have charged a 29-year-old Morinville man
with possession of stolen property last week after finding he was using the vehicle. It was found parked behind the Oasis Motel where investigations led to the arrest of the man.
Break and enterPolice are looking for culprits involved in a break
and enter Dec. 7 just north of Ponoka. Among the items stolen were several large swords
as well as a computer and some jewelry. Check Stops
Enhanced Check Stops last weekend netted sev-eral impaired and suspended drivers.
One driver, a 29-year-old man from Ponoka, was stopped near Baker Road Dec. 5 where he provided two blood-alcohol samples of .23 and .20.
A suspended driver, a 28-year-old Maskwacis man, had his car towed after officers found open liquor
in his vehicle. He provided a caution on his roadside breath test.
Although the man had a drivers licence, it was of a different person who looked similar. It was passengers in the vehicle who accidentally called the driver by his real name who helped alert police to the situation.
Car stolen The owner of a 2004 Chevy Silverado may be re-
gretting leaving his vehicle running last week after it was stolen from the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre.
The owner parked the truck with the keys in the ig-nition and the vehicle running Tuesday, Dec. 2 where it was subsequently taken. The matter is under inves-tigation.
Water break in home causes major damageA water line break in a home on Chicken Hill has
caused severe damage to the building. Police were called to check on the home after
neighbours could hear running water that sounded similar to a waterfall.
It is believed the water leaked for some days. Po-lice had to get town employees to turn off the utilities as the homeowner was unreachable.
Your Guide To Local Houses of Worship
CHURCH DIRECTORY
PONOKA WORD OF LIFE CHURCHPastor Rob McArthur 403-783-5659
9 miles east on Hwy 53 403-782-9877Jr. Church during service for children
Sunday Service 10:30 am
PONOKA ALLIANCE CHURCH4215 - 46 St. Pastor Norm Dibben 403-783-3958
Sunday Service 11:00 a.m.The Christian & Missionary Alliance
4 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
It’s the Christmas season again. It is one of my favorite times of the year. In fact, at my house we put more effort into Christmas than any other holiday.
Christians know that Christmas is about the birth of the Savior, but so often we get caught up in the cultural part of the holiday that we often leave Jesus out. While there is nothing wrong with dreaming of a white Christ-mas and giving gifts, the real meaning of Christmas deals with a much more urgent matter - the matter of salva-tion.
Salvation has nothing to do with chestnuts roasting on an open fire, silver bells or even jingle bells. Salvation deals with the messy fact that we are sinners and sinners need to be rescued from our
sin. As the angels told the
shepherds “unto you is born this day…a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).” Christmas means that God sent His son to be the Savior of the world. Our greatest
need this Christmas is not for more things. We’ve all got plenty of things. Our greatest need is not even for the love of family and friends, as im-portant as that is.
The greatest need of ev-ery person is for salvation, because we all have sinned against God.
God in His amazing love provided us with a way to be reconciled to Him. The true gift of Christmas is a gift of love “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16).” God loves us so much that instead of giving us what we wanted, He gave us what we needed most. Just because God gave us this gift does not mean we receive it.
We must believe, as the rest of the verse says “that whoever believes in Him will
not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).” When we, by faith, receive God’s gift of love we also receive His gift of life. This new life fills the longing in our hearts for a relationship with God, our Creator. “But to all who re-ceive him, those who believe in His name, he has given the right to become God’s children (John 1:12).” It’s no wonder the angels said it was a message of “good tidings of great joy.”
So this Christmas sea-son, as we spend time with our families, as we sing our songs, as we give our gifts, may we take time to remem-ber the greatest gift of all and may we truly come and adore Him.
The greatest gift of all meets the greatest need of all
Growing up as a child in Ponoka, I always enjoyed the many special family events, both in and around the commu-nity, as well as being together in our comfortable little home along the hospital road. There were also many great festive traditions in De-cember such as concerts, carolling, visiting with the neighbours, and search-ing for the best Christmas tree, but I will never forget snuggling up together in the living room with a big bowl of popcorn and lots of hot chocolate, then staying up a little later to watch the age-old movies like Miracle on 34th Street and ‘A Christmas Carol’ with Alastair Sims.
To this very day ,I al-ways try to encourage our siblings to join in and watch the won-derful story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a tall, gruff and skinny man with long white hair who ignored his family and friends in his early life to gather a massive for-tune that he had kept all to himself. Over the years, he would become a miserable and grumpy gentleman who hated the Christmas holidays, and usually spent the hallowed evening of Dec. 24 all by himself in his dark and cold flat. It was during one of those long and fright-ful nights that Mr. Scrooge received a visit from the eerie Ghosts of Christmas Past, who, while dragging their chains amongst the cob-webs, reminded him of the misery and agony that he had inflicted on others. They showed old Scrooge his wicked past life, where he had cast aside his first romance and cheated on his late loyal business partner Jacob Marley, who had now returned in the after-life to show
him his terrible deeds, as well as offering him the last hope of changing his selfish and lonely lifestyle before it was too late.
After a horrible session of nightmares and unspeakable reminders of his past deeds, Ebene-zer Scrooge’s magnificent awakening on Christmas morning revealed a happy and kindly old man who was now desperate to mend his ways. He humbly reached out to the caring family that he had ignored to ask for forgiveness, then made a surprise visit to the tiny home of his clerk Bob Crachett and presented them with the largest tur-key in the village, as well to help bring up their crippled son Tiny Tim and the rest of the very poor family. With
his heart full of the joy and inspiration he claimed that he didn’t deserve, Ebenezer Scrooge was so thankful to have been given the opportunity to help others in the community, and became a beloved friend for the rest of his life.
This truly wonderful Christmas story has been and still is presented in many delightful movies, plays and books over the decades, and is still available in all its glory for families of all ages to enjoy. It may bring a tear to your eye, but it will also make you laugh and will always leave us all with the most powerful and sincere message that we must always love, share and care for all the wonderful people that God has given us throughout our lives, because he will need them back home again someday.
A little Christmas trivia.*It takes four to 15 years to grow a
typical six to seven foot Christmas tree,
so please pick the right one before you cut it down and take it home. 37.1 million Spruce trees are purchased every year in North America for the Christmas holiday.
*One tiny mistletoe kiss burns up three calories, so the longer the smooch the better the exercise, and what a great way to keep your fitness program going hot and heavy over the holidays.
*The movie ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000) featured 52,000 Christmas lights, 8200 ornaments, 2000 candy canes, and the grumpy old Grinch stole them all.
* The early Christmas dinner in England was a whole pig prepared with mustard, but thank goodness, in modern times, the traditional turkey took over and the ‘porker’ was relegated to sizzling in the pan for our early morning wake-up breakfast. Ukrainians prepare a 12-course meal on Christmas Day, which is served from morning to night, and is likely ac-companied by lots of beer and bromo.
*In 1969, American billionaire Ross Perot attempted to airlift 28 tons of medi-cine and Christmas gifts to the POWs in North Vietnam.
*Among the oldest Yuletide traditions are leaving good old Santa a treat of milk and cookies for his one night a year visit to your house, grammas’ old fashioned fruit pudding sprinkled with sherry and set on fire, hanging those big socks on the mantelpiece, and trying to stay awake long enough to catch the rumble of the reindeer on the roof and the shake and shuffle of the happy old guy down the chimney with his bag full of goodies.
Have a jolly old time preparing for it all for the next 14 days, and have a great week, all of you..
Even mean old Scrooge found Christmas.
Mike RainoneHammertime
Matt SealyChurch of the Open Bible
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 5
Remember When...
Photo submittedOne of my favourite school pictures was of Red Brick School Grade 2 class of 1950. Shown in the back from left to right: Teacher Miss Ruth Berdine, Percy Williams, unknown, Dwayne Schalin, unknown, Howard Rowland, Bruce Rowland, Wilson Taylor, Ritchie Twa, Jack Peters, and Miss Bruno. In the middle row are Ada Sparks, Joan Swit-zer, Doreen Stuart, unknown, Sandra Perkins, Mina Tweedy, Jean Sutherland, Charlene Winslow, Miss Oness, Myrna Schalin, Garry Rowland, unknown; and then seated in the front row are Janice Um-bach, Miss Raugust, unknown, Tommy Williams, Michael Rainone, unknown, Steve Uylett, unknown, unknown. Perhaps you know some of the class-mates that I couldn’t remember.
Reflections of Ponoka
BY MIKE RAINONE FOR THE NEWS
The earliest pioneer families who settled in the Ponoka area so many decades ago bravely toiled together to break the lush land-scape, faced many challenges while establishing their homesteads and left behind a bright and exciting outlook for our future. Reflections in your Ponoka News is pleased and dedicated to telling the stories of those hardy families, individu-als, and true characters who helped to build our long and proud heri-tage.
The George Irvin Cox family.More commonly known to ev-
eryone who got to know him as ‘G.I.’, the outgoing Mr. Cox came to this district from Rapid City, South Dakota in 1899, purchasing the first quarter of land from the Sharphead Reserve. He would lat-er build his first humble log house and barn and named his homestead as the Fairview Stock Farm. The following year, Cox went back to South Dakota to bring back his wife Ann Electra Smith, four young children, Mildred, Mary, James and Floyd, as well as fur-niture for their small home on the prairies.
Cox also shipped a bunch of
horses by rail from his South Da-kota ranch and then drove them from the U.S. border to the Vil-lage of Ponoka, which was then a part of the North-West Territories. On the way to their new home, the Coxes met the Russell and Wilcocks families from Minne-sota, with whom they would later become lifelong friends and neigh-bours. They were later joined in Ponoka by Mrs. Cox’s brother Wil-lard and her father ‘Dad’ Smith, who became a well-liked member of the community and quite often be seen wearing his long blue coat, which was a relic of the Civil War.
They all homesteaded in the district together, and then with his family growing at a rapid pace, Cox completed one of the first and finest homes in the district in 1902 at the N. ½ of section 12 and W ½ of the 7th Sharphead sight 2 miles west and one mile north of Ponoka. The palatial two story home, built of the finest material of the day, featured fancy balconies on the first and second floors as well as the roof, along with over 20 fancy glass windows. One of the first ar-ticles published in the local Ponoka Herald newspaper explained that daughter Ruth was the first born in the new Cox house, and then to
Photo from Ponoka PanoramaOne of the finest early homes in Central Alberta was this magnificent structure built in the Sharp-head district just west and north of Ponoka by entrepreneur Mr. ‘G.I.” George Cox for his large family in 1902. Constructed with the finest materials available at that time, notice the three fancy balconies, as well as 20 windows of the finest decorative glass.
George Cox....early Ponoka rancher, inventor, and entrepreneur
celebrate the arrival of Gertrude, he raised the price of his surplus land for sale by $1 an acre. All of the Cox children began their education at the one room Sharphead School, which was taught by the future Mrs. Aro Crawford, then later went by horse and buggy to the fancy new Ponoka White School in town.
When Mr. Cox had to return to the United States on business during 1902, he did not want to leave his family alone on the farm, so he bought a boarding house in Ponoka. The fam-ily was kept very busy serving meals to the new settlers who stayed with them until their homesteads were completed, but with the town growing at such a rapid pace, they decided to set up a large tent across the road from the board-ing house to accommodate all the newcomers. An energetic ‘man of all seasons’ G.I. became very interested and involved in the local sports of basketball, baseball, wrestling, and horse racing, as well as becoming an avid Square Dance caller, and a welcome figure with his family at most community events. They would never miss a gala annual Ponoka Fair, in which he always had horses running.
While always working hard and being in-volved with his family, Mr. Cox also loved to ‘invent things’, and at one time formed a lo-cal company called ‘The Cox Automatic Stock Pump Co’. In those very early years, he was able to develop a working model of the pump, which he used out on the farm, and consisted of a huge steel frame closed in on three sides with a tray attached to the pump. The whole appa-ratus working on a circular track, with the live stock actually doing the work to activate the pump and fill the tray with the water to quench their thirst. He later invented a disc sharpener,
which was able to sharpen the discs while they were working the fields. Likely the most amaz-ing and ingenious product of his genius was a churn which he attached to the baby’s rocker, with Mrs. Cox able to rock the babies and churn the butter at the same time.
Like so many other early pioneers , ‘G.I.’ Cox hired many of the Indians from the Hobbema Reserve to clear his land, and some of these included White Eagle, Blind David, Jimmy Shortneck, Ermineskin and many oth-ers. They would arrive at the farm with their families and their tents, and worked until the job was finished. During their visit, a cow was butchered and the meat was shared with the In-dians, who also enjoyed the fine baking of Mrs. Ann Cox. Sons James and Floyd both went overseas to serve with the Canadian forces in 1916, where James was killed at Paschendale, but Floyd returned home safely after the war and married his childhood sweetheart Gladys McKelvie. One of the most memorable events of that era was when Alberta became a prov-ince in 1905, and the Cox family, along with many other pioneers from the districts, boarded the train at the Ponoka station and travelled to Edmonton for the colorful Inauguration cer-emonies.
After a very active and successful life in this area, George Cox passed away in 1912, after which the family moved to Edmonton, where Ann lived until her death in March 1959. Many of the Cox descendents remained in the area and carried on the strong family tradition, while Fred H. Lee took over the original home-stead, as well as renting out more of the original Sharphead Reserve land to Mr. Tom McKelvie.
6 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
5019A Chipman Ave., Box 4217, Ponoka, AB. T4J 1R6Phone: 403.783.3311 Fax: 403.783.6300 Email: [email protected] every Wednesday by PNG Prairie Newspaper Group in community with: Regional Publisher, Fred Gorman
Ever since he returned to provincial poli-tics, Premier Jim Prentice had always made very brief, even terse, statements, without beating the bush and saying whatever he wanted to say, that is until last week.
As soon as landing in the province back from his trip to Ontario and Quebec, the premier issued a 704-word statement, explaining why he was backtracking on his idea of having new legislation passed on the matter of “gay-straight alliances” in Alberta’s schools.
The lengthy statement was apparently an almost apologetic response to the thousands of letters, messages and notes sent to MLAs from all parties represented in the provincial legisla-ture by parents of students. One stakeholder, a website called safechoolsalberta.ca, reported it had received 3,700 signatures of support within a few hours of its launch for a petition to stop Bill 10, the legislation introduced by Mr. Pren-tice’s PCs to outflank the provincial Liberals who raised the issue of “gay-straight” alliances in schools through a private member’s bill (Bill 202) introduced just a few days previously. “That is a rate of one mail every 10 seconds,”
said the campaigners of the re-sponse to their petition.
Mr. Prentice said in his state-ment: “The introduction of Bill 10 as a solution to the divisive-ness created by Bill 202 has clearly not been helpful. I accept personal responsibility for the in-troduction of Bill 10.”
This was a frank admission that the grenade had exploded even before it was hurled and that it hurt the holder.
“At present, there is clearly no consensus in Alberta on either the constitutionality or indeed the wisdom of the provincial government mandating Gay Straight Alliances in schools. The issue was polarizing to begin with and has become even more so over the past several days,” the premier said, concluding “Given the emotion on all sides of this discussion, I think that everyone will ben-efit from a pause.”
It is good a for a politician to realize a mis-take and take a step back from it and for that Mr.
Prentice should be commended, particularly for openly admitting the irrelevance of a provincial mandate in deciding how stu-dents should behave with regard to their approach to sexual pref-erences.
This was a step too far and Albertans should also be com-mended for their swift and determined reaction to this kind of thinking in government.
The LGBQT (an abbrevia-tion that gets longer all the time) rights have been promoted with a lot of political support, fund-
ing and enthusiasm since the early ‘80s, when the emergence of HIV/AIDS as an incurable disease and the death of popular figures like Rock Hudson of that disease created a wave of sympathy for people of non-straight sexual ori-entation. Riding on that wave, and with a lot of support from Hollywood and California liber-als, the issue of the rights of transgender people was raised to first national policy agenda in the
most developed countries before making its way to international organizations like the United Nations, where countries having little under-standing or tolerance of the issue have been ostracized.
Yes, transgender people do have an intrinsic human right to be accepted and treated as any member of the society without suffering dis-crimination and being excluded from their peer groups. And it is a major achievement that same sex marriages have now been recognized in most of the developed world by now.
But it looks like it is time for beginning dis-cussions on other issues, for example, the rights of disabled people. I really wonder if any govern-ment is willing to question how, say, Uganda and India, two countries known for their intolerance of transgender individuals, are doing in terms of addressing the rights of disabled people.
Or even before going that far, how much have we, the Canadians, addressed the matter of decades of suppression of the rights, culture and languages of First Nations and other Aboriginal peoples of this country?
Mustafa EricEditor
Setting the priorities right
COUNCIL UPDATES & BYLAW INFO
EVENTS AND RECREATION
NOTICES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The aging process has you fi rmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.” ~ Doug Larson
Town TimesPonoka, AB T4J 1P7
Ph: 403-783-4431 | Fax: 403-783-6745 | Email: [email protected] Check us out Online: www.ponoka.ca
Public Skating: Proudly sponsored by Ponoka LionsMonday - Thursday: 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
**Shinny Hockey on Weekdays only**
OUTDOOR RINK IS NOW OPEN!
Library NewsCHARLIE CALENDARS: Are you a cat lover or know someone who is? Looking for a great stocking stuff er or gift for under the Christmas Tree? Come on down to Ponoka Jubilee Library and get your very own 2015 Charlie the Library Cat Calendar! For only $20.00 you can be the proud owner of a calendar full of the most famous kitty in Ponoka. And you get to support your library too!Family LEGO Club: Ponoka Jubilee Library invites children & adults to take part in our Family Lego Club. Come build whatever your imagination can come up with! All Lego will be provided by the library, and the masterpieces will be put on display for all to see. Final meeting for 2014: Thursday December 11th. REGULAR MEETINGS: Every second week, alternating between Thursday and Friday. Ages 4+, all younger children must be accompanied or supervised by older sibling or guardian. No Lego bricks will come into or leave the library. No fee or registration required.
Aquaplex & Recreation Update:Babysitting course December 13th, 9-5pm for more inquiries contact the pool.Diff erent hours during Christmas break December 24th -Jan 4th. Pick up Christmas Schedule at the pool offi ce.Cross Country Ski Trails - Through cooperative eff orts of the Town and Ponoka Community Golf Course, cross country ski trails have been set at the Ponoka Community Golf Course. Monetary donations to off set the costs to groom/set these trails are greatly appreciated, and can be made at the Town offi ce during regular business hours.
Town Hall ClosureThe Town Offi ce will be closed on Wednesday, December 17th from 11 am – 1 pm. Payments and correspondence can be left in the drop box at the main doors.
12 EASY PAYMENTS!Take advantage of a more convenient and feasible way of paying your property taxes! Sign up for Pre-authorized Monthly Tax Payment Plan for payment of 2015 property taxes. We will need a VOID cheque and a signature for authorization. No need to re-apply if you are already signed up. Stop in at the Town Hall or call Val @ 403-783-0127 for more information. Deadline for signing up is December 15, 2014.
2015 Dog Licenses Available $25.00 Per Dog until January 31st, then the cost returns to the regular price of $40.00. All dogs over the age of three months must be licensed. As per Bylaw 114-01, owners will be fi ned $50 for dogs caught not wearing a current dog tag. Thank you for being a responsible dog owner.
Volunteers Needed For Community Christmas
Ponoka’s Community Christmas Dinner program (held on December 25th) is in need of volunteers. Contact Val at 403-783-8799 or Carla at 403-783-4078 for more information.
Waste Transfer Station *Winter Hours 10 am – 4 pm*
There is a minimum tipping fee of $8.00 per visit. There is no charge for compostable materials or tires. Call 403-783-8328 for more information.
Next Town Council MeetingDecember 16 @ 7 pm
Visit our website: www.ponoka.ca for a copy of the agenda.
Recreation Facilities Schedule is On-lineCheck it out at www.ponoka.ca and click on ‘Recreation in Ponoka’.
Did you know….? Snow Removal SignsWhen snow removal signs are posted in downtown and residential areas, snow removal will generally occur within 24 hrs. Please remove vehicles from the street to assist crews.
PSC Broncs News
Anastasia ClarkeDiplomas or not?
This Week At PSCDecember 10 – 17
Dec 12 - Broncs Pump Tournament @ 2:15Dec 12 – Canyon Ski Trip All DayDec 12 – Blood Typing All DayDec 17 – Santa s Anonymous Deliveries 4-7pm
Please visit our website for allupcoming events and exciting news!
As a grade twelve student at PSC, I fi nd myself worrying about diploma exams more as the year grows closer to an end. With the diploma exams being worth 50% of your fi nal grade, that’s a lot of pressure. I believe that diplomas should be worth 30% of your fi nal grade rather than 50%.
We have been in school for twelve years and to have everything you have learned up to this point depend on one fi nal diploma exam, puts us under tremendous amounts of stress. During this year we have to decide what we want to do from now on and plan it. Everything we have been used to in the last twelve years is now coming to an end.
From my own personal experience I know how much stress it can be. With deciding what I want to do after school, applying to college, getting conditionally accepted, and having to worry about living situation and money, I fi nd myself having trouble managing school, work and my plans after graduation, let alone the pressure of diplomas.
The Alberta School Boards Association passed a motion to reduce the weight of diplo-ma exams from 50 to 30% of the fi nal course grade. The school boards will present the motion to the province that will make the fi nal decision on reducing the weight of diploma exams or not. They took into account how other jurisdictions (like BC) weigh fi nal exams at 30% and that student’s achievements, like listening and speaking, can’t be measured on a written standardized exam.
“Students are aware that not all jurisdictions have the 50% weighting and they want to make sure they have an opportunity to be seen on an even playing fi eld to other jurisdic-tions across Canada,” said Edmonton Public School Board Chair Sara Hoffman. A student could do very well throughout the school year, but all it takes is to have a bad day, test anxiety, etc, to determine whether you get your diploma. This is why I strongly believe that diplomas should be weighted less.
A d t l
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 7
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Housing starts are more than double what they were in 2013 and the year isn’t even over.
Statistics for the Town of Ponoka indicate positive numbers and planners are pleased with the results, says Stephen Novak, eco-nomic development officer. As of September 2014, there were 34 housing starts, compared to 16 for the entire 2013-year.
“When you look at the break-down, you can tell that residential has increased and commercial has increased,” said Novak.
Determining if there is an upward trend may be difficult, but Novak feels the numbers are promising; in 2012 there were
18 housing starts valued at $4 million. Comparatively the 34 housing starts this year are valued at $8.2 million.
Commercial and industrial developments have seen growth with a combined value of $5.9 million in 2014. Development in the Southwest Industrial Park is a factor in those numbers. 2013 saw approximately $2.2 million in commercial and industrial devel-opments.
“It’s positive. It’s looking good,” stated Novak.
Improvements at Diamond Willow Middle School and Ponoka Secondary Campus in 2013 saw $12.3 million in development.
Housing starts more than double over
previous year
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It’s been a good year for Keith Stebner, whose company, Ponoka First Call Towing, re-ceived some high praise from industry leaders even beyond national borders.
Celebrating 20 years of service this year, Stebner just received a Top Ten Wreckmaster plaque, awarded by Wreckmaster out of the United States for his strong service as a tow company.
“This training is more focused towards equipment. So staying within the working loads of your equipment,” said Stebner.
Not long after, First Call Towing was also awarded the AMA Service Provider of Excel-lence for 2014.
“Most of it has to do with customer service and response time,” explained Stebner.
His company shows little to no damage claims from motorists and he says he and his crew work well with AMA. Stebner feels this was a factor in receiving the award. With three trucks and four employees, Stebner says every day brings something new.
The biggest challenge they face in the in-dustry is highway safety. Many motorists do
Ponoka towing company recognized for quality service
not realize that when tow trucks are on the highway with their amber emergency lights on, drivers need to move over one lane or slow down to 60 km/h if they are in the adjacent lane. “A lot of people don’t un-derstand,” remarked Stebner.
He feels more public education will help people under-stand the rules of the road.
The other chal-lenge they face is in vehicle construction. “Cars aren’t near as good as they used to be as far as hooking up,” he explained.
Many new vehi-cles are also starting to see a plug in the bumper and tow hook in the trunk, but most are car specific and Stebner says they don’t always know how these hooks have been used.
As far as the award is concerned, Stebner said he was pleased to receive the recogni-tion. He praised staff for helping him get to this point. Ponoka First Call Towing has three trucks in its line up with two flat decks and one wrecker.
Keith Stebner, owner of Ponoka First Call Towing, poses with a recent plaque awarded to his company for quality service.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 9
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Canadian farmers in the western provinces want to have Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) as-sets returned to their control and they are working hard to garner support from provincial leaders.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) is putting a major effort to get the governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to help return CWB assets to farmers. Each premier has received the letter containing their request on the matter says Doug Scott, NFU regional co-or-dinator for Alberta.
NFU posted its letter to Premier Greg Selinger of Manitoba on its website, which urges western province leaders to express the intent to buy CWB assets and put control into famers’ hands.
“Giving farmers back some of their marketing power should help ensure that the multibillion dol-lar loss to the prairie economy that occurred last year will not happen again,” the letter states.
The letters were sent Dec. 4 to each premier and Scott says they hope to hear a response of some kind. The decision to send the letters came out of a recent NFU convention.
“A lot of farmers are really pissed off about what’s going on in this whole destruction of the CWB,” said Scott. “We were never given the op-portunity to vote.”
He feels Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Gerry Ritz, has done a disservice to groups like the NFU. Scott says Ritz did not listen to re-quests and would discredit farmers’ groups if they disagreed with him.
“We have no power left. Zero . . . everything that seems to be done in ag policy these days seems to favour agri-business,” stated Scott.
Now farmers have to find ways not to be gouged by grain companies, he added. Scott says when the CWB was dismantled, farmers were left to their own devices and many competitive options were lost because of it, which has hurt the overall economy.
“The grain com-panies took a good 40 per cent of the value of the wheat farmers produced last year by charging excess basis on every backlogged tonne. Now Minister Ritz is ready to give one of these grain com-panies 100 per cent of the CWB’s assets so they can keep on tak-ing more than their fair share from us,” said Matt Gehl, NFU mem-ber in Saskatchewan in a press release.
“It’s entirely up to them. There’s no price transparency. We have no idea what they’re selling it for,” stated Scott. “We just know we’re getting hosed.”
He says the NFU wants to bring control back to farmers but feels Minister Ritz has already made up his mind. Despite saying there was a short-list of companies to take over
CWB, recent rumors surfaced that Ritz intended to sell the CWB to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a Chicago-based global food processing company.
But the rumored deal would see ADM take ownership of CWB without paying for the ac-quisition in return for a promise to invest in the company.
Scott said Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Pat Martin took time dur-ing question period to ask if Ritz had “lost his freaking mind.”
His biggest concern over dealing with an American company is that money is not being invested in Canada.
The governing board on the CWB was appointed by Ritz, which is another point of contention for farmers groups. Deter-mining what the CWB is in terms of its legal and commercial status is difficult as financial details have not been made public for the last two years, he added.
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10 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
Doing their share of giving during the season of giving, Club 55+ bowlers helped in the collection of food and cash that was delivered to the food bank on Friday, Dec. 5. Here pictured (from left to right) are Carol Trelenberg, Cathy Thomas, Rita Petersen, Rhonda Henke, Sylvia Hitchcock and seated is Gordon Hoar.
Submitted photo.
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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 11
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
Each year Ponoka Fish and Game honours the end of hunting season by inviting hunters to a horn and antler measuring at Lake Pofianga, where they can vie for bragging rights and show off their racks.
The scoring took place Sunday, Dec. 7 with more than 50 sets being brought in for measurement.
The length, width and circumference are taken into account for each set and add-ed into a total amount of inches.
“The more inches we can get, the high-er it (score) goes,” explained Fish and Game member Leon-ard Davis.
“Most of us around here are just for bragging rights,” he added.
However, if a set can score high enough, it can work its way into the Al-berta Record Book.
People come from all over Canada to have their game’s horns and antlers scored at the annual event and this year a large set of moose antlers fell just shy of the 210 score needed to be added to the book.
Les Greipl shot a male moose in the Yu-kon and the appaling set, with good defi-nition and character
Hunter bags largest moose of his life for antler scoring
points, came in at 202 inches.“This was a once in a lifetime (hunt) . . .
it’s the place, it’s the size of the moose and seeing the county up there was awesome,” said Greipl, referring to his first Yukon hunt.
Greipl and his friend, who were on a non-guided hunt, noticed the large male the day before it was actually shot and when they fi-nally took to calling it in, at 7 a.m., it took approximately three hours to work its way to the hunters.
“We called this one the night before but he wouldn’t come in,” said Greipl.
“This guy and another big one came in,” he added.
While the other moose was bigger, its antlers were more paddled shaped with less defining points.
After several hours Greipl was able to claim his trophy from 20 yards in a single shot, 30 km from the Alaskan border.
“It’s the biggest moose I’ve ever got,” said Greipl.
Les Greipl brought his huge set of moose antlers to be scored at Ponoka Fish and Games annual horn scoring event, Sunday, Dec. 7. The antlers racked up a score of 202, falling just short of the 210 needed to get into any record book.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
“This was a once in a lifetime
(hunt) . . . it’s the place,
it’s the size of the moose and seeing the county
up there was awesome,”
Les Greipl
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12 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
The earth moves on its axis just like it should, and Christmas begins peeking out of shop windows and flaunting itself on people’s lawns and in their living rooms, and, weirdly, I feel all sad.
The sad feeling began, like a little ache in my tummy, spreading quickly to my brain like some sort of unchecked virus.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It has nothing to do with Christmas.
I love Christmas, always have, always will. I do! I truly believe the editorial, Yes, Virgina, there is a Santa Claus.
Seriously, I think each and every Christmas brings with it special moments, unique as snowflakes, that are too wonderful and too awesome to ever be for-gotten.
No, the sadness was because of CBC radio, which I listen to faith-fully, mostly because it has excellent news cov-erage and also because it seems to be the only radio station I can get without lots of annoying static.
Anyway, the other day CBC carried the sad news of the death of Jean Beliveau, the great Montreal Canadiens hockey player.
When I heard the news, for some reason, unbid-den tears flooded my eyes, which I rubbed furiously away, being I was driving and all.
Of course, I didn’t know Jean personally, for one thing he was much older than me, plus he played for Montreal and my brothers and I, we always loved Toronto.
But, for me, Beliveau was part of the innocence and simplicity of a childhood that will exist forever in the blackboard of my mind, no matter how the years keep trying to erase the memories away.
Beliveau was the “he shoots, he scores,” an-nouncer voice of my brother, perched at the other end of a hockey game where the tin red men of Montreal Canadiens faced off against the tin blue men of Toronto Maple Leafs.
My brother and I played and played on that hockey game, until the game was called because of church, but afterwards we usually picked up the game again, going into double overtime when the blue guys inevitably scored the winning goal.
My brother was a skinny kid, with a shock of dark hair, a kid whose smile always reached his eyes, especially when he had a hockey stick in his hand. My brother, and his hockey friends, some real, some imaginary, would play hockey all winter and then shoot imaginary pucks into the coal shed all summer.
During those long ago winters etched in black and white simplicity across the landscape of my childhood, I remember the original six and the Con-dor Comets being of equal importance.
Two of my brothers, wearing worn scarlet jer-seys and Eaton catalogue shin pads secured with sealer rings played for the Condor Comets. In my mind, they were the best players in my entire world, which, for the most part, consisted of a main street, a church, a school and a hockey rink.
I did not compare them to anyone from the Orig-inal Six, like Beliveau because I think in my child’s mind, the NHL players were actually made of tin.
Being a kid without a mom around to soften the edges of my world wasn’t really so bad and I re-member the days of my childhood with something akin to a warm kind of longing.
Growing up years with hockey greatsAnd, sometimes, when I sit in my living room, my fingers
curled around a cup of coffee, with the lights down low, I swear I can see them all again.
My brothers, my dad and that old hockey game and once
again, with the sounds of silence ringing in my ears, I hear my brother’s voice, loud and clear.
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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 13
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
With only months left in the fi-nal stage of construction at Ponoka Secondary Campus (PCS), stu-dents and teachers are eager to try out their new theatre.
“We’re almost finished (with) the renovation after five very long years,” said principal Ian Rawlin-son.
The theatre, art and music rooms are on the verge of com-pletion. Staff are just waiting for seating and some high tech tools to equip the theatre space.
“It actually has an LED screen in it that we can actually use as a backdrop. It’s a huge LED screen that we can actually project from the back,” said Rawlinson.
He expects many possible uses for the theatre including hosting movies, concerts and conferences. Seating capacity is about 160 peo-ple. The hope is to have the theatre ready and running by March, just in time for PCS’s production of Dracula.
“I think there’s just a real an-ticipation on the whole school to just get it done,” said Rawlinson.
Seating and technology are among the last of the major in-stallations needed to complete the theatre. While the space is an exciting addition, it doesn’t come cheap.
Rawlinson said they had to make a strong case to Alberta In-frastructure to build the theatre. He feels there is a strong commu-nity benefit by having this theatre. That allowed for the structure alone, but to set it up for plays and other events, the school had to pay the rest.
“The seating alone in the the-atre was almost $140,000,” said Rawlinson.
To help pay for those costs, Rawlinson is looking at possible fundraising programs. Adminis-tration is working on one idea for potential donors to become seat sponsors. Local bands could use the theatre as a venue to showcase their work as well.
Drama teacher Kevin Ferguson sees the new theatre as a way to develop young actors. Many al-ready take part in Klaglahachie Fine Arts plays and they bring some skills to the high school plays.
“My vision has always been that we marry the two together in some capacity,” said Ferguson.
The idea to develop a theatre at the high school is not a new one. About 20 years ago, administra-tion wanted to build one, but those ideas never became a reality until recently.
A look at the theatre space shows potential for some large productions. Ferguson says the space will be similar to what Greek theatre spaces, with the seating looking down on the stage. That seating will be retractable with a space for sound and light crews at the top, which will give them an important vantage point on productions.
PSC ready to move into new theatre
Drama teacher Kevin Ferguson and music teacher Cameron Hinton stand in the soon to be completed theatre at Ponoka Sec-ondary Campus Wednesday, Dec. 3. The theatre still needs seating and technology to be installed.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
Extra! Extra!
Read all about it in the
www.ponokanews.comwww.ponokanews.com
14 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
BY GWYNNE DYER
Russian politician Andrei Zhirinovsky is all mouth, so it would not normally have caused a stir when he suggested earlier this year that Russia should simply annex the parts of neigh-bouring Kazakhstan that have a large Russian population. But the ultra-nationalist leader of the Liberal Democratic Party actually fright-ened the Kazakhs, because there is a bigger game going on.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since before Kazakhstan got its in-dependence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, was so alarmed that he openly expressed doubts about whether Kazakhstan should join Moscow’s “Eurasian Economic Union” (EEU) when it launches next January. “Kazakhstan will not be part of organizations that pose a threat to our independence,” he said in August.
The EEU is the same organisation that Ukrainians rebelled against joining last year when their pro-Moscow former president, Vik-tor Yanukovych, abandoned plans for closer ties with the European Union (EU). But Ka-zakhstan under Nazarbayev has always been on good terms with Russia, so Russia’s au-tarch, Vladimir Putin, immediately cracked the whip.
“Kazakhstan never had any statehood (his-torically),” Putin said. Nazarbayev merely “created” the country – with the clear impli-cation that it was an artificial construct that might, if the wind changed, just be dismantled again. With Russian troops in eastern Ukraine “on holiday” from the army (but taking their armoured vehicles and artillery with them), it was a veiled threat that Kazakhstan had to take seriously.
There has actually been a Kazakh state. Almost the entire area of the current coun-try, and substantial parts of neighbour-ing countries, were ruled from the 15th to the 18th centuries by a powerful Kazakh khanate, the tradi-tional form of state among the Islamic, Turkic-speaking peo-ples of Central Asia. The reason it never evolved into a modern state is that the whole area was conquered and colonised by the Russian empire.
Russia is still the only great power within easy reach of the Central Asian states, and it under-lined its displeasure with Nazarbayev by
holding military exercises near the Kazakh border in early September. But Putin was not just restoring discipline in a prospective mem-ber of the EEU, his pet project to rival the EU.
Putin’s strategic objective is to control oil and gas traffic across the landlocked Caspian Sea. The last thing Moscow needs is cut-price competition from Central Asian producers in its European markets.
Moscow at the top of the Caspian Sea and Iran at the bottom have their own pipelines to get oil out to the markets. Azerbaijan, on the western shore, has built pipelines through Georgia into Turkey, one of which reaches the Mediterranean, so Russia cannot control its exports. But Moscow still has a stranglehold on the big oil and gas producers on the eastern side of the sea, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Neither of those former Soviet republics can escape Moscow’s grip unless it can move its oil and gas in pipelines across the Caspian seabed to Azerbaijan and out to the Mediter-ranean from there. So Putin has been trying for years to get a Russian veto on any such pipe-lines. He’s nearly there.
If the International Law of the Sea ap-plied, then each country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, with control over seabed developments, would extend 300 nautical miles from its coast. The Caspian is not that big, so all five EEZ’s would meet in the middle – and Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan’s zones would both touch Azerbaijan’s, so the question of trans-Caspian seabed pipelines would be beyond Moscow’s control.
But since the Caspian Sea is not part of the world ocean, the five countries around it can agree on any local rules they like. Russia
Caspian Games
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is by far the greatest power on its shores, and the rules it likes would confine each country to a 15-nau-tical-mile sovereign zone and a 25-mile exclusive fishing zone.
Under this regime, the middle of the sea would remain a com-mon area where any development would need the consent of all five countries. Hey presto! A Russian veto on any pipelines crossing the Caspian Sea, and continuing con-trol over oil and gas exports from Central Asia to Europe.
Following a summit meeting of the five countries’ leaders in Astrakhan at the end of Septem-ber, it’s practically a done deal, although the final treaty will not be signed until 2016. Late last month Richard Hoagland, U.S. as-sistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, visited Astana, the Kazakh capital, and said that the US firmly supported Kazakh independence and ter-ritorial integrity, but everybody knows who’s boss in the region.
Sidelining Kazakh and Turk-men competition in the European gas and oil markets will not help Moscow much, however, if Putin’s behaviour on Russia’s western borders continues to frighten the Europeans. They will be scram-bling to cut their dependence on Russian gas and oil as
fast as they can, and the fracking Americans, with their soaring pro-duction, will be more than happy to help.
Gwynne Dyer is an indepen-dent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.
Moscow at the top of the Caspian Sea and Iran at the bottom have their own pipelines to get oil out to the markets
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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 15
Donated: Brenda Dux donates blood for her 15th time when Alberta Blood Services set up shop at the Kinsmen Community Centre, Monday Dec. 1.Georgina Layden, RN acting charge nurse, says the shortage of donors in the province has been stabilized for the time being but it is an ongoing challenge to make sure there is enough. After being donated the blood is shipped to Edmonton to be processed. While some comes back to central Alberta the majority of blood is transported to northern Alberta. Photo by Amelia Naismith
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16 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
In the recent past, Mecca Glen School has been receiving in-quires on its school zone traffic lights, which are flashing at un-usual times during the day.
While public opinion figured the lights were malfunctioning, principal Alger Libby says the Mecca Glen’s school day start and end times have changed this year to 8:05 a.m. and 2:40 p.m.
School zone times for that stretch of Highway 53 are now in effect from 7: 30 to 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. “Those are very un-usual school zone times,” said Libby.
The changes to the school’s times are a result of Wolf Creek Public School’s new division wide calendar, which puts every school in the division on the same
schedule. This means professional development days all fall on the same day for each of the schools.
“What we’ve tried to do is have a professional development day every second Friday,” said Libby.
“The teachers are working to-gether collaboratively on those Fridays,” he added.
Some schools within the divi-sion had to lengthen their school days in order to compensate for the professional development days and ensure the students were still before a teacher for the allot-ted amount of instructional time mandated by Alberta Education.
Mecca Glen also needed times that would allow for busses to drop students off at the rural school and the Ponoka Secondary Campus.
New school hours for Mecca
Glen School
Willow feeder builders: Country Gardens and Greenhouse hosted a Willow Bird Feeder and Lamp Post building class Wednesday, Dec. 3. Here Tammy Henkelman is making ad-justments on her bird feeder. Submitted photo
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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 17
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
By the new year, the Ponoka Elementary School body was set to move from their current loca-tion to the former Dimond Willow Middle School; while the move is still going full steam ahead, time-lines have shifted slightly.
The delays stem from the fin-ishing touches falling behind on the construction end of the pro-cess.
“To ensure that the building meets all of our learning needs and provides an environment that is not disruptive to students and staff, I am advising the school that our transfer to the new site will take place during the spring break at the end of March,” explained Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) Superinten-dent Larry Jacobs in a press release.
He believes the extra time will allow for a smoother transi-tion for both staff and students during the change.
The delayed time-line is also giving WCPS, its busing
transportation staff and the Town of Ponoka a pocket to strategize staff parking and bus drop-off points for the refurbished school.
Pushing the move to March is also a better option regarding the move of the Outreach School, which is set to relocate to the Brick School nearer to the end of the 2014/15 academic year.
“That move depends on our retrofitting some aspects of the Brick building to accommodate their unique learning environment needs and adequately prepare them for utilization of the building in the fall of 2015. The timeframe needed for those modifications exceeds our maintenance staff’s ability if we don’t begin in April,” stated Jacobs.
As First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) students’ needs rise further to the forefront of many educational initiatives, the Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) board of trustees re-cently met with the division’s Wisdom and Guidance Committee to hear from the commit-tee on their work.
The last time FNMI student success co-or-dinator Sheila Hagemann visited the board, last spring, she spoke of the challenges FNMI stu-dents face within the division.
One of Hagemann’s primary focuses is to learn how to create successful transitions for FNMI students between grades and schools.
“Many of our students coming in are a lit-tle bit intimidated and don’t participate,” said Hagemann in her presentation to the WCPS board.
One of the many things the affected stu-dents felt was missing from their education, that would strengthen their abilities and respon-siveness, was their culture. Hagemann said that is something the parents also wanted to see. “Some of the parents fought to get their stu-dents here,” she said.
In providing as much support in all areas of education as she can, Hagemann developed three roles for herself within her vision. “I wanted to make sure that we’re engaging our learners. I wanted to build an educated capacity and I wanted to create pathways.”
She also focuses on building relations with the students in a face-to-face classroom setting and keep the FNMI student atten-dance consistent. ‘We know if there are stu-dents in the building, they’re learning.”
Within the division there are 548 FNMI students; 399 in the Ponoka area with 115 of them non-reserve. At Ponoka Second-ary Campus, there are 177, 46 non-reserve; 97 at Ponoka Elemen-tary School with 46 not on reserves and at the Outreach School are 125 FNMI stu-dents, 51 non-reserve.
To help her im-pact those students, Hagemann formed the Wisdom and Guid-ance Committee, which is where a lot of the programming comes from. “This is our goal, for elders, parents, students and community members, alongside Wolf Creek division personnel, to meet and share ideas on how best to support students in program-ming,” she said. “We haven’t involved the
students yet . . . we’re not there yet.” Ponoka Elementary School principal Lois
Spate sits on the committee as the representa-tive of all the Ponoka WCPS principals and she says the programming Hagemann and the com-mittee has created has made a lot of difference in her halls.
“Just talking about this way of being, how quickly it’s evolved to being a really meaning-ful experience for our students. It’s like magical Wednesday mornings in our school,” said Spate.
“I can’t believe we’ve waited so long to have this kind of support in our school,” she added.
In the future Hagemann and superintendant Larry Jacobs want to have similar program-ming, such as the Elders program, for the rest of the division. “Another part of our role is to bring as many First Nation, Metis and Inuit resources into the schools as possible,” Hagemann said.
Moving forward, Hagemann wants Chrome-book funding for the FNMI students, however it would only apply to those living on reserves. She also is going to look into late after school busing to allow the students living in the Mask-wacis area the opportunity to participate in after school actives and hold jobs in Ponoka. She also wants a Registered Apprenticeship Program for FNMI students, employability preparation and safety tickets, and more parental involvement.
For funding, she is looking to the federal gov-ernment for aid. “Every month I’ve scheduled a meeting with Blaine (Calkins, Wetaskiwin MP) and every month it’s been cancelled because he has other commitments,” Hagemann said.
FNMI student changes big priority for WCPS
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18 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
Fox continues on despite defeat of property rights
motionBY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
After the PC gov-ernment voted down his motion to protect Alber-tans’ property rights, Lacombe/Ponoka MLA Rod Fox says he’s still here to advocate for his constituents.
Motion 501, put forward by Fox, pro-posed an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing the pro-tection of property and Albertans’ rights to that property but was voted down by the majority PC government.
“What we’ve seen in the last week is there’s only one property concerned with landowner’s rights,” said Fox, referring to the Wildrose Party.
Premier Jim Prentice’s Bill 1, Respecting Prop-erty Rights Act, just passed third reading, which repeals the 2009 Land Assembly Project Area Act and offers some protection to landowners.
Bill 1 declares that the Alberta Bill of Rights recognizes the rights of the individual to the enjoy-ment of their property, the right not to be deprived of the property without due process and that the government is committed to consulting with Al-bertans on legislation that impacts private property ownership.
Fox says that is not enough. He intends to continue with his work for con-
stituents and will challenge issues he sees in Bill 2, the Responsible Energy Development Act; Bill 24, the Carbon Capture and Storage Act and Bill 36, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act.
Despite facing a rejuvenated PC Party, that seems to have found new life with the leadership of Premier Jim Prentice, holding the majority of members in the Legislative Assembly, Fox said he is not discouraged.
“With anything in life, it’s tenacity that mat-ters,” said Fox.
For the past year, Fox has been the Wildrose official critic for the International and Intergov-ernmental Relations ministry.
“The biggest challenge is getting information out of this government. They don’t like to share,” said Fox.
Despite that Fox said he works with different groups to garner information of the workings and movements of the ministry.
Wildrose Party continues its workWith major changes in the government, and
two Wildrose MLAs crossing over to the PC Par-ty recently, the Wildrose Party appears to have a tough road ahead. Fox says it will be work as usual for the opposition party.
“Honestly, our job hasn’t changed. We’ve seen three premiers in the last year,” he stated.
Fox says the majority PC government is still running large deficits while mismanaging Al-berta’s heath care system. “A strong, effective opposition in the short term is still what Alberta needs.”
Regular Jam Session every Saturday at 1pm. No Jam Session Dec. 27
No Gospel Concert in December. See you in January!
No Potluck in December. See you in January!
“Tightrope Walker: A top of the line performer”
Billiards - 9:00am Mon through Sat – 50 cents per game. Honour system
Monday Bridge 1:00pm
Monday Whist - 1:30pm
Monday Yoga - 6:30pm NEW PROGRAM
Tuesday & Thursday Exercise class 9:30am
Tuesday Shuffl eboard - 7pm. No shuffl eboard Dec. 23 or 30.
Wednesday Sewing Guild 9:30am to 4pm
Wednesday Cribbage 1:00pm
Wednesday Duplicate Bridge 7:00pm
Thursday Floor Curling - Check for times with co-ordinator - Gail 783-2450. No fl oor curling Dec. 25
or Jan. 1
Thursday Weaving 1:00pm Welcome to drop-in to see how it’s done
Thursday Bridge 1:00pm
Thursday Art Club Drop In Noon to 4pm
Thursday Pickleball - Check for times with co-ordinator Gail 783-2450. No pickleball Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
Friday “500” 1:00pm
Saturday Yoga 9:30am NEW PROGRAM
Memberships available for 2015 - $10.00 per person. To rent our facility contact Dorothy @
403-783-3027 or George @ 403-783- 3514 or leave a message @ 403-783-5012. Rentals are increasing
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Community rallies to honour the memory of loved youthBY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
The sudden death of Cooper Tonneson, a 19-year-old Ponoka youth, has sent ripples of shock throughout the community.
As family and friends try to grapple with his untimely death, members of the commu-nity have shown an outpour of support to the family because of his positive influence.
Murray Schur, who had a very close connection to Cooper through his son Bran-don, who died in a car accident about 17 months ago and was a close friend with Coo-per, agreed to speak on behalf of the grieving Tonneson family.
“Cooper had a quote that may be appro-priate. ‘It’s better to have a short life that’s full of stuff you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way,’” said Schur, cap-turing the essence of what Cooper meant to him.
Schur said it was Cooper’s parents who felt he would be the best person to speak on their behalf. Not only was he close with Cooper, but he also has a close understand-ing of what it is to lose a child.
The impact Cooper had on the commu-nity is something that his parents may only be starting to realize. His mother and stepfa-ther, Sheryl and Blair Vold, and father Clint Tonneson, have had to deal with something no parent wants to deal with, explained Sch-ur, that is the death of a child. He suggests they have become part of an exclusive club that no one wants to be part of.
“It questions your process in believing in God. Why would God do that to me?” Schur asked.
He has met with family, friends and community members who remember Coo-per and found that the resounding response is that Cooper was the kind of person who would treat everyone the same.
Schur suggests that Cooper’s family will need time to allow for healing.
“It’s not a time to want to have to be strong. It’s a time to cry because every tear that you cry is worth it. And it’s the time to reflect and look at the meaning of life,” said Schur.
“With his warm smile, his caring and saying, ‘I love you.’ Or a sweet hug to his friends and his family, or to anybody, to
draw the best out of people in life,” said Schur.
Cooper’s upbeat personality, and the effect he had on many people, is something his par-ents can be proud of, but Schur says the death of a child is a devastating ex-perience. “There is no other loss that is deemed as sig-nificant as to lose a child.”
He feels the best thing he can do is be there if family needs his support. Schur says he wants to give the parents hope that there is good reason to move forward in life and remember Cooper.
“The recipe of what went into mak-ing him that person is really the recipe of being a parent… to mak-ing him that wonderful man that he was,” said Schur.
Cooper created lasting memories within the community; Schur says businesses and individuals have reached out to the family to share their condolences. The outpouring of support was so large that the Calnash Ag Event Centre hosted his funeral — Schur called it Cooper’s “celebration of life,” — where approximately 800 people at-tended.
There was no other space that could handle the number of attendees, explained Schur, who suggests it was Cooper’s caring attitude that caused the desire for people to attend.
“It’s hard to recognize that in people nowadays,” he added.
Seeing the strong support gives Schur hope for the fami-lies and Cooper’s parents have
been able to see the influence he had on members of the com-munity.
A trust fund, dedicated to Cooper’s memory, will be set up by the family. Called the Cooper Clint Ton-neson Memorial Fund, anybody who wishes to donate money to the fund can do so at the Servus Credit Union. Money from the fund will go to help with the research and cure of lupus, an autoimmune disease which lets healthy tissues in the body be targeted by the immune system.
It was no secret that Cooper was di-agnosed with lupus, but Schur said it was something Cooper did not want defining him. He says Cooper never wanted people to look
at him as any other person other than Cooper. Friends try to deal with the loss
Schur met with a group of Cooper’s friends to get an idea of his personality and he says it was an emotional experience. While many cel-ebrate the person he was, Schur wanted them to know that sometime’s life is not fair.
However, he says that they should look at Cooper’s accomplishments and he suggests they take some time to understand the pre-
ciousness of life. “It gives them a better sense and clearer direction on treating one another well.”
“But also have perspective on how they live their life,” he added.
The closeness of Cooper and Schur’s son, Brandon — who was 20 when he died — can-not be forgotten. Cooper was a pallbearer at Brandon’s funeral and the two boys played sports and had many experiences together.
“Cooper was a huge part of our family. He was a huge part of my son’s life and that’s what gives me the perspective because I lost my son,” explained Schur.
He feels some comfort in the belief that Cooper and Brandon’s souls are together. “They are going to watch over friends and family together.”
His hope is that will also bring some com-fort to Cooper’s friends and family.
Cooper played most of his minor hockey career in Ponoka and Schur says he had en-joyed many sporting activities such as golf and lacrosse. He also played with the Ponoka Stampeders for some time.
“From a sports perspective, he was a huge Calgary Flames fan and he promoted a lot of sports competition,” said Schur. “His catch phrase was always ‘I love you.’ He was a huge hugger.”
He says Cooper lived a full life and he had a zest for fun that was a benefit to the commu-nity and his friends, Schur concluded. Cooper’s 20th birthday is Dec. 13.
Cooper had four siblings; Sarah, Nansen, Labrie and Gjen-na.
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CARRIER OF THE MONTHCongratulations toDiadem Pambrun
Susan Whitecotton, Circulation Supervisor,presents Diadem with a $50 cheque
recognizing excellent service in delivering the newspaper for the month of November.
5019A Chipman Ave.Ponoka, Alberta
403.783.3311
Many in the community were shocked to hear of the sudden death of Ponoka resident Cooper Tonneson who passed away last week. A service was held at the Calnash Ag Event Centre Monday, Dec. 8 with approximately 800 people attending.
Photo submitted
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
Bill C-18 passed third reading Monday, Nov. 24 and was forwarded to the Senate for review. With the bill’s close ties to the Canadian/Eu-ropean Union Comprehensive Trade Agreement (CETA), the National Farmers Union is less than pleased with the recent progress.
Canada and the European Union are aiming for CETA to be ready for ratification in early to mid 2015.
National Farmers Union (NFU) president Jan Slomp says with the progression of CETA and Bill C-18, Canadian citizens are losing their right to democracy and that they impede public interest in the agricul-tural industry.
“CETA is clearly a ‘bill of rights’ for corporations. It fundamentally undermines our democracy and stands in the way of setting public policy for the health of our environ-ment and Canadians,” said Slomp in a media statement released Nov. 24.
“We lose our democratic control over our own affairs,” he added.
CETA contains an Investor State Dispute Settlements (ISDS) mecha-nism that will force governments to financially compensate foreign cor-porations for lost profits. Slomp is calling that the “most contentious” aspect of the trade agreement.
For example, there is at least one corporation using neonicotinoid as a seed treatment and the chemi-cal, after research stemming from a dramatic loss of the bee population 2006, was found to have high tox-icity levels for insects. In 2013, the American Bird Conservancy also called for a ban on the substance due its ability to affect entire food chains. However, the ISDS would prompt payments to corporations using the chemical, for a loss of revenue if neonicotinoid was ever banned in Canada.
“What it means is power is given to the investors,” said Slomp.
Bill C-18 also tightly restricts the
re-use of seeds by farmers. “Mean-ing the farmers have lost the right to harvest their seeds . . . that used to be a right, now it’s a privilege,” said Slomp.
He says, the privilege must first be approved by the Plant Breeders Rights; who stand to benefit from the re-seeding restrictions.
Through CETA, if a farmer is alleged to have infringed the seed-ing restrictions, their bank account can be frozen and movable and unmovable assets seized, such as equipment.
Slomp labels it as another break-down in democracy. “In Canada we’re innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
With farmers being manipulated to buy seed every year, Slomp says steep royalties and new levies could be imposed, including an end-point royalty forcing farmers to pay from every ton of product.
“We need govern-ments in Canada to be able to create poli-cies and regulations that protect our food sovereignty and our en-vironment,” said NFU vice president of policy Ann Slater in the media release.
Grains started the month of De-cember with wheat in the driver’s seat thanks to concerns out of Rus-sia and Australia.
In the Land Down Undaa, A.B.A.R.E.S., the Aussie version of the U.S.D.A., cut its official wheat production estimate by one million tonnes (or about four per cent from its previous estimate) to 23.22 million tonnes, thanks to drier weather in the east and unusually wet conditions in the western part of the country-continent. In Russia, SovEcon says that “winter grains are actually in the worst state on re-cord,” including 2009/10 when an unusually dry summer exacerbated elevated winterkill levels to only pro-duce a 62M-tonne crop. That being said, SovEcon doesn’t think Russian grain exports will be slowed, which is prob-ably why Russia shipped out 2.71 million tonnes of grain in November (vs 2.55 million in November 2013), includ-ing 1.86 million tonnes of wheat. Russia is even looking at making deals with Iran to ship them grain in return for oil, and pay in their respec-tive currencies, not US dollars (which is common practice). One thing supporting the sus-tained pace of exports is that the U.S. dollar and Euro are both enjoying record spreads against the Russian ruble. Ultimately, any price upgrades in the wheat market is tied to weather, but the ex-aggeration of the rumour that Russia could ban exports is bringing unwarranted premium to the market that will likely dissipate over the next few weeks/months (Make sales when you can, not when you have to!).
Strong U.S. soybean exports continue to sup-port the oilseed complex as 1.2 million tonnes were sold in the lat week of November, well above market expectations. Volumes have slowed down though over the past few weeks but still well above the five-year average of 582 million bushels. The reason for the slowdown versus last year is that more buyers might have increased confidence in
South America’s ability to ship prod-uct more efficiently. That being said, the U.S.D.A.’s Buenos Aires office lifted its estimate or the Argentine soybean harvest to a record 57 mil-lion tonnes, two million higher than the official U.S.D.A. forecast. How-ever, the bureau said that given the Argentine government’s position in the market and current economic environment, “many farmers’ sole aim is to survive the production cycle.” To be honest, there may be a few producers in other major grow-ing regions who will feel the same
way over the next year should the supply and demand funda-mentals remain in place and grain prices remain low.
Speaking of keeping things in place, the Canadian government extended its order for the two Canadian rail-roads, C.P. and C.N., to ship Canadian grain but the level was dropped from a combined one million tonnes weekly to a variance of tonnage, depend-ing on the week, through the end of March (or another four months). The new mandate pegs minimum movement by
each railroad at 345,000 tonnes thru December 20th, 200,000 tonnes from December 21 – Janu-ary 3, 2015, 325,000 tonnes weekly from January 4 – February 21, 345,000 tonnes from February 22 – March 21, and then 465,000 tonnes for the final week (March 22 – 28). The new requirement clearly has some weather risk premium built into it, much like the rest of the market right now.
To growth.Brennan Turner
President, FarmLead.comBrennan Turner is originally from Foam Lake,
SK, where his family started farming the land in the 1920s. After completing his degree in economics from Yale University and then playing some pro hockey, Mr. Turner spent some time working in finance before start-ing FarmLead.com, a risk-free, transparent online and mobile grain marketplace (app available for iOS and Android). His weekly column is a summary of his free, daily market note, the FarmLead Breakfast Brief. He can be reached via email ([email protected]) or phone (1-855-332-7653).
VJV MARKET REPORTMARKET REPORT DECEMBER 3RD, 2014
On Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 - 2725 head of cattle went through our rings &
343 on the Canadian Satellite - TOTAL- 3068
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Bashaw Offi ce (Tues): 780-372-3627
Wetaskiwin Offi ce (Mon & Thurs): 780-352-6488
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 21
Sports
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
The first home games for the St. Au-gustine senior Kings and Queens basketball teams may not have ended in wins, but play-ers are seeing improvement in their game.
Both teams played the Central Alberta Christian High School (CACHS) Wednes-day, Dec. 3 with the girls’ coach, Katherine Bergum York, saying her team showed vast improvements.
The Queens’ first game of the sea-son was played at Pigeon Lake where the girls scored only one basket losing to Pi-geon Lake 74-2. While they still lost 76-34 against CACHS last week, they scored more points and had a stronger presence on the court.
“I was extremely happy with how we played today,” she stated.
The Queens were ahead in the first quarter against CACHS but were unable to capitalize on points in the second half, which widened the point gap. Bergum York
says with only two practices before the season, the Queens have an uphill battle in front of them. She’s working on developing players’ intensity.
“I need to put that pressure more on them so that they’re used to it,” she added.
This is her first time coaching the senior girls’ team and in an effort to improve her coaching skills, York says she is shadowing senior boys’ coach Adam Bowie.
For the Kings, the game started strong and they kept CACHS boys’ team scram-bling to keep up. However, the Lacombe team was able to rally before the end of the second quarter to take a 10-point lead.
By the end of the game, Bowie says the Kings were approximately 20 points behind CACHS. Their biggest opportunity for im-provement is in boxing out their opponents.
“It’s hard to compete with a team when we give them three or four shot opportuni-ties,” said Bowie.
“The boys were a little upset with the loss,” he added.
Kings and Queens seeing improvement
BY MUSTAFA ERIC
JV Broncs boys won their first game of the season with a score of 33-30 after a highly competitive match against the visiting Rocky Mountain House Rebels on Wednesday, Dec. 3, inspiring hope that the season my offer some great basketball excitement.
The first half of the game gave ev-ery indication that both teams had quite a number of rookies and that it was quite early in the season.
Early in the game, both teams strug-gled in not only moving but also handling the ball, with turnovers, off-target passes and shots frustrating both players and the benches.
Broncs had a slight edge in grabbing rebounds, but their advantage was more than offset by individual shooting and dribbling skills of a few Rebels players as well as their ability as a team to pressure Ponoka boys in their own half of the court.
With visitors capitalizing on their slightly better ball movement and shoot-ing skills, the first half ended with the 13-11 Rebels lead over Broncs.
In the second half, though, Broncs
slowly but surely started to impose their game plan to the visitors with improved ball handling and movement. Maintaining their rebounding edge through the third and fourth periods, Ponoka boys found better scoring opportunities and capital-ized on most of them, ending the game with a three point lead and recording their first win in their first game.
“Winning the first game of the season was definitely a great way to start off the season,” said Broncs coach Ryan New-man.
“It was a hard fought battle and I am extremely proud of the boys for the heart and character that they showed, both on and off the court. Rocky put up one heck of a fight and played a great game,” he added.
Newman said he was also aware of the need to step up their performance as the season progresses.
“If the West Central Rebels are any indication of the level of competition that we will be facing this season, then we definitely will have our work cut out for us, but I am confident that the boys will be able to rise to the occasion,” he concluded.
JV Broncs: Game 1, Win 1
Nic Semour of PSC JV Broncs blocks a shot attempt by Rebels offense during their game in Ponoka on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Photo by Mustafa Eric
Ryndale Camat, of St. Augustine senior boys Kings basketball team makes a layup against CACHS, Wednesday, Dec. 3 at home. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
22 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
It was a tight game between two evenly matched teams when the Ponoka Junior Heritage Stampeders lost 5-4 to Banff in overtime during a home game on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Assistant coach Gord Thomas feels a large contributing factor behind the team’s loss was the lack of effort put in during the game. “They let go of it, the game plan was there.”
Thomas says the effect was spotty, there were moments of good effort in the second period and the beginning of the third. “It was on and off, there was no effort in our face offs when we needed them.”
“The first period was all Banff, we just chased the puck around,” he added.
A few bad penalties also proved detrimental to the Ponoka boys, but the game was not all bad. Going into the second period, Banff was ahead 2-0 but a few intense drives and good execution of plays near the Banff net pushed the Stampeders into a 4-4 tie by the end of the third period.
Thomas feels Banff is not one of the strongest teams to look out for in the league and the equal teams should have led to a different game.
“They outskated us. We didn’t skate with them, we followed,” Thomas explained.
The Stampeders are approximately halfway through the season and Thomas hopes the boys would have reflected that in their playing. “I wish the boys would get into the system and play like they want to win.
Goalie Zane Steeves also realizes the team got off to a slow start, but says the boys’ biggest strength was their refusal to give up. “We still came back. It sucks to lose, but we did get a point out of it.”
“We scored four goals, which is really good
Narrow loss for Stampeders in home game
BY PONOKA NEWS STAFF
The Ponoka Fountain Tire Wolves Midget A team struggled to make any points against the Stettler Legion.
They played in Stettler Sunday, Dec. 7 but lost 6-0.
Ponoka’s Midget Wespro Stampeders Tier 4 team had better luck against the 3Cs in Consort Dec. 6.
The Wespro Stampeders won 7-2 with goals coming from Cooper Jones, Daniel Huchkowski, Adam Rowland, Braeden Korchinski, Rylee De-jonge, Rian Van Der Westhuizen and Tyler Hoar.
Peewee: Ponoka’s Peewee McDonald’s home game
Thursday, Dec. 4 against Red Deer Lightning re-sulted in a 4-15 loss.
Scorers for Ponoka were Ethan Little (2), Gavin Allen-Prefontaine and Ashton Bandet.
They played an away game against Rocky Co-Op Storm Dec. 6, which resulted in a loss of 1-5. Ashton Bandet scored their only goal of the game for the Ponoka side.
Lacoka femaleThe Lacoka Peewee female team played two
games over the weekend with their first being an away game Dec. 6 against Wainwright. Lacoka was unable to score a goal losing 6-0.
They played Wainwright again the next day and were able to score two goals but eventually lost 12-2. Ivy Wolf scored both goals in that game.
Midget Wolves lose 6-0 against Stettler Legion
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Atom hockey teams converged on the Ponoka Culture and Recreation Complex last weekend to enjoy a fun eight-team hockey tournament.
There were two Ponoka teams that com-peted against six other atom teams from around central Alberta.
Geoff Tatlow, Ponoka Atom Quality Paints/McDonalds’ coach, says his team had a blast.
Their first game of the tournament was the most memorable, playing against the Maskwacis Hawks. Tatlow says they had the lead but lost momentum as the game kept on.
“We were ahead 4-2 and then they kept coming back and then they were ahead 5-4,” said Tatlow. “We scored with just a minute left to tie it up.”
Tatlow says he pulled his goalie out of the game to try and tie things up. The atom tournament rules were such that there was no over time if teams tied, only a shootout.
Ponoka managed to slip by with a 2-1 shootout win against Maskwacis. “It was cer-tainly an exciting time for them,” the coach said.
Tatlow says tournaments like this are a great way for the team to bond together and develop their unity. He says the team is 2-0-2 in the league.
Ponoka Calnash Trucking’s coach, Chris Palechek, says his team won the finals of the B side of the tournament. Their last game was against the Killam Warriors.
“It was pretty evenly matched there. Right
Hockey action was strong during Atom tourney
for us. We fought back in the third pe-riod,” he added.
Steeves says the team’s loss stems from a lack of preparation for the game. "They are a really young team, so I thought we should have been a little more
physical.”Overtime is not new territory for the
Stampeders, says Steeves, so the expe-rience is generally more positive than nerve-wracking.
However, when Banff scored the
game winning point, a five-hole goal, Steeves says the feeling of letting the team down is a hard to cope with.
The Stampeders’ next home game is against Stettler Lightning on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7:45 p.m.
Forward Chandler Knibb slid out of control during a attempt at a goal during the Stampeders Saturday, Dec. 6 home game.Photo by Amelia Naismith
down to the wire,” said Palechek. The Calnash Trucking narrowly de-
feated the Warriors with a 4-3 win with the last goal coming 35 seconds left in the game.
“The kids did a great job. They came out every shift trying,” explained Palechek. “Even when they were down, they kept positive and kept trying.”
Palechek says the Warriors are in their tier and he looks forward to competing against them in the regular season. “It came right down to the wire. It was good.”
He thanked the organizers and par-ents for helping put the tournament together. The Calnash Trucking team is 3-1-0 in the season.
Ponoka’s Atom Quality Paint/McDonalds’ player, Josh David attempts to score Saturday Sat. 6 during a tournament game against Wetaskiwin.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
It was a weekend of personal achievements as many of the Ponoka Pools Sharks beat their best times dur-ing a home meet, held Dec. 6 and 7.
Ponoka’s swimmers challenged themselves against seven other clubs from around the province, and a total of 177 swimmers. “I think they did very well in comparison to the other clubs,” said head coach Bobbie-Jo Christensen.
“We had a lot of fun, which is the most important part,” she added.
She also feels the younger swim-mers, for whom the weekend was their first meet, also held their own. This year the 42 member team has approximately 12 first time teammates, and 40 competed during the home meet.
She says a home meet is especially important for the swimmers. “They like to show their stuff,” Christensen explained.
“I think they’ve been practicing really hard,” she added. “They put a lot of effort in.”
For Christensen, one of the highlights of the busy meet was watching her team push themselves and compete head-to-head in the elimination race. “It was a lot of fun. We had quite a few Sharks in that.
Another highlight, as well as a bit of an anom-aly, was seeing Ponoka Shark Lanny Wildcat compete in the lengthy 400 IM alone, which she says is a tough swim with-out the added pressure he
faced. “All eyes are on you. He did very well.”
Those who place in the top three are awarded medals at the meet and swim-mers in fourth and fifth place receive ribbons. By press time, Christensen was not sure how each one of her swim-mers placed but she was impressed with the number of accolades they earned. “We’ve got a whole box full.”
While all Pool Sharks pushed them-selves to race their best, Christensen says her senior swimmers are working especially hard to prepare themselves for the major meets of the season, which begin early next year.
Congratulations Ethan Malterer he is the Ponoka Mites player of the week. Ethan is 6 years old, his favorite hockey team is the Oilers and his favorite position to play is goalie. When he’s not playing hockey he likes to play outside and his favorite food is grilled cheese. Ethan wants to be a racecar driver when he grows up and his one wish is to have a green jeep. Keep up the hard work and good luck on the rest of your season.
Sponsored by Busat Enterprises Ltd
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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 23
Pool Sharks devour home meet, earning many awards
Lanny Wildcat is the only competitor in the 400 IM Boys race during the final day of the Ponoka Pool Sharks home meet, held Dec. 6 and 7.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
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Redneck Barbie Mary Lynn Ellingson brought the Minion, the character from the movie De-spicable Me from Bruce’s Tru Hardware to entertain the kids on Monday, Dec. 8 and kids enjoyed hi-fives with the movie character.
Contributed photo
Ronald James Bednar Dec. 22, 1933 - Dec. 2, 2014
Ron passed on to be with our Lord December 2, 2014. Ron is survived by his wife Lorraine; daughter Kathleen (Gary) Pate; grandchildren David and Aidan; son Padre Lt (N) Rev. Leonard (Anne Marie) Bednar; grandchildren Dylan, Emma, and Thaine of Halifax NS; also brothers Frank, Ben, (Margaret), Larry (Pam) and sister Marilyn. A celebration of
his life will be held at noon on Saturday, December 13 at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 10127 - 145 Street. Directions: from QEII take Anthony Henday West, turn north on Terwillegar Drive, merge left onto Whitemud Drive West, cross the river, exit at 149 Street, north to Stony Plain Road and turn right (East) to 145 Street. Reception-lunch to follow, 1:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. at Lifestyle Options Riverbend, Great Room, 200 Falconer Court (Rabbit Hill Road and Terwilligar Drive). Donations in Ron’s memory may be made to The Lung Association.
BENJAMIN LIPPERTBorn
August 9, 1927Bassano, Alberta
Passed AwayNovember 24, 2014
Ponoka, Alberta at the age of 87 years.
Ben is lovingly remembered by his daughter Marlene Taylor (Morgan); his pen-pal daughter Paralee Soper (Jim); his grandchildren Rhonda Soper (Lloyd), Victoria Hanson (Melvin), Greg Cyr and Tracey Cyr; great-grandchildren Cassie Soper, Trinity Soper, Shayann Hanson, Layton Hanson, Bella Hanson, Jorden Cyr, and Tanner Cyr; his sisters Ruth Taylor and Lillian Lewis; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. He was predeceased by his wife Shirley; brother Henry; and sisters Clara and Elsie.
The family of Ben Lippert wants to thank Sheila, Marlon and staff at Ponoka Funeral Home
for their caring assistance with the service for my father. they are like family to me and I will be forever grateful.
God Bless you all.
Marlene Taylor and family
The families of Ed Zerbe (Papa) would like to send a sincere
thank-you to all of our friends and family for their support at this diffi cult
time. A special thank-you to everyone who had a part in making
Dad’s service a wonderful celebration of his Life.
Papa will be missed.
80th Birthday Celebration!
for JAMES STRACHANSunday, January 4, 2015
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Come join him at the
United Church Hall One for this joyous event!”
Ewald Zerbe Ewald “Ed” Zerbe passed away November 25, 2014 in Red Deer at the age of 85 years. Ewald was born in Bushye, Poland on September 26, 1929. He spent his fi rst nine years on the family farm. Then in 1938 the family immigrated to Canada to set up farming in the Fallun area. The land was good there, but the house too small for their
growing family so they moved west of Ponoka in the Elkhorn district and began to farm there. At the age of sixteen he decided to leave the busy household and go out on his own. He then began his career in the Oil Business until his retirement in 1988. He had a passion for gardening and a love for ice fi shing. He had great faith in the Lord! Ed is survived by his son Glen (Gail) Zerbe and family: Tyler (Jayme, Tate and Nola), and Nicole (Brad, Garner and Gillian); daughter Karen (Doug) Robinson and family: Tricia (Allan) and Matt (Amanda); daughter Debbie (Gary) Hetze and family: Megan (Deseray, Daiton and Trey), Lucas (Sharelle), and Rebecca (Riley); daughter Loretta (Bob) Kraft and family: Sarah (Chad) and Hannah (Brock); the mother of their children Helen; sisters Erna (Rudolf) Litke, Lil (Reuben) Hickman, Gerda Kiel, and Adeline (Gerry) Hanert; brothers Otto (Linda) Zerbe and Paul Zerbe; as well as many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Ed was predeceased by his parents Emil and Elsie Zerbe and his brother Arnold (Alice) Zerbe. A Funeral Service was held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ponoka at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, December 1, 2014 with the Interment Service following at the Forest Home Cemetery. Memorial donations are gratefully accepted to S.T.A.R.S. To express condolences to Ed’s family, please visit www.womboldfuneralhomes.com.
Arrangements Entrusted To
PONOKA FUNERAL HOME~ A Wombold Family Funeral Home ~
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Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
“Promoting Your Health” TM
Full Time Pharmacy Assistant/TechnicianWe are looking for a dedicated full-time Pharmacy Assistant or Technician to work in our patient-focused pharmacy. Previous pharmacy experience is required.
Duties will include:• Receiving prescriptions from customers• data entry of patient care information into Nexxsys• ensuring that prescriptions and medications are accurate• inventory control• maintenance of Script Pro Robot• assisting with cashier responsibilities as required
Qualifi cations:• Red Deer College Certifi cation. Will Consider equivalent education.• Valid driver’s license.• Willing to work as a team member in a fast paced environment.• Must possess one year minimum experience.• Strong math and good customer service skills essential.• Must be bondable.
Desired Skills & Experience:• Genuine desire to help customers• An ability to show empathy and be compassionate• Excellent English Communication and organizational skills• Ability to Multi-task• Profi cient computer, data and entry skills• Desire to work as a team member in a team setting
We offer competitive wages, great hours (no evenings or weekends), benefi t package and staff discounts.
Closing Date: December 20, 2014
Apply to:Dwayne Waknuk or Jamil Rawji,PharmacistsPonoka Professional Pharmacy
We appreciate the interest of all applicants, but advise that only candidates selected for an interview for this competition will be contacted.
PONOKA LICENSE & REGISTRYIs looking for a motivated and responsible
individual to fi ll a PERMANENT PART-TIME CLERK
We are looking for someone who:• Consistently demonstrates exceptional customer service• Has excellent communication skills and is highly organized• Is profi cient with computers and interpreting information• Works well as a team player in a fast pace environment
Prior training with Alberta Registries is an asset but not necessary.
A criminal record check is required prior to hiring.
Drop resume off at Ponoka License & Registry4902 50 St, Ponoka during regular offi ce hours.
Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
for busy automotive repair shop & rental car company
• Must have computer skills• Automotive detailing required
Or stop in and have a chat with the owner:5503 54 Street
F/T Front Sales/Service PersonLooking for :
26 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
Professionals 810
Trades 850
Misc.Help 880
Misc.Help 880
“Promoting Your Health” TM
Maternity Coverage Pharmacy Assistant/TechnicianWe are looking for a dedicated Pharmacy Assistant or Technician to work in our patient-focused pharmacy. Previous pharmacy experience is required.
Duties will include:• Receiving prescriptions from customers• Data entry of patient care information into nexxsys• Ensuring that prescriptions and medications are accurate• Inventory control• Maintenance of script pro robot• Assisting with cashier responsibilities as required
Qualifi cations:• Red Deer College Certifi cation. Will Consider equivalent education.• Valid driver’s license.• Willing to work as a team member in a fast paced environment.• Must possess one year minimum experience.• Strong math and good customer service skills essential.• Must be bondable.
Desired Skills & Experience:• Genuine desire to help customers• An ability to show empathy and be compassionate• Excellent English Communication and organizational skills• Ability to Multi-task• Profi cient computer, data and entry skills• Desire to work as a team member in a team setting
We offer competitive wages, great hours (no evenings or weekends), benefi t package and staff discounts.
Closing Date: December 20, 2014
Apply to:Dwayne Waknuk or Jamil Rawji,PharmacistsPonoka Professional Pharmacy
We appreciate the interest of all applicants, but advise that only candidates selected for an interview for this competition will be contacted.
12345
NOW HIRING!Join our growing team. We have career opporunities available in our Edmonton location:
• Heavy Equipment Technicians (Apprentice or Journeyman) • Positions available in the shop and fi eld • Resident position available in Bonnyville, Edson, Hinton.
Apply online at www.brandtjobs.com. Enter “Edmonton” into the search fi eld on the Job Opportunities page.
Find out more about our exciting career opportunities at www.brandtjobs.com or by calling 306-791-8923.
Brandt Tractor is the world’s largest privately held John Deere Construction and Forestry Equipment dealer and a Platinum member of the Canada’s Best Managed Companies Program.
Call Jim Ashbough 783-2764 or Cell: 588-0599Jack Surbey 783-5283 Cell: 588-0597
BOBCAT SERVICES
SALES & SERVICE
BOTTLE DEPOT
Call Jim Ashbough 403-783-2764 or Cell: 403-588-0599Jack Surbey 403-783-5283 or Cell: 403-588-0597
PONOKA BOTTLE DEPOTOpen Monday - Saturday
10 am - 5 pm
Closed Sundays & HolidaysClosed Dec. 24/14 to Jan.1/15
We Now Recycle Milk Cartons for Deposit
3, 5520 Hwy 2A(Across from Husky)
403-783-6875
Tues - Fri: 8:30 am-5:30 pmSaturday: 9 am-3 pm
403-783-51851-800-662-7135
Fax: 403-783-4635
Motorcycles & ATV’s
OVERHEAD DOORS
www.doorsondemand.ca
403-963-5000
5306 - 60 ST, PONOKA, AB T4J 1K7
PH: (403) 783-6372 • FAX (403) 783-6345
“Reasonable rates on all your plumbing needs”Gas Fitting - Home Renovations - Drain Cleaning
-24 HOUR SERVICE-
PLUMBING
SHANDALL PLUMBING LTD.
JAMES AVERY
EXERCISE, EARN MONEY, AND WIN PRIZES!AND WIN PRIZES!Reliable carriers are automatically entered into a monthly draw.
Win an additional $50Keep up the good work and your name will be entered to win a
$400 Gift Certifi cateEach week the Ponoka News reaches residents where they live, work and farm. In town our papers are delivered door to door by reliable carriers and we could use more help.
If you are interested in a local route please contact Susan Whitecotton at 403-783-3311
Join the PONOKA NEWS Carrier Team in the Carrier Team in the Riverside area.Riverside area.
ALLOWANCE ALLOWANCE NOT CUTTING IT?NOT CUTTING IT?
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMER/LIBRARY CLERK
Ponoka Jubilee Library is hiring a Children’s Programmer/Library Clerk. The person in this position must be creative, energetic and persevering. This is a part-time position (28-33 hours/week), with some nights and weekends required. The position will be responsible for design and delivery of programs for children ranging in age from infant to 16 years.
Qualifi cations:• Completion of Grade 12; related post-secondary education is an asset.• Profi ciency with Microsoft Offi ce applications is necessary, having
experience in using an automated library circulation system is a benefi t (preferably Horizon).
• Enthusiasm and ability to work well with staff in a team environment are essential, along with proven ability to work courteously and effectively with the public.
• Past experience with children is preferred.• Must be able to provide a clear criminal record check.
Salary is commensurate with experience. See full job description and qualifi cations on the Library website at ponokalibrary.prl.ab.ca. Please email your resume, with cover letter, as attachments to: Jaclyn Berry, Library Manager at [email protected]. We welcome all applications, however only those candidates invited for an interview will be contacted.Closing Date: December 19, 2014.
We want to hear from you!www.ponokanews.com
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 27
Professionals 810FULL-TIME GENERAL MANAGER required for Canadian Professional
Rodeo Association. Must be highly motivated with
strong business management, negotiating,
fi nancial planning, leadership, team building,
strategic thinking & organizational skills.
Duties: Offi ce operations, staff supervision,
marketing, sponsorship & communication. Email resume with covering letter & references:
operated by Cameron BayHoldings Inc. now haspositions for AssistantRestaurant Managers.
Candidates require 3 - 5years quick service
experience along with some managerial experi-
ence. Previous McDonaldsexperience is an asset.Skills needed include:
ability to work with store and other managers, hire and train crew, run effec-tive shifts, maintain food and labour controls, be a brand ambassador to our guests as well as under-
stand, maintain and support the store programs and procedures. Ability to work any days, hours or
shifts as restaurants are 24 hours. Annual salary of
$40,000. 00 plus benefi ts. Stores are located at 4419
METAL ROOFING & SIDING. 30+ colours available at over 40 Distributors. 40 year warranty. 48 hour
Express Service available at select supportingDistributors. Call 1-888-263-8254.
Equipment-Heavy 1630EVERY WATER WELL on earth should have the pat-ented “Kontinuous Shok” Chlorinator from Big Iron Drilling! Why? Save thou-sands of lives every year. www.1-800bigiron.com. Phone 1-800-BIG-IRON.
oats, barley, wheat & peas for feed. Buying damaged
or offgrade grain. “On Farm Pickup” Westcan
Feed & Grain, 1-877-250-5252.
For Rent#3000 - #3200
Acreages/Farms ..............3010Houses/Duplexes ............3020Condos/Townhouses........3030Manufactured Homes ......3040Four Plexes/Six Plexes ....3050Suites ..............................3060Cottages/Seasonal ..........3070Roommates Wanted ........3080Rooms for Rent................3090Motels/Hotels ..................3100Offices ..............................3110Stores/Commercial ..........3120Industrial ..........................3130Warehouse Space............3140Garage Space..................3150Storage Space ................3160Land ................................3170Pasture ............................3180Mobile Lot ........................3190Misc. for Rent ..................3200
Wanted to Rent#3250 - #3390
Acreages/Farms ..............3255Houses/Duplexes ............3260Suites ..............................3270Rooms..............................3280Manufactured Homes ......3290Housesitting Wanted ........3300Garage Space..................3310Storage Space ................3320Stores/Commercial ..........3330Office Space ....................3340Industrial ..........................3350Warehouse Space............3360Resorts & Cottages..........3370Pasture/Land....................3380Mobile Lot ........................3390
Acreages/Farms 3010NOW AVAILABLE
3 bdrm suite on acreage for responsible
adults. N/S, N/P403-357-0654
Houses/Duplexes 3020
AVAILABLE DEC 12 bdrm, 1 ½ bath duplexAttached single garage
Near Senior’s Drop in Centre50+, N/S, N/P, No children
403-783-4236or 403-704-5556 (cell)
Available Jan 12 plus 1, 2 baths
Lucas Heights$1200 plus D.D.
N/S, N/P403-783-1222(c)403-783-2447(h)
AVAILABLE DEC 13 BDRM DUPLEXNorth end of Ponoka
$1050/mnth plus D.D.
403-877-1941
Stores/Commercial 3120
Central Alberta’s LargestCar Lot in Classifieds
Houses/Duplexes 3020
3 BDRM. DUPLEXIN PONOKA,
4 appls., rent $900 + utils. Avail Dec 15. RENTED
3 Bdrms, 1 Bath Duplex in PONOKA with an open basement for storage.
Newly painted, 4 Appls, laminate fl ooring through-out, $950/mth, $950 DD. Town Utilities included in Rent. Available Jan 1/15.
Call (587) 400-5045 or email SMCIRENTAL
@GMAIL.COM
PONOKA,close to schools.
3 bdrm. + den, 1 bath house.4 appls., single garage,
- ADVANCED EYE HEALTH & VISION EXAMS- CONSULTATION & REFERRAL SERVICES- DESIGNER EYE WEAR & CONTACT LENSES- INSURED MEDICAL EYECARE SERVICES NOW AVAILABLE FOR ALL AGES
or put it in CLASSIFIEDS and we’ll sell it for you!
Business getting nowhere?
ADVERTISE!
403.783.3311403.783.3311
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 29
HousesFor Sale 4020
Farms/Land 4070
InvestmentOpportunities4180
Real Estate#4000 - #4190
Realtors & Services..........4010Houses for Sale................4020Houses Wanted................4030Condos/Townhouses ........4040Acreages ..........................4050Acreages Wanted ............4060Farms/Land ......................4070Farms/Land Wanted ........4080Manufactured/Mobile Homes ..................4090Income Property ..............4100Commercial Property ......4110Industrial Property ............4120Cottages/Resort Property ..4130Businesses for Sale..........4140Buildings for Sale ............4150Lots for Sale ....................4160Out of Town Property ......4170Investment Opportunities ..4180Mortgages Bought/Sold....4190
DO YOU OWN real estate? I offer 1st & 2nd mortgages with no credit
check. Get approved today. Call
1-866-405-1228 or email: info@
fi rstandsecondmortgages.ca
Financial#4400 - #4430
Investments ......................4410Money Wanted ................4420Money to Loan ................4430
MoneyTo Loan 4430
GET BACK on track! Bad credit? Bills?
Unemployed? Need money? We lend! If you own your own home - you qualify. Pioneer
Acceptance Corp. Member BBB. 1-877-987-1420; www.pioneerwest.com.
Public Notice#6000
Public Notices ..................6010Special Features ..............6050
Full 1/4 section of land (No 2 soil)2200 sq ft bungalow with double att. garage 40’x50’ insulated work shop (in-fl oor heating) with big overhead door.Livestock barn - multi-purpose, sheds, corrals, etc.
FRANCHISES AVAILABLE IN YOUR AREALet’s get chopping...
Amendment to Land Use By-Law 7-08-LU
The Council of Ponoka County has been asked by Leo & Jolanda Van Der Toorn to amend Land Use By-Law 7-08-LU as follows:
Reclassify portion of SW 29-42-24-W4 (approximately 5.0 acres total) from Agricultural District to Country Residential District to allow for future subdivision of the rezoned area.
Before considering the by-law, Council will hold a Public Hearing at which any person claiming to be affected may ask questions or make comments. This hearing is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 in the Council Chambers of the County Administration Building.
A copy of the proposed by-law may be inspected at the County Administration Building, Ponoka, Alberta during regular offi ce hours.
Charlie B. CutforthChief Administrative Offi cerPonoka County4205 - Highway #2APONOKA, Alberta T4J 1V9Phone: 783-3333Fax: 783-6965e-mail: [email protected]
Ponoka CountyPUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICELacombe County, City of Lacombe, Ponoka
County and Town of BlackfaldsWATER ACT
NOTICE OF APPLICATION
Notice is given that Lacombe County, City of Lacombe, Ponoka County and Town of Blackfalds, have fi led an application under the provisions of the Water Act for a Master Drainage Plan approval. The Master Drainage Plan is to assist the municipalities in managing drainage and channel improvements within the Whelp Brook and Wolf Creek watersheds. The watersheds include lands shown on the related plan and include 039-27-W4M, 040-26-W4M, 040-27-W4M, 041-26-W4M, 041-27-W4M, 042-26-W4M and 042-27-W4M.
Any person who is directly affected by the application may submit a statement of concern to
Environment and Sustainable Resources DevelopmentRegulatory Approvals Centre, Main Floor,
Oxbridge Place9820 -106 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2J6Telephone: 780-427-6311
Fax: 780-422-0154
within 21 days of this notice.
Please quote fi le number: 00358426
Statements fi led regarding this application are public records which are accessible by the public. Statements should explain why the fi ler is directly affected and provide the full name, postal address and legal land location of the fi ler.
Failure to fi le statements of concerns may affect the right to fi le a notice of appeal with the Environmental Appeals Board.
Th e right place to fi nd the right
person for the job.
403.783.3311403.783.3311
www.ponokanews.com
30 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014
NOTICE OF HEARINGENVIRONMENTAL APPEALS BOARD
Hendrik Krijger and Gerritje KrijgerWater Act Enforcement Order No. WA-EO-2014/01-RDNSR
Appeal No: EAB 13-026
Time: 8:30 a.m. Date: January 29, 2015 Location: Offi ce of the Environmental Appeals Board #306, 10011 – 109 Street Edmonton, AB
Enforcement Order The Environmental Appeals Board will hold a hearing on January 29, 2015, in Edmonton, Alberta, to hear submissions with respect to the decision of Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development to issue Water Act Enforcement Order No. WA-EO-2014/01-RDNSR to Mr. Hendrik Krijger and Ms. Gerritje Krijger for unauthorized draining of a waterbody at SE 30-42-24-W4M on or near their lands, in the County of Ponoka.
Viewing DocumentsEffective December 10, 2014, copies of material fi led with the Board respecting this appeal will be available for viewing at the Ponoka Jubilee Library, 5110 – 48 Avenue, Ponoka, Alberta, during its normal operating hours, or by appointment at the offi ce of the Environmental Appeals Board in Edmonton.
Information RequestsEnvironmental Appeals BoardRegistrar of Appeals 306, 10011 – 109 StreetEdmonton, Alberta, T5J 3S8Telephone: 780-427-6207 Toll-free 310-0000, followed by 780-427-6207Fax: 780-427-4693E-Mail: [email protected]: www.eab.gov.ab.ca
About the BoardThe Environmental Appeals Board is an independent quasi-judicial body that hears appeals of certain decisions made by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
InterventionsAny person, other than the parties, who wishes to make a representation before the Board on this appeal must submit a request by fax or by e-mail to the Board at the fax number or e-mail address set out below. The request must be received by the Board on or before December 17, 2014. It is your responsibility to ensure that your request is received by the Board by December 17, 2014. Such a request shall (a) contain the name, address, e-mail, and telephone and fax numbers of the person submitting the request, (b) indicate whether the person submitting the request intends to be represented by a lawyer or agent and, if so, the name of the lawyer or agent, (c) contain a summary of the nature of the person’s interest in this appeal, and (d) be signed by the person submitting the request. Applications will only be considered if the information will assist the Board in making its decision, and will not duplicate the information provided by the parties. After December 17, 2014, the Board will, in its discretion, determine if other persons may make representations, and the manner in which they can be made. Once the Board makes a decision on any intervenor applications, the hearing will be open to the public for viewing only.
The information requested is necessary to allow the Environmental Appeals Board to perform its function. The information is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, section 33(c). Section 33(c) provides that personal information may only be collected if that information relates directly to and is necessary for the processing of this appeal. The information you provide will be considered a public record.
Environmental Appeals Board
Ponoka Veterinary Clinic Dr. Murray Jacobson Dr. Clayton West Dr. Ashley Shannon
The Perfect Family Companion– Local Activities & Festivals
–– Calendar of Events –
– Restaurants – – Current Events –
– Church Directory – – Concerts, Sales & More! –
403.783.3311403.783.3311
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 PONOKA NEWS 31
YOUR LEGACY TEAM
Pat BoardmanSales Manager
Mark SchreinerSales Consultant
Trevor FeragenSales Consultant
Bob MassSales Consultant
“Let your Legacy start here.”
www.legacyfordponoka.ca
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