1-877-783-4494 6305 - 44 Avenue, Ponoka MONDAY TO SATURDAY SEDAN SEDAN SAVINGS! SAVINGS! STK#34570 STK# 34567 2012 BUICK VERANO 2014 CHEVROLET CRUZE 26,321 KM 41,520 KM $ 15,221 $ 15,798 + GST + GST Vol. 67, No. 20 | WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 | 403-783-3311 | [email protected]WWW.PONOKANEWS.COM CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY Nationally awarded Young Amber Bartley was awarded with several certificates after her poster for the Legion’s poster contest won second place at the national level. Bartley receives the awards from district commander Rosalind Larose Friday, May 8 at the Ponoka Legion. Please see our story on page 2. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye The original Bedrock Fitness Ltd. Centre was opened in 1988. Story on page 5 Locos take on tough Calgary team. Story on page 23
Transcript
1-877-783-44946305 - 44 Avenue, PonokaMONDAY TO SATURDAY
SEDANSEDAN SAVINGS!SAVINGS!
STK#34570 STK# 34567
2012 BUICK VERANO 2014 CHEVROLET CRUZE26,321 KM41,520 KM
Nationally awardedYoung Amber Bartley was awarded with several certifi cates after her poster for the Legion’s poster contest won second place at the national level. Bartley receives the awards from district commander Rosalind Larose Friday, May 8 at the Ponoka Legion. Please see our story on page 2.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
The original Bedrock Fitness Ltd. Centre was opened
Open Monday - SaturdayOpen Monday - Saturday10am - 8pm10am - 8pmMy oh my
Time sure does fl yMother’s Day has already gone byWith the long weekend on the wayYou should pick out a nice dayAnd come to Bobtail... yay!! :)Our selection is greatAnd we really can’t waitTo see you drive thru our gate
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TGFarrier Service
Ty Gordon
ServicingCentral Alberta
403-704-0880
ThanksScott Albrecht
for going above and beyond in the intricate cleaning of the Lions bus.
We appreciate all your hard work!Ponoka Lions Club
This poster by Grade 2 student, Amber Bartley, won second place in the national poster contest hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion.
Image courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion
Mina Shin (left) and Brooklyn Green (right) are Grade 8 students at St. Augustine Catholic School. The girls devised a birdhouse project meant to help improve the health of the Battle River Watershed. Their project was named one of the top 10 out of a series of 300 students’ projects.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Inspired artwork by a Grade 2 student has earned her second place in the Royal Canadian Legion’s national poster contest.
Amber Bartley was rec-ognized Friday, May 8 at the Ponoka Legion for her work depicting the phrase “Lest We Forget” with a cross and pop-pies. The phrase is commonly used at Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Bartley was one of several Ponoka and area youths who were recognized for their work in the Legion’s annual poster, essay and poem contest for youths.
Some years ago a Ponoka youth won honourable men-tion for their work, but this is the first time someone from Ponoka was granted one of the top two spots, explained long-time Legion member Gladys Davenport.
She says for the last 27 years, the Ponoka Legion has had many submissions for the contest. To make it all the way to the national awards level, Bartley’s work first had to pass the branch level judges. From there, her work was judged at the area level, then district level, a provincial level and
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
Two St. Augustine Catholic School Grade 8 girls are combin-ing their concern for the health of the watershed and their love of golf in a school project that could potentially earn $10,000 in sponsorships.
Brooklyn Green and Mina Shin are part of the Caring for Our Watershed Battle River Watershed competition, which includes 300 students in a series of schools stretching from Fort McMurray to Lethbridge.
The girls decided on setting up a series of birdhouses on golf courses to help control the insect population of the area so pesticides would not be needed as much.
About two weeks ago, the girls found out their project, which includes a multi-page proposal and pamphlets, had made the top 10 in the competition.
“We were really excited,” said Shin. The competition includes grades 7 to 12 and the girls figured only Grade 12 students would make the top 10.
On May 23, the two will partake in the final competition with a speech and power point presentation based on the proposal.
If the girls take first place, they will be awarded $1,000, the school will receive $1,000 and they will be given up to $10,000 in sponsorships to produce the bird houses.
In early spring, Green and Shin spoke with the Wolf Creek Golf Resort and the Ponoka Community Golf Course and both have agreed to put the birdhouses on their courses if the girls win. “And then they get to choose the birdhouse design,” said Green
Green and Shin began working on their project in January, using the time provided in class and two to three weekends per month. “We started earlier than the rest of the class,” said Shin.
“We knew we had to get a whole bunch done,” Green added.The girls want to use their project to provide homes for
birds, improve the environment and provide the beauty of nature for golfers.
“We both love golf and we want to see less pesticide use,” said Green.
“It’s kind of our thing,” Shin added.
Grade 8 girls vying for $10,000 with school project
Young artist takes second spot in national Legion contest
then to the dominion. It is now displayed in Otta-
wa, ONT. District commander Rosalind Larose passed the certificates out to the young artists, and their families. She enjoys the contest.
“It’s a way of teaching our students to remember,” she told attendees.
She says judging the art-work and written works is always a joy but some stand out more than others and Bart-ley’s was one to remember. Legion president Sybil Evans said their goal is to continue strong remembrance of past wars and the efforts of the youths involved in the contest should be recognized.
“Each of you should be proud to have received an award in our annual poster contest,” said Evans.
For her part, Bartley re-ceived a certificate and prize money for each level of com-petition she passed. She said she enjoyed the background portion of her poster, which used the phrase “Lest We For-get” as an acronym to show the importance of remembrance.
Evans said the Legion is active with many Ponoka youths and many come to the Legion to play pool or bil-liards.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 3
TIPS FROM THE GOLF GUYSRob MacPherson & Ryan Moore
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PONOKA D E N T U R E C L I N I C
• Danny Jones •
5101 - 49th Ave • 403-783-3771
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Emergency crews re-sponded to a call of an unconscious woman who was found in her vehicle after it rolled in Ponoka.
A witness stated he found the woman in her 2010 Mazda Tribute but she did not re-spond to questions provided to her and her body was stiff and shaking Wednesday, May 6 at 6 p.m. He had to turn off the engine as her foot was pressed down on the gas pedal.
Upon arrival, police say
Woman suffers seizure while drivingthe 35-year-old Red Deer woman was unable to remem-ber her name and provided three different names when asked and could not remem-ber her age or destination of travel. There were no signs of intoxication and she de-clined medical attention but she was taken to the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre for evaluation.
Shortly after being re-leased, a friend was taking her home and police responded to a call that she was having another seizure. Her name was submitted to the driver review board. Suspended driver caught
With mere days left on his suspended driving sentence, a 47-year-old Ponoka man was found driving.
Police say a broken tail-light was the reason he was pulled over in a parking lot on Highway 2A May 8 at 12:45 p.m. Upon investiga-tion it was determined the man had a suspended driving
sentence that was set to end Monday, May 11. His vehicle was towed and seized for 30 days. Police looking for truck thieves
Police are looking for sus-pects involved in the theft of a pickup truck, trailer and a yellow skid steer last week.
Sometime overnight of May 8, culprits broke into an oilfield construction site in the Southwest Industrial Park and stole a white Ford F250, with a trailer and skid steer in tow.
The truck was found the next morning in Red Deer thanks to a GPS device in the truck. Police later found the trailer and skid steer in a parking lot. No one was in the vehicle at the time. Impaired driver stopped on Highway 2
A Calgary driver was arrested and charged with impaired driving May 9 at 12 p.m. after providing two blood-alcohol samples of .10
and .09.Witnesses state the man
was swerving in and out of lanes on Highway 2 in a 2009 Ford F150 and occupants were drinking from beer cans.
Upon arrival police found open beer cans in the vehicle and the 47-year-old driver subsequently failed the road-side breath test. Laptops missing from drop-in centre
Police are looking for de-tails related to two laptops going missing from the Drop In Centre last week.
Sometime between May 1 and May 4, two laptops went missing but there are no suspects at this time. Senior driver facing review board
After hitting the ditch and ending up in the Tim Hortons parking lot May 5, an elderly driver is facing a review of his abilities.
The driver received a ticket for failing to maintain the lane but no one was hurt
in the incident. Ponoka RCMP and the
Integrated Traffic Unit took 88 calls for service last week.
If you have information on any crime call Ponoka RCMP at 403-783-4472 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
PONOKA NEWS STAFF
As Ponoka News was prepared for print, it was reported that former Ponoka Mayor Larry Henkelman had been injured in a motorcycle accident over the weekend and is said to have been currently under care at the Red Deer Hospital and Care Centre.
The details of his current medical con-
dition were not known at press time. He is, however, reportedly undergoing pain management treatment and has been taking some tests to determine the seriousness of injuries.
The circumstances of the accident, which reportedly happened on Highway 12 near Lacombe, are not known and RCMP have yet to make any statement regarding the incident.
Henkelmann injuredin accident
4 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Religion
The caption of the frontpage photo in our last week’s edition was misplaced. It should have read:
Ron Orr, newly elected Wildrose MLA for Lacombe-Ponoka, and his wife Donna Marie Orr celebrate as Orr’s numbers increased over the course of the Tuesday, May 5 election evening.
Photo by Amelia NaismithWe apologize for the
error.
Dear Editor,There are two formats of
the word Christian.Used as a adjective:From yahoo.com1. Professing belief in Je-
sus Christ or following the religion based on the life teaching of Jesus.
2. Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus’ teachings.
3. Manifesting the quali-ties of spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
When society uses Christian as an adjective, it normally doesn’t require a belief in Christ. If there was
a comment that World Vision of the Canadian Blind Mission were Christian organiza-tions, the expectation would be the that the organization would have a strong Christian leadership group, but the or-ganization would reach out to individuals of every race and belief system without bias. Furthermore, society would be comfortable commenting that Santa’s Anonymous has the Christian emphasis in its operations. Christian as an adjective is really quite ac-ceptable.
Used as a noun:From yahoo.com
1. One who professes be-lief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. One who lives accord-ing to the teachings of Jesus.
When society uses Christian as a noun, it is a designation. He/She is a Christian clearly defines cer-tain expectations. You would expect that these people could be trusted. You would expect them to be full of love, joy, a peace you can’t explain, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
The disciples of Jesus went through a great storm. It scared them enough to ques-tion the compassion of Jesus. In Mark 4, the disciples got
Matt SealyChurch of theOpen Bible
What not to forget in themidst of life’s storms
into a boat with Jesus and he said “Let us go to the other side.” As they traveled the winds arose and the waves became great. The boat began to fill with water and they began to be afraid. All this time Jesus was sleeping in the stern. They ran to him and asked “do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus got up and rebuked the storm with those famous words “Peace! Be Still!” Instantly the wind ceased and calm came over the water. They were all amazed that even the wind and sea obeyed him.
We, too, face storms in life. Not storms of snow, hail, wind or rain. Storms of trial, pain, loss and difficulty. We, too, in the midst of our storms, can fear, doubt, and even question the goodness of God. And, so often in life, as soon as we make it through
one storm another comes. Tri-als in life come. They come often, and they come when we least expect them to. How then can we make it through life’s storms?
In Mark 4, there are three things that I see that we must remember when the storms come. We need to remember the presence of Jesus. Jesus was in the boat with the dis-ciples. They were not facing the storm alone and neither do we. He promises to be with us always and that He will never leave us or forsake us. He is always a present help in time of trouble. When the storm comes, we also need to re-member the power of Christ. Jesus stood and calmed the storm with His voice. Often times it seems like we may never make it through the storms. It seems impossible. We need to remember that
God can do all things and there is nothing impossible with Him. There are times when He will stop the storm and other times when He will carry us through. But we must remember that God is more than able. The third thing we need to remember when the storms come are the promises of Jesus. He told the disciples they would get to the other side. In the midst of the storm they forgot that and so do we. When we face life’s greatest challenges we must cling to the promises of God. They alone can carry us though.
The storms will come. How will we respond? Will we fear? Will we doubt? Will we question? Or will we re-member where Jesus is, what Jesus can do, and what Jesus has promised. May you find peace in the midst of your storm through trusting Jesus.
Defining the word Christianself-control. Unfortunately, you have witnessed many pro-fessing Christians that have not portrayed these charac-teristics. The title “Christian” somehow distances you from these people. It’s like their claim to Jesus as their Sav-ior and Lord makes them elevate themselves to be “HOLIER THAN THOU” or that “THEY KNOW THERE THEY ARE GOING.”
So if someone professes to be a Christian, what do they believe? Will it vary from congregation to congregation, from mass to mass, from meeting to meeting? Is there a single information package that would help you under-stand how and why they think the way they do. The answer is yes, and that’s the Bible. So the common thread between all “Christian” churches is the bible.
Gordon Liddle
CORRECTION
Early Deadline NoticeDue to the Victoria Day Holiday
the Ponoka News will have an early deadline for the May 20 issue for display and classifi ed advertising.
Deadline : Th ursday, May 14 at 5 pm
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
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 5
Remember When...
Photo courtesy of Charles ParkThis 1960 photo was taken during a Ponoka Stampede parade
through the residential section of town, and one of the featured entries was this massive buffalo pulling a cart. The once mighty
bisons roamed throughout Alberta in the hundreds of thousands at the end of 18th century, but were massacred by trophy hunters early in the 19th century before being granted protection in the Provincial
Parks, as well as later being raised on farms for their meat.
The original 1200 square foot Bed Rock Gymnasium was located in the southeast bay of the completely renovated 1947 arena structure, which was owned by the Moussa Broth-ers, operators of Ken’s Furniture. This brightly lit and fully equipped fitness facility quickly became very popular for patrons from throughout the town and county of Ponoka, and in order to accommodate shift workers and everyone’s busy schedules, Bed Rock owners Billy Jean and Kevin Rowland added a coded door lock to the south entrance and eventually the addition of a 24-hour pass for regular members.
Kevin Rowland firmly believed that fitness was not just a craze but a way of life for everyone from youth to
In 1998 Bedrock moved just 150 feet south to this old iconic Ponoka building, which after extensive renovations featured a fully equipped fitness facility and family fun and recreation centre that served our community and districts until 2008. Photo submitted
Bedrock Fitness was Ponoka’s family
fun centre
Reflections of Ponoka
BY MIKE RAINONE FOR THE NEWS
Many of us who may now be just a little bit out of shape will fondly remember when Bedrock Fitness Ltd. opened in the refurbished old
Ponoka Arena in 1988. This family fun centre gave individuals, families, teams, and groups of all ages a unique and challenging way to exercise, to work off some pounds, and to have fun getting into great form and
maintaining good health at their own pace and schedule.The original Bedrock Fitness Ltd. Centre was opened in 1988 in the southeast bay of the refurbished old Ponoka Arena. Photo submitted
seniors to have fun exercising their way into good health at a vigorous or casual pace among friends, neighbours and teammates. Bedrock was always a great and friendly place to stretch and squat and strain, to clean and jerk and pump some iron, to run a few miles on the treadmill, and to work up a real good sweat. Each day, the congenial supervisors were always pleased to see their ever growing list of local members huff and puff, vibrate and vent, while working hard through their various programs and challenges. Even though there may have been just a little stiffness and pain at the end of the workout, they usually came back feeling real good about their ongoing efforts and accomplishments. It was also super to see community sports teams come down with their coaches to workout and to see the mothers come in with their children for some fitness fun.
The operation of Bedrock Fitness was quickly blessed with a warm and friendly family type atmosphere, with Kevin and Billie Jean running the noon and evening fitness classes as well as floor hockey sessions, while Bobbi-Jo was the massage therapist and organized the aerobics sessions, Reid had a big hand in the development of the building and heavy maintenance, and Bill and Marlene Goodbun looked after the office and other daily needs, as well as watching the grandchildren. With Bedrock Fitness and Goodbun’s Bakery in operation, the locals often joked that the family was fattening the people up at one end of town and thinning and slimming down at the other. In 1989, local athlete Wade Kroening approached the ‘Bedrock Bunch’ with the idea of starting an annual 10-kilometre running race in and around Ponoka, with the proceeds going to community and national causes. Before you could say ‘ready-steady-go’, the Bedrock Fitness 5 and 10K Fun Run was hosted every spring for 17 years, with close to 120 men, women, children and families participating in the always popular event.
A major milestone for Bedrock Fitness came in 1998 when they moved 150 feet south to an old iconic local building that had served the community under several businesses for a number of decades. Through extensive renovations the new
facility included a licensed deli, which was later changed to a 10-person Swedish steam bath, a large under heated floating floor, which played host to the Shotokan Karate Society, floor hockey, dances, and many other fitness orientated groups.
In 1997, Bedrock Fitness Centre became a major sponsor for the start up of the Ponoka Stampeders Junior ‘B’ Hockey team and supported their operation for several seasons. They also promoted the very popular Summer Kid’s Fitness Camp programs, which were hosted the ever-enthusiastic Chris Backus and Rick Camp. Along the way, owner Billy Jean Rowland avidly competed as a body-builder, winning the Northern Alberta Championships in March 1990, and grab-bing a second in the Alberta Championships in April 1990, and a third in the Western Canadians in 1991. Bedrock was also proud to play host to up and coming local athletes like former National Hockey League player Harry York, who trained hard at the facility for many summers, and encour-aged others to do the same. After Bill and Marlene Good Bun sold their bakery, they took over the food concession at Bedrock Fitness, and when Kevin and Billie Jean Rowland and their family moved to Shiloh, Manitoba in 2006, Bobbi-Jo Christensen ran the centre until it closed in 2008. Kevin served in the Canadian Army for eight years at Camp Shiloh and later Gagetown, New Brunswick, including two stints in Afghanistan, then after retirement he went to work for Invesa Systems, while Billy Jean owns her own home business and still enjoys assisting up and coming young swimmers.
The Bedrock Fitness Centre family will always be very proud and will always cherish the fond memories of be-ing able to be a part of the vibrant Ponoka community for many years, while establishing their busy fitness facility as a sounding board for the ever-changing ideas that the staff would introduce to people of all ages promoting the countless fun and benefits of enjoying an active lifestyle. This same building still operates today as a new energetic entity called Dirty Deeds and Detailing, while the spirit and tradition of family fun and fitness still carries on in our community at Curves and Rip-N-Ronnie’s.
6 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
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
What happened last week is nothing short of a tectonic shift in Alberta’s political landscape and it will probably remain a top-ic of discussion for weeks and months to come.
There are several broad repercussions that will em-anate from this result both provincially and nationally.
First within our own neighbourhood, it has emerged that everybody, including local politicians; failed to read the changing mindset of the electorate: In the Lacombe-Ponoka riding there were four can-didates for nomination as the PC candidate, but many people learned the name of the new MLA Ron Orr only a few days before the
Mustafa EricEditor
NDP’s gigantic
task
Dear Editor,
Mr. Edney, Omar Khadr’s lawyer, made remarks after his client’s successful bail hearing that reflect his frustration with the federal government’s insistence on “pun-ishing a terrorist.”
As I’ve followed this story, I can’t help but believe that the federal government was pursuing its law and order agenda irrespec-tive of the merits of Mr. Khadr’s case.
Mr. Harper, by all accounts, is a con-summate politician and tactician. Like any
politician, a significant objective of his is to maintain power. I believe that this case rep-resented for Mr. Harper a symbol of his law and order ideology and possibly an attempt to demonstrate to his constituency that he is ideologically consistent.
If you use a case, though, to push your political agenda and ideology irrespective of the merits of the situation, it suggests an inflexibility that does not recognize the hu-man or legal implications of your beliefs.
In Omar Khadr’s case, for instance, he was 15 at the time he was captured. Com-
batants are regarded as child soldiers up till age 18. Since he was 15 till a week ago, he was imprisoned first in Guantanamo, then Millhaven, Edmonton Institution and then Bowden- a total of 13 years. If you read the details of Mr. Khadr’s case, you’ll find that the original judgment of guilt was based on circumstantial evidence that subsequently changed when more evidence was pre-sented.
Another combatant, who died in the firefight, was also present at the time of the U.S. medic’s death. Despite the fact that he
is reported to have been a model prisoner and of no harm to the community, the fed-eral government seems to have had a knee jerk response to any favourable legal out-come.
One wonders whether the human and legal dimensions of this case was lost by the federal Department of Justice and whether beliefs and judgment trump other notions like rehabilitation and international law.
George Jason
Omar Khadr case and what’s in Harper’s mind
polls opened. That certain-ly strengthens the view that the outcome was the result of a protest vote against the PCs, their compla-cency, their taking of the electorate for granted and very poor communications skills of the now former premier Jim Prentice, the man who PCs turned to as a savior but turned out to be the unwitting grave dig-ger.
Nationally, NDP vic-tory in Alberta could turn out to be a major wind to fill the sails of the national NDP ship, but Tom Mulcair and his leadership should be very careful not to be complacent about how much they can hope to win from their Albertan cous-ins. They should remember that NDP’s success in the province was at least partly the result of the division of the right of centre vote between the Wildrose and PCs whereas in the federal elections next fall, Harp-er’s conservatives will be the sole political force vy-ing for the right wing vote with Liberals and the NDP dividing the left.
Coming back to the province, PCs will prob-ably have a very hard time to rebuild their strength af-ter this disastrous showing.
They have announced that Ric McIver was named the new PC leader, but let’s just remember that McIver was one of the least popular contestants for the PC lead-ership race, which brought Prentice to the head of the party. PCs might find their ranks further weakened by those who will hope to re-vive their political fortunes with Wildrose in the future.
As for Wildrose, they have probably been heart-ened with the voter support they received from Alber-tans and they will hopefully take their role of official opposition at least as seri-
ously as they did during the time of PC governments. That will be very welcome news and it will probably prove once again that an effective opposition is one of the best mechanisms to create vibrant and sound democratic governance.
With regard to Pre-mier-elect Rachel Notley and her party, they have a gigantic task in front of them and very little ex-perience to handle it with the required seriousness. Coming from a family involved in provincial poli-tics for many years, Notley should be able to command
respect from the people of the province if she can overcome one big hurdle, one that was key in the col-lapse of the PC dynasty of 44 years: Communication.
There are a lot of cynics drawing parallels between the Notley’s NDP and the NDP experience in Sas-katchewan, which is not fondly remembered by a lot of people.
Notley and NDP lead-ership could be successful in building up and imple-menting sound policies but success will never stick to their names unless they manage to tell all stake-
holders what they are doing and why they are doing it. Engaging the population of the province, rural and urban, and making people believe that there is a gov-ernment listening to them will be vitally important for the Orange leadership to generate a feeling of trust in them, something PCs forgot to do for the last decade or so.
But in order to be able to have the ears of the pop-ulation, NDP has to be the party of all Albertans, in-cluding corporate Alberta and not only of unions.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 7
COUNCIL UPDATES & BYLAW INFO
EVENTS AND RECREATION
NOTICES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Town TimesPonoka, AB T4J 1P7
Ph: 403-783-4431 | Fax: 403-783-6745 | Email: [email protected] Check us out Online: www.ponoka.ca
Library NewsCANADIAN FIREARMS SAFETY COURSE: Ponoka Jubilee Library is hosting a Non-restricted Canadian Firearms Safety Course on Sunday, May 24th from 8:00am-5:30pm. You must pre-register, cost is $120/person. Space is limited. Go to www.albertafi rearmscourse.com for more information, or contact the Library at(403) 783-3843.COMMUNITY GARDEN: The Community Garden located behind Ponoka Jubilee Library/Town Hall is getting prepped for another season! If anyone has any plants they are willing to donate to be planted in the garden please contact Jaclyn Berry at 403-783-3843 or [email protected]. Thank you.BILLYCO JUNCTION GARDENS: The Ponoka Friends of the Library Society invite you to support the Library, while receiving the benefi ts of fresh vegetables/fruit. Buy a Community Shared Agriculture share from BillyCo Junction Gardens, and have fresh organic fruits/veggies brought to Ponoka for you, plus choose to donate a portion of your cost back to Ponoka Jubilee Library. This donation will help to continue the free library membership program. On farm purchases can be put towards the fundraiser as well. Go towww.billycojunction.com for more information, or call the farmers at (403) 782-4263. Thank you!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDCanada Day “Largest Human Canadian Flag” Record attempt, July 1st.
& Ponoka Day in the Park , August 29th.For more information please contact Wes Amendt, Director of Community
Job Opportunities:-Volunteer Fire Fighters -Manager of Operations
For more information please visit the Town website and apply to [email protected]
Next Town Council MeetingsMay 26th @ 7:00 pm
Are you a good artist or have some great ideas and would like to see that put into art? The Aquaplex is looking for someone to help design a mural for the blank wall space over the whirl pool. The top 5 will then be selected and voted on by you the public and painted by a professional artist. Have the designs water related and of course appropriate. You can tie in the town theme and logo, or go a who different route. Submit by July 2nd to the Aquaplex front desk. Thank you!
Looking for a Tennis partner to two? Call (403) 783-0131 to have your name added to a list!PD Days public swim 1-3pm. STAT swim May 18th 2-4pm family, 4-6pm public.
Tennis Courts are now open. Membership and user fees can be paid to the Aquaplex.Aquaplex:
Spring Clean-Up The Annual Town of Ponoka Spring Clean-Up is scheduled to begin May 19 and will continue until completed. Pick up is restricted to compostable materials (e.g. landscaping waste such as leaves & grass clippings) and small amounts of tree branches that are no longer than 3 feet. Materials not picked up include: rocks, construction material, wood, household waste, and pet excrement. Preference is to have all materials in a pile and not bagged. Make sure your yard waste is set out adjacent to your normal household garbage pickup location. If yard collection is not completed that week - it will continue the following week. The Town will only make one trip per street/avenue.
***Please do not throw grass, leaves and compost materials into the garbage***
***STAFF TRAINING*** – Wednesday, May 20, 2015: Please be advised that all Town of Ponoka Departments will be closed from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Wednesday, May 20th for Staff Training.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.2015 TAX NOTICES have been mailed out. If you have not received your Tax Notice please contact Val
@ 403 783 0127“NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS WEEK” May 17 – 23rd “Proclaimed as Public Works Week” in Ponoka
Appreciating all the dedicated eff orts of public works professionals, engineers and administrators who are responsible for building, operating and maintaining the public works systems that serve the citizens of Ponoka
Ponoka Youth Centre 2015 Summer Program (July 6 - August 28):Registration starts May 4th, contact (403) 783-3112 or visit www.ponokayouthcentre.com.
Brand New Field Trips! Launchpad Trampoline Park, PC Cooking School, Bowden Sun Maze, Devonian Botanical Garden, Bowling, Swimming, Theme Days and much more.
Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 5:00 pm $25.00 – $40.00 a day, Youth ages 6-13RACE FOR THE KIDS: Fundraiser on June 6, 2015. Support your local youth programs. Enter a team
of 4, raise money & compete for great prizes!!! Anyone who can walk can be involved there are 10 locations in the town of Ponoka to start from. For more information please contact 403-783-3112
or visit www.raceforkids.ca to register online.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ~ Ruth Stout
FCSS – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:Volunteers are needed for the “Lifeline Monitoring Installations” and we are in search of more volunteers for our “Friendly Visitor Program”. Please contact Shelly Van Eaton at 403.783.4462 www.ponokafcss.netPonoka FCSS has room for a few more responsible gardeners in the Community Garden this year. Please call Shelly for details 403.783.4462
PONOKA RECREATION COMMITTEE VACANCY (Senior & Youth)The Ponoka Recreation Committee is seeking applications for an enthusiastic and community-minded individuals to join the Recreation Committee as the Senior’s and Youth Representatives. Any persons
interested in serving on the Recreation Committee are requested to submit a completed Board Application Form to the Town of Ponoka. For more information please contact
Wes Amendt at 403-783-0118 or [email protected] Application Forms are available at: Town Offi ce: 5102 - 48 Avenue, Ponoka
Town’s website: www.ponoka.ca
PSC Broncs News
This Week At PSC May 13 - 19May 14 – World History AP ExamMay 15 & 18 – May Long Weekend - No SchoolMay 19 – Parent Council @7pm
Please visit our website for all upcoming events and exciting [email protected]
Come on in to Winning Streaks Salon from now until the end of May for great deals on product!!! 25% off! Also offering Hair & Scalp massage for $10!
Need a fresh spring look?Come in for a fresh colour and/or cut!
Call the salon at 403-783-4411 ext. 4623to book an appointment!
Ms. JacobsonCosmetology Teacher
Cupcakery sweetness: Brandi Rausch decorates some freshly baked cupcakes during the grand opening of Totally Baked Cupcakery Friday, May 1. Rausch says people were so excited she sold out of cupcakes by the afternoon.
Every customer receives a 10% COUPON toward lensesPLUS an additional 10% COUPON if a frame is purchased that day
*door prizes
*light refreshments
FRIDAY, MAY 29 AT PONOKA GOLF CLUBCocktails and Silent Auction 5:00 pm • Supper 6:30pm
SILENT AUCTION
TICKETS$30
ADVANCED TICKETSONLY PLEASE
INCLUDES:Silent Auction, Dinner
and Music by Gustafson Duo
AUCTION ITEMS:Outdoor Fire Pit, Jewelry, Multiple Golf Packages,
Quilts, and Much More!
DOORPRIZES!
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
McHappy Day brought many individu-als and local celebrities together to raise money for the Ponoka Elementary School (PES) playground committee and the ef-fort paid off with $3,000 being raised for the kids’ recess-time entertainment.
One dollar from every Big Mac, Happy Meal, ice cream cone or any hot McCafe beverage sold at the Ponoka McDonalds Wednesday, May 6 went directly to sup-porting the purchase of equipment for and
construction of a brand new playground for PES students.
As students have made their way into their new school, much of the playground amenities could not be relocated as they were too old to be moved. As students are not allowed to use old equipment in the old playground, the elementary school is hav-ing to stagger when kids are allowed to use equipment that is still considered usable.
Playground committee member Lay-na Palecheck said she was excited to be picked as the local charity for the McHap-
py Day fundraiser. Palechek said the biggest challenge
teachers face is giving students an oppor-tunity to use the existing equipment but also ensure proper supervision. Teachers are alternating students’ lunch and recess times.
During the McHappy Day, customers could also buy special cardboard shoes or bags to increase the money going to the project.
“We’re getting closer to our goal and it’s more of a reality for me for the play-ground now that the kids are at their new school. So we’re working as hard as we
can,” said Palecheck. Melissa Manalo, assistant manager
at Ponoka’s McDonalds says she enjoys McHappy Day. “It’s a fun day and gives us a way to reach out to the community.”
That community support is strong and Manalo says staff are twice as busy as usual during the day. She enjoys bringing in community members as they help serve customers. Those community members also get to be part of the team and have a chance to see behind the scenes at the fast food restaurant.
“They see that we are selling healthy, hot and fresh products,” said Manalo.
McHappy Day in Ponoka focusseson the PES playground
McDonalds employee Anabel Quiambao poses with RCMP Staff Sgt. Cameron Chisholm Wednesday, May 6 on McHappy Day. Money from the Ponoka branch went to support the Ponoka Elementary School. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
10 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
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This composite image shows a 180-degree view from the balcony of changes being made at the United Church. The seating area is being upgraded to resemble theatre seating for the Klaglahachie Fine Arts Society.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
Seating improvements underway for Klaglahachie Fine Arts
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Seating is taking on a new meaning this year for the Klaglahachie Fine Arts Society (KFAS) that has garnered enough money to build theatre seating at its main stage at the United Church.
Construction is already underway, says KFAS presi-dent Richard McKelvie during an interview. The society was able to raise $131,000 for the job with $30,000 com-ing from KFAS, $30,000 from Ponoka County and the rest coming as a grant from the Community Facility Enhance-ment Program of the provincial government.
KFAS hired Leroy Rempel Construction, owned by Le-roy Rempel, and his wife, interior director, Jill, to complete the work in the theatre space.
“They were looking for someone to kind of pull the field in a professional way,” said Jill.
She sees the project as a way to revive the church and to also bring in community events.
“We’re going to invite all community groups to use it,” said McKelvie.
Jill added she enjoys working in the space as there are some key historic qualities that she will highlight in the de-sign work. Rempel said he started construction and already the theatre seating is starting to take shape.
He hopes to have the work completed by July unless there are unforeseen issues.
While the lower area is being built to allow theatre goers a better view of the stage, the balcony will remain relatively unchanged. Jill says new paint and sound proofing boards will be installed in the balcony.
She added that a big part of the budget is flooring. “There are things Klaglahachie may do in the future, but we’ve had to prioritize our wants.”
McKelvie said there are many pews that have been do-nated by members of the community over the years and in an effort to honour those donations, a special board with all the dedication plaques on the pews will be framed together.
“Right from the very beginning, we looked at those pews as material, in an honouring way,” added Jill.
Rempel, Jill and McKelvie have already spoken with members of the congregation to explain the changes that were going to come. The new seats will be cushioned.
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St. Augustine Catholic School Grad 2015
Show support to the 2015St. Augustine grad class this year and
congratulate them on all of their efforts and success.
Publishes: May 27Publishes: May 27Deadline: May 22 - NoonDeadline: May 22 - Noon
Ponoka Secondary CampusBest Wishes
Class of 2015!This section will show support
to the grads and congratulate them on their efforts and success.
Publishes: June 3Publishes: June 3Deadline: May 22 NoonDeadline: May 22 Noon
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
A man who provided a false ID to police several times after being found walking intoxicated along Highway 2 has been sen-tenced to a $500 fine for obstructing a peace officer.
On June 11, 2014 RCMP were dispatched to a suspicious male walking along the highway north of town.
When they arrived, a sheriff was already talk-ing with the man, Abdefati Hassan.
He gave police a name and said he was a wanted man in the United States. The name matched a man wanted in Minnesota. He also gave a second false
Intoxicated man provides police with false namesname.
However, his finger-prints confirmed who he was and told police he is from Edmonton and there were warrants out for his arrest.
By the time Abdefati Hassan was sentenced, he had been in custody for four days. He was given credit for six days and An-dreassen decided the time served had fulfilled his ob-ligation to pay the fine.Impaired driver given high fine
A woman who pled guilty to driving while over the legal limit was sentenced to a one-year driving prohibition and a $1,950 fine in Ponoka provincial court of Friday,
May 8, but she has the possibility of working her sentence off.
On March 27, 2015 Ponoka RCMP responded to a complaint of a grey van traveling on Highway 2 and Highway 53, swerv-ing all over the road and hitting ditches on both sides.
En route, the officers were advised motorists concerned with driver Mi-chelle Strawberry’s driving pattern had blocked the van and forced it to stop. They had also taken her keys while waiting for the police to arrive.
When RCMP ap-proached the vehicle they smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from the
interior.Strawberry, 25, admit-
ted to having a few drinks a few hours before being stopped and RCMP no-ticed about 10 open cans in the vehicle.
She was taken back to the detachment, where she provided two breath sam-ples: .17 and .18.
“You’re very lucky you weren’t killed, or dealing with a serious offence,” said Judge W. Andreassen.
“You’re not going to be eligible for the driving in-terlock ignition program,” he added, referring to her probation.Intoxicated driver ad-mits to drinking
A woman who was approached by Ponoka
RCMP after failing to sig-nal and found to have been driving in an intoxicated state was sentenced to a $1,300 fine and a one-year driving prohibition.
On April 24, Ponoka RCMP followed a vehicle that had failed to signal when turning into a park-ing lot downtown.
When RCMP ap-proached the vehicle an odor of alcohol could be smelled. Joy Simon, 49, stepped out of the vehicle and admitted to drinking.
She was taken to the detachment and provided two .12 breath samples.
“I‘d just like to say I’m really sorry for the mistake I made,” Simon told the court.
Simon pled guilty on her first appearance and had the matter pushed for-ward from the original first appearance date.
Simon has the op-portunity to apply for the Ignition Interlock Program three months into her pro-bation.
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
A higher than usual voter turnout kept elections officers busy Tuesday, May 5.
Officers were so busy in fact that they had to scramble to find enough registration forms for people not on the registration list in the riding. Approximately four people were unable to vote later in the day at the Mecca Glen School polling location as forms had run out earlier on.
Marla Kikel and her son were at the polling station later
High voter turnout keeps election officers busy
in the day and were told they would have to wait. She was unhappy as she had to wait and eventually left without voting.
“I’d like some answers. My only concern (is) was this the only polling station?” asked Kikel.
The difficulty for return-ing officer Margaret Devries was that there was a higher than normal voter turnout, especially among younger generations, and once officers realized they were running out of forms, they had to travel
quite a distance to get more of them.
Devries says in Blackfalds turnout was so large that there was a line up out the door for many hours. “We had way more voters that weren’t on the voters’ list,” said Devries.
“We had forms going all over the place,” she added.
She believes there were four people at Mecca Glen who were unable to vote on Tuesday. Devries said she called the individuals who couldn’t vote at Mecca Glen and apologized for the mishap.
This paper is
100% 100% RecyclableRecyclable
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
While the riparian area surrounding the Chain Lakes is healthy and pike numbers are flourishing, the water quality of the lakes is poor.
A Friends of the Chain Lakes water health discussion was held at Scott School Commu-nity Centre on Wednesday, April 29, when three speakers, one each for the riparian, water and fish studies, made presentations.
Riparian studyCows and Fish riparian specialist Kerri
O’Shaughnessy told the participants that Friends of the Chain Lakes had partnered with Cows and Fish in 2014 for a Project Area Riparian Health Inventory. In July and August of 2014, seven sites were chosen for study.
Of those sites, some were in Ponoka County and some in the County of Lacombe. Two were along the Upper Lake, one sat on the banks of the Lower Lake and four were along Parlby Creek.
O’Shaughnessy says one of the most unique aspects of the Chain Lakes is the high, steep banks of the valley the lakes are situated in. This leaves little area for the green fringe of the riparian area that sits between the water and the banks. The riparian area varied from 1 meter to 200 meters wide, with an average of 10 meters.
However, the banks hold heavy amounts of vegetation, which aids the riparian area as a whole because of the buffer it provides.
“Healthy riparian areas provide a whole bunch of things to us as a society,” said O’Shaughnessy. She listed clean water, abun-dant water, good soil, hunting and fishing as a few examples.
Of the seven riparian sites, six (86 per cent) scored healthy. One (14 per cent) scored healthy but with problems. The av-
erage riparian site score of the project was a healthy 85 per cent. “Compared to the pro-vincial average, which is 69 per cent . . . the seven sites averaged out 85 per cent,” said O’Shaughnessy.
“According to our category, it’s function-ing properly,” she added.
The scoring of the sites is based on a visual, categorical scoring system. “It’s a combination of things that make up a healthy riparian area,” said O’Shaughnessy.
Along the banks of the valley, within the seven sites, 167 different species of plants live. O’Shaughnessy says 81 per cent are native species, approximately 4 per cent are invasive. “All sites had at least one invasive plant species on them.”
She added, 76 per cent of the project area is trees and shrubs. “And there’s lots of young plants.”
Browsing and utilization of plants is in a healthy but with problems state. The removal of non-browsing plants is healthy. Six per cent of the project area has alterations to the plant community by human causes.
Approximately 1 per cent of the project area is bare soil, which is a healthy number.
The number of streambank and flood-plains alterations are healthy but the severity of the alterations are unhealthy. “There is a small number of sites (that) skewers the results,” said O’Shaughnessy.
“So what has been achieved with all this? Hopefully we’ve increased awareness,” said O’Shaughnessy.
“And you’ve also created an ability to monitor progress,” she added.
Water studiesIn 2001 and 2014, the Alberta Lakes Wa-
ter Management Society analyzed the water of the Lower Chain Lake. In 2001 and 2013, the middle lake was tested and in 2011 the
upper lake was looked at.Friends of the Chain Lakes member Pat
McMillan explained the variables measured through the analyses that are sensitive to human contact and will affect the quality of the water.
One of the aspects of the lakes noticed was they have almost no thermal stratifi-cations; the water is the same temperature throughout the depth of the lakes. The lakes sit between a 21.4 and a 23. 2 max tempera-ture, which he noted is fairly high.
McMillan says higher temperatures pro-mote bacteria and stress fish while cooler pockets are needed for the health of fish.
The water density of the lakes is also not good. “It measures how far light will travel through the water for photosynthesis. And we need that,” said McMillan.
Light only travels into the water approxi-mately 2 meters; mostly because the lakes do not clear of silt on the average schedule most do. The depths of the lakes measure between 20 and 30 feet.
The amount of dissolved oxygen in the lakes is at an unhealthy state. “All had very poor water concentrations and it went down the entire depth,” said McMillan.
He says the lakes are iced over for ap-proximately six months of the year, six months with no new oxygen reaching the lakes. “Overall we come out very pro-ox-ygenation.”
In 2014 the lower lake scored a 112 for phosphorous, in 2013 the middle lake had a 260 and in 2011 the upper lake was at 345. “The upper lake is almost three times higher than the lower lake,” said McMillan.
“Phosphorous is normally in very short supply for lakes,” he added. Even a slight in-crease can promote unhealthy algae blooms.
Once phosphorous is in a lake is stays, recycling through the water depths and silt, says McMillan.
In summary, McMillan says the Chain Lakes are high in nutrients, high algae con-centrations, low dissolved oxygen, no heavy metals, and extremely poor water quality. The lower lake in the best state and the Up-
per Chain Lake the worst.Fish studiesJason Cooper, fisheries biologist with the
Government of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, prairie areas, spoke during the presentations evening. “We conducted the work in September.”
“Basically it set a new record in Alberta,” he added. Using a netting system, an aver-age of 38.7 pike per net were caught in the lower lake between Sept. 16 and 19. Cooper says the provincial average is seven per net.
In the Lower Chain Lake seven age groups were represented in the fish caught. They averaged between 400 and 600 mil-limeters, with a few over 700 millimeters.
“We find fish are maturing by age one,” said Cooper. The number is a bit earlier than the provincial average.
In the middle lake, surveyed at the same time, pike averaged 11. 8 per net. They were predominately one-year-old fish. Cooper says this might be a result of the lower water quality of the middle lake.
Also, the fish feed mainly on fresh water shrimp, Copper says fish that do not feed on other fish generally have smaller growth rates.
The Upper Chain Lake was not properly surveyed. “We didn’t have time for that,” said Cooper.
Two nets were placed in the lake and a maximum of seven fish were caught, not enough to make any determinations.
Participants questioned how the fish numbers were so high when dissolved oxy-gen levels in the lakes are poor. “We do know that pike can live in two milligrams per liter,” said Cooper.
Friends of the Chain Lake chairperson Joanne McMillan says the next steps are to continue with education and public aware-ness, to make the actions of people in the area health contentious for the lakes. The group is also considering a point investiga-tion for water pollution in Upper Chain Lake. “Because the upper lake is so high we feel there’s a source. If we can find it, we can deal with it.”
BRAND NEW fi eld trips! Fun & exciting theme days!
Bowling! Swimming!
Plus much more summer fun at the PONOKA YOUTH CENTRE!
Dr. Bill FrischkeIS RETIRING
Please join us in wishing Bill all the best and thanking him for providing our animals with
the best care all these years.
SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2015OPEN HOUSE
1:00PM – 4:00PMSTAGECOACH SALOON
(STAMPEDE GROUNDS)
Chain Lakes see healthy and unhealthy aspects
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 13
THANK YOUThe Mecca Glen Fundraising Society would like to thank the following sponsors who made our Spring Banquet and Auction a big success. All proceeds will be used to support the Mecca Glen Playground Project.
CashChemCountry Gardens and GreenhouseRed Deer RebelsSunshine Ski ResortBlack Elk Hockey CampRoyal Tyrrell MuseumATB PonokaMarket MasterSpirit Creek Golf CourseAltitude Laser SpaMcDonald’s PonokaGemini Corp.Bayer Crop ScienceLegacy Ford PonokaPonoka Chrysler Jeep DodgeBanff Lodging Co.Ponoka Stampede AssociationUFA PonokaJones BoysTantec Electronics Calnash Ag Event CentreThe BrickThe Liquor DepotGlen and Gail ZerbeCervus Equipment John Deere PonokaRocky Mountain EquipmentPanhandle Productions Camrose
D and L WianckoTaurus Ag MarketingSchultz HallGalloway Oilfi eld ConstructionSpotted Creek CreationsHockey Plus CamroseCamrose KodiaksCamrose DynamicSilver Creek Golf CourseWetaskiwin Co-opPonoka NewsJax Steakhouse and BarBoston PizzaCilantro and ChiveThe Liquor StoreFlowers for YouPark View R.V. Wetaskiwin Martin Deerline Wetaskiwin Grant Thornton Wetaskiwin
Busted Ladies LingerieCalnash TruckingLamb Ford CamroseHammy’s Liquor Store/IGAThe Cutting Edge Hair DesignThe Walrus and CarpenterThe Co-operators PonokaJulie’s TravelTwisted LabelRip’N Ronnie’s FitnessAccessory Land LacombeAndy WhiteBashaw MeatsParty Maxx CamroseTK Farms/Caesar WeldingRustic Duck FurnitureNo FrillsGilbert DionneNicole and Brad Berg
Members of the EDB retire: After years of service members of the Economic Development Board were thanked by town councillors Tuesday, April 28 at Town Hall. (l-r) Councillors Teri Underhill and Carla Prediger, EDB member Gary Colyn, Coun. Marc Yaworski, Mayor Rick Bonnett, Coun. Tim Falkiner, EDB member Peter Oakes and Coun. Underhill pose. Missing from the photo is EDB member Dennis Jones who also retired recently.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
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14 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
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Valerie Jones:I am going into my 14th year with Ponoka Outreach School. Many things have changed over the years, and yet, all is the same.
Th ursday, May 14In lieu day—no school for students
Friday, May 15In lieu day—no school for students
Monday, May 18Victoria Day—no school for students
Wednesday, May 20Night school– All staff present
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
In an effort to raise awareness of Mental Health Week (May 4 to 10), mem-
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
This year’s Capital One Race for Kids will not only benefit programs at the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of Wolf Creek, but it will also bring fun and exciting challenges for teams entering an Amazing Race style competition.
The top prize is a pair of tickets to anywhere that West Jet travels, explained fundraising co-ordinator Paige Raugust.
The race is set for Saturday, June 6, which is intended to benefit BGC programs at the Ponoka Youth Centre, added Raugust. Locations are top secret, she said, to ensure teams enjoy a challenging competition.
“Once you complete the challenge you get to move,” says Raugust.
Each check stop may have a physical,
mental or team building challenge.Up to 20 teams of four can compete and
she says they already have 13 signed up. Each team is asked to raise a certain amount of money and top prizes will be awarded for a variety of categories including teams that raise the most money, have the best cos-tumes or for individuals who raise the most money.
“The benefit for sure is the money comes back to the youth centre,” said Raugust.
Boys and Girls Clubs across Canada are taking part in the event and Ponoka’s goal is to reach $25,000. Last year the centre raised $28,500.
June 6 is also National Health and Fit-ness Day. For more information on the race or to sign up, contact Raugust at 403-783-3112.
Top prize of a pair of tickets for Race for Kids competition
The Boys and Girls Club Capital One Race for Kids is set for Saturday, June 6. The Ponoka Youth Centre is looking for teams to join in on the fundraiser. Here a team moves a large tire as part of one of the team challenges. File photo
Rising Sun Clubhouse member inspiring cheer,
one person at a timeDanny Hansen, with the Ponoka Rising Sun Clubhouse poses Thursday, May 7 with lollipops they handed out for Mental Health Week.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
bers of the Ponoka Rising Sun Clubhouse canvassed the town Thursday, May 7 handing out cards with fun jokes and lollipops.
The event was organized by the members themselves, said Amanda Henderson-Kada, clubhouse executive director. She is a facilitator for a mental health aware-ness group at the clubhouse and she said for the last two years, members have met and discussed about all ar-eas of wellness.
“Mental health is not about an illness, it’s about your whole makeup of your wellness. We’re talk-ing about staying active, healthy eating, being kind, being grateful,” said Hen-derson-Kada.
In Ponoka’s wellness group, members discussed what makes them feel posi-tive. Ideas such as being kind, smiling at a person or even holding the door open can go a long way to mak-ing a person feel good about themselves.
“Just the simple act of kindness is free,” she added.
To follow through with those ideas, the group came up with a plan to print out
cards that have a funny pic-ture and anecdote on them as well as lollipops with a card attached that jokingly states, “Don’t be a ‘fun sucker.’ Smile and pass on kindness.”
She hopes the initiative will start a chain reaction in town and create moments of happiness in people’s lives. “It takes no effort to put a smile on your face and be kind to somebody you may not know.”
Other discussions the group has relate to qual-ity of life, their mental illness and social isolation. Usually members spend approximately three weeks on a specific topic and then move on to different discus-sions.
“By doing it as a group and really keying in on cer-tain areas the members are really engaging in topics with each other,” she ex-plained.
Henderson-Kada says positive peer support such as this allows individuals to feel safe to discuss impor-tant issues with each other. “The peer support that they have fostered in this group is amazing.”
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 15
15052MF0
Vehicle(s) may be shown with optional equipment. Dealer may sell or lease for less. Limited time offers. Offers only valid at participating dealers. Retail offers may be cancelled or changed at any time without notice. See your Ford Dealer for complete details or call the Ford Customer Relationship Centre at 1-800-565-3673. For factory orders, a customer may either take advantage of eligible raincheckable Ford retail customer promotionalincentives/offers available at the time of vehicle factory order or time of vehicle delivery, but not both or combinations thereof. Retail offers not combinable with any CPA/GPC or Daily Rental incentives, the Commercial Upfit Program or the Commercial Fleet Incentive Program (CFIP).‡‡ Until June 30, 2015, receive $750/ $1,000/ $1,250/ $1,500/ $1,750/ $2,000/ $2,750/ $3,500/ $4,500/ $5,250/ $6,000/ $11,000/ $11,250/ $12,250 inManufacturer Rebate (Delivery Allowances) with the purchase or lease of a new 2015 Explorer/ 2015: Taurus SE, Expedition, Transit Connect/ 2015 C-MAX/ 2015: Flex, F-250 Gas Engine, F-350 to F-450 (excluding Chassis Cabs) Gas Engine/ 2015 Edge/ 2015: Taurus (excluding SE), E-Series Cutaway, Transit Van/Wagon, Transit Cutaway/Chassis Cab, F-350 to F-550 Chassis Cabs/ 2014: Edge, F-150 Regular Cab XL 4X2 (Value Leader)/ 2015: F-150Regular Cab (excluding XL 4X2), F-250 Diesel Engine, F-350 to F-450 (excluding Chassis Cabs) Diesel Engine/ 2014: Focus Sedan, Focus ST, Focus BEV, 2015: F-150 SuperCab and SuperCrew/ 2014 Focus Hatch (excluding S, ST and BEV)/ 2014 Flex/ 2014: F-150 SuperCrew 5.0L, F-150 Super Crew 4x4 non-5.0L, F-150 Super Crew 4x4 XLT 300A/ 2014 F-150 Regular Cab (excluding XL 4X2)/ 2014 F-150 SuperCab -- all stripped chassis, cutaway body, F-150Raptor and Medium Truck models excluded. Manufacturer Rebate is not combinable with CPA, GPC, CFIP, Daily Rental Allowance and A/X/Z/D/F-Plan programs. Delivery allowances are not combinable with any fleet consumer incentives. † Until June 30, 2015, receive 0% APR purchase financing on new 2014 Edge and 2015 Mustang (excluding 50th Anniversary, Shelby GT350), Flex, Escape, and F-350 to F-550 (Chassis Cabs) models for up to
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After a provincial elec-tion that had most everyone quite shaken up by late Tuesday evening, the New Democratic Party had swept away the opposition with an overwhelming majority (also referred to as the Or-ange Crush) and will now lead our government for the next four years. Meanwhile, as spring slowly sneaks in, pausing only for a few an-nual wet snow squalls, the trees are becoming buddies, and the first flowers to pop up on the scene, as always, are those beloved dandeli-ons.
In the meantime, what’s left of the devastated Alber-ta Progressive Conservative party will now gather to at-tempt to pick up the pieces and try and put their long-standing political dynasty back together again, while the rejuvinated Wildrose Party are really looking forward to becoming a progressive and pesky op-position. As usual, those PCs who lost their seats or retired before the election will be quietly cleaning out their desks and will then walk away with a hefty fare-well package that is claimed to be over $13 million.
continued on page 16
Our Alberta colours are now orange
and yellow
16 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
TO VIEW A COMPLETE LIST OF OUR PROPERTIES AND VIRTUAL TOURS PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.ponokaproperties.com
real estate central alberta
6000 - 48 Ave.(Beside The Old Iron Horse
Restaurant)
403-783-5007 TODD REEDAssoc. Broker
DEB STEVENSAssoc. Broker
LISA SMITHAssociate
JANE WIERZBAAssociate
BOB TILTGENAssociate
Proud sponsors ofRDC Arts Programs
LACEY GREGORYAssociate
- Great family home!- 1768 sq ft, 4 bdrms, 4 baths- Basement w Kitchen/ Dining, Bdrm & Bath
- NEW Shingles; Heated Garage- Large, fenced Corner Lot$310,000 ~ Call Bob
IMMEDIATE POSSESSION- 4 lots & a view of the lake!- 1280 sq. ft., 3 bdrms & 2 baths- Wrap around deck! Large rooms
- Needs some fi nishing- Picturesque setting$139,900 ~ Call Bob
FERINTOSH PROPERTY- 1374 sq. ft. bungalow in newer area
- Close to hospital & school- Beautiful open fl oor plan- Large family / Rec. room- 2nd garage, heated w/ parking area$409,000 ~ Call Bob
JUST MOVE IN!- Get planning for summer!- Well-treed lot at Johnson Beach- Beautiful vacation retreat- Open areas for home or trailer- Available immediately- Power in place$97,000 ~ Call Bob
RED DEER LAKE LOT
NEW PRICE
GREAT REVENUE OPPORTUNITY!- 5 bedrooms, 2 baths- May upgrades- New flooring on main floor- Single garage, fenced yard- Move in Ready!$234,900 ~ Call Lisa
- 8 acres with Bungalow- 3 bdrm, 2 bath- Finished basement, covered deck- Lots of potential for horses or livestock
- 30’ x 24’ Garage, 24’ x 30’ Shop$325,000 ~ Call Todd
ACREAGE NEAR PONOKA
- 895 sq ft bungalow- 5 B/R, 2 Bath- Partially Finished Basement- Many Upgrades- Single Garage$180,000 Call Deb
GREAT STARTER/REVENUE- 4-level split, 3 bdrms, 2 baths- 1800 sq. ft. above grade- Open kitchen w/ island- Extensive Upgrades- His & Hers garages$339,000 Call Deb
ONE-OF-A-KIND HOME
NEW PRICE
- 1383 sq. ft. Bi-Level- Walk-Out Basement- 5 B/R, 3 Full Baths- Large Backyard- Too Many Extras to List$413,000 Call Deb
HOME WITH A VIEW!
NEW PRICE
AFFORDABLE FAMILY HOME- Central Location- 1120 sq ft, 5 bdrm & 2 bath- Open Concept Main Floor- Huge lot, partially fenced- Great starter or revenue!$200,000 ~ Call Lisa
GREAT PLACE TO START!- 5 bedrooms, 3 baths- Over 2300 sq ft developed- Quality construction- Fully fenced yard- Move in Ready!$249,900 ~ Call Lisa
NEW PRICE
- 4 B/R, 2 Baths- New Paint, Flooring, Furnace, Windows & Baths- Great Location!$146,900 Call Deb
GET PACKING!
QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD- Spacious living room w/ hardwood, fi replace & high ceiling
- 4 bdrm, 4 bath, split level hm- Located close to playground & general hospital
- Landscaped fenced yard w/ tiered deck & fi re pit
$312,900 ~ Call Todd
GREAT PLACE TO BUILD - 2.57 Acres
- Located near Gull Lake
- Only minutes to the lake
$129,900 ~ Call Todd
- Close to shopping and schools
- Well cared for home- Upgraded exterior- Single garage in the back yard$169,900 ~ Call Todd
DOWNTOWN BUNGALOW
REDUCED
- Wrap arounrooms
- Needs som- PicturesqueSOLDSOLD
5314 53 STREET - 1123 sq. ft. with 4 beds & 2 baths
- $1226.10 per month (OAC)
$273,500
~ Call Jane or Lacey for further details
6422 52 STREET - 1060 sq. ft. with 2 beds & 2 baths
- $1120.30 per month (OAC)
$249,900
~ Call Jane or Lacey for further details
4005 39A AVENUE CLOSE - 1200+ sq. ft. with 4 beds & 3 baths
- $1344.45 per month (OAC)
$289,900
~ Call Jane or Lacey for further details
NEW PRICE
#61, 6205 54 STREET - 2004 mobile with addition- $358.19 per month (OAC)
$79,900
~ Call Jane or Lacey for further details
403-783-8881
#3, 5012-48 Avein the Wedin’s Prof. Bldg.
TO VIEW ALL LISTINGS VISIT US ONLINE AT WWW.FIRSTCHOICEPONOKA.COM
RIZWAN SYEDAssociate
Large family home with all living space on the main fl oor. Large living room with woodstove, 3 bdrms + an offi ce, as well as large family room with woodburning fi replace. Over 2100 sq.ft. all on an oversized lot.
RIVERSIDE
$224,000
Over 1200 sq ft. home with everything on one level. 3 bedrooms and a 5 pc. bath, open concept, double attached garage. Located in the north end of Ponoka.
NORTH END
$225,000
Large 2 bdrm unit on the top fl oor, beautiful southeast exposure, lots of storage space in this unit. Unit comes with parking stall. 45+ building, no pets.
TAMARACK COURT
$174,300
Alberta colourscontinued from page 15
The colourful campaign signs have long been taken down, but the coffee shop chatter will still go on hot and heavy full of questions and suggestions of what is going to unfold for all of us along the political trail in the not so distant future? I think, in all fairness, that we need to give these newly elected MLAs and their newfound fair leader and Premier-elect Ms. Notley a chance to get settled in their plush chairs in the Legislature before we make too much judgement. Win or lose, congratulations to all those candidates who threw their hats in the ring in this red-hot 2015 election and were willing to represent our province in this most vital political role.
Welcome to a new golfing season.Just about now, our golf courses will be full of exu-
berant swingers and duffers of all ages and personalities,
and this week I will devote half of this column with this just for fun tribute to all of you. Most of all, while you are out there in the fresh air, please have fun and if you get to stressed with your swing or your score, please stop at the ‘beer tent’ to calm your nerves and remember that there will always be another better day out on the links.
*Golf is the art of playing ‘fetch’ with yourself. Typi-cal club house chatter. ‘I was one under today...one under a tree, one under a bush, one under the water, and one under a car somewhere in the parking lot.’
*Suggestive signs on the golf course. At the tee box....you are now 150 yards from the centre of the green and 175 yards from a $200 picture window, so please choose your club carefully. Deep in the rough....you are now 87 yards off line. Golf instructions and lessons are available at the Pro Shop. Half way through the front nine....If you are not at this point one hour after you teed off you are
either lost or you are playing way to slow.*Best Golf Quotes. ‘If I’m on the course and lightning
strikes, I get inside fast. If God wants to play through, let him. (Bob Hope). ‘They call it golf because all other four letter words are already taken. (Ray Floyd).
*On some days out there on the course, we will hit a two-acre fairway 10 per cent of the time and a two-inch tree branch 90 per cent of the time. The game of golf is quite often referred to as the adult version of an Easter egg hunt.
*Question to caddy....’Do you think I can get there with a five iron?’ Best politically correct answer from his caddy …’eventually sir.’
*Wife out golfing for the first time. ‘I’m so sorry dear, I lost the ball again in that little hole with the flag in it.’
*The room was full of pregnant women with their husbands, and the instructor constantly reminded the la-dies that exercise was very good for them. She stressed that walking is especially beneficial because it strength-ens the pelvis muscles and will make delivery that much easier. It is important to pace yourself, make plenty of stops, and always try to stay on a soft surface like grass or a path. The instructor also reminded the gentleman that each couple were in this together, and that it wouldn’t hurt for them to go walking with her, and in fact that shared experience will be very good for them both. The room suddenly became very quiet as the men carefully absorbed all this information, and after a few moments a young man at the back of the room slowly raised his hand. “Yes?” said the instructor. “I was wondering if it would be all right if she carries a golf bag while we walk?’ Kind of brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? This kind of sensitivity just can’t be taught.. Whatever game or event you take part in this spring/ summer, please have a great season, share the experience with others, and also have a great week, all of you..
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 17
JOHN W. LOW Agencies Inc.5118 - 50th Street, Ponoka 1-800-392-8658 403-783-5512
PROFESSIONAL REALTORS OF JOHN W. LOW AGENCIES INC.
WAYNEMcGARVEY
ANNETTEDODDS
SHAWNA LOWBroker
BRIANHATALA
VACANT LOTGreat opportunity to build your dream home or duplex in north end of town. Mature neighbourhood.
GREATFAMILY HOME
COUNTRY LIVINGAT IT’S BEST
DEER CREEKChoice country acreages 3 km from Ponoka. Treed, open & walk-outs available. Owner may consider trades. Acreages can be completely serviced if so desired.
WEST OF PONOKAProductive 1/4 section.
Call Brian 403-704-7018
Call Annettefor details
403-704-7023
For more details call Annette403-704-7023
Located north of Ponoka with 2000 16 X 80 manufactured home. Ideal country setting.
ASKING PRICE $269,000Call Brian
403-704-7018
5 ACRES
PRICED TO SELL AT
$69,000Call Wayne
403-704-0864
GET READY FOR SPRING!6 ACREAGES AVAILABLE. Beautiful building sites just a short drive south of Ponoka in Jada Estates. Building restricitons make this property an exclusive area for upscale homes.
Call Wayne403-704-0864
REDUCED PRICE
Great location on main street of Ponoka. Total space
2750 sq. ft. building and lot only. $139,000
REDUCED
Call WayneCall Wayne403-704-0864403-704-0864
COMMERCIAL 4 bedroom, 3 bath bungalow with walkout basement and triple garage. Located on 5.93 acres only minutes from town.
4 bedroom, 3 bathrooms, move in ready home located in Lucas Heights on large lot.
Call Brian403-783-5512
ENJOY THE PEACEFUL LAKE VIEW!
real estate central alberta6000 - 48 Ave., Ponoka
TODD REEDAssociate Broker
403-597-0797
OPEN HOUSE
• Gorgeous 1929 sq. ft. home• 3 bdrms, 3 baths• Relaxing hot tub room
• Triple garage• Located on .8 acres at
Johnson’s BeachDate: Saturday, May 16, 2015
Time: 12:00 pm to 3:00 pmDirections: East of Ponoka on Hwy 53, north
on Red Deer Lake road, follow signs
BOB TILTGEN 403-704-0644real estate central alberta
6000 - 48 Ave., Ponoka
FULLY FINISHED- Great layout & fi nished throughout- 1006 sq. ft. bi-level, 3 bdrms / 2 baths- In-fl oor heat in basement- Fenced yard with new sidewalks- Large deck & shed
$267,000~ Call Bob! Just move in!!
4-H member Tyson Matejka shows his grand champion steer Tuesday, May 5 at the Calnash Ag Event Centre barn during the 4-H Beef Club annual show and sale. Matejka’s 1,329 pound steer sold for $4.30 per pound and was purchased by Mixcor. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
After months of hard work raising steers and heifers, members of the 4-H Beef Club were ready for their big show and sale Monday, May 4 to Tuesday May 5 at the Calnash Ag Event Centre barn.
On the first day of the event, members were busy with their heifers and cow/calf pairs preparing them for judging and the second day was the big prepara-tion day for the steers with long-time member Tyson
Matejka earning the grand champion steer.
This is Matejka’s last year with the 4-H and the last nine years with the club has been a positive experi-ence. “There’s so many things I’ve taken away from 4-H,” he said.
“It’s a combination of values that I’ve learnt,” he added.
Matejka says preparing for the sale requires some responsibility on the part of the member and that has helped him grow over the years.
He suggests young members of the beef club should continue work-ing hard at raising cattle; eventually they will start to understand the best practic-es to raising them.
He feels his steer was judged highly due to gain-ing weight well throughout the year. “The biggest chal-lenge is halter breaking. Getting a 1,300 pound steer to follow you, to follow a 150 pound man is kind of difficult.”
He says it is always im-pressive to see young 4-H
Months of work culminate at 4-H Beef Club show and sale
members halter-break a steer that is quite a bit larger than they are. He recom-mends taking the proper time to do that so it is done well.
While it’s not part of the judging it does help quite a bit to keep the animal re-laxed when presenting it.
Matejka’s 1,329 pound steer sold for $4.30 per pound and Patrice Stalder, who had the reserve grand champion steer, saw his 1,387 pound steer sell for $3 per pound. Stalder said he had been with 4-H for the last seven years.
He said the judge liked the form and muscle of his steer and to accomplish growing the steer over the past months is a good feel-ing. “The challenge at first was he (the steer) wasn’t very tame.”
Stalder was able to calm and train the steer to be more comfortable around people.
Sales did well with the average on 31 steers being $3.03 per pound during the live auction on May 5. This year’s charity steer, Bolt, raised $7,290 with money
going towards the Ponoka and District Health Founda-tion.
Keith Kjenner, a member of the 4-H Beef Committee, said they were down only one steer com-pared to last year.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that have put in a lot of years with 4-H,” said Kjenner.
He says selling the steers is a small part of the club. The biggest lessons come with taking care of the animals and working together to learn about be-
ing part of a committee and running meetings.
“So that later in life they end up volunteering at their home school or they end up on the Stampede Association or any other organization,” said Kjen-ner. “And they’re familiar with how to run an organi-zation.”
He said the other benefit of raising the steers is that it gives members hands on training with the animals as well as exposure with mar-keting.
VIEW TODAY! CALL RIZWANVIEW TODAY! CALL RIZWANSUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESS - LIST TODAY • FREE HOME EVALUATION
• 1231 sq. ft. end unit townhouse• Ideal for single family• Attached garage/ deck• Backing on to the park• Within 3 blocks of golf course/
walking trails• 5 minute walk from fuel
station/convenience store
NEW LISTINGNEW LISTING
$$239,900239,900
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real estate central alberta6000 - 48 Ave., Ponoka
Deb StevensAssociate Broker
403-704-3152
- Newer 1088 sq. ft. raised bungalow
- 4 bdrms, 3 baths- Open fl oor plan- Mother-in-Law suite w/separate entrance- Low maintenance yard- Lots of parking
- 2250 sq. ft. bungalow- 4 bdrms, 3 baths- double lot
- Great location- Many upgrades- Double att. garage- Pride of ownership
$$339,000339,000Call Deb!Call Deb!
$$325,000325,000Call Deb!Call Deb!
real estate central alberta6000 - 48 Ave., Ponoka
LISA SMITHAssociate403-704-0646
FANTASTIC VALUE, UNBEATABLE LOCATION• Solid bungalow in
great location• 945 sq ft 4
bedrooms, 2 baths• Large fenced
yard with double garage
• Many costly updates are done!
$220,000 Call Lisa
NEW PRICE
real estate central alberta
6000 • 48 Ave, Ponoka403-783-5007 Jane Lacey
• 1138 sq ft with 3 beds & 2 baths
• Fully fi nished basement
• Oversized, fenced yard with room to park an RV
•
•
•
$284,900 Call Jane or Lacey
BEAUTIFULLY UPGRADED BUNGALOW!
A series of teams and drivers used old fashioned plows and other farm equipment to seed a field of oats for the Canadian Foodgrains Banks during a Farming with Horses demonstration held a farm north of Ponoka.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
Using the art of plow-ing with antique farming equipment, a series of farmers and team driv-ers seeded five acres of oats over the weekend in a Farming with Horses dem-onstration. The event took place on the Pohl Farm, north of Ponoka.
The autumn profits of the field will be given to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Owner Ken Pohl was involved with Farming
Horse drawn farming aids international charity
with Horses in southern Alberta last year, and after coming back from thrash-ing with his wife Verna, he decided to bring the event to central Alberta.
“I said to her ‘we’re go-ing to do this on our farm’,” said Pohl.
“It was so neat to see how the people really en-joyed watching the horse drawn equipment,” he add-ed.
Pohl had been involved with the Foodgrains Bank in the past and knew a field working in conjunc-tion with the one south of town would be appreciated. “I thought that would be a nice little extra twist.
In the fall, Pohl will sell the oats, targeting equine owners, and the proceeds will be donated to the Foodgrains Bank. As with the field south of town, each dollar donated is matched in a four to one ratio by the federal govern-ment.
The equipment used during Farming with Hors-es included sulkey plows, walk behind plows, disks and harrows. Pohl says this kind of equipment was at its prime use 40 to 50 years ago.
“Modern equipment would do this in minutes,” said Pohl, referring to the five-acre field.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 19
To enter call Karen at 403-783-3989
PONOKA STAMPEDE STAR
TALENT AUDITIONS Wednesday, May 27 & Thursday, May 28
at the Stagecoach Saloon at 7:00 pm
Fabulous prizes to be won!
Top 10 performers will appear at the Ponoka Stampede on Monday, June 29
on the big stage with a full band.
Spectators and audience are welcome to come and listen to some great talent.
See you there!
$3000 guitar courtesy of Gilmore Guitars,
Red Deer and Ponoka Stampede
One day recording session at MCC Recording Studio in
May 29 - Pot luck & General meeting 5:30pm Bring a dish to share, table service and enjoy good company
Billiards - Weekdays 1:00pm. Mon through Sat – 50 cents per game. Honour system
Monday Bridge 1:00pm
Monday Whist - 1:30pm
Monday Yoga - 6:30pm
Tuesday Canasta - 1:00pm NEW PROGRAM
Tuesday & Thursday Exercise class 9:30am
Tuesday Shuffl eboard - 7pm • FINISHED UNTIL FALL ON APRIL 28
Wednesday Sewing Guild 9:30am to 4pm
Wednesday Cribbage 1:00pm
Wednesday Yoga - 6:30pm
Wednesday Duplicate Bridge 7:00pm
Thursday Floor Curling - 1:00pm • FINISHED UNTIL FALL ON APRIL 30
Thursday Weaving 1:00pm Welcome to drop-in to see how it’s done
Thursday Bridge 1:00pm
Thursday Pickleball 7pm - contact Janice Mackie 403-396-4315 for location
Thursday Art Club Drop In Noon to 4pm
Friday “500” 1:00pm
Saturday Yoga 9:30am
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 and we would like
to invite our town administration, business groups, and general public (Wedding, funeral, and Birthday
groups), to inquire about rentals services and prices early in their planning. We may fi t your bill!
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
For a third year in a row, the Lions Club of Ponoka is hosting a dog guide event aimed at rec-ognizing the hard work our canine friends do to protect or save human lives.
Called the Purina Walk for Dog Guides, the event is set for Sunday, May 31 at 1 p.m. at Centennial Park and is intended to be a fun day for all dog owners and for people who need help from professional canines everyday of their lives, explained organizer Dixie Tyndall.
The event is also a
Fun events planned for Walk
for Dog Guides event
fundraiser for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides school, which is a special program funded solely through donations and other fundraising ef-forts. “What a lot of people don’t realize is the Lions Club Dog Guide program is zero per cent government funded,” explained Tyndall.
In an effort to show just how hard these dogs work, Tyndall says they will have a mock rescue where a dog guide will help a person out of an area.
“The dogs will actually go in and find someone in our rubble pile,” said Tyn-dall.
Last year, the Lions Club raised just over $5,500 but Tyndall says interest is higher than in previous years. The club will also be hosting a raffle with tickets costing $2. The winner will walk away with a new dog house, said Tyndall.
Training programs for dog guides includes: Ca-nine Vision, Hearing Ear, Service Dogs, Seizure Re-sponse, Autism Assistance and Diabetic Alert Dogs.
Tyndall said the event is open for all dog owners and for more information or to donate, those interested should call her at 403-704-0304.
Up-to-datelocal news & sports
20 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
15052TA0
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“We like that EVEREST 2.0 gives customers a wide application window that lets you spray at your earliest convenience, regardless of weather conditions,” says Tim Johnson of CashChem Ltd. “Spraying early provides the best weed control, and with EVEREST 2.0, young wheat has the best chance to become established and reach its top
potential yield. And at the same time, if the rains come and the crop advances, EVEREST 2.0 is still safe to apply.”
BEST-IN-CLASS CONTROL OF GROUP 1 RESISTANT GRASSY WEEDSMore and more, spring wheat growers in Western Canada are plagued with Group 1 resistant grassy weeds. As a Group 2 herbicide, EVEREST 2.0 is the best option for growers struggling with Group 1 resistance. It is the only group 2 herbicide that provides Flush after flush control with unsurpassed crop safety.
SUPERIOR FORMULATION AND CONVENIENCE“EVEREST 2.0 is an advanced, highly concentrated liquid formulation,” says Trent McCrea, Arysta LifeScience Marketing Manager, Herbicides. “It’s a user-friendly, no-hassle product that wheat growers can rely on, with exceptional convenience and flexibility.” One 2-litre bottle will treat 80 - 100 acres for wild oats and green foxtail. In addition, the high-quality liquid formula with safener technology makes it compatible with multiple tank-mix partners.
EVEREST 2.0. A herbicide you can count on.
For more information on EVEREST 2.0 visit CashChem Ltd., or call 1-866-761-9397
CashChem Ltd.
Tim Johnson
Ponoka, Alberta 866-372-9120
Eric Stephenson was one of two speakers Altitude Laser Spa brought to this year’s annual Spa-tacular Spring Event. Stephenson spoke to the women about reducing stress and drama through self-care, massage and aromatherapy. Photo by Amelia Naismith
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
The Altitude Laser Spa’s annual Spa-tacular Spring Event, held at the Wolf Creek Golf Resort on Saturday, May 2, was the five-year anniver-sary of the event and for the spa team that meant amping up the extravagance even more.
“It’s a year of giving back,” said spa owner Kim Green. “That’s why we brought in the health and wellness speakers.”
In a different take from last year, the event only fea-tured two speakers for the majority of the day: Eric Ste-phenson and Debra K.
‘They travel internation-ally and speak on anything that has to do with wellness,” said Green.
Green says K, who spoke during the afternoon session, was there to teach the woman overall wellbeing, manifest-
ing their own journey and five food swaps that could be made to defeat bloating.
Stephenson talked about drama reduction to help man-age stress levels through self-care, massage and aro-matherapy.
“Essential oils were used in ancient medicine and it’s unique because it’s used for both emotional and physical needs,” said Green.
She added the whole event is always about teach-ing woman new ways to improve their own wellbeing. “I want women to be inspired to manage their own journey with their health at heart.”
Also in the spirit of giving back, the proceeds of the raf-fle tickets and $5 from every Body Bliss sale made during the event will be donated to the Ponoka Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury. More than $500 was raised for the donation.
Spa-tacular Spring Event celebrates
five years
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 21
Good Feeder Steers 1000 lbs Plus: 210.00-223.00 Good Feeder Steers 900 lbs Plus: 225.00-238.00 Good Feeder Steers 800 lbs Plus: 235.00-251.00 Good Feeder Steers 700 lbs Plus: 280.00-296.00 Good Feeder Steers 600 lbs Plus: 285.00-305.00 Good Feeder Steers 500 lbs Plus: 320.00-340.00 Good Feeder Steers 400 lbs Plus: 340.00-360.00 Good Feeder Steers 300 lbs Plus: 350.00-380.00
Dairy Steers 180.00-210.00
Baby Calves Dairy Type: 200.00-360.00
Baby Calves Beef Type: 385.00-700.00
Hay: Sq Bales 5.00-8.25
Straw: Sq. Bales 1.00-
Greenfeed: Sq. Bales
VJV MARKET REPORTMARKET REPORT MAY 6, 2015
On Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - 1443 head of cattle went through our rings
TOTAL - 1443
Vold Jones & Vold Auction Co. Ltd. | Dawson Creek Auction
We will pick up your paper, clean tins, glass, No. 1-5 plastic and cardboard.
We also pick up cardboard from local businesses.
For more information on these programs please call
403-783-5810 Weekdays
SUBMITTED BYAIDEN MCTAGGART
April showers bring May flowers, and also the annual highway garbage clean-up. May 2 was the big day this year. Once again 4H clubs from across Alberta along with many other service clubs were out cleaning out our ditches. The Crestom-ere 4H Multi-club was out in full force, 45 members and parents braved the wind and cleaned a 15km stretch. We found many disgusting items: carcasses and diapers topped the list. Most often found items were empty cigarette packages, Tim Hortons cups, lots of fast food garbage and so many strange pieces of cardboard; it is amazing how many items are carelessly tossed. Amongst the unwanted items a few treasures were discovered like an iphone and amazingly, money! A five dollar bill, a ten dollar
We are now in the second quarter of 2015 and here are a few of the regular pro-grams that we do all of the time:
-Archery is now in progress every Wednesday evening and so far has been well attended.
-Trap shooting is on Monday evenings so come on out and join the fun and test your shooting skill on the clay pigeons.
-Pistol shooting is on Tuesday evenings and rifle shooting is on Thursdays.
Follow all of the range rules when at-tending any of these events or you can lose your membership and range privileges.
There are a great many things going on in the Alberta Fish and Game and all clubs are working toward the preservation of our fish and wildlife, so our future gen-erations will have the wildlife to enjoy in the future. We have some great fishing in Alberta as we still catch some record break-ers on occasion - for example, this past year there was a new provincial record walleye caught in the Pembina River by Bob Walk-er. It weighed 13 lbs. 3 oz. I talked to him at the Trophy Ball and he said he caught one bigger than that last year, but did not weigh it in.
The winning elk measured 401 2/8 inches - not a record but a great trophy for Kent Waddell. It was taken from the Medi-cine Hat country.
As you can see from these trophy sized fish and elk, we have some great game to enjoy, so let’s help preserve some for our grandkids to enjoy in the future.
At our April club meeting, our member-ship for this year, so far, was over 600.
Our kids’ camp is in July so there should be lots of people from this amount of members, to volunteer to help out at Kids’ Camp. Give the club a call and let our Kids’ Camp chairman know you are willing to help out.
Our lake will be stalked with fish very soon, so there will be fish to be caught.
The club still holds Firearms Safety courses, so if you plan on hunting this season and you need a course to get your license, you should keep in mind that it takes about 45 days after you send in your paper work to get your license back. If you wait until September or October to take the course, you will have a short hunting sea-son.
In the Outdoor Canada magazine, which our members now receive, there is an article written by our Alberta Fish and Game First Vice President, Doug Butler about fishing and hunting when he was growing up. I thought it was interesting and reminded me of when I was growing up. Lots of things he talked about, I also did back then. My Dad never took me hunting or fishing as he was always busy working, but he taught me how to clean my fish and how to skin and cut up my bigger game.
The weather is improving now, so come on out and shoot some archery and trap.
See you soonRobert Greene
Publicity Chairman
Bobtail Nursery owner Tine Roelofsen spent time at the Ponoka Jubilee Library on Thursday, May 7 answering the questions such as how to trim a hanging basket and how much to water it for those who attended her informal session Wake up Your Garden.
Photo by Amelia Naismith
Lots of Fish and Game information
to share
Crestmere 4H Multiclub Newsbill and a hundred dollar bill, this was a huge sur-prise. These treasures along the way motivate us to bend down and get our hands dirty again next year. My mom says this is good for us and builds character; all I felt after was tired and dirty.
4H is starting to wrap
up its 2014-15 year, one more charity event to go, this Thursday at the Rim-bey nursing home plus a tire recycle fundraiser and then achievements day. Feel free to come to Crestomere School on May 23 at noon to see what we have been working on all year.
RECYCLE YOUR PAPER!
22 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
PONOKA LIONS CLUBSunday, May 31st Lions Centennial Park
Register 1:00 pm Walk 2:00 pm
For information call:403-704-0304
PROUD TO BE A COMMUNITY SUPPORTER
Ponoka Elks Club President, Jim Wing (right) is shown presenting a cheque in the amount of $500.00 to Mecca Glen Playground Committee Chairperson Janny Liebeton. The monies will help with the Mecca Glen Playground Project.
DONATION
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
Ponoka businesswoman Inger Laing, owner of Don Laing Trailers, has been nominated for the Red Deer and District Commu-nity Foundation Women of Excellence awards.
Laing was nominated under the Business and the Professions category and she said she was surprised and honoured to be nomi-nated.
“We’ve got a lot of great women in this prov-ince,” said Laing.
She feels there has al-ways been a large number of women doing positive work in their professional lives but they are now be-ing noticed more for their work. Laing has a long list of accomplishments including being a banker, flower shop owner in Rim-
Ponoka businesswoman nominated for Women
of Excellence
Ponoka businesswoman Inger Laing has been nominated for a Women of Excellence award.
Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
bey, farmer and presently as the owner of Don Laing Trailers.
In 1983, Laing and her husband Don, who passed away in 2009, opened up a successful equipment parts business that was eventu-ally sold in 2007. In 1994, they expanded the business to include trailer sales and rentals, which has become the main part of her busi-ness.
Eventually Laing ex-panded her business to include off-road vehicles, lawn mowers and accesso-ries.
Laing’s community in-fluence is quite large with work on the Economic Development Board, the Ponoka and District Cham-ber of Commerce and as a director of the Ponoka Agricultural Society. She is a big supporter of the Calnash Ag Event Centre with the Don Laing Trailer Series winter barrel rac-ing event and is one of the founding members of the Ponoka Festival of Trees.
The awards gala is set for Tuesday, June 9 at the Sheraton Hotel in Red Deer.
BY JEFFREY HEYDEN-KAYE
A rainy spring day did not stop shoppers from visiting the fine vendors at the first Farmers Market of the season Wednesday, May 6 at the Ponoka Culture and Recreation Complex.
Manager Donna Merrill says demand for fruits and veg-etables is high this year and vendors are already preparing to be ready with some fresh produce for their May 13 mar-ket.
“I’ve got several new vendors this year,” added Merrill. From home crafted fire pits to hemp products to bath
products, Merrill feels this will be another fun year for the market. “Bedding plants will also be in next week,” she predicted.
She says they continue to raise money for local non-profit groups with their 50/50 ticket sales with the month of May focussed on Hope Trimble-Willis’ cancer fund.
June is for the Wheelchair Van Society, July is for the Hospital Auxiliary, August for the Seafield Social Workers and September for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Merrill says it has also been great to see regular cus-tomers come in to the market and she likens vendors and customers as one extended family. Among the many other items people can find are home baked treats, farm fresh eggs, jewelry and a variety of other vendors.
Shoppers enjoy first Farmers Market of
the season
Betty Rondeau (left) of Betty’s Jam sells some homemade jam to Heather and her son Myles Baich Wednesday, May 6 at the Farmers Market first day of the season. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye
@PonokaNews@PonokaNewsFOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 23
SERVICES OFFERED • Personal & Corporate Income Tax Planning
• Business Advisory Service• Government Program Assistance
Ponoka Offi ce: 403-783-3315
Bashaw Offi ce (Tues): 780-372-3627
Wetaskiwin Offi ce (Mon & Thurs): 780-352-6488
WANT TO KNOW IF THE LIONS WANT TO KNOW IF THE LIONS COMMUNITY BUS IS AVAILABLE?COMMUNITY BUS IS AVAILABLE?
Check Outour Bus Calendar atponokalions.caponokalions.ca
Ponoka teams return from Stettler with one win and one loss
BY MUSTAFA ERIC
Two Ponoka minor soccer teams trav-elled to Stettler on Thursday, 7 and one returned with a win and the other with a loss, but both games displaying good soc-cer skills of the teams involved.
U16 Storm repeated their win over their Stettler opponents, winning their first regular season game 3-0 just like they did in Camrose a week earlier during the Sunbreaker tournament.
Ponoka boys started to impose their pace to the hosts after the first 10 minutes
The backbone of the Storm U16 defense Robert Wareham (# 21) proves his versatil-ity as he scores the last goal for the Ponoka side with a classy header against Stettler on Thursday, May,7. Photo by Mustafa Eric
Jasmin Joha of Stettler U-12 girls take a shot at the Stettler net in the early minutes of their first away game of the season on Thursday, May 7 at the Stettler soccer field.
Photo by Mustafa Eric
Sports
of play and never looked back. With su-perb passing and ball control skills, the Storm pounded the Stettler net with shot after shot and easily found three goals. Sean Rowland and Dylan O’Connor scored in the first half and Robert Ware-ham sealed the score in the second half
with a classy header from a corner kick.U12 girls, however, were not really
lucky in their game against their hosts. Stettler girls took control of the field shortly after the game and found easy scores. The game ended 7-0 for the Stet-tler side.
Locos take on undefeated team
in tough gameBY AMELIA NAISMITH
It was a hard fought loss the junior Lo-cos lacrosse team faced in a Sunday, May 10 home game when the team lost 20-10 to the Calgary Axemen.
“Axemen is undefeated so we knew they’d be a tough team,” said head coach Mike Wood.
The first period went well for the boys, as Wood says his team was able to keep up fairly well with the Axemen.
“We have a good group of kids,” said Wood. “The lacrosse knowledge just needs to grow a bit.”
During the second period the Axemen were able to take a large lead on the Locos as a series of penalties continually left the boys shorthanded.
Wood says as the game slid away from the Locos, they got more frustrated, which led to more penalties.
The third period picked back up for the Locos and they were able to close the gap. “It was a much closer of a period,” said Wood.
This year the Locos are a young team and Wood feels as the boys knowledge im-proves so will their game. “We have kids who have never played before, so starting at junior is tough.”
Junior Locos player Cooper Smyth moves unopposed to the Calgary Axemen net during the Sunday, May 10 home game. Photo by Amelia Naismith
24 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
We would like to give the Community an update on our progress and thanks since our unfortunate vandalism a month ago. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for all the support the community has offered us in kind words, donations and all those who worked alongside at our clean up. Special thanks to Sommer Home Hardware for donating materials needed that day to right the wrongs that were done. Bob Ronnie and In Dey Go Fundraising jumped in and donated snacks, refreshments and pizza for all our volunteers that day which was so greatly appreciated. To ensure the security of our building, a system has been loaned to us free of charge by Video Security Solutions until our permanent system is installed. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the County of Ponoka for their continued support and involvement in our project, they have been with us from the beginning and we really appreciate their loyalty.
Our spring classes are in full swing at our downtown location and the long awaited dream of our new building is getting closer to being a reality every day. Drywall is fi nished and we hope to have a painting bee after the long weekend, which UFA is graciously sponsoring all the paint and materials needed. The outpouring of support and strength from this community is overwhelming and without it we wouldn’t be where we are today.
A huge thank you goes out to a group of businesses that have stepped up and sponsored our permanent security system from Phase 3 Security. These people have gone above and beyond what we expected and we owe our gratitude to the following businesses:
Will’s Welding, TNT Electrical, Westcan Plumbing, Elite Integrity, Phase 3 Security, Phase 3 Electrical, Morskate Mfg, Harbin Welding, Galloway Oilfi eld, Wespro, Prairie Point Quilt, Accu-Publishing, Refl ections on 66, Ponoka Towing, First Choice Auto, Cervus John Deere, Big Country& First Call Towing
Greetings from thePonoka Gymnastics & Trampoline Club!
We are currently holding a raffl e to raise more funds and fi rst prize is a Samsung 58” Smart TV, second prize is $500.00 cash and third and fourth prizes are $250.00 cash each. If you wish to purchase tickets they are available at The Brick or contact Deanna Groves (403)-396-1756.
Vandalism to new clubhouse in April
Club members shown in front of repaired wall
Jim Hamilton (right) presents DJ Horne (left) with the Tom Hamilton Rookie of the Year Award at the annual Broncs Football Banquet, held at the Ponoka Secondary Campus on Monday, May 11. Please see our story on page 25. Photo by Amelia Naismith
Hundreds of team ropers hit qualifier in Ponoka
BY AMELIA NAISMITH
More than 600 rop-ing teams converged upon Ponoka for a World Series of Team Roping qualifying event, May 8 to 10 at the Calnash Ag Event Centre.
“There’s some from the (United) States, B.C., Sas-katchewan and Alberta,” said producer Ray Lane.
Lane says the event holds to a handicapped sys-tem that allows teams and ropers to compete against others close to their own caliber. “It equalizes every-body’s chance to win some money,” he explained.
Ropers sit on a scale of one to 10, 10 being in the elite, the scores of the two ropers on a team are add-ed together and that gives them their class.
Lane says while the World Series qualifier had no 10s in attendance but there were some eights and nines. “They’re very good,” he added.
At the qualifier there was approximately $160,000 up for grabs, ac-cording to Lane.
While the qualifier was well attended by ropers of
all skill levels, it’s the Las Vegas finals they are all gunning for.
“This is the 10th year,” said Lane. “It’s a really big roping event, the third highest paying equine event in the world.”
Over the course of the three days, the teams had a chance at three long gos and a short go. “If they miss one, they’re out,” said Lane.
For teammates Kevin Slot and Dustin Hummer, both from Longview, they are hoping to make it to Las Vegas. “I’ve been down to watch it a bunch of times, but I’ve never qualified for it. That would be the ulti-mate goal,” said Slot.
Together the two com-pete in class nine and Hummer says, for him, the attraction to the sport is the money.
“Not many people do this for a living,” said Hummer. Both men agree it is the world’s best ropers who are able to make a full time job out of the sport.
Slot and Hummer hit three to four rodeos and jackpots per month to keep their hobby lucrative.
Katy Lucas (header) and Don DePaoli (heeler) were one of hundreds of team roping teams com-peting in the qualify-ing World Series of Team Roping event held at the Calnash Ag Event Centre, May 8 to 10. Photo by
Amelia Naismith
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 25
15052UC0
PSC football players celebrated at annual banquetBY AMELIA NAISMITH
Players, coaches, spon-sors and volunteers all
came together at the an-nual banquet on Monday, May 11 to honour the hard work each one contributed
to making the Broncs ju-nior and senior football teams a success.
“The reason why we
have our annual banquet every year is to recognize the program and what it does for the boys in our
community,” said former head coach Scott Mac-Gregor, who returned to the school for the event.
“This group of boys that we had were very dedicated to the team,” he added, referring to the ju-nior players.
While it was the first time playing for many of the young members, Mac-Gregor told those who attended the banquet the team still saw its share of successes, including touchdowns and a defen-sive touchdown. “We were pretty excited about that,” he remembered.
“With both teams, I was probably the most proud of their no-quit at-titude,” he added.
During the banquet he also took time to thank the volunteers and sponsors who make the program possible. This includes the Rookie of the Year Award, dedicated to Tom Hamil-ton, who died in March in an avalanche.
MacGregor says when he first approached Tom and his father Jim, who owns Hamilton’s IGA as food sponsors, Tom en-couraged him to also make a presentation for the Kinsmen for more fund-ing. “This gentleman went out of his way to help us and that’s just the kind of guy he was,” he recalled.
“What makes this community special and important is people like Tom Hamilton,” Mac-Gregor added.
Award recipients:Allstars – Dallon Perry,
Kellyn Pritchard, Ashton Soosay, Ethan Pylypow, Calvin Turner, Ashton Sandin, Sean Rowland and Noah Longjohn.
Jr. Broncs:Offensive Player of the
Year – Sean RowlandDefensive Player of the
Year – Noah LongjohnSr. Broncs:Tom Hamilton Rookie
Player of the Year – DJ Horne
League Trophy Special Teams Player of the Year – Dallon Perry
Special Teams Player of the Year – Cameron Kirstein
Lineman of the Year – Ashton Soosay
Feschuk Passion Award – Casey Cohoe
Defensive Player of the Year – Braeden Korchin-ski
GRIZZLY BEAR TOUR. Experience a one day fl y and cruise adventure to Khutzeymateen, BC this
summer. Calgary and Edmonton departures. 1-866-460-1415; www.
classiccanadiantours.com.
Meetings 59AL-ANON WEEKLY MEETING
FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF ALCOHOLICS.
Tuesdays 8 p.m.Neighborhood Place
5110 - 49 Ave., PonokaFor more info 403-783-4557
ALATEEN Weekly meetings
Tuesdays @ 8 p.m. Neighborhood
Place5110 - 49 Ave.
PonokaFor more info.
403-783-4557 or 403-783-8371
DALE HENRY
Blanche Henry and the Henry and Derwantz families want to thank everyone who attended the services. It was a wonderful tribute. Thank you for all the many donations cards and kind words. We want to thank Reverend Jack Schulze for the special service for Dale. Thanks to everyone who sent fl owers food and cards. Thanks to Stettler United Church women for the lovely lunch. A big thank you to the staff of the Horizon Unit at the Ponoka Centennial Centre for the Mental Health and Brain Injury, they gave Dale wonderful care from the fi rst part of October until the end of April. They were so caring and thoughtful for his last few days to Dale and to me and all our families. Thank you to Stettler Funeral Home for all the help and care for the cremation and service.
Blanch Henry, The Henry family and the Derwantz family
THANK YOU
The families of MARIE THOMPSON
wish to extend our sincere thank you to all for the many expressions of support and kindness in the loss of our mother, Marie. We are grateful for the exceptional care given to her by Dr. Bunting and the nurses of Ponoka Hospital. Thank you to the Legion for the farewell and
Honour Guard, and Ladies Auxillary for hosting the luncheon. To Marlon and staff, for every detail. Very
special thanks to all the grandchildren that with much love, gave the moving tributes, and laid Grandma to
rest. All has meant a great deal to our familyduring this time.
In Loving Memory of Morna ChorneyMay 16, 2005
We who loved you, sadly miss you, As it dawns another year (10th)In our lonely hours of thinking
Thoughts of you are ever near.Gone but not forgotten.
Forever loved and remembered,Bill, Darcy, Lore & grandchildren
After a long goodbye Wilf Mueller lost his battle with dementia at the age of 75 years. He is lovingly remembered by his wife of 48 years, Joan; children Lisa (Les), Travis (Dawn), and Holly (Graeme); grandchildren Emily, Tyler, Jaxon, Coral, and Kye; brother Ernest (Irene);
sister Elsy; and numerous family and friends. He was predeceased by his son Andrew in 1996. Wilf was a free spirit who was an inspiration to all those who knew and loved him. Wilf was a hard worker and accomplished many great things in his lifetime. He had a positive and unique look at life that will be dearly missed. A special thank you to the incredible staff at the Centennial Centre (Apollo Ward), Home Care, and all those who assisted with their loving and gentle care. In lieu of fl owers, donations are gratefully accepted to the Alzheimer Society, SPCA or any charity of your choice. Please join us for a Celebration of Life from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 22nd at the Royal Canadian Legion in Ponoka. To express condolences to Wilf’s family, please visit www.womboldfuneralhomes.com.
Arrangements Entrusted ToPONOKA FUNERAL HOME
~ A WOMBOLD FAMILY FUNERAL HOME ~
Obituaries
In Memoriam
Card Of Thanks
Thank you I would like to thank
everyone for all the cards and beautiful fl owers in remembrance of Sheila Kraft. Your kind words
have been very consoling. Also, to the A & W
coffee gang for your thoughtfulness, which is
greatly appreciated.
Dorothy Kraft
Celebrations
JOIN Herb & Anna
PERRYin celebration of their 60th Wedding
AnniversayCoffee/tea & cake to be served from 1:00-4:00 Sat. May 16th/15 at
Herb & Anna’s farm site, watch for signs
6 miles East of Ponoka on Hwy 53, go North on Range Road 244 - 1 Ω miles - building site on
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Out of TownANTIQUES, painted furni-ture and many household
items. Fri., May 15, noon-6, and Sat., May 16, 9-5.
51 Ridge Drive, Poulsens Pasture, north side of Gull
Lake. Watch for signs.
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GARAGE SALEFri., May 15 • 9:30am – 8pmSat., May 16 • 10am – 3pm
5811 - 61 ST. CLOSE(west of the General Hospital)
Garage Sales
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 27
FOR fast results: Classified Want Ads. Phone 1-877-223-3311.
Truckers/Drivers 860
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Business Services#1000 - #1430
This Is A Volunteer Position With Honorarium• Class 1 license• Clean abstract required• Mechanically inclined• Shared schedule with other drivers
Apply with resume and abstract toPonoka Lions Club – ponokalions.ca
or phone 403-340-9247 for more info
Only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted
Call Jim Ashbough 783-2764 or Cell: 588-0599Jack Surbey 783-5283 Cell: 588-0597
BOBCAT SERVICES
SALES & SERVICE
BOTTLE DEPOT
Call Jim Ashbough 403-783-2764or Cell: 587-729-0092
PONOKA BOTTLE DEPOT
Open Monday - Saturday10 am - 5 pm
Closed Sundays & Holidays
We Now Recycle Milk Cartons for Deposit
3, 5520 Hwy 2A(Across from Husky)
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If you are interested in a LOCAL ROUTE please contactSUSAN WHITECOTTON at 403-783-3311
JOB HUNTING? Read theClassifieds. 1-877-223-3311.
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Buy it.Classified. It’s the easy-to-access, information-packedmarketplace visited regularly — by all kinds of consumers.
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is currently seeking an individual to serve as the“Member at Large” on our volunteer Board of Directors.
The successful candidate should have non profi t board experience, a background in business and/or farming, an understanding of fi nancial & board policy, a willingness to work as a member of a team, be willing to volunteer at some Calnash Ag Event Centre produced events, and be willing to commit to the Vision of PAECS.
Interested candidates can obtain a copy of the Policy & application form for this position by emailing:[email protected] or visiting our website & downloading this information. www.ponokaageventcentre.com.
Applications will be accepted until May 29, 2015.
Completed application forms can be mailed to:PAECS Box 4698 Ponoka AB T4J 1S4
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30 PONOKA NEWS Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 PONOKA NEWS 31
BY PETER STOCKLAND
On an October day three decades ago, I watched aboard a plane taxiing for take-off at Edmonton’s Municipal Airport as the body of then NDP leader Grant Not-ley was off-loaded from another aircraft.
In the wildest of dreams, I could not have imagined a day when Notley’s daughter Rachel would bury the most dominant dynasty in Canadian political history.
What happened Tuesday night in Al-berta would have been dismissed as crazy talk had it been prophesized even six months ago, so it’s natural that the nar-rative around the NDP landslide has been political shock and awe. How could this happen in Alberta, proudly and perpetu-ally Conservative since 1971? And now that it has happened, what’s next? What’s next? What’s next?
Yet it’s also a family story, a personal story, a story of a father, untimely taken, bequeathing to a young daughter the idea of standing and fighting for a coherent set of beliefs, and doing so with integrity and publicly unflappable calm in the face of impossible odds. It’s about, in many ways, the long view and the way history’s vagaries are so integral to its outcomes.
Grant Notley died in a plane crash on October 19, 1984. He was returning to his Spirit River-Fairview constituency when the plane went down near Grande Prairie. I got a phone call at home - it was my birthday - and not long afterward was on a plane flying to northern Alberta to cover the story for the Edmonton Sun.
Covering the Alberta legislature, I was no champion of Notley’s party but liked him immensely as a person. He was one of those people you just know isn’t simply for show. The true test of that was the treatment he received from the leg-endary Premier Peter Lougheed.
Lougheed showing contempt could be a fearsome thing. Yet although his Tory party had an almost preposterous 75-4 seat advantage over the Opposition, he showed Notley only genuine respect, even affection. Why? Because whatever their political differences, they were both intrinsically and implacably decent men.
And the reality is their differences weren’t all that different. For all its
mythological status as an unassailable right-wing fortress, Alberta has long hewed to a communitarian oriented centre, and at times has skidded left even under the Conservative banner. As Lougheed himself would say candidly, the Conservative name was chosen in the late 1960s as a reliable and comfortable brand in a province that wanted good government managers, not fervent ideo-logical partisans.
The evaporation of the Alberta Con-servative party’s aura of managerial competence, which endured for almost 44 years, meant the end of the Alberta Conservative party era. As I wrote to a Facebook friend last week, even liv-ing in Central Canada, I could smell the grey water stench of entitlement waft-ing across the Great Lakes and Canadian Shield.
What’s compelling is that it is Rachel Notley, and not Danielle Smith, who has gained the reward. Smith made an op-portunist’s bold move in crossing the legislature floor to sit with the governing Conservatives, abandoning her leader-ship of the Wildrose Party. She gambled, lost, and is now, in the immortal words of Alberta’s great Ian Tyson “gone like sum-mer wages.”
Notley, doubtless distilling her fa-ther’s example, waited patiently for the moment to come to her. Now it has, born in grief, nurtured through belief, culmi-nating in unimaginable triumph.
What’s next? What’s next? What’s next? We’ll see.
Bold predictions that the breaching of Fortress Alberta bodes well for federal NDP fortunes in Alberta may have the luck of good timing, or maybe mumbles best forgotten on election day, October 19 - the 31st anniversary of Grant Notley’s death. The vagaries of history, particular-ly political history, can make everything sound like crazy talk six months on either side.
For now, a dynasty is down. A decent man’s daughter has made her own way to fulfill her father’s promise.
The long view has much to recom-mend it.
Peter Stockland is a senior fellow with Cardus, and publisher of Convivium magazine.
A decent man’s daughter takes the
helm in AlbertaFormer Alberta NDP leader Grant Notley bequeathed to his young daughter the idea of standing and fighting for
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