More educational opportunities are coming to Drayton Valley. The Town has announced partnerships that will bring courses for beauty professionals and health care aides to the community. Courses will be offered for in person learning at the Clean Energy Technology Centre starting in September.
Beauty courses will be offered through Delmar College, which offers training in the areas of hairstyling, barbering, esthetics, nail, lash, and makeup.
“Bringing Delmar on board is really exciting,” said Mayor Michael Doerksen. “They offer a variety of programs unique to the beauty industry which complement the cosmetology courses already offered in our local high schools. It is an example of how post-secondary education will look in Drayton Valley.”
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First it was caterpillars. Then it was rain. Then it was smoke. Then it was more rain. Then it was mosquitoes. Then it was moths. And then it was tornadoes.
I hope I have those in the right order. It’s been hard to keep track. I should probably fit blue/green algae in there somewhere too.
Either way, it’s fair to say that the summer of 2026 has been exciting, in the same way as getting a registered letter from the CRA or finding a litter of baby skunks under your garden shed is exciting.
But summer is not over yet. It’s still only early August, so there is time left to save the season.
Technically, fall doesn’t start until 6:05 pm on Tuesday September 20. Which is (writer counts on fingers, gets three different answers and gives up) somewhere between 40 and 50 days from now.
My aim is to fill that time with as much madcap fun as possible. There’s lots to pack in.
Golf would be nice. I’ve only managed to play twice so far this year. The first round wasn’t bad. The second round was absolutely dreadful. There’s no knowing what the third round might have in store. Although based on past experience, I’ve got a fairly good idea.
My wife and I will be going on a trip to Toronto to meet our brand new grandson in a couple of weeks. We’re very excited about that obviously. And I hear Canada’s largest city is lovely at this time of year. Plus my son in law knows a place where they sell the best sausage rolls I have ever had. I know a thing or two about sausage rolls, and have the waistline to prove it.
We’ve already had our annual road trip to Westlock for the Elvis festival. My wife is a big fan and I’m just a boy who can’t say no. And incidentally don’t make the same mistake I made; they’re tribute artists, not impersonators.
We’ve also had a very wet visit to Jasper which was nice, although the mountains are more impressive when you can actually see them. But there are other places, some of them quite close by, that might be worth a visit assuming they haven’t been washed away or stripped by caterpillars.
But my wife and I are simple folks. Our favourite summer pastime is to sit on our deck with a cold drink and maybe a few tunes. The deck faces south and if you stretch a bit and stand on your tippy toes you can almost see a park. For a long time the deck was the nicest part of our house. That changed a few months ago when a nice man came and renovated our bathroom. But we still prefer the deck for hanging out on, because there’s a little more elbow room.
And that’s it. That’s my plan to spend the final weeks of the best part of the year. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m excited to get on with it.
Blimey, I must be getting old.
Local rugby player Lucy Cropley has returned from the Canadian Rugby Championships where she played on Alberta’s U19 travelling team.
Teams from Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec all attended the event in Toronto that ran from July 20 to 26. Cropley was one of 26 players selected for the Alberta team in June this year.
Though the team didn’t excel at the tournament, Cropley says Albertans don’t have the same amount of time to prepare as some other provinces. This year, the team that headed to the championships was only formed at the end of June. Other provinces, such as Ontario, can have teams that are formed in February.
“It was a really good experience,” says Cropley. “They are definitely a bit harder to compete against because they have been practicing and have known each other for a lot longer.”
She says regardless of how they did at the tournament, she was grateful for the opportunity to play on the team.
Cropley has been playing rugby for five years, starting out with the Frank Maddock Warriors.
She says over the years there have been a lot of highs and lows with the sport. Sometimes she has felt discouraged if she hasn’t made a team, even wondering if it was something she still wanted to pursue.
“It’s definitely a sport where you just have to keep trying, keep showing up, and there will be an outcome [based] on how hard you try,” she says.
Cropley didn’t score a spot on Team Alberta on her first try. She says she’s been trying to get on the team for a couple of years, but with every setback she worked hard to learn the lessons that were there. Then, when she tried out for the U19 team, she got it on her first try, ensuring she can play on the team in 2027 as well.
During her time playing rugby, Cropley has played for several teams. During the spring she plays with the Warriors, but during the fall and winter the sport has to be played indoors. As there isn’t an indoor sports centre in Drayton Valley, Cropley plays on an Edmonton team during that time.
Rugby can be played with different numbers of players on the field. There are the sevens, where each team has seven players on the field, and then there are the fifteens. The type of rugby played follows a pattern, says Cropley. In the fall, there are more sevens tournaments, culminating in the Alberta Rugby Championships in January.
Cropley made it onto the Alberta sevens team last January and ended up playing at a tournament in Vancouver in March.
Heading into the spring, there are more games of fifteens played, which is what they played at the recent championships.
Cropley says one of the aspects of rugby that she really enjoys is the camaraderie between the players. She says that at the level she’s playing at, her teammates have a good understanding of the sport and they can work well together.
“It’s not so much about the sport that you’re involved with; it’s more about the community and the friendships and stuff like that,” she says.
Cropley says it’s great to meet people from different areas who have had different life experiences than she has.
From August 2 to 9, Cropley will be at the U18 Canada West Development Camp in Victoria, where she could be selected to play for the U18 Team Canada.
“It should be a really great experience,” says Cropley. “Even if I don’t end up making it further on from that, it’s still great to have that level of coaching, and hang out with the people that are there.”
Right now Cropley is taking a gap year between high school and college so she can upgrade some of her courses, but she is planning to pursue a rugby scholarship when she does go to post-secondary.
More than just a bald guy who likes cheeseburgers
I grew up in Glasgow in the high and far off time they called the 1970s. Back then I used to assume that everybody wished they were Scottish. It just made sense. We were the best at football, we had the coolest accents and we had the most interesting history. Later in life I discovered that actually, we were not the best at football after all. (Damn you Spain with your natural ability and team work!*) There are other places that have interesting history too. And regardless of what their accents sound like, most people do not wish they were Scottish. Generally speaking people are happy to be from, well, wherever it is they come from.
That’s almost universally true, except for a few days in the middle of February when an alarming number of folks like to pretend they’re Irish, in spite of the fact they aren’t.
But I digress.
Our sense of heritage is a funny thing. I’ve lived in Canada more than half of my life and in Drayton Valley for longer than I lived in Glasgow. This is undeniably my home and I’ve no desire to live anywhere else, even supposing I could find somewhere else that would have me. Life here has been good to me and in any case, if I wanted to leave town my wife wouldn’t let me.
Still, even after 40 years, being Scottish is a big part of who I am. But it’s complicated. These days I think of myself as Canadian first, Albertan second and Scottish, well, not third, but almost as a separate and unrelated part of my identity, like being bald or liking cheeseburgers.
When I had children of my own I felt it was important that they grew up feeling very definitely Canadian. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely wanted them to know about their Scottish heritage, which is something I’m very proud of. But they were born in Canada with a Canadian mother, Canadian aunts and uncles and Canadian cousins. The Scottish bit is there, of course, but from their mother’s family there’s some German and some Russian, along with a good slice of Prince Edward Islander and yes, there’s a little bit of Scottish from that side too.
Which I think made them typical Albertans. Their background was cobbled together from a very mixed bag of people who made their way to Western Canada going back for more than a century to their maternal great grandparents. I’ve always felt that our incredible blend of backgrounds is one of the things that makes this such a great place to live. There is strength in our diversity and we all bring some added flavour to our cultural mix. It’s why the prairies are dotted with Ukrainian churches. It’s why we have so many French place names and it’s why almost every small town in Alberta has a Chinese restaurant. It’s a unique and ever-changing blend, and it makes us who we are. Somehow, when we come together, we create something that is greater than the sum of its parts.
So this year on Heritage Day. I’ll be reflecting that being Scottish is great. But being Canadian is pretty cool too.
*Also Argentina, France, England, Morocco, Mexico, Japan, Senegal, Cape Verde …
The second partnership is with the Health Care Aide Academy, which provides training for jobs in healthcare. The academy has been in operation since 2013 with a campus in Red Deer. In its most recent graduating class, 19 out of 21 students had secured jobs upon graduation.
With Canada’s population steadily aging, job opportunities in health care are widely expected to continue to grow in the future.
What’s this World Cup I keep hearing about?
It’s the global festival of football that takes place every four years.
Football? I love football! Go Esks … sorry, I mean Go Elks!
Er, it’s not that kind of football. We’re talking about the game where you actually kick the ball with your foot. Not the game where you pick the ball up and run around a bit.
So when you say football you mean soccer. Stop being deliberately difficult.
OK, anyway, the World Cup is kicking off next month. It’s the world’s biggest sporting event and some of the action is taking place right here in Canada.
Right here?
Well, not right here. In Toronto and Vancouver.
Neither of those is anywhere near here.
Fair point. There are also games in cities in the United States and Mexico.
This is starting to sound familiar. Did Canada qualify?
As one of the host nations we get a free pass to the tournament, so Canada will be there without having to go through all the inconvenience of the qualifying rounds. Also in the mix are the usual big boys from the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Germany along with some places that aren’t traditional powerhouses like Haiti, Uzbekistan and England.
I see what you did there. What are our chances of winning?
The entire thing? Remote. But Canada did manage to get drawn in one of the easier groups for the round robin. We’ll be facing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland during the group phase. Those are decent teams, especially the Swiss, but none of them are unbeatable. And if we make it to the knockout rounds, anything can happen. Although, to be honest it usually doesn’t.
Any particular players to watch out for?
Alphonso Davies is probably Canada’s brightest star. In his day job he’s a regular starter for Bayern Munich so officially counts as being Quite Good at Football. And he grew up in Edmonton! So far so good, but he stretched the bejesus out of his hamstring (this may not be the correct medical term) in a match against Paris Saint-Germain May 6 and is expected to be out of action for several weeks.
Oh dear. And when is Canada’s first World Cup match?
We face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday June 12. So depending on your definition of “several weeks” Davies may or may not be able to play.
I can already feel the tension building. Any other drama to look out for?
Plenty. This will be the last World Cup for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of whom are getting on a bit and will be very keen to go out with a bang. Scotland, Austria and Norway are back in the competition for the first time since 1998. We’ll see the World Cup debut of a number of nations including the likes of Curacao (population 180,000 and land area of 444 square kilometres) which is the smallest country ever to make it to the finals.
And Iran have qualified and have games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
You have captured my imagination with your insights. I can’t believe I used to say there was nothing interesting in the paper. I will purchase a large flag and a novelty inflatable maple leaf prior to June 12. Is there anything else I’ll need to get the most out of the tournament?
Patience. The first game kicks off June 11, but the final isn’t until July 19, 102 games later. That is a lot of football.
Angela Patty and her family have lived in the Berrymoor area all her life, and she would like to see the Berrymoor Centre as busy as it was when she was younger.
“Berrymoor seems to have grown so much in the last while that we don’t even know who our neighbours are anymore,” says Patty.
She wanted a way to get to know the families in the area better, and since she has a love of reading, she felt encouraging youth to join a book club could be a good way to achieve that.
“I know there’s a lot of kids who are struggling in the schools and just in general with reading, and I want to bring excitement to the stories,” she says.
The Bookaneers have been meeting at the Berrymoor Centre every Thursday night from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for the past couple of months. Patty says the use of the hall was donated to them, courtesy of the 3Bs Board. The club has received book donations, and parents have been helping out by bringing healthy snacks, but the remaining costs come out of Patty’s pocket.
“It just makes me happy. I love seeing how excited the kids get with the books, and I’m very grateful that they’ve all really enjoyed the book choices that we’ve had so far,” she says.
Originally, the plan was to make it just a junior book club. However, it has become much more than that. Patty brought some of the toys her kids had used to the hall, and now they also have activities to participate in before they settle in to read.
“A lot of aunts, grandparents, and parents come, and then everyone just kind of gets to visit as well,” says Patty.
Though the book club is aimed at area residents, Patty says she wouldn’t turn away anyone who was willing to drive out to the club. The club is free to join, though donations are appreciated.
“We’re willing to expand and I can definitely get more parent volunteers to come out,” she says.
Currently, there are two groups reading two different books. The members get to choose which book they are more comfortable reading. The ages of the children are five to 13.
Patty says the children are always given the option to read aloud if they would like to, but she won’t ask them to because she wants them to feel comfortable.
“The last thing I want is for anyone leaving our group feeling discouraged,” she says.
Patty is also considering holding an adult book club in the future. She says she’s been putting feelers out to see if any parents would be interested.
Along with the book club, Patty also has a park play at the playground at the Berrymoor Centre every second Monday. She brings her son Atlas along for 5 p.m. and any kids are welcome to come out and join in.
“Whoever comes, great. Sometimes they don’t and sometimes they do,” she says. “I’m just trying to bring life to our little centre.”
On a bright sunny day in mid May of 1986 I landed at Calgary airport, ready to build a new life in the Great White North. I had a full head of hair, a heart full of dreams and a full set of teeth. The world lay at my feet.
A lot has happened in the intervening years, much of it varying degrees of awful. The hair has gone and so have a couple of the teeth, but I continue to plug away in pursuit of the Canadian Dream. Here’s the story of my four-decade Canadian Odyssey, conveniently broken down in number form because it’s easier to write that way and after 40 years I feel like I’m due a break.
40: Number of years I have lived in Canada. Depending on how you look at it, that’s 480 months, 2,080 weeks or a staggering 350,400 hours (plus a few extra because of leap years). No wonder I’m exhausted.
27: Number of those years spent in Drayton Valley.
<1: Number of years I anticipated spending in Drayton Valley when I first arrived. Every time I think I’m out they pull me back in.
618: Number of kilometres (round trip) I used to drive every second weekend to see my kids. That’s the equivalent of a little more than 3,072 furlongs if you’re interested in that sort of thing, which, now I come to think of it, you probably aren’t.
9: Number of provinces I have visited, assuming you count 30 minutes at a truck stop in Brandon as visiting Manitoba.
1: Number of provinces I have not visited. As far as I can tell Newfoundlanders are somehow managing to cope with the disappointment.
4: Number of times a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since I arrived.
36: Number of years since the last of those wins.
12: Number of times per year, on average, someone tells me they love my accent and asks what part of Ireland I’m from. I’m Scottish.
6.25 Hourly wage at my first Canadian job; picking up garbage at Foothills Stadium, which was then home to the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League. The Cannons were a great organization and the job was actually a lot of fun. Hauling bags of empty beer cups, sweeping up peanut shells and occasionally scraping nacho cheese off the bleachers for a Triple A ball team was also the closest I ever came to sporting achievement of any kind.
10, 3: Time in years and months I spent working at the Drayton Valley Western Review, making me the longest serving editor in the history of that publication.
6, 7: No, it’s not what you think. It’s the time I’ve spent in years and months working at the Drayton Valley and District Free Press, making me the longest serving editor in the history of this publication. What can I tell you? I don’t like change.
0: Number of times I have been voted Employee of the Month. Baffling.
12: What it used to cost, in dollars, to fill the tank of a 1977 Mercury Comet.
**!!%&!!: What that same tankful of gas costs today.
After fundraising for a year, the Beehive has been able to purchase a new van, which will help them to better accommodate their clients.
“It took a while,” says Lisa Dusterhoft, the executive director of the organization. “We kicked off the campaign in October of 2024. We were able to raise enough funds by November 2025.”
Because the van is a special order, once the Beehive received it, they also had to get it customized for their organization.
“It took six months for the vehicle to be ordered, delivered, and all the accessibility equipment to be installed,” she says.
The majority of the vehicle cost was covered by local businesses and organizations, says Dusterhoft. Along with the sponsorships, the Beehive was able to use money from the endowment fund they have with the Drayton Valley Community Foundation. They also plan to sell one of their existing fleet vehicles to cover the remainder of the costs.
Initially, the Beehive had a budget of $100,000 for the van. However, when they heard from MoveMobility, they were given an option for a ProMaster 3 van.
This new van came with a higher price tag of $155,000, but Dusterhoft says it was worth the extra money.
“[It] gives us a lot more flexibility,” she says. “This van actually can hold up to three wheelchairs at a time.”
Until recently, the Beehive wasn’t able to take in any more adults with disabilities who relied on wheelchairs because they didn’t have a vehicle that could accommodate them. With this new van, Dusterhoft says they will be able to expand on the number of wheelchair users they can work with.
The seats can also all be removed, making it easy for staff to adapt the van for whoever needs a ride.
Dusterhoft says getting a new van means more than transportation for their clients. It also means stability.
“It means that adults with disabilities in our organization are able to age in place,” she says.
In the past, clients with mobility issues have had to move to larger centres that had more accessible vehicles.
Currently, the Beehive has 37 clients. Dusterhoft says most of them don’t have mobility issues, and they’ve only had a couple of people who relied solely on wheelchairs in the past. However, they are at a point where many of their clients are relying on walkers and sometimes a wheelchair, so right now is the perfect time for a more accessible vehicle.
The Beehive owns three 24-hour group homes, as well as a supported independent living program. In the group homes, there is staff with them throughout the day. In independent living, the clients live on their own, and the staff come in to help them with different tasks as needed.
Dusterhoft says that while Drayton Valley is a small town, it’s not easily walkable for some individuals. Having a means of transportation for all the clients is a huge benefit.
The Beehive is hosting an open house on May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to showcase the new van to its donors, board, clients and members of the community.
Early May is a special time of year. The snow has gone. The birds are back. There’s finally a touch of summer in the air, but still no sign of wasps or mosquitoes.
Early May is also that quiet little interlude between the deadline to complete your federal tax return and the arrival of your municipal property tax bill, which usually lands on your doorstep with a thud some time around the middle of the month.
Now I’m not here to complain about taxes. I’m sure you’re quite capable of doing that yourself, without any prompting from me. Personally I’m not especially keen on forking over large wads of cash to our various levels of government, or to anybody else for that matter. Just ask my wife. But taxes matter if you place any value on things like roads and bridges. Or if you appreciate the services of the police, or nurses or firefighters. Nobody gets excited about having a functioning sewer, but try doing without one for a while and see how far that gets you.
Someone has to foot the bill for those things and those someones, dear reader, are me and you. Taxes are the price we pay for living in a world that, for the time being at least, isn’t a complete and utter crapfest. And for the most part it’s a price worth paying.
But it does feel like there’s something cruel about the timing. You finally get around to filing your federal taxes in April. You’re getting a refund! Hallelujah!! That refund arrives!!! You cry out with joy!!!! You’re about to invest in that bust of Elvis, handcrafted from a single piece of macaroni, that you’re had your eye on for so long!!!!! And then, just as you’re heading out the door clutching a wad of crumpled bills in your sweaty palm, your municipal tax bill arrives and you’re right back where you started.
One hand giveth and the other hand taketh away. Or, to put it another way, poop.
I suppose there are worse things in life than breaking even. There’s failing to break even, for one example. So if the federal refund and the municipal bill more or less cancel each other out, at least you’re no worse off than you were before the entire process began.
However, it’s undeniably a bit of a downer, and not a great way to start the nicest part of the year.
But it is what it is, and you didn’t get where you are today by complaining about things you can’t change. So you buckle down and write a cheque to the municipality of your choice. It’s OK if you swear a little, as long as you do it under your breath.
After that, you put macaroni Elvis on layaway and hope for better days ahead. If you have time, you can look for spare change under the couch cushions.
And then you wait until next year when you do it all over again.
Organizers for the Drayton Valley Pro Rodeo are happy to say this year was a success.
Gus Pietsch says tickets were sold out for Saturday, with both Friday and Sunday also close to capacity.
In total, they had about 3,600 spectators for the rodeo.
The Horses and Hooch dance, hosted by the Drayton Valley Lions Club, was also a hit, says Pietsch. Tickets for that event were also sold out.
“It was sensational,” says Pietsch. “It was good to see the rodeo celebrated the whole week. It really felt like the event was growing more than just the rodeo, which is good.”
There were events held all over the community, including barbecues, a parade, and a chilli cook-off.
He says the feedback from residents was positive, especially regarding the parade. Pietsch says there are already people who are eager to sign up for the parade next year.
This year the rodeo gave out $90,144.12 in winnings to the cowgirls and cowboys who participated. There were eight categories this year, each with its own winner.
The winner for bareback riding was Ty Taypotat who took first place with 89 points on Duffy Rodeo’s 901 Miss Demeanor. Chase Tkach earned the win for steer wrestling with a time of 3.5 seconds. In team roping, Tate Schmidt and Kagen Schmidt took first place with a time of 3.6 seconds. Kole Ashbacher scored 87 points on Duffy Rodeo’s 37 Mojo Nixon in saddle bronc riding, earning himself first place. For tie-down roping, Jason Smith held first place with 8.4 seconds. Taylor-Jane Gardner won in the ladies barrel racing with a time of 13.34 seconds. Shaya Biever earned top spot for her time of two seconds in breakaway roping.
“Health Care continues to be a burgeoning field of growth and we see this as an “in demand” profession for many years to come”, said Health Care Aide Academy President, Dan Cavanagh. “It is very exciting to be part of that growth in Drayton Valley and area. The Health Care Aide Academy is looking forward to training top quality health care aides that will be job ready and in demand.”
What’s this World Cup I keep hearing about?
It’s the global festival of football that takes place every four years.
Football? I love football! Go Esks … sorry, I mean Go Elks!
Er, it’s not that kind of football. We’re talking about the game where you actually kick the ball with your foot. Not the game where you pick the ball up and run around a bit.
So when you say football you mean soccer. Stop being deliberately difficult.
OK, anyway, the World Cup is kicking off next month. It’s the world’s biggest sporting event and some of the action is taking place right here in Canada.
Right here?
Well, not right here. In Toronto and Vancouver.
Neither of those is anywhere near here.
Fair point. There are also games in cities in the United States and Mexico.
This is starting to sound familiar. Did Canada qualify?
As one of the host nations we get a free pass to the tournament, so Canada will be there without having to go through all the inconvenience of the qualifying rounds. Also in the mix are the usual big boys from the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Germany along with some places that aren’t traditional powerhouses like Haiti, Uzbekistan and England.
I see what you did there. What are our chances of winning?
The entire thing? Remote. But Canada did manage to get drawn in one of the easier groups for the round robin. We’ll be facing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland during the group phase. Those are decent teams, especially the Swiss, but none of them are unbeatable. And if we make it to the knockout rounds, anything can happen. Although, to be honest it usually doesn’t.
Any particular players to watch out for?
Alphonso Davies is probably Canada’s brightest star. In his day job he’s a regular starter for Bayern Munich so officially counts as being Quite Good at Football. And he grew up in Edmonton! So far so good, but he stretched the bejesus out of his hamstring (this may not be the correct medical term) in a match against Paris Saint-Germain May 6 and is expected to be out of action for several weeks.
Oh dear. And when is Canada’s first World Cup match?
We face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday June 12. So depending on your definition of “several weeks” Davies may or may not be able to play.
I can already feel the tension building. Any other drama to look out for?
Plenty. This will be the last World Cup for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of whom are getting on a bit and will be very keen to go out with a bang. Scotland, Austria and Norway are back in the competition for the first time since 1998. We’ll see the World Cup debut of a number of nations including the likes of Curacao (population 180,000 and land area of 444 square kilometres) which is the smallest country ever to make it to the finals.
And Iran have qualified and have games in Los Angeles and Seattle.
You have captured my imagination with your insights. I can’t believe I used to say there was nothing interesting in the paper. I will purchase a large flag and a novelty inflatable maple leaf prior to June 12. Is there anything else I’ll need to get the most out of the tournament?
Patience. The first game kicks off June 11, but the final isn’t until July 19, 102 games later. That is a lot of football.
Angela Patty and her family have lived in the Berrymoor area all her life, and she would like to see the Berrymoor Centre as busy as it was when she was younger.
“Berrymoor seems to have grown so much in the last while that we don’t even know who our neighbours are anymore,” says Patty.
She wanted a way to get to know the families in the area better, and since she has a love of reading, she felt encouraging youth to join a book club could be a good way to achieve that.
“I know there’s a lot of kids who are struggling in the schools and just in general with reading, and I want to bring excitement to the stories,” she says.
The Bookaneers have been meeting at the Berrymoor Centre every Thursday night from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for the past couple of months. Patty says the use of the hall was donated to them, courtesy of the 3Bs Board. The club has received book donations, and parents have been helping out by bringing healthy snacks, but the remaining costs come out of Patty’s pocket.
“It just makes me happy. I love seeing how excited the kids get with the books, and I’m very grateful that they’ve all really enjoyed the book choices that we’ve had so far,” she says.
Originally, the plan was to make it just a junior book club. However, it has become much more than that. Patty brought some of the toys her kids had used to the hall, and now they also have activities to participate in before they settle in to read.
“A lot of aunts, grandparents, and parents come, and then everyone just kind of gets to visit as well,” says Patty.
Though the book club is aimed at area residents, Patty says she wouldn’t turn away anyone who was willing to drive out to the club. The club is free to join, though donations are appreciated.
“We’re willing to expand and I can definitely get more parent volunteers to come out,” she says.
Currently, there are two groups reading two different books. The members get to choose which book they are more comfortable reading. The ages of the children are five to 13.
Patty says the children are always given the option to read aloud if they would like to, but she won’t ask them to because she wants them to feel comfortable.
“The last thing I want is for anyone leaving our group feeling discouraged,” she says.
Patty is also considering holding an adult book club in the future. She says she’s been putting feelers out to see if any parents would be interested.
Along with the book club, Patty also has a park play at the playground at the Berrymoor Centre every second Monday. She brings her son Atlas along for 5 p.m. and any kids are welcome to come out and join in.
“Whoever comes, great. Sometimes they don’t and sometimes they do,” she says. “I’m just trying to bring life to our little centre.”
On a bright sunny day in mid May of 1986 I landed at Calgary airport, ready to build a new life in the Great White North. I had a full head of hair, a heart full of dreams and a full set of teeth. The world lay at my feet.
A lot has happened in the intervening years, much of it varying degrees of awful. The hair has gone and so have a couple of the teeth, but I continue to plug away in pursuit of the Canadian Dream. Here’s the story of my four-decade Canadian Odyssey, conveniently broken down in number form because it’s easier to write that way and after 40 years I feel like I’m due a break.
40: Number of years I have lived in Canada. Depending on how you look at it, that’s 480 months, 2,080 weeks or a staggering 350,400 hours (plus a few extra because of leap years). No wonder I’m exhausted.
27: Number of those years spent in Drayton Valley.
<1: Number of years I anticipated spending in Drayton Valley when I first arrived. Every time I think I’m out they pull me back in.
618: Number of kilometres (round trip) I used to drive every second weekend to see my kids. That’s the equivalent of a little more than 3,072 furlongs if you’re interested in that sort of thing, which, now I come to think of it, you probably aren’t.
9: Number of provinces I have visited, assuming you count 30 minutes at a truck stop in Brandon as visiting Manitoba.
1: Number of provinces I have not visited. As far as I can tell Newfoundlanders are somehow managing to cope with the disappointment.
4: Number of times a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since I arrived.
36: Number of years since the last of those wins.
12: Number of times per year, on average, someone tells me they love my accent and asks what part of Ireland I’m from. I’m Scottish.
6.25 Hourly wage at my first Canadian job; picking up garbage at Foothills Stadium, which was then home to the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League. The Cannons were a great organization and the job was actually a lot of fun. Hauling bags of empty beer cups, sweeping up peanut shells and occasionally scraping nacho cheese off the bleachers for a Triple A ball team was also the closest I ever came to sporting achievement of any kind.
10, 3: Time in years and months I spent working at the Drayton Valley Western Review, making me the longest serving editor in the history of that publication.
6, 7: No, it’s not what you think. It’s the time I’ve spent in years and months working at the Drayton Valley and District Free Press, making me the longest serving editor in the history of this publication. What can I tell you? I don’t like change.
0: Number of times I have been voted Employee of the Month. Baffling.
12: What it used to cost, in dollars, to fill the tank of a 1977 Mercury Comet.
**!!%&!!: What that same tankful of gas costs today.
After fundraising for a year, the Beehive has been able to purchase a new van, which will help them to better accommodate their clients.
“It took a while,” says Lisa Dusterhoft, the executive director of the organization. “We kicked off the campaign in October of 2024. We were able to raise enough funds by November 2025.”
Because the van is a special order, once the Beehive received it, they also had to get it customized for their organization.
“It took six months for the vehicle to be ordered, delivered, and all the accessibility equipment to be installed,” she says.
The majority of the vehicle cost was covered by local businesses and organizations, says Dusterhoft. Along with the sponsorships, the Beehive was able to use money from the endowment fund they have with the Drayton Valley Community Foundation. They also plan to sell one of their existing fleet vehicles to cover the remainder of the costs.
Initially, the Beehive had a budget of $100,000 for the van. However, when they heard from MoveMobility, they were given an option for a ProMaster 3 van.
This new van came with a higher price tag of $155,000, but Dusterhoft says it was worth the extra money.
“[It] gives us a lot more flexibility,” she says. “This van actually can hold up to three wheelchairs at a time.”
Until recently, the Beehive wasn’t able to take in any more adults with disabilities who relied on wheelchairs because they didn’t have a vehicle that could accommodate them. With this new van, Dusterhoft says they will be able to expand on the number of wheelchair users they can work with.
The seats can also all be removed, making it easy for staff to adapt the van for whoever needs a ride.
Dusterhoft says getting a new van means more than transportation for their clients. It also means stability.
“It means that adults with disabilities in our organization are able to age in place,” she says.
In the past, clients with mobility issues have had to move to larger centres that had more accessible vehicles.
Currently, the Beehive has 37 clients. Dusterhoft says most of them don’t have mobility issues, and they’ve only had a couple of people who relied solely on wheelchairs in the past. However, they are at a point where many of their clients are relying on walkers and sometimes a wheelchair, so right now is the perfect time for a more accessible vehicle.
The Beehive owns three 24-hour group homes, as well as a supported independent living program. In the group homes, there is staff with them throughout the day. In independent living, the clients live on their own, and the staff come in to help them with different tasks as needed.
Dusterhoft says that while Drayton Valley is a small town, it’s not easily walkable for some individuals. Having a means of transportation for all the clients is a huge benefit.
The Beehive is hosting an open house on May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to showcase the new van to its donors, board, clients and members of the community.
Early May is a special time of year. The snow has gone. The birds are back. There’s finally a touch of summer in the air, but still no sign of wasps or mosquitoes.
Early May is also that quiet little interlude between the deadline to complete your federal tax return and the arrival of your municipal property tax bill, which usually lands on your doorstep with a thud some time around the middle of the month.
Now I’m not here to complain about taxes. I’m sure you’re quite capable of doing that yourself, without any prompting from me. Personally I’m not especially keen on forking over large wads of cash to our various levels of government, or to anybody else for that matter. Just ask my wife. But taxes matter if you place any value on things like roads and bridges. Or if you appreciate the services of the police, or nurses or firefighters. Nobody gets excited about having a functioning sewer, but try doing without one for a while and see how far that gets you.
Someone has to foot the bill for those things and those someones, dear reader, are me and you. Taxes are the price we pay for living in a world that, for the time being at least, isn’t a complete and utter crapfest. And for the most part it’s a price worth paying.
But it does feel like there’s something cruel about the timing. You finally get around to filing your federal taxes in April. You’re getting a refund! Hallelujah!! That refund arrives!!! You cry out with joy!!!! You’re about to invest in that bust of Elvis, handcrafted from a single piece of macaroni, that you’re had your eye on for so long!!!!! And then, just as you’re heading out the door clutching a wad of crumpled bills in your sweaty palm, your municipal tax bill arrives and you’re right back where you started.
One hand giveth and the other hand taketh away. Or, to put it another way, poop.
I suppose there are worse things in life than breaking even. There’s failing to break even, for one example. So if the federal refund and the municipal bill more or less cancel each other out, at least you’re no worse off than you were before the entire process began.
However, it’s undeniably a bit of a downer, and not a great way to start the nicest part of the year.
But it is what it is, and you didn’t get where you are today by complaining about things you can’t change. So you buckle down and write a cheque to the municipality of your choice. It’s OK if you swear a little, as long as you do it under your breath.
After that, you put macaroni Elvis on layaway and hope for better days ahead. If you have time, you can look for spare change under the couch cushions.
And then you wait until next year when you do it all over again.
Organizers for the Drayton Valley Pro Rodeo are happy to say this year was a success.
Gus Pietsch says tickets were sold out for Saturday, with both Friday and Sunday also close to capacity.
In total, they had about 3,600 spectators for the rodeo.
The Horses and Hooch dance, hosted by the Drayton Valley Lions Club, was also a hit, says Pietsch. Tickets for that event were also sold out.
“It was sensational,” says Pietsch. “It was good to see the rodeo celebrated the whole week. It really felt like the event was growing more than just the rodeo, which is good.”
There were events held all over the community, including barbecues, a parade, and a chilli cook-off.
He says the feedback from residents was positive, especially regarding the parade. Pietsch says there are already people who are eager to sign up for the parade next year.
This year the rodeo gave out $90,144.12 in winnings to the cowgirls and cowboys who participated. There were eight categories this year, each with its own winner.
The winner for bareback riding was Ty Taypotat who took first place with 89 points on Duffy Rodeo’s 901 Miss Demeanor. Chase Tkach earned the win for steer wrestling with a time of 3.5 seconds. In team roping, Tate Schmidt and Kagen Schmidt took first place with a time of 3.6 seconds. Kole Ashbacher scored 87 points on Duffy Rodeo’s 37 Mojo Nixon in saddle bronc riding, earning himself first place. For tie-down roping, Jason Smith held first place with 8.4 seconds. Taylor-Jane Gardner won in the ladies barrel racing with a time of 13.34 seconds. Shaya Biever earned top spot for her time of two seconds in breakaway roping.
Partnership grows local trades opportunities
Drayton Valley is one of a handful of municipalities that are partnering with Northern Lakes College to bring a Mobile Trades Unit to the community.
I have seen the future and it’s slightly disappointing
I come from a generation that thought the microwave oven was the pinnacle of human achievement. And as for the fax machine? Oh, Lordy, what a time to be alive!
Local ballplayer moving up
Local baseball player, Caedyn Colford, has recently started his summer baseball season playing in front of thousands of Edmonton Riverhawks fans.
Interesting times in Alberta
Here we go then. In October we’ll be heading to the polls to vote on the future of this province with respect to its role in Canada.
Sort of.
