Investigation into the discovery of an improvised explosive device (IED) found in Entwistle is now being investigated by the RCMP’s Serious Crimes Branch.
The IED, initially described as a suspicious package, was reported to police about 9 a.m. last Friday, April 8. The area of 50 Street and 45 Avenue, south of the Esso gas station was cordoned off for several hours while the RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit and local firefighters and peace officers attended the scene. The package was later confirmed to be an IED by RCMP Forensic Identification Services.
A second report later the same day suggested that another suspicious package had been found by security working for Trans Mountain Pipeline in the area of Range Road 43 and Township Road about 15 kilometers from Entwistle. That was later determined not to be an IED and to be unrelated to the Entwistle incident.
Last Monday, the new Drayton Valley Medical Clinic held its grand opening, welcoming two new doctors and staff to the facility.
Mina Bolos, the co-owner of IDA Malone Pharmacy, says he and co-owner Heidi Nasrallah funded the new clinic on their own in the hopes of helping residents get a local GP and to give the other community GPs a bit of a reprieve from their heavy workload.
Bolos and Nasrallah’s pharmacy started out at the previous Malone Clinic. When that clinic was shut down, they moved to their new location on 50th Street three years ago. It wasn’t long before they decided to work on building another clinic in the community.
“Everybody strives to get a doctor here,” says Bolos. “Through the communications and connections and everything, we’ve got two doctors.”
Dr. Nosakhare Ologbosere, who goes by Dr. Nosa, started at the clinic on June 1, while Dr. Samuel Nelson started out on July 20.
Bolos says they started working on the idea about eight months ago, but it was challenging to get a doctor to come to the community. He says he and his partner love to serve the community, and he was happy to find Nelson and Ologbosere willing to relocate to do the same.
Brazeau County Reeve Bart Guyon and Deputy Mayor Brandon Boehm, along with many of the councillors, were present for the event, offering a placard and gifts to welcome the doctors.
“You guys aren’t just needed, you’re wanted,” said Guyon. “People are going to be lined up to sign up to get a doctor.”
“You’ve gone through the work, you’ve brought some doctors into town, which I know has been a challenge, specifically in this town for the last few years,” said Boehm. “We want to thank you for doing that.”
Both Nelson and Ologbosere say they are happy to be in Drayton Valley and they plan to stick around.
“Since we’ve been here, we’ve met the community, and they have been very, very lovely,” says Ologbosere. “It’s been a pleasure working here, and we have the best team.”
The most wonderful time of the year
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! It’s summertime and the living is easy, just like the song says. August is on the horizon, and what better way to kick off the last full month before the onset of autumn than with a long weekend? All weekends are good. But long weekends are the best weekends of all. They are the Rolls Royce of weekends. And the long weekend that’s coming up at the end of next week could not have come at a better time. I’m sure we could all use a break after a month in which we discovered that the only thing duller than people going on and on about the World Cup was people going on and on about how bored they were with other people going on and on about the World Cup.
Heritage Day is just about here and soon all across this great province of ours Albertans will begin diligently packing their holiday trailers while positively trembling with excitement in anticipation of three days off.
Sunscreen? Check. Marshmallows? Check. Mattresses? Check. Blankets? Check. Microwave? Check? Kitchen sink? Check.
What’s that? You’re not keen on the thought of cramming more than half of your worldly goods and chattels into a large tin can and dragging it a few miles behind a half ton so you can spend a couple of days eating charred wieners while fighting off mosquitoes and the occasional ravening coyote? Gentle reader, you are not alone. Camping looks like fun, but it involves a lot more sweating and grunting in real life then they ever show you on TV.
For me the real joy of a summer weekend does not involve lining up at a dump station for several hours to empty three days worth of poo and pee from my trailer’s holding tank at the end of things; especially when some of that poo and pee probably isn’t even mine. For me the real pleasure of a long weekend is watching everyone else head off to the wilderness and then pretty much having the whole place to myself until the neighbours begin to straggle back, covered in bug bites and missing a shoe, on Monday afternoon. It’s not that I have anything against other people. It’s just that I like them better when they’re not around.
So, three days with the place to yourself. It’s a chance to wander around in your underwear belching and scratching your backside without a care in the world, although I should point out that the Free Press does not actually endorse or encourage either of those activities. But think of the peace and quiet. It’s a little slice of paradise and a fantabulous way to kick off the best month of the year. And it’s coming up in not much more than a week.
Oh August how I love your sultry ways. Come on now, who’s ready for thirty one glorious days of sun fuelled torpor? Me, that’s who. And you are too if there’s any sense about you.
An empty nest is bittersweet
The term empty nester has been around for about 110 years and is used to describe the lonely feeling parents have when their children grow up and leave the house.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years thinking about what it would be like to be on my own. I have never lived by myself. When I was a single mom, there were definitely moments when it felt that way, but most of my choices were made with my children in mind. I didn’t feel free to just do whatever I wanted.
Having been a parent since I turned 20, I always kind of dreamed about what it would be like once my kids were grown. I would only have to clean up after myself. I didn’t have to listen to YouTubers screaming about video games anymore or listen to Ariana Grande’s voice in Sam and Cat.
No more parent-teacher interviews. No more non-urgent emergencies that I have to drop everything and attend to just in case. No more refereeing and enduring my children’s consequences when their electronics were taken away.
I love my children more than anything else, but I have to say, it honestly sounded fantastic.
Well, that day has come, and I’m afraid all the hobbies that I have developed in preparation for this day might not be enough.
There was a point when my kids were little and my parents lived a flight away, and sometimes they would go stay with my parents for a few weeks. I would be excited to clean their rooms and put everything away. After it was cleaned, I would close the door because it was weird to see the room so clean.
I imagine it’s going to be like that again. I will keep myself occupied, of course. I still have my work, I still have my dogs, and I have friends and family that I will spend time with. It will just be weird to come home and not be able to interact with another person.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m comfortable being by myself, and sometimes I really need it to recover from having my time occupied with social events. It’s my way of recharging my battery.
I also know that people who avoid any socialization have a 30-60 percent higher chance of developing dementia. So as much as spending time with others can exhaust me, it’s a matter of health and well-being.
But let’s be clear.. I’m not only spending time with people so that I don’t have cognitive issues in the future. I really enjoy spending time with the people I love, and I’m often excited to do so. I just need some recovery.
With the kids gone, every day will be my recovery period, and I think I’m going to be spending more time out and about just to get that fix. Getting that human interaction will be very important for me health wise and for my sanity.
I think I’m going to have to change my perspective on the term empty-nester. It’s not necessarily something to dread or be sad about. It’s an opportunity to create a unique, peaceful space that you can rest in after a day of spreading your wings and learning who you are in this next part of your life.
Town CAO looks ahead
The new CAO for Drayton Valley brings with him experience in a municipal leadership role. He also brings many years of military experience to the position.
Troy Grant was appointed CAO at a special council meeting held on July 8. On a municipal level, Grant worked at Sturgeon County as the General Manager of Public Services.
During his time with the military, Grant earned the Canadian Forces’ Decoration for his years of service.
He originally started at the Town in March 2026, acting as the Town Services Manager. Getting a promotion this early on was not something he had anticipated.
“I didn’t come to the town anticipating becoming anything more than the general manager of town services,” says Grant.
Now that he has stepped into the new role, Grant says he’s excited to work with the staff he’s come to know.
“This is an opportunity that lends itself nicely to my classic training through the military… I’m super excited about it.”
One of the skills needed for the position of CAO is leadership, which is something he developed as a logistics officer in the military. Grant was responsible for organizing supply chains, personnel, finances, and transportation to ensure Canadian troops around the world had what they needed to operate smoothly.
“The CAO ultimately needs to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their team and then employ those things with reinforcing those strengths and weaknesses to achieve the objectives that council and the people of Drayton Valley need,” says Grant. “That’s exactly what army leaders do.”
One of the first things Grant wants to handle is the Town’s organizational chart, with the goal of making it more clear to staff, council, and the public. Council will also have the opportunity to give feedback, says Grant, because he plans to run it by them before making it official.
He says he’s really enjoyed working with council over the past few months.
“Our current council is so open to innovation and creativity,” says Grant. “I think something we all need to wrap our heads around is that we have a new council. They’ve been in place for less than a year, but they’ve already demonstrated flexibility of thought, creativity, and aggressive policy changes.”
Another project that they have been working on is reviewing the way they handle contracting. Grant says he wants to be sure that it’s being done properly and is beneficial to the community, rather than costly or a hindrance.
At the end of the day, this position is about service for Grant, which is something he’s proud of.
“I’m fundamentally a service guy. I’m about serving people; serving Canadians. My whole career has been that. I guess for me, it’s the next chapter in service to Canadians, so I’m excited about that,” says Grant.
Another area that excites him is “moving the yardsticks progressively” for Drayton Valley.
“Being part of figuring out the path forward in a meaningful way, in a leadership way, with this council and the team that we have,” he says.
He says he would like the municipality to be seen as a place where people want to work. Where they are respected and know that the work they do matters.
One of the questions council had for Grant was how long he imagined he could stay in his role as CAO. Given the turnover of the past ten years, one of their concerns was the stability of the role.
Grant says he plans to stick around as long as they will have him. He will eventually retire, though, and he says he will be putting together a succession plan with the hope that the next CAO can come fully qualified from in-house.
“It’s a real privilege to be able to support the town and become the leader of a team that I already believe in,” he says.
Carol Vowk, the chair of the board for the Drayton Valley Community Health Foundation, said when they first heard about the opportunity for the eSIM lab, they were in the middle of a project for a room in palliative care. She said the foundation decided to table the idea, keeping it in mind for the future once they had completed the renovations.
However, when the Town initiated the Grow Your Own program, they decided to go for it.
“The future came upon us really, really quickly,” said Vowk.
While they were planning for the eSIM lab, they completed their renovations for the palliative care room. The space now includes a wheelchair accessible shower, which they didn’t have previously.
“We can accomplish great things when our community comes together,” said Vowk.
Following the speeches and ribbon cutting, attendees were able to watch a demonstration of the lab put on by RN students and hospital staff.
These are a few of my favourite things
What do I like? Thanks for asking. I like loads of things.
I like beer. I like wine, especially if there’s some fresh bread and a nice piece of cheese to go with it. I like playing golf. I like holidays somewhere sunny.
One feature those things have in common is that they cost a bit. So one of the things I like the most is money, because it makes all the other stuff possible.
And this ought to be a good time for folks like me, because as of now (yes, right now) the provincial government is giving a $100 energy rebate to each and every Albertan who meets some fairly loose criteria. I tick all the boxes. You probably do too.
Over 18 (check)
Alberta resident (check)
Filed taxes in 2025 (check)
Annual income less than $225,000 (you’re kidding, right?)
So far so good. But that’s the easy part. You have to have one of those MyAlberta online accounts to apply. I do have an account, but I have no idea whatsoever what the password might be. And as for my user name? Well, if I could remember stuff like that I’d probably be working in a circus somewhere as Mysterio the Memory-Man. On top of that, so far there have been reports of a number of hiccups in the application process, so that things are neither tickety nor boo. I mean, I can probably figure something out, but it starts to feel like quite a lot of work for not much reward.
Now I don’t want to complain about free money. Because free money is the best kind of money there is. Back when I was a lad you could feed a family of eleven on steak and lobster every day for a week on a hundred bucks and still have enough left to buy a small airline.
But those days are gone. It feels like $100 doesn’t go that far these days, because it doesn’t. Just yesterday I filled up with gas (we have a fairly small car) and then bought a couple of bottles of wine and bam! Just like that, 200 bucks gone. So that was the rebate for my wife and I taken care of before it even hit our bank account.
Don’t get me wrong. Getting an extra hundred bucks is a lot better than not getting an extra hundred bucks. And it’s orders of magnitude better than, for example, losing a hundred bucks. Still, as cash bonanzas go, this one feels like a bit of an anticlimax. You cannot make $100 into a huge pile and roll around in it naked. And if you try you’ll probably look pretty stupid.
This is all a bit of a downer, but hope springs eternal. And happily there are things that I like that don’t cost money. Things like sitting on the deck in the sunshine or going for a walk, both of which I have already done today.
Perhaps I should focus on things like that for the next little while. At least until I can remember that damn password.
Donation leads to arena upgrades
Change is on the way to Drayton Valley’s arena.
The facility, which was rebranded as the Team Auctions Centre last year, will see upgrades valued at $1 million thanks to a contribution from an anonymous donor.
In recognition of the funding, the Total Works Gym will be renamed as the Thunder High Performance Centre.
Changes within the building will see the installation of new safety glass around the main ice surface and the addition of a four-panel digital video board. Additional upgrades will include drillable net pegs to improve safety and Alberta Junior Hockey League standards compliance, removal of side netting to enhance sight lines and improve the fan experience, an upgraded camera system to support game presentation and broadcasting and replacement dasher boards, coordinated alongside planned board repairs.
The upgrades were announced last week in a joint statement from the Drayton Valley Thunder, the Town of Drayton Valley and the Drayton Valley Community Foundation.
“The Team Auction Centre is where our community comes together,” said Kevin Young, President of the Thunder. “This project reflects what we can accomplish through partnership. These upgrades will create better opportunities for our athletes and fans and a stronger experience for everyone who walks through these doors.”
Mayor Nancy Dodds said that the $1 million contribution, along with the renaming of the gym, would leave a lasting legacy in the community.
“The much-needed upgrades to the facility will not only enhance opportunities for residents and visitors, but also strengthen a space that brings our community together. We are incredibly proud to stand alongside the Drayton Valley Thunder and the Drayton Community Foundation in recognizing this transformative moment.”
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University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine | Tele-Rehab 2.0. Is seeking research advisory participants to support virtual healthcare in rural Alberta
Police thanked members of the community for their patience while the investigation was ongoing.
“The dedication to public safety and quick reporting by our community citizens and partners lead to early investigative actions by the Evansburg RCMP and Parkland RCMP,” said Constable Patrick Lambert of RCMP media relations in a press release.
No further details are currently available
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.
The bobblehead game
Ah the 90’s. It’s hard not to get sentimental about that decade. We were on the cusp of computer technology and many things we did were still analog including camping overnight to get concert tickets.
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.
