Drayton Valley now has additional continuing care beds, offering Alberta Health Services’ highest level of supportive living.
The 12 new Supportive Living Level 4 (SL4) beds are located in the Seasons Retirement Community on 47 Street. They are designed for people with more complex medical needs that are predictable and can be safely managed. That includes instances where an individual may require chronic disease management and assistance with some daily activities.
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Seasons expects to open 12 more SL4 beds in Drayton Valley over the next several months.
“This is a great benefit for Drayton Valley,” said MLA Mark Smith in a media release. “Residents can be confident that they, or their loved ones, will be provided a high level of supportive living care right here in the community.”
SL4 beds were first introduced to the community last summer, when Seasons transitioned 16 beds in Drayton Valley. The decision to offer this higher level of care was made following a thorough review, and consideration of current and future needs of the community.
“I’m proud of the work we’re doing to increase choices and options for seniors,” said Lori Sparrow, AHS Senior Operating Officer, Seniors Health, Central Zone. “Providing more Albertans the opportunity to age in place, in familiar surroundings near family and loved ones, is an important cornerstone of enhancing care in the community.”
Once all new beds are added, Drayton Valley will have 40 SL4 beds. The aim is to ensure residents continue to receive the appropriate level of care while staying in the community as their needs change.
It seems that those pushing for Alberta independence have enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. That put me in mind of something I wrote a few years ago that I think still holds water.
If Alberta’s going to ditch the rest of Canada we need to set a few rules. This is going to take a while, so it’s best to start talking about it now so we know where we stand if and when it comes to a vote.
First we have to figure out what an Albertan actually is.
There used to be a guy who lived down the street from me who had a bumper sticker that said, “Canadian by birth, Albertan by the grace of God.” It always struck me as a little odd. That was partly because it was on the rear bumper of the first Toyota Prius I’d ever seen with a gun rack. But it’s also because I’ve lived in this province for well over three decades, and I’ve never been able to figure out what makes an Albertan an Albertan.
OK, so an Albertan is someone who comes from Alberta. That’s according to no less a source than the Oxford Canadian Dictionary so I’m not about to start arguing. But the results of the most recent federal census suggest that’s a pretty broad group. If the number and variety of languages spoken in this province is any kind of a guide, Albertans come from all over the place, both within Canada and from every corner of the globe.
That’s true of other places too of course. Places like London and New York are breathtaking in their diversity. What makes Alberta different is that everything here is so new. We’ve been a province for not much more than a century and have evolved so rapidly in such a short time, with so many waves of immigration from so many parts of the world that it sometimes feels as if we’ve never developed a separate sense of ourselves. At least not in the way you’d find among the societies of Africa, Asia or Europe, or even in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia or Quebec.
So what do we have that binds such a broad group together and sets us apart from the rest of the country? There’s the Flames and the Oilers I suppose. And beef. We like beef and are justifiably proud of both the quality and quantity this province produces. I think it’s also fair to say that we work hard. Not me, obviously, but most of the rest of you. And perhaps most importantly right now, there’s a sense of frustration that we always end up with a federal government that most of us didn’t vote for. But even at the last election, when dislike of Ottawa was probably at its peak, more than a third of us voted either Liberal or NDP and a significant number of us didn’t vote at all. So things are not as black and white as they may appear.
Anyway, as far as things that set us apart from the folks in Toronto or Tuktoyaktuk, that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong. I love this province and I love the people who live here (most of you anyway) but it doesn’t feel like we’ve got much to build a country on. Albertans are good people and we have a lot to offer the world. But at the same time we’re an odd and interesting mixture that doesn’t seem quite sure of its own identity. Sort of like a Prius with a gun rack.
The Eleanor Pickup Arts Centre will be hosting the Yellowhead Regional One-Act Plays Festival on April 10 and 11 this year.
Ashley Luckwell, the chair of the board for River Valley Players, says the regional festival will have five performances this year. Cast and crew from Leduc, St. Albert, Devon, Beaumont, and Drayton Valley will be participating in the event.
“There are five different groups from the Yellowhead Region that are coming,” she says.
Luckwell says the event is being put on by the Alberta Drama Festival Association (AFDA). This festival is one of several that are occurring across the province, with the winners from each heading on to the provincial festival in Leduc in May this year.
“We’re really excited to have it here,” says Luckwell. “It’s great to show off the EPAC; it’s great to have them come into our community.”
The festival will take place over two days, with each of the plays lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to about 45 minutes. RVP members Leah Sanderson, Sarah Chapman, Katherine De Varennes, and Jan Wright will be performing their play Overtones on Friday night.
Luckwell says the play is one she directed and was written by Alice Gerstenberg in the early 1900s. It was first performed in 1915 at the Bandox Theatre in New York.
The play highlights the difference between what people say and what they are actually thinking. Two of the actors will be playing characters having a conversation, and two younger actors will be playing a younger version of themselves giving voice to the first two character’s inner thoughts.
The other plays will be Steven Goes to Japan to Run a Marathon, Crystal Blue Persuasion, The Crimson Cab Ladies Hit the Beach, and Don’t Mention Hollywood.
Luckwell says there has been lots of support from local businesses for this event, with some giving discounts on food and others sponsoring the festival as well.
“It’s been really great,” she says.
Tickets for the event will be for sale at the doors for $15. Luckwell says cash is preferred as it is not the EPAC that will be taking the funds, but rather volunteers for the AFDA.
Valley Dental
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- HOURS: Mon–Fri: 8:30AM – 4:30 pm Sat - Sun: Closed
- CALL: 1-780-514-7359
- LOCATION: 5205 Power Center Blvd #108,Drayton Valley, AB T7A 0A5
Beyond the “Spray and Pray”: Smarter talent acquisition in Brazeau County
Hiring a new employee is tough. And it’s a big investment for a small business. You’re not alone in thinking that casting the broadest net on the newest digital platform is somehow supposed to help. It’s easy to do and you’ll get a response.
Fewer candidates of better quality
But what if digital isn’t the way to go? What if hitching your wagon to your local newspaper nets you a smaller pool of more qualified applicants? Would you try it?
As owner/operator you probably don’t have an HR department. Your time equals money and taking on additional administrative tasks feels like a waste of both of those precious commodities.
Lets explore two options:
Option 1. Plaster your job posting on every free job site on the internet and pray that you happen to get a qualified candidate who lives in Drayton Valley/Brazeau County, or wants to relocate, who also hasn’t fudged their resume, who happens to have references that you know and can vet, and who wants to start working when you need them which was… yesterday.
This is the spray and pray method. Go broad or go home. It gives the illusion of efficiency but does it actually save you time and money?
Or….
Option 2. Work with the Drayton Valley and District Free Press to create a targeted employment ad or a package at a price point that works for you. Our ads use the power of hyper local geo targeting to catch the eyes of actual qualified locals; people who already live here, who have references and a work history you can verify, and who are ready to start working.
What are your true costs
Now; let’s analyze the true costs of each recruitment method
Option 1. This option is seemingly free and efficient but what you “save” in upfront costs you waste on the back end. Time is money and you’re wasting both by wading through a pile of ineligible candidates and fly-by-night applicants who don’t even know where Drayton Valley is.
If you find a possible candidate you may discover their resume was a sham and they aren’t actually qualified to do the work. And those references they used? Yeah…when you’re firing them a month later you’ll discover that the “amazing” firm they worked for before was actually buddy’s uncle Ed sitting in the garage drinking a beer waiting to take your call and willing to say anything you needed to hear to hire his nephew.
If it turns out their references check out and they are qualified for the job, another roadblock presents itself; they live miles and miles and miles away and won’t be able to start for at least a month if not two.
Nothing sinks a small business faster than not hiring the right people for the right job, right now! Here is where a scattergun approach gets you into trouble and costs you big time down the road.
However when you advertise in your local community newspaper… Option 2.
You pay a small amount up front, but you get applicants with references you can verify; this is a small town after all. Forget that guy from Texas who submitted a resume on a whim.
You also target people who already live here and you get print digital integration with QR and interactive clicks on your ad. Option 2 gets you pulling from a pool of candidates who are likely educated in the local industries and who know this community. That’s good for you and your business.
Here come the cobra chickens
Doomscrolling is a terrible habit for sure, and it’s one that I’m guilty of from time to time. It mostly depends on my mood, energy levels, and whether I have to sit and wait for an extended period of time.
The videos that have captured my imagination the last little while are the ones where content creators from other countries react to all things Canadian. That means everything from trying ketchup chips to seeing some of the worst ice storms the Maritimes have experienced.
Some of my favourites are the ones about wildlife. It’s entertaining to listen to the narrator speak about how big a moose is for fifteen seconds while they show a five-second clip of a moose, then five of an elk, and five more seconds of several white tail deer bounding into the distance. No one will ever know which one is the moose.
Another favourite of mine is videos of the Cobra Chicken, or for those of you who don’t speak to teenagers on a regular basis, the Canadian Goose.
The moniker Cobra Chicken is a little odd, but I guess it’s because they’re a big bird with long necks. Thus parts of them look like cobras and the rest looks like chickens.
In any case, anyone who has ever been near a goose in the spring knows they aren’t birds to be messed with. These birds can weigh up to 12 pounds and can reach speeds of 80 km/h on a normal day. With tailwinds, they can reach speeds of 112 km/h or higher.
Last April, a group of college students in Waterloo, Ontario, had to get creative with entering and exiting their house when a pair of geese decided their front yard was the best place for their nest. For several weeks they had to be very careful about when and how they entered their house because they could be attacked.
Of course, calls to any groups who could help with the situation were no help. The Canadian Goose is a protected species, so people aren’t allowed to touch them or their nests, cause injury, or kill the birds.
While the videos are always good for a laugh, people can get seriously injured. Many of the injuries happen as people try to run away from the birds, but a downstroke from a goose can hit like a fist and leave you with some nasty injuries.
I’m saying all of this because the season of the cobra chicken is coming soon. We do have some geese that feel this area is a good place to bring up their goslings. It’s a good time to tell kids that geese shouldn’t be messed with and to start paying attention when we’re walking near any ponds.
I would hate to be the main character in one of the YouTube videos people come across while doomscrolling. I feel like that would be far less entertaining for me, though I’m sure it would give others a good laugh.
First funding for replacement school
Plans to build a replacement for Drayton Valley’s St. Anthony School took a step forward last week.
St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division (STAR Catholic) received planning funding from the Government of Alberta to support the future replacement of the school.
The Province will pay $50,000 in value-scoping funding. The school division says the funding will support early planning to ensure readiness for a potential new school build. That includes conducting an initial investigation to confirm project readiness, identify key priorities, and ensure essential planning components are in place.
“This is very encouraging news for our division and for the St. Anthony School community,” said STAR Catholic board chair Henry Effon. “This funding reflects the board’s continued commitment to advocating for our students and allows us to take an important step forward in preparing for a much-needed new school.”
The replacement of St. Anthony School is identified as the number one priority in the STAR Catholic capital plan. Superintendent Laurie Cardinal said the division was grateful for the support received from the province.
“This further strengthens the step in supporting the high-quality learning experience students in Drayton Valley already enjoy,” she said.
The current school dates back to the 1960s and has an enrolment of about 430. The building last had a major renovation in the 1990s.
“We are excited to increase our capacity for care,” said Nicole Almost, Senior Regional Director, Resident and Guest Services, Seasons Retirement Communities. “We have continued to see the demand for this level of care rise, and this allows us to support even more residents and help keep more people in their local community.”
It seems that those pushing for Alberta independence have enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. That put me in mind of something I wrote a few years ago that I think still holds water.
If Alberta’s going to ditch the rest of Canada we need to set a few rules. This is going to take a while, so it’s best to start talking about it now so we know where we stand if and when it comes to a vote.
First we have to figure out what an Albertan actually is.
There used to be a guy who lived down the street from me who had a bumper sticker that said, “Canadian by birth, Albertan by the grace of God.” It always struck me as a little odd. That was partly because it was on the rear bumper of the first Toyota Prius I’d ever seen with a gun rack. But it’s also because I’ve lived in this province for well over three decades, and I’ve never been able to figure out what makes an Albertan an Albertan.
OK, so an Albertan is someone who comes from Alberta. That’s according to no less a source than the Oxford Canadian Dictionary so I’m not about to start arguing. But the results of the most recent federal census suggest that’s a pretty broad group. If the number and variety of languages spoken in this province is any kind of a guide, Albertans come from all over the place, both within Canada and from every corner of the globe.
That’s true of other places too of course. Places like London and New York are breathtaking in their diversity. What makes Alberta different is that everything here is so new. We’ve been a province for not much more than a century and have evolved so rapidly in such a short time, with so many waves of immigration from so many parts of the world that it sometimes feels as if we’ve never developed a separate sense of ourselves. At least not in the way you’d find among the societies of Africa, Asia or Europe, or even in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia or Quebec.
So what do we have that binds such a broad group together and sets us apart from the rest of the country? There’s the Flames and the Oilers I suppose. And beef. We like beef and are justifiably proud of both the quality and quantity this province produces. I think it’s also fair to say that we work hard. Not me, obviously, but most of the rest of you. And perhaps most importantly right now, there’s a sense of frustration that we always end up with a federal government that most of us didn’t vote for. But even at the last election, when dislike of Ottawa was probably at its peak, more than a third of us voted either Liberal or NDP and a significant number of us didn’t vote at all. So things are not as black and white as they may appear.
Anyway, as far as things that set us apart from the folks in Toronto or Tuktoyaktuk, that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong. I love this province and I love the people who live here (most of you anyway) but it doesn’t feel like we’ve got much to build a country on. Albertans are good people and we have a lot to offer the world. But at the same time we’re an odd and interesting mixture that doesn’t seem quite sure of its own identity. Sort of like a Prius with a gun rack.
The Eleanor Pickup Arts Centre will be hosting the Yellowhead Regional One-Act Plays Festival on April 10 and 11 this year.
Ashley Luckwell, the chair of the board for River Valley Players, says the regional festival will have five performances this year. Cast and crew from Leduc, St. Albert, Devon, Beaumont, and Drayton Valley will be participating in the event.
“There are five different groups from the Yellowhead Region that are coming,” she says.
Luckwell says the event is being put on by the Alberta Drama Festival Association (AFDA). This festival is one of several that are occurring across the province, with the winners from each heading on to the provincial festival in Leduc in May this year.
“We’re really excited to have it here,” says Luckwell. “It’s great to show off the EPAC; it’s great to have them come into our community.”
The festival will take place over two days, with each of the plays lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to about 45 minutes. RVP members Leah Sanderson, Sarah Chapman, Katherine De Varennes, and Jan Wright will be performing their play Overtones on Friday night.
Luckwell says the play is one she directed and was written by Alice Gerstenberg in the early 1900s. It was first performed in 1915 at the Bandox Theatre in New York.
The play highlights the difference between what people say and what they are actually thinking. Two of the actors will be playing characters having a conversation, and two younger actors will be playing a younger version of themselves giving voice to the first two character’s inner thoughts.
The other plays will be Steven Goes to Japan to Run a Marathon, Crystal Blue Persuasion, The Crimson Cab Ladies Hit the Beach, and Don’t Mention Hollywood.
Luckwell says there has been lots of support from local businesses for this event, with some giving discounts on food and others sponsoring the festival as well.
“It’s been really great,” she says.
Tickets for the event will be for sale at the doors for $15. Luckwell says cash is preferred as it is not the EPAC that will be taking the funds, but rather volunteers for the AFDA.
Add Your Heading Text Here
- HOURS: Mon–Fri: 8:30AM – 4:30 pm Sat - Sun: Closed
- CALL: 1-780-514-7359
- LOCATION: 5205 Power Center Blvd #108,Drayton Valley, AB T7A 0A5
Hiring a new employee is tough. And it’s a big investment for a small business. You’re not alone in thinking that casting the broadest net on the newest digital platform is somehow supposed to help. It’s easy to do and you’ll get a response.
Fewer candidates of better quality
But what if digital isn’t the way to go? What if hitching your wagon to your local newspaper nets you a smaller pool of more qualified applicants? Would you try it?
As owner/operator you probably don’t have an HR department. Your time equals money and taking on additional administrative tasks feels like a waste of both of those precious commodities.
Lets explore two options:
Option 1. Plaster your job posting on every free job site on the internet and pray that you happen to get a qualified candidate who lives in Drayton Valley/Brazeau County, or wants to relocate, who also hasn’t fudged their resume, who happens to have references that you know and can vet, and who wants to start working when you need them which was… yesterday.
This is the spray and pray method. Go broad or go home. It gives the illusion of efficiency but does it actually save you time and money?
Or….
Option 2. Work with the Drayton Valley and District Free Press to create a targeted employment ad or a package at a price point that works for you. Our ads use the power of hyper local geo targeting to catch the eyes of actual qualified locals; people who already live here, who have references and a work history you can verify, and who are ready to start working.
What are your true costs
Now; let’s analyze the true costs of each recruitment method
Option 1. This option is seemingly free and efficient but what you “save” in upfront costs you waste on the back end. Time is money and you’re wasting both by wading through a pile of ineligible candidates and fly-by-night applicants who don’t even know where Drayton Valley is.
If you find a possible candidate you may discover their resume was a sham and they aren’t actually qualified to do the work. And those references they used? Yeah…when you’re firing them a month later you’ll discover that the “amazing” firm they worked for before was actually buddy’s uncle Ed sitting in the garage drinking a beer waiting to take your call and willing to say anything you needed to hear to hire his nephew.
If it turns out their references check out and they are qualified for the job, another roadblock presents itself; they live miles and miles and miles away and won’t be able to start for at least a month if not two.
Nothing sinks a small business faster than not hiring the right people for the right job, right now! Here is where a scattergun approach gets you into trouble and costs you big time down the road.
However when you advertise in your local community newspaper… Option 2.
You pay a small amount up front, but you get applicants with references you can verify; this is a small town after all. Forget that guy from Texas who submitted a resume on a whim.
You also target people who already live here and you get print digital integration with QR and interactive clicks on your ad. Option 2 gets you pulling from a pool of candidates who are likely educated in the local industries and who know this community. That’s good for you and your business.
Doomscrolling is a terrible habit for sure, and it’s one that I’m guilty of from time to time. It mostly depends on my mood, energy levels, and whether I have to sit and wait for an extended period of time.
The videos that have captured my imagination the last little while are the ones where content creators from other countries react to all things Canadian. That means everything from trying ketchup chips to seeing some of the worst ice storms the Maritimes have experienced.
Some of my favourites are the ones about wildlife. It’s entertaining to listen to the narrator speak about how big a moose is for fifteen seconds while they show a five-second clip of a moose, then five of an elk, and five more seconds of several white tail deer bounding into the distance. No one will ever know which one is the moose.
Another favourite of mine is videos of the Cobra Chicken, or for those of you who don’t speak to teenagers on a regular basis, the Canadian Goose.
The moniker Cobra Chicken is a little odd, but I guess it’s because they’re a big bird with long necks. Thus parts of them look like cobras and the rest looks like chickens.
In any case, anyone who has ever been near a goose in the spring knows they aren’t birds to be messed with. These birds can weigh up to 12 pounds and can reach speeds of 80 km/h on a normal day. With tailwinds, they can reach speeds of 112 km/h or higher.
Last April, a group of college students in Waterloo, Ontario, had to get creative with entering and exiting their house when a pair of geese decided their front yard was the best place for their nest. For several weeks they had to be very careful about when and how they entered their house because they could be attacked.
Of course, calls to any groups who could help with the situation were no help. The Canadian Goose is a protected species, so people aren’t allowed to touch them or their nests, cause injury, or kill the birds.
While the videos are always good for a laugh, people can get seriously injured. Many of the injuries happen as people try to run away from the birds, but a downstroke from a goose can hit like a fist and leave you with some nasty injuries.
I’m saying all of this because the season of the cobra chicken is coming soon. We do have some geese that feel this area is a good place to bring up their goslings. It’s a good time to tell kids that geese shouldn’t be messed with and to start paying attention when we’re walking near any ponds.
I would hate to be the main character in one of the YouTube videos people come across while doomscrolling. I feel like that would be far less entertaining for me, though I’m sure it would give others a good laugh.
Plans to build a replacement for Drayton Valley’s St. Anthony School took a step forward last week.
St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division (STAR Catholic) received planning funding from the Government of Alberta to support the future replacement of the school.
The Province will pay $50,000 in value-scoping funding. The school division says the funding will support early planning to ensure readiness for a potential new school build. That includes conducting an initial investigation to confirm project readiness, identify key priorities, and ensure essential planning components are in place.
“This is very encouraging news for our division and for the St. Anthony School community,” said STAR Catholic board chair Henry Effon. “This funding reflects the board’s continued commitment to advocating for our students and allows us to take an important step forward in preparing for a much-needed new school.”
The replacement of St. Anthony School is identified as the number one priority in the STAR Catholic capital plan. Superintendent Laurie Cardinal said the division was grateful for the support received from the province.
“This further strengthens the step in supporting the high-quality learning experience students in Drayton Valley already enjoy,” she said.
The current school dates back to the 1960s and has an enrolment of about 430. The building last had a major renovation in the 1990s.
Am I worried? Actually, yes
Looking forward to a nice relaxing summer? Not so fast. As we (finally!) approach the nice bit of 2026, I thought it would be useful to put together a list of the things I am currently worried about. And if I’m going to worry about them, so should you.
Quilters support All Are Daughters
The Hearts and Hands Quilters’ Guild did more than just draw winners for their annual quilt raffle last week. They also presented 14 quilts to All Are Daughters
Spring Shaker sells out
Opportunity Home’s first Spring Shaker was a success, says executive director Danna Cropley.
“The event sold out within the first few weeks,” says Cropley. “Beyond that, the event went absolutely amazingly.”
Kiss me I’m Albertan
It seems that those pushing for Alberta independence have enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. That put me in mind of something
