Corey Peebles wants to lead Drayton Valley forward over the next four years, and believes he has the vision to do so. Last week the two-term councillor announced that he’ll be running for mayor in the October municipal election.
Peebles moved to Drayton Valley as a child in the mid-1990s. He was first elected to council in 2010 and served for three years. He didn’t run in 2013 but returned and began his second term in 2017. After serving as a youth pastor for several years Peebles opened his first business in 2014. He is now co-owner of three gyms, including one in Drayton Valley.
After living in the community for 25 years he says he’s seen the town at both its “highest highs” and its “lowest lows.” Through it all Peebles remains a self-described optimist. As restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic ease he’s keen to talk about what the coming years hold for the community.
“I think the future is looking great in Drayton Valley again,” he says, citing returning strength in our traditional industries, along with a gradual diversification of the local economy. Peebles says he’ll always support the oil and gas industry, which has long provided the foundation of the local economy. He’d like to see the expertise garnered from oil and gas used to diversify and attract new industry to the area. That includes opportunities from the manufacturing sector rather than just the production of raw materials.
“We have so many trades in this community, and so many jobs can come out of value-added,” he says.
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.”
The evening had a dance, a catered dinner, and silent auction items to help raise funds for the rehabilitation centre. Cropley says it wouldn’t have been possible without the volunteers who helped put the event together. About 230 people attended.
“Jen Winter, Janice Kupsch, and their crew organized the event. The room was full of energy and community; it was so great,” says Cropley.
One of the reasons for the event, along with raising funds to help run the facility, was to educate the public about what the facility does and how it helps those in need. Opportunity Home opened its doors in February 2023, and has seen numerous people complete the 90-day program during its three years of operation.
Earlier in the week, Cropley also spoke to town council with the same goal in mind.
“Because the council is fairly new… we just wanted to update them on Opportunity Home’s mission, vision, and values, [as well] as the value our project brings, not only to the municipality but also our provincial community and out to our country.”
Cropley says the facility has offered beds to people from across the province, British Columbia, and some from the United States. She says she wanted council to see the reach that they have now and how they are supporting Recovery Alberta’s response to the current opioid crisis.
In her presentation to council, Cropley touched on the community, social, and economic value the centre brought to the community. This included the volunteer work the clients provided, homelessness and poverty prevention, as well as reducing taxpayer costs for emergency, health, and justice services.
She says community investment is a crucial part of the success of the centre, not in terms of dollars, but in terms of interest from the community, volunteers, and feedback.
“I just really wanted to make sure that town council was aware of who we are and what we do,” says Cropley.
Opportunity Home is hosting another event on June 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. that is open to the public: a memorial tree planting ceremony, along with a barbecue and tour of the facility. Cropley says they will also have different resources and services at the event for people to connect with if needed.
She says the tree-planting ceremony will be in honour of some community members who have recently passed away. Members of the public are welcome to donate to plant a tree in memory of someone they have lost.
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 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.
Drayton to host regional one act plays
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.
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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.
That increased economic strength is part of a broader vision which would see Drayton Valley continue to grow as people from other parts of the province learn the benefits of living in a small community that boasts good amenities and is relatively close to both an international airport and a major highway system, while having easy access to the kind of recreational activities found in and around this area.
“Here you can get 25 percent more house for 25 percent less money than in the city. We’ve got two brand new schools, the pool’s being built. There’s the pump track,” he says. “We’re creating the recipe for a community that is so great and so strong.”
An important piece of the puzzle is to get the message about what Drayton Valley has to offer out to the rest of the province and beyond. That means finding a way to let others know about the strengths of the community and the quality of life available here.
The devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi left shockwaves around the world, and one local resident knew she had to step up to help with relief efforts.
Before Kalmaegi hit Thailand and Vietnam in the beginning of November 2025, it ran through the central provinces of the Philippines, where it was known as Typhoon Tino. Several provinces were hit hard, but the most damage was in the Cebu province, where Marve Walwal grew up.
According to GMA Integrated News, 150 of the 269 recorded deaths in the Philippines were in Cebu. Walwal says her hometown, San Isidro, Talisay City, was only a 20-minute walk from one of the hardest hit areas in Cebu.
When Walwal heard about the effects of the typhoon, she had already had a trip planned to visit her father toward the end of November.
“At first, I was just collecting bottles and clothes to help a little bit,” says Walwal.
Then her boss suggested she reach out to the Drayton Valley Community Foundation about their crisis relief grant. After applying through the Drayton Valley Multicultural Association, Walwal was granted $10,000 to offer aid to those affected by the typhoon. She also partnered with the Cebu chapter of the UNIFIED Inglewood Association, which is a Filipino teacher association based in California, United States, to secure the grant.
Walwal says Inglewood was already involved in relief efforts after a 6.9 earthquake hit only a month before the typhoon.
Because Tino had hit so close to home, some of Walwal’s childhood friends and acquaintances were affected. She also had the benefit of connections with people who worked in the local government for the area.
“Most people in the town office are mostly my childhood friends,” says Walwal.
While she was down there from November 28 to December 18, Walwal did her best to ensure the funds went directly to those in need to avoid any corruption. The only organizations involved were the multicultural association and UNIFIED Inglewood, and the relief efforts provided by the funding are still underway in Cebu.
Walwal started at the relief centre in her hometown, bringing the donated goods with her and inquiring about how she could help. She says they chose to help those who were at the relief centre because those individuals did not have family or other support they could go to for help.
“We made a list,” says Walwal. “We needed some utensils, medication, this and that. We were able to help at least 250 people at the time.”
She says there were a lot of volunteers at the centre, and she had brought together several volunteers and family members to help her with her own efforts to help. Knowing the patrons at the relief centre were being looked after, she decided to look for areas where she could be more effective.
“Then I met some people who said the government hadn’t gone to their place because it’s a remote area,” says Walwal. “[They were in] an area where no vehicles can go there …and they don’t have transportation to go there.”
Across the Philippines, more than 600,000 homes were damaged, with 75,000 needing to be replaced. Walwal’s father encouraged her to build homes, but she knew they were limited to how many they could build. They had to carefully consider which families they could help out.
She says they plan to build six homes for families in remote areas. They already have contractors who have stepped up to the task and are volunteering their time. All Walwal has to do is provide the supplies.
Since Walwal is back in Canada, the UNIFIED Inglewood Association is acting on her behalf in Cebu. As the housing projects come up, Walwal is sending them money to cover the costs of roofing materials, lumber, and other items necessary for building a home.
While she’s confident she will be able to help some families, Walwal says she’s paying attention to the costs of goods. Once the rebuilds start on a larger scale across the province, the prices of some commodities will rise due to demand, and it may impact the number of homes she can build.
Though her trip home was tempered by the damage caused by Tino, Walwal says she still enjoyed reconnecting with friends and loved ones. She says there were moments that showed the resilience of the people in her hometown.
“They are already devastated, but children still play there as if nothing [had happened],” says Walwal. “They are resilient.”
Anyone who is interested in donating funds to help with the relief efforts can reach out to the Drayton Valley Multicultural Association at 780-514-5249
I am grateful that I don’t have to be grateful for something every single day.
Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t have to find something to be thankful for on a day when my car breaks down on the way to work, I find out I forgot to send off that one cheque, and my child tells me at about 8:30 p.m. that they need two dozen home made cupcakes for the next morning.
Gratitude is something we all need to practice more often, but the current trend of journaling about the many things you appreciate each day can be toxic. I mean, honestly, how many times can you be sincerely grateful for that first sip of coffee every morning?
To use a word my dad always used when I was little, people are putting a little too much em-PHAS-is on the wrong thing.
A rote practice of gratitude journaling can lead to something called toxic positivity. This is a condition in which people feel it’s so important to be positive that they ignore their negative emotions and don’t process them.
A good example of this trait is Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. This is a woman who at first appears to be a kind older woman who loves cats way too much. But as we get to know the character, we see that all of her cheerfulness and positive attitude are a cover up for her anger and racism.
The movie Inside Out also demonstrates this point as we see the character Joy, who also deals with toxic positivity, try to suppress Sadness because she believes Riley should always be happy. The main conflict in the movie is Riley’s struggle with accepting and processing the negative emotions that are a normal part of life.
We even have an idiom for this kind of situation. Someone who is looking at a situation through rose-coloured glasses is indeed seeing all the positives in a situation, but they are also overlooking important details that they don’t want to accept. Sometimes, a car is a lemon, and the salesperson’s fumbling attempts at flirting are just a scheme to get you to let your guard down.
Scientifically, studies have been done showing the benefits of gratitude journals. It can reduce stress, help with sleep, reduce anxiety and depression, and do numerous other things. However, those achievements are only successful when the person genuinely feels the gratitude.
Imagine coming home after a long weekend away to two feet of fresh snow on your driveway and six inches of compacted snow on your front sidewalk. You are tired, cold, and looking forward to getting into your favourite pair of pyjamas, but when you get to your front door, you see a ticket for failing to clear your sidewalks.
The argument for gratitude could be something like, at least I have a sidewalk and driveway to shovel, or this is a great opportunity for me to try out my new snowblower. However, another healthy way to look at the situation is saying, well this sucks, and I’m not happy about this.
Another commonly used idiom is everything in moderation. The same goes for gratitude. Yes, you should be grateful for many of the things in your life, and if you feel like your life is lacking, you should look at what you do have. At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge and feel the negative things.
Go forth, dear reader, and allow yourself to feel the anger. The next time your coworker steals your pop out of the fridge, I encourage you to drop an f-bomb and express yourself. You’ll feel much better.
Last year was a busy one for the Drayton Valley Healthcare Auxiliary.
Doreen Beckett, the president and manager of the Drayton Valley Healthcare Auxiliary Thrift Store, says they raise funds for the Drayton Valley Hospital, the Serenity House, and the Breton Extended Care facility. Last year, they spent several hundred thousand to support those spaces.
The organization, which raises funds through sales at the Thrift Store and at the gift shop in the Drayton Valley Hospital, was able to donate $180,000 to the renovation of the palliative care room, $70,000 to the eSIM lab, while also purchasing an ICG machine, an ultrasound machine, replaced windows, replaced furniture, and more in the last year.
Along with practical donations, the Auxiliary also spent money on Christmas decorations to help keep spirits high.
Beckett says in the past, the facilities would provide the Auxiliary with a wish list of items they wanted, and the organization would put funds towards those projects or equipment. Today, they receive information packets about different projects and from there they choose how to spend their funds.
“We have purchased a lot of things last year,” says Beckett.
While they spent a lot of money in 2025, it isn’t always easy for them to raise the funds in the first place. The Thrift Store relies on donations from the public as well as the sales to the public. However, over the years, they’ve had to adjust the times they’ve had to make changes to what donations they will accept and what conditions those donations need to be in, as well.
“It’s been good since we put the gate on,” says Beckett. “We cannot go without having the gate closed.”
She says volunteers have to go through every donation they receive to make sure it is fit to be sold. In many cases, people have donated items they believe still have some use or use the drop-off as a place to save some money rather than going to the dump.
“It’s cheaper to dump it there than it is to take it to the dump,” says Beckett.
With the gate up, Beckett says donors have to wait until someone is present to accept the items. At that point, the volunteers can turn some of the items away. If unwanted donations are left, then the Auxiliary has to cover the cost of the dump fees to get rid of them.
After taking a break over the holidays, the thrift store opened again on January 6. Their hours for drop off are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with shopping hours running from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. On Thursdays, the drop off starts at 7:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. with the store opening from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
That’s just about a wrap for 2025. With the end in sight, it’s time to look back and reflect on the good and bad of the last 12 months.
Starting at the top, it was a mixed year for Justin Trudeau. On one hand he was able to step aside as prime minister without being chased by an angry mob. On the other hand, he had to go on a date with Katy Perry, which was something nobody wanted to see.
It was a bad year for Katy Perry.
In other celebrity news, Taylor Swift took time off from counting her enormous pile of money to get engaged to a man in a ridiculous hat.
We said goodbye to Robert Redford, Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, Jane Goodall, Gene Hackman, Connie Francis, Jimmy Swaggart and a host of other people of varying degrees of fame or notoriety, but who are no doubt missed by those who loved them
Pierre Poilievre probably wishes he could have a do over of the last 12 months. Back in January he seemed all set to be next Top Canadian. A couple of months later he had the look of someone who’s woken up to find his dog had left a little surprise in his favourite underwear and then run off with the next door neighbour.
Meanwhile Mark Carney spent much of 2025 with the look of a man who’d unexpectedly found fifty bucks in the pocket of an old suit and was wondering if he should tell his wife or keep it to himself.
In sports, the Blue Jays came this close (I am holding my thumb and forefinger about a centimetre apart) to winning the World Series, but then didn’t. It was fun while it lasted though.
It was a huge year, spectacular really, very very spectacular, probably the best year ever, for tariffs and the people who like them.
But it was a dreadful year for the man formerly known as His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleigh who I think we’re now supposed to refer to as plain old Andy W.
Closer to home, the municipal elections brought some new faces to town and county councils. The new people are still feeling their way in, so we’ll have more of a sense of how things are going to shape up from a municipal perspective in a few months.
The Omniplex got a new mural on the outside wall and a new name too. It is now called the Team Auctions Centre, for those of you who like to keep track of that sort of thing. I intend to continue to call it the Omniplex, because I am too old and stuck in my ways to change. Incidentally, I noticed a while back that you can tell how long someone has lived in Drayton Valley by what they call the store now known as Your Independent Grocer. To me, it will always be Extra Foods, while some of my friends still call it Blocks. Keeping up with the times? Not us. No sireee. We’ll leave that to the young folks.
And that’s your lot. Or at least it’s all I have room for. Thanks for sticking with us through the year that’s (almost) gone by.
There will be no Free Press next week, because of Christmas. We’ll be back, bleary eyed and wondering where we left our car keys, on January 1 of a whole new year!.
See you in 2026.
Psst….this is just a sample of what we have in the full Free Press.
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Hamper requests at the Drayton Valley Food Bank have increased this year, but not at the same rate as last year.
Phil Bell, the treasurer for the board, says that along with the increase in hamper requests, there have also been more in-kind donations.
“[Drayton Valley] is a very generous community,” he says. “It continues to amaze us.”
Bell says last year there was a 50 percent bump in people, but this year the increase was roughly 10 percent, or about 200 family units.
“Last year was probably the biggest increase we’ve ever experienced,” he says.
Over the past 13 years, the most significant increases in usage were in 2015, when the number of hampers jumped up to 948. By 2016, they had doubled the number of hampers they gave out in 2012 and were sitting at 1,262. For the next seven years, the hampers didn’t increase significantly, and even dropped in 2020.
In 2023, the number of hampers spiked to more than 1,600, and in 2024, that number increased to 2,479. The projected total for 2025 is 2,750 hampers.
“We are seeing more working people coming as well,” says Bell. “To me that’s a sign that people are just struggling to make it.”
Only two percent of users have indicated they are unsheltered. Another four percent have given no information. The remainder of the users are from other counties (three percent), Brazeau County (26 percent), and Drayton Valley (65 percent).
The reason for the slowdown isn’t clear, says Bell. He’s not sure if the inflation rate is affecting things or if last year the bulk of the people needing help came forward.
Even though they did see an increase, Bell says this year they haven’t had to cut their hamper sizes, which further goes to show the generosity of the community. They’ve also been able to give out more seasonal items this year because some companies and individuals have given large donations. Hams, chocolates, and Christmas oranges were some of the items that were donated.
“We were able to supplement all the hampers with those items, which was nice to be able to give to people this time of year,” says Bell.
In order to ensure they can still continue to supply hampers to those that need them, Bell says they have been working to get their Foodbanks Canada accreditation.
“That’s kind of a heavy lift for us to be able to get these standards in place so that we can maintain our membership under Food Banks Alberta, which is under Food Banks Canada,” says Bell.
The accreditation will help the food bank with federal grants as well as the allotment that it gets from Food Banks Alberta. Every year, the food bank pays $150 for a membership with Food Banks Alberta, and in return they get between 3,000 and 4,000 lb of food every month.
“They only charge us $100 to get the food out here,” says Bell. “That’s a refrigerated truck, so we have access to frozen stuff.”
Because of the significance of the allotments, Bell says they are working hard to meet the requirements set forth. He says Drayton Valley is expected to continue to grow, and with that growth could come a higher demand for services, but he’s confident that the community will continue to step up to help those who need it.
Anyone looking to make a donation to the food bank can visit www.draytonvalleyfoodbank.ca/donate.
One of the Crown-given rights of Canadians is the right to complain ad nauseam about anything that mildly irritates them. All Canadians exercise this right at some point or another to varying degrees.
Today, I wish to express my… dissatisfaction with a number of complainers. That does indeed make me a complainer, but as we’ve already covered, this is my Crown-given right.
The motto of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is Maintiens le Droit, or in English, Uphold the Right.
While the words themselves may have differing meanings for officers, for many it’s a summary of their core values: take responsibility, show respect, serve with excellence, demonstrate compassion, and act with integrity. The motto can serve as a reminder of why they joined the RCMP.
Though the RCMP mandate is about dealing with crime, their motto could be interpreted as giving guidance for how they do their job. While their main task involves fighting crime, it’s rarely as black and white as people believe.
Anyone who has read the RCMP Report can see that a large portion of the calls they get aren’t about busting criminals. In a lot of cases, the RCMP play the role of referee, mentor, therapist, chauffeur, confidant, supervisor, financial advisor, and many, many others.
I’m going to preempt this next part with a disclaimer — while most RCMP officers exemplify the mandate and motto, there are some who do not, which is no different from any other industry, group, or organization out there.
Many people have two interchangeable perceptions of the RCMP.
The first perception stems from a need. We have been robbed; we need the police to come help us.
The second is activated when being caught. I broke the law, and those jerks are going to punish me for it.
It seems strange to me that some people can be angry with the RCMP for “always failing” to do their job and then be equally angry at them for succeeding at their job.
“People are driving unsafely! Where are the cops when you need them?”
“Wait, what? I just got pulled over for speeding? That other guy was going way faster; this jerk just thinks he’s important and wants to push someone around.”
I have seen people complain about cops wasting their time parked in high-traffic areas often frequented by dangerous drivers. Those same people are up in arms when there isn’t an officer present to crack down on the bad drivers.
On the odd occasion that someone happens to notice an officer has done their job, there is little praise. Instead, the most common response is something along the lines of, “Does he want a cookie every time he does his job?”
I am of the opinion that some of the people who are screaming the loudest about the cops are the ones who have had negative interactions with them. That could look like being disrespectful or aggressive to an officer. Or it could look like breaking the law and getting caught.
In any case, the double standard of many of the complaints is both mind-boggling and somewhat entertaining. The concept of “do your job unless it involves me” speaks to a high level of entitlement. And for the most part, those who are spewing vitriol about the work the RCMP do are saying more about their own character than anything else.
“We need to work on marketing to showcase the Drayton Valley you and I know exists,” he says. “I see a strong and diversified town that still has a real sense of community.”
Peebles says he believes Drayton Valley is looking for a mayor who will lead, rather than simply govern. For him that means listening to what people say and always having the best interests of the community at heart. He says it’s important for the mayor and council to understand the needs and wants of their residents and to make sure that their values align with the values of the community as a whole.
“The community needs to win. Not the mayor, not the council. The community needs to win,” he says.
“If we facilitate ideas that resonate with the community, that’s where we’re going to do some great things.”
Peebles joins Councillor Nancy Dodds in the race to become Drayton Valley’s next mayor. Election day is Oct. 18.
The devastation caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi left shockwaves around the world, and one local resident knew she had to step up to help with relief efforts.
Before Kalmaegi hit Thailand and Vietnam in the beginning of November 2025, it ran through the central provinces of the Philippines, where it was known as Typhoon Tino. Several provinces were hit hard, but the most damage was in the Cebu province, where Marve Walwal grew up.
According to GMA Integrated News, 150 of the 269 recorded deaths in the Philippines were in Cebu. Walwal says her hometown, San Isidro, Talisay City, was only a 20-minute walk from one of the hardest hit areas in Cebu.
When Walwal heard about the effects of the typhoon, she had already had a trip planned to visit her father toward the end of November.
“At first, I was just collecting bottles and clothes to help a little bit,” says Walwal.
Then her boss suggested she reach out to the Drayton Valley Community Foundation about their crisis relief grant. After applying through the Drayton Valley Multicultural Association, Walwal was granted $10,000 to offer aid to those affected by the typhoon. She also partnered with the Cebu chapter of the UNIFIED Inglewood Association, which is a Filipino teacher association based in California, United States, to secure the grant.
Walwal says Inglewood was already involved in relief efforts after a 6.9 earthquake hit only a month before the typhoon.
Because Tino had hit so close to home, some of Walwal’s childhood friends and acquaintances were affected. She also had the benefit of connections with people who worked in the local government for the area.
“Most people in the town office are mostly my childhood friends,” says Walwal.
While she was down there from November 28 to December 18, Walwal did her best to ensure the funds went directly to those in need to avoid any corruption. The only organizations involved were the multicultural association and UNIFIED Inglewood, and the relief efforts provided by the funding are still underway in Cebu.
Walwal started at the relief centre in her hometown, bringing the donated goods with her and inquiring about how she could help. She says they chose to help those who were at the relief centre because those individuals did not have family or other support they could go to for help.
“We made a list,” says Walwal. “We needed some utensils, medication, this and that. We were able to help at least 250 people at the time.”
She says there were a lot of volunteers at the centre, and she had brought together several volunteers and family members to help her with her own efforts to help. Knowing the patrons at the relief centre were being looked after, she decided to look for areas where she could be more effective.
“Then I met some people who said the government hadn’t gone to their place because it’s a remote area,” says Walwal. “[They were in] an area where no vehicles can go there …and they don’t have transportation to go there.”
Across the Philippines, more than 600,000 homes were damaged, with 75,000 needing to be replaced. Walwal’s father encouraged her to build homes, but she knew they were limited to how many they could build. They had to carefully consider which families they could help out.
She says they plan to build six homes for families in remote areas. They already have contractors who have stepped up to the task and are volunteering their time. All Walwal has to do is provide the supplies.
Since Walwal is back in Canada, the UNIFIED Inglewood Association is acting on her behalf in Cebu. As the housing projects come up, Walwal is sending them money to cover the costs of roofing materials, lumber, and other items necessary for building a home.
While she’s confident she will be able to help some families, Walwal says she’s paying attention to the costs of goods. Once the rebuilds start on a larger scale across the province, the prices of some commodities will rise due to demand, and it may impact the number of homes she can build.
Though her trip home was tempered by the damage caused by Tino, Walwal says she still enjoyed reconnecting with friends and loved ones. She says there were moments that showed the resilience of the people in her hometown.
“They are already devastated, but children still play there as if nothing [had happened],” says Walwal. “They are resilient.”
Anyone who is interested in donating funds to help with the relief efforts can reach out to the Drayton Valley Multicultural Association at 780-514-5249
I am grateful that I don’t have to be grateful for something every single day.
Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t have to find something to be thankful for on a day when my car breaks down on the way to work, I find out I forgot to send off that one cheque, and my child tells me at about 8:30 p.m. that they need two dozen home made cupcakes for the next morning.
Gratitude is something we all need to practice more often, but the current trend of journaling about the many things you appreciate each day can be toxic. I mean, honestly, how many times can you be sincerely grateful for that first sip of coffee every morning?
To use a word my dad always used when I was little, people are putting a little too much em-PHAS-is on the wrong thing.
A rote practice of gratitude journaling can lead to something called toxic positivity. This is a condition in which people feel it’s so important to be positive that they ignore their negative emotions and don’t process them.
A good example of this trait is Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter. This is a woman who at first appears to be a kind older woman who loves cats way too much. But as we get to know the character, we see that all of her cheerfulness and positive attitude are a cover up for her anger and racism.
The movie Inside Out also demonstrates this point as we see the character Joy, who also deals with toxic positivity, try to suppress Sadness because she believes Riley should always be happy. The main conflict in the movie is Riley’s struggle with accepting and processing the negative emotions that are a normal part of life.
We even have an idiom for this kind of situation. Someone who is looking at a situation through rose-coloured glasses is indeed seeing all the positives in a situation, but they are also overlooking important details that they don’t want to accept. Sometimes, a car is a lemon, and the salesperson’s fumbling attempts at flirting are just a scheme to get you to let your guard down.
Scientifically, studies have been done showing the benefits of gratitude journals. It can reduce stress, help with sleep, reduce anxiety and depression, and do numerous other things. However, those achievements are only successful when the person genuinely feels the gratitude.
Imagine coming home after a long weekend away to two feet of fresh snow on your driveway and six inches of compacted snow on your front sidewalk. You are tired, cold, and looking forward to getting into your favourite pair of pyjamas, but when you get to your front door, you see a ticket for failing to clear your sidewalks.
The argument for gratitude could be something like, at least I have a sidewalk and driveway to shovel, or this is a great opportunity for me to try out my new snowblower. However, another healthy way to look at the situation is saying, well this sucks, and I’m not happy about this.
Another commonly used idiom is everything in moderation. The same goes for gratitude. Yes, you should be grateful for many of the things in your life, and if you feel like your life is lacking, you should look at what you do have. At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge and feel the negative things.
Go forth, dear reader, and allow yourself to feel the anger. The next time your coworker steals your pop out of the fridge, I encourage you to drop an f-bomb and express yourself. You’ll feel much better.
Last year was a busy one for the Drayton Valley Healthcare Auxiliary.
Doreen Beckett, the president and manager of the Drayton Valley Healthcare Auxiliary Thrift Store, says they raise funds for the Drayton Valley Hospital, the Serenity House, and the Breton Extended Care facility. Last year, they spent several hundred thousand to support those spaces.
The organization, which raises funds through sales at the Thrift Store and at the gift shop in the Drayton Valley Hospital, was able to donate $180,000 to the renovation of the palliative care room, $70,000 to the eSIM lab, while also purchasing an ICG machine, an ultrasound machine, replaced windows, replaced furniture, and more in the last year.
Along with practical donations, the Auxiliary also spent money on Christmas decorations to help keep spirits high.
Beckett says in the past, the facilities would provide the Auxiliary with a wish list of items they wanted, and the organization would put funds towards those projects or equipment. Today, they receive information packets about different projects and from there they choose how to spend their funds.
“We have purchased a lot of things last year,” says Beckett.
While they spent a lot of money in 2025, it isn’t always easy for them to raise the funds in the first place. The Thrift Store relies on donations from the public as well as the sales to the public. However, over the years, they’ve had to adjust the times they’ve had to make changes to what donations they will accept and what conditions those donations need to be in, as well.
“It’s been good since we put the gate on,” says Beckett. “We cannot go without having the gate closed.”
She says volunteers have to go through every donation they receive to make sure it is fit to be sold. In many cases, people have donated items they believe still have some use or use the drop-off as a place to save some money rather than going to the dump.
“It’s cheaper to dump it there than it is to take it to the dump,” says Beckett.
With the gate up, Beckett says donors have to wait until someone is present to accept the items. At that point, the volunteers can turn some of the items away. If unwanted donations are left, then the Auxiliary has to cover the cost of the dump fees to get rid of them.
After taking a break over the holidays, the thrift store opened again on January 6. Their hours for drop off are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with shopping hours running from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. On Thursdays, the drop off starts at 7:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. with the store opening from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
That’s just about a wrap for 2025. With the end in sight, it’s time to look back and reflect on the good and bad of the last 12 months.
Starting at the top, it was a mixed year for Justin Trudeau. On one hand he was able to step aside as prime minister without being chased by an angry mob. On the other hand, he had to go on a date with Katy Perry, which was something nobody wanted to see.
It was a bad year for Katy Perry.
In other celebrity news, Taylor Swift took time off from counting her enormous pile of money to get engaged to a man in a ridiculous hat.
We said goodbye to Robert Redford, Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, Jane Goodall, Gene Hackman, Connie Francis, Jimmy Swaggart and a host of other people of varying degrees of fame or notoriety, but who are no doubt missed by those who loved them
Pierre Poilievre probably wishes he could have a do over of the last 12 months. Back in January he seemed all set to be next Top Canadian. A couple of months later he had the look of someone who’s woken up to find his dog had left a little surprise in his favourite underwear and then run off with the next door neighbour.
Meanwhile Mark Carney spent much of 2025 with the look of a man who’d unexpectedly found fifty bucks in the pocket of an old suit and was wondering if he should tell his wife or keep it to himself.
In sports, the Blue Jays came this close (I am holding my thumb and forefinger about a centimetre apart) to winning the World Series, but then didn’t. It was fun while it lasted though.
It was a huge year, spectacular really, very very spectacular, probably the best year ever, for tariffs and the people who like them.
But it was a dreadful year for the man formerly known as His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleigh who I think we’re now supposed to refer to as plain old Andy W.
Closer to home, the municipal elections brought some new faces to town and county councils. The new people are still feeling their way in, so we’ll have more of a sense of how things are going to shape up from a municipal perspective in a few months.
The Omniplex got a new mural on the outside wall and a new name too. It is now called the Team Auctions Centre, for those of you who like to keep track of that sort of thing. I intend to continue to call it the Omniplex, because I am too old and stuck in my ways to change. Incidentally, I noticed a while back that you can tell how long someone has lived in Drayton Valley by what they call the store now known as Your Independent Grocer. To me, it will always be Extra Foods, while some of my friends still call it Blocks. Keeping up with the times? Not us. No sireee. We’ll leave that to the young folks.
And that’s your lot. Or at least it’s all I have room for. Thanks for sticking with us through the year that’s (almost) gone by.
There will be no Free Press next week, because of Christmas. We’ll be back, bleary eyed and wondering where we left our car keys, on January 1 of a whole new year!.
See you in 2026.
Psst….this is just a sample of what we have in the full Free Press.
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Hamper requests at the Drayton Valley Food Bank have increased this year, but not at the same rate as last year.
Phil Bell, the treasurer for the board, says that along with the increase in hamper requests, there have also been more in-kind donations.
“[Drayton Valley] is a very generous community,” he says. “It continues to amaze us.”
Bell says last year there was a 50 percent bump in people, but this year the increase was roughly 10 percent, or about 200 family units.
“Last year was probably the biggest increase we’ve ever experienced,” he says.
Over the past 13 years, the most significant increases in usage were in 2015, when the number of hampers jumped up to 948. By 2016, they had doubled the number of hampers they gave out in 2012 and were sitting at 1,262. For the next seven years, the hampers didn’t increase significantly, and even dropped in 2020.
In 2023, the number of hampers spiked to more than 1,600, and in 2024, that number increased to 2,479. The projected total for 2025 is 2,750 hampers.
“We are seeing more working people coming as well,” says Bell. “To me that’s a sign that people are just struggling to make it.”
Only two percent of users have indicated they are unsheltered. Another four percent have given no information. The remainder of the users are from other counties (three percent), Brazeau County (26 percent), and Drayton Valley (65 percent).
The reason for the slowdown isn’t clear, says Bell. He’s not sure if the inflation rate is affecting things or if last year the bulk of the people needing help came forward.
Even though they did see an increase, Bell says this year they haven’t had to cut their hamper sizes, which further goes to show the generosity of the community. They’ve also been able to give out more seasonal items this year because some companies and individuals have given large donations. Hams, chocolates, and Christmas oranges were some of the items that were donated.
“We were able to supplement all the hampers with those items, which was nice to be able to give to people this time of year,” says Bell.
In order to ensure they can still continue to supply hampers to those that need them, Bell says they have been working to get their Foodbanks Canada accreditation.
“That’s kind of a heavy lift for us to be able to get these standards in place so that we can maintain our membership under Food Banks Alberta, which is under Food Banks Canada,” says Bell.
The accreditation will help the food bank with federal grants as well as the allotment that it gets from Food Banks Alberta. Every year, the food bank pays $150 for a membership with Food Banks Alberta, and in return they get between 3,000 and 4,000 lb of food every month.
“They only charge us $100 to get the food out here,” says Bell. “That’s a refrigerated truck, so we have access to frozen stuff.”
Because of the significance of the allotments, Bell says they are working hard to meet the requirements set forth. He says Drayton Valley is expected to continue to grow, and with that growth could come a higher demand for services, but he’s confident that the community will continue to step up to help those who need it.
Anyone looking to make a donation to the food bank can visit www.draytonvalleyfoodbank.ca/donate.
One of the Crown-given rights of Canadians is the right to complain ad nauseam about anything that mildly irritates them. All Canadians exercise this right at some point or another to varying degrees.
Today, I wish to express my… dissatisfaction with a number of complainers. That does indeed make me a complainer, but as we’ve already covered, this is my Crown-given right.
The motto of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is Maintiens le Droit, or in English, Uphold the Right.
While the words themselves may have differing meanings for officers, for many it’s a summary of their core values: take responsibility, show respect, serve with excellence, demonstrate compassion, and act with integrity. The motto can serve as a reminder of why they joined the RCMP.
Though the RCMP mandate is about dealing with crime, their motto could be interpreted as giving guidance for how they do their job. While their main task involves fighting crime, it’s rarely as black and white as people believe.
Anyone who has read the RCMP Report can see that a large portion of the calls they get aren’t about busting criminals. In a lot of cases, the RCMP play the role of referee, mentor, therapist, chauffeur, confidant, supervisor, financial advisor, and many, many others.
I’m going to preempt this next part with a disclaimer — while most RCMP officers exemplify the mandate and motto, there are some who do not, which is no different from any other industry, group, or organization out there.
Many people have two interchangeable perceptions of the RCMP.
The first perception stems from a need. We have been robbed; we need the police to come help us.
The second is activated when being caught. I broke the law, and those jerks are going to punish me for it.
It seems strange to me that some people can be angry with the RCMP for “always failing” to do their job and then be equally angry at them for succeeding at their job.
“People are driving unsafely! Where are the cops when you need them?”
“Wait, what? I just got pulled over for speeding? That other guy was going way faster; this jerk just thinks he’s important and wants to push someone around.”
I have seen people complain about cops wasting their time parked in high-traffic areas often frequented by dangerous drivers. Those same people are up in arms when there isn’t an officer present to crack down on the bad drivers.
On the odd occasion that someone happens to notice an officer has done their job, there is little praise. Instead, the most common response is something along the lines of, “Does he want a cookie every time he does his job?”
I am of the opinion that some of the people who are screaming the loudest about the cops are the ones who have had negative interactions with them. That could look like being disrespectful or aggressive to an officer. Or it could look like breaking the law and getting caught.
In any case, the double standard of many of the complaints is both mind-boggling and somewhat entertaining. The concept of “do your job unless it involves me” speaks to a high level of entitlement. And for the most part, those who are spewing vitriol about the work the RCMP do are saying more about their own character than anything else.
Did somebody say the F word?
A long, long time ago there was a push to build a fieldhouse in Drayton Valley. It began as an idea to create a dedicated space for indoor soccer. That sounded just dandy. Then some other folks got involved and they added all sorts of stuff to the proposal
Wild Rose to charge for busing
Due to a gap between provincial funding and actual transportation costs, the Wild Rose School Division will be charging busing fees for students beginning in the 2026/27 school year.
Opinion: Don’t write off seniors
There is a little bit of a stereotype around newspapers. Some people think that the only people who read them are seniors. Our data shows otherwise. Typically as soon as you own property or enter the family phase of life, you get more involved in the community.
Hockey and firefighting go hand in hand
The Drayton Valley Thunder players recently had the chance to see if their team-building skills held up off the ice.
Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services Chief Tom Thomson says the team has been getting to meet and exercise with fire services members for some time.
