Food festival back in action

Jason Kerr
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Food festival back in action

After a successful inauguration in 2016, FEASTival is coming back for another year.

Organizers are putting the final touches on the annual event, which begins its second year of operation on Friday, with a line-up filled with outdoor activities, entertainment and food.

Event co-ordinator Linda Grimard said last year’s event was a big attraction for Prince Albert families, and they’re hoping to build on that success again this year.

“I hope (attendees) enjoy coming out as a families, for them to get together,” she said during an interview on Wednesday. “There’s not a lot of stuff where you can just bring your kids out and let them enjoy themselves, or for anybody to come out and just listen to entertainment or check out some good food.”

This year’s event will feature a variety of restaurants and caterers from Prince Albert and area. Grimard said they aren’t sure how many different booths they’ll have this year since the final few applications are still being processed, but it will likely be on par with last year’s event.

“It’s an altogether different variety (of food) again this year,” she said.

For the rest of this story, please see the June 1 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Seeing in a new light

Jason Kerr
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Seeing in a new light

It doesn’t look like a regular camera, and the pictures it takes aren’t like normal selfies, but public health officials hope it will give students something to think about when they consider getting a tan.

On Tuesday, students and staff from Carlton Comprehensive Public High School lined up to have their photos taken by the special cameras, which revealed just how much damage ultraviolet (UV) rays does to their skin.

The annual event has been held intermittently for more than five years, and it presents health educators with an easier path to helping youth understand the connection between UV rays and skin cancer.

“You try and give people more of a visual idea,” explained Public Health Nurse Carolyn Strom, who helped oversee Tuesday’s event. “Having this UV camera is helpful, because at least people can actually see (the results), rather than just having us tell them. It’s easier to get that point across.”

While students and staff are keen to line up and get their photos taken, the results aren’t always appealing. Photos will often show pale white patches of skin dotted across the face, identifying the areas receiving the most damage.

Although the pictures aren’t always fun to look at, Strom said they are slowly but steadily helping Saskatchewan residents become aware of the dangers.

It’s not a moment to soon either. Saskatchewan has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in Canada, largely due to residents spending more time in the sun and more time on tanning beds.

End of the line

Jason Kerr
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End of the line

It’s a day Ken Youghans thought would never come.

For the last 21 years, Youghans has faithfully shown up to work as a driver for the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC), fully expecting he’d work there for the rest of this life.

Today he and roughly 125 other STC employees will work their last day with the company, and it’s still a tough pill for him to swallow.

“I was fully expecting to retire at STC,” said Youghans, who also serves as the Saskatchewan executive board member for Transit Union Local 1374, which represents all STC employees in the province.

“This is kind of a dream job I got in 1996, when I hired on here, and I thought I would get to retire here. I never saw this coming.”

Throughout his career, Youghans watched as various governments talked about possibly getting rid of the STC. That sentiment always seemed to wither, which made him think it was here to stay.

“It was an essential service,” Youghans said. “It was well needed for the province of Saskatchewan, and yeah, I never thought this was going to happen.”

The end of the STC means the loss of dozens of local jobs as the terminal closes in Prince Albert. The last local bus will make its final run late tonight.

Local STC employees declined opportunities to be interviewed saying they were not allowed to comment, however Ward 4 Coun. Don Cody was eager to pick up the mantle.

“(The closure) is a great impact to the city itself,” Cody said during a media scrum in front of the Prince Albert STC terminal Tuesday morning. “Certainly jobs, that’s one of the key things, and secondly it’s service, service to our people. People need some service if they want to go for medical health (services) in Saskatoon. A lot of them do not have vehicles. A lot of them cannot drive vehicles.”

Cody called the closure a “shame,” especially for the people who lost jobs. He also expressed skepticism that any private company would pick up the slack.

Like Youghans, he also never thought this day would come.

“I really didn’t believe that there was a government that was going to take this on and say ‘that’s it’ after 71 years,” he said. “Seventy-one years in service tells you something. It tells you that obviously it’s pretty important, or it wouldn’t have stayed.”

Cody added that the city already subsidizes the municipal transit system, making it unlikely that they’d dip their toes into a province-wide partnership to replace the STC. He said he felt “a bit helpless” watching the situation unfold, but didn’t think there was much the city could do.

However, he does believe that shutting the organization will have long-lasting negative ramifications for the Saskatchewan Party.

“I’m really surprised that they took this on, and if there’s anything that will do this government in, this is one of the things right here,” he said.

In the past, Saskatchewan Minister of Crown Investments and Prince Albert Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave has defended the closure do to its cost and declining ridership. In an April interview with the Daily Herald, Hargrave said costs were “out of control,” leaving the government with little choice but to shut things down.

“You can’t afford a subsidy of over $17 million every year,” he said. “That $17 million could go to so many other things.”

Not all STC employees will be out of a job when the buses stop running today for the final time. Roughly 80 STC employees will be kept onboard until next fall. The list includes mechanics, who are responsible for getting the buses ready for a potential sale, and financial department personnel.

As for Youghans, he plans to take a month or two off to recuperate from the stress and spend time with his family. Then it’s off to the job market.

He’s already thought about beginning his own transportation company, but the startup costs would run into the millions. In the end, he’ll likely move out of Saskatchewan for work. It’s not what he wanted, but he doesn’t have much choice.

“I’ve got some job opportunities … but it means moving out of the province, and I’m really not looking to move out of the province if I don’t have to.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

Love of Reading boosts Diefenbaker

Jason Kerr
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Love of Reading boosts Diefenbaker

Students and teachers at John Diefenbaker Public School are getting ready to celebrate their love of books in a big way.

On May 25, the school was selected as one of 30 elementary schools from across the country to receive funding from the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation.

In total, Diefenbaker School will receive $65,000 in funding to be paid out over the next three years. The school’s vice-principal, Tammie Horan, called the news a “great gift” that will go a long way to helping students and teachers.

“We don’t get rid of books,” Horan said. “They’re tattered and torn (and) we just keep replacing and fixing them, so this will be an excellent way to get some new materials into our library.”

In addition to the $65,000 in grant money, the school will also receive a 30 per cent discount for the purchase of any new books at a Coles or Indigo Book Store.

The funds will help restock and update the school’s main library, as well as expand classroom libraries and provide more materials the school’s book club and in classroom guided reading programs.

The funding is especially important since Diefenbaker has so many students who speak English as a second language, which adds an additional challenge.

“We need to find books that are high interest, but low vocabulary, so we can foster that love of learning for them,” Horan explained. “We need books that are more mature reads, but are at easier levels so that those kids have things to read.”

For the rest of this story, please see the May 30 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Door opens at four new Riverbank houses

Jason Kerr
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Door opens at four new Riverbank houses

After two years of planning and construction, Riverbank Development Corporation (RDC) has unveiled four newly renovated homes as part of their plan to provide more affordable housing in the city.

On Monday, dignitaries and government representatives gathered in Prince Albert’s West Flat neighbourhood to celebrate the end of the $687,000 project, which saw four homes in the area purchased and renovated for use by low-income families.

All of the new units have a minimum of four bedrooms, and will be rented out by Riverbank at $800 a month.

RDC general manager Brian Howell said they’ve noticed a strong demand for more affordable housing that wasn’t being met, especially for larger families.

“Many of them are paying $1,200 to $1,300 for housing that is quite unsuitable,” he explained. “It’s older, not cared for, (and) often in poor condition.”

The four new homes will be rented out for $800 a month. Howell said a similar home would be rented for roughly $1,200. He added that houses, unlike apartments, will often house the same family for years.

The new units will provide housing for up to 8 adults and more than 20 children.

Howell said they’re always a feeling of relief once a housing project is completed, and this one is no exception.

Riverbank has owned and developed properties across Prince Albert, but chose four units in the West Flat because they were cheaper to purchase.

“There’s really a feeling of satisfaction to have it done and to get through the grand opening in one piece,” he chuckled.

The provincial and federal governments chipped in with $440,000 in support, which marks roughly two-thirds of the project’s funding. Riverbank provided the remaining $247,000.

“The biggest problem is the funding aspect,” Howell said. “The $800 a month does not cover the cost of this house, so if the governments aren’t involved with some funding to reduce capital costs, then it’s just not possible to do.”

All four homes already have families ready to move in by the end of May. Those families were put forward at the suggestion of KidsFirst and Family Futures. They had to be living in housing that was either unsuitable or unaffordable, and also have a good track record of maintaining their home.

Prince Albert Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave was in attendance for Monday’s grand opening on behalf of Saskatchewan Housing Corporation Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor.

Hargrave said it’s encouraging to see more affordable housing units going up in Prince Albert, especially for large families, and added that the province’s current financial hardship wouldn’t prevent them from supporting similar projects in the future.

“This is really important,” he said. “The vulnerable in our society continue to be a priority for the government, so projects like this, they must continue to go on and our government is committed to that.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

Welcome to the Lake

Jason Kerr
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Welcome to the Lake

When they started Welcome to the Lake 10 years ago, Nick Trofimuk and Sharon DesRoches had little idea how popular the event would be.

The two co-organizers just wanted to find a way to promote local businesses and help raise money for local non-profits and service clubs.

A decade later, things have expanded further than they ever anticipated.

“When we started this we had no plan,” Trofimuk said. “We just started it to see how it was going to go. We worked year by year and it was always getting a little bit bigger.”

The original plan was to come up with a one-day radio event that gave businesses service clubs from Candle Lake, Paddockwood and Christopher Lake a chance to promote themselves while raising money.

The original idea proved so popular in Candle Lake that Trofimuk and DesRoches had all their slots filled before they even approached the other two communities. Once radio partners CKBI came on board, Welcome to the Lake was born.

The event is one part farmer’s market and one part barbeque, with live music and product demonstrations thrown in for good measure. On Friday, local residents filled the parking lot at the local community credit union to raise funds and enjoy the festivities.

“A lot of people didn’t think it would work on a Friday,” DesRoches chuckled. “One lady’s comment today was, ‘I don’t know how it can be better on a Saturday, because look at today.’”

For the rest of this story, please see the May 20 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Finding the perfect shot

Jason Kerr
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Finding the perfect shot

Dennis Chamberlain didn’t need years in a New York art school to develop an eye for photography.

All he needed was decades of experience living and working in Northern Saskatchewan.

As a youth, he spent months and months fishing and trapping in north. As an adult, he worked as a commercial fisherman, and then helped build roads, bridges and trails in and around the resort community of Candle Lake.

Those experiences gave him a love and appreciation for the Saskatchewan landscape, and it stayed with him the rest of his life.

“A lot of times, what I felt was happening was I was looking at God’s creations,” he said. “What I really wanted to do was capture them the best I could, and then share them with people, and that’s a very big step.”

Despite his devotion to photography, Chamberlain originally started out as a painter. His early years were spent sketching and making water colour paintings, and although he loved the medium, he wanted a new challenge. Photography provided it.

“Painting can take two months to do one piece of work,” he said. “In one five-hundredth of a second, you had to accomplish the same thing in photography, so it’s very much harder to do. Very much harder.”

That love led to thousands of photographs, many of which cover the walls of the Timberland Gallery just outside Candle Lake. While a few photos focus on oceans and mountains, the vast majority picture animals and landscapes within a 50-mile radius around Candle Lake.

For the rest of this story, please see the May 20 online or print edition of the Daily Herald

A future worth fighting for

Jason Kerr
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A future worth fighting for

Twilah Smallchild’s first reaction when she was diagnosed with diabetes was denial.

The Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation resident has two sons, and was concerned about what would happen to them if her health slipped. As a result, she did everything she could to avoid acknowledging there was a problem.

“I didn’t want it,” Smallchild remembered. “I was in denial. As soon as I was told by my doctor, I walked out and said, ‘no, I don’t want it.’”

Smallchild quickly found out she was part of a fairly large group. First Nations people are three to five times more likely to suffer from diabetes, according to Diabetes Canada, and struggling with acceptance is a major issue.

“When you find out you have something like (diabetes), it does something to you,” Smallchild explained. “For me, it made me feel like I had a death sentence almost. I wasn’t whole. I was broken.”

“Death-sentence” is a word Smallchild hears a lot when the topic of diabetes comes up in aboriginal communities, and there is some reason for concern.

Canadians with diabetes are three times more likely to be hospitalized with cardiovascular disease, 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with end-stage renal disease and more than 20 times likely to have a non-traumatic lower limb amputation.

It’s particularly bad for Canada’s First Nation’s population. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 17.2 per cent of First Nations who live on reserve suffer from diabetes, along with 10.3 per cent who live off reserve. Only five per cent of Canada’s non-aboriginal population suffers from the disease.

For the rest of this story, please see the May 18 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Positive ticketing campaign seeks to promote safe driving practices

Jason Kerr
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Positive ticketing campaign seeks to promote safe driving practices

With the May Long Weekend on the horizon, MADD members and a few Prince Albert police officers took time out of their day to help promote safety to the next generation of drivers.

Representatives from both groups were at Carlton Comprehensive Public High School on Thursday, handing out an assortment of free prizes for good driving behavior as part of their positive-ticketing campaign.

The campaign runs in conjunction with National Road Safety Week, and with the May Long Weekend just days away, organizers said it was a good time to get their message across.

“Grad season is coming up. May Long Weekend is coming up. Their summers are about to begin, so it’s just one last effort to give them that reminder to stay safe and not drive impaired,” MADD president Trina Cockle explained.

The positive ticketing campaigns were first held in 10 different Saskatchewan schools in October 2016, as part of a joint initiative by SGI and local law enforcement groups. The event was so well received it was brought back for 2017.

Sgt. Travis Willie with the Prince Albert Police Service said they wanted to develop positive interactions, rather than just lecture students about the dangers of driving while drunk or distracted by cell phones.

While most students are a little surprised to spot flashing lights in front of their school, Willie said the initiative has allowed them to develop good relationships.

“They don’t just see the uniform at that point,” he said. “It gives us a little bit of a human face, and we’re able to break the ice.”

It’s difficult to know how effective events like the safe ticketing initiative are, because it’s almost impossible to measure the effect on decision making.

According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan had the highest rate of impaired driving convictions in the country, with 575 incidents per 100,000 people. That’s almost double second place Albert, which had an impaired driving rate of 314 per 100,000 people.

While all provinces have seen drinking and driving rates decline since the mid-‘80s, Saskatchewan’s decrease has been the slowest.

Despite the challenges, both Cockle and Willie remain hopeful that their message is getting through to students.

“We can’t put a number on how many people we may have helped, but you know the old saying: if we can help one person, then it’s worth it, and it really truly is,” Cockle said.”

“We hope the visibility and the interactions make people think about having that cell phone on while they’re driving, or drinking and driving,” Willie added. “I certainly hope that this makes a difference. Unfortunately, there’s no way to capture that.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

Exciting day for historical society

Jason Kerr
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Exciting day for historical society

It was originally intended to be a $100,000 donation, but by the end, the Prince Albert Historical Society had received the largest donation in its history.

Dignitaries were on hand at the Prince Albert Historical Museum on Wednesday for the presentation of a $145,000 check to the society, thanks to the late Lenore Andrews.

The donation was a welcome one for the museum, which is in the process of expanding operations.

Michelle Tayolor, the museum’s manager and curator, said they were overjoyed to receive the donation, which comes at an important time.

“We are at the stage now of some pretty intense growth within the museum, with the exhibits themselves and with the storage capabilities that we have,” Taylor explained. “This money will help us to develop those internally (and) to allow the public and the museum workers better access to our collections.”

The original donation was made in 1997, after Lenore Andrews’ passing, and held in trust by the City of Prince Albert until 2017.

Lenore and her husband, Dr. Herbert Andrews, were longtime Prince Albert residents. Lenore was president of the Prince Albert Women’s Liberal Association, as well as the Saskatchewan Women’s Liberal Association, running in the Liberal candidate in the 1965 federal election. Dr. Andrews practiced medicine in Prince Albert until he retired in 1978.

The donation was contingent on developing an online virtual museum exhibit in honour of both Lenore and her husband, as well as creating a display room dedicated to Dr. Lestock Reid.

Reid grew up in Prince Albert and attended Trinity Medical College in Toronto. He then returned to his hometown, where he was an acting surgeon for the RCMP, and a founding member of the Victoria Hospital.

Taylor said the museum was happy to meet those conditions, as well as three others, to receive the money, which had accumulated $45,000 worth of interest since 1997.

“It’s part of what museums do,” said Taylor, when asked about honouring the three Prince Albert residents. “We really try to focus on those people who have made a difference to the community. It’s not always as people specific as Dr. Reid’s section, but it’s definitely for important pieces of history.”

In addition to covering the financial costs of setting up the two new exhibits, the funds will also help pay for a redesign to the museum’s front entrance, which ideally will make it more accessible and welcoming to visitors. Funds will also be directed to build a new storage system, as well as updating museum computers and hardware.

Historical society president Connie Gerwing called the it “an exciting day,” and praised the generosity that made the new exhibits possible.

“It is the single largest contribution we have ever accepted from an individual,” she said in a media release. “We are grateful for the funds and for the investment made in our local history. The generosity of the contribution will allow us to preserve our history for future generations.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

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